So this is yet another start to a story for me. I wanted to enjoy Naruto fanfiction and realised that I wouldn't be able to understand or enjoy it half as much if I didn't watch the anime first. I've watched up to the start of shippuden in a massive binge. After that I had a pretty good understanding of the world that I Could enjoy the fanfiction and better yet I could enjoy the later plots as if they were new to me! A bit whacky but that's how it happened. Anyway this story bunny popped into my head and I can see so much potential with it.
This chapter mostly originates from the opening to shippuden and you'll see a lot of this is basically taken direct from that episode, and the ending credits too! The point of the title will probably come clear in a few chapters (if I get that far). I should warn readers that updates will be very very sporadic and might never happen at all. Quite frankly motivating myself is incredibly tough, up to the point that I've wondered if I might be depressed. My life is quite hectic aswell, what with studying a course whilst job hunting and after that I have to find a proper place to live!
I actually have some *coughs* "proper" stories that I would like to write one day which would be an awesome thing to do. However, while my spelling is generally pretty good, my grammar could do with a lot of work. With regards towards that if I get involved in this story more so I might consider hunting down a decent beta who could help me with that sort of thing and hopefully teach me a bit of grammar in the process. I'm not going to let myself start writing these stories until I complete at least one full fanfiction to prove to myself I'm ready so I have some motivation at least. Anyway enough of my ramblings, enjoy Chapter 1.
Chapter one: A surprising return
The gate guards Izumo and Kotetsu were busy not paying attention to the goings into and out of the Village of Konohagakure no sato when two distinctive people walked through the gate. One was tall, incredibly so, with a huge mane of shaggy white hair. The other was shorter, decked out in orange with blonde spiky hair.
"Is that who I think it is?" Kotetsu asked.
"No doubt about it!" his partner replied with a grin. Things were definitely going to get interesting in the near future.
Sakura Haruno made her way slowly towards the east gate of Konohagakure no sato. Her master Tsunade had asked her to fetch the civilian reports and after that her Master had promised a big surprise. Sakura wasn't the type to get over excited over a 'surprise' but she couldn't help but wonder what Tsunade was promising, last time she had surprised her was with the revelation that Sakura was going to be taught the prized strength technique her sensei was so famous for.
Sakura was broken from her musings by the sound of Genin running towards her. "Oh hi Konohamaru," Sakura said, "I'm going to pick up this morning's pedestrian traffic reports for Lady Tsunade, want to come?"
"Yeah sure!" Konohamaru said. The recently formed Genin team and Sakura happily made their way towards the gate. All the way Konohamaru regaled Sakura with tales of his team's experiences so far. The infamous Tora mission being an obvious highlight.
Their conversation was broken by a shout up ahead. Recognising the voice Sakura and Konohamaru immediately ran forward to get a better look.
"Is it really him?" Sakura couldn't help but ask as she looked up the large pole that the voice had come from.
"Looks like!" Konohamaru said with glee.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried with happiness. Her teammate had finally returned!
The orange clad shinobi jumped down the thirty foot drop, landing gracefully on the ground with barely a sound as he did. "Long time no see Sakura," Naruto said with a smile on his face before laughing with that grin which always lifted the spirits of those around him.
Sakura took a deep breath, lifting the stress off her that she didn't know she had been carrying these last two years. "Wait a minute!" she said, "are you taller than me now?"
Naruto took a look up and down Sakura before taking his hand and trying to gauge their height difference. "I guess I am!" Naruto said with a grin.
'I guess you've grown up a lot huh?' Sakura thought , "so uh, what do you think, do I seem more like a woman to you now?" Sakura asked, trying and failing to hide the blush as she did so.
"Are you kidding!?" Naruto replied, "you haven't changed at all!"
Ok so he was clearly still as clueless as ever. Sakura huffed and turned away from her teammate. Clearly he hadn't become more observant in his training trip!
Jiraya couldn't help but frown as his protégé managed to step his foot in it. 'Could he be any more oblivious?' he thought with a sigh.
