Kamaboko : Chapter Two

Kamaboko

Unclear: Where Are We Headed, Now?

-Present-(time)

“Sakura.”

Said girl’s emerald eyes widened. Oh, no, she’d been dozing off again, into that place where she’d think about Naruto and everything being okay, and-

“We need to talk.”

Those were the three words no sane person wanted to hear from their partner.

It was then that she agreed to meet him by the bridge at dawn.

XxXxXxX

“Uzumaki-san, would you screw your damn head on straight so we can go already?”

Naruto’s eyes fell towards the dampened earth. Rain symbolized tears. Was the sky crying for him, as its pure droplets sloshed at the deep red embedding itself in Naruto’s uniform?

“Uzumaki!”

Naruto’s hand fisted as he held it before him. Blood. So much blood…His voice was croaky and scratched. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up with you later.”

Takehiko (1), the leader of the ANBU squad Naruto was placed in, pinched the bridge of his nose with a gloved hand before grabbing his mask that was previously suspended from a low tree branch.

“Fine, but don’t start pulling this shit everyday. You’re a ninja, a killing machine, you should’ve known what this job was like before taking it.”

Takehiko was gone before Naruto could say anything in return.

Uzumaki Naruto stood there, the rain defiantly pounding harder upon his shoulders as he continued to stare into the lifeless eyes of the bloodied mask on the ground before him.

Uzumaki Naruto

Rank: ANBU

Missions: 1

-A ranked- Track down a group of missing ninja and take out their cavalries.

Status: Failed

XxXxXxX

Sasuke leaned back against the oak of the bridge, the cool night air swaying his dark bangs around to cup his pale face.

When she came, he greeted her with narrow eyes and lips tight in a disapproving scowl.

Sakura had originally thought of backing out of their meeting; what if Sasuke would really break up with her? Sure, she thought about Naruto sometimes, but her feelings for Sasuke were golden and true! She’d been in love with him for so long, how could she possibly just give up on him because of some stupid ideas of Naruto popping up?

She smiled tentatively, playing her cards carefully. Sasuke was mad, and any wrong move or slip would cost her. “Well, I’m here…what are we going to talk about, Sasuke-kun?”

With her arms crossed behind her back, conveying an innocent and sweet posture, she could carelessly twiddle her fingers without worrying about him seeing her state of mind. He may not have Byakugan, but he could read her like an open book, and he tended to read a lot more than she’d have liked.

A thin line drew itself unto the Uchiha’s forehead as his eyes crinkled with a sigh. “Sakura…this was all a mistake, wasn’t it?”

Drawing in a shaky breath, she could feel her arms shudder with goose bumps at his tone of voice. It was calm, collected. But he was angry. So angry, Sakura almost wished she had backed out. Almost. She was tougher than that, and would settle this matter with her boyfriend with care and attention. Even if it required taking a rocky detour.

“What are you talking about?” Honestly, she didn’t really know. It could’ve been practically anything as far as she was concerned.

She tried to keep her composure like Sasuke could, but…damn it all, she was a very emotional girl and it was hard! She was certain her worry was showing on her face, by then.

He stood a few paces away from her, then, staring at her, staring through her like he always seemed to do; but as a second blinks away, he’s suddenly arrived not even a few inches away from her with out even a trace of physical movement.

“Ah!” She looked down at the firm hand that was clamped around her small wrist, then up at Sasuke.

There was a look of hate there, and she knew she’d break down if this continued.

He leaned closer, so their noses were almost touching.

He sneered, his eyes smoldering in the fading darkness; his grip, so painfully tight, that wouldn’t wrench away from her.

“Him.”

Sakura continued staring up at his eyes, lost in them, wondering if they would suddenly swallow her into a bottomless abyss. There was a twang of pain in her wrist, and a nervous shiver that wracked her body. “Wha-!”

He suddenly forced her against the sides of the bridge, not taking much care in being gentle, his head so low it almost dipped beneath hers.

“It’s always been about him.”

She was truly lost. Something in the back of her mind wanted to say…

“Hasn’t it, Sakura-chan!” The suffix was added on with such spite, Sasuke scrunched up his face and it looked like he had swallowed something extremely bitter.

Sakura didn’t know what to say. She rarely had a hard time coming up with something, anything at all, to liven things up, but, this time…there was only one word that would brush past her pink lips. And it would be at her expense. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see the Uchiha’s reaction.

“….Naruto….!”

Soft lips delicately danced upon hers for a moment, and in that moment, she was painfully sad for a reason she couldn’t place.

There was a swift breeze that fluttered by, making her hair tumble about and out of place. It was oddly warm for that cool time of day. When she opened her eyes…

He was gone, with only a few leaves flickering in his place.

XxXxXxX

Tsunade stared down at the paper before her. Words were scrawled neatly in black, quickly summarizing the report with enough detail to satisfy the Hokage.

