Not Sick Chapter 12
Departure
"You know it's a trap."
"Of course."
Kisame Hoshigaki stopped pacing. Samehada came to a stop. He'd been idly swinging it back and forth, keeping himself occupied.
"I can't talk you out of it? The last time you and Pain met… and, well, he won't be alone this time."
Itachi Uchiha smiled. The bandages over his eyes rose slightly with the motion. He stood up from the overturned log he'd been sitting on.
"This time will be different." He tapped his bandages knowingly.
The Swordsman grinned his unnerving, tooth-filled grin. "You're more stubborn than you look, Itachi."
"I imagine you would be dead if that weren't the case."
Kisame laughed. He turned to the clearing's two other occupants. Karin and Suigetsu stared back.
"I assume you're coming as well?"
Suigetsu scowled. "What makes you think that?"
Karin sighed and pressed her hand to her face in exasperation. She turned and flicked the Hozuki in the temple, hard.
"Of course we're coming," she replied impatiently.
Kisame snorted. "I don't get it. You two," he gestured at Itachi, "this guy, the Kyuubi brat… people get so attached to that kid."
Itachi's smile barely shifted: he was used to comments like that. Karin took a step forward.
"Sasuke saved me." Karin gestured at Suigetsu. "Saved both of us. It would be wrong not to return the favor."
Kisame shrugged. "If you say so," he chuckled. He looked back at Itachi. "I assume you want me to-"
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," the Uchiha confirmed. "Time is of essence, after all."
Kisame slung Samehada over his shoulder. "Well, let's go then. I'll need some ocean for that kind of teleportation, and the nearest connecting river is a couple kilometers from here."
Suigetsu blinked, hefting his butcher's blade of a sword out of the earth, where he'd planted it. "We're going to use the sharks?" he asked, almost eagerly.
Karin looked at him, cocking an eyebrow. "Sharks?"
Suigetsu grinned. "Oh yeah. You'll love 'em, I'm sure. They're moody, they're quiet, they got positively hypnotic eyes… it'll be like we already saved him.
Kisame chuckled and Itachi smiled again, but Karin grimaced.
"Still," she said slowly. "It's just the four of us. Six if we reach Sasuke and Juugo, and that's only if they're not…" She blinked and suppressed a shiver. "…Impaired. How are we going to-"
"It won't be just the four of us," Itachi said calmly, slowly rising from the log he'd been seated on.
"Huh?" Suigetsu's eyebrows asked all the questions that he didn't.
Itachi looked up at the steadily darkening sky. The sun was beginning to think about setting.
He couldn't see any of it.
"If I know Naruto at all," he slowly said, "we'll likely meet him there."
"Sakura!"
Sakura snapped awake.
Oh god. She'd passed out.
How long had she been unconscious?
Naruto was kneeling next to her, his eyes huge: glasslike. She could feel blood on the side of her face. Still wet: it hadn't been long at all.
Sasuke had probably been kidnapped less than a minute ago.
She shot up, and then winced at the pounding in her head.
That was a concussion for sure. Tobi's kick had been brutal: she was lucky her head injury wasn't worse.
"Sakura." She turned to Naruto. He just stared at her, completely still, frozen in shock. "He took Sasuke."
"I know, Naruto."
He shook his head. "Are you okay?" He reached out, almost cupping her face. "Your head…"
She pushed his hand away. "I'll be fine. I just need a minute. I can fix this. It's nothing."
"You passed out! That's not nothing!"
"I'm okay," Sakura ground out, slowly pulling herself to her feet. Naruto rose with her, holding her arm, supporting her. "We need to…" Her vision blurred momentarily, and she shook her head viciously, clearing it. "We need to go to Tsunade. Quickly."
Naruto looked pained. He let go of her arm. "She won't let us."
Sakura looked at him, bewildered. She must have been hit harder than she thought. "Naruto?"
He wasn't looking at her.
"Baa-chan won't let us go after him."
Sakura blinked. "Naruto… you can't be serious. You… he was lying. Saying things, trying to mess with us. The Hokage wouldn't-"
"No." Naruto was standing stock still, his hands clenched at his sides. The right one had stopped bleeding, the nail-punctures already healed. "He was wrong… but he was right." He shook his head again, like someone trying to dislodge something.
"Baa-chan… she'd let us go after him. Eventually. But it would be too late by then. Sasuke'll be…" He trailed off and looked up at her. His eyes were hard. "I'm going now. That bastard told us where he was taking him: I'm going after him. Both of them. Now."
Sakura just stared. Her head hurt, but she couldn't help but think about what Naruto was saying.
Sasuke had been kidnapped, right out of Konoha.
The village that had killed his family.
The village that, if she was being completely honest with herself, he had every right to hate.
She and Naruto... They were Sasuke's family, his new family.
But he was so fragile right now. Sasuke had no idea where he was going; he didn't know what he wanted.
She and Naruto just weren't enough.
He could go either way. If he'd stayed, he probably would have rejoined the village. But if he was gone… if the only man with him while he was so fragile was 'Madara'…
He would grow to hate Konoha. He would try to destroy it. It was inevitable.
And his only other bond to Konoha besides them was his brother.
Itachi didn't want Konoha destroyed. And he didn't want Sasuke dead.
He would probably go after his brother as well. He wanted him safe, just like Naruto did.
But Sasuke… Sasuke probably still wanted Itachi dead. And even if he didn't, he had almost no reason to trust him.
Itachi had killed his own family on the village's orders. He'd tortured his little brother into a coma with his genjutsu: he'd ripped out Sasuke's eyes.
