Hey everyone, sorry I haven't updated in a bit. I have been very busy. I'm still on my winter break. Anyways, has anyone seen the new Naruto Shippuden OVA on youtube? It's freaking awesome! I cried, though I wish there was more of Sakura doing something than cry like usual. Well, let's continue on with the story.
o.O.o Simple and Clean o.O.o
Naruto watched with an unreadable emotion as Shizune was playing with Masuyo in his office. Tsunade, Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo sat in front of him. They were discussing about their four year absence.
"What is going on?" Naruto asked as he got up and stood in front of the window. "Why does she look like Sakura-chan?" He asked the last part in a quieter voice.
Karin looked worriedly at Tsunade who had a calm face on. Tsunade looked at Shizune and gave her the signal to leave the room with Masuyo.
"Hey Masuyo-chan, want to help Izumo-san and Kotetsu-san with errands?" Shizune asked in a sweet voice. Masuyo had grinned as she quickly headed to the door. She had already met the two ninja a couple hours ago and they adored her greatly. Once Shizune and the Sakura look-alike left, Naruto turned his attention back to Tsunade.
"She is Karin's and Suigetsu's daughter." Tsunade said as if speaking to a child.
"But-"Naruto was cut off by the previous Hokage.
"Karin has red hair and Suigetsu has white. If you look closer at Masuyo's hair, you can see the different strands of hair. It gives out a pink color affect. Besides, if there was any chance that she was Sakura, she would have been five, not three."
Naruto frowned and said nothing after that. He just looked outside the window where civilians were cheerfully going through their days.
"I know how much you wish Sakura didn't die. But she did it for Konoha, for us, for you…" Karin finally spoke.
"Masuyo is holding the Haruno bloodline." Jugo said. Naruto's eyes widened as he quickly turned around to face the kind-hearted giant.
"Excuse me?" Naruto asked as he narrowed his eyes at the four.
"The night Sakura died, she asked me to keep her bloodline safe instead of saving her life." Tsunade sighed. "I ended up extracting Inner Sakura who held the bloodline. When Karin gave birth to Masuyo, Shizune and I thought it would be best if we sealed the bloodline in the child. Inner Sakura agreed as she transferred her power to the child. Now that we know Kameko is alive, we have to protect Masuyo from her. No one else should know that the bloodline still exists. We want everyone, even our enemies to believe Sakura died with the bloodline. It's the only way to keep everyone safe."
"Does she know about her powers?" Naruto questioned.
Tsunade shook her head.
"Karin and I want to keep it that way." Suigetsu spoke. "We want no harm to come to our child. She's ours, not a tool for Konoha." Naruto noticed that Karin flinched at Suigetsu's first sentence, but said nothing.
"Ah. How could you keep this from me? Wasn't there any other way?" Naruto asked.
Tsunade frowned. "If there was, don't you think I would have done it already?"
Naruto sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "How is she like?" He soon looked at Karin and Suigetsu as he changed the subject.
"She's a stubborn child." Suigetsu smirked. "She very prideful, just like her mother. She's barely cries, not even if she gets hurt. She's strong."
Karin let out a small smile. "She's still a child. She's hyper. She has a crazy imagination." Karin said.
"She's really smart though." Suigetsu said. "I swear she has an IQ of Shikamaru's. She thinks quickly on her feet. She can make smart decisions no matter the situation."
"Tsunade-sama would tell Masuyo stories of you and Team seven. She looks up to you." Jugo said.
"I'd like to get to know her." Naruto smiled. The adults continued to discuss about the past before Naruto dismissed the four and went with Karin to pick up Masuyo. Tsunade went to check how the hospital was doing as Suigetsu and Jugo went to go around the village.
"Is everything okay Karin?" Naruto asked as the two left his building and began to walk around town.
"What do you mean?" She asked defensively as she fixed her glasses.
Naruto narrowed his cerulean eyes a bit. Over the years, he had grown wiser and more observant. He could tell that Karin was hiding something, but he just couldn't tell what it was. "It seems like something is bugging you."
"…I was nervous about how everyone would be around Masuyo." Karin said hesitantly. "When I gave birth to her, I broke down crying. She looked so much like Sakura it hurt. I was afraid no one would like her because she resembled Sakura. I didn't want her to be isolated."
"You know how our friends are. They wouldn't do anything like that, especially to a cute child." Naruto comforted her.
"I know." Karin smiled. "I was thankful for Tenten. She broke the awkward tension. That daughter of mine is stealing the hearts of everyone."
