Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Recovery ❯ Chapter 2

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

It was a long, grueling day for both ninjas and villagers alike. The ninjas formed into their three-man teams and continued to discover people, dead and dying, under the bulk of the fallen buildings. Tsunade had considered sending a few teams off to Suna, but at the last minute, decided against it.

“We need as many helping hands as possible, and there’s still a lot to be done before we can face our possible foes directly.”Naruto was about to protest against this, when Kakashi rested a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Now is not the time to go off doing whatever you want. Tsunade needs us to work together to properly rebuild the village.”Naruto nodded, understanding his point. It obviously wasn’t the time to take things in his own hands.

“I want the same teams from yesterday to continue what you were doing.”

As Naruto was about to head towards the forest, Tsunade demanded to speak with him.

“I heard about the Rasengan incident yesterday,” She stopped, seeing the fear in his eyes. “I’m not angry with you. I just want to place you in a different team so you can still be useful. Go join Neji at the gate.”“Yes, Tsunade-sama.”She gave him a sharp glare at his unexpected lack of rudeness towards her.

“What’s wrong?”“Nothing, it’s just that…I’ve been thinking back on my talk with Pein. All I have are more questions that I do answers. And the thing with Hinata…”“Maybe it would be better if you wait for Hinata to come to you.”“That’s what Sakura said!”

“A little patience goes a long way. I’ll see you later, kid.”

Pondering on what Tsunade and Sakura said, he went to join Neji and his group at the gates of Konoha. He was surprised to discover that Hinata was in Neji and Sai’s team. Neither of them spoke to each other. There were, however, moments where they would shyly watch each other from the corners of their eyes, and quickly look away in embarrassment.

During most of the afternoon, Naruto and Neji talked about their favorite jutsus and tools to use. The sun was soon enough setting into the horizon when Neji offered to go out to hunt for their dinner. Naruto nervously looked around, finding Sai painting the sunset in his book, and Hinata staring avidly at the scenery before her.

“Hey Hinata,” Naruto began, hoping this conversation would end differently from their previous one. “I haven’t really been able to talk with you since I became Jiraiya-sama’s pupil. What have you been up to lately?”

“I-I’ve been training a lot more than usual,” Hinata replied quietly. “My spars with Neji have gone quite well.”“Really?” He asked excitedly. “That’s really awesome, Hinata-chan. Good luck! I’m sure you’ll be able to win against him soon enough.”

“Thanks, I-I shouldn’t be so reckless, though. You saw what happened when I tried to fight Pein.”

“Are you kidding me? You were so brave out there! Oh, I forgot to thank you for doing that. Wait, no, I really didn’t mean it like that…”

“No, it’s all right, Naruto-kun. I think I know what you were trying to say.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the return of Neji, whom was holding a large boar. They chatted quietly among each other and ate their dinner. As they were finishing the last few bites, they noticed a small band of unfamiliar figures walking towards the gate. Naruto blinked, and the figures disappeared.

Figuring that it was just the light playing tricks on his eyes, Naruto gave a sleepy yawn. His heart froze in his chest as the tip of a kunai blade traced the arteries of his neck.

“Hello, Naruto,” Sasuke’s quiet, yet determined voice whispered in his ear. “It’s been a while since I’ve last seen you.”

“Sasuke,” Naruto whispered angrily. “What the hell are you doing here back in Konoha?”

“What I’m doing here is none of your business.”

Sasuke and his comrades disappeared from sight as soon as they had appeared.

“They’re running towards the forest,” Neji informed, using his Byakugan. He jumped off of the tall gate and ran towards the woods.

Hinata, Sai, and Naruto quickly followed Neji through the wreckage of the village.

Why on earth is Sasuke back? Naruto thought numbly. Even as he tried to look at the situation a hundred different ways, he still couldn’t figure out Sasuke’s purpose to return to his old home. He gritted his teeth as confusion soon transformed into anger. He would probably have to fight Sasuke, and possibly kill him. Now that Itachi was dead, Naruto had expected Sasuke to at least seem a little more cheerful.

He’s still the same, cold jerk I knew from before. I would’ve thought he’d change a little bit after achieving his life’s goal.

Although he and Sasuke used to be friends, Naruto refused to allow this to cloud his judgment. He had sacrificed too much for his village just to let Sasuke do whatever he pleased. Konoha was his home, and he would not allow any more of its members to suffer any longer.

