Chapter 9
"So, who wants to experience their worst nightmare next?"
Muscles tensed as the Straw Hats mentally prepared themselves for an all-out assault, but due to her lightning fast transformations and unforgiving devil fruit abilities, they would have been lying to themselves if they said they felt no hesitation.
Luffy was well aware of this and thought a little reassurance was needed. "Everyone listen up, we're all going to attack her at once, there's no way she can handle all of us."
Those who were able and prepared to fight all slowly nodded in understanding.
"You never change do you, Luffy? Fist first ask questions later, I expected nothing less from you." Said the newly transformed Angel.
The voice, the voice that most Straw Hat's thought they'd never hear again. A voice that disintegrated the will to fight of all those who knew it. Luffy's body instantly softened and his fists slowly unclenched, his mind was sent into an emotional turmoil as he processed the identity of the man standing before him. With the exception of Naruto, one way or another, every one of Luffy's nakamas knew exactly who he was and his relations to their captain.
Said captain fought back tears that threated to fall whilst observing the man's black shorts, orange belt, elbow pads, tattooed arm, red bead necklace and that famous orange hat.
"A-a-Ace…" Wide eyed Luffy stuttered quietly in pure astonishment.
"Long time no see, little brother." Said the newly transformed Ace with a small malicious smirk on his face.
Narutos eyes rounded at the realisation of Luffy having an older sibling and all intentions of attacking came to a sudden stop.
"A-Ace it, is that really you?" Luffy questioned with sincere hope.
"Of course it's me, don't tell me you've forget your brothers face just because you haven't seen him in a couple of years."
Picking up on his captain's change of moral, Sanji quickly broke out of his stupor. "Oi Luffy! That's not your brother, its Angel pretending to be him remember? I'm sorry to have to remind you but Ace isn't here anymore, he died two years ago! That man is not him, its Angel using your-"
"SANJI!" Luffy roared with authority that silence the entire room. He kept his head low to hide the hurt on his face. Deep down Luffy knew Sanji was right, it couldn't have been Ace; he died in his own arms at Marineford. But just seeing him, hearing him, Luffy was blinded by his unrealistic hope that somehow, some way, his beloved brother was still alive to listen to logic.
The fake fire fist release a silent chuckle. "Such power and authority Luffy, I can tell you've gotten much stronger since the last time we met. It's a shame though, why couldn't you have had this sort of strength when it mattered most."
Luffy was dragged out of his depressive state to gaze upon Ace's eyes in questioning. "Wh-what do you mean w-when it mattered most?"
"Oh I don't know, maybe two years ago when I was shackled to an execution podium, or maybe when I had Akainu's fists through my chest to save your ass for the thousandth time because you were too weak look after yourself." The hatred in Ace's voice felt like someone had stuck a cold knife in the rubber man's chest.
"B-bu-but Ace, I-I did everything, everything I could to save you."
Ace scoffed with disrespect. "And look what happens when people allow themselves to think they could ever rely on you, you let them down. You're nothing but a disappointment Luffy, a weak little failure who can't even save his own big brother. And that goes to each and every one you of you stupid enough to call my little brother your leader, he may not have done it yet but someday he will, he will fail you as a friend and even worse, he will fail you as a captain."
On the other end of the room, Naruto gritted his teeth with bone crushing force, he took a step forward and steadied his right hand. "That's it! I've had enough of this, sorry Luffy but I won't stand another word from this liar!"
Just as the blond was about to form his rasengan, Luffy's raised his arms to prevent his attack.
The Straw Hat captain began to quiver as a single tear ran down his saddened face. "Ace… I'm sorry, I know I let you down but please forgive me, I did my best… I did my best."
With a stoic face, Ace's unforgiving eyes met the rubber man's onyx coloured orbs. "Your best isn't good enough, Luffy."
Fire fist's eyes flashed a blinding light of yellow before the Straw Hat captain succumbed to the breath taking torture that assaulted his chest. Similarly to his first mate, Luffy's body dumped itself face first on to the cold wooden kitchen floor.
"Luffy!"
"Luffy-san!"
Sanji and Brook anxiously dashed to their defeated captain. The cook flip him on his back and saw nothing but lifelessness. "Oi Luffy! Wake up!" Sanji took him by the shoulders and shook him as rough as he could. "We can't afford you taking a nap right now, wake up!"
Naruto's clenched fist began to tremor with indescribable rage, another one of his friends had fallen to Angel's cunning trap and was now living his personal version of hell.
Desperate, panicked voices were the only thing audible on the Thousand Sunny. Naruto shot a glance at the fallen three sword style master, his head rested on Robin's lap with Chopper stood by rummaging his medical bag searching for some form of cure, Franky towered the trio for defensive purposes in case Angel wanted to take advantage of the situation. Behind the cyborg stood Usopp and Nami who held onto each other for dear life and were too frightened to move a muscle.
The blond then switched his attention to his unconscious captain, Sanji continued to scream and shake his unresponsive body while Brook was failing his plead to calm the enraged cook.
