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Densetsu no Yonnin (The Legendary Four) - Chapter VIII (Rework in Progress)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, no matter how much I wish I did.
(Hospital)
Sakura sat on her hospital bed reading a book as she waited for her friends to return from the academy.
It had been 2 months since she was admitted to the hospital, and her time here was difficult, to say the least. She couldn't do a lot as her body was healing, so she was bored out of her mind. Her friends kept her company to try to ease the boredom, but the new academic year started a month ago, so they couldn't be there all the time.
Because of this, Sakura amused herself by reading so that she wouldn't lose her mind. Some time into her stay, Sakura's body was healed enough for her to move around slightly. With her ability to move her upper body returned, Sakura read book after book after book as if they were going out of style. Every time her friends would come over, the first thing they saw was her staring at a book in her lap, immersed in whatever contents the work held.
Another thing that took place was Sakura's visit by a psychologist.
(Flashback – 1 Month)
Sakura looked up when the door to her hospital room opened. "Hokage-sama!" she spoke in surprise at the sight of the third village leader.
"Hello there, Sakura-chan?" Hiruzen greeted with a smile as he walked into the room. Behind him was a man that Sakura didn't recognize.
He was a tall middle-aged man with blonde hair that was tied into a long ponytail that reached his lower back and light green pupilless eyes. He had strong facial features including a well-defined jawline. His attire consisted of a black trench coat, and under that was a dark grey collared shirt and slacks of the same color.
"Hokage-sama, who's this?" Sakura asked. 'He kind of looks like Ino,' she inwardly mused.
"This is Yamanaka Inoichi; the head of the Yamanaka clan," Hiruzen introduced the man, and Inoichi gave the girl a small bow in greeting.
"Wait, you're Ino's dad?" Sakura questioned.
"Yeah," Inoichi answered. "Do you two know each other. Are you friends?"
"Not really?" Sakura replied. "She's kind of annoying. She works hard, but she's still a fangirl. Always going on and on about how great Sasuke is and that she's gonna marry him. I mean, come on! We're only ten. And she's never even talked to him, so how could she know how great he is?" Sakura ranted in irritation.
Inoichi grew a nervous smile at Sakura's ranting. "I'm sure she'll grow out of it," he reassured. 'Hopefully,' he mentally added.
"Now that introductions are out of the way," the third Hokage spoke up, gaining the other two's attention. "I should explain why we're here."
Hearing this, Inoichi demeanor shifted to one of seriousness, and Sakura grew curious.
"What's going on?" Sakura asked.
"Naruto-kun told me about what happened to you," the Hokage answered with a frown. Sakura wasn't surprised by this new information. She figured Naruto would do something like that. "We're currently investigating what happened that night, but we don't have any solid leads. We figured you could help us, but since you can't remember what happened, we need to fix that first," Hiruzen answered.
"How are you going to do that?" Sakura asked.
"That's where I come in," Inoichi spoke up. "My clan specializes in ninja arts and techniques involving the mind. However, we don't just use them for combat," he explained, catching Sakura's interest. "We can also use them to help people understand themselves and sometimes move on from a tragic experience since we can dive right into the human mind."
"So..., you're like a psychologist?" Sakura questioned.
"Yes. Yes, I am." Inoichi answered. "And Sakura, you said that you can't remember a certain point on the night you were injured?" The pinkette nodded. "Hmm..., well, Sakura I have an idea of what the issue is, but I need to confirm it first. And to do that, I need to go into your mind."
"Go into... my mind?" Sakura asked with apprehension.
"Yes, I need to be certain about what's causing your memory loss, and this is the best way to do it." Inoichi noticed the girl's apprehension, so he knelt in front of her and gave her a reassuring smile. "I know this might be an invasion of privacy, so I promise you that I won't delve into any private memories. I'm just going to see what happened that night you were injured."
Sakura was still nervous about the possible privacy invasion, but she realized the logic behind the man's words. She also felt reassured by his promise. "Ok," Sakura relented.
Inoichi nodded with a smile and stood up. "Great." He held his hands up and performed several hand seals in quick succession. "Also, hang on. This might sting a little." He warned as he finished the seal sequence and placed his hands on Sakura's forehead. "Shintenshin no Jutsu!".
After the technique's name was uttered, Sakura's mind went blank.
(Inside Sakura's Mind)
When Inoichi opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a large library. Everywhere he looked, all he could see were shelves filled to the brim with books. Over each shelf was a label. The names on these labels read early childhood, current, happy, angry, and sad.
He frowned when he noticed that the sad and angry shelves housed more books than the happy shelves.
"Okay, the current memories are here, and this shelf ends over here," he tilted his head to the right where the end of the shelf was. Slowly, more books were materializing into existence. "So, I need to go this way." He started walking in the opposite direction, trying to find the memories surrounding Sakura's injuries.
After several minutes of walking, Inoichi came across a peculiar sight. He noticed some of the shelves were slowly being encompassed by a dark thread. As he kept walking, the darkness gained more prominence until he came across what could only be described as a wall of pure blackness. He couldn't see past the wall; all he could see was a strange void.
