Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Any recognizable characters, locations, and concepts are property of Masashi Kishimoto. There may be times in the story that scenes from the anime Naruto appear in this story, such scenes belong to Kishimoto and those at VIZ media. No copyright infringement is intended, I am just doing this for fun.
Hey guys! Hope everyone is doing well! It's been a while, I know (I got caught up in a manga called Tokyo Ghoul, omg it's fantastic), but I wanted to get out one update before the end of the year (good lord, I'm cutting it close), so here we are!
Once again! Thanks for the reviews! There are still a couple of you I have to reach out to, but I will get that done (most likely tomorrow). Enjoy!
Chapter 3
"Sakura-chan..."
"Sakura-chan..."
"Sakura-chan...wake up Sakura-chan..."
She opened her eyes...Naruto's smiling face looked down at her...Those eyes...how she missed those eyes. The pools of sapphire twinkle brightly, drawing her in. She couldn't look away. She leaned in, his luscious lips getting closer...
Her eyes snapped open. That dream again. It wasn't the first time she had that dream, or other dreams with Naruto present. Even after he died over three years ago, the blonde haired boy continued to watch over her. Keep her company. Be a part of her life. He even changed with her. As she grew, so did he. At first, in her dreams, Naruto was the little boy she remembered. But then he grew. He became taller, more rugged, with a perfectly toned chest, and a beautifully sculpted face, and those eyes. Damn those beautiful eyes. More than once had she dreamed what that body could have done to her, what that face could have done to her, all the places where those lips could bring her pleasure. And more than once had she woken up hot and bothered with wet panties...she loved those dreams. She got to see Naruto again. Treasure the warmth he brought to her life. She got to see that smile again. That foxy smile that lit her heart ablaze and sent butterflies soaring through her stomach.
And then she felt guilty after waking up from having those dreams. Naruto was dead, and she didn't realize how much she needed him until after his passing.
She noticed the alarm clock buzzing.
'Damn alarm clock. That dream could have gone so much farther...'
She reached for the alarm clock and turned it off. It was six in the morning, Sakura was an early riser, working at the hospital meant that she had to be up at the crack of dawn. Her shifts usually didn't start until nine, but she liked to get a little training in beforehand so she had to wake up early and go before work, she was always too exhausted to train after work. She smiled to herself as she thought of how Naruto would have still been sleeping at this hour, he would never have woken up this early. She remembered the day she got the news that Naruto died…
She was anxious. Incredibly anxious. It had been over 20 hours since she last saw Naruto. Shikimaru, Choji, Neji, Lee, and Kiba (and his ninja hound partner, Akamaru) had all been brought back by a scouting party, with the aid of Kakashi-sensei's ninja hounds and Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, who had been sent for by Tsunade in a request for assistance. They were all in bad shape, Neji, Kiba, Akamaru, and Choji had nearly died and were undergoing emergency procedures to keep them alive. Shikimaru didn't need much medical treatment, it was his mental state that was causing him trouble. It was his mission to lead, and three of his comrades got critically injured on his watch. It only made it worse that there was no sign of either Naruto or Sasuke yet, Kakashi-sensei hadn't returned.
"Hey, don't worry Sakura-chan! It'll be alright! I can see how much you care about Sasuke. I'll bring him back! I promise! It's the promise of a lifetime! Believe it!" He gave his signature huge goofy grin and a thumbs up. Lee had said that was the "nice-guy pose." It meant that he wouldn't fail her. But she couldn't help the sinking pit in her stomach. She felt an incredible amount of fear. It threatened to overwhelm her.
She was walking to the Hokage's tower to check and see if there was any report of what had happened. After a couple of minutes, she finally reached the stairs on the side of the building and started to climb her way up and inside the tower. She walked around a curved hallway and arrived in front of the Hokage's door. She knocked once before hearing a gruff reply.
"Come in!" a voice said. Sakura twisted the handle and walked in.
"What do you wan-…Oh. It's you." said Tsunade. Sakura looked at the Sannin turned Hokage. She was everything that Sakura wanted to be as a Kunoichi. Strong, intelligent, and beautiful. Not to mention she had a huge rack. Sakura secretly prayed that she would be able to fill out like the Hokage did later in her years. It might help her to impress Sasuke-kun and gain his favor over that stupid Ino-pig. Sakura stopped her deliberations and took regained her focus on her surroundings. Standing in the circular room along the wall to the left of the Hokage was Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, one of the Legendary Sannin along with Tsunade and Orochimaru. He was tall and very muscular. Normally people described him as a very cheerful man, albeit a bit (try a lot) perverted. He displayed none of those features on his face though, as he stared out one of the windows in a row that wrapped around the room. Sakura thought she could see a tear. She looked back at the Hokage and saw the hazel eyes laced with red. Why were they crying? Someone to the right of Sakura cleared their throat, gaining her attention.
"Kakashi-sensei! You're back! Where's Sasuke-kun? Is he back? Is he okay? And Naruto? I bet that idiot is okay too, right?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"Sakura…" Her smile slowly faded as she heard the tone in his voice. It was not one of cheerfulness, as one would expect from recovering teammates. She immediately began to worry. That feeling she had on the walk to the Hokage tower started to surface again…
"Kakashi-sensei…What's going on? Where's Sasuke-kun? And Naruto? Did they get beat up bad? Are they in the hospital?"
Kakashi stared, trying to say the words that he had to, but they wouldn't come out of his mouth. Tsunade noticed and sighed.
"Sakura. The mission was a failure. Sasuke succeeded in escaping our borders. He should be in Orochimaru's custody at the present." she said.
Tears threatened to fall from Sakura's eyes. "No…Sasuke-kun can't…Naruto promised! He promised that he would bring Sasuke-kun back! HE wouldn't fail! He prom-"
"Enough!" growled Jiraiya. The first word he said since Sakura stepped in was only a whisper, but the weight it carried was more powerful than if he had yelled it. "It's time to stop thinking about that traitor."
