Chapter 2

Subtitle: A Stranger's Fiery Will

In the Hokage's office, Kakashi, Naruto and Sai stood lined up in front of Tsunade's desk.

"Alright Kakashi, this better be good. Just what road to life did you manage to get your team lost on that you wound up in that no name village rescuing our still nameless patient?"

The silver haired Jounin chuckled lightly, a whimsical eye crease quickly following. "Actually, we were on our way back to the village after successfully completing our mission when we heard a loud blast off in the distance. We immediately went to investigate and that's when we found the vandals."

"Vandals?"

"Most were defacing property. But there were two who were setting buildings on fire," Sai answered in his normal inflectionless tone. "Kakashi-sempai and I went after them. They were easily subdued."

"Naruto, I suspect you were the one to find her," Tsunade prodded.

"Hai, Baa-chan," the normally exuberant voice now sounded quite solemn. A thin blonde eyebrow was quirked at Naruto's quiet demeanor.

"There were several young women in the building. The screams…she was the only I could get out alive." The young ninja's forehead creased at the memory as his body language revealed a slight tremor. "The first thing I heard were the screams," Naruto recounted. "Then the smell of smoke and ash and something worse filled my nose. It was horrible. I ran into the building as the wind began to fan the flames higher.

Flashback

Dense smoke hung thick and pungent in the entryway. A middle aged woman lay in a heap on the floor, a young child huddled near her but no breath remained in either of them. As the blond quickly made his way through what was apparently a small hotel, he began sweeping the rooms trying to find survivors before the fire could burn their bodies and force his own retreat.

"Is anyone here? If you can hear me, make some noise and let me know you're alive," the blond yelled as he stepped over more corpses.

He entered a room only to find a very pregnant redhead seemingly asleep. She never knew what hit her. The smoke most likely suffocated her in her sleep, the blond thought to himself.

"He…he…help," A small voice panted out. Instantly the orange clad ninja was bent over a small girl in a soot stained dress, desperately clinging to life. "Hot," she said.

It was at the moment the blond noticed the heat. The kyuubi's burning chakra was so much more intense that the fire's heat barely registered. But her skin was already blistered and peeling. Scooping her up, he brought her a safe distance away from the hotel before returning to the blaze. Running with chakra induced speed, the nin made his way to the second floor, stepping over several more bodies that succumbed too soon for his help. He noticed that all of the victims were women and children. It was then that a loud crash sounded signifying the loss of the buildings' structural integrity.

End Flashback

A painful grimace wracked Naruto's normally jovial features. "The screams…three women had been trying to get several infants out of the blaze but when the wall collapsed…" Naruto could see the images of the poor babies who never had a chance, as pieces of the building broke their tiny bones. "The woman in the hospital was doing her best to keep that portion of the wall from crushing the baby beneath her. She screamed at me to take the boy in between coughing fits. I grabbed them both from the rubble and rushed outside. The building collapsed and no one still inside survived."

"The child Naruto first brought out was dead before he returned. The baby expired shortly thereafter," Kakashi stated matter-of-factly.

"Hmm, this young woman is stronger than I first thought, especially for a civilian," the Godaime concluded.

"That's good considering the hard road ahead of her," Kakashi mused. "I can't imagine what the loss of a child could do to a young mother."

"The baby wasn't hers," Sakura explained from the back of the room. "I did a thorough exam. She's never given birth," the kunoichi added as she closed the door and made her way to Naruto's side.

She fought so hard, I thought for sure the boy was her son, Naruto thought to himself. A small hand made its way to his orange and black clad back. The stress visibly left his shoulders with Sakura's reassuring touch. Something not missed by either of the adults in the room.

"Sakura," Tsunade asked. "How long until our patient is able to speak?"

"Her voice is returning quickly but her throat is still rough. Um, also, Japanese isn't her first language. I asked her to write her name," at that moment she produced the sheet of paper from earlier and handed it to her mentor.

"Hm," Tsunade scrutinized the script. "Kakashi, have you ever seen anything like this," she asked, passing the piece of paper to the Jounin.

Hatake took the scrap of paper with seemingly little interest as he halfway examined it. "I can't say that I know the language, but I may know someone who does."

"It is probably of little consequence. She is definitely a civilian and people who move to other countries are not that rare. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon we will have some answers. Dismissed."

Once outside the Hokage tower, Kakashi disappeared into a puff of smoke. Naruto was still uncharacteristically solemn, as he turned in the direction of his home and even Sai was becoming concerned for his teammate.

"Naruto, I have to finish my shift. Do you mind if I stopped by later," Sakura called after him.

The blond genin didn't even answer, just shrugged his shoulders as he continued on his way.

"Kuso," Sakura swore under her breath.

"It would appear that Naruto is pretty bad off right now, especially if you resort to foul language."

