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The Orange Flash: Lost Chapters	By : Breath_of_the_Wiz Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 120666 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 16
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, if I did, it wouldn't suck so hard. Also, I am not the owner of the fandom, nor am I doing this for any monetary gain or profit. Enjoy.

Chapter List
- 22
- 23
- 24
Naruto was confused to say the least; here he was, with the rookie eleven (plus Hanabi, minus Shino…) in its entirety, on a night that was supposed to be between himself and Hinata. They were all sitting around "Kaya", Chouji's grill. He'd turned the burner to max power so that they could at least have some chance at drying off.
The reason they were all soaking wet, save for Neji, was due primarily to an uprooted Oak tree, and a pink haired medic, who was still apologizing profusely to the group. Sakura, still adjusting to her recently obtained strength, had forgotten that there was a tree attached to her ankle when she instinctively rushed over to "save" Naruto.
Sakura stopped running when she realized Naruto was fine, but inertia is a cruel mistress. The large tree continued sliding along the grass and swatted the entire group into the lake, ruining their clothing... Well, not all of them. The boys who had gone spelunking in the catacombs beneath the village were rather thankful for the unexpected bath, seeing as they were covered in grime when they surfaced.
Several drenched ninja later, Naruto grinned and examined his current situation with intrigue.
Hanabi was shivering as she clung to his right arm, with Hinata doing the same on his left. Naruto never really felt the cold after Ero-Sannin loosened his seal, apparently his average body temperature hovered around 105 Fahrenheit (40 Celsius for those who follow the metric system), essentially turning him into a walking space heater.
It had been nearly five minutes of silence before Naruto spoke.
"Is anyone gonna say anything? I finally see all of you in one place and it's dead quiet!"
Kiba, in a dog-like manner, shook some water off of his head and looked in Naruto's direction. "Oi Naruto, I never did get into the specifics with you concernin' yer trip. You got to see the world with one of the Sannin, any crazy stories?"
Sakura looked at Kiba in surprise and turned her attention to Naruto, they talked about his trip when he'd brought her home that one night, but in retrospect, he was vague in his answers and continually tricked her into talking about herself instead.
Naruto thought back, he couldn't tell them about the year-long battle for control of his body, so he opted for his most memorable escapade with his master.
Naruto chuckled and gave them the set up for his most memorable encounter.
"See, about six months into the trip, me and Ero-Sannin-"
Kiba piped in. "The Hell's 'Ero-Sannin'?"
Naruto rolled his eyes and continued. "… I call him that 'cause he's a pervert dog-boy, now lemme finish… Anyway, we were passing through Demon Country when he decided to start training me in my elemental affinity. Mine's wind, so of course, things got a little chaotic. I accidentally blew myself up with one of my attacks and got launched about a hundred meters. You'd never guess where I landed either."
Shikamaru scooted closer to Kaya and propped his elbows on his knees, trying to catch more of the heat. "In the arms of a beautiful woman?"
Naruto paused and stared at his friend. "Wha- How did y-?"
Shikamaru shrugged. "Women tend to gravitate toward you…" Shikamaru thought about Anko's sudden change in demeanor when Naruto was around, and then looked at Hanabi. "regardless of age apparently."
Ino nodded and wearily stared at the young Hyuga. "Yes… very much so."
Naruto rolled his eyes and continued on. "I completely wrecked a passing norimono. Crashed right through the side and landed in some girl's cleavage! She totally freaked and kicked me in the head! I would've been in some serious trouble if Ero-Sannin wasn't there, apparently she was really important or something… Can't quite remember her name, but she was just horrible to be around, stereotypical princess doesn't do her justice. I straight up told her I'd be perfectly content if we never met again, and then, she said the last thing I'd expect."
Naruto scratched his head. "According to her, "unfortunately, our fates are intertwined from this point onward, I dread seeing you again", then she slapped me in the face and rode of on one of her servant's backs! … Very easily the weirdest day of my life… topped only by tonight."
Shikamaru smirked. "With your luck, you're guaranteed to cross paths with her again at some point."
