What Happens Now...

Sorry for the long wait. If you read my profile, then you know that I just started colllege and it's difficult to find free time to write. But I have done it and have been able to give you and extra long chapter!!

(Naruto’s POV)
I never thought I could loath Sasuke this much! Treating me like I was fragile and then telling me how much of an annoyance it was. Maybe it was a bad idea to get involved with him so quickly. To be honest, I still don’t know Sasuke that well. Sure he told me about his past, but he talked about it as if he was reading out of a history text book. He never revealed how he felt about his parents or his brother. On the other hand, he knows all about me. He knows about Kyuubi, about my parents, and he knows my every single feeling at any point in time. Hell, I was the one to confess my feelings for him first! It wasn’t fair! I was fine when he was closed off when we were rivals, but now is different. We’re supposed to be in love! Doesn’t that grant me the right to know how he’s feeling?

After I teleported out of Gaara’s office, I wandered the streets of his village. I kept my head down out of habit. It is really the only way I can block out the insults and glares from the villagers. Out of nowhere, two feet present themselves in front of me. Looking up, I see a small kid connected to said feet. Glancing into the little girl’s eyes, I expect to see fear or even hate. Yet, none of that was there. I saw a mild curiosity; maybe even a scrap of hope. A blush came to her small face.

“Are…are you Uzumaki Naruto?” This caught me off guard. What could this girl possibly want from me?

“Yeah, that’s me.” A smile took over her face. Then the unexpected happened. The girl launched herself at me and hugged me around my middle. It was so sudden that I didn’t have time to regain my balance; both of us falling down to the sandy street. If it was even possible, the girl’s grip on me tightened even further; burying her head into my chest. My face must have turned several shades of red, this was so embarrassing! The girl loosened her hold on me and pushed herself into a straddling position. Her smile beamed down at me.

“I’ve wanted to meet you for so long!! Gaara-sama has told me a lot about you!” Now I was really confused. What exactly did Sand-boy tell the village about me? Of course the more pressing issue was getting this girl out of the compromising position she was currently in.

“Um…could you…?” Her face goes serious as she looks at me. She then finally takes the time to notice her surroundings and the small crowd that had gathered around us. In an instant, she flew up and bowed low in front of me; her hands clasped together in front of her legs.

“I’m so sorry! I let my excitement get out of hand.” Standing, I brush the dirt from my clothes and look at the girl. She was so strange, almost bipolar. She went from shy, to psycho happy, to extreme embarrassment in under five minutes. In a way, this girl reminds me a lot of myself. She slowly stands upright, keeping her eyes to the ground; shame clearly on her face. Smirking, I lean forward only a little and ruffle her short brown hair. Her deep violet eyes fly to mine, questioning my actions.

“Don’t worry about it. No harm done.” My hand leaves her head, going straight into my pocket. Her blinding smile returns and she holds out her hand in a warm gesture.

“My name’s Kimura Haruhi. I’m the head of medical team here in our village.” I had shaked her hand while she was giving her name, but my grip went lax as soon as she stated her profession. She was that Haruhi?! She couldn’t be any older than ten and she was supposed to be a near equal to Tsunade Obaa-chan! Haruhi must have noticed my surprise, a giggle escaping her throat. She grabbed my hand and started to pull me along.

“Come on. I’ll treat you to some dango. We’ll talk there.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
“So, you’re probably wondering how a squirt like me became the head of the Sand’s medical force.” Haruhi stated around a mouthful of dango. The dango stand was small, even smaller than Ichiraku’s; only being able to seat two. Luckily, it had been a slow night for the stand, so we got to order our dango right away. Looking over at her, I let out a small laugh.

“You know, I shouldn’t be as curious as I am. I’ve heard and seen a lot of stranger things in my life.” I hear her giggle lightly before she chases her dango with a gulp of her green tea. Sighing in satisfaction, she puts her cup down and glances my way.

