It's Just Not Natural

by EbonyEye

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Please read the A/N at the end of this chapter! Thanks!

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Chapter 7

My Family

Location: Outside of Konoha

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Nozomi hid behind Sasuke's large frame, refusing to come out. She was still so terrified and confused, her brain was not working quite right.

In her mind, she screamed over and over again for her older sister.

Sasuke's face was unmoved as he ordered his team:

"We're moving slightly away from Konoha, going to the opposite side of the village."

"Yes, leader-sama."

Suigetsu eyed the small rosette curiously. Why was she hiding behind only Sasuke the whole time?

His curiosity didn't decrease as they leaped through the trees, Nozomi lagging behind slightly. Sasuke didn't even attempt to help the little Haruno, even when she slipped and almost lost her footing.

Finally too curious to stand it, Suigetsu sidled up close to the Uchiha. He knew he might get killed for asking, but he couldn't help it.

"Leader-san, is that your kid?"

"…?"

In a flash, black fused to blinding red and Suigetsu found himself pinned to a tree by the throat.

"She. Is. Not. My. Daughter." Sasuke's tone was low, but Suigetsu knew him well enough to realized that he was furious.

"Oh… hehe… I see… Little mix-up… Sorry, lead – !" Suigetsu choked on his stumbling and apologetic words as his captain's hand tightened. The sound of a thousand birds singing ripped through the air.

Just then, something collided into his back. It didn't hurt, but Sasuke was always so tense that he immediately whipped around, red eyes searching for the source.

His sharingan was met by a pair of wide green eyes.

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Nozomi realized that she was crying as she tried to keep up with her rescuers. But they were incredibly fast, and plus, her legs were shorter. She had the same sensitivity to chakra as Sakura had, and was taught early by her sister to use it. Of course, the black-haired man's chakra was… overwhelming. It was undeniably huge.

It frightened her just as much as reassured her.

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

Suddenly, she remembered something Sakura had told her… something about crying.

Flashback

Nozomi had cried when Tsukiko, her best friend, had moved away. Sakura came in, her arms full of groceries, and spotted her little sister.

In a flash, Sakura was checking Nozomi's health, pressing a glowing hand to the rosette's forehead.

"Nozomi! What's the matter?" She demanded worriedly.

"T… Tsu… Tsukiko is gone!" Nozomi burst out. "I tried to make her stay, but she had to go anyways!"

Instead of soothing consolations as Nozomi had expected, she got a troubled look from her sister. No comforting words were offered to the little rosette.

As the younger Haruno went off into tears again, Sakura snapped out of her sad expression.

"Nozomi." She said sternly.

"Stop crying. Crying doesn't solve a single problem."

"… H… Hai."

"When something like this happens," Sakura went on, a shadow crossing her face, "the only thing you can do is adapt and live on. Tsukiko made her own decision, and you have to respect and face that. Okay?"

A mute nod.

End of Flashback

Crying doesn't solve a single problem. Nozomi thought. She forced herself to stop shedding the glistening tears, and looked up to see where she was going…

… only to slam into a very, very hard, muscular back.

Her breath rushed from her lungs and she rebounded, landing on her backside on a wide branch.

She still didn't know who the man was, with the terrifying black/red eyes. She only knew that he had risked his own safety to protect her.

But the look he gave her almost made her regret coming to him.

A little late, she realized that the black-haired man was pinning the shark like ninja to the tree trunk, a crackling sword held at his throat. The lightning that arced through the air hummed with electricity, and Nozomi was wise enough to not get too close.

She scrambled on all fours, pushing herself upright. As the man followed her movements with blood-red eyes, she blurted:

"Why aren't we just going into Konohagakure instead of sneaking around it?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. So this girl didn't understand the term 'nuke-nin'? Tch.

"Hn."

"…?" She tilted her head and Sasuke felt a small twinge pinch his heart.

"What does that mean?" Nozomi asked curiously.