So if Sasuke weren't retrieved before he had a chance to decide, it would be too late.
He would be gone. The Sasuke that they had been trying to save would be dead.
How long would it take? A month? A week? A day?
Would Tsunade let them go after him so quickly?
Where had Sasuke been taken? What had the masked man said?
Amegakure.
He was in Amegakure. The base of Akatsuki: the village that had almost claimed one of the Sannin's life.
"No," she said out loud. Naruto kept eye contact with her.
"You… Naruto, you..." Sakura bit her lip. She could feel herself trembling. "Shishou... Tsunade wouldn't let us go after him. Not soon enough. But…"
Naruto frowned. "But?"
"But she'd be right!" Sakura broke. She stopped caring about the aching in her head. "Sasuke's gone! And by now, he's at Akatsuki's main stronghold!"
She froze.
"It's a trap." It was so obvious. How had she-
"What?"
"It's a trap." Sakura took a deep, shuddering breath. "It's a trap for you. Tobi… he took Sasuke because he knew you'd go after him!" She took another breath. The world seemed to made of paper, flat and lifeless; colors crudely drawn on. "You can't go!"
She couldn't believe what she was saying. Neither, apparently, could Naruto.
"What?" he said quietly. Then, he took a step closer to her. His voice grew even quieter. "I have to go, Sakura. Sasuke's there. If I don't go, we'll never see him again. He'll come back like he did when he was with Orochimaru."
His bright-blue eyes narrowed: they were the only things in Sakura's world that looked alive. "No. He'll be even worse. I can't let that happen."
"But… Naruto…" Sakura brought her hand up to her head, and green chakra played around it. Her headache began to recede. "He's not… Naruto, he's not…"
Naruto's face went flat. "He's not worth it?"
"He's not worth you!" Sakura angrily blurted, the words choking her. "You'll just be doing what they want! If you go…" Her vision began blurring. It wasn't her concussion causing it. "If you go, I'll never see you again."
Naruto just stared at her, torn. He slowly closed his eyes: other than that small movement, he was completely still.
"Thank you, Sakura."
'Sakura… thank you.'
Sakura's eyes went wide. The past and the present overlapped a moment, and she was young and cold and shivering and alone once more.
"But I can't just let him go like that. If I can save him, I have to try."
Naruto opened his eyes: they were gold again. "And with this, I'll have a chance. I know Akatsuki's weaknesses. I can…"
He paused, his mouth moving soundlessly before closing again. Finally he spoke once more, his voice cracked. "It doesn't matter if it's a trap. If there's a chance, I have to try."
"Naruto." Sakura stumbled forward. Naruto backed up, out of her reach.
She reached out. She hadn't been able to stop Sasuke from leaving. He'd just walked away. And now…
"Naruto. Don't you dare. Don't you fucking dare-"
Her teammate's face twisted into a parody of his normally bright smile: this one looked like it had been painted on, and the paint had begun to flake away.
"I'll see you soon," he lied.
And then he vanished, moving so fast Sakura could barely track him. The windowpane shuddered with his passing.
She was left alone in a silent room, her hand grasping at nothing.
Sakura stared at the spot where Naruto had been a moment before.
He was gone. Just like Sasuke.
At that moment, all she wanted to do was demolish the hospital. Wall by wall, brick by brick. Then the village. Then the rest of the Nations.
And then kill her self-sacrificing idiot of a teammate, before the Akatsuki could.
Sakura took a deep breath. She would not cry. Crying was the last thing she needed right now.
Neither was doing her best to destroy Konoha building by building until the terrible weight in her chest vanished.
Her head was clear. Her concussion was gone.
She needed to think.
No. Now wasn't the time to think.
She needed to stop him.
Naruto wasn't out of the village yet. He was fast, but he hadn't been holding still long enough for his Sage Mode to last long.
She could catch up.
But she had no idea where he was going, which direction he was headed; and unless she found out as quickly as possible, she would be too late.
How could she-
Sakura snapped her head up, and she moved, faster than she thought she ever thought she would be able to.
She knew how she could find Naruto.
The windowpane rattled again, and the hospital room was suddenly apparently empty, except for a spread of crimson droplets on the off-white floor.
Apparently.
The blood from Sakura's head wound slowly began to draw itself into the ground. Then, a face, simple and pale, looking like something a child would create with clay, began to pull itself from it.
Slowly, its features became more defined. The forehead grew broader: the chin sharper. The mouth grew a bit shorter, and the nose more angular.
A pale, stringy substance sprouted from the scalp, slowly bringing itself down the back of the white thing's head. It began to change color: slowly, it went from a sickly white to a bright pink.
An off-white Sakura Haruno pulled herself from the floor of the hospital like a weed sprouting from the earth, stretching as she rose, working muscles that hadn't existed a moment before. Her skin began to shift, spreading out and changing shade, until it looked just like her day wear.
Not-Sakura finished rising from the floor. She glanced around, taking in the empty chair in the corner in the room.
She strode over, her walk exactly like the real Sakura's, and sat down in it, watching the rest of the room.
Two more pale lumps pulled themselves up from the floor, rapidly changing in shape and color. Soon, it seemed like the hospital had sprouted a bizarre sunflower and a drooping, misshapen, dark-blue duck.
Not-Sakura grinned.
"Sakura? Would you like to come in- is that blood-?"
"No time!" Sakura barked, breathing heavily. Sweat ran down her neck: she'd been running as hard as she could, rocketing across the rooftops.
"How far can you see?" she asked harshly.
