Never Ending Cycle

In this time are we loving

Or do we sit here wondering

Why this world isn’t turning round

It’s now or never



We have no use

For the truth

And now’s the time for us to lose

Who we are and how we’ve tried

Taking every step in stride

It now or never to decide

--Now or Never (Three Days Grace)



Chapter 2: Now Or Never



   A day’s rest. A DAY! That wasn’t long enough to get settled back in let alone give my body enough rest! Out for only a day, geez. That sounds both really bad and really good to me.


   After I passed out in Tsunade’s office, I wound up in a hospital bed. Baa-chan personally addressed me. The hospital room was nothing special. Same old, same old. Just like every other room you’d see in this place, so, with nothing to poke fun at, I was bored out of my ever-loving mind. I preoccupied myself by drawing faces on the frosted window until Tsunade showed up.


   ”Naruto,”


   I looked up from my childish doodles and smiled at her as she walked over. No emotion danced in those hazel eyes. She meant business.


   ”HEY BAA-CHAN! Can I go home now?”


   ”You may,” She shot me a look before I exploded into ‘Thank you’s and ‘I’ll be leaving now. Thanks for everything’s. “After you complete a mission for me,” She paused for effect. My head rolled to one side with my mouth open in an ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you just said that,’ expression, “It’s a simple mission really. You’ll escort Sakura to a traveling caravan where you will stay with her for a week as she learns from them. They’re known for their medicinal herbs, Naruto. We get most of our best medicines from them,” And here comes the warning, “I needn’t tell you that you need to try your hardest to stay personable to them throughout the whole mission. I learned from them when I was still training and it will be very good for Sakura. Besides, I‘m sure you’ll love it too. Sakura’s very excited about this,” Ah, warning with a side of ‘do this for your friend.’


   Smile and nod Naruto, you’ll get through this. What else was there to do? Reject a mission? Psht. Yea. That’s gonna happen this millennia. Then I had a thought. If they were a traveling caravan then…


   ”Oi, baa-chan if this place is moving, then how are we going to find it?”


   ”And I was beginning to think you didn't think at all, brat. They always stop in the Oasis Country around this time of year. It shouldn’t be hard to find them. They’re…. flamboyant in their own way. They’re very, very easy to spot. You’ll know it’s them as soon as you see, or hear, them,”


   I nodded again more seriously this time, though I wasn't totally certain I understood. A long moment passed before my thoughts started to wander. I spoke up almost immediately after the thought came into my head.


   ”And Sasuke?”


   I knew baa-chan would know what I meant. “The council made a decision last night. His sentence consists of no solo missions for three to five years," I waited for more and she shrugged, "That’s it really. Though he did leave Konoha, he never really betrayed it. He never gave Orochimaru any valuable information he might have known and for that they went easy on him. Besides that, he did come home of his own free will,” She stopped and chuckled slightly, “After all, you’re not the one that brought him home in a sleeping bag,”


   My cheeks puffed up in rage. “That’s not funny baa-chan,”


   She continued to laugh quietly. “Forgive me Naruto. I was half expecting it to be the other way around too,”


   ”Anything else?”


   ”Not really. Nothing besides the fact as to why they were lenient. More excuses on their part,”


   ”Let me guess. It’s because one, he’s an Uchiha. Two, he seemingly turned out better than his brother. And his daddy did this and this and this and this for Konoha way back when, right?” She nodded and I made a face, “I bet if I left for fifty cabillion years then came back they’d give me the harshest punishment they could dish out,” I pulled the covers roughly over my head and curled into a ball. A low, angry, muttering sound came from my throat.


   ”I’m sure they’d try, but everyone would stick up for you, Naruto. If you left, I know it would be for good reason and nothing less. Your friends would understand too,” Her hand came down on my head softly and rubbed my scalp through the blankets. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit hard on Sasuke?”


   ”HELL NO! If anything I could have said more!”


   ”I can tell the only reason you want him punished more is so he can be watched over more closely," I took in a loud breath to protest, "Don’t deny it. I know you’re worried, but,” I began mouthing her words as she talked. Though I was positive she couldn’t see my lip movements under the blanket, she hit me anyway, “Are you listening, brat?!”


   ”No. That was a dumb question baa-chan,” I snickered and it granted me another smack upside my head. I removed the blankets from my head.


   “Fine, if you want to be a little smart-ass, then I'll just add onto your little mission. Sasuke’s going with you,”


   ”SAY WHAT?! B-b-b-but baa-chan!”


   ”No but’s Naruto. Deal with it. You’re the one that wants him watched better. So, why don’t I just allow you to watch him?”