"Interesting," Inoichi muttered. He leaned closer to get a better look but made sure not to touch it. "This must be what's blocking her memories. I'll have to get a better look next-!"
Inoichi's instincts screamed at him to move, and he jumped to the side. It was a good thing he did because a second later, a large fist rushed out of the void and crashed into where he was standing moments before. Inoichi watched in fascination as a huge black and white being crawled out of the void. It had a large scowl on its face as it gazed down at the mind walker. The shocking thing about it was that the being resembled Sakura.
"This must be the manifestation of her inner thoughts," Inoichi muttered. "But why, is it so big? And why is it attacking me?"
"GET OUT OF OUR MIND!" the being yelled as it raised its fist. Inoichi widened his eyes before he placed his hands together in a seal.
"Kai!" he yelled. The technique was released just as Inner Sakura's fist came crashing down where Inoichi was.
(Outside Sakura's Mind)
It felt like several minutes passed as Inoichi walked around in Sakura's mind, but in actuality, it took less than a second.
When the technique ended, Inoichi simply opened his eyes and removed his hand while Sakura flinched as if she had been struck. "Ow," she groaned as she held her head.
"I'm sorry about that. The jutsu usually doesn't hurt the receiver that much," he apologized.
"What did you find Inoichi-san?" the third Hokage questioned.
"Well, I'm now certain about what she has," Inoichi answered before turning his attention to the pinkette. "Sakura," he called, gaining her attention, "What you have is dissociative amnesia."
"Dissociative amnesia?" Sakura mumbled.
"Yes. It's a condition where the person is unable to remember certain information about their life. Sometimes, it's only a certain event, others, it's much of a person's history. Thankfully, it's the former." Sakura listened with rapt attention as Inoichi continued. "A person can develop this condition when they go through a traumatic experience. The brain forcibly represses those memories to stop the person from reliving that experience. I believe that's what happened with you."
"So..., I can't remember what happened... because my brain doesn't want me to," Sakura tried to summarize the information.
"Basically, yes," Inoichi nodded.
"Will I ever be able to remember?" Sakura asked, but she felt a subconscious desire not to.
"You can. Do you have any friends?" Inoichi asked.
"Yes. I have three best friends," Sakura answered, but was confused at the subject change.
"Good. Make sure to keep good relationships with them. When you're around good friends and family, you subconsciously feel safe around them. That means that you'll let your guard down, and you might be able to remember what happened," Inoichi explained.
Sakura nodded in confirmation. So, she would just have to stay on good terms with her friends. She could do that.
"Also, pick up a hobby. Preferably, one that's very calm and soothing," Inoichi suggested, and Sakura nodded again. "You can regain your memory; it's just going to take a while."
"How long is this going to take?" Sakura questioned.
"6 months at the least." A pit formed in Sakura's stomach. "Especially, if your inner thoughts are gonna interfere with this."
"My inner thoughts?" Sakura asked though she felt like she knew what he was talking about.
"While I was inside your mind, I saw your inner self." Sakura had a look of confusion and surprise, so he explained. "Have you ever felt like there was a voice in your head?"
"Yeah, she's always popping up and saying whatever she wants. It's kind of annoying," Sakura told him, though most of the time she couldn't help but agree with what her inner self said.
"Well, that is actually your inner self talking to you. Sometimes, people suppress their thoughts and emotions for whatever reason, however, those thoughts don't disappear. And if they are suppressed for a long time, they can manifest as a separate consciousness. This is your true self," Inoichi explained.
Sakura's eyes widened at this information. Her true self? Well, that explains where that voice came from and why she couldn't help but agree with what she said most of the time. Though, that brought up another question, "Is this normal?"
"Yes, and it's actually more common than you think. Everyone always has a small voice in the back of their head giving them subtle thoughts. Though most of the time it's not very active. Inner voices rarely manifest the way yours did," Sakura looked down at her lap in contemplation. "I can see that this is a lot to take in, so I'll give you some time to think," he walked over to the door, closely followed by Hiruzen, "I'll be back in a few minutes. When I do, we're going to work to help you recover."
(Present Time)
Sakura snapped out of her thoughts when the door to her room opened and in walked three familiar and welcomed faces. "Hey, guys!" Sakura greeted her friends.
"Hey, Sakura!" All three greeted; Naruto with lots of excitement, while Hinata and Sasuke were more subdued.
"How are you guys doing?" Sakura inquired.
"We're doing fine," Sasuke answered.
"Speak for yourself," Naruto spoke as he plopped down in a nearby chair. "It was horrible!" He dramatically wailed. Hinata let out small giggles at the display, Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Sakura sighed in exasperation. "I can't take it anymore! Those lectures are boring as hell and the seats are uncomfortable. And to top it all off, Iruka-sensei always yells at me for sleeping. I mean, if he didn't want me to sleep, he shouldn't be going on and on about stuff I don't care about," he ranted.
"I'm sure Iruka-sensei just wants us to be good ninjas," Hinata tried to placate her blonde friend.