Hinata Hyuuga flinched at the pink-haired girl's severe tone. "I… I'm sorry?" she asked politely. Her hands, clasped behind her back, fidgeted slightly.
Something was wrong. Sakura looked almost frantic, and there was dried blood running along the side of her face
Had something happened with Sasuke? Had he-
"Your Byakugan. How far can it see?" Sakura barked. Hinata didn't flinch again.
"Umm… a couple kilometers, I guess. I've been working on improving it, but it's still not at its-"
Sakura grinned fiercely. "Perfect. Find Naruto."
Hinata blinked, suppressing a blush. "Naruto? Is he…" She smiled. "He's back in the village? Where is-"
Sakura cut her off again. "I don't know. He's in trouble: I need to find him. Right now."
Naruto was in trouble?
Hinata activated her Byakugan in an instant, without saying another word. The world expanded.
She strained, trying to filter all the information. Konoha was… noisy, for lack of a better term, even on a day like today. There was so much to see, so many people going about their business, children playing in the streets, woman doing their laundry, genin practicing with shuriken while their sensei watched lazily, Iruka-sensei smiling, the Daimyo's wife's cat slinking along a thick wire between two buildings, the Hokage…
Oh my. Well, Naruto certainly wasn't over there.
ANBU on the rooftops, birds in the sky, two pecking at each other, Neji, practicing in the courtyard, destroying small stone walls with powerful blasts of air from his palms, a woman crying in her living room while listening to the radio, a dog sliding under a drain-pipe, the first leaf falling from a tree, a workman tumbling off a roof, and a shinobi shooting from a nearby window to catch him.
A boy with luminous chakra and a flowing cloak with flames along the bottom, flying across the rooftops so fast that Hinata had trouble seeing him.
A boy with spiky blonde hair, and a determined expression of his face.
"Found him."
Sakura bared her teeth in something pretending to be a smile. "Take me to him. As fast as you can."
Hinata nodded.
She didn't know what was happening, but it was clear Naruto needed help.
And doing that was as natural a decision as breathing.
Neji paused, twisting his head towards the compound entrance.
Something was wrong.
He didn't know what it was. He could just feel it.
Three years ago, when he had beaten dead-last Naruto Uzumaki into a bloody wreck, closed all of his tenketsu, and then promptly had his jaw broken in return, Neji had been forced to seriously reconsider his stance on concepts such as fate. The truth of his father's death had only reinforced this examination.
Now, he thought himself a much more balanced person. If what Naruto had accomplished, if what Hinata was becoming, had taught him anything, it was that it was foolish to apply labels like "fate" or "destiny" to everything in life. There was no limit on potential, only on how far people were willing to go to unlock it.
But just because someone could change, just because a slave could become a free man, or an idiot a Kage…
That did not mean that fate didn't exist.
Neji activated his eyes.
And now, in a way that dug directly into something deep inside him, he could feel. Something was happening: something important.
Destiny was shifting. There was an undeniable change.
And it probably had something to do with Hinata and Sakura sprinting away from the compound as fast as possible, in clear pursuit of something unseen.
Neji's arms dropped to his side, falling out of his stiff jūken stance. He took a deep breath.
Something was changing, and if Hinata was part of that change, he had to be with her.
That was his duty, after all.
He turned and broke into a run.
Destiny was shifting, and beneath his stoic exterior and excuses as a member of the Branch House, Neji didn't want to be left behind.
"Huh."
Chōji's voice, muffled by what seemed like several pounds of beef that he had stuffed in his mouth, drew Shikamaru's attention away from Ino, who was explaining in vivid detail why she believed that Kakashi-sensei was probably the most handsome of any of the village's jōnin.
("Why else would he wear that mask all the time?")
He may have been a little desperate to be distracted.
"Huh?" he echoed, languidly turning his head towards his large teammate. Ino huffed, annoyed at his sudden escape: she'd just been getting to the good stuff.
Chōji swallowed loudly, and pointed. "They're going a little fast, don't you think?"
Shikamaru turned, and caught a glimpse of Hinata Hyuuga and Sakura Haruno blazing across the rooftops on the other side of the street.
They were going fast. Really fast. It was quite unsafe, actually.
He shrugged. Whatever was going on, it was probably too troublesome to get involved in. It wasn't like the village was under attack or anything.
In fact, it probably had something to do with-
Neji Hyuuga shot by, clearly chasing after them.
Ino squealed and shot up. "Check please!"
"Hey!" Chōji groaned. "Ino, c'mon! I'm not done yet. What're you-"
"Isn't it obvious?" Ino said excitedly.
Both of her teammates stared at her without an ounce of comprehension.
Ino rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Boys."
She pressed both of her hands down on the table. "Look: Sakura and Hinata just ran by. And Neji is chasing them!"
Her teammate's stares didn't get any less bewildered.
Ino stared back, cocking her eyebrow. "Nothing?"
Shikamaru glanced at Chōji, who just looked back and shrugged.
"C'mon!" Ino stamped her foot.
"Ino…" Chōji muttered. "We have no idea what you're talking about."
"It's Naruto! Obviously!" she snapped back.
Shikamaru raised his eyebrow as high as it could possibly go without injuring his forehead.
"Naruto?" He blinked. "Oh yeah. He should be back, around now." He blinked again, more quickly, and put his hands up. "Wait a minute. You think-"
"Sakura's taking Hinata to him! And Neji's trying to stop her!" Ino sighed dramatically. "We have to follow them!"
