The new tent of Sakura's was dimly lit in the morning sun, and she had still not been able to find rest. Her thumb stroked the cool surface of her new Suna-headband. It was different from her Konoha-headband, which lay in the dark end of her bag pack. It probably would stay there for a long time to come.
Her eyes scanned every corner of the headband, and she felt rather different about this it. She had Konoha and Rock headbands previously. The Konoha-headband had made her proud. The rock-headband only brought her regret. This Suna headband, she couldn't quite figure out what it should bring her.
Sakura turned around and swung her legs over the bed and stepped over to the table with a mirror. It was strange to live so wealthy in a camp. Especially in times of war. Her green eyes were reflected in it, and she could see how her usually shining pink hair looked dull. With a swift move of her hand she placed the headband around her head, a routine practice. She tightened the knob underneath her hair.
Then she just sat still, her hand gone back to lap.
It was hard not to think about what she left behind and the thought alone made Sakura close her eyes. She could hear people beginning to wake up in the surrounding tents – there were not many people in the area where she lived. Most of them were out on missions, and she was still kept within the camp. She then heard Temari's voice outside the tent. "Sakura! Gaara wants you to go with him to a meeting! So you better hurry!"
This made Sakura open her eyes. As she looked in the mirror, she could see Tsunade stand by the opening of the tent. With a small murmur she heard the former Hokage speak. "Perhaps you should see this as an opportunity to redeem yourself"
Sakura looked thoughtful for a second and then stood up…
-
Shizune turned her head to look at Iruka, her hand went into her hair. It had grown quite a lot, reaching her shoulders now. He noticed this and smiled. "If it bothers you, then it might be a good idea to cut your hair."
She looked startled and turned her gaze to her hand in her hair. "Eh? Uhm – it …doesn't really bother me, I am just not used to have long hair you see."
Iruka smiled. "I liked the shorter hair better too."
-
Neji entered the room with Sakura's belongings gracefully. His white eyes had the Byukugan activated, making sure that there was no one near that knew of his presence. Neji frowned slightly at the messiness of her room – she had only been there for a week and yet all of her belongings were scattered. Most of her clothes were draped over chairs randomly as if she had been in a hurry.
He moved around, searching every corner, until he saw a small bag of hers, hidden underneath her bed. Neji took it and quickly searched through it with his eyes.
A book, with the title 'Apples' – nothing interesting.
The usual bandages that would be found with a medic.
An old headband from Konoha.
Another…one.
His eyes stopped searching when he saw the headband. Shining light to the metal piece of it, he saw the mark of the rock-village. What was this? He smirked slightly. However, that wasn't the most interesting. Underneath the headband lay a jewellery of some sort. He narrowed his eyes slightly to see what it was – as far as he knew, he had seen these sorts of jewelleries before.
His eyes widened slightly.
It was an Uchiha jewellery.
This had to be investigated further.
-
Naruto looked at the Hyuuga leader sitting on the floor before him, his hand holding the reports given to him by Sai and Ino. Those two had during that time of one year, become Naruto's favourite spies. Ino was the one reporting back, while Sai stayed inside the walls of Konoha. Naruto turned to look at the paper.
"I have news from Konoha concerning the Hyuugas, Hinata"
Hinata looked at him and stroked her hands against each other. "It is bad news, Naruto-sama?"
He turned his head towards another piece of paper. "Yes – it seems that Orochimaru's plan is starting to be successful." She narrowed her eyes in distress. "What does that mean?"
"The branch-members have cut off cooperation with Freedom forces. They have turned to Orochimaru now, which means that our Hyuuga faction can not recruit the majority of the clan." Naruto yanked a hand through his hair. "It will be harder to fight with the Hyuugas against each other. The caged bird seal alone will cause mass deaths."
Hinata looked at the ground. "We will make it, won't we?" at this his blue eyes gazed down upon her, before he smiled. "Sure we will."
However, Naruto couldn't help but see the flicker of giving up in her eyes, which made him sit down on his knees. The smile was a fake one, but people had always had a hard time figuring out when he smiled for real anyways. "It may seem as if the tide is turning now, but we can do it Hinata. You know it!"
Naruto's hand patted hers softly and Hinata turned her head to look at him. "With you, Naruto-sama, then we will," she said with conviction.
He grinned. "Hinata, Hinata, it is Naruto to you – how many times do I have to tell you?" his hands held hers softly. It always seemed to cheer her up when he was physically close to her, and Naruto needed Hinata to stay strong in time of war. Neji was too busy doing work for him anyway, so that meant he wouldn't be there for her.
"As long as Konoha-folks stick together here – then it will work out."
