Once again Naruto didn't have time to be surprised as at that moment he was picked up off the forest flood and held in the air by his collar.
"Lights out," Seishin hit him hard on the back of the head, knocking out Naruto almost instantly.
For the first time in a long time Sakura felt helpless. This guy's moves were unpredictable even to her trained senses. He'd even been able to take out Naruto with no more than a few hits to the face, this was so out of character for him; he hadn't even fought back! She thought he'd been training all this time.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled at him from where she now stood just a few feet away from the clearing, a slight hint of anger in her voice.
Seishin dropped him Naruto's limp body to the floor and tapped his face with his foot, leaving a muddy footprint on his face.
"Don't you dare touch him!* I don't know who you are, or what you can do... But he won't be down long; when he gets up you're finished!" she said through bared teeth almost spitting at him as she spoke.
"Shut up you little bitch, I know more about this boy then you ever have!" Sakura stared at him in shock.
How could he have...? Naruto didn't seem to know this guy at all so how did he...? Sakura's thoughts were staggered.
Seishin was getting pretty annoyed with this girl. He hadn't even been here five minutes and she was already getting on his nerves. Well she'd be dead soon enough anyways, so he might as well toy with her. He sighed and began stepping towards her watching her back away slowly with her fist clenched and gaze steady.
Sakura charged straight at him and threw a punch that hit him in the face. Or... Wait a second... Did it?
She looked in front of her where empty space was staring mockingly.
I'm sure I'd hit him. Where'd he –
"Right here," Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by a sinister voice from behind her. Her eyes widened when she realized what had happened. She swung 'round throwing another punch in his direction, but Seishin had already jumped out of the way before she'd even turned.
"You really are a fool," Seishin was getting bored of this girl already.
Almost time to end this.
Fox? Fox? His thoughts echoed through the walls of the chamber that sealed the Nine Tailed Fox inside of him.
He'd been here many times before but not lately as the majority of his time training was practicing using his own human strength rather than that of a demon.
"What is it kid?"
"I need you to lend me your power," the giant fox grinned.
"Very well," Naruto could feel the chakra in his body being taken over by that of the fox's.
Seishin took a few steps towards Sakura who had a defiant look on her face.
"I think I've figured it out,"
"Oh? Enlighten me," Seishin was smiling to himself again.
"But you don't need me to do you," she asked rhetorically.
"The way you fight, by interpreting the moves of your opponent and then acting before they do, that is similar to that of the Sharingan, but you don't have the mirror eye,"
"Correct, you're smarter than your friend,"
Sakura couldn't help herself, she grinned slightly at this.
"You read minds don't you, "
"Very clever, but you have not yet discovered the restraint on my powers,"
"But you already knew that," Sakura grinned, lowering her eye contact.
Seishin grunted and took a kunai from his pouch and twirled it on his finger.
Sakura braced herself to run but Seishin took her shoulder with one of his strong hands before her mind had completely processed the thought.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt... For long," he raised his arm.
"Don't you dare," Naruto stood up, a red chakra engulfing him.
Seishin's head turned in disbelief. Sakura noticed this and smiled slyly.
"So that's it..." she said keeping her head down. She fully recognized Naruto's new form as the form of his demon cloak.
"You little... I'll kill you both!" he turned around just quick enough to see Naruto pounce at him. Even in his first stage of the transformation he wasn't quite quick enough for Seishin, who jumped up out of the way, landing on a branch just above. This gave Naruto the advantage as he tore up the trunk, causing it to topple over into the clearing. The psychic was still too quick as he jumped straight to the ground, assuming his battle stance. Naruto landed on the floor and Seishin began to charge. Naruto prepared himself to fight him head on but was taken by surprise when the ninja circled around to the left.
Sakura! He turned around to see Seishin had Sakura in a tight head-lock with a kunai to her throat.
"Let her go!" he snarled, a second tail forming.
"No can do. I'm going to kill you both right here, right now, so don't you take another step or you're sending her to an early grave," Sakura's eyes glistened. She couldn't believe this. She was a chunin shinobi of Konaha yet she was getting beat so easily. They had let their guard down and let him get to them and now they were stuck.
Seishin took a step backwards.
"Better hurry up and tell her," he took another step "you haven't got long," he dug his kunai slightly into Sakura's throat causing a drop of blood to drip down her neck.
Naruto's angry, snarling expression turned to that of mockery.
"You can't tell what I'm thinking can you?" Seishin's expression became nervous and hinted and madness.
"Only the minds of humans," Naruto looked him in the eye "you're finished now,"
Sakura felt Seishin's grip tighten on her once again.
"Gotcha..." Seishin swerved to face one of Naruto's shadow clones just before he was hit in the chest with Naruto's Rasengan.
Seishin yelled out in pain as he collapsed to the floor, letting go of Sakura who quickly got up out of the way. Once Naruto's shadow clone released the jutsu, Seishin was bleeding all over the ground. The real Naruto let his expression fall as he restrained the fox, returning to normal, something he'd trained himself to do while with Jiraiya which he could perform for up to the third stage of his demon form. He was breathless from the strain he'd put on his body.
"I... see..." Seishin breathed heavily.
"Not anymore," Naruto took out a kunai and stabbed it into Seishin's chest.
"Let's get away from here," Naruto said as he stepped over the fallen trunk. Sakura who was still in shock from the experience only nodded as she herself joined Naruto on the other side.
They walked for about five minutes when they found a second clearing in the forest. As soon as Sakura's body lay on the floor she was out like a light.
When Sakura finally woke up Naruto was still awake poking at the fire in the same manner she had just the night before. It was dark and the moon was high in the sky.
"How long was I asleep?" Naruto shrugged.
"A few hours," he smiled, his face bruised and scratched from where Seishin had kicked him.
"Here, let me take a look at those," Sakura tried to stand up but wobbled over, still slightly asleep. She tried to get up again and managed to stumble 'round to the other side of the fire where Naruto was sitting.
She felt his bruises with the tips of her fingers. Naruto winced slightly as she began heeling his larger wounds.
"Fast heeling as usual," she smiled. Naruto smiled back however his mind was pretty occupied with memories of the fight to pay much attention to his surroundings at the moment; Seishin's words were playing over and over again in his mind.
"You'd better tell her now!" maybe he was right. If Naruto hadn't been able to sneakily make a shadow clone when Seishin had jumped up into the trees neither of them would probably be alive, or worse... He didn't like that last thought, it sent cold shivers down his spine just to even think about life without...
"Hey Sakura..."
"Hm?" she was still attending to many of his smaller cuts.
"Back in the other clearing when we were fighting that psychic freak... And he... when he..."
"Held a knife to my throat," Sakura finished for him.
"Yea that..." Naruto tried to shake out the memory "There's something I have to tell you Sakura, something important," Naruto looked at the ground and Sakura took her hands away from him; confusion mixed with concern painted her face.
Naruto's heart pounded in his chest, he felt hot and anxious.
Now or never he repeated over in his mind
It's now or never...
"Sakura I..." he looked her directly in these eyes, careful not to break contact. He fell into a feeling he knew he should have been trying to suppress.
"Sakura... I love you."
Cliff-hanger! K don't laugh at me XD. This was a fairly short chapter but next time I'm going to try and get some more on the other characters so don't you worry!