Sakura having reintroduced herself to the new Naruto made way for the Konohamaru corps. Just in time, as it was with shock that Jiraiya was bamboozled by the visage of a beautiful brown haired woman, covered in nothing but a few clouds of smoke, her delicious curves highlighting her assets with the grace of a geisha and with twice the beauty.
"Sexy Jutsu…" Konohamaru said through the advanced henge technique.
Jiraya's eyes boggled at the sight and his brain's ability to process higher functions was lost temporarily. This was almost as good as Naruto's jutsu!
Sakura watched as Naruto smiled wanly as he observed his friend performing his own first signature jutsu. "Konohamaru," he started with a hint of regret, "I'm not that scrawny little kid anymore. And you shouldn't be using jutsu like that anymore either, it's beneath you."
'It's not just the outside that's changed is it?' Sakura thought, Naruto had changed from that silly little boy she used to know. 'Knowing you I bet you've got a whole new set of incredible jutsu to show us.'
"Step aside and get a view of my brand spanking new super pervy Ninjutsu!"
"Right, like a new pervy ninjutsu," Sakura muttered, pulling a stray strand of hair behind her ear with the hints of that blush reforming. 'Wait what?'
"Are you kidding me!" Sakura's fist collided with Naruto, sending him flying into the ground, gouging out the dirt path and leaving the orange shinobi upside down, buried part-way into the street. Sakura wasn't done yet though!
With righteous female fury the pink haired girl stepped towards her teammate and pulled him out of the hole he had dug during his impromptu re-acquaintance with Konohagakure soil.
"What the heck is wrong with you; you pervy little doofus? We don't see each other for two years and you come back with the nerve to pull a stunt like that!?"
Jiraya had regained his senses in time to observe his apprentice being manhandled by his former teammate's student. With trepidation, worries that his busty love interest had managed to teach her student more than just her techniques crossed his mind.
It's been a long time you two," Tsunade said from behind her desk, "Your training proves to be fruitful I hope?"
"You think we would have come back if it hadn't?" Jiraya asked with a hint of pride.
Naruto gave his patented smile and a thumbs up, "Mission accomplished grandma!"
"Hmm, I'm glad to hear it, show me what you've got kid."
"What, right now?" Naruto asked is bemusement.
"I have someone I'd like you to go up against, I've kept him off missions these last few days so he'd be ready for just this moment…"
Kakashi was having a great time reading the third book in the Make-out series, this wasn't the best out of all the books in the entire series so far but it wouldn't be right to miss out any of the books in his collection when reading through it all again. The mysterious red-headed Geisha was slowly pulling on the rope that Ninato 's bride to be had been tied up in. The beautiful blonde was suspended from the ceiling, trussed up in shibari and the rough flaxen ropes dug deeply between her…
Laughter came out through the window of the Hokage's office and a few seconds later the window opened to reveal Naruto.
"Well you haven't changed a bit sensei!" Naruto said before vaulting out the window to join Kakashi on the roof. "Oh wait, I've got something here for you sensei," Naruto said as he fished in his pockets for something.
Kakashi watched his student's hand as Naruto revealed the treasure to his eyes. "No way!" Kakashi said, hands trembling, "is that really?..."
"Yup! The first new book in the make-out series in three years," Naruto said, "pretty boring if you ask me."
Ignoring his student's blasphemous words Kakashi only had eyes for the teal coloured book that now rested in his hands. With a laugh with was disturbingly reminiscent of both a madman and a schoolgirl, Kakashi opened the brand new book.
Kakashi's joy would be short lived however as Tsunade interrupted his reading, "this is no time to be fooling around Kakashi!" With a snap the book was closed and returned to the pouch on his lower back and Kakashi was all business, any hint of the comical man from before completely gone.
"So I guess you're my opponent?" Naruto asked as they both stood up and returned through the window.
"Well… You're half right," Kakashi said as he looked Sakura over. "Been a long time hasn't it Sakura?" He said, receiving a happy nod in return.
"So as to who my opponent will be, it's Naruto and Sakura."
"Both of us at once Sensei?" Naruto asked with trepidation, though Kakashi sensed something more than just worry over this upcoming contest, excitement probably.