Sasuke didn't bother answering, instead he shot a final glare of warning at his shark-like teammate before stepping away, his chidori dying down. The little girl calmed him in a way that unnerved him.

As he turned his back, he heard Suigetsu whisper:

"It's better if you go, kid, what's-your-name."

"Nozomi!" The little rosette snapped, unexpectedly sharp.

"I don't know the way home…" She said, her voice returning to normal, with a note of genuine uncertainty lingering in her tone.

Suigetsu snorted and said:

"Anywhere's better than with us, 'kay?"

Sasuke sighed and turned, going back towards the two lagging behind.

"Suigetsu." He intoned tonelessly. His voice was so low and calm, that Suigetsu immediately edged away from Nozomi, alarm stretching his eyes.

The little rosette frowned, her face adorably 'angry', and said:

"He wasn't doing anything. You're really mean to your friends, you know."

You're really mean to your friends, you know.The words spooked around in Sasuke's head. In his mind's eye, he saw bright blue eyes, filled with mischief, and a pair of soft emerald ones overflowing with understanding and calm intelligence.

The Uchiha forced himself not to grimace as the girl's words hit a wounded spot. He wasn't quite able to suppress the feelings, though, and his eyes flashed red before they went dark again.

"I have no friends. He," Sasuke glanced at Suigetsu, "is a teammate."

Nozomi looked confused and asked:

"But everybody has friends! Right?"

When the Uchiha didn't answer, the little Haruno kept on going:

"I mean, even Sakura has friends, and she's pricklier than prickly!"

She didn't notice that Sasuke's shoulders went rigid, tension written on every line of his body. Nozomi knew Sakura?

Okay, obviously, the little rosette was somehow related with his former teammate. Maybe a distant cousin…?

After an awkward pause, he grunted:

"Aa." And stalked away, leaving Nozomi staring after him curiously.

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Location: Izogakure

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"WHAT?" About a dozen Narutos started screaming around, and two ran into each other, falling in a dazed heap on the ground only to be eliminated a couple of seconds later by the Izo ninjas.

The real Naruto swallowed, pretending to be a bunshin. Kakashi seemed nervous, which sent alarm bells ringing in the fox containers ears.

I have no choice… He decided.

Hello? Kyuubi?

Mirai scanned the future, noting the amount of chakra sinking faster as she strained to see further along the paths of the yet-to-bes. Suddenly, she saw the Kyuubi erupting, which would be in about twenty seconds.

HUYU! We've got to run!

Her twin saw right away what she had seen and answered quietly:

It takes too much time to change back.

WHATEVER! WE HAVE TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!

Huyu willed himself to gaze at her mind closer, and swallowed a lump in their combined throat.

He could see his and his sister's corpse.

Okay.

Naruto squinted through half-lidded eyes as the fox/bird creature reared up, whirling up a cloud of snow. It started to grow rapidly smaller, until it was the size of the twins. With a startling tearing sound, it split in half and sort of melted back into the Izo nins. Mirai coughed, hacking up a bit of congealed blood, one eye closed. The other was still wide open with the arrows spiralling in a continuous slow movement.

"Okay, you half-starved bitches!" Naruto gritted out through his teeth. Chakra was building up inside of him again.

Red chakra.

"This is for Kaka-sensei! Kage-bunshins no jutsu!"

Mirai coughed again, watching the Kyuubi container create about a thousand bunshins, just as she had anticipated.

Huyu… I'll try and see for both of us, okay?

Yes.

She winced as her spent eye throbbed. It wasn't as bad as last time she'd used too much chakra in an eye, but it still hurt.

"Get ready." She rasped.

The air exploded with Naruto-cries, and Mirai dodged and ducked as she tried to see as far as she could into the future. She knew she couldn't keep this up for long, since her body and chakra were already exhausted.

A Rasengan from Naruto screeched through the air as he formed it into a shurikan shape.

Mirai swallowed.