"Then, why doesn't he try to wake up Shikamaru?" Naruto questioned. Hinata didn't have an answer.
"That's cause Shikamaru's a lost cause," Sasuke answered. Naruto didn't have a response, so he just settled for letting out dramatic wails.
In less than a second, Naruto bounced back from his fake depression, and bounded up next to Sakura, though he made sure not to lean on her. "Hey, Sakura-chan, whatcha reading?" he asked the pinkette, as he gazed down at the book in her hand.
"It's an old folktale, Baka-chan," Sakura answered. Naruto's only response to the nickname was a twitching eye. "It's called 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'."
"Umm, I think I've heard of that story before?" Hinata spoke up.
"Really?" Sakura asked.
"Yes. My mom used to read it to me," Hinata explained.
"Oh, that's nice," Naruto stated. "What's it about?"
"It's about this baby who is found by an old bamboo cutter in a bamboo chute-," Sakura started.
"There's a baby in a bamboo chute?!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Who leaves a baby in a bamboo chute?" Sasuke felt the same shock as Naruto.
"Can you let me finish talking, please?!" Sakura snapped which silenced both Naruto and Sasuke. "As I was saying, she's found by the bamboo cutter in a glowing bamboo chute, and he and his wife take care of her. Because of this, the couple finds gold ingots every time the old man cuts some bamboo. In three months, she grows into a beautiful woman." Naruto and Sasuke wanted to ask how a baby could grow up in just three months, but they remembered Sakura's reaction to their first interruption, and they kept quiet. "And when I say beautiful, I mean extremely beautiful."
"How beautiful was she?" Sasuke asked.
"Words like stunning and gorgeous can't describe her. Heavenly probably would, though," Sakura answered.
"Even prettier than you two?" Naruto questioned as if he couldn't believe such a thing.
"Yeah..., even prettier than us." Sakura was confused as to why Naruto would compare the woman to them but was thankful for the indirect compliment. Meanwhile, Hinata blushed at Naruto's words. "Anyway, word of her beauty spreads and many men sought her hand in marriage, but she turns them all away. Five of the suitors were nobles, and she gave them each a test to see if they were worthy, but they all failed."
"Wow, was anyone good enough for her?" Naruto questioned in bafflement.
"Yes," Hinata answered this time, getting everyone's attention on her. "The emperor of that land comes for a visit and falls in love with her. But she rejects his marriage proposal-."
"I thought you said he was good enough for her?" Naruto pointed out.
"Will you let her finish?!" Sakura snapped.
Naruto shrunk back in fear and muttered in a weak voice, "Okay."
"...well, she rejects his marriage proposal, but not because she didn't like him. It's because she couldn't be with him. They still talked with each other, but she still rejected his proposals. Three years later, she tells her family that she is actually a princess and that she is not from this world," Hinata explained.
"Really?" Naruto exclaimed. "She's an alien?"
"Yes. No one knows where she came from or why she was sent here, though some people say that she came from the Moon," Hinata explained.
"Wow," Naruto muttered, and Sasuke felt the same awe. "What was her name?"
"Princess Kaguya."
"Agh!" Suddenly, Naruto collapsed on the floor, clutching his stomach.
"Naruto!" The other three cried and rushed to his aid. Or tried to in Sakura's case.
"Naruto, are you okay?" Sasuke asked. All he got was Naruto continuing to writhe on the ground. He, Hinata, and Sakura could only watch helplessly. Eventually, Naruto's writhing slowed down before stopping completely.
"Naruto-kun, are you okay now?" Hinata asked.
"...Yeah, I'm okay now." he finally responded.
"Naruto, what was that?" Sakura asked.
"I... don't know. My stomach just suddenly started hurting. It felt like it was on fire," Naruto explained.
"Are you gonna be alright?" Sasuke questioned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto gave his friends a reassuring grin. The other three's concerns were put to rest, but they still questioned why Naruto was suddenly in pain.
Their inner questions were put on hold, however, when, in a puff of smoke, an ANBU agent appeared. This startled all four of them, and Sakura flinched and shook at the sudden appearance. She calmed down several moments after she realized who the person was.
"Uchiha Sasuke," the figure addressed in a leveled voice, gaining the noirette's attention. "The Hokage requires your presence," they stated confusing Sasuke.
"Why does the Hokage need me?" Sasuke questioned, but he still walked over to stand next to the ANBU agent.
"I'm afraid I cannot tell you because I do not know myself." After they answered, the agent placed their hand on Sasuke's shoulder and used their other hand to perform a hand seal. In a puff of smoke, both Sasuke and the ANBU were gone.
"What was that all about?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know" Hinata responded.
"Do you think Sasuke will be alright?" Sakura asked.
"I'm sure everything's all right," Naruto reassured. Silence reigned throughout the room before it was broken by Naruto who placed a hand on his chin, "I gotta learn how to do that."
(Hokage Office)
Inside the Hokage office, a puff of smoke appeared revealing Sasuke and the ANBU agent. Sasuke stumbled a bit from the jutsu but righted himself in a few seconds. "I have brought Uchiha Sasuke as requested Hokage-sama," they stated.