“It’s alright, I’m sorta used to it by now.” Her focus shifted to her half empty cup; a frown overtaking her features. “I have friends who love me and subordinates who respect me. My life used to be a lot different. You see, I wasn’t born in this village. I was abandoned by my mother soon after my first birthday. I really don’t know who she was or where she came from, but it really doesn’t matter. I was taken in by an elderly woman the very same night. I was happy, for a time.” Her hands on the counter tightened into fists.

“Then on my fourth birthday, I had found a dog on the side of the street I was playing on. I went to pet it, but realized that it was losing a massive amount of blood from a wound on its side. I rushed it home and asked Obaa-chan, the elderly woman I lived with, what to do. She said all we could do was pray. I took her left hand in my right and placed my left hand on the nearly dead dog. Closing my eyes, I had focused my entire being into wanting that dog to be ok. It was then I felt a strange feeling in my left hand. I had dismissed it at the time, really only caring about the dog. Suddenly the dog moved and started to bark. I was so happy that I let go of Obaa-chan’s hand and gathered the dog in my arms. I turned to show Obaa-chan, but she was lying on the floor with her eyes closed.” Haruhi’s voice sounded chocked; I already had a feeling about where the story was going.

“She was dead. I didn’t understand how it had happened and, unfortunately for me, neither did the village. They had blamed me for her death and in turn, they shunned me. I was alone in the world and there was nothing I could do to change that.” That was one thing I wish we didn’t already knows hatred and loneliness. “It wasn’t until I was six did I realize that Obaa-chan’s death really was my fault. The village I was born in was known for their bloodline-limit called Myoukone. It allows the user to pull chakra from any living thing and use that chakra to heal. That’s what I had done when I healed the dog. I had used Obaa-chan’s chakra to seal shut the dog’s wound. I had used too much of Obaa-chan’s chakra though; she couldn’t have survived with the amount I had left her.” She paused, as if she couldn’t believe she had revealed that to me. Taking a sip from her tea, Haruhi continued.

“At that point, I really wanted to die, but I held off; hoping for something better. A year later, the whole fiasco with the Sound and your village happened. All hope was gone. I really didn’t know how to kill myself so I was going to do the next best thing, piss off Gaara-sama. All the villagers knew of his killing intent. So when he came back to the village, I ran at him and tried to hit him. Of course his sand protected him but I thought he would kill me just for the attempt of doing him harm. Luckily, you had changed him Naruto and instead of killing me, he gave me purpose. He knew of my bloodline-limit and decided to help me use it. Gaara-sama believed I could use it to heal the injured shinobi in our village. I argued, telling him I had to kill others in order to heal. Then he suggested that I use plants as my source of chakra. At that point, I promised my life to him; that I would serve him no matter what. A year passed, Gaara-sama became the Kazekage, and my skills improved greatly. It was then that Gaara-sama made me head of our medical force. I can never repay him for the kindness that he has shown me.”

“That’s amazing Haruhi. You’re a strong person to make it through all that.” She turns towards me and gives a soft smile.

“Not nearly as amazing as you, Naruto. Gaara-sama told me all about you and what you’ve been through. That’s why I was glad that I ran into you. Besides Gaara-sama, you’re the only one I’ve told my story to. I knew you would understand.” She was right. I whole-heartily understood her.

“You shouldn’t dwell on the past anyway. It’ll only hold you back from what you can really do.” Haruhi nods in agreement.

“There is another reason I wanted to see you, Naruto.” Her expression is blank. I felt uneasy about the information she was about to give me. “From what I have heard about Sakura’s situation, I’m a little concerned. All the things that happened in and to her family are very disturbing and I hightly doubt that she got out of it unscathed.” Haruhi’s eyes lock with mine. “I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that Sakura is very mentally unstable. I think it would be best to stay away from her until I know she’s alright.” Sakura seemed perfectly alright to me. Haruhi hasn’t even met her yet and she’s already passing judgment? No matter how unfair it seemed, I shook my head in agreement. I had no background on how to tell if people were sane or not, so I couldn’t argue. Haruhi gave one last smile and stood.

“Well, I’ll see ya later Naruto. I have to make my nightly rounds at the hospital.” She says with a smile.

