Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi.
Note: This story takes place after Chapter 314 in the manga, so there might be some spoilers and OOC.
Rainfall
It had been an unexpectedly long day at work as she treated the handful of patients that were carried into the Konoha Hospital. Sakura sighed with relief as she cleaned her hands, grabbed her bag, and left the building. On her way out the door, she realized just how dark the night was. Funny, she was so absorbed in work that she had failed to notice the sky darkening and the rain pouring moments after. Sakura sighed at her luck, but was grateful that her mother had stuffed the umbrella into her bag before Sakura had left for work.
Sakura opened the red umbrella and began her walk home down the drenched streets of Konoha. She noticed that only a few people were actually out this late at night, though most of them seemed to be scrambling home. Sakura sighed a little; she had better get home soon or risk catching a cold. It was extremely cold tonight and the only thought running through her mind was a cup of hot cocoa next to the warm fire at home. Smiling slightly, Sakura picked up her pace and walked home as fast as she could.
She tugged her jacket closer to her to provide more warmth and suddenly wished she had brought a warmer jacket. She passed by Yamanaka's Flower Shop along her way and noticed that the lights were still on inside. Curious, Sakura entered the store to find Ino running around the room straightening out the new orders they had received before the heavy rainfall.
"Hey, Ino-pig," called out Sakura with a smile, resorting to using nicknames on her best friend.
Ino practically jumped out of her skin at the sudden greeting. She had been so pre-occupied with sorting out the new orders that she had let her guard down, which was a definite no-no for a kunoichi of three and a half years. Ino placed a hand over her racing heart and turned around to see the smiling face of her oldest friend. "Forehead girl… I didn't see you there," replied the other girl, returning the favor with the nickname.
Sakura smirked, "I can tell. I haven't been able to scare you for quite a while. Busy day I presume?"
Ino snorted. "Hardly, it's unusually cold today so nobody wants to leave home to buy flowers. The only thing that kept me busy for the past hour was this new shipment of flowers. The shipping company decided to give us all our orders today since it'll be raining for the next few days and they don't want to deliver when it rains."
Sakura shook her head disapprovingly, "Poor you. Say, where are your parents?"
"My dad's on a mission and my mom is sick," answered the blond as she placed the fresh carnations in the fridge. "So I'm stuck here until one of them comes around or until I get assigned a mission."
"That sucks," commented Sakura as she dropped her umbrella in the bucket in the corner. "Mind if I help?"
"Please!" Ino practically begged. "I want to finish this as soon as possible and go home and crawl into my nice warm bed."
"Tell me about it," chuckled the pink-haired girl as she scooped up various bundles of flowers and placing them in their rightful places. After about twenty minutes of running around the small store, both girls were finally finished with the task.
"Phew, thanks for the help, Sakura-chan," thanked Ino. Ever since the Chuunin Exam the two had began to rekindle their friendship almost to the point that the 'Sasuke' incident had never occurred.
"No problem. Well, I better get going," said Sakura as she reached to grab her umbrella.
"Don't you want to come up for some cocoa?" wondered the blond.
Sakura shook her head and stepped out the door with her opened umbrella. "Sorry, I can't. It's getting really late and my mom will begin to worry."
"All right, next time then."
The pink haired girl nodded her head and was off. It became slightly windier in the last twenty minutes, so Sakura tugged her jacket closer to her and tried to hurry home. After what felt like forever, Sakura was only a few streets away from home when she noticed someone out in the middle of the street. Due to the heavy rain, her visibility was reduced greatly. She squinted her eyes and tried to make out whom the person was. She briefly wondered why someone would be out in such a heavy rain without an umbrella, yet alone some warmer clothes. Sakura took a quick glance around and noted that the street was practically empty except for her and the stranger.
Sakura knew that the person was probably going to catch a fever, and if he stayed out any longer, he would catch pneumonia. She walked up to the person hoping to send him home. Upon closer inspection, Sakura discovered that the person had bright blond hair that was matted against his head from the rain. He was staring forlornly at the house gate he stood in front of and barely seemed to register how heavy the rainfall had become.
She was about to open her mouth when she realized that the only person who had hair that bright blond was Naruto… As she walked up beside him, she was shocked to see that it was indeed Naruto. He didn't move a muscle as she placed a hand on his drenched shoulder. It still amazed her how tall he had gotten in the past few years, but that was beside the point. She knew that Naruto needed medical attention even if he had the kyuubi.
"Naruto," she called out, shaking his shoulder.
