Hey, sorry I'm late. My motto for this summer is laziness and procrastination. But, I'm making it up to you guys with a (slightly) longer chapter! Enjoy!
Waiting in recovery was agonizing. Well, at least Kurama's chakra helped him heal quicker than a normal person. But still, his wounds were taking a little too long for his liking. Probably because he had used the Kyuubi's sage mode form a lot over the past few days.
But being hyper-aware of all the activity that was going on outside his tent was not helping. He could hear the footsteps of shinobi, the endless chatter of people, the clatter of nameless objects from the outside world, and he desperately wanted to be apart of it.
Pathetic, he thought. Looks like staring at a white wall all day has gotten to me.
Konoha was currently being rebuilt, so many were temporarily camping out around the medical tents a short distance from the battlefield, sort of like a large, make-shift village. Every able shinobi was patrolling around a 5km distance, ready to defend from any attacker.
While he, the so-called 'Konoha hero', sat back and relaxed in bed. it was starting to irritate him.
The main thing that was occupying his mind was Sakura's disappearance. When he first heard, he'd have gotten up and searched for her right then and there, after the initial shock wore off, had it not been for Shizune and Hinata reminding of his wounds. He hated being stuck there, not being able to do anything for his friends.
But just then, someone stepped into the tent, crashing his little pity party.
"Naruto-kun...?" Of course, it was Hinata. When, she had begun to tack on the 'kun', he did not know.
But he didn't care. Lately, she had stuck to him like glue, for reasons he didn't quite understand. Nevertheless, he appreciated her kindness, and gave her a big grin, like the ones he'd give Sakura-chan. Because now, the white-eyed girl was the only person who could make him forget about his pink-haired teammate, if only for a little bit.
He woke up quietly, not bothering to open his eyes. Scanning the perimeter with his chakra, he was pleased to find Sakura's stable signature still in her room downstairs. He had taken a short nap to regain some of his strength, as well as a soldier pill earlier to boost his chakra level. Too lazy to get up at the moment, he lied there and went over his plans.
He planned to head north, dragging Sakura with him, to a small civilian town near one of Orochimaru's many hideouts, just in the border of sound. There, no one would dare attack him. He would go his own way, do what he wanted to do, and over the next few years, maybe even restore the Uchiha clan. Sakura, by then knowing the location of many hideouts, would be dangerous to let go of, so she would either stay by his side, or be killed, depending on him.
For now, he would have to bind her to him, using a technique he read about in the clan's old archives. From what he read about it, he would be able to tell where she was at all times, among other things, which would be very useful. The justu itself was usually practiced between married or betrothed couples, though he could care less.
He got up and stretched languidly, before heading to small 'kitchen' of the hideout. Sakura was bound to be hungry, and so was he.
Tsunade sighed for the umpteenth time that day, having come back from a meeting among the 5 kages. She had been discussing her apprentice's disappearance, and shinobi to send after her, with Shikaku Nara. Unfortunately, the elders, who had tagged along, bitched at her for worrying about one instead of the whole village, and showing favoritism, and blah, blah, blah. RIGHT. IN THE MIDDLE. OF THE FUCKIN' MEETING. She had snapped at a young nurse afterwards.
The one thing that caught her attention was when the Raikage motioned her aside to speak to her privately. What he told her shocked her to the core.
One of his ninja had spotted a pink-haired kunoichi headed to where Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto were battling. Then there was an explosion, obscuring his sight temporarily. After the smoke cleared, Uchiha Sasuke and the kunoichi were gone.
In the present, Tsunade sat chewing her nails. It was unfathomable, to think that the Uchiha brat had kidnapped her student. Of course, the Raikage had explicitly stated that just because they disappeared at the same time, did not mean they disappeared together. While she would have like to believe that, something told her not to.
She had always followed her instincts, and she wasn't about to stop now.
The minute he gained conciousness, a throbbing pain in his abdomen alerted him of serious injuries and hell if he moved even one inch. Slowly, he opened his seemingly 500 lb eyelids, and found a young woman bent over him, with her hand on his blanket, which was covering the lower half of his face.
"Wha-what are you ...doing...?" The silver-haired ninja rasped.
"Oh, I -um- I thought that you might have a hard time breathing with that blanket over your face!" She laughed nervously. His eyes followed her as she stood up, and scanned the room. There were three other shinobi in the tent, all of whom, he noticed, looked rather guilty.
"Did w-we win...? Is it ...over?" They smiled and nodded.
"And Obi-...Madara?" His voice cracked when he almost said his ex-friend's name.
"...He's dead." One of the shinobi, a male, answered.
"...I see."
'So this is how it ends, eh... partner...?" He thought to himself.
And with, the infamous copy ninja passed out for the second time in two days.
He balanced the freshly prepared meal on the small tray as he slipped downstairs. Having already eaten, he was now bringing Sakura her meal. He had decided to place the binding justu on her when he brought her food, but she obviously wasn't going to cooperate with anything he did. If she resisted, he would just have to subdue her by force.