“Yeah, I have to go deal with my own problems too.” Haruhi stops and stares at me.

“What kind of problem? I hope it’s not with the village.” I shake my head in a no.

“Naw, I have a matter that I need to discuss with a fellow leaf shinobi. Sasuke, that’s his name, needs to learn how to treat others when on a team.” Her eyes narrowed at me, soon being replaced with a devious smirk.

“Well I hope this Sasuke person knows what’s good for him. I wouldn’t want to be messing with a mad Uzumaki Naruto; at least from what I’ve heard from Gaara-sama.” With that, she walks out from the stand. Sighing, I stand myself and head towards my new home for the next month or so. Breathing slowly for a couple of seconds, I start to walk towards the shinobi’s quarters; Sasuke weighing heavily on my mind. Though I was still angry, I was finally calm enough to talk to him. Peering around the dark streets, I decide that teleporting would be the best idea. A millisecond later, I find myself standing outside of Sasuke’s room. Not looking forward to the conversation that was about to happen, I knock on his door.

“Who’s there?” Sasuke questions. I can’t tell what kind of mood he’s in. Twisting the doorknob, I allow myself into the room. I spot him across the small area, sitting on his bed while looking out of the sliding glass door. He didn’t even turn around to acknowledge my presence. Letting out a shallow breath, I step inside and close the door behind me.

“It’s me, Naruto.” His head turns slightly in my direction, but just as quickly goes back to staring into the night sky. I slowly make my way to stand in front of the glass door; leaning on the wall. I really didn’t know how to start. How was he going to react to my revelation? Would he apologize immediately or would he tell me to get over myself, that I’m just being an idiot.

“What the hell happened this afternoon?” So he wanted to get right to the point. Not facing him, I cross my arms across my chest.

“Do you think I’m weak, that I can’t do things on my own?” Silence followed my question.

“What are you talking about? You’re as strong as I am and you know that.” He stated in a harsh tone, almost talking down to me. Familiar anger was starting to bubble inside of me. I quickly whip around and spread out my arms.

“Then why do you treat me like I’m a child! You act as if it’s your responsibility to scold and belittle me!” Sasuke’s arms hang between his legs; his head dipped low. What was he thinking right now? He might be trying to find the right words to make this problem disappear or he’s thinking up the perfect insult. Almost unnoticeably, his shoulders sag before he lifts up his head.

“Is this really what this is about? That’s your problem?” His voice was deadpanned. I couldn’t believe it. My problem wasn’t big enough for him to be concerned with it? Fury wanted to burst from me. Spinning around, my chakra enflamed fist connects with the glass door; shattering and sending glass fragments everywhere. I wanted to hit Sasuke, but I decided to give him one last chance.

“So you really don’t know why I’m this pissed off? You never noticed me shying away from you when you’re angry. You never noticed that I’m depending on your skills more than ever. You never noticed that I don’t argue with you anymore. Are you really trying to tell me that you don’t think that this is a problem Sasuke?” I hadn’t turned around; I didn’t want to see the expression on his face. I waited for him to move, to talk, anything in the form of a response; but nothing came. Finally turning around, I peered at him. His head was lowered again.

“You were trying to break me, weren’t you Sasuke?” His head flew up at that question. Maybe I was finally getting to the root of the problem. “So that’s it, isn’t it? You wanted to enslave me for some kind of sick game.” Rage was clear on his face; his hands in tight fists. I still needed an answer, wanted to hear him speak his wrong doings. “Was it for Kyuubi’s power or something Orochimaru taught you? I bet it was the latter. Knowing that snake, he probably used the same game on you to get you to do whatever he wanted. You more than likely just wanted to work your own psychological issues out on me.” It took less than a second for Sasuke to react. He had my back on the wall, lifted off the floor before I could even think to say ‘stop’. Using only his right arm to keep me pinned to the wall, Sasuke’s full sharingan was spinning in front of my eyes.

