Chapter 3
Balance
Naruto walked, quickly, unsure of what to feel or think. The only thing he knew was that Sasuke did not remember the war or anything related to it.
Meaning that all he had said during their fight; all that happened that made Sasuke see the light he had lost; all that they did together in order to save the world; and all that happened in those seconds in which he thought he had failed and lost everything and then realized he would finally be able to realize his dreams; those moments were all gone.
All that he had hoped and dreamed for so long was again delayed if not completely lost. And starting over was not an option because if Sasuke didn't remember ever leaving Orochimaru meant that he would lose him again.
Sasuke would have to remember that his beloved brother was dead; that his family had been killed because things were rushed by a corrupt elder that only wanted the mangekyou existent within the Uchiha clan; that his brother had suffered and lied in order to protect his little brother.
There was no away he could break Sasuke again by making him acknowledge all this, not when he had saved him once. He wasn't going to tell him something as twisted and painful like that when all he wanted was to protect him and make him happy.
Deep in his thoughts he hadn't realized that he had stopped and his fist had made a dent in the wall near him. He only noticed because Sakura had called him.
"Naruto, did something happen?"
The blond turned to her, not sure of what to say.
"Hm.", he nodded." Sakura-chan, come to the office and bring Kakashi-sensei with you."
He returned to his hurried pace, leaving Sakura behind without a second thought.
It had been two months since he started being the official Hokage, and four mounths since the war ended. Although he had hesitated, at first, still in grieve over Tsunade's death, he had agreed two weeks later. He had then become the seventh Hokage.
The number six had been skipped, it was the daimyo's decision and he didn't argue. He didn't want the number on his back to be the same as Danzou, who he later came to find was the culprit behind a lot of dirty deeds, including the instigation of the Uchiha massacre. The sixth Hokage would be forever closed in the darkness of the history of Konoha, to never be acknowledged as anything but a shadow as punishment for all that Danzou did. His face would also not be sculpted on the Hokage's monument, instead was just the number '6' carved into the rock.
It was a fitting punishment.
Naruto believed that, but would Sasuke also agree? His mind had been circling about this question since the moment that sentence had been deferred. In his shoes, and knowing the onyx eyed rogue, he could honestly say that he thought the punishment had been too light. However he had hoped the raven haired would react better since he would see things in another light. Now, knowing that he had forgotten, these thoughts were all but trivial and insignificant.
Even though things were chaotic after the war, and with Konoha still being rebuilt, most of his thoughts and actions were towards or thinking of Sasuke. Not had he only the responsibility of an entire village as their Hokage he had the responsibility of taking care of Sasuke. These facts had made everything much harder for him.
At the beginning he couldn't find the balance between them, since when he dedicated some time to Sasuke often going to visit him in the hospital while he was on coma, he wasn't taking care of the village's affairs and therefore choosing Sasuke over the village. This had led to harsh critics, not only from the other Kage's especially the Raikage and the Tsuchikage but also Sakura and Kakashi, which had hurt more.
That had led him to drop completely his visits to the hospital, which meant that besides attending to the village's affairs twenty four/seven meant that he had given up on Sasuke, which made him frustrated to no end. He had fought tooth and nail to stand by his word of choosing both, only to give up on something that was just as precious as his dream.
For a month he had continued to feel this anguish until the night a couple of Anbus reported that Sasuke had been kidnapped by his former teammates of Taka, after failing to realize it had happened. At that he exploded, literally. All Konoha had awakened that night to the screams of an enraged seventh Hokage running down the streets of Konoha faster than the speed of sound. When he had finally caught up with the runway group with the forced help of Neji and Kiba (which he had yet to apologize properly for threatening to kill them and wipe the floor with them), he engaged in a all out war against Juugo and Suigetsu.
The result?
Not pretty. There was a lot off begging, tears and sorry's. Poor Karin who had watched everything while protecting Sasuke's unconscious form had been so terrified that when Naruto walked in her direction and asked nicely to give Sasuke back, she promptly fainted.
Needless to say, Naruto walked back to Konoha, carrying his prize bridal style with a look that said: 'If anyone tries to steal him from me again I'll make them wish they weren't born.'
Until this day Konoha stills speaks of that night, comparing it to the fairytales of a prince fighting the bad guys to save the kidnapped princess. Konohamaru had pestered him for weeks, asking him when he was going to kiss the 'princess' so he could wake up.
Honestly he had blushed like a tomato and became flustered when he heard that for the first time. Not to mention that Konohamaru had represented the play so perfectly that he even included the kissing sounds and added a smut version, using the boy on boy technique. Kakashi who had been present at the time like Sakura, had found it amusing, while the green eyed girl blushed, had a nose bleed, and then fainted.
Konohamaru still has the bump on his head and a black eye, which to Naruto's opinion was a light punishment.
Because of this events he had finally found balance between attending to Konoha's affairs and being with Sasuke by spending the day working for the village and spending the night sleeping next to Sasuke, ensuring that kidnapping wasn't happening ever.