Chōji looked at all the uneaten food on the table before him, and sighed. "Fine." He grinned. "But you're paying for my next meal."
"Done!" Ino agreed impatiently. She turned to her other teammate, who still hadn't moved from his booth, bonelessly slouching. "Shikamaru, make a shadow clone!"
He looked up at her. "I think I'll sit this one out, myself. I'm not really-"
Ino bent down and seized his ear, looking him in the eye. "Shikamaru. You're coming. No negotiation. Think of it as education: you need to see what real romance looks like."
The Nara winced. "I doubt Naruto will ever be a 'romantic' kind of guy."
Ino snorted. "You'll see. Now, get up and make a shadow clone: we've gotta tell Tenten! She's been waiting for this!"
Shikamaru slowly, very, very slowly, pulled himself out of the booth. "Why don't you do it?"
"'Cause you're still better at it! Seriously, now!"
Shikamaru sighed, and ran his hands through several simple signs. There was a puff of smoke, and another Nara appeared. This one looked even more bored than the original.
"Where is she?" he asked lazily.
"Training ground 12, with Lee. It's not that far. Go and tell her where we're headed, all right? And quick!"
The clone nodded and ambled out the door. Ino clicked her tongue, and it took off: even Shikamaru's clones knew that sound was a bad sign.
She turned back to her teammates. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
And so with a giggle, a groan, and a sigh, Team Ten joined the chase.
"Akamaru, did I just see that?"
Kiba turned to his companion, who gave him the dog equivalent of a shrug. He'd seen the same thing.
Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga had leapt over the alley they were wandering through… followed closely behind by Neji. And then, less than ten seconds later, the entirety of Team Ten had flown past as well.
Something was up.
Kiba blinked, almost audibly. He shook his head. "I'll go after them. Could you get Shino? I have the feeling he's gonna want to see this."
Akamaru barked. Kiba stared at him, and then slapped himself. "Right. Dog." He grinned from under his hand. "Okay. You follow them. I'll go get Shino."
The large white dog huffed in amusement, and then sprinted up the walls of the alley, leaping onto the roof and out of sight.
Kiba's grin widened and he took off in the other direction, towards the Aburame compound. He didn't know what was going on, but if so many of the Rookies had already been dragged into it, it was probably gonna be good.
Sai was rather perturbed.
There was something strange going on in the village below.
High upon Konoha's walls, he was the only one with the proper view to see what was happening down there.
Someone was running. And being chased in kind.
Someone wearing a bright red coat.
Sai looked around. There were no patrols nearby: this part of the wall bordered the main road, and ANBU had jurisdiction down there.
He was the only one able to see the chain of people going after whoever was down there.
He glanced down at his sketch. It was only half finished.
He shrugged. He could always complete it later.
Right now, something odd was happening, and he felt… curious.
A moment later, there was a large ink eagle in Konoha's sky.
He was being followed.
Konoha seemed almost empty today. The streets were nearly deserted: the sun was bearing down relentlessly, soon to set, and most of the village had given up the day. He only saw the occasional shinobi as he blew across the rooftops.
They never saw him. He made sure of it.
But he must have messed up somehow. He must have made a mistake, because he was being followed.
About a half dozen chakra's licked at his senses, behind him. They weren't catching up, but they weren't being left behind either.
They were all familiar: particularly the one at the front.
Sakura was after him.
Which meant he had to push himself even faster. He needed to get out of the village before she could catch him.
Sage Mode chose that moment to run out.
Naruto misjudged the next leap, his body no longer humming with natural energy, and nearly ended up planting himself face-first in a brick wall. Only an impromptu handspring saved him, and then he was off again.
If he'd been in the right state of mind, he would have made a shadow clone, or several dozen: either as decoys, or to stay behind and gather more energy.
Naruto wasn't in the right state of mind.
Sasuke had been kidnapped.
He'd been so close. He'd been back in the village. Orochimaru was dead. Itachi wasn't trying to kill him. For once, everything had been going Naruto's way.
And now he was gone. Stolen, right before they could become a real team again.
So Naruto wasn't in the right state of mind. He was almost manic, driven by something he didn't fully understand. Even with Sage Mode gone, he still made his way towards the borders of the village with every ounce of his strength.
(It never occurred to him that he might have wanted to be caught.)
He had to preserve the first bond he'd ever made. His first real friendship. If he didn't…
Naruto couldn't imagine what would happen if he didn't.
But it was okay. That wouldn't happen.
He'd save Sasuke. He would save him if it were the last thing he ever did.
Sakura got within shouting distance of Naruto when he was forced to slow down as he scaled Konoha's great walls.
She started screaming at him.
She barely knew what she was saying. Pleading. Threats. Promises that she knew were impossible.
Naruto ignored it all. He only stopped for a moment, right as he reached the top of the wall.
He only stopped when Hinata asked, in something that was both a shout and whisper, "Naruto?"
Then, he looked back, for the briefest of seconds. Sakura couldn't see his face from the bottom of the wall.
Hinata could, and what she saw there scared her more than she thought was possible.
He stopped about a mile outside Konoha, panting. Exhausted.
Naruto had run faster that day than he'd ever moved before. He still felt like it hadn't been fast enough.
He didn't waste any time. Shaking from exertion, he brought a trembling hand up to his mouth and bit down hard on his thumb, before running through several signs.
"Kuchiyose jutsu," he wheezed, and slapped his hand down on the grass.
There was an explosion of smoke, and a diminutive green toad appeared. It stared up at him expectantly.