“You have no idea what happened to me back in the Sound! Don’t even try to blame me for your own little dilemma!” Pushing me further into the wall, he releases me and turns his back. “I don’t even know why I trusted you Naruto. We were never friends in the first place, so I don’t know what made me think this relationship could work.” I scoffed at his comment; bitter that he wouldn’t admit that what he did to me was unforgivable.

“We never had a relationship. I was just your toy, a thing to be used!!” I dashed through the shattered door. I didn’t care about him, he wasn’t worth it. Saving him from the Sound was a mistake. He and Orochimaru were perfect for each other. Leaping from the balcony, I landed on the hard dirt road below and took off as fast as I could. Nothing could make me stay anywhere near him; I was too angry to not hurt him. No matter how corrupt and deranged Sasuke was, I didn’t want his blood on my hands. Yet I still had to get this want to kill out of my system. I dashed through the village, hoping to spot a training ground of some sort. Then to my left I spot a clear raised area; almost looking like a sumo ring. I launched myself into its center; not wanting to waste anymore time.

“KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!!” I roared. Immediately, hundreds of clones appeared around me; all of them looking as deadly as I felt. I threw myself at the nearest clone; my foot landing squarely in its chest. Not even waiting for the clone to go poof, I find another clone and start attacking. Yet, the more I kept attacking, the angrier I felt. Each punch that connected, another image of Sasuke would pop into my mind. Though, it wasn’t Sasuke that was making me angry anymore; it was myself. Why had I let him do it to me? Can’t I stand up for myself? Was Sasuke really to blame? By the time the last question had popped into my mind, all of the clones were gone and I was out of chakra. Letting weariness overtake me, I collapse to the ground and shake loose my headband. It was then I let my tired mind finally examine the entire screwed up situation. I went over the entire duration of our relationship. No matter how hard I thought about it, I found that Sasuke had never made me submissive in any of my memories. Then, what happened? Playing back every memory I’ve ever had, I only found one situation where I acted like I have for the past month. It was around Sakura. When I had liked her, you could always find a blush on my face, my eyes turned down, and stuttering like an idiot.

“Damn….” I’m such an ass. Sasuke hadn’t done anything wrong and I had said that he was like Orochimaru; probably one of the biggest sore spots for him. I acted like a total girl when I was around the person I love. Moving my arm over my eyes, I tried to contemplate my next move. My heart told me that I should go to Sasuke and tell him that I was wrong, but my brain told me there was nothing I could do. I thought I’d be crying by now, but the tears didn’t come. Maybe I still believed I could do something to save my connection with Sasuke, yet I didn’t know how.

“Naruto…?” Lifting my arm, I peer over to my right and spot Sakura. She looked concerned and even a little scared. She slowly makes her way over to my side and kneels. Sakura places her hand on my shoulder. “Naruto, what’s wrong?” Replacing my arm over my eyes, I smirk at her question. There were too many things that were wrong to mention. Her grip on my shoulder tightened; probably in worry over my current expression. It wasn’t common to smile at that kind of question, possibly even insane to do so. Sighing, I decide that it can’t hurt to tell Sakura what was the problem.

“Sasuke and I kinda had a fallout.” Saying the words out loud hit hard. Somehow it made the situation seem real, tangible. I was glad that my arm was hiding my face; I didn’t need Sakura to see the tears. Why had I yelled at him like I did? He never did anything wrong, I was just being childish. A pain in my chest tightened. I needed him, probably more than either of us ever realized. I’ve spent nearly 4 years thinking about nothing, but Sasuke. If he were to vanish from my life, I don’t think I could continue. Sakura must have noticed as she started to scoop me up into her arms. She had gotten strong in the past couple years.

“I’m so sorry…I wish I could do something. I’m here for you Naruto, just like you were always there for me.” I really couldn’t reciprocate the embrace, my body still weakened from my foolish fighting. Maybe I could get through this. Maybe Sasuke would forgive me, but I wasn’t going to kid myself. If Sasuke was going to accept me again, it would take a vast amount of time. I let my head sink to her shoulder, showing her that I appreciated the gesture. Sakura then changed her position so that her hand was at the back of my neck. I didn’t even think about the move; thinking that she was just making me more comfortable. My thought process totally changed when all feeling left every part of me. Sakura laid me back down on the ground and stood; her pink hair hiding her eyes, but not the wicked smile that crossed her face. Her eyes then looked down at me, all sanity lost from them. My own eyes widened in panic as I realized that the situation had turned down a horrible path. I needed to get away, wanted to, but all I could do was plead with her with my eyes. She dropped back down to her knees and stroked my cheek with her hand. Sakura’s face had softened into a look of love, but her eyes still held that insane look.