"Traitor? Sasuke-kun is not a traitor! Take that back! He is not a trait-"
"Sasuke Uchiha is a traitor to Konaha! He defected from the village to join Orochimaru, and killed a Konoha ninja in the process. He doesn't deserve tears, or sympathy. So knock it off!" Jiraiya said.
"Jiraiya!" Tsunade whispered heatedly, glaring at her longtime friend and teammate.
"What? She was going to find out sooner or later. Might as well be now, from us, rather than some third party. It might help her get her head out of her ass and see that Uchiha brat for what he really is."
Sakura wasn't really paying attention to Jiraiya's last statement though. She was busy trying to wrap her head around what he had said previously… "Killed a Konoha ninja?" she said, looking around. "What do you mean? Shikimaru, Choji, Neji, Kiba and Akamaru, and even Lee are all back! They're all in the hospital! Who did he-" Her eyes widened in realization. Tears that threatened to fall before spilled out over her cheeks and down her face freely now. Her hand covered her mouth. "No…"
"Yeah…." Kakashi stated. "Sasuke…killed Naruto."
"It can't be…he wouldn't…Naruto can't be…" She looked around at Tsunade and Jiraiya. Tsunade had both of her eyes shut, tears falling as she silently cried. Jiraiya had a grimace on his face as he looked out the window next to him. A lone tear fell from Kakashi's uncovered eye as he continued on.
"I got there too late. There were signs of a large fight. I found Naruto's body laying by a tree covered in flames. There was a hole right under his heart, made by a Chidori…I used the sharingan just in case, and the chakra signature of the body matched Naruto's. Sasuke killed Naruto." He raised in his hand a headband. Naruto's headband.
Sakura fell to her knees and cried.
She stared at her alarm clock, reminiscing. It was…hard…after that. Her world came crashing down around her ears. She sobbed for what seemed like hours, and somehow she found herself in her bedroom. She didn't leave her bedroom for days, her mother was worried because she barely ate anything during that time. A week had passed before she had finally left her house. She had ran in to her academy sensei, Iruka Umino, and from him she learned that the council members, much to the delight of a large portion of the village, didn't even allow Naruto a burial. She had wandered her way to the memorial close to where Team 7 trained and stopped in front of it, barely noticing Shikimaru and Kakashi. She stood for what seemed like hours in front of the memorial, dedicated to those heroes of Konoha that had died in the line of duty. While many in the village considered Sasuke Uchiha a hero for finally ridding them of that demon trash, there she was, honoring Naruto as her hero. She remembered turning away without a word, and Shikimaru getting angry. It was the only time she had ever seen him so animated. It was a strange experience.
"That's it? You're not even going to say anything?"
"No."
"He died for you, and you aren't even going to say goodbye? Our entire class had knew he had a crush on you, and he died because he had a crush on you, and you aren't even going to give him the time of day, even after he's dead?" he choked. Sakura looked back at Shikimaru, only to see him in tears. He wasn't doing well either. Naruto died on his watch, under his command.
"…No…" she said, walking away.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because…"
"Because what? Don't tell me you've been listening to that garbage the villagers are spewing! Don't you dare tell me you think that Sasuke is some kind of hero now, even more so than you troublesome fangirls did in the academy! Why the hell are you walking away from him?!"
"Because…" she voiced softly. She started to tremble. Each breath made it a little harder to breathe. Tears began to spill out of her eyes and down her cheeks. "…because I don't deserve it…" Kakashi looked down at his only student with sadness, his visible eye showing understanding. He had felt the same all these years…
"What?" Shikimaru questioned.
"…I don't deserve to say goodbye to him like this. I'm too weak. I sent him out there and he died trying to fulfill a promise he made to me, because I wasn't strong enough to do it myself. He was nothing but nice to me, but I was only ever mean to him. I only ever belittled him and hit him, and pushed him away to try to gain the favor of someone that didn't ever care about anybody but himself. I don't deserve to say goodbye to someone like him. Not like I am now…"
Sakura had left then, heading back home. She spent a couple of days in her room again before venturing out. The scene had made her sick. Decorations were still hung around parts of the village from the impromptu festival thrown by a large portion of the villagers in honor of the day the demon child was exterminated by the Uchiha 'hero'. She walked through the streets, disgusted, as she pondered what Naruto had ever done to deserve the hatred of the villagers. Her disgust was intensified even more when she was approached by a group of people wondering what it was like to be on the same squad with the village 'hero'. Sakura remembered walking away without a word, tears threatening to fall as she thought of their cruelty. She had made her way to the Hokage tower, hoping to ask the Hokage for a favor.
She stood in that circular room once again, occupied by the same people as when she had been here just over a week ago.
"Train me."
"…" Tsunade looked at Kakashi. Kakashi stared at Sakura. He had told the Hokage that she would want to be trained. She knew the motives behind the request, but she wanted to hear for herself. Hazel eyes met emerald.
"Train me."
"Why?"
"So I can earn the right to say 'Goodbye'."
Tsunade had taken her under her wing then, and Sakura began training. The training was tough, the Hokage was a slave driver. There were times when Sakura was drilled so hard in physical training that she couldn't move, or had to read so much text on the medical field that the room would spin due to mental exhaustion. She was pushed to the brink time and time again.
But there was one constant through it all. During the times where she felt close to giving up, when she felt that she could go no further, when she could read no more, she saw him, smiling at her, sapphire eyes glowing. Sometimes it was just a smile, sometimes it was a hand on her shoulder, sometimes it was a soft "Sakura-chan" and she would feel his warmth, and she would press on.