Naruto quickened his pace as he heard terrified screams erupt from the nighttime forest. A shocked Kurenai and Shikamaru emerged from the fringes of the woods.

“Naruto, Sai, Hinata,” Shikamaru demanded. “You have to help me find a suitable hiding place for Kurenai.”“I can’t,” Naruto growled. “Kurenai will only be in more danger if I stick around her. I have to stop Sasuke.”

“Fine.” Shikamaru replied with an understanding nod.

Before Hinata left with Kurenai and the others, she approached Naruto.

“I-I too used my Byakugan to discover Sasuke’s location. He’s currently traveling through the forest as we speak. Just continue straight on from where you are standing.”

“Thanks,” Naruto said with a relieved smile. “I’ll see you later!”He flashed her his trade-mark, yet slightly goofy grin before lunging headfirst into the forest. He was now suddenly aware of every little detail of his surroundings. Knowing Sasuke, he would probably, one way or another, set a trap or two to try to distract Naruto. He recognized the cold determination in Sasuke’s eyes; it was the same determination he had in his pre-teens when speaking of his revenge against Itachi. Sasuke meant business.

Naruto gave a yelp of surprise as a kunai with a letter bomb attached to it barely flew past his face. It exploded in contact of a nearby branch, which caused Naruto to go flying a good twenty feet away to the right. His eyes widened in horror as he landed in a concealed pit full with thousands of upturned kunais. Suigetsu leapt from a tree top to inspect his work. A puzzled frown appeared on his face as Naruto dissipated into a cloud of smoke. He barely had time to dodge the two Naruto clones’ Rasengan from behind. With a hiss, he grabbed his wounded shoulder.

One of the Naruto clones landed a jaw-breaking punch to his face, which sent Suigetsu flat on his back. Taking advantage of his distraction, the two clones pinned his wrists securely to the ground. The real Naruto emerged from one of the tree houses, and stood over Suigetsu’s limp form.

“Why is Sasuke here? Answer my question and I may consider letting you go.”“Sorry, I can’t answer that. It’s not my secret to tell.”With a frustrated snarl, Naruto threatened to cut off the rest of Suigetsu’s shoulder.

Suigetsu merely rolled his eyes, and faked an exaggerated yawn.

“Uh huh, I’d like to see you try.”In truth, Suigetsu’s heart was pounding wildly in his chest. With an internal cursing of the Uchiha’s soul, he continued to taunt Naruto even further.

“I found a pretty, young pink-haired girl sleeping while I passed by. It was such a waste to kill her that quickly, but I had to sharpen my sword up a bit.”

“You…you! I’m going to kill you!”Afraid that he really would carry out his earlier threat, Suigetsu violently kicked Naruto’s kneecaps in order to distract him. As the two clones poofed from existence, Suigetsu took the time to grab his sword from behind and swing it towards the howling Naruto. With a shaky jump, Naruto was able to avoid the bulky blade in time.

Naruto swiftly pulled out two kunai blades, ready to fight to the death. Roaring in grief of the pink-haired kunoichi's death, Naruto charged straight towards the shocked ninja. He unexpectedly thrust the kunai into an empty space where Suigetsu used to be. Unfortunately, Naruto was too consumed by rage to notice a puddle of water squirm through his feet and into the bushes. Not bothering to look for his previous opponent, he ran down the path Hinata had told him to follow.

Even if Sakura isn’t dead, Sasuke has just crossed the line! He will not get away with this without a fight.

To his great relief, the trees surrounding him were thinner and shorter as he continued to run. An extremely wide clearing was in view, and he could make out a couple of figures fighting each other.

“Tsunade?” Naruto squinted, seeing a blonde blur run across the clearing.

As he stopped to recognize the figures in the clearing, he felt himself being tackled to the ground. An orange-haired man with a ferocious roar jabbed Naruto in the stomach. Coughing up blood, Naruto woozily rolled to his side to avoid the next furious punch.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!”

Four Naruto clones appeared out of nowhere. The four clones paired up in teams of two to distract Juugo. While the two teams created two Odama Rasengans, the original Naruto escaped Juugo’s grasp.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Naruto’s worse fears were confirmed. Tsunade, looking extremely exhausted, was fighting Sasuke alone.