The opening to the tent flipped to one side and Tohru entered, smiling. "Father! You know w-…oh…hey aunt Hinata." The smile on Tohru's face fell slightly at the sight of Hinata and Naruto sitting like that. Naruto had told her before that he and Hinata were only very close friends. But to Tohru, it seemed as if Hinata wanted more out of the relationship – even if she was married to…
"Oh, hey Tohru-chan? How did the training go?"
"Fine, Aunt Hinata. You know – I'll just come back later – I have to retrieve something! See ya!"
Naruto was about to stand up. "Wait – there is something I have to tell you."
Tohru waved. "It is alright – I'll go and see her today!" then she exited the tent.
Hinata looked from Naruto to the tent door. "It is Sakura-san isn't it?" Naruto frowned slightly.
"Yeah."
-
"Orochimaru's plan so far, according to Naruto-sama's spies briefly is this: Get Konoha, gain the people of Konoha to trust him and then afterwards destroy Konoha." The suna-nin spoke loudly.
"We plan to temporarily stop fighting in the winter-time. During that time we will train and regain forces for the last and major attack on Konoha in spring. We must succeed at this. Medics need to be top tuned and so do our troops. Kazekage-sama, is there anything else?"
The Kazekage looked up from his papers and then to Sakura, who was too busy skimming through her own papers to notice. However, that wasn't what caught his interest, a few seats ahead, Hyuuga Neji sat and stared at her. Perhaps Naruto had gone far enough to actually spy at her even in the camp – he turned to the Suna-nin.
"Do we know anything new of note about Orocohimaru's plans?"
"No, Kazekage-sama, but the spies are currently investigating. Kabuto and Orochimaru had a very mysterious meeting a week ago. We plan to figure out what they have spoken about. However, without the cooperation of the Hyuugas it will become difficult to retrieve such info."
There was silence for a while.
Sakura closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. She had the feeling that she would be on the run soon.
-
"Sasuke-kun!"
His hand went limp in hers, and one word was spoken before he closed his eyes. "Itachi…"
-
The dinner-tent was loud and busy as always. Sakura, who had only been there for a week at most, was still amazed by the amount of people present in the tent. The table she sat at was small, and she was the only one sitting there. A person stepped up in front of her, on the opposite side of the table. The tray he held in his hand was put down a little louder than normal, to announced his presence.
Sakura looked up confused, obviously startled by it and met the face of Hyuuga Neji. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she spoke a bit annoyed.
Without a reply he sat down and eyed her, which made her raise an eyebrow suspiciously in return. Neji's grey eyes then turned down to her untouched food and then up at Sakura again. "Wanted to take this chance to catch up, Haruno-san"
"...With what?" she poked her meat with her chopsticks in a bored fashion. "Don't you have other stuff to do? Like ...doing important missions for the Hyuugas or so?"
Neji began to eat his lunch slowly. His gaze rested more on her than on the food itself. Sakura narrowed her eyes as if trying to figure out what was going on, when he spoke.
"The Hyuuga's are mostly scattered or in Konoha"
"...What about the Rokudaime then? Don't you work for him too?" Sakura continued. He swallowed his food and drank a bit of his water, before eying her, speaking once more.
"We were once comrades, yes?"
Sakura sighed. "That is nearly ten years ago"
"We are fighting together again, Haruno-san"
Neji could clearly see the annoyed look on her face when she responded. "I fight for Suna and I fight on my own too. I do not believe I fight with you," this made him raise an eyebrow.
"You fight for your own?" When he spoke, she detected a small flicker, in his grey eyes, which wasn't there, when she spoke about Suna.
"...Of course I do so" Sakura narrowed her eyes even more. "Gaara didn't assign me to carry out missions with teams. He depends on me doing the missions on my own"
"Hmph" at this Neji took some more food and swallowed it slowly. "We have often heard of your travels"
Sakura looked down on her food, her voice clearly annoyed. "Oh really?"
"Bane of Akatsuki, the Healer Haruno" when he spoke a small smirk made its way to his lips. "Quite a grandiose name, Haruno-san"
"...I didn't know you were the type that listens to rumours, Neji-san" Sakura brought a small shrimp to her mouth and began to chew.
"A ninja must keep aware of all the going-ons, especially during the war" with a smirk he leaned unto one arm, staring at her with curiosity. "So is it true you have killed three Akatsuki on your own?"