Naruto shuddered. "I hope n-... uh, Hanabi-chan?"
Naruto hadn't noticed until just then, but Hanabi had wrapped Naruto's arm around herself and was now clinging to his torso.
She spoke in her usual dead pan. "The wind is unusually strong for a summer night... Your abnormally high body temperature will prevent my contraction of any ilness."
Hinata peered across Naruto's torso. "Hanabi-chan, I can take you home if you wish."
Neji raised his head and spoke. "That will not be necessary Hinata-sama, I shall escort Hanabi-sama home if need be."
The little girl shook her head. "I wish to stay with Uzumaki-san, I must protect him from all of you." She looked around the circle at all of the girls, even her sister.
Neji grabbed the bridge of his nose. "Right, right, your claim…"
Kiba opened his mouth once more, tactless as ever. "So what, you robbin' cradles now Naruto?"
Hanabi glared at Kiba. "Inuzuka-san, I may only be nine years of age at the moment, but I am currently training for the next chuunin exams. I am by no means, a child, regardless of your preconceptions."
Kiba raised his eyebrow at the little girl. "I take it back… Naruto, make sure she doesn't trick you into marrying her or something, she seems kinda shifty."
Hanabi squirmed closer to Naruto, who eyed the young girl suspiciously.
'Hm, he's right. She probably has something else up her sleeve too; 'specially since she's already suckered me into this ice cream date thing.'
'Wow, you're actually thinking ahead… Would you consider making a habit of it?'
'I thought you were asleep.'
'I was, until your incessant screaming woke me up… Soooo… when are you going to corrupt the little female? She's proven quite useful lately... and she is looking to be rewarded for her efforts.'
'We've already been over this, stop being an ass. I'll just follow through with the ice-cream or something instead like we agreed.'
'I seriously can't even comprehend what the issue is here. The fuck's wrong with it?'
'You don't function on our "foolish human conventions", remember? You wouldn't understand.'
'No, really. She's just going to be mated with one of you vermin eventually, why does the timing matter?'
'Just go back to sleep, you're being weird.'
'"Weird" is subjective to perspective.'
'Shut up.'
Naruto shook himself from his mental exchange and looked to Kiba. "Ah, I'm sure she'll grow out of it."
Hanabi looked up at Naruto. "I am aware that you don't really believe the words you are saying."
Naruto sighed and the group began to chuckle at the little girl's antics. Sakura jealously eyed the little girl, but then her attention turned to Lee, who was once again knocked out by the tree.
The resident medic crawled over to the green clad ninja and snapped over his face, to no avail. She peeled open his eyes and took a look at his pupils, but overall, nothing was out of order.
"He's looks okay, but… I should still test him for a concussion when he wakes up. Chouji-san? Can you prop him up on…" Sakura sighed and pointed to the oak tree's trunk sticking out of the lake.
Chouji, still soaking wet shivered and nodded. "Yeah, sure." He walked over and placed Lee down, cringing at the multitude of knots on his head, mainly due to the fact that he was partially the cause of many of said bruises and bumps.
Sakura's eyes went back to her teammate and she absentmindedly stared at him, becoming oblivious to her surroundings.
'I have to talk to him… but this isn't something I can just blurt out in front of everyone.'
Her thoughts were interrupted by Naruto's voice. "Ne, Sakura-chan? Why're you looking at me like that?"
Sakura lied. "... I was trying to find you all night, and when I finally figure out where you are, you happen to be on a date… sorry for messing everything up."
'SHANNARO! Just say it so we can fuck'im!'
'Quiet you.'
Hinata spoke up on Naruto's behalf. "There's no need to worry Sakura. I was actually half expecting the night to end in disaster, this is a much more pleasant outcome than I originally anticipated."
Sakura exhaled in relief and returned to thinking about how she would have her talk with Naruto, she couldn't visit him at his house because Mitsuki was there, and she didn't need to know about all this.
