NaruSaku - Burdens Ch. 3

The sky above the newly built Konoha faded from light blue to a deep, dark blue, to the night sky as the sun set, causing progressively growing shadows on the ground. Sakura wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and continued walking down the hallway of the new Hokage palace. She knocked on Tsunade’s door and cracked it open. “Tsunade-sama?”
“Come in, Sakura.”
Sakura walked in and closed the door behind her. “I have gathered the documents you requested,” she reported, handing her the stack of various files and folders.
“Ahh, thank you,” Tsunade said, taking the rather heavy pile of papers from Sakura and looking over them. “Hopefully, it wasn’t anything too difficult.”
“Well, there was one thing,” Sakura started. Tsunade looked up from the papers. “You had requested something from the restricted area, and I didn’t have the clearance to enter.”
“I thought I had told the guard to let you in… Or maybe I had said Shizune… I don’t know. Oh well, let's go get those scrolls.” Tsunade stood up and beckoned for Sakura to follow her. They walked down to the restricted area, and were allowed access by the guard. Sakura gazed around in amazement at the enormous number of scrolls that were kept in the room.
“Tsunade-sama, may I ask you something?” Sakura asked.
“Go ahead.”
“I know you gave me the identity of the scroll, but it was only a number. What is inside of that scroll that you need?”
Tsunade stopped and began searching browsing through the scrolls on the wall. “I figured you would ask that eventually. Ah, here it is!” she exclaimed as she pulled a scroll down, causing the ones above it to fall down and fill the new vacancy. “This scroll is something that one of my top ninja had requested.” Taking a quick look around, she pulled two more scrolls down. “These would be useful as well,” she added, collecting the scrolls in her arms and walking back towards the door.
“What does this ninja need forbidden scrolls for?”
“Sakura, this is a common misconception. While many scrolls in here are indeed forbidden, there are a few that are kept in that room for security purposes. Others, such as these two that I just grabbed, are kept in there to ensure that no genin try to use these jutsu that are just plain over their heads. They are not necessarily restricted; the Hokage will give these scrolls to those he or she deems worthy of using them. They must be returned, of course, but they are an excellent tool for learning advanced techniques. Speaking of which,” she said as she began browsing the scrolls once more, “Sakura, grab those scrolls right there. Numbers 749 through 752.”
Sakura picked up the four scrolls and looked over them. “Tsunade, does that ninja really need this many scrolls?”
“Of course not. Look who wrote those scrolls.”
Sakura opened one of the scrolls and read the title. “Advanced Medical Techniques I, written by…” Sakura stopped reading and looked up at her master. “You wrote these?”
“Indeed I did. These are four of the scrolls I wrote when I was younger. There is a lot of information in them that I have not taught you yet. Look over them, and we will review them over the next few months. Ok?”
Sakura felt a huge grin appear on her face. “Hai, Tsunade-sama.”
“Good. Ok, let’s get out of here. I have a lot of work I need to do. You’re done for today, though. Why don’t you go home and spend you evening with Naruto. I’m sure he’d love to spend time with you.
“Uhh, sure. Thank you, Tsunade-sama. Good luck with your work.” Sakura said over her shoulder as she began to leave the Hokage palace. ‘That’s strange’, she thought to herself. ‘Tsunade has never said anything like that before… Oh well…’ She shrugged it off and walked home.

Tsunade sat down in her office and began to read over the documents that Sakura had brought her. Medical reports, applications for vacations, court rulings; nothing very exciting.  A knock on the door shook her from her work. “Come in.”
The door opened to reveal a lone ninja. He walked in silently and closed the door behind him. “Do you have the scrolls I requested?”
“Ah, it’s you. Yes, I have them right here,” Tsunade said is she handed him the scrolls. “You know, you don’t have to do this yet.”
“No, I have to do it now. I’m already overdue, but I had to help rebuild the village first. Now that everything has been rebuilt, I must go.”
“How will you communicate with us?”
“Same way he did. You know how it works.”
“Anything else you need me to get you?”
“I’d like to know what these two scrolls are.”
“They contain some information that I think would be relevant to you.”
The ninja opened one the scrolls and read it out loud. “Wind-Style Techniques, written by Sarutobi Asuma…”
“I thought you’d find that useful. So when are you leaving?”
The ninja pushed some of his blonde hair out of his eyes and rolled up the scroll. “I’m leaving tonight, after Sakura falls asleep.”
“Will she know you’ll be leaving?”
“Hopefully not. If she found out, there’s no way I would be able to leave.”
“Well, good luck with that. I hope that she doesn’t take it too hard. I did give her some scrolls to help her pass the time while you’re gone.”
“I’m sure she’ll have them all mastered by the time I’m back.”
“Well, you’d better go. I just sent her home and told her to enjoy an evening with you.”
Naruto looked up and gave her a smile. “Don’t worry; I have a shadow clone at home right now. I’ll just need to switch with him.”
Tsunade got out of her chair and gave Naruto a quick hug. “Good luck, and stay safe. Make sure you keep in touch.”
Naruto grabbed his scrolls and headed over to the window. “Don’t worry, I will.” With that, he jumped out of the window and began running home.