Tsunade chose that moment to turn away from her paperwork and towards the group. "That's right, Kakashi will put you to the test. How well you do against him will determine your future status. Sakura, it's time to show your training with me wasn't just a waste of time."
"I understand sensei," Sakura replied, the importance of this was clearly not lost on her.
"So, shall we get started?" Kakashi asked. 'Of course first I think I'll need to read just a little of this new book before we begin.'
Quickly making his excuses and managing to pass it off as a taunt to Naruto, Kakashi made his escape to read his new book. But first he had to read the next nine books after book three so he was ready to read the newest installment. It wouldn't do to lose track of where he was.
Sakura and Naruto were battling kakashi in the forest. Things had gone well so far. Naruto's use of the Shadow clone jutsu had improved drastically and it had been apparent from the beginning when he used the jutsu to escape Kakashi's thrown Kunai. From there things had escalated significantly.
The expression on Kakashi and Naruto's faces had been priceless when they had seen her use her strength for the first time. Kunochi power! They had just finished a small skirmish with Kakashi and still hadn't acquired the bells. Time was almost up and they had one idea left. Using Kakashi's perverted nature against him would never had occurred to Sakura but this kind of lateral thinking always seemed to come naturally to Naruto. It was surprising since he was always such a dunderhead when it came to everything else.
"You ready?" Naruto asked.
"You bet!" Sakura replied, "let's do this!"
They came out of cover and ran for Kakashi who leapt to his feet from the tree he had been leaning against. "A straightforward approach this time I see. Well if you're sure," Kakashi prepared himself for their final onslaught.
"Kakashi! I know the final plot twist if Make-out tactics."
"So we figured even through Naruto didn't know the ending that even the mention of Make-out tactics would freeze you in your tracks," Sakura said with a smirk towards Kakashi who had slumped down against a tree in defeat.
"Yes you two have definitely shown some growth," Tsunade said as she appeared from the treeline, "from now on you three will be a team, Team Kakashi."
"What does that mean?" Naruto asked, "what's the scoop?"
"It means," Kakashi put in, "that we three will be working together constantly, from now on you will both be my colleagues.
It was nightime in Konoha, Naruto was crouched on top of a water tower. the same tower in fact where he and Sasuke had once demonstrated their new "ultimate Jutsus" against each other, only to be stopped by Kakashi. It was very late past midnight, everybody would be asleep including most of the village's Ninja.
With agility and stealth unbecoming of a mere Genin, Naruto leapt off the water tower into the streets below.
Sakura carefully picked up the framed photograph of her and the rest of the original Team 7. It was such a long time ago now and so much had changed in the last two years. She was at home, relaxing after her long day and just about to go to bed. The fight had taken more out of her than she had anticipated but she was still eager to see what would happen in the near future with this team. 'Working with Kakashi sensei and Naruto again will be great' Sakura thought as she replaced the picture on her nightstand, "and maybe," Sakura said to the photograph, "we can find a way to bring you home, Sasuke." A knocking sound disturbed her musings.
She was surprised to hear knocking at her door, especially at such a late time, even in a ninja village like Konoha it wasn't common for someone to be needed without prior notice at such a late time. Rubbing her eyes to stave off sleep she made her way to the door. Opening it revealed the beleaguered and clearly worried face of her recently returned teammate.
"Naruto, what are you doing up at this time? Is something the matter?"
"Yeah, there is," Naruto said, obvious concern on his face, he took a quick glance left and right before looking back to her "can I come inside? This is really important."
"O-of course," Sakura stammered. Naruto very rarely got this flustered like this. Sakura ushered him inside and shut the door behind him. Just as she was about to turn away from the door there was a sudden prick of pain on the back of her neck and everything went black.
Sakura groggily opened her eyes, everything was blurry, no-doubt a product of whatever drug had been used to knock her unconscious. She immediately tried to stand up but her wrists wouldn't move. Closer inspection revealed her hands and feet had been tied to her bedposts with thick rope. Clearly whoever had attacked her had no idea what she was capable of.
With an almost smug smile Sakura reached for her chakra, ready to use her fantastic strength to break the ropes tying her down, or the bedposts whichever came first. Her chakra didn't respond. Infact she couldn't move a single muscle below her neck.