“Don’t worry my love. I only paralyzed your body through pressure points. I didn’t want you to struggle when I wanted to carry you. I know how much your pride gets in the way when you’re being treated with care.” A smile spread across her face.

“Sakura! Please, don’t do this!!” Sakura looked a little hurt at my words, but that demented smile quickly returned. She quickly picked me up without any problem. Her gaze returned to my face.

“Don’t do what silly? I’m going to take good care of you and you won’t have to worry about that dumb old Sasuke anymore. Though, if you are going to make such a fuss, I’m going to have to put you to sleep.” Her hand came over my eyes. “Sweet dreams, my blonde prince.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
My body just wanted to relax, but my mind knew better. I had no idea how long I had been knocked out, but I knew I needed to wake up fast. Turning my head to the side, I slowly open my eyes to an unfamiliar room. It was dark except for a few candles scattered at the edges of the chamber. Furniture was non-existent as was any sign of life. As for me, I realized that my arms and legs were strapped to a table; and from my cheek lying on its surface, I could tell it was some sort of metal. I pulled at my restraints, but to no avail. I was trapped. A weird feeling of déjà vu came over me, like I had been in a place like this before. Yet, before I could figure anything out, I heard the rolling of wheels over the stone floor. I snapped my head back to its original position and squeezed my eyes shut. The source of the sound just kept getting closer. I could feel my body start to sweat, my nerves getting the better of me. The wheels stopped at my left side, right next to the table I was lying on. It was then I noticed the light footsteps that walked away from said wheels. They must have been pushing a cart of some sort. Suddenly a hand was brushing my cheek. Instantly I knew it was Sakura.

“It’s time to wake up, my prince.” Out of fear of her doing something drastic, I followed her orders. Opening my eyes, I made sure that my sight never met her gaze. She told me to open them, not to look at her. “I know you’re probably mad at the way you’re tied up, but it will all be ok soon.” My gaze quickly shifted to her. What the hell was she talking about? That same damn smile was on her face again.

“What do you mean? Why do you have me tied up Sakura?” Her expression changed vastly, going from school-girl happy to dead serious in no time at all.

“I want to tell you a story first, Naruto. It’s about a girl who fell in love, but that love was denied.” I wasn’t about to interrupt. If she felt it necessary to explain why she was doing this before she told me what she was doing, so be it. “You see, the girl’s parents felt that she would be better off if she married someone of a higher caliber. Sure the boy they picked out was handsome and a genius, but there was one fatal flaw. The boy was dark and had no room in is life for anyone except his brother. That boy wanted revenge for his brother killing his family and would be unable to love the girl. Besides, the boy the girl loved was funny, bright, and had a wonderfully optimistic personality. Sadly, this boy also had his flaws. He was possessed by a demon. A demon that had terrorized the girl’s village years before the girl was born. That’s why the girl’s parents forced her upon the dark boy.” Sakura paused. Her expression hadn’t changed and her gaze never wavered from mine.

“The girl despised her parents for making decisions she had every right to make for herself. But there was nothing the girl could do. She went along with their plan, ignoring and insulting the bright boy. She felt horrible for the way she was treating her secret love, but enjoyed seeing him get stronger with each passing day.” A wicked smirk settled upon Sakura’s face. “Fortunately, luck was on the girl’s side. The dark boy left the village to search for power, letting the girl chase after her true love. Yet she had to be careful. She couldn’t let her parents know that she was going after the bright boy. So she decided to befriend the bright boy before she confessed. Everything was going great, except for the fact that the bright boy spent most of his time going after the dark boy. This infuriated the girl, but luck was still on her side. The dark boy was nowhere to be found, meaning there was no way he could interfere with her plans to make the bright boy hers.” Her face suddenly tightened, as if she had eaten something sour.

