บท 14: Rejecting Naruto
Finally, the time for the Chunnin Exams were coming up and powerful forces made their way to the Leaf.
As part of the 'Village hidden in the Sand', the trio of Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were doing as they were told and keeping a low profile until the Chunnin Exams started.
There was a psychotic look in Gaara's eyes. The kid was holding back his bloodlust to serve the village.
"Are they the ones?" A man wearing a bamboo hat spoke to the disguised young girl who next to him.
"I'm not sure if this is a good plan." There was another older youth dressed as a girl, who also spoke out.
The two ninjas of the Hidden Mist were perplexed.
"If you consider yourselves tools, then don't doubt my intelligence. The Kazekage of the Hidden Sand will absolutely try to use the Chunnin Exams as an opportunity to try and destroy the Hidden Leaf.
The lack of war means lack of food for them, so you could say our Hokages decisions that are more peaceful-loving than most have put them in a very difficult position." The pink-haired girl explained.
"You still haven't explained our purpose." Zabuza, who had no choice but work under her after being threatened with a meaningless death, felt the conspiracies happening around them were too deep.
He didn't know what her plan of action was...
But after seeing how the crazy girl fought, he was sure this new employer had her own secrets.
Knowledge it was probably better for them to not know. Or else things would go south pretty fast.
"Trying to get in the way of their plans will only lead to being besieged at all sides.
Instead of doing anything meaningless that will draw attention, I need your skills as a Ninja.
All you have to do is not get involved with this trio and keep an eye on those from the Hidden Sound. Find out where their base is located. Other than that, do not fight unless it's to escape." After saying those words, she left them to their devices.
Zabuza and Haku were silent for a moment...
"Can she be trusted?" Haku wasn't sure if siding with her was the right move. She was too powerful.
For her to be at that level at such an age meant she must have had a cruel past way worse than their own.
The feminine boy couldn't even imagine that.
He'd thought that he and Zabuza had it rough, but it looked like they gotten ahead of theirselves.
So what should they do?
Trusting Sakura didn't seem like a good choice.
"She was able to single-handedly take both of us down without killing us with ease… and is now involving herself in high-level political schemes to save her village. And you saw how ruthless she is.
Even though she's from the Hidden Leaf, it's my first time seeing some so crazy in my entire life." Zabuza had to admit this. There was nothing more he'd like to do than pretend that nothing had happened.
But she ended up using Gato's dirty money.
"That wasn't what I asked..." Haku stared at him.
"I know, but listen to me closely. Working as a tool for her is better than working for Gato.
Do you know of anyone else who would give their 'tool' Gato's entire savings as payment?
And this is before trusting us to do our jobs without running off? She's naive, but she can trusted." This was Zabuza's excuse. Even though she seemingly acted mature, that itself proved her immaturity.
She was a monster that killed people without being paid to do so, which was way worse than them.
People who killed for money were called 'Hitmen', 'Assassins', 'Mercenaries', and all sorts of jobs.
But those who killed for ideals were only two things.
'Demons', or 'Heroes'…
If left to her own devices, there was no telling how big of a bloodbath Sakura would eventually start.
That's why Zabuza decided to stay near.
The world could do with less Demons…
He scratched his mask while thinking so. Perhaps fate gave him this opportunity to find a new path.
Underneath the bandages covering his face were a mouth with a sharp set of teeth. They broke into a grin after thinking about this strange girl who 'took them in' as tools. He wondered if she realised it.
That she was acting too familiar with them.
Though she acted coldly, he found it amusing how the girl couldn't hide that she cared about their safety... The only reason they were following her was because Zabuza thought she was VERY interesting.
If she was trained to control her urges, wouldn't she become an assassin even better than himself?
She rivalled Haku in potential, he thought.
But it looked like his subordinate was going to have a tough time matching her with their different levels.
He wondered if she'd be so kind as to shower them with S Rank jutsus too, if any were available.
After watching her leave, the duo did their job in watching the foreign Genin of another village.