Naruto grinned unconvincingly, trying to mask his desperation and exhaustion. He bent down to the summon's level, dropping into a squat. "Hey. Gamatate, right?"
The toad just cocked its head wordlessly, before nodding.
Naruto's grin grew a bit more genuine, and he breathed out, straightening up. "Great. I need to get to Amegakure, right away. Can you take me there? Pervy Sage said you were the best toad teleporter, and he tends to be right about those kind of things…"
Gamatate blinked. Then, he spoke.
"Amegakure?"
Naruto blinked back, shocked. The toad was about the size of his head, but its voice was incredibly deep and gravelly. It sounded like Gamabunta, if Gamabunta had been smoking real tobacco in his showy pipe.
"Er… yeah? It's kinda emergency." He drew himself fully up, his breathing evening out.
"You're Naruto, right? The newest sage?" Gamatate asked ponderously.
The brittle grin returned. "That's me!" Naruto drove a thumb into his chest, doing his best to imitate himself. "Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's Number One Unpredictable Ninja, and the new Toad Sage! So, could you-"
"You know what happened to your master in Amegakure, right?" Naruto had the feeling that if the toad had eyebrows, he'd be cocking them.
"He nearly met his death," the summon continued. "When I picked him up, he was missing an arm and going into shock. If his teammate weren't the best medic-nin in the world, he almost certainly would have died."
He inflated his throat for a moment, before bringing it back to normal, like a nervous tic. "Do you really think going there is the best idea?"
Naruto looked down, his eyes blank in disbelief. Not for a single moment during his flight from the village had he imagined this might happen.
"I…"
His voice died.
What was there to say?
Because Naruto wasn't stupid.
Going to Amegakure was a terrible idea.
Sakura had said it was a trap. She was probably right. The timing of Tobi kidnapping Sasuke was too perfect for it to be otherwise. If he hadn't wanted to bait Naruto, he would have done it before the Jinchūriki returned to the village, let alone walked into Sasuke's hospital room.
Tobi wanted him to come. Wanted him to be forced to face Pain again, on his home turf.
Could he do what his master couldn't? He knew Pain's secrets. He knew his techniques, his weaknesses: he even knew his true identity.
But even if he got Sasuke (who was still blind) to help him, could he beat the man who'd almost killed his master?
Probably not. Naruto held no illusions. Jiraiya was still a better shinobi than him in ways he couldn't even understand.
But he had to try. It was his life versus Sasuke's soul, and he would trade it in a heartbeat.
For the first time since Sasuke had been taken (impossible: it was only ten minutes ago), Naruto allowed himself to laugh.
"No," he chuckled. "It's an awful idea. But I have to go. My best friend's there. If I don't go, he'll die." He sobered. "No, it'll be worse than that. He'll turn against Konoha. He'll lose himself."
He looked down at Gamatate, and his eyes were hard. "I won't let that happen."
The tiny toad stared up at him, before shrugging. "Alright then," it ground out. "In that case-"
"NARUTO!"
The man in question spun around, and promptly had the life scared out of him.
Seeing Sakura Haruno leap from the trees and head straight for you at something approaching the speed of sound was the kind of thing that took years away from someone.
Naruto leapt to the side in a panic, and his teammate's flying tackle missed. She struck ground and rolled, barely missing Gamatate, who croaked in alarm and jumped high into the air, alighting on a nearby branch.
Naruto hit the ground at about the same time that Sakura got to her feet. He skidded along the slick grass, before turning over just in time to see his teammate stalking towards him.
"Naruto, I swear. I will break your back and then figure out how to fix it." Sakura's eyes were wide, the pupils dilated. She looked, for lack of a better word, fierce.
The specificity of the threat made Naruto pause as he scrambled to his feet. "You're not going to stop me!" he said, panting. "I won't just let Sasuke go like that!"
"And I don't want you to, Naruto!" Sakura was crying. Naruto's heart jumped. "But I'm not going to let you go like that!"
She charged again, and Naruto flipped over her, already facing her when he landed.
"Sakura, please! I have to do this! I know you understand! Sasuke is-"
Sakura threw herself forward, one arm raised for a jaw-breaking punch. Naruto ducked it, feeling the air next to his head deciding that it just wasn't interested in occupying that space anymore.
"I know, Naruto! But you can't just throw yourself away for him! Going to Amegakure alone…" Sakura raised her other arm, ready to bring it down on her teammate's head. "It's suicide! I won't let you!"
Alone.
Alone.
Naruto froze, dropping his guard. "Sakura."
His teammate froze as well. She dropped her fist, wiping away some of her tears with her other hand. "What?" she almost snarled. She was close enough that Naruto could hear her labored breathing: she'd really been ready to knock him out.
"Come with me."
'Then take me with you!'
Sakura blinked. Both of her hands dropped. She stepped back, almost tripping over her own feet. "…What?" she quavered.
Naruto stepped forward, back into her personal space. "Come with me. If we both go… it's not a long shot anymore. We can save Sasuke together. We could do it."
Sakura was still staring at him. Her tears hadn't dried yet. "I… Naruto…" she stuttered.
"If she's going, I'm going too."
Naruto spun, and found Hinata behind him. She'd been sneaking up on him.
(As he did with many things, Naruto didn't think about the implications of this.)
"What?" he asked intelligently.
Hinata stared at him with fearless eyes. "I said: if she's going, I'm going too."
Naruto stepped away from Sakura, bringing his hands up. "But… Hinata. It's gonna be…"
He stopped. What was he saying? It was going to be dangerous? Hinata was a ninja, just like him. What did danger matter?