“Then everything went wrong. The bright boy left the village to search for the dark one. The girl felt at ease, figuring that there was no chance the dark boy would be found. She was sadly mistaken. Not even a week later, the bright boy had the dark boy in tow and in one piece. The girl was furious, even though she kept it hidden. Her parents started coaching her again on how to win over the dark boy. Though she was going to go along with her parents, fate had another idea. The two boys realized that they were in love. This was the girl’s breaking point. First she had to deal with her parents, but now she had to fight for her love with another boy. Unthinkable!! But the bright boy seemed happy; something the girl had never been able to do.” Sakura turned away from me, like she was ashamed. She didn’t realize that she did make me happy. I was happy that she was my friend, that she acknowledged me.

“But Sakura…”

“Then a though occurred to the girl,” She interrupted. She was lost in her own little world and she wasn’t about to be brought back by my reasoning. “She thought, ‘What if it’s against the bright boy’s will to be with the dark one?’ ‘What if this is the demon’s fault?’. Then it all clicked. The bright boy was under the influence of the demon which resided in him. The girl hatched a plan. The day after her revelation, she went to her father. She told him that the demon was possessing the bright boy and he was planning on ruining the entire village, starting with the dark boy. This infuriated the girl’s father. He went out that afternoon and tried to separate the two boys, but failed. He only managed to make the dark one mad. The very same night, the girl’s father kidnapped her love and almost killed him, though the girl had no knowledge of this. It wasn’t until the girl forced it out of the bright boy that she knew what her father had almost done. The girl was going to run away, get away from everything. She had had enough. But her love kept her there. She cared for him. But the girl never forgave her father. She would kill him, but she didn’t want to get caught. That would take her away from her love. Of course, when she needed it, luck was on her side. The dark boy had figured out who had harmed the bright one. Luckily, the girl felt the boy’s killing intent and killed her own father before he could, setting him up.” How could she? That was her own family, but she killed him for me? The Sakura I once loved and was gone. I was growing weary of the story, knowing all too well where the plot turned.

“She then thought, ‘My love will finally be released from the demon’s hold once he finds out about what he has done!’, but again, she was disappointed. The girl heard when the bright one sobbed over the capture of the dark boy. The girl then decided to turn herself in. She was exiled from her village, but not all was lost. After she killed her father, her mother begged for her life. The girl agreed under one condition, that her mother help her kill the dark one. Her mother went into the woods and waited for her daughter. When the girl’s mother saw her with the two boys, she implemented her plan, but failed. The girl was out of options. She was defeated and nothing she could do would change that. She let herself be led to her new home after the incident with her mother. The girl was planning on starting a new life, until she met her new village’s leader. The girl knew from previous experiences that the leader also had a demon. Yet, now she could sense that the demon was gone. It was then that she knew what she would do. Since she was healing her love’s wounds, she could slip him medication that would help her plan along. It was designed to make the patient oversensitive. Her plan was working, because not even 24 hours later, her love had left the dark boy. The girl found her love alone and vulnerable. He embraced her and looked to the girl for comfort. The girl then paralyzed the boy.” Her eyes locked with mine once again.

“Do you know what the girl did next?” I shook my head in a no, fearing the answer that was about to come. “The girl is going to extract the demon from the boy once and for all so the girl and the boy can finally be together.” My eyes widened in terror. I whipped my head towards the direction of the cart and paled. It was stacked with all sorts of sharp and pointy medical equipment. Sakura was going to try and remove Kyuubi physically. She was insane.

“Sakura you can’t!!! I’ll die if you try!!” Her face didn’t change. She only waved her hand in the air, dismissing my fears.

“Don’t worry, I’m a trained medical nin…”


Wow...I didn't think I could make Sakura that crazy, but I did!! So was this worth the extra long wait or should I put away my laptop forever? Review and tell me what ya think!! Well, until next time kiddies!!