His warmth. That's what she missed the most. The warmth that oozed out of those bright blue eyes and that goofy smile of his. The "Sakura-chan" that was reserved for him and him alone. Nobody else would ever be allowed to call her that. In months that followed his death, she had often looked back to the time she spent crying in her room. She thought about it, and she realized that not one tear was ever shed for Sasuke. Not one second did she ever mourn him, not one second did she feel anything toward him but anger. As the days had passed by, she realized that it wasn't ever Sasuke that had made her days bright and sunny, it was Naruto. How stupid could she have been to think that Sasuke, that cold, heartless, son of a bitch Sasuke was the one that gave her that warmth. She had pushed what Naruto gave her onto Sasuke. How naïve. The only time she had ever felt any kind of warmth around Sasuke was when he complimented her forehead on the bench on the day that Team 7 first met. The compliment itself was something along the lines Naruto would say, not Sasuke. She had wondered if it was actually Naruto that day, transformed as Sasuke. She would never be able to find out though. Not anymore. She wouldn't be able to tell him how much he meant to her. She didn't deserve to, anyway. Not in her mind.
She remembered the day, a couple months after his death, on his birthday, that she had realized she had fallen in love with the knucklehead. She had been thinking about him when it hit her like a ton of bricks out of nowhere. She was in love with Naruto Uzumaki. But he was dead. Since his death, Ino had tried to set her up with a couple boys as they got older. But she wasn't ever interested. She would never be. Not unless they had sun-kissed blonde hair, sapphire eyes, the biggest, goofiest grin on the face of the planet, all topped off with whisker marks on his cheeks. No, there could be no one else.
Sakura climbed out of bed reluctantly, passed by the balcony entrance in her room, and headed to the shower in the bathroom. She turned on the water, making sure it was nice and hot before she stepped in. Once she was done a couple minutes later, Sakura stepped out and looked into the mirror in her bathroom. Her pink hair ran to just above her creamy, porcelain shoulders. She stood at 5'6", much of that height due to her long, slender legs. Her build was lean and athletic, as well as deceptive. Many would underestimate the power she held inside her due to her frame. She had a small but moderate bust size, her breasts were nowhere near as large as Ino, Hinata, or even Tsunade's breasts. She had spent long nights hoping that she would fill out a little more, especially in the chest region, but that never really came to pass. Her hips were shapely, and well-proportioned to fit the rest of her body. The most striking feature, though, were her emerald eyes that just radiated beauty and intelligence.
Using a towel hanging from her wall, she dried herself off, wrapped it snugly around her, and walked back into her bedroom, in front of her dresser. She picked out her usual red vest, a pair of spandex shorts that would reach about mid-thigh, a pink miniskirt that would sit over the spandex shorts, a small pink bra, and a pair of bright pink panties. The panties she picked sat next to a lacy, ruby red thong that Ino had gotten her for her 17th birthday a couple months ago, claiming that she needed to loosen up and that these would help her. Never once had she even put on the lingerie, and she didn't plan to. She walked back into the bathroom, got dressed, fixed her hair, and brushed her teeth, before walking out of her bathroom, out of her room, and went to the kitchen downstairs. She made herself a light breakfast before heading over to the door and slipping on her black ninja-style boots. She contemplated leaving her mother a note to say she left, but her mother was already well acquainted with the fact that Sakura's hospital duties left her with sporadic work hours, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see that her daughter was gone this early in the morning. She looked at the clock on the wall in the living room, it read 6:45. Normally, it would take her about fifteen minutes to get to the training field from her house just by walking. She would train for about an hour, then run back home to take a shower, head off to the hospital and be there at around 8:30, and she would start her day. Today, however, she decided to forgo training in favor of heading to the hospital to sit behind her desk and get a head start on the paperwork that was no doubt waiting for her on her desk. God she hated paperwork, but it was a necessity in her line of work. It hadn't taken her long to figure out why Tsunade-sama avoided the stuff like the plague. No wonder she was so drunk all the time.
Opening the door, Sakura stepped out into the brisk autumn morning. The land of fire had a reputation for being a warm place, the sun rose earlier and sank later than usual no matter the season, filling the land with warmth for the majority of the day. Today was no different. Almost seven o'clock, and here the sun was already peeking out over the horizon. But Sakura could hardly feel its warmth. She hadn't felt truly warm in years.
She walked slowly along the road, passing closed shops that would, in about an hours' time, be bustling with life and activity. She walked slow, soaking up as much as the outside world as she could before being confined to the hospital all day. She didn't mind dealing with patients, it was her pride and joy to be able to heal those who were hurt, fix that which was broken, and welcome new life to the world. But lord did the paperwork suck. But she did it anyway, no matter how much she grumbled. Before she knew it, she was at the hospital doors. Taking a breath, she stepped through the doors.
The usual antiseptic smell greeted her, followed by the cheery call of the receptionist. How anyone could be cheerful at this time of the morning was beyond Sakura. She greeted the receptionist and moved to her office in the administrative section of the first floor. She opened her door, and waiting for her was a lovely stack of papers on her desk. The only thing that was missing was a pink bow on top.
'Well, it's gotta get done sometime…' she sighed to herself. She sat down at her desk and took a look at the clock. '7:10 huh? Ino should be in at around 8:30ish, if she is on time, stupid Ino-pig…hopefully I can knock out a good portion of this paperwork before she barges in here hooting and hollering about patients needing attention.' She begrudgingly began her paper work. Most of her duties regarding the paperwork consisted of reviewing diagnoses of patients, making sure they were consistent with the symptoms, and double checking the prescription recommendations before she sent the papers to the pharmacy department to prepare the subscription. It was long, tedious work, but it had to be done, and done well. Mistakes on this paperwork could have costly consequences. So she checked, double-checked, and triple-checked each document before storing them away inside patient files and placing those on the side of the desk. She made it a decent way through the stack before someone, Ino, of course, barged into the room.
"Hey, forehead." She said.
