Messing with the Middle

Lapse of Anger

"Calm down. Anger doesn't help. Take a deep breath and think. When is the next time you see Orochimaru?" Matatabi asked.

"Not for a while. Thanks for trying," Sasuke said. He slammed his fist into a tree putting a hole in it.

"Stupid, fucking Uzumaki. No wonder his clan got wiped out," Sasuke raged.

"Not that you can talk about clans..." Haku muttered. He was seated on a tree branch.

"Neither can you," Sasuke muttered with an amused huff. He leaned against the tree Haku was in and slid to the ground. Placing his head in his hands he took deep breaths.

Two clanless teens trying to give themselves the best future. One whose seen the future, one whose aware of it.

"Back to square one," Haku muttered. He rubbed his eyes with one hand, and rubbed his Anbu mask with the other.

"Yup.. " Sasuke muttered as he placed his hand on the tree trunk where one of his seals was. It lit a bright blue before turning into a dark Orange colour. "Back to square one..." Sasuke finished.

****

Naruto saw Sasuke and Haku leave. He rubbed his red cheek and glared at the empty spot.

"Stupid Teme, Death is never the answer," He muttered to himself. "And 5 minutes till what!?" He yelled out. Naruto huffed and turned around. He began stomping towards the exit, as Yamato, Hinata and Sai followed him. "Whatever! Who cares about that stupid bastard anyway!"

"Clearly you don't care enough"

How dare he! Of course he cares. He could be well on his way to becoming the next Hokage! Instead he's out in the field tracking down his stupid friends to drag them back to the village. And he has the audacity to say that he doesn't care enough!?

Oh no, it's quite the opposite. Naruto Uzumaki cares to much.

Killing just seemed too much. Sure Sakura tried to kill him, but he wanted a reason. Why? That's what Naruto wanted. He wouldn't get that answer if Sakura was dead! But Sasuke doesn't understand that.

"He calls me stupid! Me ignorant! Me a child!" Naruto rants.

"Naruto..." Hinata muttered.

"Hmph, well fine! He can be as angry as he likes! Because if he wants Sakura dead he'll have to go through me!" Naruto declared.

*Smack!*

All three boys went silent as the slap echoed the forest. Naruto turned his head to look at Hinata while holding onto his other red cheek.

"H-Hinata?.." He muttered.

"D-don't be an idiot. You cannot be angry at Sasuke for leaving the Village, and d-doing nothing wrong. But want to protect Sakura, who also left the Village b-but has become a traitor to us and the village," Hinata declared. She glared at the boy in Orange with her Byakugan.

"B-but..."

"No! You are a Ninja of Konoha! So y-you protect Konoha! Sakura has s-sided with Orochimaru. That makes her a-an enemy. One who has almost successfully killed us." Hinata explained.

"Well... yeah but.."

"I understand you c-care for Sakura, and want to bring her back too. B-but what if the 'why' she gives y-you doesn't excuse her actions?" Hinata asked as she stared at him. "What will you do then?"

Silence. You could hear the critters in the forest, the gust of wind blow past as Naruto stood in deep thought. What would he do? What if Sakura really had just gone crazy? What then?