Fuck. I'm calling on Ruri, okay?

Ruri? Are you nuts, sister? That takes even more chakra, and you know it! You wouldn't be able to move then!

There's no other way! Do you want to die here?

Mirai didn't wait for her brother's response. As she ducked under a blow from a clone, she bit her finger and smoothly plunged it onto a scroll.

"Kuchiyose…!"

Feathers burst up into the air. Blue feathers, the colour of pure sapphire. Showers of them came raining down.

Huh? Kakashi dragged himself a little bit closer, looking at the Kuchiyose animal.

It was a blue owl, with a wingspan of about twenty feet. Right away, Kakashi realized that its feathers were… stone. Yes, they seemed as if they'd been carved from lapis lazuli. The beak and the claws were gold, and the owl's eyes were dark lime coloured.

With a piercing cry, it rose into the air, beating back Naruto's clones with its stone wings. It saw the opportunity and swooped low towards Mirai. With the last bit of her strength, she leaped onto its back, even though a clone managed to dig a kunai into her thigh. Once she managed to steady herself on the bird's back, she passed out.

The owl flew over Huyu and reached out with golden claws, snagging him and ascending too high for any bunshins to catch it.

Naruto stood panting and growling slightly as he watched the blue owl disappear. He was actually quite proud of himself; he'd been able to keep himself at only two tails this time. Still, his body was sore with chakra burns, and he was tired.

Kakashi staggered upright and pat Naruto on the shoulder.

"You did very well, Naruto." His mask creased, hinting a wide smile.

Naruto nodded, half asleep, and mumbled:

"Thanks, Kaka-sens… Zzz…"

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Sakura panted, her green eyes wide. Kira was untouchable. While the Haruno had been charging around and attacking, the Sokage hardly moved as muscle. Her eyes were spooky, and Sakura was unnerved by the fact that she couldn't see where the kage was looking.

Okay, listen up!

Oh boy! Now it's gonna roll, baby!

I said LISTEN! Yeesh, okay, so we fake a manoeuvre and scoot over to Sai's opponent, the Mamoru guy. All right?

Let me guess – I have to do all the work, right?

Cork it!

Sakura leaned back, some kunais grazing her cheek, and suddenly whipped around, sending a chakra laden fist speeding towards the pale-eyed Izo nin.

Kira saw and she grimaced, uttering a low hiss.

Apparently, the hiss was used as a warning between the two, and Mamoru barely managed to dodge as the Haruno flash-stepped around, throwing punches and kicks at him.

"Stupid – Izo – nins!" Sakura gasped. She would have cussed more, if not for a sudden strange pressure in the air that strapped her arms to her sides.

Mamoru swallowed and muttered:

"You can't do anything about my air jutsus. Air is everywhere – as long as there's air, I can fight. I change the density off the air and can form invisible barriers and cages. No use fighting it."

"Oh yes there is!" Sakura ground her teeth. She was thinking fast.

Pfft.Inner Sakura scowled and spat on the ground.

Hey, that's it!

Sakura's head wasn't restrained! She knew it was extremely unpleasant what she was about to do, but it was her only chance.

She aimed at Mamoru…and – and spat.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

Mamoru stumbled back, wiping his face, and accidently released both Konoha nins. Sai fell a good ten feet down and landed with a thump in a snowbank. The pale artist was limp, breathing laboured.

Sakura rushed over to him, pouring healing energy into him. She was relieved that there were only some minor fractions in his ribs with no complications, otherwise Sai would die without and operation.

The Haruno whirled around on her heel and faced the two Izo nins. She settled into a defensive position, green eyes angry.

Kira studied her carefully, her black eyes roaming Sakura's face.

Suddenly, she lowered her head and said quietly:

"Mamoru… call it off."

"…?" Sakura stared at her in surprise.

The Izo nins would have had an easy victory – her being exhausted in body and chakra, and they being two.

