Chapter 6b

A/N: This is a memory trip chappie for Naruto. The songs that inspired me for this chapter are some songs by Britt Nicole. "Have your way," "Welcome to the show " and a few others like"Walk on Water." I'm Too lazy to freakin right out these lyrics. BUT "Have Your Way" is a wonderful song. If you don't like religion or something then uh, please don't flame. She DOES say god but in regards to this text, I believe that we all think to a higher power be it budha the easter bunny or santa or something. Basically, what I'ms aying is, this song is relatable. It's calm and it's energetic.

Naruto was trekking through the fire country. He didn't have anywhere in particular that he was going. He just knew that he was going anywhere that wasn't where his father –Minato—was. Naruto slowed around midday. He was tired but not physically. No he could go nearly three days of straight running thanks to the Kyuubi before tiring out that much. No, his tiredness came from his emotions. They were weighing him down and made his steps heavy. He had contemplated on staying in another village but knew that the ANBU would probably find him faster if he was close. Naruto hadn't realized he'd strted to tear up again. The tears came though and he had to slow. His super detection skills told him he was alone so he let his guard down. He stopped by a small gurgling river that lead to a waterfall of sorts. Sighing, Naruto squatted, to wash his face. This far from the village, he knew he was bordering the Land of Water. Over those mountains beyond the river and waterfall, he knew he'd be in unfamiliar territory. The thought scared Naruto, not that he'd ever admit that. No, he was too awesome to admit that. He deflated though as he thought of his dream to be hokage.

Had his father sent out the tracking team?

Was his father going to be ok?

Did his father even care about him anymore?

What was Naruto going to eat for lunch?

That last one rolled in subconciously as Naruto's stomach gave an indignant sassy growl. I'm hungry, feed me.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. What if I say no?

I will eat your intestines from the inside out and call it carne a la Naruto.

Sounds simply fuckstastic.

I know. The fox sounded smug and snarky.

Naruto sighed. He had no energy to be mad at the fox. He'd used most of it to simply detain the fox. Oh, the fox was in so much trouble. But Naruto didn't see the point in wasting his energy. If there was one thing his Pops had taught him, it was that letting your anger control you would cause you more harm than the fault itself where the anger was directed. Naruto closed his eyes.

It had been a day like this one. The sun was out and Naruto was about 12. He was by the stream in an unfamiliar territory trying to get a priceless artifact back from a rogue ninja named Mala. Mala had dark skin and yellow eyes. She also happened to be a woman. She wore a covering over her face like a dark blue shawl and her outfit was dark purple with a blue sash tied securely around her waist. Her hair was hidden under the shawl head covering she wore.

"Oi! Stop I said!" Naruto's raspy vocal-chorded strained voice shouted annoyed. Mala simply let out a small bubble of scoffing laughter.

"Come on, Short stuff, you got nothing on me," she said gleefully. Naruto narrowed his eyes. That's what she thinks, he thought smugly. Naruto grinned and he formed the handsigns for his signature move.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" he exclaimed and about 35 clones poofed into existance with exclamations along the lines of "yeah" and "believe it!".

Mala skidded to a halt with a dark smirk. "Let me show you true power, Sky Dragon no jutsu!" She tossed the artifact in front of her, it glinted silver in the light and it was in the shape of a curled up, open mouthed dragon with two long whiskers, (kind of like Jake Long's grandpa sort of thing) on it's snout, and lizard like legs with four fingers and three toes with sharp dark claws. Its eyes were charcoal but as soon as she threw that artifact into the air she began to form amazing handsigns. Naruto was thrown back by an invisible forcefield and his clones poofed. He gasped. A strange eerie white light was engulfing Mala. Her mask came off and her black hair turned silver, faling to her waist. "I am, the true keeper of the Sky Dragon line!" she bellowed and Naruto watched as Sakura, and Sasuke and Kakashi sensei appeared from the corner of his eye to his left. Boy, was he glad to see them . Things had just taken a turn for the major weird. The woman looked at them, with power radiating from her. "Any last words?" she menacingly cackled.

"You're a woman?" Naruto gaped in surprise because he didn't know this prior to this event. Sasuke and Sakura shot him withering glares and Kakashi facepalmed. Naruto looked sheepish. "What? "

"Dobe, do us all a favor and don't say any last words," Sasuke growled.

Naruto wanted to retort but just then, the girl they were protecting, Saki, burst through the bushes. "No Mala!" she exclaimed bravely. Naruto whirled.

