Word of Mouth

Even as sunlight filtered in the next morning, Naruto still laid in bed, unmoving. He was surprised though that he didn't feel as sad as he thought he would. Nor did he feel angry. Perhaps this is what one would call feeling numb? Or maybe he was already settling in with the feeling of Sasuke's departure being reality.

"Sasuke is gone," he said aloud, hearing the words to ensure they sank in. "Sasuke is gone and I probably won't see him for a long time." He winced slightly, but otherwise was alright. If he could say it, truly understand the words, and not break down, then he would make it. Besides, Sasuke had accepted his fate with dignity and certainly didn't mope. Naruto wouldn't either.

When the clock struck 8:15, he finally sat up. Taking the ring and necklace on the bedside table with him, he quickly washed up before putting his own clothes back on. The morning was spent cleaning Sasuke's home top to bottom to get a head start on the inevitable dust that would pile up. He also called to have any services to the house suspended (it made him smile that Sasuke had forgotten that and proud that he'd remembered). Finally, with the bed reset, the fridge cleaned out and everything else put away, he locked up Sasuke's apartment, pocketing the key with the cat paw imprint.

As he made his way carefully with the rather large box of food, he saw Kiba heading his direction. To his relief, Kiba caught sight of him as well and instantly jogged over, Akamaru barking a happy welcome.

"What's with all the stuff? Moving?" he asked, going to Naruto's other side to help lift it.

Naruto felt his heart swell that he would help without even being asked. "It's not my stuff…well, actually, it is now. It's…" he hesitated. If he mentioned what happened to Sasuke now, Kiba was likely to drop everything from shock. Besides, he didn't want to explain everything multiple times today. "I'll tell you where I got it from in a bit. I wanna get everyone together first."

Kiba didn't ask who "everyone" was, already knowing it meant their academy classmates. "…Sure, man, that's fine. I mean, it's just food, didn't know it required an audience." He laughed and Naruto felt his own mouth tug up.

With the contents of the box put away in his own house, he figured he'd go ahead and round up the others. It was already getting close to noon and he hoped it'd be easier for everyone to converge over lunch. "Hey, Kiba, if you don't mind, I could use your help with one more thing."

"Gathering everyone?" Kiba said knowingly.

"If it's not too much? We can meet at that barbecue place."

Kiba's ears perked up along with Akamaru's. "Are you gonna be paying…?" he asked eagerly.

With only low-ranking assignments being given out, his finances had slowly been taking a dip, not to mention splurging on yesterday's date night. If he treated everyone, it'd mean reaching into his savings as well. His mother would roll in her grave at such recklessness. "No…sorry. I can't afford it this time. But tell them it's very important."

Kiba frowned at him, while simultaneously raising an eyebrow. "Is it really?"

With complete seriousness, Naruto answered, "It is."

Blowing out a breath, his friend nodded. "Alright, if you say so. I'll take the east side of town, you take the west and we'll meet there in half an hour. Deal?"

Naruto nodded his agreement and the two parties split off. The west side of town would put Sakura, Tenten, Shikamaru and Lee as the one's he'd need to get. He started with Sakura first; she'd be the easiest.

He reached her house just as she was leaving out, the two nearly running into each other. "Morning, Naruto!" she waved and was about to sprint into the air when she saw the expression on his face. "Is there…something wrong?" Then she thought about it. "Is it something with Sasuke again?"

He hated that nearly any communication between them lately seemed to always circle back to him. "Yeah, it's Sasuke. Could you meet me at that restaurant we usually go to? I'm trying to get everyone together first. Kiba's already informing Sai, Ino, Choji, Shino and Hinata."

"Well…mom did ask me to go to the store for her. But that can wait until we're done." Turning in a new direction, she said, "I'll save us a spot!" and set off.

Naruto felt a slight twinge that she'd put news of Sasuke above helping her parents out, but he'd worry about the morality of that later. Continuing on, he got lucky a second time with Shikamaru also being home, and together, the two hunted down Tenten and Lee, who were training.

As they entered the restaurant, a staffer noticed the size of their group and said, "I'm guessing you're part of the other larger party? They informed us ahead of time that there'd be more." The person instantly led them to the back where a room was sectioned off by sliding doors. Upon being opened, Naruto saw that the others were already there, thin slices of meat in the process of being grilled.

Finding themselves a seat, Naruto didn't bother with picking up the menu. He'd been calm before but now, his stomach was in nervous knots.

"So what's the news? Why'd you gather us all here?" Ino asked with the others making noises of agreement.

He wouldn't drag this out. "Sasuke's left the village again."

They blinked at him, waiting. Oh, right, with Sasuke coming and going so much now, that wasn't news to them anymore. "He was actually asked to leave this time."

"And he just did it?" Kiba scoffed. "That doesn't sound much like Sasuke."

"It was Tsunade who gave the order."

Their giggles stopped. "Why would Lady Tsunade ask Sasuke to leave?" Hinata asked timidly.