He didn't flinch no matter how hard she shook him. Sakura furrowed her brows and decided that the only option she had left was to punch him in the arm, hard. At last, he turned to her, though the only signs of him having felt the punch were the slight furrow of his brows. Then confusion set in as he turned to her. "S-Sakura-chan?" he croaked out bewilderedly.
"Naruto, what are you doing out here? It's freezing! And look at you; you're drenched! I'd be amazed if you don't catch pneumonia," exclaimed the worried girl.
He only shrugged his shoulder slightly and returned his gaze to the house he had been staring at.
Sakura glanced at the building and shook her head in disappointment. What was so special about the Fukushima family? "Naruto, you should go home. You're going to catch a fever if you stay out here any longer."
He shook his head, but other than that, didn't move an inch.
"If you don't go home right now, I'm going to send you home myself," warned Sakura with a hand on her hip.
Again, no response.
The pink haired girl heaved a sigh, grabbed onto the back of the boy's shirt, and dragged him the direction she was headed. There was no way that she'd leave him alone. Chances were that he'd just stay there the whole night or until he collapsed. She didn't want either to happen to him. "Come on, Naruto."
Naruto struggled to get out of her hold, but she had a firm grip. Even with all his strength, there was probably no way he could break her death grip on him. "Sakura-chan, let go!" he whined, tugging on her hand.
She shook her head and kept her gaze fixed on the road. "Not a chance. If I leave you out there, you'd die even if you have the kyuubi."
He pouted at her response and once again tried to tug his shirt free from her grasp, but to no avail. Her grip was just too strong. "Leave me alone! I'd rather die out here than leave that house!"
She froze a little at his words, but continued walking nevertheless. "Look at you; you're not the Naruto I met three and a half years ago. The Naruto I know would never say something like that. The Naruto I know would never give up, even if the odds were against him. He'd stop at nothing until he reaches his goal and becomes Hokage." She tightened her grip on his shirt even more, if it was even possible. "I've seen you standing there for the past few weeks. All you did was stare at that house as if your life depended on it! What's so great about the Fukushimas anyway? You're rotting away just by standing there. I bet you haven't properly eaten or showered since then, have you?"
Sakura turned around to see his face but he had turned away from her, ashamed. "You've lost a lot of weight and you haven't trained in weeks either. What's wrong, Naruto? You know that you can tell me anything. I'm your best friend for crying out loud!"
"You won't understand," he answered so quietly that Sakura had to strain her ears to hear over the rain.
She scoffed. "Try me." When he didn't respond, she turned back to look at him. Sakura heaved a sigh and tried to soften her tone. She knew that she had been harsh on him, but with the way he had been acting recently, she didn't know how to deal with him. Before she could say anything else, she had reached her house and her mother had opened the doors to welcome her in.
"I'm home," called the teenage girl to her mother.
"Welcome home," replied her mother as she looked warily at the boy Sakura was holding onto by the back of his shirt.
"Mom, it's raining really hard and I found Naruto out in the streets with no umbrella. I was worried that he might catch a cold so I brought him over since our house is closer," explained Sakura as she pulled off her and Naruto's sandals and practically shoved the blond boy inside the house.
The older Haruno accepted he excuse though she was still wary around the boy.
"Sorry to intrude, Haruno-san. I'll just go back home by myself," said Naruto as he tried to leave, but was stopped by Sakura's hand shoving him back into the house. "Sakura-chan! What are you doing?" yelled Naruto irritably, in a low voice.
"Naruto, stay," ordered Sakura, as if he were a dog.
During the small exchange, Sakura's mother was debating to kick the boy out or let him stay. All the adults of the village knew who Naruto was, or more specially, what he contained.
"Yes, stay, Naruto," said the older Haruno in an authoritative voice, which surprised even herself. She was leaning more toward kicking the boy out, but found herself doing the exact opposite. She didn't want to seem a bit awkward at the boy's questioning look so she cleared her throat and said, "Naruto, go sit down by the fire. Sakura, go get him a towel to dry himself with. I'll be right back with some warm food."
Naruto wanted to protest but was cut short by the stern look Sakura's mother gave him. He immediately closed his mouth and headed toward the fireplace.
Sakura smiled slightly as she went to the cabinets to retrieve a couple of towels for Naruto. As she passed by him, she draped the towel over his head, much to his annoyance, and headed into the kitchen. She had expected her mother to explode at her the moment she entered the room, but to her surprise, she found her mother setting out two trays of food.
