Squad Seven: Reunited! A Naruto (Shippuden) Fanfiction

Chapter Two

Naruto's POV

"Naruto!" three of my four comrades said as they rushed to my side.
Sakura took in a deep breath, then started asking me questions.
"How are you feeling? Are you light-headed? Do you feel warm? Cold? Are you-"
"I'm fine, just a little hungry."
"Here," Sai said as he handed me some cooked fish, "took us a while to find, but we found some food."
"Thanks," I said as I tried to sit up, but felt too weak to and fell back down.
"Rest, Naruto, I'll feed you," Sakura told me.
I blushed a bit, but I couldn't help feeling so useless. I couldn't tell them that I just saw Sasuke cry, and that he ran off to who-knows-where, claiming he would come back. I hoped Sasuke wouldn't go too far off, that he would actually come back soon.
Sakura started feeding me, but to be honest, my appetite wasn't too strong.
"Hey, Naruto, where did Sasuke go?" Sakura asked me.
"Oh... He, uh, said he needed to go water a tree," I lied, then managed a weak smile.
Sakura blushed and hit me lightly on my arm.
"You could have just said he needed to go use the bathroom, dummy!" She said.
I would have laughed if I were happier, but I wasn't in such good spirits. My head was still pounding, and I felt like I could pass out if I wanted to. I focused so much on staying awake and eating that I didn't notice that Sakura was talking to me.
"Naruto, you okay? Naruto?"
"Uhh yeah, sorry."
She folded her arms across her chest and frowned down at me, and I could feel the eyes of Sai and Hinata watching me as well.
"You still have a pounding headache," she stated as she put her hands in front of me and used her healing jutsu. "There. You should start feeling its effects soon, I think."