"Thank you. You are dismissed," Hiruzen stated, and the ANBU agent nodded before disappearing from the office.
"Hokage-sama, why am I here?" Sasuke questioned the third Hokage.
"Because we have much to discuss," a leveled voice answered, and Sasuke found himself unconsciously shivering. He didn't know why but something about the way the voice spoke to him put him on edge. He turned to face the voice and found the source of the sound.
It was an old man that was the same age as Hiruzen and appeared to be frail judging from the cane his left hand rested on. He had shaggy, black hair, black eyes, and wrinkles covering his face along with an x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a white shirt that was concealed by a black robe except for the upper left part. The most interesting part about him was the bandages wrapped around his head and concealing his right eye.
Sasuke also noticed that there were two other people in the room. An elderly man and woman who were also the same age as the Third Hokage. They were the Leaf Village elders: Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.
Homura had grey hair which included a beard, black eyes, and green glasses. His attire consisted of light tan-colored robes and a navy-blue shirt along with a white sash around his neck.
Koharu had grey hair tied up into a bun and dark eyes that were concealed by squinted eyelids. Her attire consisted of a dark grey robe with a lavender shirt underneath and a white sash draped across her torso.
The elderly pair's faces both housed neutral gazes which slightly unnerved Sasuke. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"We're here to discuss your future," Homura stated.
"My Future?" Sasuke asked again.
"Yes," Koharu answered, "For decades now, Konoha has been known as the strongest of the five great villages. We produced the strongest shinobi, our missions are the most successful, and we've been the victors in all three great shinobi wars." Sasuke nodded in comprehension since he learned about this in the academy. But that also brought up the question of why she was telling him this.
"We are the strongest great village now, but that might not be the case in the future," Homura stated, catching Sasuke's attention. "The Kyūbi attack ten years ago destroyed a huge part of our military force. We're still a strong village, but our decrease in strength has made other villages more confident in themselves." The young noirette didn't know where he was going with this explanation, but he still listened with rapt attention. "We were doing an excellent job of getting our village back to its former strength, but there has been a major setback with the Uchiha massacre."
Sasuke unconsciously scowled at the ground and clenched his fist at the mention of that horrible night. Dead bodies and a glowing eye with a three-pointed shuriken in the center flashed through his mind, but they didn't last as long as they usually did. Sasuke snapped out of his trance and turned his attention back to the Leaf village elders.
This time Koharu continued the discussion. "We fear that the Uchiha massacre has given other villages the incentive they need to attempt to attack us. In fact, one village tried to steal one of our bloodlines seven years ago. They failed, but they might succeed the next time. It might be in the near future, or even years from now, but they will definitely try something. If we don't make the necessary preparations this could mean the end of the Leaf village."
So far, the discussion has been overwhelming for Sasuke. He had never thought about the consequences of the Nine-Tails attack or the Uchiha massacre before, but now he knows that the other villages might see an opportunity to attack the Leaf village. All this talk about the village's survival was extremely tiring. Yet, that still brought up another question.
"What does that have to do with my future?" Sasuke asked.
"The Uchiha clan was one of the strongest clans in Konoha," Homura started. "The loss of them was a major setback for our efforts to regain the village's strength. To fix that: we need to restore the Uchiha clan."
The old, bandaged man listened on passively, and the third Hokage became suspicious at the elder's words. 'Don't tell me you're thinking what I think you're thinking,' he silently pleaded.
"Ok, but I was already going to restore my family," Sasuke replied confused.
"That may be the case, but answer me this: when do you plan on restoring the Uchiha clan?" Koharu asked.
"After I kill the man who killed my family," Sasuke answered while clenching his fist.
"Just as I thought," Koharu nodded. "It will take years for you to accomplish that goal, but villages are not going to wait that long to attack. We need to restore the Uchiha clan as quickly as possible."
"What are you saying, Elder Koharu," Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at the old woman.
"I'm saying we should implement one of Kumo's practices," Koharu explained. Sasuke didn't know what practice of the Hidden Cloud Village she was talking about. "I propose that we create our own version of the Organization of Clan Creation and Restoration and put Sasuke in it."
"W-What?" Sasuke asked.
"Kumo has an organization that is focused on restoring and creating powerful clans. If someone has a kekkei genkai, they must sign up for the program where they have to sire as many children as they can as quickly as possible with whoever signs up," Homura elaborated.
"Now unlike Kumo, your children will be put into a program where most of their time will be devoted to training from the most skilled shinobi. Measures will also be taken to ensure that they are healthy and in peak physical condition, so they can sire more children," Koharu stated. "We lost the Uchiha clan once. We must make sure that we don't lose them again."
Sasuke was completely enraptured by the elders' words. Not only would they help him restore his clan, but they would also help them be strong. If he went through with this, he would never lose his family again. It was almost too good to be true.
"Absolutely not."
Hiruzen's words dashed Sasuke's hopes, and he scowled at the third Hokage.
