Chapter 2: The wandering shell get's picked up.
"Isn't it weird..." Ino said quietly, sipping on a juice box. Neji's with her and the both of them are leaning against a railing at the Konoha's office. Ino has her original purple clothing while Neji's still wearing his combat uniform, "What's weird?" Neji asked, sipping on his own juice box. Ino smiles and turns her head, a small pink blush on her face, "Look inside the window." Neji looks and at the other side is four people having a heated debate.
"What's so weird about that." All he could see is Naruto, Sasuke, Tsunade and Sakura standing there. They are arguing but if you look closely. You could Sakura in a daze and throughout the whole time. She is looking at Naruto, slightly blushing. Her fingers are folded against each other. "Doesn't she look a little bit different?" Ino said, smiling quietly to herself as if she knew something Ino didn't.
What does she know that I'm not seeing?
Neji thought, throwing his box away and staring intently to Sakura. "I want to know what you're talking about..." Neji said so he strained his eyes.
Byakugan!
He stares at Sakura's chakra flow and is immediately stun, "How did you see that without powers like mine?" He asked Ino and Ino's smiling face disappears into a question mark, "Wah?" she spits out her juice, "What do you see?!"
Neji closes his eyes and it looked like he was going to answer, but a smirk was planted on his face before he said anything, "I guess I know something you don't." He begins to walk away triumphantly. Ino follows him trying to poke the answer out, "Neji get back here!"
Sasuke glares at Naruto and points at him, "Tsunade agrees with me Naruto. We have to put her down. We don't know when she will be an enemy again and it took so long to recover after the last attack." Sasuke said it simply, but Naruto couldn't accept it as easily as he could. The veins on his neck pops as he feels irritated, "This isn't right and you know it Tsunade. Don't let them kill Sakura. She's no longer a threat to society! Look at her!"
Naruto drags the soulless Sakura and Sakura lets out a cute moan while being dragged forceful. "I..." she said, looking a little bit shy to talk. "I wouldn't mind not dying...but I can't say I don't see Sasuke's point." she said it just as easy as Sasuke said it and Naruto freaks out.
"You can't mean that you want to die!" He stretches out his arms as if that were to show it was bigger than she thought it would be. "I'm not going to allow it!" Naruto said firmly, glaring back at Sasuke. It was like watching two bulls ready to fight. "I'm not going to allow you to kill Sakura!"
Tsunade is sitting in the middle with her head resting on her folded hands. She didn't like this as much as Naruto, but she couldn't deny the logic Sasuke presented. She glances back and forth to Naruto and Sasuke as they displayed their case and she felt honestly undecided as to what to do.
Sakura doesn't look like she will be a threat to anyone now, but Tsunade spent enough time with Sakura to know that person isn't Sakura. She felt a little bit irritated since the two people fighting for her to live is not fighting for that purpose. Naruto's fighting for Sakura to live because he believes Sakura can regain herself again. He believes Sakura could find her soul.
Sasuke on the other hand can't deal with it. He wants to end her life because he knows that's not Sakura and if Sakura doesn't find her soul. It will be painful for everyone if they relied on something that might not happen.
To put it bluntly...
Sasuke's fighting against something he believes to be false hope and it will do more damage then good if this shell is kept around.
Naruto's fighting for Sakura's right to live and believes that one day, Sakura will return and everything will be back to normal, but what Naruto believes could be considered as selfish hope, despite thinking about another person. He is thinking about himself. He is only concerned if Sakura will come back alive.
The two are ready to blow fist at each other, but Tsunade raises her hand. "I've come to a decision." she said, her eyes close and Naruto and Sasuke both look at her. The girl that's supposed to be concerned is twirling behind the whole tense situation as if in a dream.
Tsunade looks at her and felt both negative and positive feelings for her.
"I will allow Sakura to live because she's not a threat to society."
"WHAT?!" Sasuke called Tsunade out. His face turning red with anger but Tsunade stands up, threateningly. Sasuke shouldn't be stepping out of line since it wasn't only a while ago he wanted to destroy Konoha. Sasuke calms down but you could see he's obviously upset.
"But if Sakura does one wrong thing..." she looks at Naruto who hasn't celebrated yet. He knows there will be a catch into this deal, "If I find out one complaint that Sakura's proven guilty of...I would have her executed immediately...and Naruto..." Naruto stares at Tsunade, more determined than ever, "Naruto...you will be banished from Konoha forever.