Meanwhile, as they were talking, Sakura herself seemed without strength. She fell to her knees at a nearby alleyway. The memories from her released Shadow Clone with Team 7 made her will falter.
Something had happened over there.
It was supposed to be a regular day. That Shadow Clone with her team had been tasked with keeping a low profile. However, what caused her to be unable to keep her Shadow Clone up was Naruto's actions.
That Clone had been walking to go visit the flower shop Ino was always taking care of, but to her great surprise, the person she met instead was Naruto, who got her a familiar type of flowers put into a bundle.
"Hey, Sakura, I like you a lot, so please go out with me." He put the bundle in front of her and asked her out with great sincerity, a very big scene that even caused the nearby people to break out in gossip.
What Sakura was thinking about at this moment wasn't her image though.
As she looked at his face, the scene of Sasuke giving a flower to her in the future overlapped with him, as well as expression Naruto made just before she came back to the past.
Her thoughts were in disorder.
All the good memories she had with her daughter came to mind at this moment.
Some say it's bad memories that cause the greatest pain, but what she experienced pain from right now was from all the good memories of her life.
She didn't know what she was feeling, and so these emotions just turned into incomprehensible anger.
"Shut up!" This lead to an extreme reaction
She slapped the bundle of flowers into the ground, ruining them with her monstrous strength.
Naruto's smile disappeared at that moment. He could clearly feel her uncontrollable emotions.
A bundle of chaotic feelings…
She lifted her fist and was about to punch him, but the image of Naruto's sad face from the future overlapped with the disappointed look of the him of now. The anger she felt was blown away and was replaced with melancholy once again.
Since when was their relationship like this?
No, it had always been like this…
Naruto was surprised but was ready for a harsh rejection. He clenched his teeth, yet the punch she had thrown out ended up having zero strength put into it, resulting in only her tapping his cheek.
Sakura could feel her negativity and depression worsen, then she finally started to speak.
"I... don't even like you...! You're just an idiot with nothing going for you. Do you think your already the Hokage? Must be nice being arrogant!" She rejected him harshly before turning to leave, only to feel a hand grab onto her wrist, stopping her from leaving.
"What?" She asked in an annoyed tone.
"..." In a contest of strength, she wasn't his match if he focused his Chakra into enhancing his physique.
Even as she tried to run away, even when craters and depressions of their feet could be seen on the floor, he didn't let go.
Sakura didn't know what he was up to.
She suddenly felt herself being pulled towards him, a hand grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at him. It was only then that he saw the clear irritation on her expression.
"You should cry if you feel like it, ya know. Why are you eating your heart like this? Does me confessing really make you this sad?" Even when she put up a front, he could instantly see through her deceit.
This had nothing to do with his ability to sense emotions, but his gut instinct telling him that she was blatantly lying, and that right now wasn't good idea to leave her alone. Sakura's heart was a mess.
Processing the future and present too much for her.
"Just leave me alone." Even though he was strong, a person like Sakura could easily break out of his grip if she chose to, but the fact that she found it physically impossible to hit him put her in a tough spot.
Naruto DID let go of her though. He wasn't trying to hurt her.
"Sakura, can't you tell me anything?" He asked.
"I can't.., So just leave me alone." Even though she once again tried to leave, Naruto would just follow.
"Why aren't you leaving me alone?" Sakura glared.
"Because you look like me back then." These words stopped her. Naruto looked at her back knowingly.
There was a time in his life when isolation made him feel anger towards the village.
The relentless abuse and lack of attention made him so depressed that he even started to think it would be better if everything just burned, but he was saved by a small act of kindness.
Sakura didn't understand what he was saying.
No, she didn't WANT to understand anything.
Her hand made a hand seal that released her Shadow Clone, and now here original self was, kneeling over in a dark alleyway.
'I shouldn't get too close to him... The only thing I give him is pain. Never do I give him happiness.' Her mind started to recover.
Sakura leaned onto a wall, her eyes were lost in the memories what she did to him.