"Hey! Look kid, you should leave this to us, we're real ninja!" He jabbed a thumb at himself mostly. Sakura bit her lip and looked to Sasuke –as she always did—and Sasuke gave his cool Uchiha look to Saki. Saki ignored Naruto completely and seemed to pause in response to Sasuke.

"Leave this to us, we will not fail," Sasuke said calmly and coolly. Saki lowered her gaze and allowed Sakura and Kakashi to step in front of her protectively. Sakura fell back to keep Saki company.

"Y-you're right…Sasuke…" Saki said shyly all of a sudden. Naruto made his familiar irked furrowed brow look.

"…I said that first! Where's my thanks?" he griped.

Saki and Sakura were both too busy fawning over Sasuke and his Sasukeness to bother heeding Naruto. Kakashi felt a little sorry for Naruto. Since he was the son of the fourth, people expected him to be calm and quiet. Reserved and respectful like his pops. Although he looked like his pops, Naruto had about as much manners as a trained Rhino in a house of cards. In essence, he was more rash and abrasive like his mother.

Naruto grit his teeth. I'll show them all, he thought to himself. Mala narrowed her eyes, now aglow with the eerie gleam and let loose a blast of crackling energy. All the ninja dodged, including Saki. Naruto saw the light energy shield retract into Mala's chest, where the dragon statue had become halfway morphed into her flesh. It was a bit gross. Ok, it was a lot gross. Naruto narrowed his eyes again looking for an opening. Mala shot another blast and Kakashi used that moment to try to go in with his sharingan. Sasuke had his activated as well and Sakura was in her own protective stance, kunai in hand, in front of Saki who looked on bewildered and sad.

Naruto summoned more clones. He watched as his sensei, fell back to allow Sasuke the first hit. Sakuke unleashed his Phoenix Flower Jutsu and everyone gasped as with a mere gust of wind, all the flames went out as though doused by an invisible forefinger and thumb. Mala let out another confident cackle and appeared behind Kakashi, who just barely dodged in time. Sasuke dashed in to try to assist and Naruto was doing his best to find his own opening. With Kakashi and Sasuke, it felt like the situation was in better control to lean in their favor. Naruto hated feeling like he was being a liability. He was going to be hokage someday after all! What sort of hokage, stands around while his friends battle and fall before him? Naruto let out his battle cry, not realizing that Kakashi and Sasuke had successfully managed to subdue Mala and the confusion gave Mala her opening to blast all three of them back.

Sasuke let out a yell of anger at Naruto and Kakashi slid down a tree trunk, with a concussion and passed out. Sakura ran to him, with Saki in tow as Sasuke managed to flip and his feet hit the trunk with enough force to break the trunk in half as he pushed off and shot back at Mala. Using his lion's barrage jutsu, Naruto watched as Sasuke gracefully managed to get Mala off guard. No way he was going to be shown up though!

Naruto watched as Sasuke was thrown backwards from the sheer force of the SkyDragon Jutsu. Now it was show time!

Naruto went in swinging and kicking. Of course, he was thrown back about a bajillion times but he felt a rush of energy from knowing it was his turn to prove himself! Maybe Sakura would notice him! Maybe Saki would like him too! Maybe his father would like him more! Yeah! Naruto craved his father's attention, and he felt that doing this would definently get his dad to notice his awesome potential!

Naruto felt himself slam against a trunk and heard a scream that was no doubt Saki. Sakura had been knocked out and Sasuke and Naruto were the only ones left to go up against Mala. Mala was radiating power, it was crazy. Naruto was used to meeting tough opponents, but this wasn't a B-ranked mission anymore. That was for sure. Sasuke dodged some of Mala's attacks and attempted to use Chidori on her chest. Naruto's eyes widened and suddenly time seemed to slow down. One second, he was actually cheering for Sasuke's success as Mala's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and the dragon statue shattered and crumbled from her chest and the next he found himself yelling as a blinding light surrounded her and Sasuke yelled in surprise and pain. When the light faded, Sasuke was pinned in middair, a strange seal on his chest, his shirt in tatters. Naruto didn't notice it unti l a split second later. Sasuke coughed blood from where he was restrained. Naruto went numb. He was paralyzed. He couldn't believe it. They'd been in tight binds, but never one like this.

Mala laughed victoriously. Her voice had a nearly demonic edge to it, "Poor foolish little shit, you don't stand a chance against me…" She cackled and Naruto found he was unable to move, his blue eyes widening in fear as he saw the white light grow bigger and come at him with incredible speed. Suddenly, he saw a shadow hover in front of him.