"I promise I won't let anything bad happen to her. She will be safe in this village, believe it!" Naruto grinned. Karin couldn't help but believe in his words. This was Naruto Uzumaki after all. The two finally found Masuyo running with a stack of paper in her hands. Izumo and Kotetsu were running after her with their own stack.
"Whoever is the last person to reach Shizune-neesan loses!" Masuyo let out cheerfully as she accidentally ran into Naruto's legs. She fell back as the papers in her hands fell.
"Ouch…" Masuyo said as she rubbed her butt.
"Masuyo-chan! Say sorry." Karin said as she helped her daughter up and began to pick up the papers on the floor.
"Why should I? He should have gotten out of my way." Masuyo pouted as she looked up to see who she bumped into. Her emerald eyes widened as she took a step back. This was the most powerful person of the village. Tsunade-baachan told her about him a lot back in the Snow village. Everywhere they went, people have known of him. He was her idol. She wanted to be like him.
Strong.
Powerful.
Dependable.
Respected.
Mature...
"Hey! Masuyo-chan!" Naruto said childishly. He soon saw Sasuke walking down the street with Kakashi. "Oi Teme! Kakashi!" He pointed his finger at the two. "Let's go out for ramen!"
The mental picture of her hero deflated as she sweat-dropped. This was her idol?
"You're still the same ol' idiot!" Karin sighed as she bonked him on the head. "You're Hokage, stop acting like a child."
"That hurt." Naruto cried as he rubbed the back of his head. He soon looked at Masuyo. "Do you want to join us for ramen?"
Masuyo raised a pink eye brow at him. "Ramen? What's that?"
Naruto felt like he just got the wind knocked out of him. "Y-You don't know what ramen is?" Masuyo shook her head. Naruto quickly grabbed Masuyo and held her close to his chest. "Oh, you deprived little child. Karin, how dare you raise her to not know what ramen is. It's what makes me strong!"
Masuyo's eyes widened. This was her idol's source of power! If she ate it, she would be as strong as him.
"Dobe, don't put idiotic thoughts into her head." Sasuke said with a sigh.
"Kaka-sensei!" Masuyo grinned as she went and hugged Kakashi's right leg. "Mommy, can I go with them?"
Karin smiled. "Make sure you guys bring Masuyo home before dinner time. I'll let her spend some time with you three." Karin handed the stack of papers to Izumo as she kissed Masuyo goodbye. "Have fun and don't get into trouble. See you later."
Masuyo said goodbye to Izumo and Kotetsu as she held onto Kakashi's hand.
"She seems quite attached to you." Sasuke noted.
"I'm responsible for her at the moment." Kakashi said as he began to pull out a familiar orange book.
"Karin will kill you if she finds out you're reading that in front of her daughter." Naruto said. He grabbed Masuyo and put her on his shoulders.
"Hang on tight." Naruto grinned as he felt Masuyo's little hands on top of his head. The two began to head off with Sasuke and Kakashi walking behind. Kakashi noticed that Sasuke was watching the two with a weird expression.
"Something on your mind?" Kakashi asked.
"She looks like Sakura. I feel weird being around her." Sasuke frowned.
"I know how much you want Sakura back. We all feel the same. I felt weird when I first met Masuyo as well. Though the two share the same looks, let me assure you, the two are different in personality." Kakashi said as his eyes crinkled.
"Hn." Sasuke said before he walked faster to catch up with Naruto and Masuyo.
Kakashi watched his old students. Naruto had put Masuyo down to her feet as they were waiting for Sasuke to catch up. Masuyo was laughing as Naruto and Sasuke were making fun of each other again. A warm feeling appeared in him. It was like Team seven was back. Masuyo had both her hands near her mouth as she was shouting at him to hurry up.
"Kaka-sensei! Hurry up!" Masuyo said with a happy smile. Looking at Masuyo, he swore he saw an image of his Sakura calling out for him to hurry up instead. Kakashi let a sad smile appear under his mask. He was feeling very nostalgic at the moment.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Tsunade had checked the hospital. Everything seemed to have been going okay. She soon heard ruckus coming from the entrance.
"Get me a medic now!" A familiar voice said. Tsunade looked to see three ANBU appear. She recognized them immediately.
"Hyuga! Sai!" Tsunade said rushing to them. She quickly ordered a nurse to clear a room for the injured ANBU. "What happened?"
"We were too late! Kabuto appeared and took the Hero's water from us." Sai said.
"Kabuto? What was he doing there?" Tsunade asked.
"He seemed to be on the same mission as we were." Neji gritted his teeth. "He hurt Kumiko gravely. It was like a chakra scalpel." A couple nurses came and went to take Kumiko to get treated. "Help her."