"Hey pig." Sakura said, looking over at her friend. Ino was just about the same height as Sakura, with long, blonde hair, tied up in a pony-tail that traveled down to her wide hips. Part of her bangs came down over her face and covered her left eye, leaving only the teal right eye visible. She wore a purple top that stopped just above her belly button, exposing a decent amount of skin, and also, to Sakura's ever growing annoyance, drawing attention to her well-proportioned bust. She wore a purple skirt to match her top, and wore a standard lab coat over it. Ino was very attractive, and had many hopefuls across the male population of Konoha vying for her attention. Which she knew. The knowledge made her almost obnoxious when it came to boys, and she always seemed to pester Sakura on her love life, or lack thereof, at every opportunity. And right on cue-
"So, Forehead, have you found a boyfriend yet?"
"Can it, Pig."
"What? I'm just doing my due diligence as your best friend and making sure that you don't end up alone and wrinkly for the rest of your life. You're gonna have to get out and about sometime Sakura."
"Look, Ino, I told you a thousand times, I'm not interested. I don't care about getting a boyfriend, I don't care about growing old and wrinkly, I don't care about anything other than my duties. I just…" Sakura trailed off.
"…It's his birthday tomorrow, isn't it?" Ino whispered quietly. Sakura gave a sharp nod of her head in response, biting her lip and clenching her fists on top of her knee. "Sakura…"
"It's my fault…He went out there for me. I asked him to bring Sasuke back. I was selfish, I just-"
"It wasn't your fault. No one would have guessed that Sasuke would do that to Naruto…" Ino interrupted.
She remembered when she got the news from Shikimaru. Team 10 had finally got together after Choji was released from the hospital. They met at a barbeque restaurant that became the team tradition to attend after a mission, whether a success, or a failure. Neji, Lee, Kiba and Akamaru had been released from the hospital as well, and they, along with their teammates (Tenten, teammate to Neji and Lee, Hinata and Shino, teammates to Kiba and Akamaru) and jonin sensei (Asuma as Team 10 leader, Kurenai as team 8 leader, and Gai as Team Gai leader) all met up to eat. They all sat down at a round table with a grill in the center, waiting to be filled with meat. The waitress stopped and took everyone's orders, slightly taken aback by Gai and Lee's obsession with having enough meat to satisfy the flame of one's youth (to which Neji and Tenten groaned audibly). A few minutes later, the waitress came back with a plate full of meat, and began to place them on the grill in the center of the table. Choji, to Ino's disgust, was salivating over the meat. Finally, after a long wait, and Ino's constant nagging of Choji, much to everyone's relief and pleasure, the meat was finally done and everyone began to fill their plates. They talked amicably for a while, Shikimaru seemed to be out of it though, which Ino took notice of.
"Hey Shikamaru. What's up? Why do you look so down?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about it."
"Hey, you know what?" Kiba said. "I just noticed those Team 7 bastards aren't around. Where the hell are they? This is the first time all of us have been together in a while, and they didn't even bother to show up!"
Gai, Kurenai, Asuma, and Shikamaru all stiffened at the mention of Team 7.
"Hey you know what?I'll bet that rotten Forehead-girl is living it up, right there Sasuke-kun's hospital room, trying to get him to like he-" Ino started.
"SHUT UP, INO!" Everybody turned to look at Shikimaru, stunned at his uncharacteristic outburst. Asuma, Kurenai, and even Gai looked down, visibly saddened.
"Ino…" Asuma started, "…the retrieval mission was a failure. Sasuke Uchiha successfully fled the village and is believed to be in the custody of Orochimaru at the present time."
The genin at the table stared at Asuma in disbelief.
"No way. Naruto failed? There is no way that he would have failed!" Kiba said, almost shouting.
"Kiba is absolutely right! There is no way that Naruto would fail! The flames of his youth shone too brightly that day! Right, Gai-sensei?" Lee said.
"That is impossible. There is no way that Naruto would not have brought the Uchiha back." Neji stated flatly.
"We're not lying to you." Kurenai said, sadness in her red eyes. "Sasuke Uchiha escaped…"
"Oh man…Sakura must be disappointed." Ino whispered.
"Yeah. And Naruto too…He and Sasuke were always at each other's throats, but they were like best friends…" Choji added. And that's when Shikamaru choked. He put his hands over his face, but not before everybody saw his unwilling tears.
"Shikamaru…what's wrong?" Ino asked.
"…Naruto…didn't make it…"
"What? He didn't make what?"
Shikamaru raised his head from his hands and looked all the genin in the eyes. "Naruto didn't make it. He was killed by Sasuke…"
Needless to say, everyone had been stunned. Ino remembered that moment ever so clearly. It was the first time that she ever saw Choji look sick in the middle of a meal. Nobody said a word for the longest time, they all just sat there, eyes and mouths wide. Ino had put her hand over her mouth as tears threatened to spill out over her cheeks. She didn't get to hear anybody's response, she stood and rushed out of the restaurant, intent on finding Sakura to make sure she was okay. She had ran to her house, but received no answer. Ino hadn't seen Sakura until a few days later. Sakura looked miserable and disheveled. When Ino ran up to her, Sakura mumbled something about being on her way to the Hokage's office. It was months before Ino would be able to have any kind of serious talk about the incident with Sakura.
"Were we really that shallow, Ino?" Sakura asked, bringing Ino back down to Earth. "Were we really that stupid? Competing over a guy that was that cold, and doing nothing but being horrible to Naruto? Sasuke chose to reject the world around him, Naruto was busy fighting to not be rejected by the world. We chose to chase the boy that hated the world, and reject the boy that wanted so badly to be loved by it. Were we really that ignorant?"
Ino looked over at Sakura to see her pink haired best friend crying. Ino started to tear up as well, she had looked back a couple years ago at the way she and others had treated Naruto when he was alive and was absolutely disgusted with herself. She moved over to Sakura and wrapped her in a hug.
"Yeah, we were…" she whispered. The two sat next to each other, crying silently for a few minutes before Ino finally spoke again. "Come on, Forehead, let's go. We've got patients to attend to. Mrs. Najenda's massive infected bunions aren't going to diagnose themselves, you know."