Why didn't he want her to go?
"…It's a Team Seven thing," he finally decided. "Sasuke is our responsibility. You shouldn't put yourself in danger just because-"
"Naruto."
Hinata's voice was soft, but it still shut Naruto up like a slap across the face. She took a step closer to him.
"Don't you remember what I told you?"
Hinata had told Naruto a lot of things recently. But one stuck out in particular: she'd whispered it, staring up into his eyes, in a situation he couldn't help but find similar to this.
'You won't leave me behind, not ever again.'
That had been… what, two weeks ago? A lifetime ago.
Naruto swallowed loudly. "I remember."
Hinata smiled. "I…" She stammered for a moment, before narrowing her eyes slightly. "I love you," she said forcefully, as if the words had been sticking in her throat. "And I have to protect the people I love. If you're going to go fight Pain again, I won't let you go without me."
"Well spoken, I think."
Sai dropped out the treetops, as if he'd been there the entire time.
Naruto blinked. "Sai?"
The pale boy ignored his startled reaction. "I believe I'll come as well." His mouth stretched, and his eyes closed. "After all, I can't let you just go off and get captured, can I?"
"I… what?" Naruto shook his head. "No way! It's gonna be way too…" He looked back at Hinata. "I mean… you shouldn't just-"
"I agree."
Sakura spun around, startled. Neji Hyuuga strode out of the woods behind her, wearing a truly frightening frown that was only exaggerated by his straining Byakugan.
"Going to Amegakure is foolish. You would be unlikely to succeed."
"How did you-?" Sakura asked. There was no way he'd been close enough to hear their conversation a moment ago.
"The Byakugan. I was reading your lips," the jōnin said flatly. "As I was saying, I believe pursuing Sasuke Uchiha to be a poor decision."
Naruto stepped forward, opening his mouth. Neji's hand came up, the fingers lightly extended.
"However," he said grimly. "I know you, Naruto. And I know there is no way I'll be able to talk you out of it. And while I could simply disable you and drag you back to Konoha…"
Naruto crossed his arms and snorted, making it clear exactly how "simple" he thought that process would be.
"I do not believe Hinata-sama would approve of that," Neji continued. The lightly blushing Hyuuga heir stared at her bodyguard, her mouth ever so slightly open. "As such, it appears I have no choice but to accompany you as well, if only to keep her safe from your foolishness."
Naruto stared at him for a moment, unraveling his words. "You want to come to protect Hinata?"
Neji didn't nod. His glare just grew more intense.
Naruto smiled. "That's… that's fine. In fact, I'd like that." He rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, I'd prefer that none of you come, honestly…"
Sakura glared at him, and he put his hands up. "But I can tell that's probably not gonna happen," he said, looking happy despite himself.
"What's not gonna happen?"
The voice rang out from the tree-line, and Naruto, along with the rest of the ninja's in the clearing, looked up. They found Team Ten there perched on a thick branch: Shikamaru slumping against the tree, Ino crouching farther along the branch, and Chōji plopped down with his legs hanging, watching the proceedings with interest as he idly munched on a bag of chips.
There was a disbelieving pause.
"Ino." Sakura spoke up, and her best friend shifted her gaze to her, cocking her head inquisitively at the serious tone.
"Sasuke's been kidnapped. Naruto is going after him."
"What?" the Yamanaka shrieked, shooting up. Shikamaru's eyes widened, and he pushed himself away from the tree, looking down into the clearing with sharp eyes. Chōji's head rocked back. He dropped his chips.
"What… have you told anyone?" Ino yelled, while Chōji stared forlornly at the base of the tree.
"No."
"Why the hell not?!" The Yamanaka jumped down from the tree, shortly followed by Chōji. Shikamaru didn't move.
"Are you crazy? Just chasing after him like that…" She paused. "How do you even know where he is?" she asked quickly.
"The guy who took him told us," Naruto spoke up. He shared a glance with Sakura, who bit her lip. "It's a trap."
"And you're just going to walk into it?!" Ino yelled, whirling on Sakura. "How stupid are you? Why aren't you stopping him?!"
"Ino…" Sakura said slowly. "It's a trap… but if we don't go, Sasuke is…"
She took a deep breath, steadying herself. Ino watched with wide eyes: Shikamaru was still observing everything with his sharpened gaze.
"He'll go bad," Sakura said simply and calmly, looking her blonde friend in the eyes. "He'll go bad so quickly that the next time we see him, we won't even recognize him. Right now, Sasuke's at a crossroad: we have to make sure he makes the right decision."
Ino blinked.
She didn't know Sasuke very well. She'd never known Sasuke very well. He'd always been an icon rather than a person to her: when he'd left the village, she'd really only noticed because of the effect it had had on Sakura.
But Sakura did know Sasuke. And if she said he would go bad, he would go bad. Ino believed her friend.
And even if Ino didn't know Sasuke personally, she did know that he was strong. If he went full missing-nin… that would be trouble for everyone.
The Yamanaka blinked again, and made a decision.
"Then I'm coming with you," she said firmly.
Naruto, standing behind Sakura, quietly facepalmed.
"I don't think-" Sakura began, almost perfunctorily, before Ino cut her off.
"Hell no. If you're going to do something so stupid, there's no way I'm going to let you do it without me." The blonde grinned. "Plus, we've really been stepping up our training the last few weeks," she said, indicating her teammates with a broad wave of her hands. "We're ready for-"
"The man who put us all in the hospital is going to be there," Sakura said quickly. "It's going to be-"
Ino's grin just got wider: she was beginning to look distinctly vicious. "Perfect. Then I'll help you get some payback."