Ino gave Sakura a knowing look and poked her in the side of the head, the blonde teased Sakura. "Now's as good a time as any Forehead…"
Sakura looked at her friend and rolled her eyes, poking Ino back. "Oh shut it." Sakura looked back to the group and addressed everyone.
"I'm going to take Lee to the hospital and then head home. If anyone is injured in some way, you'd best come with me." Sakura walked over to Lee and slung him over her shoulder, immediately walking off toward her destination.
Everyone except Hanabi, Hinata, Neji … and Chouji, went with Sakura to get checked out, this left them staring at each other. Chouji looked around and turned Kaya's burner off.
"Sorry guys, I gotta go get Kaya repaired, you all have a nice night." Chouji gingerly picked up the grill and walked off in the opposite direction that Sakura and the rest of the group went.
Neji took this as his cue. "Hanabi-sama, please, allow me to escort you home." The girl stared back at her cousin and shook her head, she looked up and Naruto and pouted.
Naruto's eyes bounced between Neji and Hanabi, he paused and thought for a few seconds, he was cut off by Hinata.
"Hanabi-chan. Naruto seems a bit tired, perhaps we should let him rest for the night?"
Hanabi reluctantly let go of Naruto and picked up her bag of miscellaneous items, she stared back at him as she was ushered away by her big sister and cousin, a tiny smirk on her face.
Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 'She just eliminated all of her competition for the night…'
'Rather pragmatic if you ask me.'
'Yeah? ... Well no one did.'
Naruto looked around, slightly bewildered and decided to head home for the night.
As he walked toward the path beneath the Cherry Blossoms, he noticed a disembodied foot in a fir tree. Naruto grinned and walked up the trunk, he recognized the distinctive ninja-sandals the second he saw them.
Sitting there, half asleep and smirking at him was Mitsuki, she'd been keeping an eye on him all night.
Mitsuki yawned and stretched. "I see your date went well Namikaze-sama."
Naruto grinned. "So you were looking out for me too?"
She picked some bristle leaves out of her clothes and nodded. "Yes… but it's not me you should be thanking. That little Hyuga girl's really taken a shine to you, did you remember to thank her?"
Naruto gave his bodyguard a thumbs-up. "Of course! I always pay my debts!"
Mitsuki laughed and cracked her neck. "Good, good. I'm glad this night didn't go to waste, you're a handful, you know that right? I'm liable to pass out from lack of sleep one of these days."
Naruto deftly snatched Mitsuki up into his arms and walked down the tree. "Consider this thanks for all that you've done for me Mitsuki-chan."
As they walked beneath the trail of Cherry Blossoms, they looked at the petals in silence. Everything was perfectly illuminated by the paper lanterns and framed by the starry night sky. Mitsuki broke the silence with a pinch to Naruto's cheek and a joking tone of voice.
"Your date… it went well. I guess this means you can do things to me without my permission now."
Naruto nearly tripped as Mitsuki's little tutoring session came back to him. Naruto turned a shade of pink and chuckled. "Heheh. What'd you have in mind?"
Mitsuki closed her eyes. "I'll show you when I'm not feeling so drained… you really are… a handful." She slowly drifted off to sleep as Naruto walked through the front gate of the Uzumaki estate. Naruto got a few intrigued looks from his staff as he walked through the front door that morning; they likely found it interesting that the head of the house and his staffer were arriving home together at such a late hour of the night. They paid it no mind however, as Naruto's butlers and maids were all ninja. They'd all likely seen much stranger things in their lifetimes anyway.
Naruto took Mitsuki up to her room and placed her on her bed, before he left the room, something caught his eye. It was a picture of herself, Kakashi-sensei, a familiar looking woman with purple hair, and several other ninja he didn't recognize. It was likely a picture of Kakashi's ANBU team before his retirement from that line of work, Naruto made a mental note to ask Mitsuki how exactly she ended up serving him.
Naruto flipped the light switch and wend down to his own room. He took a short shower and changed into a pair of orange shorts and a sleeveless black shirt. Plopping himself down on the bed, he grabbed his remote and retracted the T.V. from the floor.