Choji nodded at her. "Didn't we just bring him back? What the hell was the point if she was just going to send him away again?"

Naruto explained what had happened, but left off parts of the conversation that he'd had with Tsunade. "I know it was the other guy that was being rude, but Sasuke nearly escalated it to physical violence. Throw in how everyone still feels about him and, well…" he trailed off, looking away.

There was a slam on the table that nearly cracked it in half. Sakura had punched it, her hand shaking in anger. "She can't do that! Even if Sasuke threatened violence, there've been plenty of incidents like that! Why should one threat lead to him being banned? I'm going to go talk to her." She began to rise, but Shikamaru spoke out first.

"Naruto's already done that. No offense, Sakura, but if Naruto couldn't convince her, I doubt you'll have much of a chance."

"But—"

"And that's even with taking into consideration that you're her pupil," he added, already preempting what she was going to say.

Lee clenched his fists with his usual face of unwavering determination. "We went after him once before! Let's do it again and make Lady Tsunade allow Sasuke to stay!"

Shikamaru was quiet for a moment though Naruto figured it wasn't because he was thinking that idea over. They'd tried that once before, going after Sasuke after he initially left. The mission had been a failure and as their team leader, Shikamaru had taken it hard.

Instead, Shino quietly spoke for him. "We can't just over-ride her order. Leaving the village without notice ahead of time can be a high offense. Not just that, but we have no idea where Sasuke is going and he already has a lead of half a day on us. Furthermore…would Sasuke even want to come back?"

Without hesitation, Tenten shouted, "Of course! This place is his home!"

"He also once threatened to destroy his 'home'", Sai reminded her, which earned him a scathing look.

Sakura settled in her seat, staring at the fractured table. "So we just have to accept this." She bit her lip, a tear slipping down.

"That's pretty much it," Shikamaru yawned. "It's a drag, but any movement on our end will likely just make things worse. For now, we'll play it by ear and monitor the attitude of the village."

The meat in the center had long since been done, but no one, even Choji, had touched it. Naruto wondered now why he'd chosen to deliver this news over food considering the high chances of it ruining everyone's appetite. Taking the first action to bring everyone back to themselves, he grabbed a slice and nibbled on it, prompting the others to do the same. They ate in silence with vague excuses to leave being made thereafter.

The last people Naruto needed to inform now were Iruka and Kakashi. He knocked on their door only for it to be opened almost immediately. "Hey, there, Naruto!" Iruka greeted him. "Wanna be awesome and assist me with something?" the man smiled.

Naruto reveled in it, considering the depressing atmosphere from before. Iruka seemed to be pulling something heavy through the door and when the man stepped aside, he could see it was a stroller for two. He helped as best he could with fitting it through the doorway and down the porch steps, then helped to situate the twins inside.

"I'm gonna go stir-crazy if I don't get out," Iruka admitted with a sheepish look, beginning to walk. Naruto kept pace beside him. "I'm not used to being inside like that for so long. And now that Kakashi's gone back to work…" A saddened expression crossed his face. Catching himself, he gave another, almost obligatory smile. "Anyways, what brings you over today?"

Iruka already knew the beginning of the story, but he informed him of the final result from when Sasuke had been escorted to Tsunade by the ANBU guard. His teacher let out a disheartened sound. "I've always wanted to do whatever I could to help Sasuke but he's always felt so out of reach."

Naruto's face flickered before he could control it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Iruka apologized and even pulled him in for the briefest of hugs. "I didn't mean for that to be offensive. But I was the homeroom teacher for both of you for most of the time you were at the academy. I watched all of you grow up so you're…almost like my children as well," he blushed. "And as your teacher, it's my job to prepare you for the world outside of school. Considering Sasuke's past, living in the shadow of Itachi both as a prodigy, then after what happened with their clan, Sasuke's always been rather mature for his age. It also came with the unfortunate addition, though, of him being rather aloof."

Naruto could certainly agree with that. Thinking of all the times Sasuke used to ignore him still conjured up those old feelings of not being wanted but also reminded him of how desperately he'd wanted to reach his heart.

Continuing, Iruka said, "After he abandoned the village, I'd hear the reports of the things he'd done and would desperately deny them to myself. Even after I finally had to face reality though, I told myself I wouldn't give up on believing in him. I'd once done that to you; I wasn't going to let that happen again."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei. I'm sure that'd mean a lot to Sasuke," Naruto flushed in pride.

"Well, seems like now more than ever, Sasuke needs as many supporters as possible. I'll pass this on to Kakashi…he's going to be crushed. But he'll try to keep an eye out for Sasuke if he's ever outside of the village. And if he contacts you, let us know so that we know he's safe, okay?"

"Absolutely!" Naruto promised. Waving goodbye, he headed now for the office within the administrative building where he could check on any mission assignments available. Considering the amount of downtime he'd had, there had to be something by now and he was eager for anything that'd keep him busy.

For the time being, all he could do was wait.