She sighed. “I could demote you to a jonin, if that’d be easier on you.”

Naruto stared at the wall, his eyes hollow for a moment as a splotch of red swept through his memory. The sound of his own voice was almost foreign in how weak it was. “I killed him.”

The Hokage furrowed her brows, un-clasping her hands and leaning back in her chair. “It was an accident, brat,” She used the ‘pet’ name, hoping to rile him up. “No one saw it coming; don’t get so down on yourself.”

Normally, she would’ve chewed him out, telling him that he should’ve tried harder and looked for weak spots like that. But she couldn’t. Because it really wasn’t his fault.

Naruto slowly raised his head from its hanging position so that his eyes met Tsunade’s.

The Sannin took this as a sign for her to continue. She smiled out of pure sympathy. “Naruto. Just do your best, okay?” But would his best be enough if he couldn’t mentally handle the rough job of the ANBU?

That spark came flooding back to his eyes, and his signature grin was pulling at his lips. He gave no response, but instead made a move towards the door.

Tsunade’s eyes calmed. She loved that brat too much for her own good. (2)

When Naruto opened the door with a small squeak, he turned around and gave a quick salute. “Ja ne, Tsunade-baa-chan!” (3)

“Gaki!” (4)

The two were smiling, even after the door was closed.

XxXxXxX

Naruto walked down the main street of Konoha that led to the gates. The grin that had formed while he was in the Hokage tower never left his face. Not even the wispy night air could tear it from his tanned face.

He had aborted the mission without a second’s thought after…well, after it happened. The accident.

After listening to Tsunade’s ‘words of wisdom’, he felt a bit better about himself. True, no one saw it coming, but did that really mean that it couldn’t have been stopped.

Shaking his head, and continued to make way for the gates, unaware of someone already walking the opposite way, and too lost in thought to care.

XxXxXxX

“Oh!”

Sakura took a step back when she walked straight into something hard. She could’ve sworn she had stayed on the main road, where there were no turns in the area. So, then…?

“Sakura-chan?”

She flinched. “Him.”

Her eyes were pulled to look up at the ‘wall’ she had walked into. “Naruto? I thought you were on a special ANBU mission?”

Naruto’s grin faltered for a split second. He couldn’t stay sad in thought when Sakura was around, anyway! She brightened up his previous mood considerably well, even if she had only walked into him.

He scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. “I figured that I couldn’t last that long without having some of Ichiraku’s special ramen dish, so I came back for a quick visit!”

Sakura stared at him for a moment. “How do you come back to the village for a visit if you’re on a mission, baka?”

Naruto looked thoughtful, but quickly turned the tables. He smiled and pointed at her teasingly. “What about you? Were you out here wishing you were on a walk with me?” ‘Or Sasuke’.

She was taken aback by the random question that was thrown at her, but managed a small smile and punched him lightly on the shoulder pad of his uniform. “Something like that.”

His eyes sparkled mischievously. “Something like that?” She knew he would make some perverted comment soon.

She glared with a heatless gaze. “Don’t ruin the moment with your damn disgusting commentary!”

Naruto’s grin only widened as he leaned closer with narrowed eyes. “Oh, we’re having a moment, now?”

She rolled her eyes and offhandedly threw her hand up as she grinned back. “No, we never have moments, didn’t you know? You always ruin them before they start, moron.”

Naruto was oh-so tempted to question where those moments would lead to if they kept going, but he did have a reason for trying to stop them in his own subtle ways. She was taken, and he had no right to hit on her so bluntly. Sasuke would have his head for sure.

It was funny, he thought, how easily they could slip into joking around and teasing each other. Unlike when Sasuke was around; the atmosphere was thick and heavy with old tension…

Nonetheless, his Kyubi whiskers thinned as his cheekbones relaxed into a lopsided smile. “Aren’t you surprised I never catch colds?” (5)

She batted his hand away when he playfully tried to grab hers and giggled. “You idiot.”

The problem with Sasuke was off her mind now, and she was content.

She was content in that small moment she could share with Naruto.

TBC…

XxXxXxX

(1) - Takehiko means…something along the lines of bamboo soldier.

(2) - I love to type fan fiction where there’s someone who has something like a sibling relationship with another. I always think of Tsunade like Naruto’s older sister; it’s hard to see her as a mom, what with all the fighting they do.

(3) - ‘Ja ne’ roughly translates to ‘see you later’, or simply ‘later!’. Tsunade-baa-chan is obviously Naruto’s nickname for Tsunade. If Tsunade’s name is left out, she would be called an ‘obaa-chan’. (an o is added without her name).

(4) - If you’re a ‘gaki’ you’re a brat.

(5) - There’s a saying in Japan that idiots always catch colds...or never catch colds. ..Something about idiots and colds. XD