The Sun and the Moon (BL)

Chapter 7

After the capture, the unconscious shinobi were brought in to be examined. Ino and Choji were sent urgently with Temari to aid Shikamaru in his mission to rescue Sai, before the two could find out any further details about the exploding humans. Sai was initially sent as an undercover to gather information about the shinobi who have betrayed deserted their country during the war. Sai went missing and Shikamaru was sent to save him. No one else, other than the ones involved, knew this information.

It was Sakura's job to examine the four shinobi, which lead her to discovered that her Genjutsu Reversal had no effect against the special type of chakra circulating in their bodies.

Kakashi consolidated Sakura. "Don't be depressed." He brought his hand down to pat her head. "Whoever did it, that's a Genjutsu unknown to us. It has to be the work of someone with extraordinary skill. So, it will require someone with exceptional Visual Jutsu powers." Naruto and Sakura perked up at the statement.

"Visual Jutsu?" Naruto asked. He looked Kakashi expectantly in the eyes, not blinking in case he missed something.

"Good observation!" Kakashi pointed at Sakura and laughed. Naruto obviously missed something.

"I-I didn't say anything!" Sakura exclaimed, a violent red blush blossomed all the way up from her neck to her cheeks and ears. He finally understood what the two meant. Naruto knew just how deep her love for Sasuke ran and it pained him to see it. He saw himself in her in a way that he would never admit to anyone. At least she could be open about her feelings, Naruto denied himself that right. After all, Sasuke was his best friend. The title mocked Naruto every time.

"Didn't say what?" Naruto teased. Before he knew it, Sakura's gloved fist made contact with his stomach.

"Don't ask!" He was fully aware that he shouldn't have teased her, but he couldn't help it. He laughed, clenching his stomach. The punch wasn't enough to bruise.

"We may not be able to see anything, but the one who possesses both the Sharingan and Rinnegan just might." He looked at Sakura, then at Naruto. "I'll call Sasuke back." He said as he thought about who he should push the task onto. No, assign.

"Sasuke's gonna come back!" Naruto couldn't stop his heart from pounding violently against his ribcage. He was happy, but looking at the relieved Sakura, he couldn't help but feel dejection and worry.

What if the one Sasuke wants to see the most is not him?

No, he shouldn't be thinking about this. No matter what happened, Sakura and Sasuke will always be his best friends. He wasn't willing to let his petty feelings get in the way of their friendship. He was going to support his friends with all he had.

***

Kakashi ordered Naruto to send a message through a messenger bird, calling for Sasuke to return to the Leaf and informing him about the exploding humans. Naruto did so, expecting a reply to arrive within a day, the usual amount of time it took. It didn't.

Two days and there was still no reply, the bird had not come back, either. If the bird couldn't find Sasuke it would have already come back, carrying the initial letter. It didn't. Was Sasuke in danger? Was the bird killed before it reached Sasuke? Before it came back with Sasuke's reply?

It was important for communication to be quick, especially in times of emergency. To help with this, each hidden village trained their own special bird to carry their messages, in a way that would be fast and reliable. A bird taking this long would usually be worrying, but Kakashi assured Naruto that it was nothing to worry about; Sasuke was probably a long-distance away.

All sorts of scenarios played through Naruto's head, on repeat. He knew that he was overthinking it, but his mind couldn't stop creating these almost nightmarish scenarios. Naruto was aware that Sasuke was strong, extremely strong, so he shouldn't be worried about his safety. What if it wasn't about Sasuke's safety that Naruto was worried about? Maybe what Naruto was really worried about is Sasuke leaving them, him, again?