"Ah...ite ite ite! That hurts, Sakura-chan. Let me go, I will heal instantly anyway!" Naruto screamed.

Sakura replied, "Aye aye... Sure, why not?" She slapped Naruto hard on his back.

"Ack!"

"It's been two days already! If you could heal fast, you should have been perfect by now." Sakura's hands moved customarily over Naruto's body as she tried to heal him. "You may be a hero, Naruto, but you are still a human. Humans are mortal."

Naruto sighed as he did not have any words to reply with. She was right; he could have died. He was acting all proud when everyone was busy congratulating him, but somewhere deep down he knew... he knew that if no one would have helped, he would have died.

He had defeated Pein– somehow. He remembered up until Hinata tried to defend him but everything she said was a blur. He could only watch as she got hurt again and again. Everything after that, he still didn't remember.

Come to think of it, I should have thanked her.

Naruto's eyes sank in sadness, and Sakura seemed to sense it.

"Horra!" She patted him on the shoulders, making him jump.

"What? You're already done?" The blonde asked, shifting his gaze from his feet towards Sakura.

"Mou...I'm so tired of treating you every day. Why don't you just heal already?" She whined.

Although it wasn't at all like her to complain about healing anyone, especially if it concerned her best friend, she needed a change of mood; lighten it up a bit.

Naruto looked around himself as Sakura made herself comfortable beside him. The log wasn't much of a good seat, but they weren't in a place to complain.

"It... It's totally wrecked." He mumbled, "If only I was a bit early."

"I know, but it will be alright." The pinkette said and waved at the little boys carrying around wood and playing. "Look how everyone's working so hard; a hero shouldn't be dispirited at a time so crucial!"

Hero? What did it actually mean to be a Hero? He thought.

A minute of silence passed. Sakura kept watching the sun set down as slowly as possible. The lively village they had, was even livelier than before. Tons and tons of logs were piled up from place to place. Children were dancing and playing around them, adults chatting and working. No one had a look of sadness on their faces.

"Naruto nii-chan!" Konohamaru voiced out to him, running frantically in his direction.

Naruto shifted his gaze and looked at a small figure waving at him with a grin on his face. "Oh, it's just Konohamaru..." he mumbled.

"Tch." Konohamaru skidded to a stop and then suddenly leaped at Naruto, "What the hell do you mean by just Konohamaru!"

"Ack!" The blonde shouted in pain, "That hurt, you li'l shit!"

"Who's little huh-- you orange dipshit!"

"Korrrraaaaa!"

And the next thing they knew, Sakura was standing atop of them, with them having bumps on their heads.

"Next time," she gritted her teeth, "you don't forget that there's a girl among you."

"S-so-Sorry." Both the boys exclaimed in unison, tears flowing like a river.

Sakura's precipitous change of attitude always dazed them. How she did it or what kept going in her mind was a mystery.

"So, why were you looking for Naruto anyway?" she asked out of the blue, anger collapsing in one fell swoop.

"Ah, right!" The black-haired teen clapped his hand, "There is someone who wants to meet you."

Naruto sighed. He was tired of meeting people he didn't even know about. "Look, Konoh--- Hey, hey!" The boy dragged him from his shirt and didn't let him finish.

"No ifs and buts!" He ordered.

"Oi! Oi! I can walk on my own, and at least let me say bye to Sakura." Naruto yelled, forced himself free, and faced Sakura.

"Thank you for always treating me, Sakura-chan," he scratched his head in embarrassment, "I don't know how to thank you enough."

"Don't worry... go and enjoy with Konohamaru now. You have done enough." She smiled and turned around to leave. "Oh right! I forgot to tell you, I have called one of my friends from Suna to help me treat you as well... Jaa-ne!"

A friend from the sand village? Ah well.

♠

The little walk with Konohamaru made Naruto feel a bit better. Konohamaru kept debating about how Pein was wrong, that love didn't bring hate. He also told Naruto how he fought one of the Peins and won. There wasn't even an ounce of melancholy in his words, which made Naruto wonder what he was missing. It was as if a part of his memories was sealed. Something he knew but subconsciously was putting it aside; not giving it importance. Why? What was he so scared about?

"So, who is it this time?" Naruto asked, resting his head on his hands.

"You will be shocked." The other guy grinned.

"Huh? Really?" Naruto got confused and at the same time inquisitive. Who can it be?