This was a common occurrence for Naruto over the years. He'd go to sleep watching T.V. in hopes that his dreams would be about whatever he was watching, as opposed to dreams of Haku.
The past few days had been a whirlwind of emotion for Naruto, and for a short time he'd managed to forget about her, but his dream that night caused some old wounds to reopen… if one could even call it a dream. No… it was more in line with a memory.
The Great Naruto Bridge 3 years prior
Naruto stared down at Haku's lifeless body, her blood pooled beneath her. Despite the horrid appearance of her Chidori wound, she still had the same smile on her face, the one she'd given him before she died.
Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto, I'm sorry, she jumped in front of my attack. It was far too late for me to-"
Naruto tried to keep it together as he looked at the corpses of Haku and Zabuza. "You-you're not to blame, Kakashi-sensei, you were just protecting us. Besides, I'm a shinobi now. This is to be expected… but what kind of Hokage can't save one person?"
Kakashi took a knee and straightened Naruto's headband. "I know how important to you she was, but you have to understand, some of us aren't destined for happy endings. If you want to become Hokage, then this is the most important lesson you'll ever learn… You can't save everyone, as some..." Kakashi looked down at Zabuza and Haku, having familiar thoughts concerning Obito. "Some of us are beyond saving, as fortune may dictate that we make sacrifices in order to move forward… Naruto, there was only one other outcome for this battle, and that was for Team 7 to be wiped out, you did what you had to."
Naruto hung his head. "I… don't feel so good."
Sakura, who was watching the whole thing, came over and took Naruto by the hand. "Naruto… thank you for saving Sasuke-kun. I... I know I've said some mean things to you, but if you weren't here… we'd all be dead."
She looked down at Haku, who despite the all blood, looked beautiful, as if she were sleeping. "This whole mission must have been difficult for you… What was her name?"
Naruto squeezed Sakura's hand lightly. "Haku… her name was Haku."
Naruto's eyes snapped open, the euphoria of the past few days was finally wearing off, that day on the bridge had been haunting him ever since. Naruto rolled over and looked at the clock, it was 8:30. He untangled his crystal necklace and put on some ninja sandals. He had to go practice with the Hiraishin.
On his way down the Cherry Blossom trail, he came upon a familiar face.
"Gaara-chan?"
She fiddled with her belt tassel and closed the distance to him, a minute tinge of pink adorning her pale features.
"Naruto… I have to leave for Suna in an hour. I wanted to see you one more time before I-" Gaara stared at Naruto and cocked her head to the side.
"You seem preoccupied with something."
Naruto put his hands up. "It's fine, I just had a bad dream last night, that's all."
Gaara slowly walked over to him and gave him a somewhat wooden hug, Naruto hugged her back and took her by the hand.
"Walk with me Gaara-chan." She took Naruto's hand and upturned her lips slightly.
She offered Naruto a piece of advice. "I sleep a lot more now… When I have bad dreams, I talk to my sister about them. Naruto, do you have anyone you can confide in?"
Naruto thought for a second and stared into Gaara's green eyes. "Can it be you? Nobody gets me more than you do."
Gaara smiled a tiny bit, she flushed and nodded with muffled enthusiasm. "What was in the dream that hurt you?"
Naruto gave a weak smile and stared at the sky while they walked through the park. "It wasn't a dream, I relived one of the lowest moments in my career as a ninja. It was the most important lesson I learned, 'you can't save everyone'. Now, looking back on it… it scares me… it scares me to death. I lost someone I loved, even in the short time I knew her, she understood me perfectly, the same way you do. Some time ago, I made a promise to someone I love, and as time goes on, the more impossible it seems to fulfill. Taking that lesson into mind, some days, I feel like I can't do it."
Gaara thought for a few seconds and gave him her 2 cents. "Fight Naruto, and never quit."
Naruto looked down at the petite red head. "Whaddaya mean Gaara-chan?"
Gaara stopped and pulled off one of her bracelets. It was made of leather, and had all sorts of symbols etched into it, however, that was the least interesting feature. It had a spherical red gemstone with kanji etched into it.
