Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Recovery ❯ Chapter 15

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

Naruto gave a tired groan as he switched to his side and pulled the covers over his head.

Why’s the sun so bright this early?

Still exhausted, his foggy mind pushed away this thought. He soon fell back asleep and began to snore.

The faint sound of hammers pounding and people chatting finally registered in his half-aware brain.

Hey, wait, why did they start without me?

“Oh, crap!” He yelled, realization clicking into place.

Forgetting to take a shower or at least have breakfast, Naruto jumped out of bed and raced out of the apartment.

“Why didn’t anybody wake me up?” He growled as he ran down the staircases.

Slamming through the door, Naruto spotted Sai giving orders to a small group of villagers.

“Come to me or Yamato if you have any questions…” The black-haired teen said with a pleasant smile.

“Sai,” Naruto huffed, approaching him. “Why didn’t you or Sakura wake me up?”

“Sakura told me not to. She thought it would be best if you slept in.”

“Ah…thanks. What is everybody up to, then?”

“They’re halfway done with building the beds. Surprisingly enough, Shizune came to me this morning and gave me an old map of Konoha. She said she found it quite recently.”

Reaching into his pocket, Sai handed Naruto the tattered map.

“Be careful with it. It barely survived Pein’s attack on Konoha.”

“Thanks, Sai. I’ll be able to carry out the rest of my duties for today.”

With a smile and a nod, he dismissed Sai. Looking down, Naruto inspected the state of the map. Although it was quite dusty and wrinkled, he went ahead and quickly opened it. His eyes widened in horror as the folds of the map ripped a few inches.

Praying it wouldn’t rip any further, he carefully brought the map closer and began to read it. It looked identical to how Konoha used to look like, and as he squinted more and more, he noticed that there were notes in between the margins. They explained where certain trap doors were located in various buildings.

Wow, I never knew these existed! He thought, clearly in awe.

You know, this is a ninja village, after all, a voice reminded him.

Yeah, but there’s still so much for me to learn…

You thought being Hokage would change that? The voice said with a snort.

Taking in what the voice said, he was embarrassed to realize how far-fetched his original vision of the title Hokage was. He was so caught up in the idea of proving his worth to the rest of the village that he never even bothered to think about the responsibilities Hokages had to bear.

Even now, he wasn’t sure how he felt about achieving his life-long dream. Ever since Tsunade had appointed him Hokage, he was too busy to just stop and really let it all sink in. As he took in a big breath, an overwhelming sense of awe washed over him.

Tsunade trusted me enough to take care of her village.

No matter what else fate would throw at him, he would be ready for it. No more hesitating, no more showing weakness to his enemies, and no more making mistakes. He would no longer allow any more of his friends to get hurt. Even if he had to fight the Akatsuki himself, he would give it his all.

But would I be able to fight Sasuke?

“Hi Naruto-kun,” Hinata greeted quietly. “Would you like to join with me and the others for lunch?”“Oh, hey Hinata! Sure, I’ll be right there.”

Before he would have lunch, he wanted to put the map away in his apartment.

As he was entering his apartment, it had finally hit him that he would be eating with Hinata. The memory of Hinata professing her love for him flashed through his panic-stricken mind.

A worst-case scenario of the upcoming lunch began to piece together in his thoughts.

“Welcome back, Naruto-kun,” Hinata said with a sweet smile, pulling out the chair next to her. “Would you like to sit next to me?”“Hey,” The blonde greeted back and sat down.

As everybody passed around plates and chatted, Naruto was nervous to see Hinata more quiet than usual. It was common knowledge how quiet Hinata was, but this was a different kind of quiet. She sat completely still, with her gaze down to her empty plate.

“Is there something wrong, Naruto-kun?” She asked in a hurt whisper. “I made all of this food, especially for you.”

Not sure what to do, his palms began to sweat. What was he supposed to do? He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but he didn’t want to lead her on, either. With shaky hands, he placed a large square of lasagna on his plate. Even as he took his fork, stabbed a piece of the noodle, and placed it in his mouth, he felt the atmosphere grow more and more tense.

“Hinata-chan, I-I…” He gulped, feeling his heart thump louder and louder.

“Yes, Naruto?” She replied, turning her now hopeful gaze to his.

“I’m gay!” He shouted the first thing that came to mind.

Frozen, he heard the entire table go silent. As people began to stare, Hinata’s hopeful stare stayed the same. Then, his words began to sink in, and the hope dimmed from her eyes.

“Hinata-” The shocked blonde began, placing his hands on her shoulders.

Ignoring Naruto, Hinata brought her hands to her blushing face and burst into tears. In a matter of seconds, Kiba and Ino came over to comfort the crying girl.

“How dare you make this poor girl cry?” Ino accused. “She was kidnapped by the Akatsuki for weeks, and this is how you treat her?”

Naruto gave a shudder as he placed the folded map in a drawer.

Crap, what should I do?

Act normal, a voice suggested. And try avoiding the topic of Sasuke if you can help it.

Taking a big breath, Naruto mentally prepared himself for lunch as he exited his apartment.

I wonder where we’ll be eating…

As he walked past by Ichiraku’s Ramen Bar, he noticed that it was completely crowded.

“Hey Naruto!” Sakura yelled, waving him over.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was one of happiness and laughter. While the Konoha ninjas were chatting animatedly with one another, the all too familiar scent of ramen hit the blonde’s nostrils, causing his stomach to growl with hunger.

Here goes nothing…

As he approached the bar, an eruption of clapping and cheers met his arrival.

“Welcome, Naruto!” Gai greeted, heartily raising his cup towards him. “Why don’t you join us and have a bowl of this delicious ramen?”“Yes, and it’s free of charge!” The owner reminded, placing a steaming bowl of ramen on the counter.