   ”Tsunade-no-baachan! I never said-”


   ”But you were thinking it,”


   Guess there was no fighting it. I sighed heavily and let my head drop and sink into the mattress.


   “When do we leave?”


   ”In three hours,”



   I stood at Konoha gates as I waited for the others. I was a half and hour early. I really didn’t have anything to bring with me. A couple shirts, a few pairs of pants, and back-up food; the usual. Short, sweet, and to the point just like me. Three days it took to get there by Tsunade’s recollection and we would spend a week with them. I began to wonder what the people were like, what they’d wear, what kind of people they really were. Random stuff to pass the time, you know? I shifted from foot to foot and looked up at the sky. It was a dull gray today. There was no sun and it looked like the rain followed me home. Frost collected on my breath every time I exhaled and I knew if it rained now, it would snow. I would come home to the cold. Ugh, I hated the cold. Why couldn’t January be a Spring month?


   I crossed my arms and waited longer. If they weren’t there in five more minutes, I would hunt them down myself. Sakura was probably doing her hair and Kakashi was going to be late just for the sake of being late. I crossed my eyes in irritation. I'm a horribly antsy and wanted to get this over with as soon as humanly possible. A soft thump resounded behind me and I turned on instinct with a kunai in hand just in case. And guess who? Uchiha Sasuke in all his clashing, darkhair/paleskin, glory. I shook my head and looked out onto the beaten path leading out of Konoha into the forests.


   ”Got off easy, didn’t you?”


   He leaned against the gate and stared at me. “Don’t talk it makes you seem stupider.”


   My eye twitched. Fine. If he wanted silence, then I'll pretend he's not there. It would be easy considering he's been gone for Kami only knows how long. In one day he was back to normal. Everything must be candy in the Uchiha world. He was still the asshole-ish, shit-stirring cock I met in the academy years ago and it didn’t faze him one bit that he had been gone. Everything still was the way he had left it in his eyes. Everything was different in my eyes because he was back. Shows how much views differ. The villagers accepted him the minute he had walked back in through the gates no doubt. The Uchiha heir’s back. Hoozah! Humph. I suppose there is some reason to rejoice, but I wonder how everything will play out from now on. I hate how karma plays out. Why is it that I love the person that pisses me off the most?


   I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t notice Sakura-chan and Kakashi show up behind me. Sakura’s hand came down on my shoulder and I looked up to see her smiling face. I could tell how excited she was. She had come a long way in training to be a medical nin. She was proud of herself and had every right to be. I was proud of her too. She grabbed my wrist and her smile grew.


   ”Come on Naruto! If we don’t hurry we might miss the boat!” A sudden tug was all the warning I got when she began to pull me after Kakashi and Sasuke, both who began to walk already without us.


   I was tugged a good portion of the way to the docks. I couldn’t let my mind wander or else I was rewarded with a sharp, shoulder-dislocating jerk. It got progressively colder as we neared the water; much to my displeasure. The ordinarily blue waters were a dull neutral color. The plants, trees, and all the life around it seemed to be caught between dead and living, like they couldn’t make up their minds. A small gasp came from Sakura as we turned a bend. I looked up from the dusty path under my feet to see the biggest ship I’ve seen as a ninja to date. Many people were boarding now and the ship gave off a mighty wail as a white stream of smoke bellowed from the smokestacks.


   ”It’s like a cruise ship,” I heard Sakura whisper.


   ”It’s because it is. We’re all going to the same place but all those people are probably going to enjoy the show,”


   I blinked in confusion. “Show? What kind of show sensei?”


   Kakashi just chuckled and began to walk to the ramp leading up to the boat. “You’ll see,”


   We all looked at each other before following after our sensei.



   This wasn’t what I was expecting. I was half expecting a dinky, little, tug boat with creaky floors and leaky rooms with the rowdy, loud-mouthed, half-drunk crew to complete it. But a opulence ship like this with decorative rooms, polished everythings and well-dressed madams and misters? Never. I’ve never stepped foot into a home this over-done before and I‘ve been to feudal lord‘s homes! Tsunade-no-baachan has a twisted way of rewarding us. She couldn’t just tell us. No, no that’d be too easy. We were all being rewarded secretly. Sakura for doing so well; Sasuke for coming home, I guess; Kakashi for… whatever the hell he was doing right; and me for being the best person alive on the planet, duh.


   I explored every part of the massive ship I could as soon as Mr. Ticket-Man took the ticket from me. I pulled Sakura and Sasuke throughout the maze of corridors and rooms that lined the walls; half searching for our rooms and half being the little kid everyone knows I am. All the rooms were nice, though they got less and less so as you went further and further below deck. I was secretly glad that we were somewhere near the top deck. Sasuke and my rooms were conjoined as were Kakashi-sensei’s and Sakura’s. I highly doubted I’d be spending much time in there. There was just too much to see and do in this place!


