Approaching Sun

Chapter 12: Be Bold

Sasuke squinted when the morning light flickered into view above the tree line, illuminating his face and warming it instantly. Summer was definitely on its way now that May was just around the corner. It made nights spent in the forest like last night bearable.

This morning made the twelfth day that Sasuke was in Konoha. To Sasuke, that was twelve days that he had not been searching for any signs of the Otsusuki clan. Last night, when he had seen the moon peek through the clouds, Sasuke's stomach had twisted. As he watched Sakura admire it, he couldn't help but despise it for what it reminded him of. Every day and every second that Sasuke wasted in this village, he felt like he was putting the village at risk.

According to Chino, when the White Zetsu army had passed under the Valley of Hell–the remote canyon located in the Land of Hot Water where Chino's clan had one resided–she had been able to indirectly read their minds, coming up with her own idea of the human bombs after having witnessed this. After Sasuke had defeated her, Chino had told him something else that had frightened Sasuke. The White Zetsu army had been expecting a threat greater than the Allied Shinobi Forces. This almost confirmed Sasuke's theory, the theory that perhaps Kaguya had created the White Zetsu Army to fight a force more powerful than herself. Sasuke was convinced that more of her kind was out there and they would be coming here.

This is the information that he desperately needed to tell Naruto. Sasuke had to put Naruto on his guard without affecting the peace that currently existed between shinobi nations. And here Sasuke was, waiting rather impatiently on the ninja who could rival Sasuke's strength. Only together could they hope to defeat this threat.

Perhaps if Sakura knew about all of this, she would be able to understand why Sasuke had to leave immediately. Sasuke had listened as she had confessed her love for him again last night. He had denied her... again.

Sasuke was convinced that if he pushed and pushed and pushed Sakura away from him, she would eventually move on. He would force her to believe that there was nothing between them, spare her an eternity of disappointment, and do so by not returning any of her feelings. Did Sasuke even have any feelings for her? He most certainly couldn't deny that he did; she was the only woman that he could possibly have any feelings for. What was the difference between caring for someone and loving someone? Sasuke wasn't sure. All he knew was that it was difficult to walk away last night; it was hard to resist crossing that threshold and spending one more night in a safe place with someone he cared for; it required the better half of him to tell her that she needed to stop waiting for him and find some other man to love. Did this mean that he did love her?

Sasuke held his head in his hand, a headache forming in his temples from the rough night's sleep. He silently cursed Naruto for taking his sweet time to return. Sasuke definitely wouldn't have slipped this far if Naruto had been here when he arrived. Sasuke needed him to return so he could do what he knew was the right thing. A family of his own was something that Sasuke had dreamed for at one point in his life, and before he had left the village, he had admitted to himself that he cared deeply for his pink-haired teammate. Now, despite all that he had been through, Sasuke had taken on his brother's legacy, a purpose that was more important than any dreams of a happy life filled with friends and possibly love. His friends deserved that dream, and Sasuke had to protect that future.

It was with this train of thought, that Sasuke jumped down from the tree that he had been sleeping in and made his way towards a small stream nearby. When Sasuke arrived, he speared one of the many fish teeming about the water's edge. Then, Sasuke summoned his hawk and watched as the bird flew into the air, spiraling and diving back down to land on its master's arm. Sasuke reached out and offered the small fish to the winged fowl who gulped it down appreciatively. Sasuke reached into his hip pouch and pulled out a small note that he had composed last night, securing it to the hawk. Jumping back into the air, the bird flew off into the sunlight.