Tsunade nodded as she went with the nurses. She began to take off the mask. Kumiko was pretty, she noticed. She had dark purple hair and dark hazel eyes. Looking at her injury, if she came in any sooner she would have died from blood loss. Tsunade acted quickly as she began to heal the injured girl.
Kameko. She was on the move and knowing that Konoha knew what she up to, she was going to think of this as a game. They had to act quickly and needed to be ahead in the game if they were trying to go against a god such as Kameko.
After a couple of minutes, Kumiko was healed and was to rest overnight. She informed Neji and Sai, who thanked her. They needed to report this to Naruto as fast as possible. Time was of the essence.
XxXxXxXxXxXxX
Masuyo continued to stare at the bowl of ramen in front of her. It just looked like a normal bowl of noodle soup. She frowned as she took her chopsticks and began to poke her food.
"You didn't really believe that this was going to power you up, did you?" Sasuke asked in a bored tone. Masuyo blushed.
"O-Of course not. I'm not like other kids. I was just wanted to see what this ramen thing was." Masuyo huffed as she stuck her nose up.
Sasuke was surprised. This girl was smart for her age and she was only three. He looked back at Masuyo and was surprised to see an adult Sakura staring at him. He blinked a couple of times as the image disappeared and he could see Masuyo once again.
"You know, my mom said staring at someone like that is rude." Masuyo said.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. This kid was annoying. Just like Sakura. Naruto had just finished his fifth bowl when Shizune appeared.
"Naruto-sama. Team Sai had just come back from their mission. It is best if you hurry. We have bad news."
Naruto frowned. Team Sai never came back from their mission with bad news.
"Sorry, I'll be back you three. Ayame! !" Naruto said the last quickly as he disappeared from his stool with a pile of leaves. Kakashi sighed. That left him and Sasuke to take care of Masuyo. He looked to see Sasuke had left in flames. What the heck? He soon looked to see Masuyo give him a shy smile before disappearing in a pile of Sakura petals. He shouldn't have been surprised. She was trained by Tsunade and the others since she was able to hold a kunai. He quickly got up and was about to head out the restaurant to find her when he was stopped.
"A-hem!" A feminine voice said. Kakashi looked back to see Ayame giving him a sweet smile as she handed him the bill. Those brats left him with the bill that included Naruto's tabs.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Naruto appeared in his office to see Neji and Sai. "What happened?"
"I'm sorry but we failed the mission." Sai began to report. Neji frowned as he clenched his fists. "We met up with Kabuto. He was after the Hero-water as well."
Naruto noticed someone wasn't in the room. "Neji, where's Kumiko?"
"She's in the hospital resting right now." Neji said. A shine of concern appeared in Naruto's eyes as Neji continued. "Kabuto stabbed her during the mission."
Naruto frowned. This was bad. Kameko already had one of the elements. He entrusted Tsunade with the fire element. She was holding the scroll that sealed the Kyuubi somewhere safe. If Kabuto was trying to get the elements for Kameko so she could rise in power again, that meant when he went and attacked Gaara's sister, Temari, he was after the air element. It must be her fan. Sakura's great aunt had died with the earth element and heaven element sealed with her. He made a mental note to send Gaara this information A.S.A.P.
"You're dismissed." Naruto said as he waited for the two to leave. When they didn't, Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Is something going on?" Neji asked. "Is Kameko back?"
"Yeah…" Naruto said cautiously.
"So that's why you want us to go after the water element. We have to stop her before she gets all the elements." Sai said.
"I know. I'll be sending Gaara a letter to prepare his guard. She might be after his sister again. Don't let this go out to the others just yet. I know people will want revenge and I don't want to lose anyone right now." Naruto said as he stood up and looked outside his window.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Kameko smiled as she saw a familiar village, the Hidden Leaf. It was night time now. She landed gracefully at the graves as she saw an old woman walking around and heading towards a grave. Moving in closely, she was able to listen to what the woman was saying.
"Hello Sakura. How are you? It's your grandma visiting again." Kaede said as she closed her eyes and made a prayer to her deceased granddaughter. She could soon feel the change in the air. Without opening her eyes, she was able to detect the new person in the area. "You dare show yourself here?" Kaede said turning around and glaring at the evil woman standing a couple feet away from her in the trees.
"Step aside from the grave. I really don't want to stain my hands with the blood of someone as weak as you." Kameko said as she smirked from the shadows.
"Sakura sealed you away!" Kaede said stepping back to protect her granddaughter's grave.
"I was revived." Kameko smiled as she revealed herself. Her white hair shined under the moonlight as her purple eyes glint with malice. "Hand over Sakura-chan's body. She will be my new body."