"Ewww." Sakura groaned. She really didn't want to touch Mrs. Najenda's nasty feet. "She comes back every time and it's always the same problem. She doesn't ever listen, nor does she take her medicine. I don't wanna touch her nasty feet anymore!"
"I know, I know. But just be glad you don't have to deal with Mr. Shyra's back sores, those things are absolutely disgusting. I have to go through a bottle of hand sanitizer after examining those things just to feel safe!" Both girls laughed and wiped their tears before making sure they were presentable and walking out of Sakura's office.
The day was long and tiresome. Sakura moved on from those disgusting bunions and the hag they belonged to, to multiple emergency surgeries involving field teams with overzealous members trying to train. She had to eat lunch on her feet before being thrown back into the chaos that was the hospital. Finally, after five total emergency surgeries, the longest of which lasted three hours, Sakura could finally call it a day. Well, a night. Sakura looked up and stared at the clock on the hospital lobby, it read eleven o'clock. She had been here all day. Ino had left a couple hours before, leaving Sakura on her own. Sakura exited the hospital and shivered in the cool air. Not wanting to stay in the cold, she rushed home and ran through the door, sighing in relief as the warmth of her house rushed over her. Heading over to the kitchen, Sakura saw that her mother had made her some steak and rice and wrapped it, so Sakura could heat it up. She usually did that if Sakura wasn't home before she went to bed. Sakura placed the plate in the microwave, she cooked it for a couple of minutes, then began to eat. She didn't finish all of it, she was much too tired. She threw out what she couldn't eat, walked up to her room, and into the bathroom. She took off her clothes and jumped in the shower, staying in for a while to enjoy the soothing feeling it gave her. Once finished, she stepped out, dried herself off, and slipped into a pair of sweatpants and a large shirt, before walking back into her room and sitting in her chair at her desk in the corner of her room. She picked up a pen and a piece of paper, and began to write a letter.
Dear Naruto
She glanced at the clock on her desk.
12:15.
She continued on with her letter, finally putting down her pen a while later, having written a page on the small piece of paper. Sakura eyed the dying tulip in a small cup in the corner of her desk and sighed to herself, she would have to go get a new one from Ino's shop tomorrow. She put the paper in a drawer in her desk. Getting up from her desk, she moved to her bed directly across from the door to her balcony and huddled under the covers.
She glanced at the clock on her desk.
1:00
She had one last thought before drifting away to sleep.
'Happy Birthday, Naruto.'
The cool night air washed over his bare back as he sat, crouched on his perch atop the wall surrounding the village. Beneath his black mask, Naruto's eyes shined with nostalgia. Here, on top of this wall, he crouched, overlooking Konoha. He was home.
He stared out over the moonlit village, reminiscing. Sure, he had a lot of bad memories, but he had some pretty good ones too. He looked off to his right, and he could barely make out the memorial stone in the distance, and a little further behind it, team seven's old training ground. He wanted to go visit the place, but unfortunately he didn't have much time. He had veered west before coming to Konoha, looking for a place to settle in the mountains that lay in that area.
Naruto had gotten lucky. He had managed to find, in that mountain range (honestly, they couldn't even really be called mountains, nor a range, as they weren't all that tall and there was only ten peaks), a nice sized cave near the top of one of the mountains, which was nearly impossible to see from below. Of course, Naruto had been searching during the night, but the positioning would have made it extremely difficult to find even in the day. The only reason Naruto was able to see it was because he was jumping from tree to tree near the top of the one if the mountains. The cave rested on the side of the mountain, overlooking a valley that rested between mountains. In the center of the valley was a large lake. The spot was, in Naruto's opinion, a perfect place for his training, as the lake would help with any Suiton techniques, should he be able to utilize the nature type, and there was enough space for him to practice all other nature types as well, should he be compatible with those as well. Another thing that Naruto had taken note of was the surplus of game in the small mountain range. He would definitely not starve, that was for sure.
Naruto had emptied the contents of his pack in the circular cave, leaving the Akatsuki cloak, his second mask, and his Akatsuki ring behind. It would not due to wander around wearing the symbol of a terrorist organization. He filled one of the kunai pouches with the kunai had bought at the store and clipped the pouch to his at the right side of his back, on his hip, just above his butt. The other pouch, the empty one, he placed on the other side of his hip in the same position. He placed the blank scrolls and the pens in the now empty pack. The plan was to go back to Konoha and break into the scroll vault inside the Hokage tower in search of the Fūin no Sho, the same scroll he had learned the Kagebunshin no jutsu from. The scroll was huge, it wouldn't be wise to carry it with him, so instead he elected to just copy any useful jutsu down on the blank scrolls and be on his way. He couldn't remember what kind of jutsu the scroll held, the Kagebunshin no jutsu was one of the first in the scroll, and he had not bothered to look past it. He was hoping that it would contain jutsu that worked with the five natures. If his father was right when he had assessed Naruto's chakra, then there was a chance that Naruto would be able to use all give nature changes. If he was wrong, then it wouldn't hurt to know jutsu in all five of the changes, so that he could recognize the hand seals of an enemy and determine what type of jutsu would be used. If there wasn't many jutsu on the scroll that he deemed useful, then he wouldn't be past taking smaller scrolls with him, especially if he was pressed for time. Considering how late it was, he would probably have to steal a bunch of scrolls anyway. He had been about to step out of the cave when the desire to get rid of the cloak he was wearing hit him. It probably wasn't a good idea, since the cloak would help hide him in the night, but ever since he got to feel the sun for that brief period after leaving Uzushiogakure, he felt like the cloak was constricting. He had been stuck in some underground cave for over three years and had missed the kiss of the elements on his skin. So, he took the cloak off, threw it to the ground and left the cave. Before sprinting off to Konoha, he made sure to leave small traces of his chakra on some of the trees nearby the cave so that he would be able to locate it again once he came back. His sensory skill had improved tremendously since he was a Konoha ninja, so it wouldn't be much of a problem.