No, no, no, no!

The forest before him seemed to grow larger as Naruto’s legs continued to pump steady under him. Why was the clearing starting to disappear? It was as if he was running backwards, or something equally as strange.

Wait, what is going on?

On a whim, he spun around to meet the glare of Sasuke’s Sharingan. The forest surrounding him melted into the wide, dusty clearing he had previously viewed. Tsunade’s limp figure was laying a few feet away, with a pool of blood forming from her head.

“Sasuke!” Naruto snarled, unthinkingly throwing a punch towards the raven’s direction.

Sasuke disappeared, with several small snakes taking his place. The hissing snakes wrapped themselves around Naruto’s arms and legs, rooting him to the spot. Naruto squirmed uselessly against the snakes’ tightening grip.

Suddenly, the hypnosis placed under Naruto faded back into the world of reality. His eyes widened in horror at the unexpected view of the two council elders’, Homura and Koharu, dead bodies lying at his feet.

To his left, Sasuke, whom was at least twenty feet away, was charging straight towards Naruto with numerous lighting bolts surrounding his left arm.

“A simple Chidori will suffice to finish you off,” Sasuke stated, his eyes glittering with hate. Once you die, Konoha will be mine to take!”Naruto’s struggles grew weaker as his vision began to flicker under the incredible amount of pressure caused by the snakes.

Father, Jiraiya, Naruto thought as Sasuke neared closer. I’m sorry for breaking my promise to you this quickly.

As Naruto braced himself for the final blow, an image of Hinata and her warm smile conjured in his mind.

I’m sorry too, Hinata. It doesn’t look like I’m indestructible after all.

Instead of feeling any more pain, he only felt the pressure of Sasuke’s snakes wrapped around his body. Sasuke lunged pass by Naruto and thrust his arm through Tsunade’s abdomen.

“Naruto,” Tsunade coughed, blood gushing from her mouth. “T-take m-my…place.”

She gave one more gurgle before becoming completely still. With an emotionless expression, Sasuke grabbed her shoulder and extracted his bloody arm from her body.

“Now it’s your turn, Naruto,” Sasuke said, looking almost bored at the prospect of wasting precious time to kill his former best friend. “The village of Konoha will truly lose hope once its most determined ninja is dead.”“Why?!” Naruto roared. “Why kill me, Tsunade, and the elders? I thought you got your revenge already!”“No, Naruto,” Sasuke shook his head slowly. “It was the elders of Konoha whom wronged me all of those years ago, not Itachi.”

“Let’s say you did get your revenge,” Naruto replied calmly. “What next? Will you go on to kill other people who have wronged you? What happens once all of the people you hate are dead? What does revenge even do for you, Sasuke? It only creates a longer chain of hatred and pain. Was Itachi’s death that much of a waste-”

Enraged beyond fury by Naruto’s words, Sasuke landed a skin-busting punch to Naruto’s nose.

“You’re wrong! You think you understand me Naruto, but you don’t! This no longer has to do with just myself any longer. I am securing the safety of the Uchiha clan’s future by destroying the old Konoha. Under my power, I will create a new and uncorrupted Konoha.”

With a surprised grunt, Sasuke froze where he stood. Naruto was about to question him when a fist flew out of nowhere to clonk his motionless head, which knocked Sasuke out cold.

“Sakura?” Naruto asked, not even noticing the absence of the snakes. “You’re alive?”Both Shikamaru and Sakura emerged from behind Sasuke’s still figure.

Completely ignoring Naruto, she kneeled over her mentor’s dead body. Her figure soon shook with uncontrollable sobs. Naruto was about to go over to comfort her, when Shikamaru blocked him with his arm.

“Not now,” Shikamaru said in a whisper. “Let her be for now. Help me with Sasuke and the elders’ bodies.”

“Is he dead?”“No.”

As Naruto and Shikamaru were about to leave with the bodies, Sakura’s sobs subsided.

“Did Tsunade tell you anything before she died?”“She wanted me to be her successor.”“Let’s bring these bodies back to Konoha,” Shikamaru suggested. “There are still ninjas to be healed, Sakura-san.”With heavy hearts, they wordlessly trekked through the silent forest.

I won’t let you down, Tsunade-baa-chan.