Thank you all for your feedback. Here are some comments.
Jose19:
Maybe she acts like an OC, but you have to consider that she has lost her senshis, her family and Mamoru. She is mourning. With such losses it is normal to act in another way. Because of that she is more serious. She will fight more to avoid more losses.
If you compare Naruto before the training with Jiraya and afterwards, you will realize that he is more serious and doesn't goof around that much. In addition, Usagi influences him.
In the end, this is my story. There will be differences to the original. Either you can live with it or don't read it.
Amanda:
No problem. Thank you for the comments about Usagi's changes.
Enjoy the next chapter.
Disclaimer:
I do not own SM or Naruto.
Conventions:
"text" - speech
'text' – thoughts
Previously
"The fight was amazing. Your teamwork was good and your strategy was efficient. I have decided that you three will form a team. Usagi and Naruto, you are actually genin, but your skills excel this rank. In my opinion, it would be unfair for others to let you participate on a chūnin exam. Because of that, Kakashi will evaluate your skills as chūnin. That means, he will virtual lead the team, but Usagi and Naruto get their chances to lead the team. After a few missions, Kakashi and I will decide your rank. Shizune, did you bring a forehead protector?" said Tsunade.
"Yes, here is your forehead protector, Usagi-chan." said Shizune and gave it to her.
"I will call you, when I get a message from Sunagakure. Dismissed." said Tsunade.
"Kakashi and Usa, let us go to Ichiraku. I have missed his ramen." said Naruto.
"Sure, I'm starved." said Usagi.
"I will pay." said Kakashi.
Naruto's and Usagi's eyes were sparkling and they started to run.
"Hurry, Kakashi." shouted Naruto over his shoulder.
Now
The new team Kakashi was sitting at Ichiraku. Beside Naruto and Usagi were stacks of bowls. Naruto was still eating his 9th bowl and Usagi had just finished her 8th bowl. Kakashi was looking in his purse sighing. He had forgotten how much Naruto could eat and hadn't known that Usagi was also a glutton. Naruto pushed away the empty bowl.
"That was yummy, Teuchi-san. I've missed your ramen." said Naruto.
"I can imagine. It was really quiet without you." said Teuchi.
"This is the best ramen that I have ever eaten, Teuchi-san." said Usagi.
"Thank you, Usagi-chan."
Shikamaru and Temari arrived.
"Konichiwa minna. Tsunade-sama sent me to pick you up, Naruto and Kakashi. Are you Usagi?" asked Shikamaru.
"Yes."
"Good, you too. I'm Shikamaru and this is Temari from Sunagakure."
Kakashi paid for the ramen. Then the shinobis walked to the Hokage's Residence. They entered Tsunade's office and were already expected by Tsunade, Shizune, Choji and Ino.
"Ok, everyone is here. This morning, Jiraya informed us that Akatsuki plans to attack Sunagakure. We suspect that they want to capture Gaara-sama as jinchūriki of the ichibi. We have already sent a message to warn the Kazekage. Temari-san is going to leave for Sunagakure tomorrow morning. You will accompany her. Kakashi, you are the leader for this mission. Support Sunagakure against Akatsuki. Any questions?... Dismissed." explained Tsunade.
Everyone except Naruto and Usagi left the office. Tsunade raised an eyebrow. Usagi fetched a communicator from her subspace pocket.
"Tsunade-sama, this is a communicator. With the communicator you can contact me or everyone with a communicator. It works across the continent. One might say it enables communication to the moon. We will contact you, when we've got information." said Usagi.
"Good, I will contact you, when we've got information from Sunagakure."
"Please, don't tell someone else about it."
"Of course, this gives us an advantage."
Usagi gave the communicator to Tsunade and described her how to use it. Then Naruto and Usagi left the office.
It was night. Usagi was lying on the roof of the building of Naruto's flat and was looking at the moon and the stars. She was thinking about the events of the day. It had been a great day for her. She had been accepted in the village as shinobi with that she would be able to help them against Akatsuki. She would do her best to hold Akatsuki up. They focused to capture jinchūrikis. Jiraya couldn't find out why, but that didn't matter Akatsuki wouldn't get Naruto. He belonged to her family and after the loss of her last, she would do almost everything to keep her new family save. Because of that she had trained that much the last months, she couldn't afford any mistakes.