Shikamaru, still in the tree, sighed loudly. "This is-"
"Troublesome?" Ino shot up at him, still grinning.
The Nara jumped down, landing in a crouch and slowly rising. "No," he said, frowning. "Dangerous. We'll have to be careful. We'll need a plan…"
He smirked. "I guess it's a good thing I'm coming."
Ino rolled her eyes dramatically. She glanced at Chōji, who just nodded back seriously.
Of course he was coming. Team Ten looked after its own, after all.
There was a sudden sniffing noise.
Sakura snapped her head to the side.
'No way.'
"Yosh!"
Rock Lee blasted out of the undergrowth, a dazzling smile on his face. His bowl-cut was full of twigs, but he didn't see to care.
He was, however, crying a steady stream of shining tears.
"Such… such YOUTH!" He leveled his thumb at Chōji, who just blinked back, bemused. "Putting yourself in harm's way to protect your comrades… throwing yourself into the jaws of a dangerous enemy…"
He sniffed again, his tears threatening to overwhelm him. "I cannot let you do such a thing alone! I will come too!"
As Sakura tried to explain to Lee that no one was doing this alone, considering that there were already more than half-a-dozen people who had decided to follow Naruto to Amegakure, Ino shot Shikamaru a narrow glare.
"You knew he was coming," she hissed. The Nara just shrugged. Ino stopped glaring, but she was barely mollified. "If Lee's here, where's Tenten?"
"Here." The voice came from right behind Ino, and she spun around, startled. Tenten giggled. "Sorry. That never gets old."
Neji stared at his teammate. "Hmm," he grunted. "You have gotten faster."
"Did you think training with Lee was just for show?" the weapon's master playfully shot back.
Naruto finally spoke up, having been watching the arrivals with wide eyes.
"Did everyone see me leave?" he demanded incredulously.
"I did not." Shino strode out from behind a tree at the edge of the clearing. "However…"
Akamaru followed right behind him, with a grinning Kiba seated on his back.
"Several did," Shino finished saying, adjusting his glasses.
Naruto threw his hands up. "And I bet you wanna come too?"
Shino wordlessly nodded. Kiba's grin just grew wider.
"Hell yes!" he said, pounding his fists together. Akamaru panted in agreement. "We've been training our asses off," he continued, patting his partner. "And I want a rematch with that crazy-eyed asshole: it sounds like you're going right to him."
Naruto looked around. Every single one of the Rookie Nine, plus Team Gai and minus Sasuke, filled the clearing. They had all stopped talking to one another, and were staring at him with expectant eyes.
He looked at Sakura, who just raised an eyebrow at him.
Naruto hung his head.
But when it came back up, he was grinning shakily.
"Alright!" he said, trying to wipe away his smile and failing. "I guess…" he chuckled shortly. "Okay. If you really want to come, I won't stop you. It's going to be dangerous-"
"And why the hell do you think we're coming?" Sakura demanded, Ino nodding along with her. Rock Lee almost broke down again, bravely wiping away his tears. "Of course it's going to be dangerous! That's why you won't go alone!"
She smiled, looking around. "Naruto… we…" She lost the words.
Hinata stepped forward, picking them up. "We're all behind you," she said calmly.
Naruto looked back at all of his friends.
His friends.
He smiled, and this time it was real.
"Alright then!" he yelled, his whole face lighting up. "Amegakure, here we come!"
He spun around. "Gamatate, you still around?" he shouted up at the trees. Sakura stared at his back, a smile working its way onto her face.
Naruto was back.
The small toad poked its head over a branch, looking down at the assembled shinobi.
"You got it all worked out, then?" he croaked.
"Yeah!" Naruto paused, his face twisting for a moment. "Actually, wait, one sec."
He turned to Sai. "Oi, Sai," he said. "Could you do me a favor and send some of your animals to-"
"The Hokage, yes," Sai said.
Naruto stared at him. Sai stared back.
Nothing in particular happened for about five seconds.
"… Are you gonna do it?" Naruto finally asked.
Sai's face didn't change by a fraction. "I did it a couple minutes ago."
Naruto blinked. "Oh. Okay then. They're going to-"
"Inform her of the situation?" Sai smiled. "Yes."
Naruto stared at him cockeyed, before shrugging and turning back around.
"So… yeah!" Naruto he shouted up at Gamatate. "I'm ready! So let's-"
"Great," Gamatate intoned, hopping down. "I can only take three at a time, though."
His throat began to swell. Larger and larger and larger, until it was bigger than his entire body. And then it just kept expanding.
"So," the toad said, unimpeded by his enormous throat. "Who's going first?"
A rat scurried through the streets of Konoha, black and shifting.
Its fragile ink surface exploded when a pale hand reached from the ground and closed around it, crushing it out of existence: the message it carried was lost in the filth of the gutter.
A pitch-black hawk winged through the steadily darkening sky. It never saw the torn-away antenna that flew from a rooftop and speared it through the chest: the message it carried stained the laundry of an unfortunate woman who'd forgotten to take down her blouses.
Sai's messengers died an inglorious death, and Zetsu sunk back into the earth, maintaining his vigil.
The village couldn't know its Jinchūriki had gone until it was too late.
"Well," Tenten said flatly. "That was disgusting."
Gamatate just stared grumpily at her, and she quickly retracted her statement.
"But it was definitely… the best… toad's mouth I've ever been in?" she said slowly.
