The Power to Heal and Destroy by Phoenixsun

Chapter 22: Teammates

"As all of you have being informed, Uchiha Sasuke left the village last night around midnight. There are no clues as to where he might be headed and an official statement of the reasons behind his actions has yet to be made." Shikamaru said in an uncharacteristically serious tone as he regarded the group in front of him with equally solemn eyes.

A snorting sound escaped Kiba. "Great! The one day that they close the gates late and that idiot picks it to run away from home..." The Inuzuka whined. "Just our luck!" He added, receiving a bark of agreement from Akamaru who lied on top of his head.

Besides the brown haired boy, a particularly pensive Neji stood. "Sasuke had just being released from the hospital, so I doubt that he could have gotten very far in only ten hours with his condition." He pointed out.

The Nara nodded at the older boy's words. "Yes, that is why the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade-sama, has allowed the formation of this four man team in order to search for Sasuke and return him here." Shikamaru's eyes move towards the spiky haired blond who had yet to say a word. "No matter what, we will bring Sasuke back!" The usually languid shinobi firmly said, his voice filled with determination as he tried to assure his silent friend.

Naruto's hands were already hurting due to the force he was using to tighten his fist. "Goddammit Sasuke...!" The boy's mind raged. "What the hell were you thinking?" He thought as he gritted his teeth.

"Knowing how the Uchiha are, he probably wasn't thinking at all." Kyuubi commented with a hint of amusement.

A frown formed on the Jinchuuriki's face at his tenant's words. "Not now, you damn fox..." The blond said with as much disdain as he could manage.

The anger in the Sharingan user's voice sent the Bijuu into a fit of laughter. "Hahah... That's some intimidating temper you have there, it almost make you seem fit to be my host."

It seemed as though blood was going to star running down Naruto's hands at any moment as his fist tightened. "I told you to shut it, Kyuubi! I will deal with your bullshit some other day, but now..." The genin's train of thought suddenly stopped.

As though a switch was turned, the patronizing tone completely disappeared from the fox's voice and was replaced by a more serious, yet understanding one. "All of this just because of her, huh?" The Bijuu commented.

Naruto simply remained silent as his eyes drifted towards the ground.

"You can try to ignore me all you want, but I now everything that is going on in your head and your heart." Kyuubi stated with an almost solemn voice. "You have being restless ever since you found out and I know for a fact that the cause is not that your little teammate ran away, but because of how much his departure has hurt her..."

A sigh escaped the Jinchuuriki as the weight of his tenant's words piled on top of him, but the young shinobi still refuse to respond to any of the fox's comment. Yet, despite himself, Naruto's mind drifted back to a couple of hours prior.

Flashback

The urgent knocks on the door echoed through his apartment once again, with no sign of letting out soon.

Sluggishly, Naruto forced his body out of his bedroom in direction towards the door. The young shinobi cursed in a tired breath. After spending most of the previous day training until late at night, the blond had planned on sleeping in this morning and worry about hitting the training field later in the day, or simply take the whole day off and hang out with Shikamaru and the others, the genin wasn't sure yet.