;;' C.h.a.p.t.e.r.0.3';; Konohagakure
"GET BACK HERE YOU PERVERT!"
Kakashi ran quicker, racing, heatedly, for the tree in the backyard. Once he was safely up the tree, he looked back down, sighing in relief as he found Iruka wasn't chasing him. Dolphin-chan can be a bit angry when he's not in a good mood. As natural, Kakashi had been, trying to play certain activities with Iruka, when things happened.
With a sigh, Kakashi opened his Icha Icha Paradise book, and flipped to his last page.
"Good morning, my eternal rival! I challenge you to a game of SHOGUN!"
Kakashi groaned. Once more, on the branch beside him, Gai was holding a shogun board. Might as well get this over with. It's not as if he'll leave me alone till I do play.
"If I win, you must teach me the secrets of your most ultimate jutsu! And if I were to lose, I must do five hundred pushups!" Gai exclaimed.
With a sigh, Kakashi nodded and reached to help set the game up.
--
"One hundred and twenty two, one hundred and twenty three, one hundred and twenty four."
Kakashi snickered as he watched Gai do one hand pushups in their backyard. What a sucker. He should have guessed Kakashi was using his sharingan.
--
"I've completed the reports, Shizune."
Shizune nodded, orderly, and watched as Sakura did the rest of Tsunade's reports. Two hundred and twenty five of those reports, and Tsunade left it all to them. I'm not even sure where she goes nowadays. It's as if she's still mourning over losing both Naruto and Jiraiya. She shook her head and sighed.
"Shizune? Is something wrong?" Sakura asked. Shizune looked over at her and smiled, softly. "I was just thinking. How might Jiraiya-sama and Naruto-kun be in heaven?" Shizune wondered. She realized how hurt Sakura looked at her words. Oh god. She was in love with Naruto-kun, I shouldn't have said that!
"I'm sure he's fine… he is, after all, with his mother and father. He's with all of the hokage's, he's fulfilling his dream."
Sakura's tears drenched a couple of pages, and though her voice sounded calm, she was shaking uncontrollably. Shizune did feel guilty, and sad.
--
Sakura walked down a street, her jade eyes on the side where she noticed, vaguely, a yellow colored star rising above the sky. Maybe that star was Naruto. Maybe he was watching over her, shouting Sakura-chan like a moron. It made her cry and smile all at once.
"If he came back again, I swear I'd look after him. I'd do anything for him, anything at all. Even if he was only two, I'd love him, like a real wife would! I'd do anything… a-anything at all."
She fell to her knees, tears, once more, making their way down her face. Why did Sasuke-kun kill him? Why did he do this to us all? H-he took away all that made me happy, all that I could depend on!
--
"A-achoo!"
Naruto rubbed his nose with the back of his sleeve and grinned over at Haku. Up ahead, they could see large gates. "We're home, Naruto-kun. Your home," he spoke. Naruto shrugged. His one true home was where Haku was. Because Haku is his family, his brother. Haku had lived with him for longer than Ishii did. He was the one person Naruto could depend on.
Naruto first noticed, this was awfully familiar.
Guards at the gate, masks with animal shapes. Who are they?
"Naruto-kun, they won't allow us in unless you say what I tell you to," Haku spoke. His eyes flickered to the gates. "Say, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo, and I'm here to see Tsunade-baa-chan," he said. Naruto blinked. "But why would I say that?" he asked.
He only received a blue and silver headband in return.
"This headband, my dear friend, belonged to your closest friend. You must wear it and say those words."
--
"Hey you! Guys in the black! Over here!"
Kiba gasped in shock as he caught sight of the blond haired boy before him. His whole body shook in shock. He's still alive… How the boy was thirteen, he had no idea. It's an enemy jutsu. It can't be him.
But he saw the torn up headband that the blond wore on his forehead and he recognized it instantly.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo! I'm here to see Baa-chan, so let me go through," the blond said. Disrespecting the Hokage, that weird phrase, and his name. It…
Kiba still had his eyes on the headband. Sasuke's headband. "Naruto, y-you're alive… but you're just a kid. Shit, you know the whole village cried on your death! Hell, we even kept your orange suit in Tsunade's office!" he exclaimed. He quickly hugged the blond moron and grinned at seeing his once friend. Naruto, however, seemed stiff. "Y-yeah, yeah, mutt. Let me go see Baa-chan!" he exclaimed.
Kiba stepped back and looked up at the other ANBU guard. Open up the gates, Neji. Uzumaki Naruto's back…
He only raised an eyebrow in curiosity when another ANBU, but this time with a Kirigakure mask, followed Naruto inside.
Who was that?
--
"D-did you hear? People are saying the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is back!"
Sakura's eyes widened at the words. Na-Naruto? But he's dead, how could he be back? "He's supposed to be headed straight to see Tsunade-sama, with some Kirigakure ninja with him!" the old woman continued. Sakura's eyes caught Kakashi's worried glance, and both instantly knew where to go.
--
"Yeah, yeah. Get in here if it's so important."
Naruto grinned over at Haku and kicked open the door. When he did so, he instantly regretted it. Familiar faces override his body. Blond hair, amber eyes, and a worried gaze. I don't… I don't feel so well. Before he could collapse, Haku's hand came to his shoulder, and he looked over at the woman with an intense gaze.
"Na-Naruto?"