Naruto guessed that it took him roughly two hours to get from the cave to the gates of Konoha. That, plus the two hours he estimated it took him to get from that ninja outpost village to the mountain range, and the hour or so he guessed it took him to find the cave, led him to believe that it was around one or two in the morning. He didn't have all that much time to get in, find what he needed to, and get out before the ninja in the village rose for the morning. Most ninja rose well before the civilian population, not out of liking to be early risers, but simply due to habit from long years of waking up early in the field. Sure, there were still gaurds on duty, but avoiding them wouldn't be too much of a problem for him. He spent years avoiding ANBU after pulling pranks around the village, so he could manage without getting seen. Naruto assumed that he would have two hours max to accomplish his goals before having to leave if he wanted to remain undetected.
Naruto looked down and as he was about to jump down, he noticed that his necklace, the incredibly rare necklace that no one else in the world had, was visible. He performed a couple hand seals and placed a genjutsu on the necklace, one that would render it invisible to anyone, including himself.
'Speaking of rare, not everybody has blue eyes like mine...it wouldn't be good if someone caught a glimpse of my eye color and got suspicious...I doubt that it would happen, but you can't ever be too careful I guess. Christ, I sound like Kakashi-sensei, he would probably be proud...' he thought to himself. He performed another quick set of hand seals and cast another rudimentary genjutsu on his mask. Instead of rendering the eyeholes invisible though, he made it so that anyone that looked into the eyes of the mask would only see black, they wouldn't actually be able to see his eyes. He also made it so that the genjutsu on the mask and the necklace was permanent, so long as he wished it to be in effect. Even if he took the mask or the necklace off (he had no such intention) the genjutsu would be in place. All he had to do was perform a couple hand seals, and the genjutsu would be cancelled. Considering that Naruto had the genjutsu skills of an academy student normally, this was a pretty good accomplishment for him and he was quite proud of himself. Looking down again, he couldn't see the necklace, but he could still feel it on his chest, so he knew the genjutsu had worked. He would have to be careful with the necklace though. People might not be able to see it, but they could still feel it and know something was there. Chances are it wouldn't be much of a problem, but you never know. Satisfied that he was completely prepared, Naruto collected his near empty pack from the top of the wall next to him, and jumped down to the streets below.
He kept to the alleyways, keeping a constant eye on the occasional ninja on patrol. He couldn't take to the roofs as he once did, as most ninja tend to do, because of the risk of being seen by those on patrol. He masked his chakra so that sensory type ninja wouldn't be able to feel his presence. He peeked his head around the corner of a building to watch a ninja saunter away, not really keeping an eye on his surroundings. It was obvious that these ninja were caught up in the feeling of peace and security. No one in their right mind would dare attack Konoha, but then again, those that had attacked before had questionable sanity to begin with. Not that Naruto minded the lax patrol, of course, it would make his job that much easier. It was kind of unnerving though. He meant no ill will towards Konoha, but if he could get through, god knows who else could.
'Really? Did these guys honestly forget what Orochimaru caused a long time ago?' Orochimaru had invaded Konoha back when Naruto still lived here and caused massive damage to the village, and killed the Sandaime in the fight. During that time he managed to sink his fangs into Sasuke, literally, and gave him the curse mark, as well as an even bigger drive for power.
Shaking his head, Naruto waited until the patrolling ninja left the vicinity and sprinted forward, faster than the eye could see. He weaves his way through buildings in that manner until he reached the Hokage tower. Looking beyond the building, he saw five stone faces on the cliff in the background. Four men, and one women. The last time he stood in this village there was only four. He smiled wide under his black mask.
'So, they put that old hag's ugly mug up on the Hokage Mountain, huh?' he thought proudly. He hadn't known her for long before his mission to retrieve Sasuke went up in flames, but in that time they grew really close. He came to think of the hag as a grandmother and vice versa. Hell, he'd basically adopted her during that ordeal with Orochimaru and Kabuto after the death of the Sandaime.
He ran to the side of the building, heading towards the staircase that lead inside. Climbing up, he reached the door at the top. The door was locked, and Naruto hadn't brought anything to pick locks, but he really wasn't worried about that. Making sure that there weren't any patrolling ninja nearby, Naruto channeled chakra to his feet and ran up the wall, to the ledge just outside of the Hokages office. He peered through the office through the row of windows that ran around the office and moved to the window two windows to the right of the Hokage's desk. He applied pressure on the lower two corners of the window and was rewarded with a click as the latch popped off the lock, and the window slid open.
'Some things never change,' he thought to himself. This was the exact way he had broken into the office the first time he went after the Fūin no Sho.
He stepped inside the office, turned, closed the window behind him, and made his way to the door. He paused to take a nostalgic look behind him. Memories of a lost past played themselves in front of his eyes as he saw a younger Naruto stand not three feet from where he was standing. He turned, opened the door, and walked out. He took a left down the winding hallway, feet barely making a noise against the wood floors.
He passed a couple doors, before coming to a door marked "Storage" on his right. He performed three hand seals and funneled chakra into his hand, and turned the doorknob. Just as Mizuki told him all those years ago.
'Did the Sandaime really keep the same jutsu formula as the lock to this door even after I got in? What the hell was he thinking?' He thought to himself. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
He stood in a large circular room, every inch of the walls adorned with shelves, save for one window in the back of the room. The window was large enough that the moonlight that filtered in through the window provided enough light to see clearly, eliminating the need to turn on the light in the room. The shelves stood close to ten feet high, and were crammed full of scrolls and boxes of all sizes. Naruto's attention was drawn to a podium in the center of the room, on which a large scroll, around 3 feet long, sat. Naruto smiled to himself. He walked over to the podium, hefted it off of the podium, sat on the ground, and opened the scroll, as he had years before.
