Have you ever Chapter 5


Have you ever loved somebody so much?

It makes you cry

Have you ever needed something so bad?

You can't sleep at night

Have you ever tried to find the words?

But they don't come out right

Have you ever, have you ever?


Yu no Kuni = Land of Hot Springs

Tetsu no Kuni = Land of Iron

Ta no Kuni = Land of Rice

Bull ブル (buru) Is by far the biggest of the pack. He is a huge "bulldog" with a spiked collar around his neck. He wears the protective headband of Konoha on his left front paw. Unlike the others, he is not able to speak.

Ninken = Ninja dog

Nukenin = Ninja deserter


The border between Yo no Kuni and Tetsu no Kuni. The next day.

In silence, Sasuke contemplated the vast desert of massive rocks that stretched out in front of him, already feeling the temperature change. He was lucky to have been told about the climate of the country he was traveling to; it would be cold and snowy. Uchiha bought mittens, a scarf, and a cape. There weren't many villages in this country. He was told there was a huge temple where most of the samurai lived, some with their families. Naruto was no doubt at the Temple, which was about a day's walk from the border. As described, he would have real problems entering the temple without being seen. To let the blonde know he was there, Sasuke needed to find a way. A fight in the snow, sand, or on the water made no difference to the black-haired man. He would end this connection once and for all.

The nukenin just hoped the samurai wouldn't interfere because that would slow him down a bunch. He'd been away from Orochimaru's hideout for a few days already, so he'd noticed his absence. He must have been angry, and he would get him when the brunette was back in Ta no Kuni. If he had to fight the samurai on top of Naruto, he'd be absent longer than he planned. Sasuke was confident he would win the first one, he would use all the stratagems and strategies at his disposal, even if it meant being disloyal. After all, they didn't have to get involved in something that was none of their business. Without looking at Yo no Kuni, he started his tedious journey to the snowy tundra. There would be a penetrating cold that Uchiha hadn't experienced before, but he didn't care. If he had wood around, he could make a fire with his Katon. Sasuke decided to walk briskly to conserve as much energy as possible. He would speed up if he felt like he was wasting too much time.

It also helped him clear his mind and prepare for the fight. This fight wasn't going to be easy for him, he knew that. Naruto had studied with the legendary Sanin Jiraya. Naruto learned how to harness his affinity for the wind and the wise mode from him. This allowed him to feel his environment better than anybody else and to use the energy of nature at his own convenience. That's without even mentioning the demon he was carrying. The only advantage Sasuke has over the jinchûriki is his conviction to kill. While Naruto attempted to convince Sasuke to go back to his cursed village. Sasuke growled, never going back there, ever. It was impossible after what had happened there, except maybe to destroy it.

The image of Naruto, ravaged by tears, begging him fervently to come back with him suddenly popped into his head. His heart tightened again. Sasuke was ashamed to admit it to himself, but he loved Naruto's blue eyes. He loved the way they radiated happiness instead of tears. He shook his head. He had to let them go. His mind was going crazy when it came to this blonde, and he couldn't stand it any longer. He accelerated in hopes of getting there as soon as possible to end this whole saga.

Two hours after he started walking, the nunekin spotted an animal chakra. The nunekin analyzed the surroundings. Just a few trees stunted by snow and wind, rocks of varying sizes, nothing else. Snow and wind were seeping through Sasuke's clothes, so he started walking towards the temple. While telling himself his imagination was playing a trick on him since nobody was around. He felt the same chakra about fifteen minutes later. Still walking calmly, Sasuke slowed down and put a hand on Kusanagi. An enormous brown dog with a spiked collar around his neck, a blue jacket on his back, and on his left front paw, the protective headband of Konoha, appeared in front of him. He exhaled heavily, irritated. It wasn't just any dog, so Sasuke decided to keep going. Uchiha vaguely remembered that it was a ninken from Kakashi's pack. The Uchiha was upset because he'd hoped to find Naruto before the Konoha ninjas arrived. He tried to go another step, but the massive beast growled nastily at him. Sasuke's fastest and easiest way to move forward is to attack it and finish it off. He attacked the behemoth without hesitation. The dog disappeared and reappeared on his left. Sasuke did a movement to the left and the dog disappeared again to reappear behind him and the manege started again.

So, if Kakashi chose to show up, well, he would deal with it then. Deciding, the Uchiha set off, he barely took four steps when he was stopped by an invisible force, he activated his Sharingan and grunted in frustration. He was not being played with earlier but had been surrounded by a diamond-shaped barrier that now prevented him from moving forward or out. If he had been a child, he would have sulked and dropped to the ground. This was really getting on his nerves. Why was there always someone or something in his way? Couldn't he be left alone? Due to the cold, Sasuke was freezing and could only walk a little in this diamond. Uchiha could not make a small fire to warm up. Also, if he trusted the position of the sun, it must be close to lunchtime.

"Yo Sasuke!"

Without the years of training, the dark-haired ninja would have flinched at this sudden appearance in the middle of the Arctic tundra. Uchiha took his time to turn his head toward his former sensei, who was standing next to the imposing dog.

"Kakashi... Tell me what you want."

While congratulating his big dog, the copycat ninja ignored him. That's how the Uchiha found out his name was Buru. Minute by minute, second by second, Sasuke's anger increased, his patience was tested, but he remained stoic. Kakashi finally walked over to Sasuke, but he stayed outside his prison.

"I figured Naruto would be nearby if I found you. Isn't that strange?"

He gritted his teeth. He was tired of all the meddling. When was he able to get some peace? Just make them disappear one by one? It almost sounded appealing at this point. The dark-haired man didn't answer his former sensei, he just wanted his plan to move along. How long could he be held hostage by this Jutsu? There were two types of restrictive Jutsu: one lasted a set amount of time while the other ended when the person who performed it decided it was over. Sasuke thought it was the second category. He rolled his eyes and glanced at Kakashi, who was looking at him impassively behind his mask. The Hatake spoke again.