"So you can get the Angel's tear?" Kaede scoffed. "I will do no such thing." She quickly began to put up a barrier but stopped with a large shard of ice pierced her chest. Kaede coughed off blood as she fell to the ground. She could see Kameko walking to Sakura's grave.
"N-No!" Kaede cried out.
Kameko looked down at her sadly. "It would have been easier if you just backed off. Don't underestimate a Goddess." Kameko grabbed a large amount of soil from Sakura's grave as she placed it in a pouch. Her hand soon glowed black and hit the ground as Sakura's grave exploded. Kameko was faced with a casket. Opening it, it revealed Sakura's body. The body was so decomposed, it could be thought of as a skeleton.
"Hello Sakura-chan!" Kameko smirked. "Five years in that coffin did you well." She bent down and was about to touch the skeleton, but was stopped by a kunai that she easily dodged. She looked to see who interrupted her.
"Back away from the grave, Kameko!" A powerful female voice said. Kameko smirked.
"Nice to see you too, Tsunade-chan…" Kameko said. She noticed behind Tsunade were Shizune, two ANBU and the new Hokage himself.
"She destroyed Sakura's grave!" Shizune said angrily.
"How dare you!" Naruto growled as he went to attack her. She kicked him hard and sent him flying.
"Kaede!" Tsunade said as she noticed the elderly Haruno on the ground. She went to go and heal her.
"I'm sorry…" Kaede said as she had difficulty breathing.
"Hang on. Let me heal you!" Tsunade said as her hands began to glow green.
"Don't waste your chakra on me. Promise me you'll stop her. Don't let her take Sakura's remains or else you'll be fighting an enemy that cannot be won." Kaede said as she closed her eyes for the last time.
"No! Kaede, don't!" There was no response. Tsunade bit her lower lip. Kuso! "KAMEKO!" She turned around to see that Shizune went to dodge the enemy's water jutsu. At that moment, another Kameko clone came and took the skeleton. Two ANBU tried to stop the clone. The clone sprinted off with the ANBU hot on its trail.
"See you soon Tsunade-chan!" Kameko smirked as she disappeared as well.
Naruto got up and looked at the scenery. Sakura's grave had been destroyed and they had a dead Haruno. Naruto angrily punched the ground. "Damn it!" He let out an angry shock.
XxXxXxXxX
Kabuto was alert when he sensed Kameko entering the hideout.
"Kameko-sama!" Kabuto bowed as Kameko gracefully landed on the water. He watched as another clone appeared from the water with a skeleton.
"Is that…" Kabuto couldn't finish his sentence.
"It's Sakura-chan of course!" Kameko smiled. She took hold of the skeleton by the top with her right hand as her left hand held Sakura's jaw. She began to open and close the jaw. "Hello Kabuto-san, it's been a while since we've last seen each other!" Kameko said trying to imitate Sakura's voice. She let out a giggle as she handed the soil and skeleton to Kabuto.
"You must know a way to revive her." Kameko said. Kabuto fixed his glasses.
"There is. It's called the impure world resurrection." Kabuto said.
"Show me!" Kameko said.
"I'll need to have an extra body to use as sacrifice!" Kabuto said. Kameko's eyes glint as she vanished from the cave and returned with the two ANBU from before.
"I had a feeling I was still being followed." Kameko smirked as she killed one of them.
Kabuto sighed. "I need the sacrifice to be alive."
Kameko continued to smirk as she kicked the other ANBU towards Kabuto. Kabuto pulled out a scroll as he placed it on the ground. "Do you have any DNA of Sakura's?" Kameko pointed to the strands of hair still left on the skeleton. "Perfect." Kabuto grabbed the strands and placed it on the scroll.
"Explain how this jutsu works." Kameko asked as she sat down excitedly as if she were a little kid waiting for the magic show to begin.
"For starters, this is a variant of the summoning technique. It calls the soul of departed human back from the afterlife, the 'Pure World', back to this plane…the 'Impure World'. And to do that, the user needs a specific amount…of the physical body of the person he wishes to revive. In other words, one needs enough of the 'blue-prints' also known as DNA. In addition, the target's soul must reside in the pure world. If the soul has been sealed elsewhere, or if there isn't enough DNA, they can't be resurrected. That's why Orochimaru-sama's attempt to summon the fourth Hokage failed. The fourth sealed his own soul in the belly of the death god with the dead demon seal. And during the 'Crush the Leaf' plan, the third Hokage Hiruzen used the same seal to lock away the first and second Hokages."
"So that means all four of the previous Hokages cannot be summoned with the impure world resurrection, then?" Kameko asked.