"I think Naruto is questioning how an absolute stranger could fight so hard for a baby that wasn't even hers. While no one in this village seemed to do more than act civil toward him while cursing him behind his back. He was orphaned at birth, you know. Yet, I think he feels like no one really gave a damn about him, ever, in his younger days."

"Shit."

"Yeah," Sakura concurred, then flinched as her newest teammate laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It will be okay. You'll help him. You always do," Sai said before taking his leave. Then calling over his shoulder, he added, "if I were you, I would see about dickless as soon as possible, huh, ugly?"

Just when I think that retard is making progress, Sakura thought with a smirk.

The sun was beginning to set when Sakura knocked on Naruto's door. "Naruto," she called. "Naruto?" Tired of waiting, her shift had been a long one, she twisted the knob to find the door unlocked. Oh, I guess he knew I was on my way. Stepping inside and removing her sandals, Sakura craned her neck to survey the damage that was Naruto's place. No damage control needed. Everything was neat and in order, surprisingly. Maybe he's taking things better than I thought.

But that was when she heard it. The light sobs that she recognized from after their last failed attempt to retrieve Sasuke. As upbeat as her best friend normally was, she was all too aware of how his self esteem wavered precariously from time to time. As much as he'd been through in his 15 years of life, there were only so many fake smiles that he could muster. Eventually, even Naruto would crack.

With a speed even Sakura didn't realize she possessed, she was at her teammate's side, cradling his head to her shoulder and wiping gently at his tear soaked face. "Naruto, I can only imagine how much all of this hurts. You have such a big heart and you hold all the pain in, and have so many of us fooled. But, you know what? I recognize when your smile doesn't reach your eyes. You don't have to always be so strong."

"Sa-Sa-ku-kura-ch-chan," was all he could get out before a fresh set of tears spilled forth and new sobs wracked through him.

"Naruto-kun, that's it," she spoke oh so gently. "Let it out. Let it all out," she said while stoking his wild blond hair.

To Naruto, it seemed as though her sweet words broke down any tiny bit of resolve he had left. Wrapping his arms around her, as if she were the very breath of life, Naruto clung to the kunoichi. And then, she did what came natural to her in this situation; she kissed the top of his head, began humming a soothing tune, and rocked him, gently.

"Sakura-chan, wh-what are y-you doing?" Tears dried on his face as he began to pull away.

"I-I was just trying to comfort you," Sakura said, a bit shocked at his reaction. He isn't used to being so close to someone, so vulnerable with someone. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she said, lowering her gaze.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto spoke as he removed himself from her embrace. Standing, he cupped her cheek in his large hand and smiled down at her with the most sincere smile she'd seen on him in ages. "Don't be sorry. It isn't your fault."

"Still…I should've known better, we are teammates after all." Sakura began picking herself up off the floor when she found Naruto's strong hands on her arms, helping her up. She looked up just in time to see her best friend, her teammate biting his lip and gazing upon her in the most loving way. The intensity of those blue eyes was startling.

"Sakura-chan, you're an angel, you know that? I don't know how you've put up with us. The Teme has no idea the precious gem he left behind. You've had to put up with an emo, a perv, a social retard, and a basket case. And you do it with a smile," he said incredulously.

Sakura hid the internal flinch at the reference to Sasuke. Truth was, she really hadn't figured out how to exorcise the pain he'd left her with. "Whatever," Sakura said, a bit confused and trying to get passed the awkward feeling Naruto's words gave her. "You guys are my teammates, my friends. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're all alright. And that Naruto, is all thanks to you. You've inspired a lot of us. Just one step closer to becoming Hokage, I suppose."

Naruto visibly blushed at her compliment. Rubbing the back of his blond head, he sputtered as he attempted to find his words, causing the pink haired kunoichi to inwardly giggle.

"Well, Naruto, I'd better be on my way." As Sakura moved passed her teammate to head to the door, a curious thing happened. Something that made her head spin and caused her to feel completely surreal.

As two tanned arms found themselves around her trim waist, she clearly heard Naruto's voice say something to her. Warm ramen-scented breath played against the nape of her neck triggering an unintentional shudder. It took several moments for her head to clear only to replay Naruto's words. The first word, however had a certain Sharingan users voice superimposed over Naruto's.

"Arigato, Sakura-chan."

One little word was all it took, and she was right back in the moment that Sasuke had quickly stepped behind her. Replaying the feel of his breath against her neck and his nearness to her seemed to bring with it all the preteen angst and pain that the Uchiha put her through. The only difference was that she would not be knocked unconscious this time.

"Gomen, Naruto, but I really should be going." Sakura was a blur of pink as she wrenched her way out of the blond's embrace, grabbed her shoes and was out the door.

Thus leaving a thoroughly befuddled Naruto to realize, I'm just never gonna understand girls.