Yo everybody, it's KotovSyndrome with another chapter to 'Savior.'

"Hey, don't forget about me."

*Sigh*….right, everybody knows you're here with me so what's the point in introducing you. Just introduce yourself.

"But it's cooler when you do it."

How so?

"I don't know, it just is!"

I need to remember you're only nine…I keep forgetting.

"Oh, come on…I'm not that bad."

I don't know who you are trying to kid.

"I'm being serious!"

Yea and that's what worries me…anyway enjoy the new chapter folks.

"Kotov-baka does not own Naruto or any of its characters."

Chapter 6: News

Pain, as Tatsu's senses came to that was the only thing he could feel. He slowly opened his eyes only to close them again do to the suns bright rays. 'Damn that's bright…' he opened his eyes again and began observing his surrounding. 'Looks like I'm still at the monument,' he glanced down at himself to see that his torso was bare and the only clothing he had on were his black shinobi pants, 'I can see Hima-chan's been taking good care of me….Hima-chan!' the blonde shot up from his prone position causing the pain to intensify significantly. Ignoring it to the best of his ability he frantically looked around for the violette, 'Where is she?'

"Tatsu-kun…I'm right here." came a voice from behind him.

The blonde's demeanor returned to calm and he slowly turned around to find that the violette was in fact 'right there.' He quickly averted his gaze toward his stomach to see that the seal was actually gone. 'She's free…she's free!' a smile found its way on his face and he looked back up at his love only to have it falter a bit. She wasn't smiling, she was frowning and her brows were furrowed, meaning she was mad or upset.

"Why didn't you tell me…why did you lie?" her voice wavered a bit but her expression remained unchanged.

"If I told you the truth would you have gone through with it?" the violette stayed silent which was all Tatsu needed for an answer. "Kanojo, you should know that I would sacrifice anything for you."

"But I don't want you to lose yourself…"

Although he was in excruciating pain, the tall blonde rose to his feet and walked up to his lover and softly kissed her on the lips, "I won't, I know the consequences of my actions and I'm prepared to face them no matter what."

"…" she stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

"What I sacrificed was worth it, now you're free." a small smile graced his face but faltered a little as his doubt started to kick in. "You can return home and see all of your loved ones again, I know they more than likely miss you and you miss them too-"

"You know, for as smart as you are you can be a real baka sometimes." she interrupted him, "I do miss them and I know they miss me, but I love you and if I return to see them you're coming with me."

Tatsu's eyes widened in surprise, "But I'm a human, wouldn't they disapprove of our relationship?"

"If they do I don't care, you're mine and I'm yours; nothing is going to change that." she stated with the utmost determination.

"Ok, ok kanojo… I just hope you're right." he whispered the last part which Hima-chan caught.

"Koibito…" she said timidly.

The tall blonde put his hands up in a defensive matter, "Right, nothing is going to change that I understand."

At Ichiraku's….

"How have you been doing Naruto?" asked a curious Ayame as she continued to cook noodles for said boy.

"I've been doing great Nee-chan, Nii-san started training me yesterday and he said even though it was my first day I learn quickly." he said cheerfully in which afterwards he continued inhaling the bowl of ramen that was in front of him.

"That's good…I'm glad you finally have someone you can depend on." she allowed a small smile to grace her face.

When she looked over her shoulder she knew right away that the small blonde didn't here what she said; he was too busy devouring his meal. Her thoughts momentarily drifted off to the events that unfolded last night. She still couldn't believe that he was back, yet behind all that disbelief was happiness. Knowing that he was alive and unharmed made her beam on the inside. She absentmindedly brought her fingertips to her lips as she remembered the kiss shared between herself and the older blonde and how it held so much love and longing from the both of them. 'I should see if Naruto will let me tag along with him, it'd be nice to see him train and I could visit Tatsu-kun.' came a random thought.

"Ayame-neechan are you ok?" Naruto asked, she looked like she had something on her mind considering that she looked frozen in place.

"Wha? Oh yea, I'm fine," she turned around so that now they were face to face, "Would you like another bowl?" he happily nodded which caused the brunette to walk over with a bowl in hand and place it in front of the eating machine.

"I'm glad to see that we have the same appetite as well otouto." came the voice of a new customer which was already recognizable.

Naruto quickly spun around in his stool and immediately jumped off said object to capture him in a hug. The older of the two brothers was caught off guard and almost fell backwards but he caught himself. Regaining his balance he hugged his little brother back and set him back down on the stool, laughing all the while, "I'm glad to see you too." the laughing died down and a smile adorned the tall blonde's face. He looked up and met chocolate orbs that were staring directly into his sapphire blue ones, "How are you doing Ayame-chan?"

