Finding Sakura
By: Crystal Avatar
Story Summary and Plot Synopsis:
One Nin had managed to shake an entire village the night he decided to leave and embrace a twisted journey towards power. That boy's name was Uchiha Sasuke.
Rescue operations were conducted and search parties were sent out, but Sasuke was never found. A young nin named Uzumaki Naruto had sworn to his childhood friend that he would bring him back, but ultimately, Naruto would return home to his childhood love with nothing but a broken promise and a broken heart.
Years later, the town has somewhat recovered from Uchiha Sasuke's defection. Life is normal in Konoha, until the day the message was discovered.
It was a horrible message that revealed that a certain young woman had been taken from them and that Uzumaki Naruto would be forced to enter an epic search to find her.
It was the same young girl from his past- the one he had broken his promise too.
His childhood love, Haruno Sakura, had been kidnapped.
Legal Disclaimer:
The Naruto Universe belongs to Kishimoto Masahi. All relevant names and ideas belong to that man, whether he is living or dead during the time of this work's creation. I have great respect for the manga-ka and his works and have no intention of defacing or otherwise perverting his works. This story is written for entertainment purposes only.
Canon Disclaimer:
Warning: I may tend to digress a little with regards to the Akatsuki and their motives. If you're not an avid reader of the Naruto manga, then I'm sure you won't pick up on this anyway.
Part One: The Discovery
Chapter One: Awaken, Young ANBU Agent
"You will never find me…" A voice echoed through his mind.
"Sasuke… I'll get you, Sasuke…" His own voice echoed back.
It was a long, dark hallway, bathed in an eerie, orange light.
Suddenly, the tall, dark-haired boy was standing in front of him, blocking the path onward. Naruto outstretched his hands to grab at the traitor and tackled him to the floor.
"I have you!" He called, wrestling him to the ground.
"No- I have you!" The other roared back, only it was no longer Sasuke, but a huge, orange fox with eyes burning with evil. It glared down at him with evil intent, it's hungry fire leaping at his tiny, weak body, searing his arms with awful intent.
"No! Please! No!" The boy screamed back.
"I have you, Uzumaki Naruto!" The monster roared, consuming its prey in an unforgiving fire.
The nightmare had ended as soon as it had started. It was the same one he had been having ever since his rival had left the village. The dream had been becoming more frequent of late. Something was missing this time, though. At the part where he had always seen the woman of his desires crying at his failure to capture him, Sakura was, at this time, nowhere to be seen.
Had he woken up too soon? But, if so, what had awoken him?
"Uzumaki Naruto? Naruto?" A voice called from outside the wall.
Then he realized that there was an awful knocking noise at the door that wouldn't leave him alone. As if the heavy, banging noise wasn't enough, a gruff voice also had to call and yell for his name too. His mind quickly raced back through all that he had done the day before.
"Uzumaki! Are you in there?"
His memories were a drunken haze. A painful headache swelled in his head like a red coal. He looked around his plain bedroom for some visual cue but found nothing except empty beer bottles and instant ramen packets. Had he committed some drunken mischief or unwittingly gotten on the bad side of a higher-ranking officer? There was no way to know- except too…
"Answer the door, you lazy piece of…"
"I'm coming, damn it, wait up," Naruto growled back.
He picked himself up off the bed and smoothed his hair back behind his head. He paused to consider whether he should put some pants on, but thought he had left the man waiting for long enough. If he were to bear a nine o'clock wake up visit, he decided, the guest would have to bear the sight of his boxers. It was a fair trade as far as he was concerned.
He reached up to the doorknob and twisted its handle. The door swung open with the same, annoying screeching noise metal made against metal. It drilled into his brain.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked the small, stocky man in front of him.
He was a peculiar-looking man: short and bald, but with a thick frame. He was dressed in plain white robes, which indicated that he was either a priest or one of the Hokage's attendants. He knew it was the latter when he saw the rolled scroll in his hands.
It took some time for him to register the naked boy in front of him, but he quickly began talking as businesslike as he could muster.
"My name is Takahashi Rei. The Hokage has sent me to summon you to her office," He replied neatly, readjusting his composure and padding his sweaty forehead.
"What does the snail-woman want with me now?" Naruto asked, genuinely interested. Although he had been particularly close with her at one stage, he hadn't had a chance to see or hear from her since his training started. In truth, they had both been too busy to meet.
"The Hokage says that an urgent matter has surfaced and that you are needed immediately. The rest of the details are classified. You will know more when you follow me," Rei replied, unfurling his letter and handing it to the bewildered young man in front of him.
Naruto opened the parchment and read what it said:
By Order Of The Fifth Hokage of Konoha,
ANBU Sergeant Uzumaki Naruto, who currently resides in 9 West Street, Market District, Konoha, is summoned to the Office of The Hokage of Konoha for a matter of utmost urgency and immediacy. Failure to comply may lead to a police arrest or higher penalties.
Sergeant Uzumaki is released of his current, formal duties and assignments pertaining to his role as an ANBU operative for until the Hokage has deemed, effective immediately.
Signed: Tsunade, Fifth Hokage.
