Chapter Three: "Tokyo: Here We Go!"

Sakura: "I knew Tokyo had everything, but a secret gang war of shinobi was the last thing on my mind."

—Coming back home, but nothing's the same "I thought I left my fighting days behind in high school."

Naruto: You don't seem like the fighting type, office lady. But then, you did destroy the floor…

Sakura: It's been years since I knocked a guy out. I don't think anyone will remember me much. I'm pretty much a loner these days so we can lay low.

Naruto: You adapt way too fast to almost getting killed. You sure you're human? Maybe you were a samurai in your last life!

Sakura: Says the guy who got told he was a demon. And we are in a shinobi tale, why the fuck would you think of samurai?

Naruto: Samurai get cool swords like Gintama…

Sakura: The only good sword he has is down under.

Naruto: Hey! Fujoshi! Keep your BL away from my brother from another mother!

…

…

Sakura didn't even break a sweat as she lifted the third box down to the car in fast speed and passed it to Naruto who was wearing one of her extra-large hoodies. "Here. The last one. So much for packing a backpack. It's a shame to leave my TV behind, but essentials it is." Within the last hour, she found a car rental place a block away, ran down there and rented the first cheap car she saw. "I prefer trains, but bruised-up, blonde men are hard to hide."

Naruto grunted as he closed the trunk. He stretched out his very large black hoodie. "You wear a lot of over-sized clothes, ya know."

"Hey! It's comfy! You should be lucky I'm not dressing you up as a woman and forcing you in my cosplay wigs. Good thing a bunch of teens are acting like they are humanity's secret saviors and wearing black these days…So you look the part."

Instantly, he bowed deeply and said, "I am eternally grateful." Then he seemed to get the joke and pouted. "Wait! I'm not like that! I am a mature grown man with a job. Not acting like Light or some kid in an isekai."

"Haha. Now get in. It's only 10:30am, but I'd rather be out before your friends start hovering and block us in. We got incredibly lucky last night not getting caught. But knowing Kei's attitude, if he did plan on you walking into his trap, then he'd think he was all that was needed to capture you. Thank god for cocky idiots."

"Amen." Naruto joked. Then he frowned. "I know I brought this trouble to you and I am sorry. If you want to escape by yourself somewhere quiet, I'm sure I can figure some—"

"Please shut up. We're in this together now. Even if Kei is knocked out forever, it doesn't change the fact that we both have access to this force magic called chakra and once I help someone, I don't back out! Now get in so we can leave."

"Yes!" Naruto's blue eyes teared up as he sniffled. "Thank you, Sakura-chan." He quickly got in the car.

Sakura shook her head as she got in the driver's seat and thought over her plans. She didn't want to be connected to Kei's case if possible, so she won't formally move out until a few weeks later. Then she'd have to return the keys and so on to the landlord using her mother's sickness as an excuse. She even made sure to have Naruto wait near the car while she quickly packed essentials and when her neighbor caught her taking boxes down, she only had to make up a story. Mentioning a sick mother in the retirement home and hearing about an emergency was all it took to get her neighbor to be sympathetic. Within days, the gossip network will know…Which would've been suspicious to the police, but there was another card to play…

Sakura snickered to herself as she put the car in drive.

Naruto asked, "What's up?"

"Oh, another cover story. I put Kei's badge and some blood napkins I used to wipe his blood with in the apartment's local drug dealer's room. They'll be first suspects and I even added a few more touches so they see a trail to their door. Lovely, no? NCIS make way! A new investigator is in town!"

"You're really scary. Just to let you know." Naruto gulped and lowered the hoodie tighter over his head. "I'm glad you're on the same side."

"You're welcome." She picked a small white car, but nothing had dark-tinted windows in her price range so she made Naruto wear a wig under his hoodie anyway. This way it looked like his bangs were brown. "Now act like a moody teenager who wears hoodies in the daytime. Hopefully no one pays attention to us on the drive." To hide anything noticeable about them, she made sure to tie up her pink hair and wear another black wig she had. "Thank god I picked up cosplay as a hobby."

"Speaking of which, I know you said you only packed essentials in the boxes, but what's with the last box?"

"Essential."

