Chapter 8: Tsuki and Hachidori

A/N: Yey, another chapter! Hope you enjoy! Try to listen to Race from Dax Johnson while reading, it's pretty good.


Without further warning, the two vanished without a trace in two swirls of fire, only leaving behind a gaping Hokage and a shell-shocked Anbu.

Run. Run. RUN! Those were the only thoughts she was able to comprehend in her current state of mind. She can feel her heart beating heavily in her chest, the suddenly loud pumping masking the noise of the wind she can feel rushing past her. The world around her was a grey and black background with dots of different color, the most being light red or dark crimson, but a few were occasionally brighter than the others. Only then, she noted that she had her eyes closed since she left the tower in a rather flashy move. Since a few minutes, she was solely relying on her ability of 'seeing' chakra, courtesy of Kyubi when she met her after her left eye was rendered useless. She frowned at the memory and caste it aside for the moment. The only time she had been this worried about someone was when she knew about Pein attacking Konoha while she was training with the toads, but again, the entire village had been concerned. Her thoughts were jumbled together, her brain ordering her body to move faster, quicker and swifter. She complied wholeheartedly. Sweating slightly, Naruto felt the amount of fear consuming her inside like fire, twisting and swirling in her stomach like a flaming whirlpool, growing at every second that passes as she hopped from rooftop to rooftop; she paid it no mind, choosing to concentrate on how to not lose her balance since she discovered her chakra control went to hell because of the 'travel'. That had been an awful new: she spent 3 years to gain the level of inhuman chakra control she had and now she has to do it all over again.

She noticed the shadow of Sasuke following her silently, only a fraction of second behind like she used to do when they did joined missions in Anbu. She knew that her sister can easily keep up and the raven was probably even faster, that is if she didn't start to use…that jutsu. Smiling softly to no one -or it seemed- she pumped a little more chakra in the tenketsu on her feet and literally propelled herself from another rooftop, dislodging a few tiles that she heard shattering on the ground a few stories below. She ignored the cursing from the owner who didn't see her. Her target was now only a few streets from her position; the white building she exited only an hour before appeared bigger than in her memories, standing tall in the middle of the hidden village like a white spot in the middle of a black painting. Landing on her feet soundlessly, she busted through the wooden door, nearly tearing it from its hinges, startling the two chuunin that happened to be assigned on guard duty and scaring pretty much every nurse except the kunoichi working there. She rushed to the nearest chuunin, since the other one had a pineapple-style ponytail and he would probably find her question too 'troublesome'.

''Excuse me, do you know in which room is the Anbu that recently got here? She has a white and black mask...''

''Oh, you mean the Anbu with the tsuki mask? I think she's in room 312, next to the stairs...''

''Thank you! And sorry for the door, but just ask the Hokage for the money!'' she then ran toward the stairs and disappeared. The startled chuunin opened his mouth to ask her what she meant by 'the door' since she didn't break it, but a loud crash made him turn his head only for a black blur to pass beside him and vanish a second later, following the red haired girl. Blinking a few times, he turned his gaze toward the door, and his jaw dropped to the floor.

''Shikaku... i-is it just me or that girl really did run into a... five inches wooden door strengthened with chakra an-and a few dozen seals made by our best seal master and came out without a scratch?'' he asked in an incredulous voice.

He received a simple nod from the thoughtful Nara. You can nearly see the wheels spinning almost too fast in his head.

''And a black thing made a hole in it... I wonder at what speed did that thing move? Probably more than 100 km/h, but less than-''

The other chuunin's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. ''Can you please shut up? You can do that at home with the other geniuses in your family. But for now, do we report to Hokage-sama?''

''...''

''Shikaku!''