In the afternoon, Naruto had showed Usagi and the wolves Konohagakure. Beforehand, Usagi had warned Akito and Gin to behave well. They needed to accustom the villager to the huge wolves. Both wolves had been on their best behavior and some of the villager had eased up a little. During the sight seeing, they had met several of Naruto's friends. Some of his friends had organized a little welcome party in Yakiniku Q, a Gyū-Kaku-style yakiniku restaurant, in the evening. Everyone had received Usagi well. She was happy to make new friends. Usagi knew that her new shinobi friends could never replace her senshis, but it was a good start. During the dinner they had told stories of their missions. Usagi had realized that Naruto's nindō to never give up and keep his word had inspired his friends. They had trained the last 2.5 years keeping that in mind.
Naruto jumped on the roof and lay down beside her. He reached out his arm. She accepted the offer and cuddled up to him and laid her head on his chest. Naruto wrapped the arm around her and stroked her back.
"What bothers you?" asked Naruto.
"Nothing specific. I thought about the day and your friends. I realized that I'm really happy. We only have to stop Akatsuki, then it will be perfect."
"We will beat them…"
Flashback – two months ago
It was evening Usagi was sitting in a clearing and was looking at the almost full moon. Naruto walked to her and sat behind her. He started to massage her shoulder. She had been deep in thought and his touch startled her. But she relaxed almost immediately as she realized who was behind her. They were sitting quietly for several minutes. Naruto was still massaging her shoulder.
"What bothers you? You were untypical aggressive and stiff the complete day." asked Naruto.
"Akatsuki… I won't let them hurt you. I can't lose you, too."
Usagi turned to him and straddled his lap. She kissed Naruto fiercely for a few moments. Then she looked him in the eyes. Naruto caressed softly her cheek.
"Shh, everything will be ok. We will fight them together and"
"Promise me that we will always fight together and you won't do any suicide missions alone like you used to do. If I lose you, I couldn't live any longer..."
Naruto looked at her speechless.
"I love you, Ruto-chan. You had to wait months for me, but now I'm ready for you. I was stu"
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her passionately. Naruto swore to himself to never let her go.
"I love you, too Usa-chan… I swear by Shinobi no Kami to fight Akatsuki with you. I won't leave you behind and I won't do suicide missions without you."
End flashback
"Let's go inside. We will leave early. Normally, it is a 3 days run, but we will rush this time." said Naruto.
"Hai, we should go to bed."
The next morning, Usagi, Naruto and the wolves arrived at the gate early, but everyone was already ready to go.
"Good, everyone is already here. We will run fast with only a few breaks to get to Sunagakure as fast as possible. If someone needs a break, ask for it. In any case, we have to be able to fight, when we arrive. Ok?... Then let's" said Kakashi.
"Stop..." shouted Shizune as she ran to the gate, "I have news from Sunagakure. We've got a message from the Kazekage. Akatsuki hasn't attacked, yet. Temari-san shall return as fast as possible. That was everything."
"Ok, then we will leave."
The shinobis started to run towards Sunagakure. It was tough run. Choji and Ino had the most problems to keep up. Akito and Gin agreed to carry them until they would be able to run again on their own. The next morning, almost everyone was exhausted. They had been on the road for more than 22 hours with only a small break to eat something. Kakashi decided to have a rest for the next 6 hours. Naruto protested, but Usagi could convince him that the break was necessary. Everyone lay down to sleep. Akito and Gin were exhausted but not that much as the humans. The wolves rotated to keep watch. The communicator awakened Usagi after about 4 hours. She stood up and walked away to not disturb the others. She opened the communicator and saw Tsunade.
"Ohayo Usagi-chan."
"Ohaya Tsunade-sama."
"We've got a message from Sunagakure. Yesterday, Akasuki had attacked and had captured Gaara-sama. Only one Akatsuki had attacked. Gaara-sama had fought him, but couldn't beat him. The attacker had used explosion jutsus and had targeted the villager. He had tricked Gaara-sama somehow and could capture him. What is your status?"
"We had run till this morning with only a small break to eat. At the moment, we are resting 6 hours then we will run again. I will contact you, when we arrive and got the status of Sunagakure."
"Ok."
Usagi turned to walk back, but Naruto and Kakashi were already awaiting her. She told them about the message. Naruto wanted to leave directly, but Kakashi and Usagi could convince him to finish their rest. They wouldn't tell the others about the message, because the communicator shall be a secret. The trio went back to the camp and lay down to sleep.
Kakashi woke the group after the 6 hours. They ate something and then started to run. It was a similar pattern as the day before. After a few hours, Akito and Gin carried Choji and Ino to speed up the group and after 20 hours, they had a break of 6 hours. Naruto got impatient several times, but fortunately Usagi could soothe him each time. They reached Sunagakure after 2.5 days.
