XX||.
As Sakura waits in line to administer for the new Chunin Exams, she spots someone amongst the crowd that piques her interest. Purple hair. Lilac jacket. She knows who it is as soon as she lays her eyes on her.
"Wait, Hinata, is that you?" She asks from behind her back, hand on her shoulder. "Oh! Um, hi, Sakura-chan!" The Hyuga says, turning around to face her. "Y - you took me by surprise. Gomen-ne." For someone who had lost her crush, the young woman seemed to be in relatively fine condition. The fact that she wasn't stuttering or freaking out was quite a feat indeed, for someone as shy as her.
"So? You've heard all about me?" Sakura asks with a smug smile. "Like, how no one seemed to know where I was for awhile? As if I had just," she used an exaggerated hand expression,"disappeared from the face of the Earth?" She was mentally giving herself a pat on the back, expecting high praise from the shy shinobi. The blushing girl nods. "Mmhmm! It's been a long time since I've last seen your face around here. Might I ask, where were you, Sakura-chan?" Not wanting to spare all the details, Sakura opted to keep it light and simple. "I've just... been busy, that's all. What with Sasuke-kun missing and all sorts of training to catch up on." The purple girl nodded.
"I - I understand. I know that feeling." She sighs, looked down at her clasped hands. "N - Naruto-kun has been missing for so long...everyone in the village seems to have something against him, but. He's so nice and kind to everyone around him; he doesn't deserve to get kidnapped by the A - Akatsuki!" Even the name sent shivers down her spine. "His heart touches so many p - people, it's amazing. He even stood up against Neji-san! That's why I'm going to do my best, that's my nindo way!" A determined look crosses her face, reminiscent of Naruto when he got his hopes high. Sakura cast a sympathetic smile, remembering how he'd never give up, no matter what.
"It's because of Naruto-kun that I can believe in myself...I will do everything I can to bring him back, because he is my friend. The last time I'd seen him, I - I didn't even get to say goodbye!" Her lower lip trembles as she blabbers on and on about him, burying her face in her hands, and sobbing.
Seeing her fellow kunoichi about to cry, Sakura placed a reassuring hand on her arm. "It's OK, Hinata! He'll come back soon. I promise." If anything, it seemed that Hinata was going to burst out into tears at any moment. Trying to lighten her up, she says, "It still feels like yesterday when we were just genin. Crazy, huh?" Hinata hummed in agreement and then shakily went to take her test from the podium.
"T - thank you, Sakura-chan. It really means a l - lot to me that you c - care."
'Anytime,' she waves with a smirk, before she feels a shove from behind. "You're holding up the line!" Some random guy shouts from their back and forth chatter. "I - I'm so sorry, excuse me!" Turning to the Haruno, she whispers back, "Well, erm, good luck!"
'The chunin exams, huh.' Sakura thinks, green eyes scanning the other desks. Might as well give it a try.
"I passed!"
The girl looked like she was going to pass out any second, as she stood in the doorway. The way her body swayed back and forth and her cross-eyed look. 'She looks like she's seen better days.' The blonde woman, Tsunade, notes to herself, standing tall with her hands on her hips. "Shizune, go get the uniform for me."
Her assistant nods and hurries back, holding out a green flax jacket for the Haruno to wear.
"Haruno Sakura. You have done well to earn the title of a jounin, if you so wish," the older woman muses from the sidelines. "The journey to becoming a medical ninja is a challenging one. But after our time healing together a few days ago, I knew... you were unlike any other medical student I had had before. Your skills in medical jutsu seemed unmatched compared to theirs. That is why I shall reward you for your efforts as a healer in training."
"Good luck."
Tsunade sits at her desk, sipping on some sake. As soon as all the other teams arrive in a POOF! of smoke, she announces gravely from her desk,
"Now that all of you are jounin, standing here before me, there is an announcement I want to make. You have all worked hard to get here. Each and every single one of you." All of the teams nod to themselves, with Rock Lee and Mighty Guy doing a thumbs-up.
