Lost Bonds

Naruto wakes up from dreaming of his fight against Sasuke, finding himself under Yamato's care while learning Kakashi is going after Sakura. With Yamato refusing to let him go after his teammates while told they are returning to the Hidden Leaf, Naruto goes back to bed and uses a Shadow Clone to cover his escape. During that time, Naruto reminisces his history with Sasuke in wanting to be acknowledged by his rival while failing to truly understand Sasuke's pain of losing everyone he loved until Jiraiya's death along with everyone convincing him that Sasuke is a lost cause. While using Sage Mode to track Kakashi, thinking back to Jiraiya's ideals of understanding others and Gaara advising him on what he should do as Sasuke's friend, Naruto believes seeing Sasuke will allow him to decide his next course of action.