They spelled out, 'We fight through our pain, our souls break the chains.' Gaara put the bracelet on Naruto's wrist and clarified her earlier answer.
Gaara took both of Naruto's hands and stared up at him, there was a warm tint in her eyes as she looked at him. "It's the other lesson you taught me when we fought. Our pain is what makes us strong, no matter what I face, no matter who I lose, I have to continue going forward, especially for the people who depend on me. Always move forward, no matter the outcome, and while things may not go the way you originally planned, the chains of fate will break and you'll walk free."
Naruto looked at Gaara and then at the bracelet. "Fate huh? As much as I hate predetermination… you may be right in regards to my specific situation."
Naruto and Gaara walked along in a golden silence, completely oblivious to the incredulous stares of Konoha's inhabitants, one of which was a purple haired vixen with an affinity toward snake charming.
Sasuke glared at his rice food pills and gagged, he had to eat two more to fulfill his daily caloric intake, something he'd never had trouble meeting before he went to train with Orochimaru. Just before he forced himself to pick up the pill, Kabuto barged into his room.
"Our new orders are here, there's also something here for you Sasuke."
Sasuke looked out the window of the hotel suite Orochimaru bought him for the duration of his stay. Without turning his head, he offered his hand and Kabuto flung the package neatly into Sasuke's palm, Sasuke looked at the box and peeled off the paper.
It was a bentou box with a card on it.
'I know how cheap the Old Snake is when it comes to buying food for his people. Here's some real rice to chew one for once!'
~Love, Karin XOXOXOXOXOXO
Sasuke looked in the small box, it was full of onigiri and some kind of sauce he'd never seen before. Sasuke exhaled in releif and slid the rice food pills across his desk.
"Saved by the bell."
Kabuto peered over Sasuke's shoulder. "From Karin is it? … You know, Orochimaru-sama would be thrilled to have the Uchiha Clan make their return in Oto instead of Konoha. I'm sure Karin would be more than willing to assist you with that."
Sasuke stuffed one of the onigiri into his mouth and swallowed it. "An issue for another time, killing Itachi is my number 1 priority right now. The restoration of the Uchiha can wait."
Kabuto chuckled and shrugged. "Your sense of priorities is alien to me Sasuke, I don't ever think I'll understand it."
Sasuke thought back to the first real conversation he'd had with Karin, it was about a year into his training.
Deep in the heavily forested training grounds outside Otogakure, the logs never stood a chance as Sasuke cut through them with a swift brutality. Having gone through nearly hundreds of them, Sasuke opted to conclude his training for the day and sat down on a flat stone. Karin was there waiting for him and handed the Uchiha some onigiri. She sat down next to Sasuke to patch up his scrapes and cuts from training, she decided that then was as good a time as any to get to know the young man better.
"Sasuke-kun? Orochimaru sent me to check on you. Do you need anything?"
Sasuke's Sharingan eyes startled the girl when he turned to her. "No."
Karin sighed, and scrubbed some dirt off of a cut on his shoulder. She decided to prod him once more, only this time with something a bit more personal. "What're your dreams for the future?"
Sasuke perked up slightly and raised his eyebrow at the redhead. "… Why does it matter to you?"
Karin smiled at him and got out some rubbing alcohol, dabbing it on his cuts. "You may not remember it, but you saved my life a while back… I'm curious because I may be able to return the favor to you."
Sasuke winced at the burning sensation. "You shouldn't bother yourself with my problems, you'll only get yourself into trouble…" Sasuke's thoughts filled with regret as they drifted to his early days with Team 7, their permanently damaged relationship would nag at him in the early months of his desertion. "I've already dragged too many people into my mess. This is my burden, and only I can rid myself of it. Just stay away from me if you want to avoid a painful death."
Karin chuckled and smiled at Sasuke, she pulled his head so that he was facing her and enlightened Sasuke to her situation. "I work for Orochimaru, Sasuke-kun. A painful death would be a luxury in my case… I want to help you because I think you're worth the trouble. Sasuke-kun, let me shoulder your burden with you."