Mamoru was equally surprised and turned to look at her in shock.

"… W… What? Why?"

Kira's eyes slowly raised until she was staring met emerald green orbs.

"Mamoru…" She whispered.

"I thought I'd be able to do it, but I can't."

Her teammate had a puzzled frown on his confused face.

"Why, Kira?"

The black melted away, leaving amethyst behind. Sakura narrowed her eyes cautiously.

"I can't do it, because…"

A deep breath.

"… Because I can't hurt any member of my family. Not… again."

For about the first time ever, Sakura and her Inner agreed on something, namely:

WTF?

WTF?

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Itachi and Kisame silently moved through the woods. They were heading towards the new village, Izogakure, where their leader was waiting for them.

"Man, why couldn't it have been anywhere closer?" Kisame complained.

"…" Itachi glanced at his partner.

"Because you were ordered to." A new voice cut in.

"Yeesh, Zetsu!" Kisame complained.

"Stop jumping us like that!"

"You two are ordered to continue your way to Izo. Leader-sama won't be there, and neither will Konan, because of complications." Zetsu's lighter half said.

"So that way, you two are less likely to be killed for being late." The dark half grumbled.

"Tell leader-sama that we understood." Itachi commanded the strange plant ninja.

"Hai, Itachi-san." Both halves replied, sinking into the ground. The two remaining Akatsuki members resumed their journey.

"What a pain." Kisame groaned, starting his grumbling all over again.

The two traveled in silence for about ten minutes. Kisame got border and border as the seconds ticked by, and decided to annoy Itachi. He knew that it was undeniably dangerous, but anything was better than just running and getting bored, in his opinion. So, he commented:

"You know, the Sokage is a woman. Like, a young woman."

"…?" Itachi flatly gazed at Kisame, no interest in his eyes.

"She's supposedly really pretty too…"

"Kisame." The blue nin stopped short at his partner's annoyed rebuke. Kisame suppressed a chuckle. It had worked!

"I am not there to hook myself a woman. We are both there on orders, nothing else."

"Yeah, but Itachi, man, you've got to get a woman some day or another!"

Itachi didn't reply, his eyes intent on the path in front of him. Surprised, his partner looked at him from the corner of his eye. Usually, the emotionless Uchiha would have at least reacted slightly to a bold comment like that.

What Kisame didn't know was that his words hit a more or less sensitive spot, but in a way that woke a question that Itachi had tried to bury over time.

All those years ago, when Itachi had had to kill his clan, he had killed his cousin, Maiha. She had been his playmate for the longest time when they had been little. Of course, she wasn't his best friend, but still, she had been the only girl that Itachi had interacted with for a long period of time.

He could still see his cousin clearly, there, in his head. She had black eyes, like all Uchihas, and about shoulder length dark hair that always stuck up in every direction.

He knew, that if she hadn't been his cousin, he would have really liked her.

Like, in that way.

But now… he just didn't have the heart to start another relationship with anybody. All he wanted to do…

… was die. Under his little brother's hand.

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Location: Izogakure

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Huyu stared over the top of Ruri's head at the sky. He knew that Mirai had about zero chakra left and needed rest. Wincing, he felt her exhaustion through the mental link they shared. She had recovered from her faint, and was insisting on trying to sit up.

Her brother did not appreciate her efforts, especially since they were useless and even furthermore tiring.

"Mirai?" He asked out loud.

Hai? Mirai's faint voice came mentally. Not good; that meant that she was too tired to even speak.

"Kira said that we should find her when we're finished… but you're too tire – "

NONSENSE! I'm okay!

Mirai coughed and heaved herself up so that she was propped on an elbow.

"Ruri…" She rasped.

The lapis lazuli bird banked sharply and the beats of its wings increased rapidly as her twin protested.

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"Y… You… I… But… what?" Sakura gaped like a stranded fish, staring at Kira. The Sokage avoided eye contact.