Without hesitation the brunette made her way around the counter and wrapped her arms around his neck in a more intimate embrace than the one Naruto gave. Tatsu instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist, returning the hug.

"I'm going to take this as you're doing ok, ne?" he asked happily.

"I'm doing great, I just…I just want to make sure this is all real and that you're here." she responded as she sighed in content.

His face saddened a bit, "This is real Ayame-chan but I'm afraid I have some bad news."

She released herself from the embrace and gave Tatsu a questionable glance, "Bad news?"

He nodded, "I'm taking Naruto with me on a trip outside of Konoha."

Naruto's head immediately shot up with food in his mouth at hearing the news, 'A trip outside of Konoha…why?'

"You two are leaving?" her eyes widened in disbelief, "but you just got back after being gone for nine years!" Ayame nearly yelled, this was enough to already bring down her mood.

"I know, but this isn't just any ordinary trip…I need to take Naruto outside of the village for training, it'll benefit him more if I do so."

'He's leaving again…' tears started to well up in her eyes but she fought them back. "When will you be back?" this was a crucial question for her, she wanted the best for Naruto because he deserves it…but she didn't want to be left in the dark again, it would hurt too much.

"I don't know, it depends on how fast we move and how well Naruto develops during the training." he explained.

"When are we leaving Nii-san?" the small blonde butted in.

"Tomorrow, I've already planned where we're going first so be ready by then, ok?" he said in a semi-serious tone yet it was calm at the same time.

Naruto slowly nodded his head and then continued eating his ramen, although he seemed calm on the outside, on the inside he was exploding with excitement.

Tatsu averted his gaze back at Ayame who had her head down, causing a shadow to cast over her eyes. "Ayame-chan, we'll be back I promise." he placed his fingers under her chin and slowly lifted the brunette's head, only to reveal tear covered eyes.

In one swift motion she hugged him once again, "Remember, you promised." she silently said before letting go and walking over to the smaller blonde. "Be careful Naruto, I'll miss you and look after your big brother for me." she said as she hugged him too.

"You got it Nee-chan and I'll miss you too." he said hugging her back.

"Oh come on Ayame-chan I can take care of myself, I need to look after him." he pointed at Naruto.

The brunette just shook her head and walked back into the kitchen, but neither of them saw the smile that found its way on her face.

"Are you all done otouto?" He asked quizzically as he saw about 10 bowls stacked up right beside him. 'It's very scary how similar we are.'

Naruto vigorously nodded his head and jumped off the stool, he pulled out what seemed to be a green froggy pouch which had little to no money in it.

Tatsu quickly pulled money of his own out of his leg pouch and placed it on the counter, "Don't worry Naruto I'll pay for it…you know if you ever need any help with money I can help you."

"Thanks Nii-san…but as far as helping me out with money I can handle it, I get an allowance and it's enough to pay for the things I need." he stated.

'….He's growing up too fast, if I was there for- …no, I need to stop reveling in the past and focus on the now, this is my chance to be there for him and I'm not going to screw it up.'

"Well we should get started on your training, ne?" the tall blonde asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"You betcha, I'll see you later Ayame-neechan." Naruto waved goodbye as he walked out of the stand and toward the location of the training grounds.

"I'll see you later too…I love you." Tatsu said before he walked out of the stand in pursuit of his sibling.

Hearing those words made the smile on Ayame's face widen.

Outside the Haruno residence…

"I'll see you later mom." Sakura waved goodbye and closed the door behind her. 'I'm going to go look for him…but where should I search first?' the pinkette dug deep within her mind to think of any possible place that the blonde would be. At that moment is when a very fond memory came to…

Flashback…

"Where are we going Naruto?" asked a very confused Sakura as she was basically being dragged through the streets of Konoha.

"To Ichiraku's" replied a happy Naruto.

"Ichiraku's?" she again questioned.

" Mmhm, it's a ramen stand that has the best food you'll ever eat!"

"Isn't ramen bad for you?" came an out of the blue question from the pinkette.

"I don't know, but I do know it's the best!"

Naruto halted abruptly, causing Sakura's entire body to slam into his back. Both fell forward and landed on the ground with the blonde's face in the dirt and the pinkette lying on top of him.

"Owww." Sakura said as she slowly got up and rubbed her arm.