"Shit. Well, I guess we shouldn't keep that old hag waiting," Naruto said dryly, rolling the letter in his hands and passing it back to the messenger in a most ungraceful way.
"Please. Follow me," The attendant replied.
Meanwhile, in the war theaters inside the Hokage's Quarters, several Jounin and ANBU commanders were busily rushing about, preparing for a surprise briefing for the operatives they had awoken and invited to their party. Uzumaki Naruto was one of these operatives.
Well aware of the commotion outside their private office, Tsunade, Fifth Hokage of Konoha and a village-renowned Jounin were busily discussing what had happened that morning.
"It says that it has to be him. Look: it even names him: 'Uzumaki'," The tall, blonde woman remarked with a scorning disbelief. "The least we could do is take a look at him and decide then if we should go with him or…"
The man looked at the clean, white piece of paper in her hands. He was beyond feeling the loss and anxiety of the discovery. Now, he was focused and concentrated.
"I've seen him, ma'am," He replied coldly. "I can understand you thinking that he's going to be anything like how when you first met him but, with all due respect, I train with him every week and he's… he's in a bad way. I strongly suggest you choose another to lead - for his safety… and hers, Hokage-sama."
"For goodness sakes, Kakashi, can you be any more without hope for this boy? What has happened to him since? Has he forgotten his skills? Has his power left him? Can we train him back to some condition that'll make him fit for this operation? That damn fox inside him should give him something to run with, right?" She asked tearfully, not knowing if it was her desperation or her concern for her missing pupil that was staining her Hokage façade.
Hatake Kakashi, once the proud leader of the now-disbanded Team Kakashi, stroke the stubble on his chin, trying to place words from his mind into his mouth. All of them were bad and pessimistic, but he knew that in the end, the final decision rested on his master.
"He's still Uzumaki. There's nothing wrong with his strength or his power… it's just that… well, he's been through bouts of depression ever since the day Sasuke left the village. And the fact that his time with Haruno Sakura was cut down so that she could stay here and train with you didn't really help him. In the end, he's nothing but a tough shell. He's got the power, but not the spirit to use it. He's just not in the right mindset for something like this…"
"Are you accusing of me of 'stealing' Sakura from Naruto?" Tsunade asked sharply.
Relations between the two had deteriorated since Kakashi was forced to declare his team disbanded. The pair seldom saw each other anymore and Kakashi always preferred to pass his messages to the Hokage through Jiraiya, given the former's unexplainable temper tantrums.
Still, Kakashi knew it'd be wise to watch his step… and his tongue.
"No… it's just that… well, Naruto has had a tough time. We'll both take a look at him and then afterwards, you can tell me what you think about him…" And that was Kakashi's way of asking her to change the subject.
"I want you to know something, Kakashi…" Tsunade murmured, changing her tone and quieting down her voice as if she were afraid that the ninja outside would hear her.
"Yes, Hokage?"
"Haruno Sakura is like a daughter to me. I've been training her for close to five years now so… her and I… we go back a long way. I also know that she's powerful enough to do more than just take care of her self now… I don't know who or what has taken her away from me but all I know is that the intentions here can't be good. I love that girl and I just want her back."
The Hokage placed the sheet on the desk and pulled the small band that was holding her long, luscious hair together in a ponytail and began playing with it on her desktop. She was disheartened… and nervous and trying to fake a relaxed manner in her tall desk chair.
"I know and I understand what you are saying, ma'am, I really do. I have a strong gut feeling that says your feelings aren't much different from Naruto's. I just hope that those feelings are enough to make him realize the seriousness of this situation and that he snaps out of his alcohol and focuses on the operation," Kakashi sighed, placing his arms on the table in front of her and leaning into them.
"I'm sure he'll be ready. I know he hasn't seen her for a long time and I'm sorry to have to charge him like this to see her again, but I'm sure that stubborn willpower of his is still alive."
Suddenly, the racket outside climbed to a fever pitch, until an ANBU commander yelled something over the P.A. system in the briefing theaters.
"Operatives, take your seats and quiet please- the briefing is about to begin. We were waiting on one operative, but he's finally arrived, so now, we can begin. I know that all of you had to wake up awful early this morning, but we have an emergency situation and…" The loudspeaker announced, echoing across the walls of the theater outside.
The pair inside the private office had been silently listening when Rei, Tsunade's attendant, the one he had sent to fetch Naruto from the market district, returned, out of breath and with sweat on his forehead. Tsunade knew that he was one of those types that sweated too much.
"Hokage-sama, all of the operatives you have summoned have arrived here. They're all waiting outside and are currently being briefed. Will you come outside to talk to them?" The attendant asked, still holding Naruto's summoning notice in his hands.
"Is Uzumaki Naruto present?" Kakashi asked the man without turning his back to face him in the doorway. He kept his one good eye locked on Tsunade's own.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," He replied quickly.
Kakashi sighed, "Good luck, Hokage-sama, and may your judgment be true. I know we'll have Sakura back with us soon. Just don't lose your nerve out there."
Tsunade picked up the ransom letter and got up, stopped briefly at the door and sighed, saying:
"Well, for now, I guess both of those things depend on Naruto."