Chapter Two

P.O.V. Naruto Uzumaki

"Hey!" Raiden waved, I smiled waving with my free hand as we stepped through the tree lining. Hinata and I found our way to where Carver and Raiden were holding this bonfire for Sakura. I picked up a case of beer and a few wine coolers for Hinata and here we are!

"This place is so pretty." Hinata looked around at the clearing, I glanced around seeing the collection of cherry blossom trees, the soft grass under my feet and a small clear river flowed through.

"I didn't know this place existed." I commented.

"Not a lot of people do." Raiden said.

"I lived here my entire life." I laughed, "How did you two know about it and I didn't?"

"Well..." Raiden shrugged sounding uncomfortable.

"Sakura." Carver answered.

"Huh?"

"Sakura showed us this place."

"R-Really?" My heart skipped as I took another look around.

"Yeah, this is where she came to escape or something when she lived here."

"I had no idea..." I breathed,

"Yeah..." Carver muttered joining Raiden in the uncomfortable silence. It took a moment to click, this was where Sakura came when our team ditched her. My heart hurt as I looked to the ground.

"So!" Raiden tried to change the subject, he moved to a small fire pit. "We brought chairs." He guesterred to the fold out camping chairs.

"Thanks." Hinata giggled picking the purple one to sit on. I sat the case of beer next to Carver's as I plopped down next to Hinata.

"So, this is where you guys hang out?" I questioned, the light fragrance of flowers filled the air, the trickle of the river behind me was peaceful.

I could see why Sakura would come here.

"Yeah." Carver said opening a can, it foamed up spilling down the sides.

"Fuck." Carver cursed quickly drinking the beer, I laughed at his annoyed expression.

"Did you invite Kakashi?" Raiden wondered.

"I couldn't find him." I said,

"Neither could we." Raiden sighed, "I don't know what has been going on with him but it's annoying."

"He is just dealing." Carver shrugged.

"It's been two years." Raiden commented,

"Yeah." Carver nodded looking at his teammate, "Are you over the fact Sakura is dead?"

"N-No..." Raiden muttered.

"Exactly." Carver nodded taking a seat across from me as Raiden went to light the fire.

"It seems-" Raiden said after sparking the fire to life. "-the more time passes by without her the harder it is to believe she is gone."

"I know." Carver leaned back looking up at the clear sky. "It feels like she is just inside the Waterfall Village and she will ride back into our lives any day now."

"If only." I agreed, happy to know I wasn't the only one who hadn't moved on from losing Sakura.

"Hey!" TenTen called coming into view, we turned seeing her waving her arms. "We made it!"

"We can see that." Carver commented not moving from his lazed position in his chair. TenTen and Neji moved into the light radiating from the small fire.

"Hey guys!" Hinata smiled, TenTen sat beside her.

"Already feeling it Hinata?" TenTen laughed, I smiled looking at my girlfriend. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright with the numbness alcohol brought.

"Where's Sasuke?" Neji wondered, an annoyed lump in my stomach formed.

"He didn't want to come." I answered.

"Why?"

"Because he is an asshole." I muttered sipping my can of cold beer.

"So!" Raiden pulled the attention onto him. "There's a reason we asked you to come here."

"Yeah?" I asked. "Why is that?"

"We were hoping we could get you and Sasuke but I already know what he is going to say so it's whatever."

"What?" I laughed. "What's-"

"Naruto-" Carver called over my voice. "-Raiden and I we...we put in a request to be removed from Team Seven." I looked from Carver to Raiden, the campfire went dead still as TenTen and Neji looked everywhere except us.

"I'm sorry-" Carver went on, "-we wanted to tell you but-"

"But what?" I snapped up. "Your abandoning our team!?"

"We are not-"

"Yes, you are!"

"Will you sit down-"

"No!" I yelled, "Why are doing this?!"

"If you sit down, we can have an adult conversation about this."

"I don't want to sit down! Your leaving to go back to the Waterfall Village, aren't you?" I accused. "You're going back to the Nine-"

"No, we are not." Raiden said, "You're just throwing accusations around and not letting us talk."

"You made a commitment to our team!"

"We didn't want this to be a fight." Raiden said,

"What?" I darkly laughed, "You thought I would just be ok with you two taking off-!?"

"Alright." Carver stood, "Let's go."

"Go?" I blinked; Carver grabbed my arm.

"Naruto?" Hinata's sweet voice pulled my attention.

"Uh..." Raiden spun around. "...Hinata, sweetie stay here ok?"

"Don't tell her what to do!" I snapped.

"She is drunk." Carver stated, "You really want her to try and follow us in a dark forest?"

"...No..." I muttered.

"We will be right back." Raiden waved towards TenTen and Neji.

"Fine with me." TenTen smiled, "More beer for us!"