However due to the somewhat explicit representation of Konohamaru, and the fact that he slept next to the raven haired boy, he started to have dreams about Sasuke… The 'pleasant' kind of dreams.
He always wakes up feeling mortified and flustered, since then, not to mention having the need of beating a certain kid who had put the images in his head in the first place.
Today had been the exception, and he wondered if he had said anything during his dream that made the onyx eyed boy kick him out of bed. The probability, although dreadful, was likely to be very high.
Again, while he opened his office's door to find Sakura and Kakashi already waiting, he started to feel frustrated about the current situation. After what he had been through, besides the war, he had to deal with more obstacles when he had thought that by now he would be in another stage.
He sat in his chair sighing.
"Sasuke woke up.", he simply breathed out.
"I thought you would be more excited when that happen.", Kakashi commented.
"I was, until I realize that…"
"Why didn't you tell me Naruto? "Sakura interrupted." I still haven't checked on him today. Honestly are you still holding a grudge on me beca…?"
"…He doesn't remember anything.", Naruto finished.
Sakura realized she should stay quiet for now. She just tended to forget that Naruto was the Hokage. However when he change to his more responsible and stern side, she recalled her place.
"Sasuke doesn't remember the war. He woke up thinking he was dreaming, since he probably still thinks he's still with Orochimaru. I left after that but I could tell he went to sleep again."
"Did you force anything on him?", Sakura then asked.
"No. I might not be bright, but I know something like that would be bad for him."
"It would be bad.", Sakura agreed. "There are many kinds of amnesia, but to know which means we would have to question him and if he still thinks he's under Orochimaru's influence he could try and escape if he realizes he is not dreaming."
"What are you planning to do?", Kakashi asked.
"I just know that right now I don't want to force him to remember something or make anything that will make him runaway."
"There is a chance his memory might spontaneously come back if you try to jog his brain. You don't have to necessarily make him remember bad things, just take him to places he knows or let him meet people he knows. It could help and at the same time we could collect information about how much he does remember for a proper diagnostic.", Sakura spoke while thinking carefully.
"There is still the problem of him realizing that he is not dreaming. In which case something like that will be useless since he will reject anything we try to say or do. He might try to kill you, Naruto, or target other people. If he becomes a liability you will have to take full responsibility as Hokage, and you know what that means.", Kakashi said, his tone making his thoughts clear.
"I'm not locking him up in a cell.", the young Hokage spit.
"You might not have the choice Naruto."
"EVEN if I don't have the choice, I will not do it! Can't you trust me a little more? You know what choosing only the village did to me! I'm standing my ground Kakashi, I chose both the village and Sasuke knowing that it will make everything harder but that's what I chose! I will not choose one of them over the other, and it's the same for this situation."
"Honestly…", Kakashi sighed." Well, you're right Naruto, there is no reason for me not to trust you with this. I have faith you will manage to get through this, however you can never be too cautious.
"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!", the blond gave his best grin.
"Naruto, if you're going through with this plan you have to make sure that Sasuke thinks he is still dreaming. It's the crucial part of the plan, but there are still some loose ends we have to talk about."
"Oh?"
"Naruto, no… Hokage-sama, you can't possibly think I would simply agree to let you grab a patient that just woke up from a coma and go on a walk with him. Sasuke's body is debilitated and weak from the nine weeks he spent on coma. He will probably have difficulties to move, (it's a wonder he managed to speak). Moreover, I think he should be in recovery for a couple of weeks before going for a walk, but since we can't afford the time I'll be making a list of what you should do in case something happens. At the beginning of aggravation signs you'll have to bring him immediately to the hospital so you can't go too far understood?"
"Hai Sakura-chan! Thank you. You're both dismissed."
With that, Kakashi disappeared in a curtain of smoke will Sakura chose the door. Before leaving she turned again.
"What is it Sakura-chan?"
"Naruto, I'm sorry for being so hard on you. You've just been Hokage for a little more than a couple of months and I know it has been hard on you, but I haven't helped at all. Instead I made it harder on you, by not supporting your choices, although I'm just worried that you work yourself too hard and that's why I told you not to worry about Sasuke so much. I didn't know I was adding more stress to you to the point you would explode like that. Just… please do your best but don't work yourself to death."
"You don't have to worry about that Sakura-chan. I can't die before I make myself the best Hokage ever."
The pink haired girl smiled, wholeheartedly, before finally closing the door.
The young Hokage knew perfectly well why she worried so much after him. He didn't know if he should laugh or cry about knowing that the reason wasn't about her realizing her feeling of romantic love for him after that particular event during the war. He knew she loved him, though. Just not in the way that he hoped for.
Leaning back on the chair, he suddenly noticed his stomach rumbling. Looking at the clock on his desk he realized it was six o'clock in the morning.
Time for work I guess.
"Rumble"
After breakfast.
In case you're wondering why the tittle isn't called bitter sweet dreams 2 as a follow up to the second chapter's tittle, the reason is that this is a Naruto chapter and not a Sasuke chapter.
Again sorry for the long waiting, but I hope it was worth it, I was on fire with this chapter. I might have some words mispelled as I always do, sorry about that.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
