Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Recovery ❯ Chapter 6

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

“Naruto?” Sakura’s voice questioned.

Naruto, still half-asleep, gave an annoyed groan and shifted to his side.

“Wake up,” She instructed patiently while gently shaking his shoulders. “You can’t slack off. You’re the Hokage.”“No, thanks.” He grumbled, nuzzling his face into the bark.

“Get up,” She repeated, her tone still patient. “Why were you sleeping here in the first place?”Sakura’s attempts to awake Naruto were wasted, for he had already fallen back to sleep.

With the crack of her knuckles, she decided to switch tactics.

“WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT!” She screamed, roughly shaking his shoulders. “Don’t force me to go get Kakashi!”Springing to his feet at the mention of Kakashi, Naruto nervously observed his surroundings for any signs of the grey-haired menace.

“All right, all right,” He mumbled, wearily rubbing his eyes. “I’m up.”

“God, Sakura, you never changed.”

Whipping around to meet Sasuke’s annoyed glare, Naruto and Sakura nearly forgot that Sasuke was there.

“Neither have you,” She replied coldly with her arms crossed.

“You, however,” Sasuke turned his glare to the blonde nin. “Naruto, you have changed. You’ve gotten stronger.”“You probably think I just abandoned you here for the fun of it,” Naruto replied, his gaze unusually cold. “One way or another, I’ll have you interrogated for the safety of Konoha.”“Try me,” The raven hissed. “You’ll never get me to talk.”Ignoring Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura left to return to the tree houses.

Resisting the urge to ask Naruto why he had been sleeping back there, she decided it would be best to not question him about it. If they were going to face Sasuke again, she wanted to form a sort of united team with Naruto. Whatever happened back there was none of her business, at least, that was what she figured.

“Did I miss anything?”“No, but I was worried, since I didn’t know where you were.”“I’m sorry about that. I guess I should let people know where I am, right?”“I would if I were you. After all, you are our current Hokage.”

With a thankful nod and a quick goodbye, Naruto ventured off to hunt down his breakfast.

Later on that day, Gaara spoke with Naruto in private to tell him he had to leave soon.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how much my village and I appreciate Suna’s help.”“It’s no trouble at all. Please feel free to contact us if you ever require our assistance again.”

“Of course, and thanks again.”After Gaara, Kankurou, and Temari bid their last farewells, they replenished their rations and left the village of Konoha.

“The Sand siblings are good people.” Naruto commented to himself with a serious expression.

For the next few days, the village was quickly being rebuilt back to its former glory. Since the rubble was officially cleared out, this made transporting materials go along much more smoothly. Naruto had become so occupied with the reconstruction of Konoha that he had completely forgotten about Neji, and Gai’s team.

“Naruto-kun,” Hinata began. “You know how you were going to send out a second search team for Neji, if Gai’s team hadn’t returned in five days?”

“Yes.”“It’s been five days,” She hesitated. “And I would like to be a part of the second search team.”“Oh…” Naruto was a little disappointed by this. “Of course you can go. Who else would you like to come with you?”“Kiba and Shino.”With an understanding smile, he allowed the three to leave that afternoon.

“Good luck, Hinata, Shino, and Kiba.”“Thanks, we’ll see ya soon.”“Goodbye.”“Bye, Naruto-kun.”

Watching them disappear into the deep bowels of the forest, Naruto stood there for a little while longer. He desperately hoped with every fiber of his being that he would be able to watch the sun set with Hinata again in the near future. He hoped Neji, Gai, Tenten, Lee, Kiba, and Shino would also return safely.

Crap, I can’t afford to let any more ninjas leave the village.

Since Neji and Gai’s team hadn’t returned yet, it was Naruto’s responsibility as Hokage to prepare for the worst case scenario. He decided it would be a good idea to prepare the villagers first thing the following morning.

For now, all he could do was reserve his energy and get some sleep. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t been getting much sleep lately. He had made it a regular habit to observe Sasuke in his sleep. He simply couldn’t get over how innocent Sasuke looked in his sleep.

Hearing what surely must be Sasuke’s inner thoughts made Naruto feel like he was getting to know the real Sasuke Uchiha. Call him a creep, but he liked to hear Sasuke talk in his sleep. It made him look forward to nighttime, when he could learn about the person Sasuke really was.

What he learned about Sasuke, in a way, didn’t surprise him too much. Sasuke really missed Itachi; he would always mention him at least twice a night. He regretted going to Orochimaru for power. Most of all, he regretted becoming blind with hate to end up killing his older brother.

What did surprise Naruto was that Sasuke was sorry for what he had done to him. He never specified what he was apologizing for, but it still pleased Naruto, to say the least.