The two Leaf village elders turned to face the third Hokage, both their faces showing displeased frowns. "Hiruzen, please be reasonable. We need to regain our strength, and the boy can help us do that," Koharu stated.
"I agree that we need to regain our strength, but not at the expense of a child," Hiruzen stated, while Sasuke became confused. Expense? Why would that be at his expense?
"Hiruzen, the Sharingan is a powerful tool, Hiruzen. We almost lost it after the massacre, so we need to make sure it stays in our hands," Homura explained.
Sasuke immediately scowled at the man's words.
"You're essentially saying that we should turn Sasuke into a breeding bull. Not only is that inhumane treatment for anyone, but he's only ten years old, for Sage's sake," Hiruzen stated sternly.
"Which is why we're telling him this now so that he'll be ready when he's capable of producing children. The village needs to regain its strength. This is a mild way to do so, compared to some of the things other villages are willing to do," Homura pointed out.
"Just because it's better doesn't mean it's right," Hiruzen told the two elders.
"Hiruzen, we must-," Koharu started.
"Enough! I won't hear about this nonsense any longer. You are dismissed," Hiruzen ended the discussion.
"But Hiruzen-," Homura protested.
"You are dismissed!" Hiruzen ordered while leveling a glare at the two elders. This finally got them to back off and they walked out of the office begrudgingly. "You, too, Danzō," he told the bandaged elder who remained silent for the whole discussion. The man gripped his cane and stood up from the couch to walk out of the office. Though, before he did, he leveled a cold and calculating gaze at the younger noirette. Sasuke found himself unconsciously shivering again. Danzō continued to stare at the boy for a few more seconds before he turned his head away and walked out of the office without ever saying a word.
The office remained silent for several moments, each occupant processing the recent discussion.
"Hokage-sama," Sasuke spoke gaining the third Hokage's attention. "What did you mean by 'at my expense'?" he asked.
Hiruzen gave the small boy a reassuring smile. "The OCCR is not as great as it sounds. I won't go into much detail because some of it is not suitable for kids your age, but I will say this: some of the people in that organization are not there by choice. Some people are forced to sire children with people they don't love or even know. And I'm not going to have you go through that."
"With people I don't know?" Sasuke asked. "But I don't want to do that."
Hiruzen sighed. "The OCCR won't allow that. It requires you to have as many children as possible with as many women as possible. Even if you don't know them."
Sasuke was surprised and confused at the Hokage's words, "Wait, can't I just say no?"
The Hokage shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. You can't refuse a woman if they sign up for the organization. If they sign up and are healthy, you have to sire a child with her. And you don't want to know what would happen if you refused," he stated grimly.
Sasuke was unnerved by the Hokage's grim words and tone. He imagined himself getting hounded by all kinds of fangirls wanting to bear his children, and he shivered in disgust. He also wanted to know what would happen if he refused, but he also felt that he should be glad he doesn't.
"Well, now that this discussion is over, I'd better send you on your way," the Hokage stated before he placed his hands in a seal in front of his chest. Sasuke was confused about what he was doing until he felt several pulses of chakra spread out from the Hokage.
Suddenly, four ANBU agents appeared out of nowhere catching Sasuke off guard, but the Hokage merely nodded to them. "You may return to your posts, except for you Tiger." The agents disappeared into the shadows of the office leaving Sasuke, Hiruzen, and a tiger masked ANBU agent visible. "Tiger, I want you to escort Sasuke-kun to where he needs to go. Also, before you get back, find Dog and tell him that I have a mission for him."
The ANBU agent nodded, and Sasuke and they exited the office.
(Hospital)
"So...," Naruto spoke up to ease the long silence that befell the three after Sasuke's departure, "...How are your visits from the psycocoligist going, Sakura-chan?"
Hinata and Sakura let out short giggles at Naruto's mispronunciation. "It's psychologist, Baka-chan."
"Didn't I say that?" Naruto questioned.
"No, Naruto-kun. You didn't," Hinata replied, and Naruto deflated at his blunder.
"Well...," Sakura started, bringing Naruto out of his deflated state and gaining both others' attention. "Inoichi-san hasn't made any progress so far."
"Is Inner you still messing up everything?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah," Sakura sighed. "Every time he goes into my mind, inner me always kicks him out. We've had to do things the old-fashioned way. He'd ask me questions about that night, and I'd try to answer them, but every time I try to think back to that night, I get a headache," she lamented about her inability to make any progress in figuring out what happened.
"Hey, cheer up, Sakura-chan. You'll find out what happened," Naruto encouraged.
"I know, it's just very frustrating when Inner me won't just buzz off," Sakura growled in annoyance. This time Naruto didn't back away.
"We're gonna get through this together. A little voice in your head isn't gonna stop us," Naruto stated with utmost confidence. Sakura smiled, his words making her worries disappear. Even if only temporarily. Hinata smiled at the effect Naruto had on Sakura. "Besides, you shouldn't be so down anyway. Isn't tomorrow your last day in the hospital?" he brought up.
Sakura perked up at the information. "Oh yeah! I am getting out of here tomorrow."
"Really? That's wonderful," Hinata stated.