"..." Neji eyed her steely when she didn't respond. Sakura's eyes narrowed in annoyance as she muttered. "Dead people are dead people"
Neji's eyes widened a bit, as his curiosity got the better of him. "Some die harder than others, Sakura-san"
She looked down at her food, eating some more. "Depends on the situation"
At that he looked down on his own food. "There is no reason for animosity' His smirk widened slightly. "I 'm quite an ... admirer...of your exploits"
Sakura looked up, surprise written in her face, yet the hint of her annoyance still lingered. "...Really?" she then smirked, and her voice dripped with sarcasm. "For a moment there I thought you were trying to get information out of me"
He returned her look in a blank fashion "We have information on you, more than you know"
"Of course you have" she muttered, while eating more of her food. "But you want more, that's why you spy on me" her mouth curled into a smirk. "So there must be something you want to know badly"
"I want to hear it from you personally. It is accepted that Haruno Sakura is the strongest kunoichi alive. A professional curiosity, you can understand" he raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"...I do not believe so" her chopsticks caught another mushroom. "Even I am a mere mortal Hyuuga Neji"
"There are those who are above even the fates" he leaned in, shortening the distance between them. This close up, Sakura could see that he was eager to know something.
"How did you do it?" he asked. "Itachi…How?" his voice no longer monotone, but instead sounding desperate and demanding.
Sakura glared at him, but didn't respond. She chewed slightly on the mushroom, before looking the other way offended. "If you know so much about me as you say - then there is no need for me to tell you"
Neji leaned back and reseted himself, eyeing her carefully. "What about the member from lightning country?"
"..." Another shrimp. "Dead people are dead people" Sakura muttered again.
"Hmph" he drank some more of his water. "You see me as Naruto-sama's messenger. I am more than that Haruno-san"
"What else should you be?" Sakura spoke with a slightly ironic tone.
Neji's eyes narrowed in anger. "The next in line"
"We have never been more than acquaintances" she all of a sudden spoke.
"..." She looked thoughtful for a short moment.
"Hyuuga Neji, I believe that you should step carefully, whatever line it is you're next in"
He smirked. "Perhaps you and I should have a spar. To catch up further" his hand gracefully pointed at the hand holding her chopsticks. "I wish to see your fabled strength for myself"
Sakura turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised. "...For what purpose?" Her hand with the chopsticks lifted and she pointed them at him as if to lecture "I do not fight to catch up. Unlike you" she turned her gaze the other way, "I fight to survive"
"I see" Neji gazed down at his now finished food.
"..." She glanced at him. "What have you been told about me?"
The corners of his lips turned up slightly, in an unbidden fashion. "Our dinners are almost finished, we may continue this elsewhere"
"..." She looked at him annoyed. "I am not done with my dinner yet"
"But mine is"
"Then why are you still here?" Sakura's lips turned into a smirk.
Neji's eyes narrowed and his voice turned cold. "It would do for you to learn courtesy next time we talk, Haruno"
She raised an eyebrow mockingly. "I am fine the way it is"
Neji stood up and didn't bother to bid Sakura a farewell as he left the tent. Sakura followed him with her eyes narrowed. There was something very suspicious about Neji.
-
Naruto rubbed his forehead lightly; Rin stared at him as he did so. "Do you sleep well Naruto-sama?" she softly said, it was as if she really didn't see him. Rin always seemed eager to see him act light-headed and careless. It was as if she saw someone else reflected in his persona. He gazed at her when she spoke – he looked the other way, towards the entrance of his tent.
It was his weekly medical check-up, and Rin had personally assigned herself to do that job. Her hands rested on his naked back as she examined him. "Naruto-sama, do you sleep well? Your body seem tired and all"
There was silence for a few minutes.
"Rin-san…do you have anything that can cure nightmares?"
The older woman looked at him and then back to his back. "Nightmares are not something you can cure with medical jutsus –" he groaned as she said that. "nightmares are suppressed emotions Naruto-sama. It is something you must figure out on your own – why you dream what you do."
His gaze returned to his lap and he folded his hands together. "what is it you dream Naruto-sama? Perhaps I can help clearing it" he shook his head, "no thanks Rin-san, it doesn't matter"
He felt her hands slowly move from his lower back to his shoulders. "you know – I had nightmares too once."
Naruto didn't say anything in reply.
"it was always about Obito…" Rin became a bit quiet before speaking again. "they weren't the same, the dreams – but it was always about me being too late to save him. I was always too late – that was when I realised that…my problem was that I couldn't accept that we had failed him."
He could feel her chakra begin to change as the regret clearly entered her voice. "we lost him…because of me. I don't know how long I blamed myself. However – then I realised"
"Obito wouldn't have wanted me to be like this. He would've wanted me to be happy – be the best medic-nin I could." Her hands disappeared from his back. "aaah – we're done. Naruto-sama, make sure that you rest okay?"