The large scroll did indeed contain many jutsu, but they were nearly all fūinjutsu, the few exceptions being the Kagebunshin no Jutsu and variations of it, as well as some kekkai ninjutsu. He didn't particularly care for fūinjutsu, and really had no desire to learn any. In Naruto's mind, seals were hard to use in the midst of a battle unless they were made prior, or unless you had all the tools available to execute the seals quickly and efficiently. It was hard to initiate fūinjutsu in the midst of a fight unless you had bountiful distractions, and time to prepare. Both of which were hard to come by in a fight against an experienced opponent. Not only that, but a fight between two high end shinobi typically only lasted a couple of minutes, which means that if you had to make a seal from scratch in the middle of a fight, the fight might be over by the end of the bout, rendering the seal obsolete before you even had the opportunity to use it.
However, fūinjutsu were considered extremely powerful, if the seal were to connect, the recipient could experience devastating effects and due to that, he couldn't help but think that some of these jutsu might be useful later on. Scanning the scroll, he eyed the Hakka no Fuin Shiki and the Shiki Fujin. According to the text, the Hakka no Fuin Shiki was a fūinjutsu that seals a body inside another body, and allows the vessel to draw off the power of the one sealed. The sealing pattern, a swirling pattern bordered by patterns that extended out from the edge of the seal, reminiscent of how one would draw the sun, was familiar to Naruto. The same symbol appeared on his stomach as a child when he tried to access the chakra of the Kyuubi.
'So this is what he used to seal the Kyuubi inside me...' Naruto thought. The seal was strong, but it required the user to summon a sealing altar, and then perform the seal, and then use chakra to inscribe the seal formation on a scroll, establishing the scroll as a basis for the key to the seal. While powerful, it took too long to utilize. Naruto decided to pass on the Hakke no Fuin Shiki. With that he glanced at the Shiki Fujin, and was stunned at what he saw.
According to the scroll, the user of this particular seal summons the Shinigami behind him. The Shinigami then places a seal mark on the jutsu caster, which appears on the caster's stomach, the seal acting to bind the user's soul to the Shinigami. The Shinigami then passes its arm through the chest of the caster from behind, grabs the soul of the target, and pulls it inside the body of the user. Once that occurs, the Shinigami devours the soul of both the user and the target, trapping them inside its belly for all eternity. Naruto checked to see any set-up procedures and found that the only thing needed to prepare was a long stream of hand seals. The only drawback was that everything had to be perfect, you could not mess up a single sign, or the chakra pattern and control, or you would fail in summoning the Shinigami.
Naruto hesitated. The seal was incredibly powerful, it was almost difficult to believe that the jutsu was real. It was powerful, but it came at a cost. The target, as well as the user, died as a result. It was a jutsu only meant to be used as a last resort. Only against a powerful enemy with your back against the wall. Naruto thought of Madara, and decided that he should copy the jutsu. He reached into his pack, and withdrew a scroll and pen. Looking up, he saw a clock on the wall showing 1:30. Naruto estimated he had about an hour and a half left before he would have to leave. The jutsu would take a while to copy down, there were many elements that needed to be memorized, so he placed his fingers in a cross pattern and summoned ten kagebunshin.
"This scroll contains only fūinjutsu and kekkai ninjutsu. There isn't any elemental jutsu in here, so the ten of you need to look around here and find scrolls containing high level jutsu that utilizes the nature changes. Looking at the length of some of these fūinjutsu, I probably won't be able to write down many jutsu, so I'll just be taking the scrolls. Be fast, and be quiet. We don't have a lot of time, and I don't want to have company." The kagebunshin all nodded in agreement and spread out, searching for scrolls.
Naruto returned to his scrolls and began to write down the complex Shiki Fujin formula. The task seemed to take forever, it took him nearly half an hour. By that time, his clones had found multiple scrolls on the all five of the nature changes, placing them all into Naruto's pack. They continued to search while Naruto continues to read through the scroll. He copied down some other fūinjutsu that wouldn't take too long to create, as well as a few kekkai ninjutsu. Kekkai Ninjutsu were utilized to create barriers around spaces, protecting, or trapping, those inside, and could also be used for concealment purposes, like concealing hideouts from those enemies, thus Naruto's interest. He was in the midst of copying his last line of information when he heard a thud along with the telltale "poof" of a shadow clone dispersing. Cursing to himself at his clones' stupidity, he looked up.
'How are you stupid enough to let a scroll drop on your damn hea-' he thought, before cutting himself off. For the first time in all the he had used the Kagebunshin no Jutsu, he noticed that he caught the memory of a clone once it dispersed. He remembered what happened to the clone before it had dispersed as well as what it had been looking at. The idiot clone had accidentally hit the edge of a shelf, causing a large scroll from the top to fall on his head, dispersing the clone. It was what the clone had found, that stunned Naruto. Apparently, the clone had brushed up against the wrong scroll, which appeared to be a trigger causing the bookshelf it was on to swing open a little bit.
'A secret room behind a bookshelf? That's kinda cliché. Is this really the best the previous generations could come up with?' he thought. He signaled three of his clones to follow him, leaving the others to take care of finding more scrolls in the main room.
He pulled the bookshelf toward him all the way and stepped inside a small room. The room was only about ten feet wide and ten feet deep. Like the previous room, it was jam packed with scrolls and boxes. Unlike the previous room, there was no window. The only light available came from four small candles on the wall next to the entrance, lit by some kind of jutsu activated on the opening of the door. Grabbing one of the candles, Naruto looked around. Immediately, his gaze flicked to a three pronged kunai with a yellow handle hanging above a scroll and a box.
'What the fuck kind of kunai is that?' he thought, moving closer to it. He took the kunai off of the nail it was hanging from and it examined it closer. The three pronged kunai was heavy, heavier than most kunai. The handle was yellow, with kanji written across it. He took the lid off of the box that the kunai once hung above to find that there were more kunai. He put the lid back on the box and opened the scroll next to the box, and looked at the title of the scroll.