Slowly walking past all the people, he saw Hinata smiling and talking to one of the other Hyūga. His eyes met hers, and a pang of guilt welled up in him. She greeted him with a nod, cheeks turning to a rosy blush before Naruto looked away.

Konohamaru noticed this and exclaimed, "Shouldn't you thank her?"

"I should, but something is not right." Naruto murmured, "I feel like I am forgetting something."

"Then...," the teen stretched his words before continuing, "Are you going to wait to thank her?"

"I guess I will."

♠

Konohamaru made Naruto wait in front of a makeshift ramen shop and ran off to find someone. In the meantime, Naruto didn't know what to do, so he replayed in his mind what his father told him. A far greater enemy? I am not strong enough.

The aroma of ramen was starting to remind him that he hadn't eaten since the morning. He was about to ask the shopkeeper to make him a bowl when a hand grabbed his shoulder, and an old man with a brown beard greeted him. He wore old-fashioned round-rimmed spectacles and sported a muffler around his neck.

A head shot out from behind the old man, and a boy of Konohamaru's age greeted him with a beam. His head was covered with a white hat as his eyes gleamed. "Naruto-nii."

"Inari?" Naruto exclaimed. "Is that really you and old man Tazuna?"

"We came to help." Inari replied with a coy attitude. "After all, you helped us too."

Konohamaru gave a thumbs up from afar and ran away. Naruto was speechless and didn't know what to say. For no reason, tears were threatening to surface anytime. He rubbed his eyes and grinned back at them, "Nice to see you, d'ttebayo!"

"Let's have some ramen, shall we?" Tazuna said, and Naruto nodded.

"Three Miso Ramen, please!"

♠

"I think everything is alright here." A red-haired guy with a white mask reported.

A team of three, bearing the crest of Konoha, patrolled the grounds outside of Konoha. Even if Pein had been defeated, it was a crucial time for them. With Konoha being so weakened, it was the best time for other countries to attack them. It was already a disadvantage that there was no one positioned as Hokage at that time.

"Bear, I think it's okay to fall back for now."

"Just one quick round won't be a problem, will it?" the other person replied and paced up.

The first person sighed and followed. I don't think we should be this worried---

"Halt." The team leader ordered.

"What happened, Midori?" The black-haired girl quizzed.

"Bear! You can't say my real name on missions." The blonde exclaimed.

"Mannn... you have changed a lot since you came to this village." Bear rolled her eyes. "You have grown to be commanding."

"So what? Is it not good?" The blonde struck back and continued, "Anyway, I think there is someone else here."

"What do you mean? I can't sense anyone!" she whispered. "What about you, can you sense anything, Ken?"

Midori glared at her, piercing her eyes.

"H-Hound. Do you sense anything, Hound?" Bear repeated.

The red-haired boy nodded and kept quiet. He took the lead, and no one objected. After all, it was Ken, no one doubted him. They ventured fairly deep into the forest when Ken motioned for them to stop and come beside him.

All three of them hid under the shadows of the trees, concealing their chakra. They waited as the black silhouette slowly turned and became fully visible.

White shirt, a familiar katana, and the black hair... there was no doubt. The person was inspecting a scroll of some sort. His whole focus was on that scroll– which bore the seal of Konoha.

Sasuke? Midori glanced at Ken and saw his eyes getting bigger.

"What should we do?" The black-haired girl questioned with her eyes.

"We ought to get back and report it." No words were spoken.

The blonde tapped Ken and readied to leave. The team of three quickly escaped, and when they were sure that they were out of reach, they finally spoke.

"Who the hell are we going to report to?" Bear bellowed.

The blonde removed her mask and took a deep breath, "We don't have a Hokage yet, but there is someone who has the right to know..."

The other two also removed their masks and nodded.

"It's Naruto, isn't it?"

"Yes, Aoi," Midori replied. "Ken, Aoi... let's head back."

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘    

A/N

Hello Kawaiis! 

I want you to know that the characters in the last part– Midori, Ken and Aoi were OCs of MadameAndiSenpai . She was a very good friend of mine on Wattpad, but sadly, she passed away a few years ago. I wanted to keep these three here as I had originally written this to surprise her.  

Andi, you are missed. Jamie, you are also missed. 

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Don't forget to Comment, Vote and Share!

Cheers
~Aeon