Just when Sakura thought she was home free, her mother reeled on her and asked in a low voice, "What were you thinking?"
Sakura blinked in surprise and opened her mouth to answer, but found no words escaping her mouth.
"Do you know who that kid is?" asked her mother as if Sakura was stupid.
Sakura furrowed her brows and answered confidently, "Uzumaki Naruto, one of my teammates."
The older Haruno sighed. "I know he's your teammate, but why didn't you ask for a team change like I asked you to?"
The pink haired girl looked at her mother suspiciously. "Is there a certain reason why you don't me to be on the same team as Naruto?"
"Of course! Don't you know that he's the-" Sakura's mother caught herself before she could say anymore. "Oh no, I almost broke the law and said it."
Sakura narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists by her sides. "That he's the container of the nine-tailed fox?" finished the teenager coldly.
The older Haruno gaped at her in surprise. "H-how?"
Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and replied icily, "I found out on one of our missions. Did you know how exactly I found out?" She didn't wait for her mother to reply, but continued anyway. "We were on a dangerous mission to rescue the Kazekage, who happens to be a demon container like Naruto. We risked our lives to rescue the Kazekage against power-hungry madmen who would kill the host just to possess the demon. That was when Kakashi-sensei told me about Naruto and how his life was in danger and how he not only left Konoha to train, but also to keep the madmen away from us. Do you know how courageous he was to do that after what he went through when he was young? Naruto had a hard life; he was looked down upon, neglected, and hated for being something he wasn't and the sad part was, he didn't even know why he was treated that way."
"Okay, so the boy had a hard life, but that doesn't change the fact that he's the kyuubi," returned Sakura's mother.
Sakura gawked at her mother. "The kyuubi? Mom, he's the container, not the kyuubi! If he the kyuubi, then we wouldn't be standing here right now. We'd be gone a long time ago. The kyuubi would've taken control of Naruto after he was sealed and would've killed us shortly after!" Sakura ran a hand frustratingly through her hair and took a deep breath to calm herself down. "The kyuubi wouldn't have risked his life to save mine and again to bring back Sasuke-kun," finished off Sakura in a whisper that didn't go unnoticed by her mother.
The older Haruno was shocked at the confession and the mention of the traitor. She knew that her daughter was not completely over the Uchiha and that it was a painful subject to bring up. She swept her daughter into a comforting hug and allowed the girl to cry into her shoulder.
"Mom, Naruto's such a good person that it just hurts me inside to know that he'd throw his life away just to make me happy. Sasuke-kun nearly killed him and I hated myself for not noticing how great a person Naruto was and how much I like him until I almost lost him… Sasuke-kun is so intent on revenge and power that he was willing to kill me, just so that I wouldn't stand in his way anymore. If it weren't for Yamato-taichou, I wouldn't even be alive right now…"
"Oh, honey…" She held onto her daughter a little tighter and whispered comforting words into Sakura's ear. She thought of the boy sitting in front of her fireplace and suddenly felt guilty for the way she had acted around him. After hearing Sakura's outburst about him, her views on the boy changed. Though she was still wary about him, she knew that he would not end up betraying the village or harm her daughter like Sasuke had done.
After a few minutes, the crying had subsided and Sakura removed herself from her mother's shoulder. She went to grab a few napkins to clean up her appearance.
The older Haruno smiled slightly, picked up one of the trays of food, and brought it into the living room. She placed the tray on the coffee table next the boy who was staring into the fireplace. She frowned when she noticed the towel Sakura had brought him was neatly folded and placed to his left.
Sakura walked into the room after a little while and looked much better than she had moments ago. She took a seat by Naruto and wrinkled her nose in displeasure at the folded towel next to the boy.
"Sakura, help him dry off while I get him some dry clothes," said the older Haruno softly before she walked away.
Sakura picked up the towel and placed it over the boy's head, rubbing his hair dry, while he tried to swat her hands away. "Stop it, Naruto. You're still soaked."
"Sakura-chan, just leave me alone. I can take care of myself," he whined.
She scoffed. "I highly doubt that with your behavior these past few weeks."
His only response was swatting her hands away from him once again.
It wasn't long before Sakura's mother returned with a small pile of Sakura's father's old clothes. "Naruto, go to the bathroom, take a shower, and change into these clothes."
"But, Haruno-san… I don't want to intrude and I will leave very soon so don't-" started Naruto.
"Non-sense. If what Sakura said was true, then you could've caught a cold or worse, a fever. Now, go to the bathroom. I'll prepare the couch for you to sleep on," said the older Haruno in a way that left no room for argument.