He blinked. How the hell did she know his name? It wasn't as if she knew him. Maybe she knew Okaa-san and Otou-san, or maybe she even knew Ishii!
That only made his eyes close in brief sorrow. Ishii had died. How could anyone know her? "My apologies, Hokage-sama. But he isn't the same person, at the moment," Haku's voice interrupted. The lady looked, questioningly, at Haku.
"You see, he's been reborn, but without sufficient memories. I brought him here, to see if anything can trigger his memories returning to him," Haku spoke. Reborn, me? Wh-what are they saying? That I'm not really me? The lady took a step to Haku, her eyes narrowing in a silent challenge.
"So, he's… back, he's really back. Then, does this mean the Uchiha's alive too?" she asked. Naruto's throat turned dry at the words. Uchiha? I know that name… I know it. "Indeed. Naruto-kun has spoken to him as well, but, he didn't recall anything. Uchiha-san, however, did remember something, I can assure you of that," Haku spoke.
"S-stop it! My head hurts! C-can we just go get a bed at an inn, Haku?"
"N-Naruto!"
--
She was shocked.
Shocked, relieved, surprised, and most of all.
She was suddenly back in love.
The same bumbling blond mess she had seen die over twelve years ago. I may be a bit different now, a few years older, but I still love him! The blond looked over, and his blue eyes widened in shock. Shock she hadn't seen within him before. He's… surprised at seeing me? But… but what happened? Did he get hit with a jutsu to turn him back into a twelve year old Naruto?
A figure stepped up from behind Naruto, shocking Sakura even more. Behind her, Kakashi stilled.
Haku.
She instantly lifted her kunai, and without warning, tossed it at Haku. Naruto jumped down in time to avoid it, but Haku. He caught it between his fingers, like an expert ninja. How is he alive? We killed him, he died! And he's only twelve too. She was worried. This made no sense. What was going on?
"No need to be alarmed, Sakura. This is Naruto, but he's… been reborn," Tsunade interrupted. "You have an assassin in your room, Tsunade-sama! Haku's tried to hurt us in Kirigakure, don't you remember, Naruto?" Sakura shouted.
--
"You have an assassin in your room, Tsunade-sama! Haku's tried to hurt us in Kirigakure, don't you remember, Naruto?"
He was stiff now. What were they saying? That he's the reborn version of someone else? That Haku's tried to kill him in his past life? What were they saying? That he was here for a reason beyond just making ramen and money?
Haku held out a hand to him, and he accepted, pulling himself up. Who is he? Namikaze Naruto or someone else?
"They are saying the truth, Naruto-kun," Haku suddenly spoke. "You are the reincarnated Uzumaki Naruto, a ninja of this village. I did attempt to kill you and your teammates in your past life, but for my most precious person, Momochi Zabuza. And, most importantly, you have come back to this world, but with a purpose."
He choked, on the words Haku was saying. He couldn't be someone else. He was Namikaze Naruto, the demon boy that killed his mother, father, and his guardian, Ishii. I-I'm not me anymore? Haku never lied to him, never did anything to hurt him. Haku had to be lying.
He fell to his knees, staring up at his best friend, the closest person, his brother almost. "I can't believe this. You can't say this, Haku! Y-you have no proof, no proof that I am Uzumaki Naruto!" he shouted. Tears poured down his face at a slow pace, and his posture fell. He couldn't be someone else, couldn't.
--
"T-Tsunade-sama, I think he should go r-rest. I-I'll take him and, the other male, to a room outback," Sakura whispered. She took a hesitant step towards Naruto, reaching her ivory hand out to touch his shoulder. But the snarl on Naruto's face made her draw back. He's crying, Naruto never cried. He really isn't Naruto—
"Tell me, Naruto-kun. How did you react at seeing that boy with the red eyes and black hair? Did you feel as if you really knew him, from long long ago?" Haku interrupted.
She froze. That description was all too familiar. She could never forget the one reason why an adult, mature Naruto did not exist here. She could never forget running into that same male, her once ultimate crush. He had become her least favorite person not long after.
If Haku was saying he was here too, it meant. More is going on than just Naruto coming back. But I refuse to believe it!
"I-I don't know, H-Haku. I just… he was such a teme! All he did was smirk at me and act like he was so goddamn good at everything! I swear I'd beat that teme black and blue and get that annoying smirk off of his face as soon as I can—" Naruto began shouting.
"You should remember, Sakura, that he's mine. He was mine when I stopped Haku from killing him. And even if, in this life, our relationship doesn't work out, I know it won't matter. He's mine, because in every life of his, his goal will be the same. He'll react to me in the same way; he'll see me in the same way. Most of all, he'll acknowledge you second to me. Because he's mine."
She remembered the simple terms Sasuke had said when she had last seen his pale face. He had laughed when she deemed she would tell Naruto she loved him. He had said Naruto was his; mind, heart, and soul. He had been right. Naruto, in a new life, was still his. Even if Naruto couldn't remember him, even if they didn't know each other. Sasuke held Naruto's heart in an iron grip.
I'll free him from that grip. He'll be mine in this life, whether you like it or not, Sasuke, she thought, confidently. But Naruto's wayward glance at the ceiling showed he was more confused, lost. "I think it's time Naruto-kun and I went to rest. Will you lend us a room or two, Haruno-san?" Haku asked.
She nodded, and agreed, but only because she wanted some alone time with her Naruto.
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