Panicking Sakura tried to feel her chakra desperate to find the barest slivers of the spiritual and physical energies present in her body. Then it hit her, she wasn't drugged. Someone had managed to remove or block almost the entirety of the chakra from her system, she was suffering from a severe form of chakra exhaustion. Sakura was broken from completely freaking out by an intensely familiar yet completely alien voice from the corner of the room.
"There's no point struggling, you won't be escaping without any chakra."
Sakura turned her head to look at the man who had attacked her and so easily disabled her, "Naruto!"
"Yep, hi Sakura. You must have a lot of questions huh?"
"B-but, what are you doing? Why am I tied up!?"
"Ah you see that's a complicated story Sakura, one that I guess you do deserve the right to know." Naruto stood up from the chair and moved outside Sakura's field of vision, when he returned he was beside the bed, a familiar photo frame in hand. With a sigh Naruto observed the people in the frame and chuckled mirthlessly.
"Do you remember during our Genin test Sakura? Kakashi said something when I was fighting him. Do you remember what it was?"
"Err, something about how a ninja should always look underneath the underneath."
"Bingo!" Naruto exclaimed standing up suddenly, "That's exactly what he said, how we should always look deeper into a situation because there is often more behind what we see and hear than we might expect. The Naruto you thought you knew was a lie."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked her apparent captor. None of this made sense, this was Naruto! He didn't go around tying people up.
"You see Sakura while you grew up happy with you loving family I most certainly didn't…"
"I know that Naruto you're an orphan, there are loads of orphans left over from the Kyuubi attack!" Sakura couldn't help but snap back at him.
"Of course, good to see you remember but that wasn't my point. You see while you had a loving family and friends to play with at the park and the Orphans had each other, I didn't get any of that." Naruto turned sombre as he turned away from the pinkette. "I wasn't liked as a child Sakura, not like the other orphans who grouped together for comfort. I was completely alone, I barely had anybody I could call close to me. To put it bluntly in terms that you might appreciate. Parents would pull their children away when I went to the park to play, they didn't want their children near me."
Sakura gasped, nobody could be that heartless could they? And why on earth would someone want to ostracize a little boy? "Naruto I don't understand why wou…"
"Being a child I made a decision," Naruto said, continuing on as id Sakura hadn't interrupted him. "If they weren't going to acknowledge me I wouldn't even give them my true self to ignore.
"To answer your question though, it was because they were bitter and afraid, They were scared because they knew something about me that you and the others of our generation weren't allowed to know, because it was such a dangerous piece of information that the mere mention of it was made a death sentence. Sakura, I am a Jinchuriki."
"Y-you mean like Gaara was?" Sakura stammered. She had only ever encountered one Jinchuriki to her knowledge and the experience hadn't been great to say the least.
"Afraid so, infact I'll give you a clue to which Biju I contain. My birthday is October tenth, can you think of anything special about October the tenth?"
"Oh no…" Sakura whispered. It was so obvious when you thought about it.
"You got it? Well done Sakura it only took you nine years to realise," Naruto said with a bitter laugh, "My birthdate is October tenth, the day of the Kyuubi attack and the day it was sealed inside me to stop the beast rampaging over the village. It is because I was made a living prison that I am feared and hated by the majority of this village and it is most likely the deciding factor behind me being here today."
With a sharp tug Sakura's vest was torn open, exposing the majority of her torso to view. Only her thin bra covered her modesty but Naruto didn't even stop to look or pay attention to Sakura's exclamation of shock and fear. Instead he brought up a cup from behind him and dipped his finger in it. When he removed it, it was covered in a dark liquid with which he began painting intricate lines over her stomach
"What are you doing?," Sakura asked too weak to struggle against her bindings any longer.
"I would have thought that was obvious Sakura, I am performing Fuinjutsu."
Seals were not to be trifled with. Knowledge of the Jinchuriki and Sasuke's cursed seal had taught Sakura that at least. "W-what is it supposed to do?" She asked hesitantly.