"Mmmahhh." came a muffled sentence from Naruto, whose face was still buried in the dirt. After a minute, he too slowly got up and repeated what he meant to say, "Owwwwww." he rubbed his nose to try and ease the pain. "Are you ok Sakura-chan?" he asked while turning around to face her.

She nodded her head, "It could have been worse, but you cushioned my fall…why did you stop so suddendly?"

He began rubbing the back of his head, "Because we made it to Ichiraku's, see." he pointed toward the stand.

She looked over the blonde's shoulder and saw their destination. It looked nice for a small stand and the food did smell good.

"Come on Sakura-chan lets go in, I'll introduce you to Teuchi- ojii-san and Ayame-nee-chan." Naruto said with a foxy smile, which caused the pinkette to blush.

"O-ok." she followed close behind the small blonde with the blush still present on her face and shyness taking over her demeanor.

End flashback…

'That's right, Ichiraku's! That's his favorite place to eat, he'll definitely be there.' she excitedly thought and began walking to the infamous ramen stand.

Her thought's quickly shifted to something more important, 'What am I going to tell him?' she hadn't really thought of an explanation for her actions but then again..an explanation wouldn't be enough. She's treated him like garbage for two whole years and that can be something that's unforgivable, especially when you were practically 'best friends' before hand. 'He's sacrificed so much for me, and yet all I did was throw it right back in his face…what kind of friend does that?'

As there friendship began to fade, Sakura started to fit in to the crowd that she hated the most. Bullies, and when it came to Naruto it was the worst. The beatings that left him bruised and broken she had taken part in; there were older kids that would beat him to pulp till he was on the ground and the remaining kicked him with no mercy, Sakura included. Not only did she hurt him physically but emotionally as well. The words that came out of her mouth didn't effect the blonde at first, in fact he just thought she was trying to fit in so she wouldn't get bullied anymore. He was somewhat right, the pinkette wanted to fit in for that exact reason but it blinded her too quickly. "Idiot, annoying, stupid," evolved into words that a child shouldn't really know. The more and more she said them the easier it was to break her 'best friend.' Even though he knew she changed, he kept his smile on his face and tried his best to make her happy. But everybody has a breaking point; even one who seemed like he couldn't be broken and that's when words of his hurt and anger spewed forth, 'What have I done to you?'…'Gomen…for befriending you.'

Unconditional tears began leaking from her eyes, 'I need to find him…he needs to know how much he truly means to me.'

At the training grounds….

"I still can't believe how well your grasping the concept of this technique." Tatsu whispered to himself as he threw a punch aimed for his younger brother's face.

Naruto leaned his head to the left, making the punch miss just barely. He countered with a punch of his own which was heading straight for the taller blonde's torso.

'His defenses have improved significantly since yesterday and this is only his second day of training. But his offense is still lacking, which causes his counter-attacks to leave large openings for counter-attacks of my own.' as to prove his point, he caught his brother's fist and threw him on his back.

"Oof!" was the only words that came out of Naruto's mouth due to the fact that the air was knocked out of him. 'Ugh…I thought I had him that time.' he thought.

"Don't expect for him to let you get a hit off that easily." Kyuubi said as a reminder.

'I know, but it just felt like I would have.' he responded while slowly getting up.

"You're defense has improved a lot otouto and it's only been two days, good job." Tatsu complimented.

Hearing that made a feeling of accomplishment swim up and down his body like a stream.

"But we have to start working on your offense as well. When you attack you leave blind spots open, which can be consequential in a fight." Tatsu explained.

Hearing those words made the previous feeling die down , changing his demeanor almost immediately which didn't go unnoticed.

Tatsu walked up to his smaller doppelganger and rested his hand on his head, "Naruto don't be sad or upset about you're mistakes or weaknesses, we all have them." he stated.

"Even you?"

"Yes, even me but my weaknesses have made me stronger and yours will too."

"But..how?"

"You'll find out in due time little brother." Tatsu assured as he retracted his hand and it fell back to it's side. "Now, let's move on shall we?"

"Right!" he excitedly said with a fist pump. "The next part is ninjutsu, right?"

The taller blonde nodded his head, 'We'll start from the ground up.' he immediately conluded. "Ok otouto, try to make a functioning bunshin for me."