“Naruto, are you here?” Sakura called out as she opened the door to Naruto’s new home, which was only about five times larger than his old apartment. The villagers had offered to build him a large mansion, but Naruto refused their help, building his own home himself. It wasn’t exactly large, but it was a comfortable size for one person. He didn’t have a lot of furniture, but he didn’t really need it. He had all that he needed; a bed (large enough for two to sleep comfortably, if the need arose), a furbished kitchen, and a mostly empty living room. A new addition, which surprised many people, was a personal library. He said it was for jutsu scrolls, but Sakura had seen a few books on the shelves as well. She had never really thought of him as the reading type, but after having trained under a ‘writer’, she figured even Naruto could change.
“I’m in the kitchen, Sakura-chan.”
Sakura set down her scrolls by the front door and walked into the kitchen to see Naruto in front of an array of pots and pans. “Oh wow. What are you making?”
“Ramen. What else?” Sakura raised an eyebrow at his choice of meals. “Don’t worry,” he assured her. “It’s not just cup ramen.”
“I was about to ask about all of the other cookware.”
“Sorry, can’t tell you; it’s a surprise. It’ll be done in about 20 minutes, so just go ahead and relax until then.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and a smile, and Sakura left him to his cooking. Back in the living room, she spread out the first scroll that Tsunade gave her and began to read over it. Everything Sakura thought she knew about medical jutsu was turned upside down as she studied over the parchment.
“Sakura-chan, what is that?” she heard Naruto ask. She looked up to see him squatting on the other side of the scroll.
“Oh, it’s just a medical jutsu scroll that Tsunade-sama gave me.”
“Well, dinner’s ready now,” Naruto told her with a smile. She grinned back, stood up, and saw that Naruto had already set the table and had food sitting out. She took her seat and looked at the food before her. To say she was surprised would have been an understatement; the aroma of Naruto’s cooking made her mouth water and her stomach began to growl and the sight of the home-made ramen. She took her chopsticks and placed some of the noodles in her mouth.
“Oh wow, this is really good! How did you learn to cook like this?”
“Little bit from Icharaku, a little bit from living outside of the village during the rebuilding process. I sort of got a feel for what herbs and plants would go well with what foods. I’m glad you like it, though.”
“I should have you cook for me more often,” Sakura teased him.
“If you enjoy it that much, I would do it every night,” Naruto replied, earning him a kiss from across the table.
‘That’s why I love you’ Sakura thought to herself as she and Naruto spent their evening together, enjoying each other’s company and basking in each other’s romance.

‘Ok, I think I have everything,’ Naruto thought to himself, running over a mental checklist of things that he would need. He walked back into his bedroom one last time to see Sakura sleeping peacefully in his bed. “I really hate having to do this, but it’s for the good of the village,” he whispered as he sat down next to her and stroked her hair softly. Leaning down, he gave her one last kiss.
“Why do you have to go now, though,” he heard Sakura ask weakly.
‘Damn,’ Naruto thought. “Sakura, I’m sorry, but I have to do this now. I should have done it earlier, but I had to make sure that the entire village was rebuilt.”
Sakura rolled over and looked into Naruto’s eyes. “But why do you have to go? Why can’t you stay here?”
Naruto diverted his gaze for a few seconds before looking back at Sakura. “The village has a lot of sources of information located throughout the world. While I was with Jiraya, we would sometimes stop and gather intel from these informants. Now that he’s gone, I have to take over. His responsibilities have been passed on to me. Just as Tsunade’s will one day be passed on to you.”
Sakura sat up and wrapped her arms around Naruto’s neck. “Just promise me you’ll be careful, ok?”
Naruto squeezed her lightly, returning the embrace. “Don’t worry, I will. It’ll only be for a few months, and then we’ll be back together again,” he assured her, before giving her a small kiss and pulling away from the hug. He gathered up his things and put on his sage coat and scroll. He turned back to his girlfriend and whispered “I love you.”
“I love you too, Naruto-kun. Be safe.”
“I will.” And with that, he was off.
‘I’ll miss you…’ Sakura thought to herself as she lay back down and tried to fall asleep, her body feeling vulnerable and naked without Naruto’s arms around her. ‘I’ll be counting the days until you get back…’ With that, she drifted off into her dreams.

‘Well, here we go,’ Naruto thought to himself as he flew over the new wall surrounding Konoha, his home that he was about to leave behind, even if just for a few months. ‘I’m gonna miss this place, but this is something I have to do; both for Konoha and for myself.’ He looked down and prodded at his stomach. ‘You hear that? I’m gonna learn to control you. You’re never going to take over me again.’ He looked back one last time to see the moonlight shining over Konoha, before leaping through the trees towards his first destination.