Chapter 38: The Power of Talking
The moonlight fell like a curtain. The pink-haired girl stood with her back to the moon, atop a great tree, a pair of jade-green eyes gazing down at the blonde boy in steady silence.
"Naruto."
The cool, clear voice cut through the night, and Naruto, almost on instinct, took a step backward.
Sakura's brow tightened slightly at the sight.
She'd just gotten back to the village from her last mission when Hiruzen had grabbed her with the news — Mizuki had manipulated Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Seals, and she needed to get the scroll back, immediately. Oh, and arrest Mizuki while you're at it.
Notably, Hiruzen had said nothing whatsoever about what to do with Naruto.
What was there to do? Take the kid home and feed him properly, obviously.
"S-Sakura..."
Naruto stared up at the girl on the branch, swallowed hard, and tried to take off running. He didn't even get the chance — that flash of pink was already standing right in front of him.
He hadn't seen her move. At all.
"You've been getting up to a lot of mischief while I've been gone, Naruto."
Sakura's voice landed right next to his ear. Naruto bit down on his lip until his teeth nearly drew blood.
He gathered every scrap of courage he had and looked up at her, eyes blazing.
"Sakura!"
"Mm. I'm listening."
That perfectly even, perfectly unflappable tone of hers made Naruto feel like he'd thrown a punch into a pillow. All the force he'd built up had nowhere to go.
"M-Mizuki-sensei said... you only got close to me because... because..."
Watching this hesitating little idiot in front of her, Sakura sighed softly. Her green eyes locked onto his.
"So one offhand comment from someone else, and that's enough for Naruto to hate me?"
Naruto froze on instinct.
He had — he might have — done something kind of awful, hadn't he?
"N-no, no — that's not — that's not it..."
He scrambled to defend himself, but Sakura was already smiling and reaching out to ruffle his hair, exactly the way she always had.
"Remember what I told you that day? It was Iruka-sensei who asked me to come find you."
"Idiot."
Naruto's eyes went wide.
She was right. She was right. Sakura had only come over that day because of Iruka-sensei. She'd told him so herself, that exact day...
Mizuki-sensei was lying!
And I... I actually doubted Sakura...
Naruto's whole frame slumped. And just then, in the forest behind them, another figure stepped out into view.
Standard Konoha-issue ninja gear. Blue hair.
"Naruto, hand over the—"
Mizuki had been wearing his usual smug, dripping smile — and the words choked off in his throat the second his eyes found Sakura. His expression locked solid, like a drowning man getting his throat seized.
His face cycled through green, then white, then green again.
"Oh. You, Sakura."
"I didn't expect to find you here."
His dark eyes darted in every direction. Already, he was casting around for an escape route.
But the other members of ANBU Squad Seven had already silently surrounded him from every angle, sealing off every avenue.
"Mizuki-sensei. It's been a while. I had no idea you'd been quietly cooking up this much trouble in my absence."
Sakura stood beside Naruto, looking at the man.
This man had been her academy instructor for two years. Sakura felt nothing in particular about that. She had clocked him as a piece of work years ago. Back in school, she'd just sat through his classes like a good little student and let it slide.
"Don't act like you're so righteous!"
Cornered and out of options, Mizuki's face contorted.
"You're no different from me! You're after Naruto for the same reason I am!"
"What's the difference between us?!"
"The Nine-Tails' power could destroy all of Konoha!"
Sakura watched him calmly and didn't interrupt. She let him keep going.
Beside her, Naruto's expression dimmed further with every word, the brightness draining out of him.
"Everyone in the village knows Naruto is the Nine-Tails! That's why they all hate him! They hate that crime!"
Sakura crossed her arms and watched the man rave. She knew that if she didn't sort this out clearly here, now, the doubt would lodge itself in Naruto's heart and never leave.
Iruka. Where are you. Why aren't you out here yet?
"You're not wrong."
Sakura paused. Iruka still hadn't shown up. He clearly wasn't going to make it. Looked like she'd have to handle this herself.
"Hm?"
Mizuki blinked, momentarily thrown — then his face lit up with sudden, wild hope.
Sakura was the village's prodigy. Hand-picked by the Third Hokage as his personal disciple. Even at twelve, she was so far beyond him that an academy instructor had no business being in the same room. But — if he could just get this girl on his side—
In his desperation, Mizuki had lost what little rational thought he had left. There was no universe in which the Third Hokage's hand-picked successor would side with a man who was, at this point, effectively a defected rogue ninja.
Sakura glanced at Naruto's bowed head, then turned back to Mizuki.
"It's true that there is a fox sealed inside Naruto."
At those words, Naruto's head jerked up. He looked at Sakura with stunned disbelief.
So I really am... the demon fox?
"But the way I see it — Naruto is a hero."
"A hero who used his own body to seal the Nine-Tails away."
"The villagers don't understand that. They look at Naruto and only see the fox."
"But Naruto, without ever knowing it, has been protecting all of them in his own way. Protecting his friends."
"And protecting me."
The blonde boy stared at her. He couldn't form words.
"This was the Fourth Hokage's decision. Naruto carries the Fourth's will."
"He believed Naruto could protect everyone. That Naruto could wield this power for good."
"Even if the road would be hard."
Sakura's green eyes closed briefly. She was thinking of the man whose face only existed for her in textbook portraits. Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze.
This guy was, for the record, not a great dad. Compared to his wife, his actual son seems to have ranked... pretty low on the priority list.
"Even if the road would be full of obstacles."
Sorry, Minato. When the Edo Tensei eventually drags you back, you can come find me and thank me in person.
"The Fourth still believed Naruto would have the strength to overcome it all."
"And now, not just the Fourth — I believe Naruto can do it."
Her green eyes snapped open in that exact moment. The whole speech had given even Sakura herself a mild case of secondhand cringe.
But — what could you do. Ninja ate this stuff up. Especially Naruto.
"Cut the crap!"
"A demon fox is a demon fox!"
"Spare me your philosophy!"
Mizuki's face twisted with hate. He yanked the last giant shuriken from his back and hurled it at Sakura with everything he had.
The shuriken — somehow, midair — dropped. A normal-sized shuriken came whistling out of nowhere, grazed past Mizuki's cheek hard enough to draw a thin line of blood, and vanished into the dark of the forest.
In that instant, Sakura's green eyes turned cold and razor-sharp. The killing intent in her voice when she spoke was absolute.
"Naruto. End him."