Discovering Myself
Summary: Do you ever get that feeling where you might be missing something important? You know, it's on the tip of your tongue but it just won't come out? I get that feeling everyday. It's plagued me day in, day out for almost five years now…
Disclaimer: This is a Fan-fiction story of the Anime & Manga series; Naruto and the game; Final Fantasy VII and is in no way affiliated with the actual series. All characters and other materials related to the show & game that are used are not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. Elemental-Zer0 takes sole responsibility for any mistakes or offence that may be taken but truly not meant.
However, this story plot and all Characters not affiliated with the show or game are Copyright © 2010 to Elemental-Zer0.
Warnings: Welcome to the Zer0-Express line where action and adventure await. Step inside and take a seat as we journey to a place where the words may be harmful, the mysteries are hazardous and the potato chips just plain suck – sorry not a lot we can do, they're from our sponsor.
A/N: You'll have to bear with me on these scene changes, atm. I'm planning on making it one chapter from Midgar then one chapter from Konoha and alternating it that way. I'll see how far I get before I start merging the chapters… haha x
Let me know what you think, but no flames please. If you have any criticism to make please do it politely otherwise I shall ignore your words. (It's happened before, I'm sorry to say, and I hadn't even posted any chapters…)
Chapter One: Reminiscence and Regrets
The land of Fire was quiet. Nobody spoke. Nobody wanted to. All that could be heard was the soft pattering of rain falling gently to the ground, splashing slightly in the puddles it'd created and soaking everything in a wet film of salty water and sadness.
Today was a sad day for Konoha.
It was the sixth anniversary of the loss of a valued Shinobi; the loss of one Naruto Uzumaki; revealed six years ago to have really been Naruto Namikaze, the son of the Yondaime. Sakura sniffed quietly; he was practically royalty and yet… his identity had been hidden even from himself, to protect him from his father's enemies when he was younger. But the whole Kyuubi thing made things a lot worse. She understood how the Sandaime's hands had been tied in the matter and that it was better than having his father's enemies or worse, the Atkatsuki, know who he was and where he was at any given time. He'd have been dead a long time ago.
But now that didn't matter. It had all amounted to nothing… Naruto was still gone. Her first true friend… dead.
The rain wept with her.
"Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba and Ino. Thank you for coming so swiftly. Especially on today." Tsunade, the Godaime greeted them. The team nodded and stood to attention, awaiting their orders in silence. Tsunade took on a more serious persona, steeple-ing her fingers under her chin to show she meant business. "But it's because of today that I have called you here. I have a mission for you that may change your outlook on today's morose festivities." She said mysteriously before gesturing for Jiraiya to walk into the room. He looked just as serious as Tsunade but his eyes seemed to twinkle with hope. Sasuke thought it a little strange but dared not to get his hopes up. Tsunade nodded to her long time team mate, giving him the floor.
"As you know, Naruto disappeared six years ago in the fight against Orochimaru." The toad hermit began but couldn't help noticing how badly Sasuke had reacted to the snake-man's name. It had been no secret how Sasuke felt about the whole battle that had taken place. When Orochimaru had tried to merge into Sasuke's body and found out he wasn't compatible, the snake-man all but lost it and tried to kill Sasuke before Sasuke'd had the chance to kill Itachi. There was no escaping that blow. There was no way that he should even be alive right now. If it hadn't been for Naruto jumping in the way Sasuke wouldn't be standing in the Godaime's office right now. Naruto had saved him. And because of the Kyuubi's healing powers, Naruto could have survived the blow; hell the kid was still fighting alongside Sasuke to bring Orochimaru to his knees. How he held up with all that pain going through him Sasuke would never know. He owed Naruto a lot. But then Orochimaru set off that explosion, the blast had all but blown the entire area into a crater. And both Naruto and Orochimaru had disappeared from the scene. Orochimaru showed up a few months later, burned beyond recognition and still prowling for a new body, but Naruto had never been found. It was assumed his body had been burned to ash.
Since then, Sasuke had dedicated himself to avenging his brother-friend and unknowingly taking Naruto's place in the 'Hate Orochimaru' club.
"The Blast was so intense, no one expected him to be alive," Jiraiya recounted, hitting Sasuke's thoughts on the head. Reminding him of what he had to do and why. "No body was found but with the heat of the blast, no one expected one to be found. However…"
And time seemed to slow down. That word. However…Dare he dream of the possibility? Dare he hope for the impossible?
"It's possible that he did live… and still lives now." And Sasuke looked up at him, disbelief in his eyes, confusion, reluctance… Should he believe his ears? Is the man mad and playing a joke on them? Or could Naruto really be…?
Jiraiya gave a serious smile. The surprise and hope was a great difference to the sulking morose faces he'd seen everyday now for six years. He understood how hard it was to really believe that a long lost friend could still be alive somewhere and understood the reluctance the kids showed to believing his words, but one by one, all the kids finally let it sink in. And for the first time in six years, they were really truly smiling. It was a welcome change. Well worth every penny and pain staking effort he'd afforded to getting this lead and making sure it was legitimate and correct to the best of his knowledge. "We believe Naruto is in the Warrior lands." He finished with a hopeful smile of his own.
Tsunade took that moment to speak up, keeping her shinobi focussed on the mission briefing regardless of how light and floaty she felt after hearing those words for the second time round. "As you know; the river that the battle occurred on flows to the middle sea; the ocean that separates the Elemental Countries from the Warrior lands." She explained. "Although the war between our two nations ended many years ago we're still tetchy with our ties to one another, hence why a rescue mission cannot be detailed." She explained, hating the way their faces dropped. Regardless of this little fact she knew that Sasuke would still find a way of getting to the Warrior lands and probably causing a whole lot of trouble between the two great nations. He was very much like Naruto in that sense but unlike Naruto, Sasuke would actually succeed in escaping from Konoha and getting to the Warrior lands on his own. Thus reclaiming his title of missing nin and wasting three probationary years of hard work trying to claim back his title of a loyal Konoha nin. Which was primarily why this mission had been drafted.
"However, in an attempt to make stronger treaties with the Warrior lands and to allow rescue missions in the future, we're sending you as an Ambassador team, taking with you Gaara, Temari and two Rain nin as representatives of the Elemental Countries." She said, implying with her heart their secret mission. "Leading the negotiations will be Gaara, Shikamaru and Yokato of the Rain village. Temari, Sakura and Fukoto of the Rain village have been appointed advisors and witnesses." She paused for a second, and looked directly at Sakura. "Sakura, you will be the only medic nin on the mission, your job will be split accordingly, should you need to be of assistance else where your witness and advisor role will be passed to Ino." She looked to Ino to make sure she understood what was expected of her. She nodded when both girls confirmed their roles. "The official briefing states that the rest of you will be escorting them as insurance from the Fire country and providing back up if things go sour. Unofficially, you'll be searching for clues about Naruto's whereabouts and situation." She added, pausing to let it all sink in and for them to understand what she was implying.
"Remember, this is a formal, negotiation ambassador mission, not a rescue mission. But if you happen to find Naruto or any clues as to what happened to him, you may follow them discreetly. But I warn you; our ties are thin and any small detail will set off another war. Their government system is weak at the moment, after their main government took a critical hit. Hysteria and chaos can and will follow if you step one foot out of line. Jiraiya has the scrolls with the information that you need, I suggest you do your homework on your travels." She explained, trying to drum into her team the necessity of discretion. "This mission's code name will be; 'Family' in that we are adding to our family and also searching for it too. You start immediately. Dismissed."