Forgive Me, Naruto

A Cold Heart

Sasuke's POV (cont.)

Startled, we both quickly stand up right before Sakura finds us.

She stomps over and grabs our arms, dragging us back to the rest of the group. 

"Shikamaru told us to regroup after 2 hours! What were you two doing?" She asks while dragging us.

"Well-" Naruto begins.

"Whatever, let's just hurry! Shikamaru found a clue!" Sakura says.

When we arrive, Shikamaru looks at us and rolls his eyes.

"So I'm guessing you two didn't find anything," he says.

"Did you find something or not?" I ask, annoyed with his attitude.

He smirks and opens his hand, showing a purple hair clip.

Sakura widens her eyes.

"I-It's Hinata's," she says, picking it up.

Her eyes water as she holds the hair clip tightly.

"I don't mean to discourage you, but that could be anyone's hair clip," Sai says.

Sakura shakes her head, flipping it over to reveal Hinata's name engraved in Kanji.

"I'm the one who got it for her..." she says, looking at the ground.

Naruto puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"This is good news, isn't it?" Naruto says.

Shikamaru nods. "Yeah. That means we're on the right path."

Sai activates his Super Beast Scroll. A few hand drawn mice pop out, and sniff the hair clip.

Then they scatter across the land.

"Now that we have Hinata's hair clip, my drawings might be able to find other traces of Hinata's chakra," Sai says.

Shikamaru yawns. "On that note, let's find a place to rest for the night. I found an abandoned house that's still intact. Doesn't seem to have any hidden traps, and it's big enough to fit all of us. Let's head there," he says, lighting a new cigarette.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. That's gotta be his tenth cigarette of the day.

~

When we arrive, everyone sets their things down and immediately rests. While everyone is getting settled, I take the opportunity to go outside and be alone.

When I'm sure no one is around, I take out the envelope from the inside of my cloak.

I sigh, still contemplating whether I should give it to Naruto. We kissed and we obviously have feelings for each other, so why am I still confused?

"Love...it's a complicated thing isn't it?" A familiar voice says behind me.

I slowly turn around, finding myself face to face with Toneri.

He eyes the envelope, seeing Naruto's name written on the back.

"So I see you have a soft spot for the blonde boy, hm?" He says, chuckling.

I quickly stuff the envelope back inside my cloak. I pull out my lightning blade, pointing it at his neck.

"Where is Hinata?" I demand.

Not moving, he laughs and grabs my sword, absorbing my lightning chakra through it. Weakened, I drop the sword.

Toneri shakes his head. "You should be thanking me. I knew how dear that boy was to you from the moment I first visited you guys. If I hadn't missed his vital point, your dear friend would be dead by now," he says with a sinister smile.