The tiny amphibian just gave an unimpressed croak and then vanished in a flash of smoke, leaving the Konoha-nin alone on the muddy shore.
Tenten shrugged, and then joined the rest of her friends in staring at the village that they'd decided to follow Naruto to.
Kiba was the first to break the silence.
"It's… spiky," he said, sounding almost impressed.
Tenten couldn't help but agree. If she'd ever seen a village that screamed, "Probably pretty evil," Amegakure was the place.
A stretch of dull metal spires (which, as Kiba had noted, were quite spiky in places, and covered in extruding pipes in others) set on a concrete crescent in the middle of a rather stormy lake, around which a veritable curtain of rain poured down, stirring up the water even more.
Tenten found it hard to believe people lived there.
To her left, Neji frowned and activated his Byakugan… at which point his frown only grew deeper. Tenten knew that look: that was the "perplexed and more than a little bit annoyed" frown.
"Hinata-sama," he said briefly, the message unspoken.
Hinata glanced at him, before activating her own Byakugan and staring at the village.
She blinked, and her eyes narrowed.
"The rain…" she said quietly.
"Indeed," Neji responded, his brow furrowing even more.
"What? What is it?" Naruto asked, looking back and forth between the village and the Hyuuga.
Neji crossed his arms, maintaining his frown. "The rain is imbued with chakra: very potent chakra." He cupped his chin. "It's a smokescreen: even the Byakugan cannot pierce it."
Shikamaru placed the tips of his fingers together. "Hmm. Troublesome," he muttered, sinking to his haunches. Ino nudged Chōji, who just rolled his eyes.
"Finding Sasuke will be difficult, then." He glanced at Sakura. "If he's even here."
"He's here," Sakura said with the kind of certainty that made Shikamaru's neck stiffen. "I know it: Tobi was telling us the truth about that, at least. He wants Sasuke for more than just bait, after all."
Shikamaru just "hmmd" again, but he didn't sound nearly as doubtful. "If you say so," he said.
He closed his eyes. "Alright. If we want to have the best chance at succeeding, we need to find Sasuke as quickly as possible, and then leave. Staying here wouldn't be worth the risk."
Naruto nodded in agreement, while Tenten glanced at Lee, who was still staring unblinkingly at the village.
"Lee?" she whispered. "Is something-"
The green boy blinked, then looked at her and smiled. His teeth didn't shine. "What? No, nothing is wrong, Tenten!" He looked back at the village, his smile vanishing. "I just have… a feeling…"
He shook his head. "It's nothing."
Tenten watched him worriedly, before turning back to Shikamaru.
"-which is why we should split up," he finished saying.
Tenten blanched. "What?"
The whole group, who had all been listening intently to Shikamaru, turned to her. She blushed under the sudden attention.
"I mean…" she said. "Isn't that…" She glanced back at the foreboding village. "That doesn't sound like a good idea."
Shikamaru shrugged, watching her carefully. "It's just logistics," he said. "If we travel in too large a group, we'll be easily detected, and we'll likely get in each other's way if it comes to a fight." He stood up. "Also, we have three sensors, and twelve people," he said, gesturing. "Two Byakugan, and a sage."
"So what are the groups going to-" Sakura started to say, before Naruto interrupted her.
"I'll go in alone," he said.
The pink-haired girl spun towards him, a furious scowl working it's way onto her face, but she stopped when she spotted his placating grin and upraised hands.
"Easy, Sakura!" he laughed. "I actually thought it through this time!' Then, he sobered. "Listen: Pain's in there, and he's after me. He shouldn't really care about any of you guys. I'll be my own group: if I manage to find Sasuke, that's great, but if not, I'll keep that bastard off of you guys while you look for him."
Sakura looked at with worried eyes. "Do you think you can manage that? The last time-"
Naruto laughed again. "Trust me: I'll do better this time." He winked. "Promise: I've got a couple new tricks."
Sakura frowned.
"Okay then," she said grudgingly, before stepping closer to him. "But you better swear, Naruto: if you think you're in over your head, you come to us. We didn't follow you here just so you fight alone."
Naruto nodded seriously. "Don't worry, Sakura. I'll be careful."
Sakura stepped back.
"Alright," Shikamaru cut back in. "Naruto will go in by himself, then. Let's get the other teams sorted out, and then get this thing going: the sooner, the better." He exaggerated a shiver. "That place is giving me the creeps."
There was a chorus of agreements, and ninja settled in, their minds set on saving their lost comrade.
In the distance, Amegakure loomed, soaked and rusted, an implicit challenge.
Behind it, the sun gave a final, feeble gasp, and set.
AN: Wow. I actually made it.
I never thought Not Sick would make it this far. I thought I'd get bored or chased away or dogpiled by school or a dozen other things…
But summer just started, you people are enjoying this for some reason, and I'm honestly more excited than ever for the Second Sasuke Retrieval Arc. It's going to get… fun.
Well. At least I think it will. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Today's Recs:
Actions and Words. Written by my indomitable beta Ekusukallybaa, and presenting an awesome, only mostly crazy, Sasuke. Following canon (mostly) for the moment, but it's going to spiral out of control sooner rather than later.
Revolution, by up-and-comer Lord Darkly. Do you like Dystopia!Konoha? Great! Get the hell over there and follow it, because it's damn awesome (if short at the moment). Do you dislike Dystopia!Konoha? I don't give a crap! Read it anyway!
(I've taken to calling it Konoha Hunger Games in my head: that should somewhat tell you where it's going)
Fun Fact: Naruto's heroic flaw? Impulsiveness.
Serendipity, out!