Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Recovery ❯ Chapter 9

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

Forgetting that it was nighttime and they were in a hospital setting, Naruto pumped his fists in the air with a loud whoop.

“Yes, that is awesome!”“Naruto,” Sakura hissed quietly from across the clearing. “You are not the only patient here.”

“You’re sure this information is correct?”“I was as thorough as one can be. Sasuke did not lie at any point during the interrogation.”

“I really appreciate you doing this,” Naruto said with a wide grin. “Thanks, Ibiki-san.”“You’re welcome, Naruto-sama.”After Ibiki left, the now bubbly blonde turned to Sakura.

“Isn’t this great, Sakura-chan? Who would’ve known that Sasuke would tell us the truth?”“Yeah, it is great,” She replied half-heartedly. “I’m going to go to bed now. Good night.”“Wait. Could you bring Sai to me first?”“Okay.”While Naruto waited for Sakura to return with Sai, he quietly reveled in his unexpected good luck. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his chest. There was no doubt in his mind now that he would be able to stay in good relations with the Raikage.

I can’t believe how easy that was! All I have to do now is contact Kumo of what Sasuke said.

You have to admit, it is kind of weird that Sasuke would be so willing to comply with Ibiki. Another voice mused.

Aw, who cares? I don’t have to start a war with Kumo!

“Yes, Naruto-sama?” Sai asked, standing at the front of the blonde’s cot.

“Send a message to Kumo it’s been confirmed that the Raikage’s brother had escaped the Akatsuki’s clutches,” Naruto ordered. “Bring two other ninjas of your choosing with you.”

“When would you wish for me to leave?”“Immediately.”“Yes, Naruto-sama.”

Once Sai disappeared, Naruto took his time to carefully retrieve his blankets from the ground. However, before he could bend over, Sakura walked over to Naruto’s cot, picked them up, and instructed him to lay down.

“Good night, Naruto-kun,” She said with a warm smile as she pulled the covers up to his upper torso. “Please contact me if you need any assistance. You really can’t afford to move around too much.”“Thank you, Sakura-chan,” He said with a grateful smile. “Good night.”

Although Naruto was usually a heavy sleeper, he was too jittery to get a full night’s rest. Now that the situation with Kumo was as good as solved, he could spend more time rebuilding the village. He figured that once adequate living quarters were built, things would be a little less hectic.

Wait, I have seven ninjas still missing from Konoha! He realized, scorning himself for celebrating so early.

His thoughts turned to the quiet, yet gentle Hinata Hyuuga.

I can’t believe I got so caught up in the moment to forget them!

Ignoring the guilt that weighed heavily in his chest, he tried to think of what to do next.

Where was Neji last seen? Oh yeah, in this forest, I think. At least I know where to start searching first…

All of a sudden, a very obvious detail that Naruto should’ve been able to spot made itself clear to him. Neji had been chasing after Sasuke, and Naruto finally noticed his absence a while after he fought Sasuke’s new team.

His heart froze as he thought back to his short-lived fight with the two strange men in the forest. What happened to them after he left his clones with the orange-haired man?

Sasuke.

“That little-” Naruto growled, ripping the sheets from his cot.

Before he had even planted his feet on the ground, his abdomen shrieked with protest at his sudden movements. Praying that he hadn’t reopened his wound, he placed a hand against his throbbing stomach. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked down and saw that his hand was still dry. Since he wasn’t going to bleed to death on the spot, he figured it would still be okay for him to continue to journey to Sasuke’s prison.

Sakura was right! I need to take it easy.

With a deep breath, he slowly placed his bare feet on the ground and stood up. Okay. He could do this. He just had to take one step at a time. It wouldn’t do him or the village any good if he accidentally killed himself before confronting Sasuke.

This better be worth my time. Sakura will murder me if she finds me out of my bed.

Once he successfully tip-toed his way past the other sleeping patients, he began to relax a little. Thankful for the rays emitting from the full moon overhead, he didn’t have too much trouble finding his way back to the prison.

“What do you want, dobe?”Jumping at the raven’s unexpected response, Naruto gained his composure and crossed his arms with a glare.

“What did your thugs do with Neji?”“What the hell are you talking about?”“Don’t play dumb with me, Sasuke! Neji was chasing after you and-”“You’re still not making any sense. Where is Neji?”“You tell me where Neji is! He disappeared after I fought your thugs!”

“I don’t know where he is. After I entered the village, I went through the forest and ran into Tsunade. I only ordered my comrades to stop you from getting in my way.”A long moment of silence followed his explanation as Naruto wondered whether he should trust Sasuke or not. After all, Sasuke did willingly tell Ibiki the truth about the Raikage’s brother. On the other hand, he had thrown away his friendship with Naruto by leaving the village to pursuit power.

“Fine. Whatever, Sasuke,” The blonde threw his hands into the air in exasperation. “I don’t know why I even bother trying to figure you out, Sasuke Uchiha.”“Same goes for me.”“Hey, I didn’t leave Konoha just to return a couple of years later, kill the Hokage, then suddenly work with the village I vowed to hate!”“Did the thought ever cross your mind that I wanted to do something new with my life?”Letting his words sink in, Naruto tried to recollect his now scrambled thoughts.

“So, what are you going to do now? What’s it like to finally realize that there are other ways to live?”“I don’t know. It’s kind of weird, actually. I’m not so angry at Konoha as I am with myself.”Before Naruto could respond, he heard the tall bushes behind him rustle loudly.