Walking down the hallway and up to her door, he ambled in without knocking. He set the tray down on the desk next to the candle, which would die out soon. Her chakra signature was coming from the bed, so he assumed that she was only laying down. However, she was fast asleep.
She slept on the right side of the bed, curled up into a ball, with the covers up to her ears. He smirked. She was like a little girl hiding from monsters under the bed.
An ideal opportunity had presented itself, though, and he wasn't about to pass it by. He drifted silently over to the side of the bed, where she now faced him. Recalling the hand signs from memory, he formed the correct kata, and pushed his chakra towards his palm.
He didn't know exactly how long it would take, so he got down on one knee and slowly pushed his palm against her forehead. Her face scrunched up as if in agitation, but otherwise, she did not move. His hand began to glow whitish-blue, and he felt his chakra being sucked out rapidly.
It was not an unpleasant experience, and he found he could not pull away even if he wanted to. The justu had fastened his hand to her.
Five minutes had passed before he could un-stick his palm from her brow. Any more, and he would have been drained. He was glad he took that soldier pill.
Looking closer, he found a mark in the middle of her forehead. Vines wrapped around her delicate face, almost cradling it. At the center was a cherry blossom.
Hn. Fitting. He thought. The mark sat there innocently before fading away into her pale skin.
Realizing he had been staring for some time now, he turned curtly and left.
Walking through the crowded gaps between the tents, almost stumbling over who-knows-what, Shizune made her way into the innermost part of the 'village'. She was returning from a conference meeting between Tsunade and the elders. After uniting during a huge crisis, relations between the villages were favorable, since no one dared break the fragile peace. Furthermore, it was agreed that supplies would be equally shared among the villages, to help with rebuilding and the relief effort.
But that wasn't the only topic they had discussed.
Tsunade had brought up sending out a few individuals after Sakura, again. The elders were against sending a team after Sakura, saying that it was a waste of time and effort, and there were many other dead still on the battlefield.
Tsunade, for her own reasons, respectively, had not told them of what the Kumogakure ninja had seen.
The elders would most likely order a battalion after the Uchiha for execution, and the Hokage wasn't taking any chances, not with Naruto around.
Shizune had, of course, backed up Tsunade, saying that Sakura was an outstanding medic-nin, and an important kunoichi of the leaf. The elders retorted that if she hadn't come back by now, she was probably dead, and there was no use sending ninja from their already sparse security.
After they left, Tsunade had promptly proceeded to throw her desk against the wall.
Shizune sighed.
'Sakura...where are you...?'
She came upon Naruto's tent, and readied herself to be fixed with a blank stare that was just so, so unlike him. After a moment of hesitation, she opened the tent flap and froze. There, sitting up on the bed and smiling bright, was Naruto, with Hinata perched next to him, giggling.
She watched with keen interest as Naruto desribed one of his missions, which seemed to involve a really fat guy rolling down a hill. Hinata started giggling again, and soon, they were both laughing.
Shizune could still see the sad, yet determined look in his eye, but it seemed to be at the back of his mind, now that he was focused on Hinata. Way to go, girl. Get your man! She thought.
They didn't seem to notice her, so she quietly backed up and, with a small smile alighting her face, walked away.
She yawned and opened her eyes sleepily, finding herself in pretty much the same position as she had last night. Or morning. It was hard to tell the time of day since there were no windows underground.
As she stretched lazily, she realized she felt somehow ...different. She couldn't figure out what it was, so she laid in bed, trying to determine it. It kinda felt like she was being watched, that every little move she made was being analyzed and catalogued. Also, she could feel a ...pressure, no, ...more like a- a presence, wrapped around her body, almost covering it.
And yet, it was not at all unpleasant. Maybe even ...comforting. Strange.
But her ninja training told her not to trust it. Whatever it was. Distantly, she thought that Sasuke must have something to do with it. But all thoughts were out the window as she smelled a delicious aroma of food. Her stomach rumbled loudly. She hadn't had anything to eat since the last morning she was on the battlefield.
Looking around the dark room, she pinpointed it, and its mouth-watering scent, on the desk. She threw the covers off her quickly and practically skipped over to it. There, next to the flickering candle, was a tray containing a bowl of Ton-jiru, a plate of Tonkatsu, green beans and rice balls, and a glass of water.
All her life she had been taught not to eat food while in a foreign place, especially not from a kidnapper. You know, since it could be poisoned, and stuff. But she knew she served some kind of purpose here, and Sasuke wouldn't kill her off so quickly. Besides, if he wanted to kill her, he could have done so a while ago.
Her stomach was rumbling again, so, she picked up the chopsticks, and dug in.
Whooooooooooo, 2,000 words, baby! *throws confetti*
Chapter four. Mostly a filler. But I like the little SasuSaku development that's going on. So, tell me what you think, and give me a few ideas. They could be used in later chapters. ;)