"I'm wondering why you're looking for Naruto."

"Hn."

"Okay, you obviously don't want to tell me. Well, we're looking for him. Naruto has changed a lot since your last meeting. As soon as he got back, he didn't leave his house anymore, he didn't even get out of bed. Whenever he ventured out, it was only to buy ramen or if he got a mission. He wasn't even showing up to training anymore. Is this the person you know, Sasuke? I don't know what happened during that last meeting, but something broke in Naruto. There is a person who can rebuild it, but I'm not sure he has the strength or desire to do so."

Sasuke had no intention of answering his former sensei's questions anyway, he continued.

"Someone I care about has pointed out something I should have seen a long time ago."

As he gazed at the tundra, the ninja seemed to forget where he was.

"Sasuke, do you ever wonder why Naruto always runs after you?"

Still staring at an invisible point in the distance, he carried on without waiting for an answer from his former student.

"Someone told me Naruto must be in love with you."

Sasuke's heart leaped in his chest and then stopped. He glanced at the other ninja still standing there.

"That's nothing but nonsense." Naruto is always like that with everyone he meets. Especially when he cares for people."

He finally turned to him, glaring at him with one eye, shaking his head a few times.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I said." But my friend made me realize he wouldn't have done that for Lee or Neji or any of his friends..."

He let the wind carry his sentence. He looked peacefully at his former student as he stood in front of him with his beast at his feet. Sasuke stared at him, looking totally bewildered, his eyes searching for any evidence of deceit or pettiness. He let him do it, everything he told him was true. The nukenin turned his back completely on the Konoha ninja. Sasuke was having a hard time concentrating and analyzing what the man said. It didn't matter. Uchiha had to end the bond, whether this idiot was in love with him or not would change his plans. He only felt annoyance and anger towards this blond idiot. Naruto wanted him back to Konoha no matter what. Not understanding that Sasuke was feeling only sadness, hatred, and loneliness in Konoha. The nukenin would break this last true link, whether Naruto liked him or not was his problem, he didn't care. The thought made him sick to his stomach. His heart was in his throat, but he put it down to hunger. The Uchiha hadn't eaten anything since his breakfast in the morning, and maybe he had gotten sick from the cold.

"You'll forgive me if I don't keep you company, but I'm going to join Naruto now. I have to talk to him. I'll leave you to mature all that you've just learned. At least I know you won't interrupt us. Think it over."

Kakashi and his dog vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Sasuke alone in the middle of the tundra. Uchiha clenched his fists and fingers until they hurt. Then he tried to relax. There was no point in wasting his energy, so he had to make the most of it. After Kakashi finished talking to Naruto, the copy ninja would let him go. He could track the jinchuriki. He didn't have to think about it. In order to achieve his goal, Sasuke had already decided to break all his ties. This was his revenge. Kakashi's declaration didn't change that.


Konoha. Hokage's office.

Tsunade was trying to concentrate so she could deal with all the paperwork piling up on her desk. Her irritated features were clearly visible on her face when the door opened suddenly.

"Tsunade-sama, I have a message from Tetsu no Kuni."

He approached her, handed her the scroll, and then disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

She hurriedly unsealed the scroll and looked at it fast, curious why a neutral, non-ninja country was writing to her. She swore in a low voice as she read. She grabbed a small flask of sake from one of her drawers as soon as she finished reading. Taking a big sip, Tsunade felt the liquid burning through her throat, bringing tears to her eyes. The blonde wiped her eyes and took another drink.

The young idiot was about to get the best of her. How could he ask for all his leaves at once? All this was Uchiha's fault. This young man had always been important to Naruto. But Tsunade didn't understand why. In fact, Sasuke had even tried to kill the jinchuriki after abandoning him voluntarily. While she suspected the younger Uchiha wanted to avenge his clan, he could have done it while staying in the village. The young man had left the village without looking back, abandoning everything he owned and all his friends. If he'd asked her, she'd have supported him in capturing Itachi, because this massacre had to be punished. Now Sasuke had to be punished as well for his desertion and alliance with another nukenin. Orochimaru turned people into bloodthirsty creatures by doing weird experiments on them.

"Tsunade-sama?"

The Hokage turned back to Shizune, who was staring at her intently with one eyebrow raised.

"Hey, how're you? Been calling you for a minute."

So instead of answering, she handed her the scroll, her assistant grabbed the document, read it quickly, and looked up at her surprised superior.

"When did you get it?"

"About ten minutes ago. That child is trying to make me insane.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair and sighed loudly.

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'll let him take two months off."

She took out a blank parchment, grabbed a quill, and started writing quickly. When she was done, she gave it to her friend.

"Send it before I change my mind and go to Tetsu no Kuni myself to get that fool so I can strangle him myself. Once he's back, he'll be doing D-rank missions every day. Additionally, he'll have to pass the jûnin exam. Especially to excel at it, because after that I'll stick him with a team to train."

With a smile on her face, Tsunade finished her sentence. You could see the satisfaction in her eyes.

The assistant took the document smiling politely. She knew that Tsunade would never do anything bad to the blonde, she loved him too much for that. Shizune left the office in a hurry and headed for the aviary. So that Naruto would be notified of his answer as soon as possible. Shizune didn't know what exactly was going on with the blonde, but she trusted her superior completely. The assistant wouldn't judge if she thought it would be good for him to take a vacation. She only hoped the young man would get his head back together and take care of himself. Only time would tell what was wrong and if he could be helped. Shizune prayed for him to find happiness, after all Naruto had the right to it, too.