Naruto's eyes went wide at the request, 'Crap, I don't know how to make a good bunshin.' he thought and it was true, at the academy the teachers would ask him to create a properly working bunshin, but when he tried to create one it would always come out flimsy and nonrealistic. Knowing this, the teachers would use him for a negative example of what not to do, the sad part about all of this…they never taught him how to make a good one. Knowing that it would turn up bad he formed his fingers into the correct hand seal, "Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke covered the area in between the two and as it cleared a visible bunshin could be seen…but it wasn't a functioning one.

'I see, his chakra reserves are too vast for just a simple technique and we can thank Kyuubi-san for that…I think I know which bunshin jutsu would fit him better.'

"Alright, now I'm going to teach you to create a bunshin that…will benefit you more." Tatsu said.

'Teach me a new bunshin technique! But I can't even do the simplest one!' Naruto frantically thought.

"Trust me Naruto, you'll be able to do this one." Tatsu explained as if reading his mind. "Pay close attention." he performed an unusual handsign and in a puff of smoke a second identical tall blonde appeared right next to him. "You remember that a bunshin is a type of genjutsu, right?" his otouto nodded his head, "This variation of bunshin is strictly ninjutsu, the copy of me that you see is not an illusion but a an actual clone of me that's made out of my chakra. It's known as kage bunshin no jutsu."

'Whoa cool!' was the first thought that came to Naruto's mind.

"Now you try it." Tatsu instructed.

Nodding his head, the small blonde imitated the hand sign that was shown to him and yelled, "Kage bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow clone Jutsu!)"

Tatsu's eyes widened to a significant size because Naruto did not just create one clone but multiple, if he were to guess the numbers would be in the twenties or thirties. 'But then again I should have expected as much, even though it's an A-class jutsu his chakra is too massive and proportionally dividing his chakra into separate amounts is easier than trying to make an illusion out of it.'

Amazed would be an understatement in how Naruto was feeling at the moment, instead of just making one clone which he thought he would screw up he made a lot. 'Whoa! I…I did it! And look at how many I made!' he mentally yelled.

"Nicely done Naruto, that far outweighed my expectations." Tatsu folded his arms across his chest, "We should stop for today."

"But why? It's not even nighttime yet."

"True, but you need to get ready for tomorrow..we're leaving early in the morning."

"Cooome on Nii-san!" the small blonde's said in a complaining tone.

Tatsu chuckled a bit, "Don't worry Naruto we'll continue training once we leave."

Naruto's head dropped in defeat but that suddenly changed when he found himself on the receiving end of a not so tight headlock. "Come on otouto stop feeling so down." the taller blonde said while laughing. Naruto began laughing as well while trying to escape the headlock.

"Tatsu-kun?"

All the laughter halted and said blonde lifted his head only to find Hima-chan standing a few feet away from them.

"Uhh, hi Hima-chan." he said happily with a small wave.

"Nii-san…who is she?"

Tatsu scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Oh, right you don't know her." he released Naruto from the headlock and walked over to the violette. "Naruto Hima-chan, Hima-chan Naruto."

The violette looked at the small blonde and plastered a smile on her face. "Hi, Naruto." she waved.

Said boy took a minute to study her, as if she were being deceiving some how. After a full couple minutes of observation Naruto slowly waved back and a large smile formed on his face. "It's nice to meet you!" he said happily.

"Where did you go when I went to go see Naruto?" Tatsu asked curiously.

"I…just wanted to walk around the village. I still need to get use to the feeling of being free." she responded.

The tall blonde stared at her for a minute before he nodded his head, "Alright… Naruto you should get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Ok Nii-san, see you later and nice meeting you Hima-chan!" he yelled as somehow he was already out of the training grounds waving back at the two.

At Ichiraku's…

'I'm going to miss him…I'm going to miss both of them, I hope they make back unharmed…but knowing them I'm not so sure about that.' Ayame thought, she was already worried for the two and they haven't even left yet.

"Ayame-san!"

The brunette's thought process was cut short as she averted her half-focused gaze toward a small pink-haired girl who had an anxious look on her face.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" a worried expression formed on Ayame's face.

"Have you seen Naruto anywhere?" Sakura asked desperately.

"Yes, he left the stand about ten minutes ago, why?"

"I…I just need to talk to him, do you know where he went?" she asked desperately.

"Gomen, I don't but I do know he went to go train so he may be at one of the training grounds."

"Arigato Ayame-san, see you later!" she yelled while running out of the stand.

'Hmmm…I wonder why she's so desperate to talk to him.'

Inside Naruto's apartment…

'I don't know how much I should pack, he didn't say…" Naruto thought with uncertainty.