On the other end of the room, Angel had transformed herself back to her original form and released a small giggle. "Oh my, captain Luffy took quite a beating, I wonder what his deepest fears could have said to make him look so bad?" She playfully questioned rhetorically.
"What do you mean 'could have said?!' You were the one saying all that shit about him?!" Naruto spat back with vengeance on his mind.
"Well actually, I didn't say anything at all. Whatever you thought you heard me say is just the personification of all of my targets deepest worries and fears, so if you really think about it, your friends were never talking to me, they were actually talking to their own subconscious."
Naruto paused for a moment to let the newly acquired information sink into his memories.
"So can I go now or do I have to put each and every one of you to sleep?" Angel asked overly confidently.
The busty blond cocked an eye brow as Naruto took a step forward and immediately begun to form a rasengan on his right hand.
"Naruto…"
Said blond was taken by surprised to hear his partner's voice as he continued to pump more chakra into his hand.
"Hey Kurama, haven't heard from you in a while, but as you can see I'm a little busy so can we do this later?"
"Don't get cocky kit, I just wanted to tell you be careful with this one, her power seem similar to that of-"
"Genjutsu I know." The blond interrupted. "Genjutsu casted by the eyes like an Uchiha, mixed with the transformation jutsu right? Since her primary form of attack is her Genjutsu like abilities, it's probably safe to assume she can only take peoples appearances not their abilities"
Kurama folded his arms and resisted the urge to pout.
"So if it's similar to fighting someone with the Sharingan…"
Naruto dragged himself out of his own mindscape, armed with a rampant rasengan, the blond fixed his eyes straight down onto Angel's feet.
"You aren't going nowhere." Naruto said before dashing past his nakamas with incredible speed towards the blond intruder.
A split second later, the ex-leaf nin placed himself within striking distance. The adrenalin coursing through his body made everything seem to run in slow motion as he extends his arms to create the devastating damage of his jutsu. But at the last second Naruto's body unconsciously froze itself upon noticing the change of Angel's attire. Those familiar black boots, pink skirt and red sleeveless vest; how could he not know who this person was?
With his rasengan mere centimetres away from the swaying red piece of clothing, wide eyed Naruto lost all cognitive abilities as he identified the women who stood next to him.
"You seem surprised to see me, Naruto." Said the women who had just turn his world upside down.
Slowly deactivating his jutsu into nothingness, the blond took a couple of steps back to face the origins of his deepest fears.
"Sa-Sakura-chan"
His expression told a thousand emotions. Astonished, confused, angry, shocked, relieved, a whole new word had to be invented to describe how the boy was feeling.
His conscious nakamas stared at the newly formed women in questioning. Although they were completely oblivious to the identity of said women, Naruto's reaction to her was the same as Luffy's and Zoro's so it wasn't good news.
"H-ho-wh-why ar-are you here?" He stuttered while he attempted to interpret his ever evolving emotions.
"Well it's nice to see you too. I see being thrown to a whole new dimension didn't improve your social skills one bit, but I guess that's to be expected from the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja."
Sanji gritted his teeth at the sight of the retreating Naruto. 'Damn, he was so close to finishing her off and now it looks like he's not gonna get out of this one too. Shit! If I can't get this idiot to get up then Brook or Franky is going to have to take her out, I can't bring myself to harm a women no matter what she's done. Argh! Wake up Luffy!'
Naruto knew enough of his enemies abilities to realise that the women in front of him wasn't the real Sakura, but seeing the face and hearing the voice of the person he thought he was prepared to never see again had rushed back certain feelings like a powerful wave to the face.
"I also came here for my birthday present of course." She said happily like she had never insulted him two seconds ago.
"Birthday present? It's not your birth-" A breath taking thought shot through the blonds head. "Wait a minute, it's not the-"
"Yup, 28th of March. You didn't forget did you?" She teased with sarcastic sadness.
"I, I…" Total blankness, he couldn't fathom how he forget Sakura's birthday.
"B-but how? Wh-why is it you that I'm seeing right now?" Naruto wanting to change the subject to prevent him thinking too much about her special day.
The new Sakura placed both hands on her hips. "Oh come on, Naruto. I know I've called you an idiot a lot but even I know you're smarter than this. We've been teammates since we were twelve so you should know the answer to that question."
Nami twitched when she heard the word teammate from the young pink haired women who wore identical headbands to Naruto's.
"I, ah, I-"
"Jeez do I have to spell out everything for you?" She spat with no hint of a joke. Sakura then moved to sit on the side of the table before forming a slightly malicious smirk. "You see, Naruto. Deep inside that demon cage you call a soul, you fear me. You still fear that I will never accept your love even after I rejected your feelings, you fear that your unconditional love for me will never be requited.
"Wh-what d-do you mean? I confessed to you but you still chose Sasuke over me, I let you go because I respected your decision." Naruto said half-heartedly.
Sakura tilted her head to one side and placed a sarcastic sympathetic face. "Aww that's so sweet of you for considering my feelings Naruto-"The sarcasm in her voice was clear as day. "But maybe you should stop thinking about others for once and start think about what you really want."
