This time I'll get him!

Not giving up

CHAPTER TWO

The sun was starting to rise and light the Hidden Village of Konoha, while Naruto sat by his dining table eating his second bowl of ramen, preparing his body for the day's ordeal. He had his backpack ready by the door and he was a very excited and worried, he couldn't wait to see his best friend, but was afraid of what it would be like to actually face him after that very hot dream. He got himself thinking if what he felt for the teme was more than what one should feel for a friend, truth is he already knew it was, but kept stubbornly rejecting the notion. He feared that once he saw the baka he wouldn't be able to deny all these to himself and it would be even harder to live without the freaking raven if he wasn't able to bring the bastard back.

"No, stop thinking like that. I'm getting him back this time!" – He screamed and fist pumped the air.

Arriving at the front gates of the village, Naruto saw his team mates Sakura and Sai. She was pacing around, her arms crossed on her chest as if she were cold, but actually she was anxious; she wanted to leave and find and bring back their friend already. The pale man had his fake smile face on, trying to remember what he had read on a book about comforting your friend, but couldn't, so he settle for just being there with a smile, giving her space to pace around.

Naruto got to his team with his arms crossed behind his head and a wide smile on his face.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan~, Sai!"

"Good morning, Naruto" – the rest of the team said, though Sakura's greeting went through clenched teeth.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?"

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?! I wanna leave already!!"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's anxiety problem.

"Sakura-chan, don't worry, we'll be out there in no time and will find the teme and bring him back, so just try to relax a bit" – at the final words the blonde had his "nice-guy pose" on, to witch Sakura stop her wondering around and gave him a worm smile, 'he's so good at calming people down and filling them with confidence...'

"Thanks, Naruto. I'll try"

"Hello, mina!"

"KAKASHI-SENSEI WHERE WERE YOU?! YOU'RE LATE!" – Sakura screamed at her teacher almost forgetting her friend's wise and worm words.

"Gomen, gomem, Sakura. I had to help an old lady with her shopping bags"

"Sensei, I can't believe you! There are no stores open yet!" – Kakashi ignored the fuming pink-haired girl with a shrug.

"Well, are you all ready to go?". "HAI!"

The team left, as the village began to rise with shops opening, people walking by the streets, greeting acquaintances and getting on with their day. As for the four shinobi, they were jumping through the forest, because Sakura did not want to waste time walking, none of the men had enough courage to go against her resolve, so there they all were.

It was night time already, they decided to set camp and leave at dawn again. They would probably reach the border at noon if they kept today's pace, of course they would've been there already if they had let Sakura set their pace, but Kakashi found the sensei in him and calmed her down. Now they all set around a fire waiting for the fish to cook, the tents and traps were set, so they just had to wait.

"Sakura-chan, are you feeling better?"

"Sure, I'm calmer now. I just want to get to him soon, it feels like he gets further way everyday he's not with us, and I'm starting to doubt that we'll be able to get him back, because he might just be too far gone.." – Naruto stood enraged, he couldn't believe her words. If Sai had said something like that he wouldn't even mind it, but Sakura?! 'It's like she's betraying us!'

"Sakura-chan, you must not talk like that ever again" – The always smiling teen said through clenched teeth in a cold deadly tone that scared his team mates, even Kakashi got a little spooked.

"Naruto.."

"No, don't "Naruto" me! You have loved and believed in him and now that we're close you're saying this? What the hell, Sakura?! You can't give up now, or ever for that matter! Is this your ninja way? 'Cuz is sure as hell ain't mine! I'm not giving up on that stupid bastard and neither should! you" – Naruto had already left his deadly tone and was now screaming his longs out and pointing a finger at his friend. He knew she wasn't fine, but didn't expect it to be because of this bullshit.

"Naruto, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm being week again, sorry, sorry..." – she kept mumbling those words as she started to cry, Naruto of course ran to her aid and held in a tight embrace.

"Sakura-chan, it's ok, I forgive you." He pushed her back bit and placed his hand on her watery cheeks. "Just promise me you won't give up, I'll always be here for you to remind you to keep strong, you're not alone, neither is the bastard or me, we have each other, don't forget that, 'kay?"

As she looked in those big blue eyes and heard those words, she felt so much love and warmth, she just kept sobbing, thinking that Naruto acted like a freaking guardian angel sometimes. She heard him finishing his speech and she nodded and said softly that she promised and thanked him when she went back to the tight embrace.

Kakashi and Sai just watched with wide eyes what had just happened, neither of them said anything or moved at all while the two friends went at it. Once they saw the hug, they sighed in relief. The little fight was scary, if the two ninjas got really upset and lost it serious damage would be caused by both of them, not mention the mission and the team itself would be compromised. Sure, the fight went on for two or three minutes, even though it felt like an hour of pure tension and anxiety, but the subject of it was the most important thing of both their lifes in the past years, the thing that they both had centered their own life around: Uchiha Sasuke. So that's why the pale shinobi were so wary, things could escalate in a second and turn horribly when the so called bastard and the duo were concerned.

After the long embrace, the two crazy ninjas went back to their prior sits to eat. Kakashi took a few minutes to make sure his voice wouldn't betray him when he spoke, since he had been really worried, and to let everything sink in and everybody to calm down. He started talking about what they were going to do the next day, urging his blonde student to not just glomp Sasuke if he saw him, to which Naruto's whiskered cheeks went super red, making him stand up and start shouting something so his team wouldn't think the same as Tsunade-sama had. After all the swearing and pointing, the blonde calmed down - so did his cheeks - and the team continued to discuss strategies to find Orochimaru's hideout and their missing baka.

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Sasuke was going back to his room after a long day of training: he had improved his chidori, his speed and strength. Wondering if there really was anything else he could possibly learn from the snake man, he walked into his bedroom, where his food awaited for him, just like every day. Orochimaru was planning on taking the Uchiha's body soon, and the teen knew that, which meant that there really wasn't much else to take from this sannin, therefore he would be able to take his leave soon. He would get out of this hellhole, kill his brother and, if he survived, build a cabin sort of near Konoha so he could keep seeing his dobe every once in a while in a dream.