The passage through the cliffs was partially blocked with rocks. As they arrived, two shinobis were keeping watch and some others were cleaning up the passage. The shinobis welcomed Temari and the Konoha Shinobis. Temari was shocked about state of the main defensive fortification. She hurried to lead the group to the Kazekage's Office. While the group was walking through the passage, a shinobi discovered a dead shinobi and demanded help to recover the corpse. On the village side of the cliffs, they saw at least 20 body bags. Temari grimaced and rushed to the center of the village. They entered the Kazekage's office building and met Baki, a jōnin and member of the advisory council.
"Temari, it is good to see you." said Baki.
"What happened?" asked Temari.
"Let's go to the Kazekage's office, then I will tell you everything."
Temari introduced the Konoha shinobis, while Baki was leading the group to the Kazekage's office. They entered the office and Baki closed the door. Then he told them about the attack of Akatsuki and the events since the capture of the Kazekage.
"Kankurō tried to follow Akatsuki, but he was defeated and was poisoned. Fortunately, some shinobis found him and brought him back. But even Chiyo couldn't find an antidote. According to her, he will die within the next day." said Baki.
"Oh no." cried Temari. She was on the verge of tears to lose two brothers in one event.
"I'm able to use medical jutsus to clean someone's blood. Please, bring me to him and I will try to heal him." said Usagi.
"Ok, it won't do any harm to let you try it. Follow me." said Baki.
Baki led them to the hospital. Naruto, Usagi and Temari followed Baki in the operating room. The remaining group sat down in the waiting room. Akito and Gin tried to follow, but Usagi asked them to stay in the waiting room with Kakashi.
"Who are the Konoha shinobis?" asked Chiyo.
"These are Naruto and Usagi. Usagi is able to use medical jutsu. She asked to try a jutsu to heal Kankurō." answered Baki.
Chiyo eyed Usagi a few moments. Then she nodded to accept the offer. Usagi examined Kankurō with a jutsu. She was relieved that the venom hadn't destroyed too much of his body. The first step was to purify the venom and the second to heal the destroyed parts.
"Ok, I can help him. But it could take a while, please don't interrupt me."
"Do you need anything?" asked a medical shinobi.
"No, I don't need anything. I will start now."
Usagi laid her hands on Kankurō's chest and channeled holy chakra in his body. Her hands emitted a silver light. The eyes of the Suna shinobis widened. They hadn't seen silver chakra before, but they kept silent. Usagi moved her hands over Kankurō's body to channel the holy chakra directly to the poisoned parts. After about 20 minutes, she had purified the blood and the body. She started to heal the destroyed parts. Kankurō's body color changed slowly from pale to its normal one and indicated that the healing was successful so far. After about 15 minutes, Usagi canceled the chakra flow. She smiled at Chiyo and the Suna shinobis.
"He is healed. I could clean his body and heal the destroyed parts. He should wake up any moment." said Usagi.
"Which jutsu did you use? I haven't seen silver chakra before." asked Chiyo.
"I used my Kekkei Genkai to heal him."
"I haven't heard of such a Kekkei Genkai. How long have you been in Konoha?"
"Only a few days."
Groaning Kankurō woke up. He opened his eyes and looked around confused. As he tried to sit up, Usagi put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. She smiled at him.
"Don't move too much. You were poisoned. I have healed you, but you should rest for a day to give your body the opportunity to restore his energy." explained Usagi.
"But I have to follow them, they captured Gaara." said Kankurō.
"She is right. We have almost lost you. Usagi was the only one who could help you. You will stay in bed for a day. If I have to confine you to bed, I will do it." said Temari.
"Ok, but don't confine me to bed." whined Kankurō.
"We will follow them and will bring Gaara back." said Naruto and put a hand on Kankurō's shoulder.
"You need to know that Sasori was one of them. He fought me and poisoned me."
"Impossible... Does he despise us that much to attack the village." said Chiyo.
"You knew that he has changed after the death of his parents." said Ebizō.
"We should discuss this outside and let Kankurō rest." said Usagi.
Glossary:
ichibi – one tailed, Shukaku
jinchūriki - humans that have tailed beasts sealed within them
kekkei genkai - blood line limit
konichiwa - hello
minna - everyone
nindō – ninja way
ohayo – good morning
shinobi no kami – God of Shinobi; The Supreme Shinobi
R&R