Deep in his heart, he knew there was still hope for the guilty Uchiha. Naruto had heard enough to be sure of this.

A small smile formed on the edges of his lips as he returned to Sasuke’s prison. Now the next step would be for Sasuke to convince the rest of the village that he could become a part of Konoha again. He was absolutely convinced himself that Jiraiya would’ve wanted him to do this; how else would Naruto achieve world peace? If he was to fulfill such a difficult task, then he would have to take a path different than the one Konoha’s forefathers had followed in the past.

Laying at his usual spot, he stretched his arms out to rest his hands under his head. It wouldn’t be long before Sasuke’s soft mumbles could be heard throughout the entire clearing.

At least ten minutes had passed by, yet the forest continued to stay eerily silent.

Maybe I should go back to the village tonight…

“I know you’re here, you stupid dobe.” Sasuke hissed angrily.

Almost letting out a yelp of surprise, Naruto jumped to his feet at the unexpected anger in Sasuke’s voice.

Oh my God, he knows!

“What the hell have you been doing here for the past few nights?” The raven demanded. “How long have you been doing this for?”“I’m just guarding the village from you.”“I know you’re lying to me.”“I’m telling you the truth.”“Then how come you are my guard? Wouldn’t someone more expendable have the job?!”“Shut up, Sasuke! You’re going to wake up the entire village!”“I can yell as much as I want to! Now tell me the truth!”“I am telling you the truth.”

“Christ, Uzumaki, you are incredibly annoying.”

“At least I’m honest with my feelings.”“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”“If you’re going to apologize to me, then at least do it while you’re awake!”Crap! Naruto thought, gritting his teeth together. I’ve said too much.

“What-have you been watching me in my sleep?”Silence.

“Are you some kind of stalker, Naruto?”More silence.

“You have some serious issues.”“You think I’m the one that has serious issues? I know you regret going to Orochimaru all of those years ago. So why are you still bent on revenge?”“Your precious village wiped out my clan!”“Yeah, well what the hell are you going to do with your life now? The council elders are dead now.”“It’s not enough! I want Konoha to suffer. They won’t suffer until you die. The villagers look up to you!”“How do you plan on killing me? What are you going to do after that?”“I will revive my clan and take over this pathetic village!”“Humph,” Naruto huffed, crossing his arms together. “I’d be surprised if you had any emotions left to even revive your clan. What woman would take you?”“I hate you, Naruto! I wish I killed you before I left Konoha!”Stung by this, Naruto yelled, “I hate you too! God, I can’t believe how blind you are by your own unhappiness. You may think revenge is the only answer, but it’s not!”

“You haven’t gone through what I’ve gone through.”Reaching through the bars and grabbing a fistful of Sasuke’s outfit, Naruto pulled the raven to face him eye to eye.

“You are not the only person on this planet that has lost loved ones,” The blonde said in a deadly low growl. “Right now, I am really sick of your woe-poor-little-me attitude. Itachi was an idiot for saving you.”

Completely dumbstruck by this, Sasuke didn’t know how to react. His entire body trembled with anger, and his fingers were itching to crush the blonde’s throat. Forget taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and the more elaborate ways to kill a human being. At that moment, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Naruto with his bare hands.

Feeling a blanket of chakra-sucking sand wrap itself around him, all Sasuke could physically do now was glare spitefully into Naruto’s angry, cerulean gaze.

Without even saying anything else, Naruto stomped furiously through the forest. He didn’t even bother to make an attempt to be a little more silent as he neared closer to the tree houses.

For a split second back there, he honestly believed he was going to kill the raven right then and there. He had never been as angry with Sasuke as he ever had with another person in the past. He couldn’t even begin to express how moronic he thought Sasuke was.

What did I even see in Sasuke in the first place? I’m so dumb for believing that it was possible for him to change. He will always be the arrogant jerk he is for the rest of his natural born life, and probably the after life, too.

Entering his personal tree house, he didn’t bother to close the door behind him. Sitting next to his cot with his arms wrapped around his knees, Naruto allowed the hot, angry tears to roll down his face. He let out a small, squeaky sob as he thought about his earlier argument with Sasuke.

I meant every word I said back there. Poor Itachi, I’m sure he didn’t want this for his younger brother. If only Sasuke realized this…

A mixture of hurt, anger, sorrow, shock, and frustration whirled through the blonde ninja’s head, meshing into something chaotic that prevented him from being able to fall asleep.

Just as the sun was beginning to peek through his window, Naruto fell into a light sleep.

Itachi’s shadowy form appeared from the darkness, wearing an expression full of eternal patience.

“Please do not give up on my younger brother, yet. You, Naruto, are the only one whom possesses the key to Sasuke’s heart.”