He gazed at the ground, and it made her look at him worriedly. "Naruto-sama?"
"….I dream…about Tsunade…" he murmured.
"about the day…four years ago…where she died. You know – she didn't die heroicly. She was sick – very sick. Shizune told me she had gotten an infection from an ill patient, who also had died. The infection couldn't be cured…" Rin turned towards him and gazed at the thirteen year younger boy before her. He had been through so much more than anyone else – and yet…he managed to stay upbeat. She spoke. "it happens that medical-ninjutsu can't cure everything…that is how life is"
"…"
She smiled. "What we have to do, in life, is to forgive, move on, but never forget those we left behind" Rin closed her eyes. "I wasn't the one who suffered the most when Obito died – Kakashi did. He was the great jounin at the time; he believes he failed us…"
-
"Monster…monster…you killed Sasuke-kun"
-
"…I couldn't have done anything. I knew that – I couldn't have saved Obito with my hands…he was already gone by then. Kakashi was the one who Obito sacrificed himself for." Rin smiled sadly. "…"
Naruto looked up at the ceiling. "Rin-san…"
"hm?" she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"I run towards the Hokage-tower, to see Tsunade. Every time I hope that she is alive, that she is smiling and waiting for me. However – she isn't the one in there…" he voice was low. "I see Haruno Sakura instead…sobbing…cradling a body while she speaks Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun." He closed his eyes as if trying to create an image. "But…she isn't cradling Sasuke. Instead it is Uchiha Itachi, who tells me she is his…I don't get it…"
Rin smiled. "Perhaps…Naruto-sama, you are afraid that she blames you. You are perhaps afraid that the reason she constantly leaves is because of you and what you have done" Naruto opened his eyes again and looked at her, before frowning. "Why should that scare me?"
"…." She looked thoughtful for a second.
"you don't want Uchiha Itachi to take her do you? You don't want the Akatsuki to take her…you don't want her to die…right?"
His blue eyes became distant and he looked like he was in deep thought, before he shook his head. Rin watched as he put on his shirt again, looking extremely troubled. She spoke again. "Don't be scared…"
"…it is just a dream right?"
Naruto looked at her shortly, before leaving his tent.
-
"Orochimaru is on the move! Get the troops ready – we're going to attack!" a voiced echoed through the streets. "all ninjas prepare for attack! The medics do as they usually do! Move people, move!"
Sakura looked from right to left; Temari had already found her fan and was ready to leave. "Sakura, you stay here in the camp! You haven't been set into a battle-team yet, and the medics will probably need you!" the pink-haired kunoichi looked up. "eh – what? I can fight too!"
The sand-nin turned to look at her disapprovingly. "someone has to take care of the camp while we're away. Remember, there are children here too, who needs protection – and we need the best medics to heal those who return. Remember that. Untill then, you will have to do what I say. When Gaara has not given you permission to enter battle – you stay here!"
With a swift move of her hands she picked up her son, Asuma, and handed him over to Sakura. "also, I need someone to take care of my Asuma, so please, protect him for me – right?"
She looked at the tiny baby in her arms, who had gotten a bit fat since the last time she had seen him, which was about a year ago. Temari kissed him on the forehead before she disappeared along with all the other ninjas. Sakura readjusted the kid and tilted her head slightly, which caused the baby-boy to yawn. She laughed and shook her head. "guess the kid does look like his father afterall."
-
Naruto helped up a boy who was clutching his arm tightly, the hokage frowned slightly. "listen, you can't fight with that arm kid, go back to the camp – you can't do anything" the boy shook his head at Naruto's words. "no! I have to fight!" Naruto shook him slightly. "you go back now, it is an order – I don't want to have ninjas on the battlefield who can't fight properly – so now! Go!"
He pushed the boy towards the camp and he could see the small sight of relief on his face. It made him groan. Ninjas these days, especially the young ones, didn't know when to flee or not to flee. Naruto kicked a sound ninja in the stomach, who had jumped towards him a few seconds before. War wasn't something he enjoyed very much – but it did help him release some tension and frustration.
Shikamaru joined him. "yo –Naruto!" he sent a sound ninja flying towards the others. "if we win today, you're going to join us at the party – right?"
Naruto twirled around and kicked another ninja away. "I can't …"
The shadow ninja sat down on his knees and folded his hands together, his shadow rushing forward, grabbing one of the ninjas that were rushing towards them. Naruto gracefully made a rasengan and trusted it into those who were left. Shikamaru looked annoyed. "why not? Maybe it will give you company for the night?"