"NO!" Saki exclaimed and got hit head on with the blast. Falling backwards, against Naruto, Naruto just barely got his body to mechanically catch her. She didn't just take the blast, she'd absorbed it.

"S-Saki!" Naruto gasped.

"N-Naruto…" she managed to wheeze, "With…with this power….I …as the true…dragon keeper…give…unto …you…." Naruto tried to protest but already, he felt a strange sort of power flow through him. His hair turned silver, his eyes became ice blue, and he began to emit his own aura. He blinked. He was in a white space?

He looked around bewildered. He'd been sure that he'd been by the river! Sasuke and everyone! He got panicky but heard a noise behind him and swirled. There stood Saki, unscathed, and wearing a robe of white with a hood. She smiled warmly, peacefully at Naruto.

"Saki! Don't tell me…" Naruto began, his mouth going dry. Saki smiled a sad smile.

"This fate was inevitable. It was my destiny to fall so that a new star could rise…I thought…I thought I was the new star but I was wrong…that new star, it's you….Uzamaki Naruto…only you can stop my sister…only you can save her….find it in your heart to use the power of the Sky Dragon, of my ancestors, to save her, not condemn her. The Sky Dragon symbolizes the freedom of the spirit..but hers is tainted and chained by her pain and greed…." Saki smiled a small warm peaceful smile, tilting her head to the side slightly. Her brown eyes searched Naruto's. Her usual short cropped brown hair enshrouded her neck and face. Her skin was translucent, but her final words were clear. "I believe in you, Uzamaki Naruto…save her…please…."

Naruto was thrust back into the real world, and realized about 5 seconds had passed. With his newfound strength he managed to with quickened agility, to throw Mala off guard who only just now realized what was going on. Naruto arm blocked her punch, "Mala! Your sister only wanted to help you! It is not too late to change things around!" Naruto tried extending an olive branch. His pops had often told him that no one is bad without a reason. Just as you need reasons to be good. "My sister never cared for the power! She never understood that with it, no one can dominate you!" Mala exclaimed, cackling, her eyes turning a dark lilac color. Naruto realized that the power that was giving him strength, was in the same way, acting as a poison on Mala's judgement. He grit his teeth.

"I don't want to hit a lady, but then again," he checked out Mala's form which had turned into a reptilian like form from the waist up, "You're not a lady right now!" He swung a punch at her and she barely dodged. She cackled.

"Oooh. The little brat of the Fourth's trying to live up to his standards?" she snarked. "You of all those poor fuckers, should know how it feels…to be the underdog…the…the shadow of true power…"

Naruto narrowed hi s eyes. "I follow a true path! You still can change yours! Mala!" he attempted again to reach out to what little humanity he could.

"You'll never be half the hokage your pops is," she snarled, suddenly getting close into Naruto's face. Before Naruto could react he saw Sasuke cough more violently suspended in middair. Naruto had been floating in the air, along with Mala but he'd not forgotten about the predicament the others were in. He saw his sensei stir. Naruto knew that he had to save Sasuke and get Mala away from them. Quickly, he swooped In and tried to free Sasuke but was thrown back from a shocking electrical field. Yelping in pain and surprise, Naruto was momentarily disorientated. The words stung, to be sure. Naruto wanted to be like his pops! Strong! Respected! Attractive! …because you know, you got ladies when you were attractive. Naruto snapped back into gear and attempted to free Sasuke again. Feeling the same result he crashed into the ground, kicking up dirt and grass. He rolled to his feet, rubbing his bloody lip and shot straight back into the battle. He froze though, Mala hovered by sasuke, and Sasuke was writhing in midair in obvious pain. Naruto felt something in his heart go cold. In a panic, he forgot his basic ninja rules of keeping emotions in check.

"Your fight is with me!" he yelled. His declaration was met with Sasuke's scream cutting through the forest disrupting the birds who fled, cawing from the trees as Naruto watched as Sasuke plummeted to the ground, a mass of bloody limbs. Naruto panicked. The damage was bad. The situation was all wrong! With a roar, Naruto lunged again at Mala and sent her with a full blast of light energy back into a rocky boulder.

The sheer force of it caused the rock to get a jagged schism down the middle as Mala's back made contact. She let out a roar of pain and slid to the ground. Naruto saw her form change to normal. Huffing, he knew he won. He turned his back on her and went straight to Sasuke. Sasuke's damage wasn't bad. He was actually lightly injured, but he had a nasty gash across his chest. Sasuke stirred but was out of it. Naruto felt a pat on his shoulder and gave a start. Saki was up and about.

"You're…not dead?" Naruto asked in shock. He was relieved but still shocked.