"Yeah, you're finally getting out of this hell hole!" Naruto proclaimed.
"What's wrong with hospitals?" Hinata asked.
"They're so creepy. I don't know why they just are," Naruto shuddered. Hinata giggled at how dramatic he was being. "Plus, you just sit in here with nothing to do but wait for us to get here. Man, I hate hospitals."
"I don't have nothing to do: I can read," Sakura countered while gesturing to her bedside table that housed several textbooks.
"Boring..." Naruto drawled. Sakura frowned at his dismissal of her hobby but shook it off. She knew he didn't mean anything by it, so why was she getting so mad.
The conversation ended when the door to the roof slid open, revealing two people. The tallest figure, the tiger-masked ANBU agent, was unfamiliar to them. The other one was their black-haired friend.
"Oh, hello, Sasuke...," Hinata trailed off when she saw that her friend had a blank expression on his face. He looked to be in a trance as if he was contemplating something.
"Oh, hey guys," he greeted absentmindedly as he walked over to stand beside them. The ANBU agent disappeared to fulfill his second mission after Sasuke rejoined his friends.
"Sasuke-kun? Are you okay?" Sakura asked but he didn't respond, still with that blank expression.
"Yo, jackass! You alright?" Naruto shouted.
That finally snapped Sasuke out of his trance. He looked around and saw that his friends were all giving him concerned looks. He quickly schooled his expression to try to reassure them. "Yeah, I'm doing alright."
Hinata and Sakura's worry disappeared when they heard those words. Naruto, however, narrowed his eyes. His words and face might have said everything was okay, but his eyes spoke differently. 'What are you hiding, Sasuke?' Naruto questioned in his mind. He shook off the thought and decided to worry about it later.
(Leaf Village Streets – The Next Evening)
"YOU'RE FINALLY FREE!" Naruto cheered at the top of his lungs as he held up one of Sakura's arms. Right now, the quartet was standing right outside the hospital after Sakura checked out. The loud blonde received several glances from nearby villagers, but he ignored them.
"You make it sound like I just got out of prison," Sakura replied.
"It might as well be a prison. Man, I hate hospitals." Naruto walked away from the hospital and his friends followed suit.
"Yeah, we know. You only told us that every day," Sasuke drawled from beside the blonde's left.
"I didn't say it that much" Naruto denied.
"You said it 21 times this month," Sakura countered. "In fact, you said it just yesterday,"
"What? That's not true!" Naruto squawked and received two head nods from his friends. "Hinata, tell them it's not true," he pleaded with his blue-haired friend.
Uh-uh... Well... um..." Hinata didn't know whether to tell the truth or spare Naruto from the (minor) heartbreak. The puppy-dog eyes he was making at her did not help her plight. Her face turned beet red at the honestly adorable sight.
"Hey, calm down, loser. Can't you see Hinata's about to faint?" Sasuke spoke up. Naruto stopped making his adorable face to scowl at Sasuke for the insult until he registered what he said. He turned back to Hinata and saw the red on her face.
"Ahh! I gave her a fever!" Naruto panicked. He prostrated himself before the bluenette and slammed his forehead against the ground. "I'm sorry! Please, don't be mad at me, dattebayo!" Sasuke sighed, Sakura palmed her face, and Hinata's blush grew darker.
"N-N-Naruto-kun, it's o-o-okay. Y-you don't have to do that," Hinata tried to reason with the blonde.
"Really?" Naruto asked, ignoring the large red bump that grew on his forehead. When faced with the blonde's pleading gaze, Hinata could only nod her head. "Yes. Thank you, Hinata," Naruto jumped to his feet, wrapped Hinata in a hug, and spun her around. This only served to deepen Hinata's blush and this time she grew swirls in her eyes.
"He's such an idiot," Sasuke mumbled.
Naruto heard him and immediately stopped spinning Hinata around. He gently placed her on her feet but kept his hand on her shoulder to keep her steady. "What was that, jackass?" he snarled at Sasuke.
"What? I'm just telling the truth," Sasuke replied with a smirk.
"Why you-! If I'm an idiot, then you're gay!" Naruto shouted. All three of his friends were confused by that statement.
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked.
"I mean, you're the one that's always turning down the girls who throw themselves." This time Naruto was the one smirking and Sasuke was scowling, though he wasn't looking at the blonde. He just stared off into space as his scowl grew larger and the discussion from yesterday was dug up.
"Umm, Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" Sakura asked.
This question stopped Naruto from smirking, and he looked at the noirette who was scowling off into space. It honestly kind of scared him how mad he looked. "Um... I didn't mean it... I was just joking," Naruto hesitantly spoke up. When Sasuke didn't respond he grew more concerned. "Hey, dude, you alright?" His friend still didn't respond. Now Naruto was scowling, "I'm sorry, okay! I was just messing around! Can you please stop ignoring me?!"
This finally broke Sasuke out of his stupor and he looked up to see his friends all giving him concerned glances. "Sorry," he muttered. "I was lost in thought."