"Well…" Naruto replied, his face scrunching up in concentration as he focused on his task while still talking, "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise now would I?"
The next few minutes were spent in painful silence. Only the gentle sound of Naruto's finger running over Sakura's skin did anything to relieve the quiet until finally Naruto put the cup of ink down. "So Sakura are you ready?"
"Ready for what?" Sakura asked with some trepidation.
"You'll see soon," Naruto said as he removed his shirt leaving him bare chested. Next he placed his hands in that signature jutsu of his that Sakura was so familiar with. With a puff of smoke a pair of copies of Naruto appeared.
"Do you remember during the preliminaries of the Chunin exams, that guy with the chakra sapping technique?" one copy moved to place a hand on each of Naruto's and Sakura's foreheads and suddenly Sakura felt herself weakening even more. "I'm afraid," the real Naruto said, frowning in obvious pain, "that neither of us can have a lot of chakra in our bodies for this to work as I need it to, I'm sorry for the discomfort."
Sakura could barely breathe when the process was completed. Whatever Naruto's technique was had rendered her to the point it felt like a newborn lamb could have caused her serious injury. It was a struggle to remain conscious. By all rights she should probably be dead with the severe lack of Chakra Sakura was feeling. "Don't worry, this is only temporary. Your Chakra should return to you in a few days, just like any case of normal chakra exhaustion." Naruto growled with discomfort at the effort it took to remain standing as his chakra was removed almost entirely from his body. With a glance to his clone it let go of the jutsu and the second clone caught the original as he fell sideways.
"Wow that's really uncomfortable. Strange to think that's what all ninja feel like when they are low on chakra. Ok Sakura, it's time for the awkward part."
Sakura meeped as the clone helped his creator up on top of the bound girl, their stomachs touching intimately. Naruto grimaced at the awkwardness that could be felt between them. "I'm sorry for all of this Sakura, if I didn't have to I really would have never even considered and of this."
Naruto almost collapsed on top of her completely when the clone let go of him but he somehow managed to struggle to hold himself up over her, their stomachs still flush against each other. "I'm also sorry for this, Seal transfer technique!" Sakura instinctively closed her eyes as his words.
When she opened them it was pitch black. Naruto clapped his hands grandly and the room suddenly lit up. "Welcome Sakura, to the Eight Trigrams Seal!"
They weren't in the apartment anymore. Both pink and blonde haired ninjas were standing in a dingy sewer. Everything was tinted a dark angry orange and dirty looking water dripped from pipes above their head, pooling down to form puddles in places along the floor.
Sakura blinked before a hot wind blew on the back of her neck. She turned around to see metal bars lining he entire room, splitting it in half. There was a paper seal stuck on one of the bars but Sakura didn't notice that at first, because behind those bars stood the massive hulking body of the Kyuubi no Yoko.
"Yeah, that's pretty much how I reacted too," Naruto said as Sakura fell onto her rear in fright, "Well furball, her she is."
"I imagined her taller," The behemoth said, leaning down, pressing its nose to the bars to get a closer look at Sakura who crawled back further in fear.
"Yeah well, she makes up for that in personality," Naruto replied dryly, "You ready?"
"Of course, get on with it."
Naruto smiled at the now truly terrified face of Sakura who was gaping at him. "Don't worry Sakura, aside from terrible chakra control and a decent healing factor you'll hardly ever notice he's there."
Stepping forward, Naruto reached for the seal on the cage, his fingers grabbed the corner and he was just about to pull on it when a hand enclosed over his wrist. "What are you doing Naruto?"
Naruto turned around to face the new presence in the room. He was fairly tall with a white cape around his shoulders and a Konoha Hitai-ate on his head, partially covered by his long blonde bangs.
Naruto slowly withdrew his arm and the man let go of his wrist. "I didn't expect something like this to happen," Naruto said slowly eyeing the figure before him, "who would have thought you'd care enough to leave a bit of your chakra behind, just incase I decided to release the Kyuubi."
The man stepped back with a smile, looking Naruto up and down. "You've certainly grown I'll give you that, son."
From behind them Sakura gasped, drawing the man's attention to her. She recognised the face, it was in the history books. The Yondaime.
