Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Recovery ❯ Chapter 7

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

“Naruto?” Sakura asked, her voice strained with worry at the blonde’s appearance.

She had found him sleeping in a very awkward, curled position in the corner of his already cramped room. He looked like-for the lack of a better term-crap. His hair had plastered itself to the left side of his face, and his open, bloodshot eyed stared off dully into space.

Waving a hand across his immediate line of vision, his glazed over eyes didn’t even move a single centimeter.

What on earth could’ve happened to make him like this?

Hoping he just had a fever, she lightly placed her hand on his forehead. As soon as her hand made contact with his skin, he flinched.

“What happened?” She asked, pulling away her hand. “You don’t have a fever.”

“Nothing happened,” He lied with a weak smile. “I was so exhausted last night that I forgot to sleep in my cot.”

“Naruto, what happened to you?” She asked again, her eyes filling up with tears. “Why won’t you tell me what happened?”“I told you already, Sakura-chan,” He explained patiently. “Nothing happened.”

It absolutely broke her heart to see him like this. His smiling and fake cheeriness only made things worse. She had never, ever, seen him this dejected before. Even when tragedies occurred, he would always promise to make things better with a brave face. This new, somber Naruto frightened her.

“Naruto-sama,” Sai reported, standing at the base of the tree. “A couple of Kumo ninjas are waiting outside of the gate, and they’ve requested for your presence.”

Before Sakura had time to question Naruto further, the blonde nin had already passed by in a blur. Watching Sai and Naruto leave together, she gave a frustrated sigh.

I’ll bug him as soon as he returns, she promised herself. It’s not good for him to be sulking like this, especially with Hinata being gone…

Naruto’s already jumbled thoughts only multiplied as he followed Sai. The small headache he had sported early that morning quickly transformed into a relentless pounding that threatened to split his skull in half. Although his thoughts were being occupied by his anger towards Sasuke, his memories of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and his father kept popping up.

Forget about that idiot and concentrate on your duty as Hokage to protect your village! One voice scolded.

The voice is right! Naruto thought, now angry at himself. Now I have to go see what Kumo wants.

As he and Sai approached the gates, the three Kumo ninjas stared at Naruto in anger and confusion.

“Where is Tsunade?”“Who are you?”“We want to speak with the Hokage.”“I am the sixth Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki,” Naruto explained with a solemn frown. “Tsunade passed away not too long ago. What is your business here in Konoha?”“Our leader, the Raikage, demands to speak with you at once,” One ninja replied. “He also demands that you travel to the village of Kumo, for he will not speak with you anywhere else.”

“All right,” Naruto agreed with some hesitation. “Am I allowed to bring a couple of ninjas with me?”After turning her back to him and discussing it quietly among her teammates, she turned her distrustful gaze back to Naruto.

“You may bring only one ninja with you.”

Excusing himself from the conversation, Naruto took his time to consider his options. He had already decided to go to Kumo; the last thing Konoha needed were new enemies, especially under its current condition. Now he had to decide who he would bring with him.

Sakura? No, she’s too important…Shino? No, he’s gone…

“Who do you think I should bring with me?” He asked Sai in a whisper.

“I personally believe that Kakashi would be a good choice,” Sai replied. “Of course, I think you could choose pretty much any one you please.”
“Bring him to me,” The blonde nin requested. “Thanks for the suggestion.”“Oh, and another thing,” The ninja from before piped up. “Because of security reasons, you and whomever you bring must wear these blind folds.”She presented him two long, black blind folds of relatively equal sizes. Peering closely at them, he noticed that one was bulkier than the other.

“Why is the one on the left different from the one on the right?”“We brought this one just in case you chose to bring Kakashi Hatake with you.” She explained, her eyes narrowing.

“The Raikage wants to see me pretty badly, then?” He joked, keeping a polite smile.

“It is of the utmost importance.”Before the tension in the air could thicken any longer, Sai arrived with a wary Kakashi.

Trusting that Sai had informed Kakashi of the situation, Naruto wordlessly handed his former mentor a blindfold.

“How will we be able to travel with these blindfolds on?” Naruto asked with a skeptic frown.

“You will not have to wear them until you are closer to our village.”

