Ashes (A Naruto Fanfic Book 6)

Chapter 11

We were almost through when Sakura spoke up.  "Itachi... Kunoichi said Minato asked you a question about her, and I would like to know your answer and why."

He looked at me then her.  "I'll do my best."

She cleared her throat.  "You were asked, if you had to choose between her staying here and being free, what would your choice be."

He arched a brow at me.  "You heard that?"

I shrugged.  "I hear a lot of things..."

Minato drank some water.  "This would be quite similar to the Sasuke situation, correct?"  She nodded, and even Naruto was listening intently.  "Then I may be able to shed some light as well."

He looked at Itachi to answer, and he sat back.  "I wanted her to be where she was happy... which would be not here..."

She frowned.  "Why?"

He looked at me and took my hand under the table.  "Because she'd hate me if I forced her to stay... that would be much worse than the alternative."

Naruto was frowning as well.  "Even though there was no telling when she would come back, if ever?"

He looked at him and sighed.  "Honestly, if not for you and Sasuke... I would have gone with her, but we both had promises to keep so, when you graduated, I did just that."

Sakura sighed, and Minato nodded.  "Chihiro and Kunoichi at the time had surpassed the teaching that this village could offer her... or what she took interest in."

They both faced him.  "So..."

He smiled softly.  "Sasuke's much the same, even you left the village, Naruto. To take on training that was out of the norm.  Sakura, your current sensei is the Hokage, so you didn't need to go."

Naruto frowned.  "But Orochimaru is a snake and..."

"I have no love for Orochimaru and would happily end his life if the opportunity presented itself. However, if you're getting at that he's a criminal... I have been trained by many people... good and bad.  In the pursuit of knowledge or power, that matters little."  He looked at me and lowered his gaze.

I sat back.  "My position is different than that of Sasuke's in many ways, but at the core is the same.  If I was forced to stay in this village, I could assure you there would be no village to stay in. And though I could never bring myself to hate either Minato or Itachi, they would've never seen me again when I finished destroying it."

They looked at me in dismay as I met their eyes.  "So I'm asking you to truly consider what you're saying when you say that you will force him to come back.  Even if you succeed and he's far less violent than I am on my best days, so the village may survive.  First, could you withstand the hate.  Second, will you continue to force him back when he leaves again."

They both looked at the table.  "So, we just stop fighting for him."

I shook my head and looked around the table.  "The people you see here never stopped fighting for me, every chance they got, but at the end of the day, the choice was mine.  I chose to leave and I chose to come back."

Naruto balled up his fists.  "Okay, then I'll keep fighting."

Sakura nodded.  "Even if he doesn't choose to come back... I will, too."

I nodded.  "Then the choice is his... when he's ready... he'll come home and he'll be grateful for it."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.  "I asked you before... what it was like the first time you left."