Carver and Raiden dragged me through the forest until the illuminating light from the fire was out of sight. I ripped my arm away feeling tears behind my eyes.

They were leaving too.

"What is going on?!" I snapped, "Why did we have to leave-"

"Because I am pretty sure you don't want this getting around the village." Carver stated.

"What getting around the-"

"Your drinking Naruto." Carver cut me off.

"I-I don't know-"

"We can smell it on you." Raiden countered, "All the time."

"I-I don't know what your talking-"

"Cut the bullshit." Carver's voice was stern, I felt cornered. "We are not stupid, we of all people you should know you can't bullshit."

"Naruto, you drink all the time. You were even drunk on border control."

"You're leaving the team because-"

"It's not just you, we know about Sasuke too. You guys did a great job of hiding it from everyone around you, even your own team."

"But-" Raiden went to add, "-you guys were only a small fraction of our decision to leave-"

"No, it wasn't." Carver turned to Raiden, "We can't go out on missions because of them, I can't trust them to not drink on the job. I can't trust you to be sober and to have my back if we are out on a mission."

"I-I can stop-"

"No, you can't." Carver said, "Not unless you want to, and you don't."

"I-"

"Naruto, we spent a lot of time inside Brasle. We know what addiction is." Carver crossed his arms over his chest.

"Naruto, Carver and I are going to train students." Raiden said, "That's why we are leaving the team."

"But-But-" I stuttered.

"Consider this your only warning." Carver said, "Stop the drinking, at least when you're on patrol. If not, then we will have to step in-"

"And do what?" I accused; anger glowed inside my eyes.

"I won't allow the village Sakura died for to be invaded simply because you were too drunk to do your job." Carver's voice was sharp cutting me at every turn.

"What would your parents think if they found out about this?" Raiden questioned. "Does Hinata even know?"

"No." Carver answered for me, "She is the farthest person from the truth, isn't she?"

"I..." I sighed words falling flat all around me, along with my world. Who was I now? What had I become?

"Because you know how disappointed she would be in you if she was to find out."

"What would Sakura think?" Raiden asked, "I mean she died protecting you and Tsunade. Your drinking away the life she basically gave you...like...that's-"

"Shut up!" I yelled feeling the sting her name brought.

"Don't take your rage out on us." Carver snapped, "I understand your in pain, we all are. But to simply try and drink the guilt away won't change the fact Sakura is gone and it damn sure won't change the fact she died saving your ass."

"I thought you would be happy for us." Raiden muttered, "That's why we told you tonight..."

"Why would I be happy about you abondinging our team!?" I shouted,

"We are not abandoning the team." Carver sounded scary calm right now, "You and Sasuke abandoned us the second you decided to pick up the bottle."

"I'm not listening to this." I stated turning on my heel moving back to the campfire.

"Are you just going to ignore us and hope that this goes away!?" Carver called after me,

"Isn't that how you're dealing with Sakura's death?" Raiden said,

"How is that working out for you?" Carver added.

"Shut up." I growled turning to look at them, "You don't know anything about me!"

"Clearly your right, because I never thought in a million years you out of all people would try to numb away pain instead of dealing with it." Carver snapped, "Your not as strong as I thought you were." I shook his head, trying to get Carver's words out of my head as we stumbled back into the clearing where the small campfire was.

"Hinata?!" I called looking around the empty space. My heart turned as I felt panicked, Hinata lying dead on the sidewalk and her still eyes flashed through my mind as I began to feel myself tremble with worry.

"Calm down." Carver said from behind me, "Neji texted me."

"And?!"

"He said TenTen is a light weight, he took her home and dropped off Hinata at your place."

"Wow really?" Raiden said, "He willingly dealt with two drunk women? Neji is a good guy."

"Yeah." I breathed feeling myself relax knowing Hinata was safe inside our home.

"Naruto..." Raiden sighed after a quiet moment, "...I don't want to leave us like this."

"I don't either." I muttered still feeling mad at them.

"Man-" Carver groaned, "-look, we did the training shinobi under Sakura's name thing and we did the constant missions and we were cool with it, we really were but now, it's time for our next chapter."

"Yeah." Raiden agreed, "We have never been sensei before." He smiled. "We get assigned our teams tomorrow and I would really like you to be here."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." I smiled at him, feeling sad my team was falling apart but they looked to be happier with this next phase in their life's and I didn't want to miss out on that.

"Thanks man-" Carver patted my back. "-and you will...?"

"Cut back my drinking." I nodded, "I'm going to do my best."

"You got this." Raiden said, "If you need help just let us know, ok?"

"Ok." I nodded, "I am gonna head home and make sure Hinata is ok."

"Good." Raiden laughed, "She got drunk fast!"

"Yeah." I chuckled, "She does."

"We'll see you tomorrow?" Raiden questioned; I nodded my head.