"hah – yeah right Shikamaru. Why don't you focus on not making Temari pregnant – okay? It will be a shame if we should loose her because you couldn't hold yourself back."
Shikamaru bend his shadow slightly and threw the ninja back into the approaching group. "….it is a miracle that Gaara actually allowed me to have a relationship to her, but I wonder sometimes if it is even worth it." He threw a kunai gracefully at one of them. "…she is bitching an awful lot – especially when it is about Asuma – that is for sure."
"you're kid has grown a lot – don't you think it would be safer for him to stay in Suna than in the camp?" Naruto spoke casually as he jumped over another ninja.
"perhaps – but the camp is safe as hell, with all those brilliant ninjas running around, there is no way any harm can come to him."
Naruto nodded at it. "true – true"
"so – why not join us tonight? Instead of sitting in your tent all night as you always do? Eh?"
"I told you Shikamaru – "before he could continue, a giant fan struck the ground before them and the grinning face of the sand-kunoichi could be appeared. "yo – Naruto!"
Naruto waved his hand. "yo to you Temari."
Shikamaru looked the other way, searching for any sign of remaining ninjas that might be hiding. The sand-kunoichi looked at Naruto arms. "oih, you better go to the medic-clinic with the wound on your right arm Naruto – it doesn't look so well." Naruto looked down and shrugged. "it is nothing, it will go away by the morning."
Temari frowned. "I may not be a medic-nin, but you have to get it cleaned at least – or else it'll be infected."
He sighed – why was it that, even when he was hokage, he was the one being bossed around. "Yes Temari…"
Shikamaru turned back to him. "we're done here – looks like a victory to me – you'll join us tonight Naruto! Wether you want to or not!"
-
Sakura looked down at the young boy sit before her, a frown on her face. "you should be more careful – you may be a ninja, but the battlefield is dangerous." His pushed his dark hair out of his eyes and looked at the floor shamefully. She sat down on a chair and slowly began to wrap the wound on his arm while at the same time healed it as well as she could.
The boy pushed his legs together and sighed, Sakura glanced at him. "what is wrong?"
He flinched slightly in discomfort at her question, but slowly managed to gather the courage to speak. "The Hokage …I am only a gennin, but…will I ever become a good ninja? I just stood on the battlefield paralyzed – didn't know what to do" she cracked an insecure smile, watching the young kid before her look at the ground sadly.
Sakura then patted his hair. "you know what?" he turned his head back to her, wondering what she was doing. "no?"
She grinned. "just train hard, do your best and don't die – then the Hokage will be pleased with whatever work you do!"
The boy stood up, smiling brightly. "when it comes from you! Then it must be true! Thank you!" before Sakura could ask what he meant by that he had disappeared through the tent.
-
Hinata sat on the bench outside the hokage-tower, her hands folded neatly together. Neji sat beside her and the voices of her father and Naruto could be heard clearly through the door. Her cousin gave her a side-glance before he returned his gaze to the wall in front. "it is the best of the clan Hinata – not that I do not approve of your and Naruto's relationship"
The quiet girl didn't say anything, which made him even more frustrated with their situation. "It is alright if you hate me – just tell me…"
"I don't hate you Neji-niisan… it is just… we will have to be a lot closer than we…have ever been before, you and I" he turned his gaze to her when she spoke and tried to smile. "hey…it is alright – I won't force you into anything"
Hinata looked at the floor sadly. "he probably still loves her…" Neji raised an eyebrow and quickly looked away. It was no secret that Naruto cared deeply for Sakura, however, she had not bothered to return for six years - …perhaps he just liked to cling to the past – just like Neji did at times. "Hinata, I do not want you to think like that…"
"I can't help it Neji-nii-san"
He sighed and crossed his arms, the voices from the room had quieted, but they were still talking wildly. "if it can help you Hinata-sama, then I can assure you that you have only reached the age of twenty, there is many years to change your fate."
Hinata rubbed her fingers together. "…It may be…sad, but Neji-nii-san" she turned her gaze to look at him. "I do not wish to sound cruel – but…I do love Naruto-kun, but…I will be fine with you too."
He tried to smile.
-
A/N: I made the chapter a bit longer than normal, because I had been walking around saying the chapter will be done several times. However, certain circumstances interfered with my writing, which include – what should I write? – I got sick – I have renewed my loveaffair to my playstation. I do hope it doesn't seem boring this chapter. Next chapter will have to be done on Monday! Who knows when I'll get time to write again – eh? After these last weeks insane amount of homework, I need to write whenever I can.
The speed is slowing down – but it will start to speed up in the next chapter – I won't allow it to reach forty chapters!
All rights to kishi.
Review of you feel like it.