Mamoru, too, was shocked. He swallowed and muttered:

"But I thought your family was, well…"

"…dead, yes." Kira said wearily.

"But the original family is not."

Sakura's limbs ached from her frozen position, and yet she refused to relinquish her ready pose.

"Sokage-san…" She couldn't help saying, "The Harunos don't have a branch family."

"Yes, they do."

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but Kira cut in:

"It's not surprising that you don't know… the Seikis split off of the Haruno Clan very early. It wasn't a big deal – it only became known after the unusual kekkai genkai appeared."

Pink slashed through the air as Sakura recovered her composure and abruptly straightened up, shooting the Sokage an angry look.

"Liar." She hissed.

At once, Kira's face grew icy and hard, and Sakura almost lost her nerve.

"Liar?" The purple-eyed woman repeated darkly. "You call me, Kira Seiki, a liar?"

Black started to creep from her pupils again, and Kira closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

Sakura glared at her.

"Yes, liar. If you truly cared so much about my family, then why did you ally Izo with Akatsuki?"

"Because I thought the Harunos didn't exist anymore!" Kira snapped, her eyes flashing open again.

"Tell me, Haruno, how many of your Clan are still alive?"

Sakura worried her lip, knowing the answer, but unwilling to say it out loud.

"Very few." She finally muttered.

"So it is not surprising that I thought you didn't exist anymore. And I am sorry that I allied my village with Akatsuki… but I can't change it now. All that is in my power is to refuse to help when they attack Konoha. That's all I can do."

Mamoru, who had been forgotten for a while, stirred and said quietly:

"Mirai and Huyu are approaching, Master Sokage."

Kira looked up. Sakura followed her gaze and saw a blue bird circling high in the sky.

The Sokage motioned to the bird, and it tilted into a steep dive. Now Sakura could see that two people were on the bird. The girl was lying down, her arm limply swinging off of the owl's back.

As it landed with a thump, the other person, a man, stepped off.

"Kira." The man said, eyes flickering to Sakura. Clearly, he was wondering why there was still an opponent left.

"Huyu… Mirai…" Kira responded vaguely. Her eyes flickered to Sakura's emerald orbs before she looked back at the newcomers.

"What is with Mirai?" Mamoru asked worriedly.

"She's passed out from chakra overuse." Huyu replied. "That Jinchuriki was pretty vicious."

Sakura exhaled loudly, relief making her legs shake.

Kira wordlessly looked at Mirai, before turning to the blue owl.

"Ruri, take your mistress and the brother of your mistress back home. Immediately. Do you understand?"

The bird, Ruri, hooted softly, before leaping back into the sky with a rush of wings, dropping a few stone feathers.

"I advise you strongly to get back to Konoha." Kira said, turning back to Sakura. "It's not safe to linger here any longer."

Sakura gritted her teeth. Team 7's mission had failed!

"My mission is not finished yet, Master Sokage." She said through thin lips.

Kira smiled, but it was not out of amusement, and said:

"You can't complete this mission, Haruno. Face it. Izogakure won't relinquish the alliance between the Akatsuki and this village."

Before Sakura could answer, Mamoru suddenly grew transparent until he had vanished.

Damn! That was a clone!

Kira's smile vanished and she murmured:

"I am truly sorry. Until next time, Haruno Sakura!"

And with that, she burst into a storm of snowflakes.

AAAH! That was a clone too!

BULL SHIT! What if we'd met the real Kira when her clone's so strong already?

Exactly what I think…

Sakura stood a second longer, staring at the place where the Izo nins had disappeared, then turned and hurried to Sai. Hefting him, she grunted at his weight. About half of her chakra was gone, and her teammate seemed heavier than usual in the absence of her strength.

As healing green chakra poured from her hands, she argued with her Inner about what the Sokage had said.

She could be lying… I don't get why she stopped the attack, though. She could have easily won!

Well, it seems to me that she was telling us the truth. Inner Sakura grimaced.