"Yeah, no thanks to you," Naruto growled, "You left me with the hate of the entire village. My entire life was a joke thanks to what you did."
Minato stepped back in surprise at the vitriol in his words. "What do you mean Naruto? Surely Hiru…"
"Sarutobi failed. He tried his best I'll give him that, but to ask your villagers," Naruto paused and scoffed, "Your villagers to see me as a hero and not as the monster I contained was apparently too much for them. I haven't received much if anything in the form of love."
This wasn't the opposite of the reunion Minato had envisioned when he had left his chakra in the seal. He knew that the encounter wouldn't be pleasant, that Naruto would be at a breaking point where he was willing to release the fox but these revelations were shocking him to the core. "But surely someone took you in, gave you a home?"
Naruto looked at the man with pity, it was clear how much his words were affecting the man. "Nobody took me in, nobody would let me get too near them, let alone actually accept me into their family. Do you think they'd accept a monster with open arms? "
Minato slumped backwards, letting go of Naruto's wrist. Sakura missed the tear that fell down his face but Naruto didn't. "I'm sorry father but I can't carry this burden any longer. Minato's head snapped up, "What do you mean?" he asked, but then his eyes widened and he turned to look at Sakura before he looked back towards Naruto. "You wouldn't force their hate on someone else!?"
Naruto scowled, "of course not! I wouldn't have even bothered with returning to the village if I didn't have to. The transfer jutsu I'm using requires someone with low chakra reserves that are still exercised regularly, Sakura was the perfect candidate. Not to mention that she is Tsunade's apprentice. Tsunade won't turn her back on her and nobody else has to find out that isn't on a need to know basis. If anything it's better this way."
Minato nodded his head in defeat. Naruto had covered all his bases. "I take it you encountered the masked man?"
"I haven't met any masked men but there is a group whose apparent aim is to gather the Biju. Jiraiya doesn't know why yet but I want no part in it. Keeping the Kyuubi sealed inside me was just painting a target on my back, they'll have no reason to chase me now."
"So you're leaving the village, I suppose I can't blame you as much as I hate to see you do this Naruto." Minato stepped back. "Just please, try to find happiness somewhere, your mother would want you to be happy, me too," he added, "for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what I put you through."
Naruto silently nodded to his father who watched his son with tears in his eyes as he went to pull at the seal. "I love you Naruto." With a brief nod and the smallest of smiles Naruto pulled the seal completely away from the bars. Minato's body began to fade away as Naruto turned to Sakura. He gently placed the seal paper it into her hands as the sewer around them began to shake before everything turned white.
Just as quickly as they arrived in the seal dimension they were back in her bedroom. Naruto was already off the bed and the two bunshin had dispersed leaving them alone together.
Sakura struggled to lift her head towards Naruto, "w-what have you done to me?"
Naruto looked at her with what might have been pity but seemed more neutral than Sakura had ever seen him before. "I made you the new Jinchuriki to the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The Akatsuki want the Bijuu and I want to leave the village, if I kept hold of it then I would be hounded by the Akatsuki aswell as any villages that came across me. This way the Kyuubi is protected and I get to leave peacefully.
"What's more you were the perfect candidate for the transfer, little chakra reserves which are still exercised regularly which was required for the technique. Protection from the village and guaranteed training due to your being the favoured apprentice of the current Hokage and you actually have motivation to train to use it's power."
"What do you mean?" Sakura cried, "I never asked for this…"
"You could bring back Sasuke," Naruto said, and Sakura closed her mouth in favour of speaking again at the thought of the opportunity that Naruto had given her. Naruto turned towards the window and opened it before climbing onto the ledge. "I guess this is goodbye Sakura huh, good luck I'm sure you'll do great."
He made to leave but something in Sakura couldn't let that be the end, "Naruto wait," Sakura said, prompting the blonde boy to turn back with a questioning look on his face. "T-this is all so strange, w-was everything I thought I knew about you a lie?"
Naruto frowned in thought for a moment. "Of course not Sakura," Naruto gave her one last grin, "I do absolutely love Ramen," and with that he was gone.