The room turns silent and even Sasuke is surprised at how high the risk is here. Naruto would have to choose either his village or Sakura, because of this. Sasuke knows that this is the same type of punishment Konoha placed on his brother. Where Itachi had to choose either his family or Konoha.
"Tsunade-sama...shouldn't you reconsider. I don-"
Sasuke get's cut off by Naruto who raises his fist into the air. "I'll do it!" he said, finally smiling and looking at Sakura. Sakura glances at Naruto and the two of them smile at each other. Sakura then runs down to Naruto and embraces him.
"Yay! Can we go home now?" she said, smiling like a little kid and Naruto hugs her back. He nods his head and grabs Sakura's hand after they embraced, "Yea, we can go home now..." He said, but before he could leave Tsunade stops him. "I'm putting Sakura under my care for the first five months." She pulls Sakura hand away from Naruto and Naruto knew this was going to happen, but Sakura shakes her head rapidly like a robot. "NO!" she said out loud. She forces her hand away from Tsunade and curls at the side of Naruto. "I want to go home with Naruto!" she whimpers, but Tsunade shakes her head, "You can't...even if you end up not being a threat to society. I will not allow to chance it. I'm not going to rely the future of Konoha to Naruto's beliefs...especially one that is silly as this." Naruto and Sasuke both stare at Tsunade in shock. They're mouths partly opened.
"I'm taking you with me..." she goes to grab Sakura's hand and Sakura screams, "Naruto!"
Naruto suddenly felt his body moving by itself again and Sasuke grabs Tsunade out of the way before he could attack her. "Tsunade!" he screams out, pushing her aside, but due to the surprise attack. He had to put himself in danger. Naruto yells without controlling himself.
"RASENGAN!"
But before he could hit Sasuke at his heart. Sakura jumps in the middle and grabs Naruto's hand. The bright blue ball doesn't hit anybody, but if Sakura hadn't jumped. He would've hit Sasuke's in his chest and the blow would've killed him. Sakura holds Naruto's wrist, avoiding contact with the powerful ball. "Please, Naruto...don't fight with Sasuke anymore..." Sakura said and in that small moment. A piece of the spirit ball that Naruto saw before comes floating down and into Sakura's heart.
"What was that?!" Tsunade calls out. She grabs Sakura, thinking she's back to her normal self, but Sakura just passes out. There are a trail of tears at the side of her eyes and both Naruto and Sasuke saw this before. It was like the time when Naruto found Sasuke and they fought.
"You felt it too, right?" Sasuke said, stunned. Naruto nods his head slowly and steps back. It looks like the explanation for his wild outburst could wait. Tsunade runs out of the room carrying Sakura in her arms and head to the infirmary. Naruto and Sasuke are too shocked to move. Sasuke finally turns to Naruto and breaks the silence, "Is she back?" he said with a sound of hope in his voice, but Naruto shakes his head, "I don't think so...it's the ball I saw leave Sakura when I was sent down to kill her, but that thing that floated back in her heart was more of a shard..."
"A shard...so it's possible...Sakura can become her normal self." Sasuke grips his hair and pushes it back. It looked like the whole world is turning upside down and he falls on his knees, "I was going to kill her. I was dead set to kill her and yet she could come back...Naruto." he looks up to Naruto and Naruto had never seen Sasuke this weak before.
"I would've made a mistake...Naruto!" He stand up quickly and grips Naruto by his shoulders, tears sliding down at the side of his face. "Naruto, please...this is a once in a lifetime request!" you could see the pain obviously written on Sasuke's face. Sasuke's grip becomes tighter and he looks at Naruto, pleadingly. "Please bring Sakura back!" he bows his head and Naruto remembers this moment from before.
"Sasuke..." he looks at the weak Sasuke and it's a splitting image of Sakura when she asked Naruto to bring back Sasuke. The two are really meant for each other, but where does that put Naruto? He slowly clenches his hand into a fist and hides his face under the shade of his blonde hair. He felt like hitting Sasuke. He felt like yelling at Sakura. He felt like he couldn't live. Why couldn't it be him that's meant to be with Sakura?!
He wants to destroy fate, but without knowing it. He raises his hand to a thumbs up and nods his head, painfully forcing himself to smile. "I'll do it!" he said, beginning to walk outside the door. "I'll bring Sakura back..." he leaves Sasuke inside to mope in his sorrows and when the door closes. His hands slump to his side. "Believe it..." he said it quietly, smiling bitterly at his fate. The man behind the shadows of things. The secondary character of a book. The man who doesn't get the girl. The protagonist's friend. The person who doesn't get a 'happy ending'.
Will this story end that way...?