"No, I was merely lending you my "fighting spirit…" …"She smiled to him. "You won…now we must tend to everyone before we return to my village," She said quietly. Naruto nodded, allowing her to re-absorb the Sky Dragon power. Her sister cackled. Saki and Naruto swirled, looking in shock as Mala became a complete reptile-like dragon. She was 10 feet tall and snapped her jaws, her fangs the size of two school buses but sharpened.

Saki went protectively in front of Naruto.

"Sister, we should not fight any more! Please…come back with me…" she held out her arms. Mala paused. Something glinted in them.

"It is too late for me!" she growled, and it sounded sad. Saki shook her head.

"It is never too late! Sister!" she expressed."You…you …I looked up to you! You were strong…you are brave…you're my sister, so please…we can work this out…I will share my responsibilities as the Dragon Keeper with you!" she said with all her heart. Naruto's heart warmed but turned to ice a second later as he felt something warm against his stomach, he looked down. A claw, a giant claw had impaled into Saki's stomach and gotten to Naruto.

"All those who stand in my way…will be anahilated!" Roared Mala. Naruto felt anger bubble up inside of him. Saki fell against Naruto, and Naruto teleported them both away from Mala's claw. It was painful.

He hissed in pain, but Saki's body had taken the full brunt while Naruto hadn't been all the way impaled by the sharp talon. He focused all his rage onto defeating her. Turning his rage into power. Oh, the power that coursed through his veins. There was no way he'd lose. No way he'd fucking lose. His eyes became red and his teeth sharpened and he grinned, as his whiskers became more sketchy.

"You'll pay for that" He snarled. She cackled and the Naruto saw his sensei stir from the corner of his eye.

"Naruto, we have to retreat!" Kakashi said seriously, already using his shadowclone jutsu to hoist sakura and Sasuke onto his clones' backs. Naruto saw Saki's body glow and turn into small orbs of light that lifted and radiated off of her. He snarled.

"Never! I never run from a fight, that's my nindo! My ninja way!" Naruto growled. His hatred was causing himself to transform and not even his sensei could stop Naruto from losing his cool. Naruto went toe to toe with the ten foot dragon, a small amped up fox kid against a 10 foot dragon and he managed to beat her with all his strength. He was lost to the world. His rage.

His hatred.

Power.

Power.

He wanted to be strong.

He wanted to be as strong as his pops.

No.

He wanted to be stronger.

Naruto felt a gentle hand grab his fist firmly before he could punch the dragon again. He angrily looked and was met with his father's calm blue orbs. Naruto realized he was in a hospital room. He hadn't even realized he'd passed out.

"Pops? What..where is everyone? What happened?" Naruto asked confused.

His father hugged him. " Safe. I came just as you were beating Mala…"

"You…you came? How'd you know where to look?" Naruto murmured, hugging his dad, feeling instantly safe again.

"Ah…well…I have my ways…" His father murmured quietly, petting Naruto's bandaged head gently.

"…Saki…what happened? What about the dragon statue?" Naruto asked.

"Saki…her spirit healed Sasuke and the others…she…she herself has…well, I"ll show you…" His dad took out a new statue. This one was sapphire with silver scales and warm brown eyes. Naruto swallowed.

"Sa-Saki?" he asked hushed.

His dad nodded. "She wanted to protect you…to protect her sister…she took all of the power and turned herself into the statue…The extent to which her sister had fallen was too great. She had to strip her of her duties as well as her chakra. Mala is recovering but will be facing criminal charges of murder and attempted murder… " his pops said this quietly while Naruto listened. Naruto looked away ashamed.

"….You saw me…then…." Naruto said quietly.

His dad nodded. "Naruto, I understand your anger is not misplaced…but it is energy that is better used positively… I fear if you let it power your actions…well…you're still young. " His father wouldn't dwell any deeper than that. Naruto knew though. If his father hadn't stopped him…no one would've and he would've killed Mala.

Naruto hugged his pops, and it was one of those rare moments when naruto allowed himself to be vulnerable. When he allowed himself to cry to his pops. His pops wasn't the village leader at that moment, but a father. His warm hugs made Naruto feel like he was safe. He felt like he'd dissapointed his father. He'd let his emotions do the fighting, and now he was determined to use his emotions wisely. Saki's statue was returned and Naruto kept his life lessonf rom the day from then on.

Even now, Naruto still kept that lesson in his heart. With a sigh, he took a bite of the fish he'd managed to catch during his reminscing moment. "Keeping myself in check…anger isn't my issue this time though…" he murmured to no one in particular.