Chapter 6

Pulling weeds & Bad Memories

Part 1 of 2

By: AeLi'S LaNd Of DrEaMs

Disclaimer: I Do not own Naruto. He belongs to his rightful owner.

Author Note: Hey! Sorry its a few days late, but I made this chapter longer as a treat since I was slow and didn't update on time. I hope you enjoy! : ) Thank you everyone who followed/fav/alerted this story! Also thank you to the silent readers as well! Every little bit counts. Also thank you for few reviews I got as well! I loved them. Sorry about Sakura in the last chapter! I hope this makes up for it. : ) Happy Readings!

Sasuke and Kakashi watched Naru run off and needless to say they were speechless. They couldn't believe Sakura went that far as away to hurt Their favorite blonde.

Sasuke fuming, went up to Sakura, looked her straight in the face. He then raised his hand and watched as it came down and connected with Sakura's right cheek.

Bewildered Sakura looked at Sasuke with tears in her eyes and whimpered out,

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke has only been this furious once before in his life and that was when his elder brother, Itachi murdered their entire clan. But now he couldn't believe Sakura's atrocious behavior.

"You know absolutely nothing Sakura! So don't talk like you know everything! God you're so pathetic that it's sickening. You don't even deserve to be a ninja and get it thru your thick skull I will never like you."

Once he was done yelling at Sakura, Sasuke then turned to a dumbfounded Kakashi,

"You, Sensei were supposed to step in before it could get like this! Yet you stood their like a moron. I couldn't do anything besides say a few words, but you could have sent Sakura off or made her do something else as punishment for starting all this in the first place, but instead you let it go too far and now Naru is hiding in her secret spot and won't be back till dark. Good Job Sensei."

Then Sasuke walked off after ranting leaving a crying Sakura and a furious Kakashi.

After Sasuke left, Kakashi looked at Sakura through narrow eyes and barked out,

"You're going to the Hokage's office now."

Sakura stopped crying and looked ready to protest, but the look Kakashi gave her made her not even try.

Now they were walking to the tower, but Kakashi looked over his shoulder every so often in the direction Naru had run toward. The masked man knew that the blonde could take care of herself, but he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Naru had run out of the gates at the front of the village. She didn't even stop when the guards at the gates had yelled her name telling her to stop. She kept going with tears streaming down her sun kissed face. Kyu and Minato her father, who is also the former Hokage, were silent.

Kyu closed his eyes and sighed with sadness. The big mighty beast could feel his kits pain and sadness deep in his very soul. He longed to comfort her and soothe the girl's pain, but the fox knew he couldn't for he was still locked behind bars. Tho it didn't stop him from trying to soothe her with his own calm emotions.

He and the Hokage watched as she ran and ran until there was a clearing where she started slowing down.

Reaching her destination, Naru stopped and looked around. It still looked the same, with a couple of Cherry Blossom trees blooming next to the river with a few branches hanging over the river that flowed steadily looking clear as day. There were some big rocks in the middle to act a stepping stones to reach the other side. Not only were there trees, but bushes as well that grew in the area to made it more secluded.

The girl looked over at the river watching the calm waters as they flowed downstream. It soothed her some, but she was still upset with Sakura. Using the heel of her palm, she wiped away the stray tears escaping her ocean blue eyes.

The blue eyed girl smiled sadly at the cherry tree she is now looking at. This place held so many memories of her being a carefree child, of Itachi and Shisui. Naru came this area all the time to escape the prying eyes of the villagers and whispers. That's how she found it the first time, but she wasn't the only one who knew about this area since she first met a 10 year old Itachi Uchiha here. Then on they were friends and kept the area a secret expect sharing it with Shisui later down the line.

Naru walked over to one of the blooming trees. She let a sigh escape her lips because she couldn't make head or tails of her swarm of emotions. Honestly despite what Sakura did. Naru still wanted to be the girl's friend and help her grow as a ninja.

The blonde sighed once again. This time a few tears escaped and slid down her face. She turned her face toward the sky and whispered,

"What should I do?''

Naru had honestly thought the looks and whispers were getting better at one point, but now that she's out of the academy and graduated, they had started back up 10 times worse than before.

The few tears that had previously escaped turned into a trail of tears down her whiskered cheeks. She felt so broken, incomplete, unwanted and many more things.

The reasons she wants to become Hokage are to prove, she's not a demon, not a monster, but an ordinary person looking for her place in the world and to belong in it as well. She didn't ask for this treatment but she bares it and strives to overcome the village's fear of "her."