“Thank you,” Naruto took an empty seat next to Sakura. “I hope all of you have been doing well since you came back.”

“It’s wonderful to be back in Konoha,” Hinata replied with a warm smile. “Thank you, Naruto-kun.”

“Yeah, well we should get back to eating,” Kiba said with a faint snarl. “I’m sure that Naruto is very busy being the Hokage, and all.”Perplexed by the hostility in Kiba’s tone, Naruto picked up his chopsticks and took a wary bite of ramen. Whatever Kiba’s issue was, he would have to confront the blonde about it some other time. There was simply too much to be done before the village was completely built.

What is his problem, anyway? I just saved him and the others from the Akatsuki.

Brushing the thought off, Naruto turned to chat with Sakura.

“Is Kakashi conscious yet?”“No, not yet, but I’m sure he will be in a few days, or so.”

“That’s good to hear.”Before Sakura could respond, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

“Oh, hello Hinata.” Naruto greeted.

“H-hello Naruto,” Hinata greeted back with a blush. “Here, I made a dessert for you.”

The red-faced girl handed him a large cupcake. It smelled delicious, and it was decorated with intricately made orange and blue flowers.

“The flowers aren’t real. They’re made of modeling chocolate. I wasn’t sure if you liked chocolate or not.”

“Thank you, Hinata! Wow, I didn’t know you could bake.”Hinata shyly fidgeted and continued to stare expectantly into his eyes.

Not wanting to be rude, the blonde took a bite into the vanilla cupcake. His eyes widened in surprise. It tasted as good as it looked!

“This is really good!”“You’re welcome,” Hinata replied, her blush growing deeper. “Bye, Naruto-kun.”“I’ll see you later, then. Thanks again for the cupcake!”

It took a full minute for him to realize the implications of his actions.

Naruto, you dimwit! Hinata still likes you and you complimented her cupcake! A voice criticized.

Argh, well what was I supposed to do?! He argued back.

What’s done is done, another voice intervened. Stop arguing and think of a way to reject her.

Yeah, I guess you’re right, but I can’t outright tell her that I love Sasuke!

I wouldn’t be so quick to throw away that option, a voice disagreed. It would be much more cruel of you to continue to lead her on.

Falling into deep thought, Naruto tried to think of a solution while he ate. Before long, his bowl was empty, and so were his thoughts. There was nothing he could tell her that would sound remotely sane.

Exasperated, he decided he would deal with Hinata later. After chatting with his friends for a few more minutes, he returned to overseeing the reconstruction of the village.

It was nearly sunset by the time Naruto dismissed the villagers for the day. He had fetched the map of Konoha from his apartment earlier and tried his best to recreate its complex contents. However, Yamato could only do so much before they were forced to continue building the old-fashioned way.

Naruto gave a wide yawn and paused to stretch his sore limbs. He was so exhausted that he decided he would go to bed as soon as he got home. Not in any kind of hurry, he adopted a slow pace. As he walked through the now deserted streets of Konoha, he noticed two shadows lurking nearby.

“Why did you bring me here, Kiba?” A girl’s voice asked.

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. She sounded exactly like Hinata! What were they doing here out in the open at sunset? Although Kiba was certainly assertive at times, he never took him as the type to take advantage of women. Still, Naruto was concerned for Hinata’s wellbeing.

“I wanted to talk to you in private.”“Oh, okay. What did you want to talk to me about?”“I-I, well…”If he’s hesitating, then I’m willing to bet that he isn’t planning to harm her, a voice reassured Naruto.

“We spent a lot of time together these past few weeks, right?”“Yes, of course. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know how I could’ve been able to cope with the kidnapping.”

“I feel the same way too! Do you see where I’m getting at?”“No, I’m sorry, Kiba. I’m not exactly sure what you’re trying to say.”

“Hinata, I-I love you! I know that you already love Naruto, but I can prove that I’d be better for you than Naruto would ever be!”“Kiba-”“Hinata, please listen to what I have to say before you reject me. Now that Naruto is Hokage, he won’t have time to be with you or protect you. The village still needs to be built, and who knows how long it will take for him to take care of all of that political crap!”“I-I need to think about this entire thing…bye, Kiba.”

Frozen to the spot, Naruto slowly processed what had just happened. So, Kiba was in love with Hinata.

See, now Kiba will take care of everything. You won’t have to tell her anything at all, a voice pointed out.

I wouldn’t celebrate just yet. Hinata didn’t exactly jump into Kiba’s arms with joy, another voice warned.

Hinata began to walk down the street and was heading towards Naruto’s direction. The blonde jolted to his senses and quickly hid behind a pile of nearby wood. Holding his breath, he prayed that she wouldn’t find him. Once the footsteps became faint, he stood up and warily made his way back home.

Fortunately, he didn’t run into Kiba or anyone else.

“Where were you?” Sakura asked as Naruto entered the apartment. She was cooking in the kitchen while Sai was on the couch, reading.

After he took a seat next to Sai, he explained what had happened between Kiba and Hinata.

“Wow, go Kiba!” She remarked, obviously amused by the turn of events. “No wonder he seemed so touchy earlier during lunch.”“How intriguing…” Sai replied, fascinated by the entire situation.

“I’m beat,” Naruto said with a yawn. “Night.”“Good night.”“Good night. Don’t forget to eat something for breakfast tomorrow since you’re skipping dinner.”

“Will do. Thanks, Sakura.”

Naruto fell asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow. He had both a physically and emotionally draining day, and he was not looking forward to tomorrow one bit.