"Yes." Kabuto nodded. "I've summoned numerous ninjas over the past couple years, and let me tell you, gathering their DNA proved to be quite an ordeal. I guess you can say it was basically grave robbing. Some were so rotted I couldn't even tell who it was. I had more than a few failures." Kabuto made a hand seal as the ANBU began to scream in pain. "And finally, the living human becomes a vessel for the soul of the dead one and the impure world resurrection is complete."
Kameko watched with surprise as the ANBU's mask crack as her brown hair turned into a familiar pink color as her brown eyes turned green. The clothes changed into white robes as the body fell to the floor and shivered. In front of her was Sakura herself.
"I would say it is the greatest, most powerful technique in the shinobi universe! Created by the second Hokage, perfected by Orochimaru-sama, it is the most wonderful legacy ever left behind." Kabuto chuckled. He soon pulled out a talisman. "And this talisman locks away their personality and makes them into obedient pawns. The revived person follows my orders, can't be killed and is able to use all their original techniques. The best part is that it poses no risk to the user at all!"
"No risk at all you say?" Kameko asked as she got up and wrapped her arms around Kabuto's neck.
"Well there is the fact that the impure world resurrection doesn't end even if you kill the user. You only need to gain control of me, force me to make the dog, horse, and tiger seals and say "release."
"I see." Kameko smiled. "Such a powerful technique." She soon got up to the body and began to notice something was wrong. "I cannot feel the Angel's tear within her! What did you do?"
Kabuto frowned. That couldn't be possible. "Her soul had to be there or else this jutsu wouldn't have worked."
"The jutsu disappeared when I died." Sakura spoke for the first time. Kameko's purple eyes widened with the information before she screamed angrily.
"No! No! NO!" Kameko screeched. She breathed heavily as she glared at Sakura. "Kabuto, place the talisman so she won't have her personality anymore."
Kabuto nodded as he quickly went behind Sakura and place the talisman in her head. Sakura's eyes widened as her eyes darkened and closed into slumber. He soon backed away when Sakura became frozen in ice. He looked to see Kameko with her hand sticking out in front of her.
"We will keep her as is until it is time to use her. With her no longer possessing the bloodline, she is useless." Kameko growled.
"There must be some way to achieve the heaven element." Kabuto pondered.
"Why didn't I think of that before!" Kameko grinned as she began to dance gracefully around Sakura, who was still asleep in the ice crystal. "The souls of innocents can be used as those things beyond our everyday experience, particularly those things composed of pure energy. Bodily, kū represents spirit, thought, and creative energy. Who better than to use children for this? We just need to find a way to collect them all."
"I believe I know just the person to use for this." Kabuto chuckled. "I'll need to find another body first."
"Before we do any of that, I'd like to visit a certain village. " Kameko said with a smirk. "I hope you can handle the snow."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Gaara sighed as he entered the hospital where his sister was being held in.
"Kazekage-sama!" The nurses and doctors greeted. Gaara nodded back to acknowledge them.
"How is my sister?" He asked.
"She's recovered successfully. She's awake if you'd like to visit her." A nurse answered him. Gaara thanked them as he entered his sister's room.
"Gaara!" Temari smiled as she stopped looking out the window to give her youngest brother her undivided attention.
"How are you feeling?" Gaara asked.
Temari grinned. "Nothing can bring me down!" She gave him a peace sign. "You look tired. Have you been and Kankuro been eating well?"
"Just came back from Konoha a couple hours ago." Gaara answered as he took a seat on the bed. "I had Kankuro take care of the village while i was gone."
Temari's usual happy eyes dimmed. "That's right, two days ago was Sakura's death anniversary." Temari soon noticed her brother had something on his mind.
"What's wrong Gaara?" Temari asked as she ruffled his hair. She knew he'd glare at her like usual, but the glare this time was half-hearted.
"I saw a child, a girl to be more exact." He said slowly, not sure how to tell this to his sister. "She looked like Sakura. But she's a child and I know Sakura wasn't pregnant."
"Are you sure?" Temari frowned. "I know how much Sakura meant to you. Maybe you were seeing things. Shikamaru informed me that Tsunade and the others were back in the village."
"Ah. The child was with Tsunade-sama when I saw her." Gaara said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. A large thump was heard, which startled the two siblings. He soon noticed Temari's fan was in the corner of the room. It had fallen to the ground. It was because of that fan his sister had gotten hurt. He had a feeling something bad was going to happen.
Oh Kameko, how we hate you so. I'm trying to have this story tie in with how the Naruto manga is right now. Do you like how this sequel is going at the moment? Let me know what you guys think. Review everyone.
-Kumiko