"I think he meant not to tell you, he's already preparing you to be a shinobi by having you make your own decisions." Kyuubi said.

'Ooh ok, then I should pack light; don't want to slow us down.' he opened a green backpack and started packing what he had in mind, 'I wonder where we're going first.'

"I don't know but we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?"

Naruto nodded his head while a foxy grin sported his face. He quickly grabbed a roll up sleeping bag and tied to the top of the backpack. 'There…that should be all I need.'

"All you packed was a single change of clothes and a sleeping bag."

'That's basically all the pack able things I have Kyu-chan.' he said matter-of-factly.

"…" this would be another moment that Kyuubi remained silent.

'Don't worry Kyu-chan I'll be fine, plus Nii-san will be with me so it won't be that bad.'

Inside an unknown establishment…

"Hima-chan, where are we?" Tatsu asked. His eyes were currently being covered by the violette's soft hands. For the past ten minutes he was being led somewhere and Hima-chan didn't say where that 'somewhere' was. All she did say was that it was a surprise.

"You'll see just a little further."

"Come on Hima-chan, tell me…" he began to pout like a child even though his eyes were being covered.

"Ok, you can look now." she released her hands from his eyes and what she received in return was dead silence.

Upon his sight returning the blonde examined their location very thoroughly. 'Couch, kitchen, T.V., bathroom…we're in an apartment!' his eyes widened significantly, "H-how did, when did-"

"You know, I lied when I said I took a walk around the village. As for how I got it well…I bought it." she said happily.

"B-but how?"

"I know where you keep you're money." she stated simply.

The blonde sweat dropped, "O-ok…how much was it?"

"You know..I don't remember, I just payed the guy."

A bigger sweat drop formed on his head, 'I forgot, she doesn't know how to use our currency.'

"I like it!" he smiled brightly, "I guess we'll have to start buying stuff to decorate it, ne?" he asked as he continued to look around the place.

"Yea, we should do once we get back." the violette suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me, Kanojo….well I'm gonna take a shower real quick it feels like I haven't done so in days."

"Technically…you haven't."

"That's why I'm going to, care to join?" he asked nonchalantly, yet in an alluring way.

"I'm afraid not this time Tatsu-kun."

"Aww but why not?" again, the tall blonde pouted.

"I have to do some things around here tonight." she simply stated once again.

With a sigh of defeat Tatsu began walking toward the bathroom while basically stripping off his clothes, leaving Hima-chan to get a good look at his naked form before it disappeared behind the bathroom door.

The violette absent mindedly licked her lips before she went into the bedroom of the apartment and closed the door.

Outside the training grounds…

'That wasn't Naruto…he was taller and older, it was more like and older version of him.' Sakura concluded as she was trying to explain to herself what she saw.

Flashback…

'Naruto?' Sakura questioned in thought. She thought she had found the little blonde at training ground 7, but when she snuck in and got a closer look surprise became written all over her face. He was much taller and his attire was completely different then what he normally wore, he was also with a woman and a beautiful one at that. But before she could walk out and say anything they both disappeared in the opposite direction with the woman covering the supposed 'Naruto's' eyes.

End Flashback…

'I don't know who that was but I shouldn't worry about it right now, Naruto's the one I'm concerned for but I have no idea where he is.' the pinkette began walking in the direction to her home. 'I might as well call it a day and look for him tomorrow. I'll find you Naruto and I'll fix my mistake, I promise.'

END CHAPTER 6

Hey folks, I'm sorry this story is going slow so far but I needed to explain a lot of things…hell I still need to.

"Then why don't you?"

I'm going to dammit, just hold on I can't just smoosh everything into one chapter…

"But the people are probably getting bored of the story."

You're probably right and I apologize for that, but after the next chapter things will start to speed up significantly and there will be a lot more action involved.

"Ok, but I still think you should explain everything in one chapter."

Naruto I'm not going to listen to you…don't you remember you're nine.

"I'm not going to be for long."

Huh? What do you mean by that?

"You should know Kotov nii-chan, this is your story."

I know it is, but that doesn't mean you'll be getting any older.

"We'll see about that, next thing you know I'll be taller and way more awesome than you!"

Yea, but I'm afraid you'll still be an idiot.

"What!"

Nothing, nothing…anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter and again I apologize for the slow progress of the story…try to stay tuned for the next chapter if you're not drooling by now.

This is KotovSynd-

"And Naruto!"

Stupid nine-year old shrimp, blonde headed, annoying…till next time.