"But —"

"Essential." Sakura's voice lowered and Naruto shut up.

"G-Gotcha, boss!"

Sakura grinned. She packed clothes, some food, important documents and so on. But in the last box…was her favorite cosplay outfits and yaoi and drama CD's. Unfortunately, she couldn't fit more and didn't want to make 5 trips to bring down her entire collection, so she had to sacrifice quite a few treasures. God damn Kei making her go on the run. Maybe she should have killed him after all.

Whatever. She could always buy more in Tokyo.

Sakura turned out of the underground parking lot and quickly scanned the main street area. Although she tried hard to see if she could notice anything different among the pedestrians, she couldn't sense anything much. "Hey, without doing anything extra, can you see if you sense this chakra thing? To see whose nearby. Don't overdo it in case they notice."

"Right." Naruto did as told, but after five minutes…"I sensed a couple around the corner, but there aren't as much as last night. Maybe everyone's at their day jobs?" He didn't know if shinobi made any money in the modern world. Maybe they do fight clubs?

"That or some are really good at hiding. As long as no one follows us, we're good. Thanks."

Without acting up or showing fear, she calmly drove following the speed limit and soon after finally made it out of Fukuoka in one piece. "Phew. Any changes?"

"Nope! Nobody that I could sense followed us."

"Good. It seems that they don't expect you to have help. Which makes sense if they did a background check and learned you were a loner."

"Gee, thanks."

"I'm kinda the same. Don't worry, you got me now." Sakura smiled.

"…!" Naruto stared at her bright face under the sun, her blazing green eyes and open nature and just cried. "Sakura…!" He wailed. For the first time in his life, he felt not alone. In fact, it was weird. He felt like he knew her for a long time even though they just met. How strange…This feeling…This must be…Be… "This must be the feeling of kindred spirit! Loners think alike!"

"Now we sound pathetic!" Sakura frowned, but laughed. "Let's just call it destiny. Now, are you clear on the plan in Tokyo?"

"Yes. I'll be a bum on your couch while you work. You can call me housedad —"

"I'll kill you now."

"Kidding! I'll keep a low profile while you rent an airbnb and we try to find out clues to shinobi territory around Tokyo before picking a place. Anything away from the Kagura Clan ideally. Far, far away. But do we even know any shinobi clan names? I only watched Dragonball Z and One Piece." Naruto scratched his head. "This sounds hard."

"Hey, I suck at history, too! But we gotta try to find hints. If we can't escape them as civilians, we must get stronger to protect ourselves. Even if I'm not outed as an accomplice, they won't stop chasing after you if you're a prized demon or whatever."

"What about asking a dojo?"

Sakura snorted. "How old are you? You want me to go to a judo dojo and ask if there's a secret fight club for people with chakra? Might as well turn ourselves in and notify Kei!"

"Ok, I get it. Sheesh, so feisty. Do you have an idea of where to start?"

"Of course. Us." Sakura glanced at him then back on the road. "We have chakra in our bodies and we can weild it to great force. You saw what I did. There's got to be a clue in our family histories. Luckily for me, my mother is alive even though we aren't on good terms at all. And…You said you were an orphan, so we can look at your history later. There has to be a clue in our pasts."

Naruto nodded. "I agree. But where's your mom?"

"A retirement home on the outskirts of Tokyo. My dad's insurance covers her bills so I don't have that burden."

"…Burden? Sorry, I don't mean to pry."

"Let's just say, there's a reason I am used to getting hit."

"Oh."

"It's not a big deal. I am grateful for it now since it helped me not get shocked when Kei attacked. I always learned a few useful skills along the way." Sakura smiled big. "See? Gratitude is progress. There is always a silver lining and good lessons come out of dark times." Like she was reciting motivational speeches, she spoke.

"Still…" Naruto whispered, "You don't have to force yourself around me. It's okay you don't like her. I may have lost my parents, but I loved them as they loved me. It is unfortunate what happened to you whatever it is, but know I am glad you're here."

"…" Sakura's hands clenched the wheel as the smile slowly slid off her face. "…I'm glad you understand."