“Sai,” Naruto turned to the black-haired ninja. “You will be in charge of the village until I return.”“Yes, Naruto-sama.”As Samui’s team turned their backs to the gate and embarked on their journey, Naruto allowed himself one last glance at Konoha.

Please keep my beloved village safe, Sai.

“Let’s go.” Kakashi said, pulling him from his reverie.

The beginning of their journey to Kumo started off, thankfully, much more smoothly than Naruto had anticipated it to go. None of the ninjas, Kumo and Konoha alike, dared to disturb the silence that separated them quite comfortably from each other. Unfortunately for Naruto, this only gave him more time to ponder on his last argument with Sasuke.
Although many hurtful words were exchanged between the two of them, Naruto still felt pity for the raven. He knew that behind Sasuke’s mask of anger and coolness, he was still hurting on the inside.

If he wasn’t such an indifferent jerk, Naruto thought in frustration. We could be friends again.

His mind cringed in guilt as an image of Tsunade’s mangled body appeared before his eyes.

You should be ashamed of yourself, a voice growled. Wanting to become friends with that missing-nin again, shortly after he killed Tsunade!

But that’s just it, Naruto argued back. He’s not just a missing-nin. He’s an old friend.

Or maybe something more?

I…

As much as he wanted to deny his feelings for Sasuke, he finally ran out of excuses to argue back with. Even so, this didn’t stop him from feeling angry and guilty about the entire situation.

Why does life have to be so complicated?

An odd mixture of his memories of Sasuke, Jiraiya, and Tsunade plagued his dreams that night. At first, it started with Jiraiya telling Naruto his dreams of achieving world peace. As a calmness welled up in Naruto’s chest, the vision abruptly warped into Sasuke, sleeping in the moonlight. Naruto’s arm reached through the sandy bars when the prison melted into Tsunade’s limp body. Her glassy eyes stared accusingly at him with a small frown on her pale face.

“You let Sasuke do this to me…”

Naruto woke up with a start, accidentally knocking over a couple of nearby canteens. The canteens, full to the brim with water, toppled over into the dusty ground. With a disgruntled sigh, Karui grabbed the canteens and shoved them into Naruto’s empty arms.

“You knocked over the canteens, so you get to fill them up again,” She stated. “The nearest river is three miles over in that direction.”

After putting on his sandals, he grabbed the five canteens and followed the direction Karui’s finger was pointing at.

Jeez, what is her problem? I don’t see why she’s in such a hurry…

By the time Naruto returned with the full canteens of water, the Kumo ninjas were already finished packing up their make-shift camp.

“I have the water.” Naruto announced, handing out each of the canteens.

“Here’s breakfast.” Kakashi threw an apple towards Naruto, which he caught with one hand.

“Thanks.”Although they were on the trail in under five minutes, Omoi and his teammates quietly complained amongst each other about their slow timing.

“I wonder why they’re so impatient,” Naruto whispered to Kakashi. “And they seem unprepared for this journey.”

“The Raikage must have something extremely important to inform us of.”“Maybe the Akatsuki is up to something new…”Leaving Kakashi to his thoughts, Naruto concentrated on the walk before them. He wasn’t sure exactly what to expect out of the Raikage. He just hoped that he wouldn’t be declaring war on Konoha or anything like that. The sky overhead was just beginning to darken, when the Kumo ninjas stopped Naruto and Kakashi in their tracks.

“Now it’s time for you to put on the blindfolds before we continue any further.”Naruto flashed the grey-haired ninja one last wary glance before pulling his blindfold from his pocket.

After the two Konoha ninjas tied the blindfolds over their eyes, the Kumo ninjas made sure that they were secure. Feeling their hands on their shoulders, they carefully followed the direction the Kumo ninjas were guiding them to. In a few moments, they heard the snorts and shuffles of that they assumed to be a cart being pulled by some large animal.

Naruto gave a small chuckle as they were being placed into the cart.

Out of all the times to have doubts about this…I may just be Konoha’s most reckless Hokage.

After what seemed like an eternity, the animal’s hooves ceased to move and the cart came to a jerky stop. A quiet groan escaped Naruto’s lips at the sudden stop; he had been lulled off to a light doze by the rhythmic clop-clop-clop of the animal’s hooves.

Crap, how long have I been sleeping for?