It was the promise to get Sasuke back that broke his spirit the day Team 7 broke up, and it was those fleeting words that pushed him dangerous lengths to get him back at all costs.
He suffered so much those days, but still smiled no matter what hardship came his way.
He even lost his arm that day in the Fourth Great Ninja War, when she couldn't even offer any help...
"Huh?" Sakura suddenly felt her vision blurring.
Her hand wiped her eyes, and she couldn't hold back her tears.
'Stop crying. I don't have the right to cry. Not now. Not ever.' She tried to control herself, but found the pain to be too much.
Sarada... She couldn't forget Sarada...
If she wanted to see her again, then she needed to marry Sasuke.
She couldn't let her heart waver like this!
Hinata's a better partner for him.
She's sweet, she's gentle, she's a girl with a strong heart. There's no need for her to worry about his future if she is there. She couldn't be selfish right now and ruin everything.
"You okay?" Naruto's voice shocked her. Sakura tried to wipe away her tears, but to no avail.
The knucklehead couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the strong and confident girl he'd hung around with show such vulnerability. He didn't understand what was going on with her, but he was determined to make her smile.
"How did you find me?" Sakura put a calm face.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu and my own Negative Emotion Sensing. Your sadness is pretty easy to find."
"I-"
"Forget all that and come with me, I'm sure going this favourite place of mine will make you feel better!"
He once again impulsively grabbed her arm and pulled her along. This time she didn't resist.
Naruto brought her out of the dark alley and into the light.
Sakura didn't understand where they were going until she smelt a familiar scent coming from a place nearby.
"Ichiraku's is the best!" He lead her to a table and asked for two orders.
Normally, he'd talk to the old man and female assistant who were making the ramen actively, but since now wasn't the best time and they themselves were busy with customers, he didn't.
Sakura looked at the plate before her, but didn't understand why Naruto had brought her here.
"You're not going to eat? It's good, ya know?" The kid spoke warmly.
"I don't have the appetite." Sakura shook her head.
"Aren't you curious why we're here?"
"Because Ramen makes people feel better?" The girl had enough understanding of how simple he was.
"Wrong!" Naruto heavily shook his head.
"I don't know how to explain it..." He continued, and managed to find the words to communicate it:
"You look like me back in the day… when people first started to avoid me after knowing about my Seal.
I was sad, but most of all, I felt abandoned by the people who used to play with me as a kid." Sakura listened to this story she hadn't heard without interrupting him.
"At that time, people weren't even willing to let me buy their food. And the only person who did were the guys at Ichiraku's. I ate, but for some reason, I felt like all the sadness in my heart had been blown away.
...I realise now that it had nothing to do with the food's taste, and I would have still felt happy even if the ramen had no flavour. Not that their ramen ever has no flavour though!" Naruto smiled while reminiscing.
He ended with why he brought her here:
"Since you looked isolated as well... I thought you would feel better if you ate with others.
Don't think too much and enjoy something to eat!
I brought it with the little pocket money I have. You better believe it!" Naruto spoke seriously before digging in before the ramen got cold, not understanding how much his words affected her.
She looked down at the ramen in front of her and used her chopsticks to eat. Unlike Naruto, who was eating like a starved wolf, Sakura seemed much more refined even as she ate.
Nobody noticed but she had unconsciously moved her seat closer to him while eating, even she herself didn't notice. Her heart fluttered from this small kindness of his.
'I... Maybe just this once... I'll be a little selfish.' She couldn't help but bring herself to smile while watching him be so... 'him'.
Naruto had always been a ray of sunshine…
…illuminating her world with simple happinesses.
She didn't need a grand gesture, just the fact that he was willing to leave made her feel the affection he had for her, something she found hard to accept no matter how many times he confessed.
'I have to control myself better. I can't show this shameful side of me again.' Sakura vowed to never become emotional like this ever again... but just for now, she'd indulge a little... since Naruto went so far.
Maybe just for today, she's live her life a little.
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