“Naruto! What are you doing out of bed?” Sakura scolded, grabbing his hand.

“I-”

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter. You still need rest.”She shot Sasuke a quick glare before impatiently pulling Naruto across the clearing like a mother would to her disobedient child when walking through a crowded village.

“Why were you talking to Sasuke?” She asked with a tight-lipped frown.

“Why not?” Naruto shot back. “Don’t you want Sasuke to become a citizen of Konoha again?”

“No, not really, Naruto.” She replied, tightening her grip on his hand.

“What? I don’t under-”Naruto was shocked to see tears welling up in the pink kunoichi’s eyes.

“Sasuke killed Tsunade, Naruto! How can you expect me to forgive him after that?”Staying silent, Naruto followed Sakura back to the temporary “hospital.”

At a loss for words, he made a feeble attempt to comfort her.

“Sakura-”“I don’t want to hear it!”Still stunned, Naruto climbed into his cot and pondered on what had just happened.

I guess it’s safe to say that I’m the most insensitive idiot in Konoha, he concluded.

Yeah, you screwed up pretty badly this time, a voice said.

Agreed, another voice that usually disagreed with the first voice replied.

With a low sigh, Naruto rolled to his side and squeezed his eyes shut. There was nothing useful he could do now, so he decided he might as well sleep for a few more hours.

Naruto woke up to the succulent scent of a tender meat that hit his nose like a wall of bricks.

“Here’s your breakfast.” Sakura said, handing Naruto a bowl of meat.

He was extremely ashamed to see that her eyes were still red and puffy from crying. He half-heartedly stabbed at the meat with the chopsticks as he tried to think of how he could make it up to her.

Tell her the truth, a voice suggested.

About what?

Why you were at Sasuke’s prison.

Because I wanted to know whether he knew where Neji was?

No, because you like Sasuke.

Blushing at the thought, Naruto stabbed the meat again with a little more force than what was necessary.

Since when did I start to like Sasuke?

Since you first spied on him in his sleep.

“Sakura?”
“What do you need?”“I want to talk to you.”“I’m sorry, but I’m busy.”“I’ll tell you the truth of why I was with Sasuke if you’re willing to listen.”There was a momentary pause as Sakura served the last of the meat to her patients.

“All right. Hang on for another minute or two.”After a few minutes, Sakura finished tending to her patients’ needs and stood before Naruto’s cot with crossed arms.

“Explain.”

“I-I,” He stuttered, staring down at his hands. “I like Sasuke.”“What?”“You heard what I said.” He mumbled, his face turning beet red.

“Hm. I’m not surprised. It was kind of obvious, now that I think about it.”

“What do you mean by that?”“Naruto,” She said, rolling her eyes. “Not everyone in this village is as clueless as you are.”

“I-what?”“How many times have I caught you with Sasuke? I can’t even remember…”“Okay, okay, I get the point!”“He really doesn’t deserve someone like you, but, I mean, hey! I wish you the best of luck when it comes to pursuing Sasuke.”“Thanks, Sakura.” He replied sarcastically.

“Trust me, you’ll need it. Half of the girls were after him, but he never as much as blinked in our direction.”Naruto took advantage of the moment to begin eating his breakfast.

“Thank you for telling me the truth, Naruto.”“You’re welcome…I guess.”

Sakura left his side with an amused smile plastered on her face.

To Naruto’s boredom, there wasn’t much going on that morning. Since he was still confined to his cot, he couldn’t do a whole lot besides chat with Sakura and think quietly to himself. He impatiently wondered how long it would take for Sai and his team to return with a message from Kumo.

You only sent him out last night, a voice scolded.

After a few hours of more thinking and chatting with Sakura, he decided to take a small nap.

The full moon lit the well-worn path that led to Sasuke’s prison, making itself known to Naruto. It was with a growing sense of anticipation and curiosity that he stepped lightly onto the path.

A wave of pity washed over him as he neared closer and closer to the prison. He could hear Sasuke groaning in his sleep again because of his tormenting nightmares.

His eyes widened as he heard what kind of noises were coming from the enclosed space.

“Naruto…” Sasuke moaned, still sleeping.

Naruto’s heart pounded wildly in his chest as he wondered what he should do next. His natural instincts trumped over his logic, which lead him to the back of the sand prison. Gaara had explained to him how to open the prison a while back, so Naruto performed the correct hand jutsu to activate it. The sand spilled away to reveal a large hole leading into the prison.

Crawling into the prison, Naruto was surprised to find the raven with his eyes barely open. Laying flat on his back, looking the most vulnerable Naruto had ever seen him…well, it was an invitation just begging to be opened.

“Kiss me.” Sasuke moaned, digging his fingernails into the sand.

“Naruto! Wake up!”“Jesus Christ, why do you feel the need to bug me so much? I’m trying to get some sleep here!”

Naruto opened his eyes to see an unusually ruffled Sai and three other ninjas at his bedside. Sakura stood by with a frown on her face.

“The Raikage refused to believe your answer and he warned you to be ready by sunrise,” Sai reported. “He and his ninjas chased us out of Kumo.”“Thank you, Sai. All of you are dismissed.”They looked hesitant in doing so, but did as they were told. Unsure of what to do, Sakura stayed behind.

“Jesus Christ,” Naruto mumbled, leaning his kneaded fingers against his forehead. “When will this nightmare end?”“Naruto…?”“This means war, Sakura. If Kumo wants a war, then we’ll give them a war.”