“We’re nearly there,” Samui’s voice called from nearby. “Get out.”“I’ll go first.” Kakashi whispered.

Before Naruto could protest, he felt the grey-haired nin’s weight against him disappear. Feeling an arm prod through the cart, Naruto was instructed to take a hold of it. Taking the hand, he was brought to his feet.

They were once again led to an unknown location by the guiding hands on their shoulders. A door was shut behind them and the strong scent of mold and dampness hit their nostrils.

“You are now allowed to take off your blindfolds.”

Untying the bulky knot of his blindfold, Naruto observed his surroundings, which wasn’t much. There was a single, dusty light bulb hanging from the ceiling, and under it were two wooden chairs, and last but not least, the long-awaited presence of the Raikage.

“Welcome, Naruto Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake,” He said with a strained smile. He motioned towards the empty chairs with an impatient wave of his hand. “Take a seat.”

“As I can only imagine too well, we are busy men with not too much time on our hands,” The Raikage explained. “So I will try my best to keep this fairly short. Where is Sasuke Uchiha?”Caught completely off-guard by the unexpected question, Naruto opened his mouth and quickly shut it. Not knowing how he should respond, he stayed silent.

“My brother, whom is also the Eight-tailed Jinchuriki, was kidnapped by the Akatsuki,” He informed with a tight-lipped frown. “I’ve recently heard a couple of rumors that say Sasuke is currently being held in your village.”

“What?” Naruto finally spoke up.

“I am not asking for much,” The Raikage said. “You will be transported back to Konoha once you answer this simple question. Where is Sasuke Uchiha?”“I don’t know,” The blonde ninja lied. “He entered the village, killed Tsunade-sama, and we chased him out of Konoha.”

Why aren’t you handing him over? An aggressive voice questioned. One missing-nin over an entire village?No, there has to be another way! Naruto argued back. There’s always another way!

“I’m afraid I cannot accept your pitiful explanation,” He shook his head mournfully. “He knows where my brother is, and I’m sure that one missing-nin isn’t worth what’s left of Konoha.”

A ninja appeared from behind and stuck a needle into Naruto’s neck. He gave a cry of outrage as the ninja secured him to the chair.

“Kakashi!”The grey-haired man had bolted from his chair and lunged towards the door. Karui and Omoi appeared out of nowhere and slammed Kakashi into the concrete floor.

“It’s truth serum,” The Raikage explained patiently, his calm gaze locked into Naruto’s. “Now I will get the answers I want from you. Where is Sasuke?”“In-” Naruto tried to bite down on his tongue, but the ninja behind him knocked him upside the head. “Konoha.”“Is my brother with him?”“No.”“Do you know where my brother is?”“No.”“Where are you specifically hiding Sasuke?”“He’s in a-”

An explosion blew a ten foot hole in the wall, and the dust billowed throughout the room, entering Naruto’s eyes and throat, and suffocating him.

Naruto heard the ninja securing him let out a cry of pain as a snarling dog bit their neck. Whipping around in his chair, he saw that it was Pakkun attacking the surprised Kumo ninja.

“Naruto!” Chouza’s arm appeared from the thick dust and yanked Naruto’s shirt collar.

Stumbling from the chair, he stole a glimpse of Kakashi throwing a punch towards the Raikage’s direction.

“Let me fight!” Naruto yelled, struggling against Chouza’s unbreakable grip.

Ignoring Naruto’s protests, the larger man ran blindly through the lingering dust and out of the room. They entered an extremely dim, underground hallway. Naruto was shocked to find at least a few dozen doors leading down the dark hallway.

“Where-”
Naruto was cut off by the enraged screams of Samui, whom was running towards Chouza with a furious glare. Chouza ran swiftly down the hallway, and Naruto let out a cry of pain as a sword slid through Chouza’s chest and into Naruto’s abdomen.

“Guh…” Naruto coughed up blood, feeling his vision going hazy.

“Naruto! Chouza!” Shikamaru yelled, running towards the injured ninjas.

“Shikamaru?” Naruto managed to whisper, his vision steadily growing worse. “You’re supposed to be with Kurenai.”“We need to-”Suddenly, Naruto’s hearing completely shut down, and Shikamaru’s furrowed brow was the last thing he saw before passing out.