The Kyuubi container started at the cherry blossoms with envy and longing to be like them. They just rustle in the wind without a care in the world and not being judged by others.

"What should I do now?" Naru asked not expecting petals to talk back, but a familiar voice rang out clear as day.

"You should go back with your head held high showing the villagers that you're strong and their words don't affect you."

Naru spun around coming faced to face with her childhood friend and crush Itachi Uchiha. She doesn't know when her feelings for him turned into a crush, but at some point they did and she isn't going to complain.

"Ita..chi?" sputtered Naru.

The voice now dubbed as Itachi looked at Naru with a sad smile as he saw the dried tear streaks on her cheeks. He knew he wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the village, but he had heard thru rumors of neighboring nations and villages that Konoha has new genin. So he had to see if Naru and Sasuke had passed. Tho he knew they would, so mainly it was just an excuse to maybe see her.

Naru was the first to break the silence.

"What are you doing here?!" Naru asked incredulously.

"I happened to be in the area." Itachi said with a shrug.

Naru knew she should tell him to leave, but instead she ran to him and buried her face in his cloak. She missed him so much, it has been over 5 years since she last saw him. The blonde knew what he's "dubbed' as, tho honestly she knows he's innocent, she can't prove it not yet at least, but she knew there had to be another reason, because he wouldn't hurt her and he spared Sasuke.

The raven haired guy was a bit taken, but nevertheless accepted the hug from his favorite blonde girl.

"I've missed you" murmured Naru.

"I've missed you as well Naru" Itachi replied.

Itachi waited a few minutes before saying anything else.

"Why have you been crying?" asked Itachi.

The girl still hugging Itachi looked up stunned.

"You know you can't keep anything from me."

The whiskered faced girl sighed and reluctantly stepped out of the embrace.

"I've been crying because it's been a rough day. Long story short, the whispering is back and twice as bad as before. Then I have a female teammate who hates me and is obsessed with Sasuke." She explained.

Itachi moved his back and forward just liked he has done so many times before in the past.

Naru moved forward even tho it would result in a poke to her forehead her headband rested wrapped around her head.

Just as she predicted, Itachi poked her, but she didn't expect him to squat down to her height.

"I see, that must be hard…." Itachi paused and continued.

"Be strong, don't listen to the talks of others. Show them that despite it hurting you, you can still continue being true to yourself and others. You don't always need to put a brave front on for the sake of others, just show them the girl who loves animals and has a green thumb when it comes it gardening. Be who you want to be and don't let others define who you are. If you want to protect the village you love then do it with pride. The only opinions that should matter are your own and people who love you for you. If they do then try to smile and wave saying 'Have a nice day' "

Everyone in Naru's mind scape is in awe of Itachi, even Naru herself is in awe.

Itachi isn't much of a speech giver, but when he gave one it came straight from the heart. He may not know what happened between her and her other teammate, but he can tell that everything he said helped her cheer up.

Her once dull, depressing eyes, brightened and shined with happiness as she watched Itachi rise to his full height of 5'9"

"Thank you Itachi for cheering me up."

"You're welcome." The raven haired ninja said as he reached out to ruffle the young girl's hair.

She pouted and fixed her hair, then turned her attention back to the older teen in front of her.

"Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but Itachi what are you doing here? I don't want you to get caught."

"Worry not Naru, I shall go now." With that Itachi turned to leave.

"Wait! Can I see you again? Or can I at least write you?" Naru asked.

Itachi turned to look at her and thought for a moment then turned facing forward to continue walking.

"You may leave a letter in you special tree and I may or may not get them. But you really shouldn't trust me as easily as you do now. I'm a wanted criminal and I could hurt you at anytime."

Before Naru could retort, the elder Uchiha scattered into a flock of blonde genin huffed in her mind as a sign she wanted to talk to the two beings that were strangely absent when Itachi appeared.

'Start talking, both of you' Naru said in her mind.

Minato chuckled nervously, instantly regretting not telling her of Itachi's presence. Tho it was her own fault for not being aware of her surroundings.

Kyu spoke first not caring about the fuming blonde.

'You should have sensed him. Plus the Uchiha has a fair point.'

Minato knew that wasn't going to go over well with his daughter, but surprisingly Naru didn't react at all which threw both inmates in her mind for a loop.