Sasuke's eyes widened a bit and the silence was punctuated by the blowing of the wind.
He stared at the grass for a moment and eventually turned his head back to Karin. "What's your name?"
"Karin, just Karin."
Sasuke took a pen from the desk and penned up a quick thank you note for Karin, as real food was a treat for Sasuke at this point in his life. He opened the window and grabbed a bird from its cage; he attached the note to it and let it fly off.
Sasuke shut the window and stared down at the dusty streets of Sunagakure. "So, what're Orochimaru's new orders?"
Kabuto gave Sasuke a truncated version. "We're to allow the Kazekage to be captured, but we can't let them extract the Shukaku."
Sasuke frowned. "That's an annoyingly tight operating window… how many operatives are here?"
Kabuto looked at the attached dossiers. "We have four sleeper agents in the city, they're to be activated when the Kazekage returns from her diplomatic visit to Konoha."
Sasuke perked up slightly. "What was Gaara doing in Konoha?"
Kabuto laughed to himself as he read the little side note in his mission parameters. "Apparently, she's getting married to Naruto Uzumaki."
Sasuke scoffed and smirked. "Called it... Shame I can't collect that bet anymore. The dobe would've had to buy me food at my request until the day he died."
Naruto, having parted ways with Gaara, and having finished experimenting with his tattoos, he decided to go to Ichiraku's to get something to eat. As Naruto exited the training grounds, he was stopped in his tracks when his eyes landed on Anko Mitarashi.
She was wearing a white blouse with some khaki capris and black ninja sandals, her forehead protector was tied around her neck and she wore her hair down, framing her face. She had a sort of mature beauty that Naruto had never really recognized beforehand.
Naruto smiled at her and jogged over, he noticed that she was carrying several grocery bags.
She grinned at him. "I was afraid you wouldn't recognize me Naru-chan."
Naruto raised his eyebrow. "How could anyone overlook you?"
Anko laughed. "Forget about me! Was that the Hiraishin you were using back there? I've only heard stories about it until now."
Naruto grinned and nodded. "Yeah. I'm gonna build on my father's jutsu and make it my own!" Naruto immediately slapped his hands over his mouth.
Anko raised her eyebrow. "Father? … Actually… you do kinda look like him." Anko looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. "So that's why you're living in his house."
Naruto scratched his head and looked at Anko. "Hey, you're not one of those gold digger types are you? Obaa-chan warned me about girls like that."
Anko rolled her eyes flicked Naruto on the nose. "Heh, me? Gold digger? Please. Marble floors and silk bed sheets aren't really my thing. I just need a couch and a refrigerator, anything else I consider a luxury."
Naruto followed Anko. "Where're we headed Anko-chan? Your place?"
Anko stopped, pondering Asuma's advice. "Not this time, Naru-chan."
'FUCK!'
'Gah! Dammit! Don't do that you asshole!'
Naruto, despite being startled by his tenant, grinned and joked. "Did I wear the Insatiable Anko out last time?"
Anko ran her hand down Naruto's forearm and chuckled. "I'm always up to break another bed in half, but I want our relationship to be more than just you fucking my brains out whenever we're together."
They stopped on a bridge and stared down at the bright blue water rushing beneath them, Anko put her groceries down and looked at the young man in front of her. "Naru-chan, I wanna know what you're about, your hopes, your dreams, your fears, even your regrets."
Naruto locked arms with Anko as they leaned on the guardrail of the bridge. Staring down at the water, Naruto inquired. "Where do I even start Anko-chan?"
Anko kissed him on the cheek and wiped some sweat off his brow as she gingerly rubbed the dirt and grime from his face. "I'll be original since you've probably had this conversation before with the other girls… This time... start from now, and work your way backwards. What makes 'Naruto Namikaze' tick?"
Naruto looked at the older woman and smiled, she rested her head on his shoulder.
"From now working backwards huh? …" Naruto chuckled and looked at his new keepsake from Gaara-chan.
"We fight through our pain, our souls break the chains."
~FIN~
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The Orange Flash: Lost Chapters