"That said, there is still one thing I wish to address. Something serious that has all plagued your minds for three years. I'm sure you might have an inkling as to what I'm talking about. There is a missing boy, who has disappeared off the face of the Earth. His name is Naruto Uzumaki. "
All of them took a moment of silence, recalling what little time they had with the blonde boy. Brash, brave, and a heart of gold. And yet, it was one of the best times they had ever had with him around. Having him missing made everyone mourn for his loss.
"I'd like for all of you to scout the areas by any means necessary."
"But, he could be anywhere!" A brunette, Tenten, argues. "We've searched high and low for three years, and yet, have we ever seen any signs of him? No. It's hopeless. Why try when he could be in hiding?"
"It is as she says. It would be unwise to send us to search for him in the Leaf all over again." Neji agreed stiffly. "If he's not in the Land of Fire, then it's a possibility he's in another country entirely." The hokage had her hand over her head rubbing her temples and the other holding onto a feather pen hovering over a parchment of paper. Looking up, her amber eyes looked so fierce that all of them took a step back.
"Alright, all of you, listen up! I'm sending each and every squad to a seperate elemental nation on the request of the Hokage. Check every hidden village if you have to! He has to be somewhere...I refuse to believe that brat is dead!" She slammed her fist on the table, alarming the teens all around her. "And even if the boy is...he at least deserves a proper burial. I won't let his corpse rot out in the middle of nowhere!"
'He is our last and only hope...' Tsunade thinks to herself. 'And a Jinchuriki of our village. Wherever he is, we will do whatever it takes to save him. That is my promise to you, Minato's son.'
With a newfound resolve, they all left the office.
"You're at his tail, you're almost there!"
'Thanks, Kurama.' Naruto adds in internally, his Akatsuki robes flying behind him as he sped off after the small, black kit. "Gotcha!" Naruto held onto the small fox with a grin. 'Huh?' The kit cooed and cooed and cooed, it's howl heard throughout the field of snow and white bark birch trees. Naruto held his breath and squinted, as something surreal and dreamlike walks through the snow.
A great white fox - A Kitsune - comes into the clearing, it's fur coated in ice droplets and blood. Behind them, there were bloody footprints from who knows where. But, the serene creatures stands before him in all it's glory; quite unlike anything from this world.
"Naruto Uzumaki..." It says, as a wind whishes past them them. It's red eyes stare down at him, with a small glint of light. "Son of the Fourth. Distant descendant of Hashirama Senju..."
"I am the Spirit of Wind and Fire, Fujinkasai (風神火災). But my brother, Futenmizu (風神水), has fallen ill of his power. Since thee be the son of the Sealing Master, Minato Namikaze, I shall gift thee his powers. Only those from the Land of Whirlpools - Uzushiogakure - know of this special technique. But, it, too, has been long forgotten and destroyed in fear of it spreading to other countries around the world. Thee are the last one to harness it's power..." Naruto's eyes widen, and a holy light covers the Kitsune like a shroud. "I shall grant thee the long forgotten power: Fuuinjutsu. A technique taught only to thou."
A fire whirlwind swirled all around the Uzumaki's body, enveloping him in flames. He looks down at himself, mouth agape. 'Wow...'
"Start by sealing this Kit into thy scroll."
The blonde did as he was told. Folding his forefingers together, he activated the jutsu. "Fuuinjutsu: Kai!" He commanded. The small, black Kit had disappeared into a POOF! of smoke and into the scroll itself. "This is so...COOL!" Naruto gushes to himself, "With this, I'm, like, ten times more awesome than that cranky ol' bastard. Nya hah ha haha!" He instantly regrets making himself heard, when a rustle of snow nearby alerts the both of them. The Kitsune turns to him.
"I shall go, now. Thy friends await."
"See anything, yet?" Sakura, Hinata, and Sai were all on the lookout for a blonde ninja
"My Byakugan can see up to ten meters, now... but I still don't see him." Hinata shook her head, leaping branch to branch. 'I've always chased after you...even now.' She thinks, with her face crinkling up, 'please be OK, wherever you are...'
Sensing a spike of chakra coming out from somewhere down below. Once she saw who it was, she couldn't believe her eyes. "N - Naruto-kun?" She asks carefully, hopping down from one of the trees with eyes wide, her team following soon after. It was him.