"Will you be okay? Visiting…"

"Of course. She isn't that old, but you see. I was unplanned. She was insane. And I don't know what happened exactly, but one night I came home…she aged a lot and my father was but a husk on the ground. So please." Sakura's tears fell unconsciously as she was forced to remember those times. Those times she wanted to leave in Tokyo. "Don't feel sorry for dragging me into this Kei business. I feel like this shinobi business was something I was running from for a long time. It must be fate."

One year ago, she left Tokyo. Left everybody. As they drove, Sakura recalled how the man opened up about his past and if they were to work together, she couldn't hide everything. So she began her story while Naruto listened in silence. "I only moved to Fukuoka for a year. A year ago, I was miserable, but it was bearable and I lived on my own. Then it all changed and I was too late. By the time I found my parents, my mother was already senile and father dead. Nobody could find the cause. It was like a life force was sapped from them. It couldn't be explained by science and my mother was too out of it to tell. She was abusive and yelling before, but now she just talks gibberish. Still, on a rare occassion, she seemed to have her mind together. If I could get my mother to explain what happened that night, maybe there'd be a clue to how we have chakra and others don't. Maybe our family has secret ways of honing this power hidden away. So that's where we'll head first."

At first, Naruto didn't know what to say, but then he nodded solemnly. "That is a good plan. You've fought hard." He reached out to grasp her shoulder reassuredly. "We'll find the truth, Sakura. This can't all be a coincidence. Together, we'll figure this out. Believe it."

Sakura gulped back more tears that she didn't know she still had. Even though she kept her eyes on the road, it was like a dam broke and all her repressed feelings erupted out of her. Everything she held back when she ran away, came back with a vengeance. It was a long drive until she smiled. "…Believe it."

Past issues aside, this was about survival. As long as she thought of it like that, she could face her mother. Everyone in life had pain and everything was about survival.

She didn't need love to survive. But now she had one true friend. A man she just met who felt as familiar as if he'd been her brother. A man who almost died to try to save her.

There really was some good in the darkness after all. And so the two reflected in silence as the forests and highways past by. Hours later, after driving non-stop, the duo finally reach Tokyo.

Sakura drove up to a quiet neighborhood and on top of the hill was a small retirement home. She parked outside and faced Naruto. "We only have the car for a few days and then I have to drop it off at a lot somewhere here. So I'll go talk with my mother now and save a trip. Will you be okay or do you want to come in?"

"You work fast." Naruto scanned the area, but he couldn't sense anyone with unusual energy like last night. "I should be fine here." He also didn't know how to face her mother after the story she told him. No. It was best he didn't see that woman's face. "I'm here whenever you need me." He smiled big and cheerful and Sakura smiled back.

"Thanks. I'll be back soon."

After Sakura left, his smile fell and he had to hold his arms down as they trembled. Taking deep breaths, he forced himself to cool down or he might give away their location with energy spikes or something. Breathe in…out…in….

It was strange, why did he feel this angry? He was not new to tragedy, but this depth of rage was new. It was as if his sister were attacked and he was helpless. Where did this strong sense of trust come from? Sure she saved him and he was grateful, but this feeling was way more intense than gratitude or loyalty. It wasn't romantic either.

He looked curiously at the door of the retirement home Sakura gone through. "Whatever this feeling is, I can't ignore it. I need to control this chakra thing. It's the only thing protecting us." He recalled the way she fought and her super strength and the way she knocked out Kei.

She protected him. He owed her his life. That was all he needed to know to want to protect her. "Maybe there is some good in the bad like she said."

For the first time in is life, Naruto Uzumaki, an office drone stolen from his home living a life between bars, felt he had a purpose.

"I'll become stronger."

…

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AUTHOR NOTE:

Yo. So now Sakura needs to try get clues out of her mom who, even while sane, hates her. Will this be a wasted trip?

Anyway, this draft was mostly done so posting now. It'll be a couple weeks or so until I can get to another random chap fyi. And I hope to get Sasuke in the meet ups soon lolol maybe then or later haha

I hope you enjoy this story and happy holidays. Stay safe. Eat well. Love good families or friends or if nothing else, good fanfic :P

Please review and let me know if you like how the story flows.

Tata for now,

WitchySkies