Surprised, Sakura inquired:

Whoa, since when have you been reasonable in my whole life?

I just feel that you need to straighten out everything. When you're confused, it gives me a headache.

Ah, I see… Okay, so I'm related to the Sokage of Izo. It doesn't make sense! And worse, even if my parents were still alive, Kira mentioned that almost nobody knew of the branch family!

You could ask somebody who was around at that time.

Oh, yeah? And who would this wonder person be?

Oh, I don't know – start with Tsunade!

What? But she wasn't alive at that point!

She may have heard some gossip, though!

Okay, okay, I see your point. Thanks for being so non-bitchy.

Honey, I'd love to say 'my pleasure', but it makes me restless to be nice to you.

Sighing, Sakura ignored the second voice as her Inner began to babble about her being extra bitchy the next day to make up for before.

Temari was healed already – she just needed a lot of sleep.

Groaning, Sakura lifted one ninja onto each shoulder and started the steep descent of the mountain top.

If Kakashi didn't find her soon, then he was in for hell.

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Location: Konoha

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"WHAT?"

Tenten ducked a flying chair.

Tsunade screamed again and hurled a vase through the air and shrieked again:

"Don't tell me that Nozomi Haruno is captured by nuke-nins!"

Mutely, Team Gai nodded. Kiba, standing outside, was thankful that he wasn't allowed in, on account of Akamaru.

"YOU ALL ARE MISERABLE FAILURES, BELIEVE ME!" Tsunade raged.

Lee decided to act.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but even all of Tenten's youthfulness, Neji's breathtaking power, and me, the green beast of Konoha, couldn't have saved Sakura-chan's sibling, trapped as she is in sinister evil. I – "

"SHUT YOUR TRAP, YOU LITTLE GAI WANNABE!"

Stunned, Lee took her advice and shut up, before she decided to kill him.

Tsunade swallowed hard and gripped the table. Everybody heard the audible crack as the wood protested at the Godaime's monster strength.

"What the hell am I going to tell my apprentice?" She groaned.

A minute passed as she just stood there, her hands gripping tighter and tighter. Her breathing came in hectic bursts.

When she looked up and started speaking again, it was low and strained, but slightly calmer.

"You, you and you," Tsunade flung an arm at the three ninjas before her, "and you, Inuzuka, are going to have to break the news to Sakura when she gets back. I'll be sure to visit your graves someday. You are dismissed – I have to go to the hospital. Neji, how badly was your cousin hurt?"

"… Badly." The Hyuuga avoided Tsunade's eyes. Highly unusual… and alarming.

Tsunade swallowed again and strode quickly out of the room brushing past Kiba outside.

Two tears stood in her brown eyes.

As she swiftly made her way to the hospital, she dabbed at her eye with the heel of her palm, because, for some reason, those tears had overflowed.

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A/N

I need you guys, everybody who's reading this, to vote.

Okay, here goes:

When Sakura sees Sasuke again, never mind when exactly, what should she do? Should she:

a) loose her cool and scream at Sasuke

b) remain icy calm

c) not say anything and try to run away

Now, combine your first vote with another one…:

1) Sakura wins! :D But she leaves him alone with his humiliation. XD

2) Sasuke wins but can't make himself kill her

3) Tie, and Sakura transports herself away

Thanks for voting on this horribly complicated vote! And if you have a different option, please put it in a review or send me a PM. Thanks a million! :)

IMPORTANT: I'll be away for a bit, so there won't be an update until 17th of August. :( Sorry, guys, but I'm on vacation!

- EbonyEye

PREVIEW CHAPTER 8:

- "Did something happen?" "No."

- What… What if…

- "You will stay here and watch out for her." "WHAT?"

- Purple eyes sharp, she said in a clipped tone:

"Welcome. From your appearances, I guess that you are Hoshigaki Kisame and," her eyes flashed slightly, "… Uchiha Itachi."