"It's okay, Sasuke-kun," Hinata tried to ease the tension that grew between the two boys.
"What's wrong, Sasuke," Naruto asked.
"Nothing," Sasuke quickly replied, attempting to play off his sudden trance.
"Bullcrap," Naruto shot down his attempt. "You've been acting weird ever since you came back from the Hokage. You've just been silent, more than usual. What's going on with you?"
Hinata and Sakura stood by silently watching the confrontation between the two. "Should we stop this?" Hinata asked.
"No. I think we should let this play out," Sakura answered. Hinata was hesitant to let the conversation continue, but she trusted her friend's judgment.
"Nothing is going on," Sasuke tried to end the conversation.
"Something is going on." Naruto wasn't having it
"I said nothing is going on."
Naruto stared at Sasuke silently for several seconds, "... Do I need to kick someone's ass?"
"No," Sasuke replied. "You couldn't even do it to them anyway."
"Aha! So, there is something!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke cursed himself for the slip-up, "Look just drop it, okay."
"No there's something wrong, and I want to know what it is," Naruto refused to give.
"Dammit, why are you always so stubborn. I don't want to talk about it."
"I don't care if you don't want to talk about it! I want to help you!" Both boys stared into each other's eyes, neither of them showing any signs of backing down.
Now, Sakura was worried that she misjudged the situation. Naruto and Sasuke have had quarrels before, but they were always just friendly banter. This time though, they looked like they were about to come to blows. Hinata was now gripping Sakura's hand tightly as she looked on with worry. The pinkette was about to step in until the quartet heard several voices come from nearby.
"That demon brat finally got what he deserved."
Those words, spoken with utmost satisfaction, brought the two boys out of their quarrel. Sasuke looked toward the source confused while Naruto looked panicked. He quickly looked around in desperation until he found a nearby alleyway. As if his life depended on it, he jumped into the alley and disappeared into the shadows.
Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura stared at him confused, but they followed his lead without hesitation. Naruto rarely acted like this, so his doing so was setting off alarm bells in their heads. They trusted that he had a good reason for acting this way.
The quartet huddled close together as they hid in the shadows of the alleyway. "Hey, Naruto, what's the matter? You look terrified," Sakura asked.
Naruto didn't respond. He just kept staring at the approaching group of hostile villagers with fear. As they crept closer, unwanted memories from years ago rose in his mind. Verbal abuse in the form of demeaning comments that were specifically designed to destroy his self-worth. Physical abuse in the form of rocks and glass bottles that were thrown at him, leaving bruises and shallow cuts along his body. All this harassment came from some of the more hateful and violent villagers, and he recognized some of the voices of these people.
Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura grew increasingly worried when they saw their friend shaking in fear. They inwardly wondered why their blonde friend was acting this way, but their questions were put on hold when the sources of the noise revealed themselves. It was a small group consisting of mostly civilians with two ninjas, and they all had disgustingly satisfied grins on their faces. The three didn't know whether it was Naruto's reaction to the villagers or the aura that radiated off them, but they instantly did not like them.
"I still wish we did more, though," a civilian spoke up, his tone sounding disappointed.
"Me, too. But It's not like we could stay in there forever," a female civilian spoke this time.
"Yeah, that brat was gonna get home eventually," one of the ninjas stated. "We can't have it running to the Hokage about this."
"But won't he still tell Sandaime-sama once it gets home," another civilian questioned.
"Yes, but he just won't know it was us."
"I hope you're right. I don't want to spend a night in I.T. I hear the head of that department is terrifying."
"Well, I don't care if I do get caught! That demon deserves much more for all that it did!"
"Hey, be quiet. Someone might hear you."
"Why should I be quiet! That little brat doesn't deserve to live in this village. Hell, he doesn't even deserve to live. I bet his father was a drunk and his mother was a whore. They probably abandoned him. I don't blame them though; I would've done the same thing, that damned Kyu-,"
"SHUT UP! You know we're not supposed to talk about that!"
"Oh, shit! I'm sorry."
"Look I completely agree with you. But there's not much that we can do. The Hokage will have us killed if we try to hurt him."
"...Fine. You're right. I just wish I could see the look on that brat's face when he sees that we trashed his home."
As the group continued to speak, Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura grew increasingly angry. Hearing these people talk about their friend as if he was the scum of the Earth made their blood boil. Hinata's face had an uncharacteristic scowl, Sasuke had his (unknown to him) red eyes narrowed in fury, and Sakura was struggling not to rush out and beat the villagers to a bloody pulp. In fact, she was struggling against her two friends who were holding her back.
Naruto shrunk in on himself as their demeaning comments penetrated his skull like a kunai. The words spoken about his parents especially depressed him since he didn't know who they were and thus he couldn't disprove those words. However, he completely froze when his mind processed those final words before the group of hateful villagers left the vicinity.
"My home..." he mumbled absentmindedly.
The other three stopped their struggling and shifted their attention to the blonde with concern filling their eyes. He had a glazed look in his eyes as he stood up off the ground and started from the alleyway.
"Naruto...," Sasuke tried to get his attention. Their recent quarrel was completely forgotten.