She sighed know that Kyu had a point and she is also aware that her dad would reiterate the same thing. But that didn't stop her from shouting into the open air as if Itachi was there,

"I trust you wholeheartedly! Maybe I'm foolish for trusting you, but my heart says you wouldn't do anything without reason and cause! I also know you would do nothing to hurt me! I also may be an idiot for doing this, but one day I'll figure out the truth and then you can come home again!."

Once Naru had gotten that off her chest, she headed back to the village content knowing Itachi heard her. How she knew, well she wasn't sure herself, but let's call it a gut feeling.

Somewhere in the village a bubblegum haired girl walked with her head down looking at the ground with a depressing aura around her.

Flash back to 30 minutes before.

Kakashi, barged into the office startling the Third Hokage without a even a thought of knocking to alert the Third.

"Kakashi, what is the meaning of this?" Hiruzen asked.

He stepped to the side and pointed behind him at Sakura.

"She needs to be punished." Kakashi half stated and half demanded.

The Hokage tilted his head to the side in utter confusion with a perplexed expression.

"Have you gone mad Kakashi? She's just a child and why would I need to punish her when I have no reason too."

"Sakura and Naru fought. Sakura went to far and mentioned offhandedly about Naru's torment 7 years ago. I have no idea how she knew, but it sent Naru running off. " The Jounin explained.

After hearing that Sarutobi immediately understood.

"Is this true Sakura?" The third Hokage asked.

Sakura nodded her head cautiously not knowing what to expect.

Hiruzen sighed and then spoke,

"Sakura how did you hear about such event?"

"A Villager told me. It was a male adult. He said that I should mention that to Naru. I didn't know what it meant, but I figured it meant something to Naru and it wouldn't hurt to find out what it did."

The third Hokage hummed in response as he contemplated how to answer her. Approximately 2 minutes passed when he had an answer,

"I see, so you really don't know. Very well Sakura , I'll leave that part to Naru if she wants to tell you everything. As for your punishment find Naru and apologize. After that it's up to Naru if she wants to punish you."

Once the Hokage had given his verdict, Kakashi looked ready to say something, but Sarutobi raised his hand to silence the silver haired jounin. Sarutobi then turned his attention back to Naru.

"The one thing I ask and want you to do is never listen to what the Villagers say about Naru. Next would be never speak of anything you're not supposed too. Are we clear young lady?" Sarutobi asked.

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

"Good, now you both may go." Hiruzen said kindly.

Sakura didn't waste a second to leave. As soon as she exited the building with Kakashi in tow, Sakura immediately became depressed because she knew Naru hated her and would make her life a living hell. Which leads right into present time.

Pink hair clouding her vision, Sakura continued to walk until she bumped into someone. Upon contact Sakura's head snapped up and saw long blonde hair and ocean blue eyes invading her vision.

Seeing emerald eyes and pink hair, Naru instantly knew it was Sakura.

"Sakura." The blonde said dully.

Sakura looked at Naru like a deer caught in a light. She wasn't sure how to start the apology or even if Naru would accept it. Sakura looked at Naru like that for a full minute before the blonde girl in front of her turned to leave.

"Naru wait!" Sakura yelled coming to her senses.

The blue eyed girl stopped in her tracks and turned to look back at the other girl with the pink hair.

Seeing that she had the blondes attention, Sakura continued;

"I'm sorry Naru. I truly am. I overstepped and said something beyond hurtful that I didn't know anything about and I shouldn't have. So I'm truly and honestly sorry. If you want to make my life a living hell then I'll understand."

Naru thought about not forgiving Sakura, but she didn't have the heart for that and that just wasn't in her nature not to forgive other for what they did or said about herself.

"I forgive you Sakura. As punishment I want to become friends instead of hating you all the time, what do you say?" The whiskered face girl asked at the end.

Sakura contemplated for a second, but gave the blonde girl a small smile and said,

"Yea, I would like that."

Naru smiled brightly and that was the start of a new beautiful friendship in the making between the two.

Author Note: Well What did you think? a new bond was formed! I enjoyed the ending because I felt that it just was something that was needed in order to make team 7 close with each other. Tho Kakashi was a bit of a jerk in this, but that's only because he doesn't know how to control his emotions when it concerns Naru or her well being.

Anyways tell me what you think! : ) flames (Unless you want to be a total jerk then no) or constructed criticism is welcome. Tells me what I need to improve on.

Please leave a review!

You don't have to leave one, but it would help so I know how bad or good the chapter was.

Thank you for reading!

See you next time!

~ Aeli =^_^=