The hallway seemed endless to her as she ran, her labored breath and the sound of her sandals against the white floor resonating in the empty corridor. Naruto wasn't tired. She could run for days without break, and she had once run for a week during a mission that went really bad. That time, she was still new in Anbu and she had conveniently met Madara and the snake-face on her way back to Konoha. Injured and exhausted, she knew she couldn't possibly fight so she chose to flee. A year of war had calmed her down and beaten some common sense into her; she had retained her cheerful attitude, but she no longer shouts or acts out of impulsiveness only. So she knew she couldn't possibly be tired after barely a 2 minutes run. Then why was she panting? And what was that feeling in her chest? Instead of dispersing, it only grew as she approached the door with the number 312 engraved in the wooden door. She suddenly stopped running a second before she would crash in the door, her head staring at the handle. The movement made her red hair fell in front of her eyes, hiding her eyes so no one could tell her expression, though it was pretty obvious if someone looked at her slightly shaking hand.

How should she act when she finally can meet 'her' in person? What would the Anbu say? Would she be asleep? And what would she look like at this age? What should she say to her?

'Would she accept me?' the girl thought. She felt an Anbu staring at her from somewhere, but she could not pinpoint his exact location. Not that she cared; she was too absorbed in her own thoughts to do so. The Hokage already gave her a hitai-ate, so as long as she doesn't do anything dangerous or that may cause suspicion, the Anbu could not do anything to her. A light tap on her shoulder brought her out of her musing. It was Sasuke who looked at her with an understanding look in her eyes. She felt comforted with that hand: it felt cold on her skin, but it was warm to her, just not physically.

''Naruto,'' the black haired girl started, ''go for it.''

That little sentence immediately calmed her down and brought a small smile on her delicate face. She had always trusted Sasuke. It began when the Uchiha had saved her life on their first C-rank mission. It grew a little bit when they fought together against Orochimaru during the second part of their first chuunin exam. But when Naruto felt she could place her heart in someone else's hand for good, Sasuke left the village. Not wanting to lose her only friend, she ran after her, only for her trust to be nearly broken when the Uchiha shoved a chidori through her chest. Being the optimist person she was, she still believes that the raven could be saved; after all, she didn't kill her when she could. She believes it to be the way Sasuke says 'I can't do it because you can help me'. She still took pride in the fact Sasuke returned to Konoha willingly after the girl learned the reason behind the Uchiha massacre. The scar on her chest doesn't bother her anymore after her friend apologized (read: knelt on the floor and begged for her pardon while crying for the unnecessary death of her dear brother). Of course, Sasuke denied everything after that episode: she still had her Uchiha pride to maintain.

Her smile turned into a smirk, confusing her sister figure. Now feeling better, Naruto simply stopped asking questions and posed her hand on the metal handle. She turned it, opened the door and quickly stepped inside.

The room was white and plain, exactly what someone would expect from a hospital chamber. A few machines were beeping here and there, and a pot of peony orchid sat on a desk. They mean healing, so the person who put them there must be a close friend of the Anbu. Naruto stopped walking when a soft voice spoke.

''Su-suichu-chan?''

'Who?'

She must have said that out loud because the other red head started to apologize.

''O-oh, sorry! I thought you were.. hum...''

''You thought I was someone in your family because of my hair color.'' Naruto finished the sentence for her mother, causing the woman to blush profusely. No one noticed that Naruto had a sour look on her face.

'No, this Uzumaki Kushina is not my mother. She won't be mine. She will be baby Naruto's, not mine... my mother died on the day I was born. Father as well... and everyone else... here, nothing is mine...'

This particular depressing thought made her heart clench painfully. She hadn't realized before, but she was now truly alone. The smile from the Sandaime wasn't for her. The conversations she enjoyed so much with the slug sannin were not meant for her. The encouraging smiles and friendly taps on the back from the nurses weren't for her... nothing belong to her in this world. She was alone again, just like when she was in the orphanage... lonely, sad, and dispensable. No one will remember or be worried about her if she was to disappear the next day. They would be concerned for her alias. The only thing she has from her friends was the memories she has and the necklace from Tsunade. The time she passed laughing with Kiba, the cloud-watching with Shikamaru, the harsh training with Gai and Lee, the weapon training with Tenten, the annoying shopping with Ino, the 'talk' from Jiraiya, the mourning moments with Kakashi, the time she learned about Hinata's lifelong crush on her, and so much else... everything is now just part of a future that would never happen.

'Kit...'

'Kyubi, don't. Just... don't. I can't.'