"My home...," Naruto mumbled again.
"Naruto, what are you about to do?" Sakura asked. He didn't answer. This time Hinata reached out for him, but he suddenly sprinted off. The bluenette was caught off guard by the action, and she flinched and almost fell if not for Sakura catching her.
"NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled and chased after him. The two girls were not far behind. The trio shouted at Naruto to get him to stop, but he ignored them. His mind was entirely focused on getting back to his home. The chase led the quartet to a nearly empty apartment complex. Naruto ran up a flight of stairs to the top floor, Sasuke was right behind him, and Hinata was lagging a little bit, but she was keeping up with her two male friends. Sakura, on the other hand, was severely struggling. She silently vowed to do training to increase her stamina.
When Naruto finally arrived at the top floor, a pit formed in his stomach when he saw that his door was broken off its hinges. He slowly walked towards his apartment, each step filling him with dread. As soon as he looked into his home, horror replaced his dread and tears threatened to spill from his eyes.
His apartment was completely trashed. Piles of trash littered the floor, all the windows were shattered, all the furniture was broken, the refrigerator was wide open, and all the food was poured on the floor, attracting all kinds of bugs, and the walls were littered with graffiti showing demeaning names.
Naruto was horrified at the sight. His home. His home that he lived in for his whole life was completely destroyed. As if they had a mind of their own, his feet carried him through his apartment. The sight only got worse as he walked. The hateful villagers didn't spare his bedroom or his bathroom. Naruto continued to gaze silently at the destruction, everything else was banished from his senses.
Suddenly, Naruto jerked his head up. "Oh, no...," he whispered. He bolted over to a nearby closet and rummaged through clothes and boxes looking for something. He grew desperate as seconds rolled by and he couldn't find anything. Just when he was ready to give up his eyes spotted a box. He felt a small ounce of hope. He slowly picked it up and hesitantly opened it.
Relief flooded him as he looked inside to see several sealing scrolls packed into the back. His tear ducts overflowed, and he collapsed on the floor. A small laugh escaped his lips as he realized his prized possessions were still there. However, as he gazed around at his destroyed home again, his happy laughs turned into depressed sobs and he finally broke down.
Why? What did he do to deserve this? As far as he could remember, the only things he did that warranted a negative response were harmless pranks. But, even so, a simple scolding was all that was needed. They didn't have to destroy his home.
Did they finally get tired of his presence? Could they simply not take him being in the same village as them? He was just one child. Could they not handle simply being in the vicinity as one innocent, little child?
Well, fine! If they didn't want him around, maybe he won't be around!
Before that line of thought could continue, Naruto felt a pair of soft arms encircling him. He looked up and saw Hinata's teary-eyed and remorseful gaze. Her face stated all that needed to be said, and he leaned into Hinata's embrace. Naruto felt two more pairs of arms encircling him, and he looked up to see Sasuke and Sakura hugging him as well.
Nobody said anything or even made a sound aside from Naruto's sobbing. The sobbing eventually died down, but the quartet stayed like that. Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura gave all the comfort they could, and Naruto embraced every inch of it.
*Sizzle*
The moment was broken when the quartet heard a sizzling sound. They broke the embrace and looked around curiously. Naruto got up off the floor, with his box still in his hand, and walked over to the source of the sound, which was behind the couch.
There was a sealing tag placed on the wall and it was slowly burning up. Naruto immediately recognized the symbols on the tag and his heart dropped.
As if in slow motion, Naruto turned to his friends and idly noticed several other sealing tags placed around the apartment. "GUYS! GET OUT! JUMP OUT THE WINDOW!" he screamed as if his life depended on it. Sasuke jumped into action and grabbed the closest person to him, which was Sakura. Naruto grabbed Hinata and jumped along with Sasuke out of the window.
Naruto's apartment was engulfed in a fiery explosion, and the shockwave from the blast launched the quartet forward. Sasuke, with Sakura in his arms, managed to right himself by jumping off nearby walls until he safely landed on the ground. Naruto, however, wasn't so lucky. He wasn't able to jump off the walls as Sasuke did, and now he and Hinata were plummeting to the ground. Without hesitation, he positioned himself so that he hit the ground first, and the bluenette landed on top of him.
"OWW!" Naruto cried out as he felt several of his bones fracture.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried as she got off him and checked him for any visible injuries. When Sakura came next to him, she did the same thing. Sasuke, however, was simply staring up in shock. Naruto followed his line of sight to his apartment and his heart stopped.
His apartment was now completely destroyed and engulfed in flames.
A/N: Please don't kill me, readers.
Also, "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" is a real Japanese folktale.
Fanon v. Canon
F: Inner Sakura is a manifestation of Sakura's long-suppressed inner thoughts as a separate entity.
C: There is no explanation of how inner Sakura came to be.
F: The Hidden Cloud Village has an organization that specializes in creating and restoring clans with powerful bloodline limits.
C: The OCCR does not exist. And neither does the CRA.
Unfinished Date: Apr/28/2022
Finished Date: May/31/2022