The Book of Nariko Hayashi | Naruto OC

Illuminate Sasuke Uchiha

This segment takes place in Episode 201 of Naruto Shippuden, where they declared Danzo as the Sixth Hokage.

In Konoha, all of Naruto's comrades were gathered together. Nariko sat on the bench, watching Ino cry over the boy she always had feelings for since their academy days.

The blonde had her face buried in her hands as she trembled while sobbing.

Choji couldn't bear to see his teammate so upset.. it was hard to watch, not just for him, but for everyone. He gently placed a hand on her back, making an attempt to comfort her. "Ino..."

Aiko awkwardly shifted, but smiled gently and patted Ino on the back. "It's okay, Ino! Nothing bad will happen to him."

Ino couldn't even look at her friends. She was crying to hard and uncontrollably to accept any comfort from them.

That was when Kiba couldn't take it anymore. All the crying, the comforting.. nothing could be helped at the moment. "Stop crying, Ino!"

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" TenTen shouted at Kiba as she patted Ino on the back gently. "You know how Ino felt about Sasuke all these years..."

"Yeah well it can't be helped!" Kiba shouted back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Things are different now than they were before."

"That doesn't give you the right to yell at her for it, Kiba.." Aiko spoke. "Do you have any idea what's going on in her head? After hearing what you guys are planning to do? Can you at least be a little sympathetic?"

The Inuzuka huffed angrily, looking away. Great. His own crush was talking some sense into him about something he believed would be right for the better. Akamaru barked defensively.

"You know.." Kurai suddenly spoke quietly. "There isn't necessarily a right way to say it."

"Exactly", Nariko finally spoke up, all eyes on her now. "I can't believe any of you said it in the first place."

Kiba eyes narrowed at the brown skinned girl. "Oh, so you care about Sasuke too?"

She was silent. Of course she did. Sasuke had been her friend ever since childhood. She truly believed that he would eventually come back to his senses. Eventually.

"And what if I do?"

"Look. We aren't kids anymore, and it's about time we stopped acting like we are. Sasuke is a threat to this village. He's our enemy." Kiba leaned close to her face, giving her a glare. "You might as well be a traitor, Nariko."

Nariko glared back at him, flipping her hair to reveal her left eye. She spoke in her deadpanned voice. "Yeah.. but you know what? You're just dying to be the one who takes him down. You think you can take him down all by yourself."

Kiba was taken back by her words. "I didn't- I didn't say that."

"Are you guys sure about this?" Shino asked. "If Ino's acting this way.. just imagine Naruto and Sakura."

"Then let's let Shikamaru handle it", Neji said. "He always knows the right thing to say."

"Our decision may not be right, but it'll save a lot of lives", everyone looked at the Onizawa male. "Sasuke is off the rails, and we're the ones who need to stop him. It may hurt, but as shinobi, it's our job to protect everyone else.. even if we have to hurt the people we love."

That was actually the smartest thing Kurai has ever said. Despite everything not taking him seriously before, they took him seriously now. It was no laughing matter. He was actually proud of himself.

"Just like Neji said", Kurai continued. "We need to let Shikamaru handle this one. He knows what to say."

"And there's that first mission when he was assigned to be a platoon leader that failed", Neji reminded everyone of the Sasuke Retrieval Mission, the mission where everyone almost died, the mission where Shino and Kurai still felt salty about not being apart of it. "For which he still feels somewhat responsible... that's why he volunteered to be the persuader."