"You can count on it." I smiled as I walked my way through the village, towards my apartment building. I rode up the elevator and reached my floor, walking down my hallway I passed my apartment door and knocked on Sasuke's. He opened it with a yawn on his lips and a bottle in his hand, he tilted his head seeing me.

"Do you have room for one more?" I asked not looking him in eye feeling a new layer of guilt coat my heart. Sasuke moved out of the way to allow me inside his place.

----

"Ugh." I groaned sitting up, holding my head as my bedroom spun causing my stomach to turn inside my gut.

"Naruto?" I looked over seeing Hinata. "How are you feeling?" She walked into the bedroom, I lightly smiled at her. I held out my arms, she gladly walked into them. I pulled her to lay beside me.

"I'm better now." I kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"I have a headache." Hinata admitted.

"Well..." I breathed with a yawn, "...how about we get dressed and go get some greasy food? Granny told me that was the best cure for a hangover."

"Ok!" Hinata liked the idea, "Oh, why is Sasuke asleep on the couch?"

"He-?" I blinked thinking through the night, remembering how drunk we had gotten. We ran out of alcohol inside Sasuke's apartment, so we migrated over here to raid the fridge. "-He is a light weight." I faked a laugh as I sat up, Hinata shook her head giggling.

Hinata and I got changed into clean clothing, my eyes trailed over her exposed body as she slipped on a fresh shirt. I cleared my throat quickly pulling on the jacket Sakura had handmade and given to me as a Christmas gift.

"Why did Carver and Raiden pull you away from us last night?" Hinata asked as we left our bedroom.

"Oh uh...they were just telling me about them leaving Team Seven."

"W-What?!" Hinata breathed, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Yup." Sasuke said, I looked at Sasuke lying on the couch watching the television. Why was he still here? "They are leaving the team to become Sensei."

"Wow..." Hinata breathed wrapping her head around this new concept. "What are you going to do with your team?"

"I don't know." I shrugged, "We could try to talk to Kakashi about rejoining."

"If you can find him." Sasuke added, I nodded in agreement.

"I guess that is kind of cool for them though."

"What is?" I asked Hinata.

"Well...Carver and Raiden were apart of Sakura's army for a long time, right?"

"Yeah?"

"They trained people but could never get close to them like you are with Kakashi. Maybe they want what you have with him?" Hinata explained, I thought about this concept for a second, I never thought about that.

"Hm." I hummed at the idea of Carver and Raiden wanting to bond with students, it sounded strange inside my thoughts but why did it feel so farfetch'd? "I said we would go and watch them get assigned their first team."

"Really?" Hinata smiled, "I thought you would be upset?"

"I am." I muttered.

"I am proud of you." Hinata grinned making my heart skip.

"Yeah?"

"Yes, you're going to support your friends even though it upsets you to see them move on to their next journey."

"Yeah well..." I blushed, "...they are like family now so-" I could feel Sasuke roll his eyes, but I didn't care, I liked when Hinata praised me.

"Sasuke-" Hinata turned to him, "-we are going to get something to eat, would you like to come?"

"Eh...sure." Sasuke sat up grabbing his shoes.

"Do you have something in mind?" I questioned Hinata who smiled up at me.

"I don't mind."

"Alright!" I jumped, "Ichiraku ramen it is then!"

"Oh yay..." Sasuke said following us out of my apartment. "...so original."

"Your very bitter today." I commented as we made our way out of the apartment.

"I'm hungover, what do you expect?" He countered, "Flowers?"

"It would be a nice change from you." I smiled at his glare; my grin quickly evaporated hearing a loud explosion echoing through the sleepy morning.

"What the-"

"Sirens aren't going off." Sasuke said looking around, "Could be the genin training."

"Right." I nodded, looking down at Hinata who I had grabbed and pulled into me, keeping her safe. "Let's go get something to eat." I smiled down at her. I glanced behind me as my stomach slowly began to unravel the tension inside it.

"Terrible way to wake up." Sasuke muttered as he rubbed his face. I was just about to agree with him until another loud explosion echoed through the air.

"Something about that sounded too good to be just a trainee." Hinata breathed out, as she finished her sentence multiple tunnels of dark smoke rose over buildings, blaring sirens began to sing to the morning sun.

"What the-?" Sasuke was scanning around us.

"Let's go!" I yelled, spinning on my heel running towards the smoke with Hinata by my side.

"You know normal people run away from danger right?" Choji called from behind me making me laugh, Kiba and Shino flaked to my right where Hinata was.

"If we ran away from the fire then who would be left to defend the village?" Shikamaru countered jumping to my left with his team. I smiled feeling my friends all collect around as we ran towards the smoke.

"Yeah!" Lee agreed,

"We can't let the other shinobi have all the fun!" Kiba laughed, "Kohana eleven is about to join the party!"