A.N. Hi guys! I am so sorry about the late update. I just had a lot of things going on and never found the time to just sit down and write. But thanks for being so patient! Anyway here's the chapter.
-Namikaze
Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. All rights go to Mashashi Kishimoto.
A Pure Cause : Chapter 2
Sasuke opened his eyes with a start, and was slightly disoriented. As soon as he regained his bearings he attempted to sit up. Attempted being the key word. As he flopped back down onto his futon, his mind wandered through the memories of the previous night.
'I didn't escape.' He thought. He then sensed the presence of two other people in the dark cave. Immediately, his guard was up. He turned towards the other two people in the cave and was surprised as he saw his best friend sat up in a futon to his right.
"Naruto..?"
"Morning teme" The blond replied with a smirk. Sasuke was dumbfounded and continued to stare at him.
"You know if you don't stop looking at me like that, I might think you're coming on to me." Naruto said bemusedly. The raven haired gennin glared at his friend and asked,
"Just tell me where we are."
"You are inside a system of tunnels within a mountain in Kumogakure." A different voice answered him. Sasuke's gaze quickly shot towards the hooded man and narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?" He demanded venomously.
"He saved us, Sasuke. His intentions are not harmful." Naruto assured him. Sasuke didn't turn to look at Naruto as he said,
"Answer the question."
The figure continued to stare at him from the shadows his hood provided and then finally answered.
"That is none of your concern right now, Sasuke." The gennin growled,
"How do you know my name?!"
"Because he heard me say it while we where talking.." Naruto deadpanned. The raven haired boy took a moment to calm himself and then asked,
"Why did you save us?"
Itachi remained silent for a moment then replied with,
"My partner has a plan for the two of you." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"What kind of plan?"
"I told you he isn't going to hurt us" Naruto cut in. Sasuke let the subject drop with a sigh, and then lay back down.
Naruto turned towards Itachi.
"Where is your partner?" He asked. Itachi looked towards him,
"He is in the nearest town, gathering the needed supplies." Sasuke's interest peaked.
"Supplies for what?" The young Uchiha asked.
"Our journey of course."
"A journey huh? Where are we going?" Naruto inquired.
"Somewhere" he said. Naruto gave him a blank stare.
"What about Konoha though? We need to return! They probably think we're dead.." he finished quietly.
Sasuke sat up and looked over to his friend.
'He isn't mad that I left, or at least hasn't realized it yet.'
"I made a promise to Sakura," He pointed to Sasuke, "To bring him back!" He exclaimed.
"How am I supposed to do that if I don't even go back?" He said. Itachi stared into the blond's eyes until he finally said,
"You will go back eventually."
Naruto looked at him curiously.
"When?" He asked.
"That's up to my partner." Itachi said.
Ten gennin sat in a restaurant, all of whom where quite solemn. It had been two days since the failure of the Sasuke retrieval mission and most of them had recovered almost completely. They sat in silence as some of them played with their food while others simply stared off into space. These gennin were Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Sakura. All of which were friends with the blond haired idiot. Soon Shikamaru finally stood and payed for the meal. He walked back to the large table and said,
"Come on guys, it'll be sunset soon so we've got to go and see him." A few of them nodded and they left, with their food untouched.
The group were given a wide berth as they walked through the streets. Most of the villagers were disgusted with them for even associating themselves with Naruto. They halted outside of a flower shop owned by Ino's family. The blond girl walked into the shop and went to one of the many racks of flowers. She took a bouquet of white flowers and walked to the counter. She put in some money for the flowers and left quickly before her parents could notice her presence.
She walked to the gennin and nodded to them, and they again kept walking in complete silence. The ten gennin arrived at the base of a hill, on the outskirts of the village, and began to go up it. Sakura was the first to reach the top and slowly walked forward. She stopped right before a grave, with the name 'Uzumaki Naruto' engraved on it. The rookies had the grave stone made privately and although Naruto was not confirmed as dead, they all had no hope of his survival. The rest of them came up behind Sakura as Ino took a flower from the bouquet and handed it to Sakura.
The pink haired girl walked up to the grave and set the flower down on it.
"I'm so sorry Naruto," she whispered, "I'm so sorry I asked you to bring him back. It isn't your fault that he's gone, It's mine. You never got to fulfill your dream."
She started to sob and fell to her knees. Ino rushed in behind her and hugged her trying to calm the pink haired girl down. Ino lead her away so that the other gennin could pay their respects also. As it finally came to Hinata, she burst into tears and had to have Kiba help her place her flower onto the grave. After both Hinata and Sakura had calmed down, and everyone had payed their respects, they left not noticing a masked jounin standing on a tree branch nearby.
'I'm sorry, Naruto.'
A.N. Sorry for the short chapter guys, but I promise the next one will be longer. Please review :D
-Namikaze