Naruto unwillingly trudged to the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Sakura ate her dinner while she waited for her blond teammate to emerge.
When Naruto stepped out of the bathroom, not only did he feel weird in someone else's clothes, but also in someone else's home. He ran a hand through his slightly damp hair and sat down next to Sakura who was staring into the fire.
"So, do you feel better?" asked Sakura as she took a sip of the hot cocoa in the mug she was holding.
Naruto grumbled, "A little, but I told you I was fine."
He was expecting her to yell at him again or yank on his ear, but all he received was a small sigh from the girl he had a crush on.
"Naruto, why must you refuse my help and push me away when I'm trying to reach out to you?" she asked, turning to stare into his eyes. Naruto turned away from her gaze and shifted his attention to the floor. "You're not alone, you know? I'm here if you need me and you know that you can tell me anything, no matter how bad it may be."
Naruto noticed the tray of food and used it as an excuse to not answer her question. "Is this for me?" She nodded. Naruto took the tray, placed it on his lap, and began to eat. Using the food as an excuse was working until he finished everything on the tray.
"Stop using the food as your excuse to ignore my question, Naruto. You used to tell me everything, but now… you just keep everything to yourself and bottle everything up." When he didn't reply, she closed her eyes and leaned back onto the leg of the sofa. "Feel free to tell me when you're ready."
An uncomfortable silence soon followed. It seemed like hours when it was actually minutes and Sakura was already at using up all her patience. Just when she was about to beat the information out of the boy, he spoke of his own accord.
"You know that day Kakashi was cleared for combat and brought us out for Yakiniku Q?" he started out.
All Sakura could do was nod her head, wondering what could've happened that day.
He gave a sour smile and continued, "Tsunade-baachan called me in. I thought she had a special mission for me and I was going to refuse it because I was training with Kakashi-sensei. It turned out that it wasn't a mission. She had finally obtained permission to release the records of my heritage to me. It was something I had been waiting for my whole life…" His voice cracked at the end of his sentence and it took all of Sakura's willpower to refrain from hugging him until he finished his confession.
"My father is Fukushima Hachigoro, the current head of the Fukushima clan and my mother was a woman called Igarashi Naoko. Funny thing was, he never knew I existed," he said with the same sour smile. Naruto turned to face Sakura with the saddest eyes she had ever seen him have and asked, "Did you know that I was also a bastard child?"
She couldn't stop her eyes from widening at his question, or stop herself from gasping.
He laughed bitterly and shook his head. "Neither did I. My father had an affair with one of the servants, who is actually my mother. My father found out that she was pregnant and paid her to leave him alone and get an abortion. My mother didn't want to get an abortion, so she gave birth to me and I was sent instantly to the orphanage. She didn't love me at all. I was the child of the man she came to despise with all her heart. She died a few years later because of an accident. As for me… well, you know what happened to me. I wanted to talk with my father, but didn't want to see me at all."
"So… that's why you kept going back to the Fukushima house… I… I'm sorry about your parents being horrible people, but that doesn't change who you are. You're still one of the most caring and greatest people to me, but I'm not sorry that I forced it out of you," admitted Sakura.
Naruto smiled a little and said, "Me too. Thanks for making me feel better, Sakura-chan. I don't know what I would've done if I kept it all to myself any longer. Maybe I would've rotten away in front of their house."
Sakura leaned over, hugged him, and placed a small kiss on the side of his head. "Then it's a good thing I dragged you back here. Don't forget, Naruto, that I'm here for you, so don't hesitate to come to me."
Naruto widened his smile and nodded his head.
Sakura returned the smile and gave him another hug before brining her hand up to his forehead. "Baka (Stupid) Naruto!" she yelled, which shocked him and killed the whole touching moment they were sharing.
He nearly jumped out of his own skin at the sound of her voice and placed a hand over his racing heart.
"I told you that you'd get a fever! Now get on the couch and rest! I'll get you some medicine and a cold wet cloth," reprimanded the pink haired girl and she whacked him upside the head for not listening to her.
This time, Naruto did not refuse Sakura's worry and care over him.
This was an idea that was bugging me for a while because almost every story that has Naruto finding out about his father, it's almost always the Yondaime. I wanted something different and well, this came out. After writing this, I was contemplating whether or not to enter it for the contest held at Heaven&Earth since it originally wasn't for it. So far, I still don't know if I should or not. If I get enough positive feedback, I might decide to enter it. Well, I hope you enjoyed this story.