'Hiraishin no Jutsu? Where have I heard that bef-' he thought before freezing. 'As in THE Hiraishin no Jutsu? The one that made my father famous? THAT Hiraishin no jutsu?'
Naruto rolled up the scroll up the scroll, put the kunai that he had found hanging on the shelf into the box, and put the kid back on the box before taking it, and the scroll in his arms. He instructed the other clones in the room with him to keep searching before placing the candle in his hand back where he got it and stepping back into the larger room. He walked over to his pack, kneeled, and quickly organized the scrolls already inside the pack so that he could fit the box and the scroll on the Hiraishin. As soon as he was finished, a clone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey boss. You need to check this out," the clone said, handing him a manilla envelope.
"What is it?" Naruto asked.
"Apparently that room we were just in doesn't contain just jutsu. It contains anything that could be a danger to Konoha. Any kind of secrets or techniques deemed to be dangerous to the village are kept in that room for storage. Things like powerful jutsu and data on past events are kept in there. It's a record room, for the eyes of the higher ups only. I was looking through a section of records on past Konoha nuke-nin, when I found that. Open it."
Naruto opened the manilla folder and pulled out the first page. There was a profile of a ninja on it. Naruto froze with recognition at the name.
Itachi Uchiha.
Naruto looked up at his clone with wide eyes. The clone gave a nod if his head urging him to continue on. Naruto pulled out all the papers and read. He skimmed through the file, finding that it detailed everything Konoha knew about Itachi. Mission count, mission reports, jutsu capabilities, nothing was left out.
And then he reached a page with the heading "Uchiha Mission". What Naruto read on that three page report made his blood freeze.
'This can't be real,' he thought to himself. He looked at the bottom of the last page of the report and saw a familiar handwriting. The signature of the Sandaime Hokage. 'Jiji...how could you?'
Naruto sat, stunned, for a couple of seconds. He put all the papers in order and put them back into the manila envelope. He hesitated, thinking that he should put the file back, then elected to put it into his pack. He figured he had enough scrolls on all kinds of elemental jutsu, three full scrolls on each nature change. That, plus the Hiraishin scroll and the box that held the kunai, left little room for any more scrolls. He dispersed his clones in the larger room, rolled up the Fūin no Sho, and moved to the room that held the dangerous...stuff. He had his clones put the candles back, before dispersing them too. He blew out the candles and shut the bookcase. He put the large scroll that had fallen from the bookcase back where it had fallen from. He opened the door and walked out of the room after making sure that everything was back the way it was supposed to be, except for the things in his pack. He made his way into the Hokage's office, closed the door behind him, and jumped out the window. Making sure that the window was in place he turned, jumped back down to the streets below, and into the shadows of a nearby alleyway, keeping watch for patrol. He had one last stop to make before leaving.
He ran through the streets, encountering nobody, until he reached a house. There were no lights on in the house from what he could see, meaning everybody was probably asleep. He snuck around the house into the backyard. He leaped quietly to the second floor balcony and silently set his pack on the wood below. The room was dark, just like the rest of the house, so the occupant was probably asleep. He walked quietly to the door, and slowly slid it open, careful not to make a noise.
The moonlight filtered across the room to a lone figure that lay on the bed before him. He moved quietly to the edge of the bed, lifted his mask off of his head, and looked down at the figure. It had been over three and a half years and since he had seen that pink hair, that thin nose, or those beautiful lips. It had been over three and a half years since he had seen Sakura Haruno.
Sakura shivered slightly from the cool air. Naruto reached out and slowly pulled the covers higher around her, careful not to wake her. His fingers accidentally brushed some of the exposed skin on her arm, while pulling the covers. The feel of the soft, creamy skin sent fire up his arm and into his body.
'So close...but so far away,' he thought to himself stepping back. He wanted to wake her up. He wanted to tell her that he was still fighting to bring Sasuke back for her, that he was still trying to keep his promise. He wanted to tell her so many things. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he had always loved her. That she was his light. That she was responsible for him being alive. That he didn't give up because of her. He wanted to wake her up and hold her in his arms, feel her body on his. He wanted to smell her scent just one more time. God, what he would give to look into those emerald eyes again, and see how they shined with the sun. But he couldn't…
He turned slightly and noticed a desk in the corner of the room and saw a small flower in a cup. It was a blue flower, a tulip. The tulip was wilting, slowly dying. For some reason, the sight registered with Naruto. It was a sad sight, and affected Naruto in a strange way. Looking back, he saw that Sakura hadn't moved, so he turned and made his was over to the flower. He reached out to touch it. As soon as he did, the flower began to rise until it was standing straight up. The dull blue color on the outside of the petals turned into a vibrant sapphire. The inside of the petals, instead of turning blue, turned to a soft emerald. A familiar emerald…
Mystified with what had just occurred, he slowly withdrew his hand from the now rejuvenated flower and looked back at Sakura.
A crimson tear slid down his face.
He put on his mask and closed the door quietly. He picked up his pack and disappeared into the night.
Whew, that was a long one. Hope you enjoyed! I'm not sure when I'll have the next chapter out, but I hope it will be soon!
Just like for the last chapter, I'm gonna go ahead and recommend some NS fics for those people that love the only real pairing in Naruto. Well, I lied, I'm not gonna recommend a specific fic, just an author. Look up tricksie here on ff and go read all of her fics. As soon as possible. She's written 6 so far, they're all in-progress, and they're all excellent and some of the best things that I've read anywhere. Which reminds me...I need to go leave a review for her stories, I've failed to do that...but I will! Tomorrow probably...XD
Alright, my rambling is done! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, hope you enjoyed tricksie's work, as well as azfaerydust's The End of Shadows that I recommended last week (good lord, I need to write a review for the latest chapter of that too, it was great XD). Finally, I wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope that you find much success in this upcoming year!
Until next time!