Sakura's POV

I was worried about Naruto, and in addition, Sasuke. Did something happen to Sasuke? It was already late, and he hadn't returned. Everyone else was already under the covers. Naruto's breathing went back to normal, but he still had a fever, so I put a wet piece of cloth on his head again. I knew from before that Naruto also worried about Sasuke, so I had made a decision. I was going to search for Sasuke.
Sneaking out of the tent, I searched through the forest.
"Sasuke?"
No answer.
"Sasuke, it's me, Sakura!" I called out again, looking around and walking again.
I walked and walked for minutes until I found him.
"Sasuke!" I yelled, walking over to him. He was on the ground, passed out. He seemed fine, so maybe he just fell asleep or something.
I carried him on my back and blushed. Compared to me, he was so big. I could even feel his muscles on my back as I carried him.
I walked back to our tent and brought him to one of the blankets, tucking him in.
"Sakura?" Naruto asked, then weakly pushed himself up. "Is that Sasuke?"
"You idiot, lay back down!!" I yelled at him. He flinched, either from my yelling or because he was in pain. "In your condition you shouldn't even be talking. Just rest and you'll heal faster."
"Is Sasuke okay?" Naruto asked, completely ignoring me.
I sighed. There wasn't any point in hiding it from him, since he'd eventually find out.
"Sasuke just passed out from exhaustion. He's going to be fine, since he's resting. But nevermind him, worry about yourself for once. You need to rest more than anyone else."
"I'm fine. Did something happen with Sasuke while I was out?" Naruto asked.
"Nothing happened. Now lay down before I push you down," I ordered.
Naruto obeyed, then laid down. I sighed in relief.
After tucking Sasuke in, I laid down beside Hinata. I waited a few minutes, until Naruto slept. After ten minutes, I just got tired of waiting.
"Hey Hinata?" I whispered quietly. "Are you up?"
"H-How did you know, Sakura?" Hinata whispered back, then turned around so that she was looking at me.
"Clever guess," I lied. "Well anyway, I wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, with all this stuff happening all at once and everything."
"Well honestly, Sakura, I've been really worried about Naruto," Hinata admitted.
"Yeah, I know he'll be fine," I assured her. "Naruto is tough. Plus, with the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of him, he's sure to heal soon."
"Well... I've also been worried about the... Nine-Tailed Fox," Hinata admitted.
"Why? He hasn't shown anything that's worth getting concerned about regarding the fox," I admitted.
"I'm just worried that in his condition the fox might take advantage of it and try to take over or something," Hinata explained.
"As of I'd let that fox take over me," Naruto suddenly added through gritted teeth, "not for as long as I'm alive."
"N-Naruto!"
I sat up and clenched my fists. "You idiot, when girls are talking to each other a boy shouldn't be listening in!"
"I couldn't help but hear my name," Naruto admitted. I wasn't able to see his face, or his expression, but I had a feeling he was a bit upset. We were just talking about about a sour subject, the Nine-Tailed Fox. "And besides, the thought of that fox trying to take over me makes me want to gag. There's no way I'd let that fox take over me, not that easily."
"Naruto, this isn't like fighting Orochimaru or protecting some snotty princess," I said, "This is about a demon inside of you trying to escape being trapped in your body. One that almost wiped out our entire village like it was nothing. To top that off, the Fourth Hokage, the most powerful shinobi of our village, was killed by the same fox. Not to sound mean or anything, but you don't stand a chance against it. Not even our whole village combined could wipe out this thing. So don't start getting all cocky."
He gave me an annoyed look, and I saw him sit up on the blanket and clench his fists even tighter.
"Oh yeah? Well watch me!"
"Lay, Naruto!" I scream-whispered. In return, I received a dirty look.
"N-Naruto, please. It's too dangerous, Sakura is right. Even with your amazing abilities and techniques, you don't stand a chance. It's just too tough," Hinata said silently.
Naruto, though still annoyed, looked down. Quickly though, his gaze landed on Sasuke.
"I'm not so sure Sasuke even knows about the Nine-Tailed Fox," he admitted, "so can we just keep it a secret for now? Just so he doesn't get worried or anything."
We both nodded, and Naruto laid back down silently, facing the tent on the opposite of me.
"And there's no way I'm going to let that thing take over," Naruto started, "I'm not just going to give up and let that fox take over. Not while I'm alive or dead. If I die, the fox dies with me. If I'm hurt, the fox will get hurt too. That's how it is. I may not stand a chance, but I'm not just going to give up. Never in a million years."
I wanted to fight back, and I'm sure Hinata wanted to too, but I knew it was useless. That idiot is never going to give into any type of weakness, and we all knew that. Naruto laid back down again.
"Naruto, " I started after a few minutes passed since he said all of that," I get what you're feeling. But if that fox somehow manages to take control over you getting sick, it's going to be bad. Try to avoid using a lot of chakra for the next few days, okay?"
There was silence, so I figured he ignored me.
"Naruto! Don't ignore me!" I sat up so that I could see his face and then closed my mouth. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was even, so I don't think he was faking it.
Shortly after that, Hinata fell asleep.
I couldn't sleep since I was so worried.
It seemed like a few hours passed, and Naruto started to show signs of life. I figured he was starting to wake up, so I let him move around. Soon Naruto turned towards me, looking a bit sleepy.
"Still awake, Sakura?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes.
I nodded.
"You alright, Naruto? It's not like you to wake up in the middle of the night."
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Don't you worry about me," he replied as he scratched his head and smiled, but it was obvious he was lying.
He turned his attention to Sasuke again. I did the same.
"It's Sasuke, isn't it?"
"Yeah, something like that," he admitted.
I shot him a look of confusion, but kept quiet.
"I'll be fine, trust me," he assured me. At that rate, I didn't know if he was talking about whatever was bothering him regarding Sasuke or his own health. So I just nodded my head.
I saw a slight movement coming from Sai, so I peered over. Sai scratched his exposed stomach in his sleep. Who knew that even his pajamas consisted of a crop top? I couldn't help but chuckle. Naruto smiled, but even his smile didn't seem too high up in spirits like it usually was.
"Sakura?" Naruto said again.
"Yeah?"
"You know I trust you and all, right?"
I nodded. Where was he going with this?
"Alright then. Thing that has to do with Sasuke... That's not important right now. You should just forget I ever mentioned anything."
I gave him a look of confusion.
"What are you talking about? Aren't we all worried about Sasuke? Not to mention you."
"Well yeah, but I've been thinking about stupid stuff from the past," he answered coolly, "And like I said, it's not important. Just stupid old drama and stuff. Really, I don't know why I'm so worried."
I folded my arms and faced the other way.
Just what was up with Naruto? What exactly happened between him and Sasuke? Was it bad? Why did Sasuke leave when Naruto woke up?
"Try to keep it down, you two," A low sleepy voice said from next to Naruto. "I can't sleep like this."
I slowly sat up and looked for the person with that hot, sexy voice. Of course, as usual, it was Sasuke. Just taking a look at the way his hair was messily scattered across his face made me almost drool. Why was he so perfect?
"You jerk, when people are talking it's not nice to listen in," Naruto informed him, then slowly sat up.
"Naruto, stay down!" I ordered him, but he continued to disobey me. I sighed.
"Well it's kinda hard to not listen in when it's about me," Sasuke admitted. "And if you're worried about what happened earlier, Naruto, don't be. I'm fine."
"Wait... What happened earlier?" I asked, puzzled and thriving to know the answer.
"Who ever said I was worried about that?" Naruto asked, sounding more embarrassed than rude.
"I'm just putting it out there," Sasuke admitted, "since I know that it's like you to worry about pathetic stuff and not yourself."
"Oh yeah?" Naruto said, moving closer to Sasuke, "You think that I just worry because it's fun?"
"Kind of, actually."
Naruto clenched his fists. Sasuke just smirked.
"Don't worry about me, Naruto, and start worrying about yourself," he told Naruto, "And listen to me when I say that, idiot."
"Maybe now would be a good time to sleep, guys. We have a long day ahead of us," I interrupted.
"You're right, Sakura," Sasuke agreed as he rolled on his side, "Goodnight."
With that, the two fell asleep. I couldn't sleep right away, but after a while, I finally fell asleep.
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