   A few hours passed before I rushed up the stairs onto the open floor of the ship. I'd done all that I could do in the few hours spent. It was time to scan the surroundings. There were scarcely any people around but that’s not what caught my attention at first. As soon as I hit that top step and stood on the hard floor, I saw it. It was breath-taking. In those hours of sailing, we had left the clouds behind us and the sun was setting. All the swells of cotton were lit up in oranges, yellows, violets, and reds. The sun wasn’t visible behind the red-hued trees lining the river we drifted down. The sky was no longer blue, but a violent battlefield where red and yellow fought. Not even in Konoha were the sunsets this vibrant. I suppose it’s one of those things you have to truly see to believe. But, believe me, it was beautiful.


   I stood there with my mouth open, gawking is the better terminology, and stared at the sight before me. In those few moments, I became aware of the absence of what little hum few people around me. They were probably all down below getting dinner and chatting with whomever they came across. The sky was darkening at a fast pace. I had to see the water before the sun completely set. I made my way to the side of the cruiser and looked over. Instead of blue, I saw burning orange waters lazily bypassing the ship’s sharp sides. I loved this time of day. It was a time of reflection for me. Everything seemed to be at peace and the world turned a bit easier as the sun razed the atmosphere. I smiled to myself and rested my chin on my arms. And I lost myself in my own world.


   ”Enjoying yourself?”


   I jumped horribly, being pitched from my dream-like state, and looked up into two dark eyes. “Possibly,” I heard him snort next to me. Obviously, that wasn’t the answer he was looking for.


   ”Tsunade-no-baachan really outdid herself this time,” I smiled again and stared down at the blackening water. The sky was turning a deep navy above our heads and the temperature was dropping more.


   ”She had nothing to do with it, Naruto,” I looked up at him confused, “We’d be walking right now if she didn’t have help,”


   ”What do you mean?”


   He shook his head in an irritated fashion. His hand gripped the railing and he stared out into the forests. He was trying to calm down. I’ve never seen Sasuke try to do that in my life. It was amusing to say the least and I snickered to myself.


   “You can imagine how much tickets cost for this trip right?” I nodded and he let out a soft chuckle, “Tsunade doesn’t have the money to be sending ninjas on pleasure cruises,” I guess I saw where he was going with this.


   ”Then how did she-”


   ”Because I paid for it,” I see now. It’s time for Mr. Show-me-recognition to come out and play, “I thought that you’ve earned it and that you‘d enjoy it,”


   Whoa, time out. I earned it? I gave him an uncertain smile and turned away from him searching for something to say.


   ”Ummm, thanks?” I scratched my face nervously. Sasuke was silent, “Well it’s getting late and-”


   Sasuke’s hand gripped my arm and tugged me back. I came colliding into his chest. My breath was coming out in white clouds and each puff warmed my face. That or it could just be the blush fighting to rise in my cheeks. I tried my hardest not to look up at him; or any other part of him for that matter. My blue eyes kept going to the top of their prison, hoping to pull my head up with them. I was so close to him I could almost hear his heart beat. It was a soothing sound.


   ”Naruto, don’t you-”


   ”Sasuke-kun! Naruto! Aren’t you going to eat?” Sakura’s voice echoed out and into our ears.


   I immediately pulled away from him and ran off muttering something or another about being hungry. Sasuke didn't grab after me. Sakura waited at the door and smiled politely. I narrowly returned it before hurrying past her. Home free for the moment. Sakura yelled out the door again to get Sasuke’s attention, but I knew he’d probably wouldn’t come. The stubborn Uchiha will come of his own free will when and only when he feels like it. I stopped at this thought. ~He'd come when and only when he felt like it...~ A bit or irony for you. Guess that applies to just about every part of his life.




A/N: Hehe. I hope that was good enough, or at least a little better than my last chapter. I’ll probably go back and edit all the chapters later, but for right now I just want to get my ideas down and then worry about the details. I’m sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy I got reviews and that many people liked it. OH! BTW IF ANYONE HAS ANY INFO ON NARUTO’S MOTHER PLEASE TELL ME. IF THERE IS NOTHING ON HER TELL ME THAT TOO B/C I WANT TO STICK CLOSE TO THE STORY AND IF THEY DO GIVE INFO I’D LIKE TO HAVE IT. Though I’m pretty sure there’s nothing on her. Not much really left to say except for maybe my rantings that you all don’t want to hear. I’m pretty certain I can get another chapter in by…. Tuesday-Wednesday-ish…. Hopefully. I really really really hope you all liked this chapter. JA!