'Kit, listen-'

'No!'

'NAMIKAZE NARUTO!'

That effectively caught her attention. Kuybi never shouts, and she didn't call her by her full name since Naruto was 14. It was always brat or kit, depending on the giant fox's mood. The red head felt oddly comforted when the vixen called her by her father's last name, her true name.

'Naruto, you're not alone. I'm still here, the Uchiha is still here,' the demon said grudgingly, 'and even if your new friends don't know your real identity, their emotions toward you are not fake. They are meant for you. It doesn't matter if you're an Uzumaki or even a Kaguya: you are still you and your friends will always feel the same as long as you remain true to yourself. And remember: no matter what happens, I'll always be with you. It's not as if I have a say on it anyway.'

'Ha-hai...'

'Now go before the Uchiha goes crazy of worry.'

The demon smile in her mind when the sad expression on her jailor's face was slowly replaced by a more determined one. Yes, this girl is truly worthy of her lineage, the fox thought.

'Thank you Kurama!'

'You're welcome, kit. And remember, when a fox recognize someone's power, which happens really rarely, it will be loyal to that person for the rest of eternity.'

Naruto was confused, but brushed it aside as 'one of the weird things old people say'. After all, no matter how young Kyubi looks like, she's still a few thousand years old demon. The mind link was then broken, indicating that the girl was now cutting out all possible distraction to focus more on her mother.

''Ano, I'm Uzumaki Kushina. And you are...?'' the woman said, trying to break the awkward silence.

''Huh? Oh! I'm Naruto, nice to meet ya! And this is-''

''Sasuke. I believe I can speak for myself, dobe.''

''Oh my God! Kushina-san please remember every detail of what she just said. This is maybe the only time you'll ever hear sarcasm coming out of the mouth of this ice cube.'' Naruto said with a rather obvious fake surprised expression.

That made Kushina blink.

''... it wasn't funny, was it?''

She got her answer when no response came.


It was so dark. He felt cold. It was freezing in this dark room. He heard someone cough, and then a wet sound. It seems his teammate, Inukami by the feminine and yet deep sound of the voice, was coughing up blood. No. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It was supposed to be a fairly easy mission. Then why is he here? Why are him and his teammates in a heavily guarded prison with their chakra suppressed by seals? It was supposed to be a simple A-rank mission where they have to guard a rich merchant to Kaminari no kuni. Turns out that their client owns several criminal organizations and he's a regular customer at the black market. He's involved in selling drugs, illegal weapons, and people. A good percentage of them are his past ninja guards that he hires missing-nins to capture and they were then brain washed. Men were sold as slaves and women as maids, though some of them were, well, forced into a more... questionable industry. The Anbu captain was furious at that thought. He respects kunoichi since they were rather rare in their profession, and considering the very high death rate, those women who chose to become a shinobi are either ignorant, very courageous ore downright nuts. That's the situation in other villages though. In Konoha, younger girls want to become kunoichi because they have a strong will to protect their home and family. Their belief in the will of fire is what makes them strong enough to go against all the inconveniences in being a female shinobi. Furthermore, kunoichi tend to face higher risks than men, considering their gender, so the Anbu captain has a very good reason to put them in high regard. That's also what makes him downright furious when a civilian dares to treat his female companions like pieces of meat. So when he discovered that little fact about their employer, he had nearly killed him if it wasn't for the odorless and colorless poison that was put in his meal a few hours before. And now, because of his acts, his team is stuck here, waiting for death or worse. He pulled on his handcuffs and sighed.

'Think, Hachidori, think. What can you do in this situation?'


Yey, finished chapter 8! Hachidori means hummingbird and Tsuki means moon. I hope you enjoyed! It's a little bit hard for me to update now, cause it's the end of the year and I have 2 weeks straight of exams, 1-2 per day. It's hard to find time between working, studying, planning this summer, finding new workers for my dad's restaurant and did I mention studying? So I'm veerry busy now. And please Review! I like to hear what you think about my story. I'm also working on making longer chapters (around 3k+), but the closest I've been to 3000 words is chapter 7...

*bow*