Bewildered by her vague response, Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What… do I want?"
"Yeah… wait, you don't know? Ha! Shame on you Naruto." She shook her head in disappointment and took a moment before replying. "Kage summit, Land of Iron, my confession to you, do any of those things ring a bell in that thick skull of yours?"
Naruto flinched at her verbal insult. "Y-yeah but what does that have to do with anything, Sakura-chan?"
Said girl released a small scoff "What does that have to do with anything?" She repeated mockingly. "Do you remember what you said to me after I chased you down and told you I loved you?"
Naruto knew the words but just couldn't bring himself to say it.
"You said you hated people who lie to themselves."
"So I did? I still believe that now but what does this got to do with what I really want?!"
Sakura's mood instantly shifted and the room suddenly felt a few degrees colder. "It's just funny to think how many lies you've told yourself to actually make you believe that you 'let me go'. Because let me tell you a secret Naruto, your feelings for me will never change, and they never will."
Naruto's eyes rounded from hearing his own words he used in his confession used against him. But at that moment, words were the least as his problems as he did the one thing that he told himself not to do. Look into her eyes.
Dropping to one knee and grasping his chest, Naruto held on to any form of strength to counteract the excruciating torture. But with every second he resist the pain seemed to double in intensity. Faint voices calling his name echoes in his ears but they were too weak to comprehend.
It didn't take very long till the tightness in his chest had suffocated his lungs and consequently sending him into the darkest part of his nightmares.
~Kuraigana Island. Home of Dracule Mihawk~
Endless noise of blade on blade vibrated in the air of the dark, ape infested island. The root of the noise were of course Roronoa Zoro and the world's greatest swordsman. The fight was and felt endless. But time was the last thing on the swordsman's mind as one attempted to dominate the other.
After failing to par a swing of Mihawk's giant blade, Zoro was sent crashing onto the mansion walls by a bone crushing kick from his former sensei.
As soon as the dust cloud of debris settled, the beaten up Zoro slowly picked himself back to his feet. His breath was heavy and laboured, bruises and minor cuts were scattered all over his fatigued body while on the other hand Mihawk had yet to show signs of injury or weariness.
"Is this is the limit to your strength after two years of my teachings, you are a great disappointment Roronoa Zoro."
Said swordsman smirked through his heavy breath. "Why can't… I land a… single… hit on you… after all the shit you put me through… are you telling me I've made no difference on the gap between us!" Zoro gripped his swords and dashed for the War Lord with unspeakable wrath.
~Marineford War~
The heat. Luffy could still feel the heat from Akainu's fist on Ace's chest as he hugs his dying older brother. Completely oblivious of the war that surrounded them, Luffy didn't care, his mind was a million miles away and was far too overwhelmed too care.
"Luffy… I want you to know… this is all your fault." Ace silently whispered in Luffy's ear.
A small gasp escaped as Luffy's eyes expanded impossibly wide.
"I'm dying… because of you… my death… is coz… you're weak."
"A-a-Ace, I…"
~Konoha~
It was just another mundane day in the Leaf village for Naruto Namikaze. Or so he thought, his walk to his usual Ichiraku lunch had been strangely odd and the blond couldn't pick up as to why.
People seemed less as cheerful as most days, they would also give him unusual, and sometimes even threatening looks for no good reason? And thanks to his shinobi senses, he could also tell that people were making an effort to move away from him as they walked by like he carried a deadly disease.
But the blond knew that he could sometimes be paranoid of the villagers because of his childhood, so in the end, he opted to let his wild imagination slide.
A small smile grew on Naruto's face when he noticed Ino, Shikamaru and Choji walking together in his opposite direction. He closed the distance between them and gestured a friendly wave.
"Hey guys, it's been a while how have you guys been-"
However, Naruto couldn't finish his sentence since Shikamaru barged him out of the way with his shoulders.
"Watch where you're going fox!" The Nara male spat violently.
"Fox?" Naruto question with hurt plainly obvious in his voice. "Come on Shikamaru, stop playing around it's not funny."
Said male snapped his body to face Naruto with haste. "What did you say to me you monster!?"
Naruto quickly took several steps back to avoid his fellow jounins sudden, out of character explosion and wonder what he did to make his friend so furious.
Ino and Choji was quick to restrain their life long teammate to prevent him from causing a scene.
"Shikamaru that's enough, he's not worth getting scolded by the Hokage for." Choji said before pulling his best friend away from the bond shinobi.
After a bout of cold, heartless staring, Shikamaru reluctantly agreed with his friend and the Nara heir shot back to continue walking the opposite way without another word.
Naruto sighed in relief that whatever mess he got himself into with Shikimaru was over, well at least for now. He looked at Choji and Ino with an apologetic smile. "Ahh, thanks for that Choji, I can't even remember what I did to piss him off that much but remind me to talk to him later will ya." He finished with an awkward chuckle.
Choji on the other hand was less as friendly. "I didn't do it for you. Also if you don't mind, don't talk to Shikamaru or any one of us again. Come on Ino let's go."
"Wait Choji…" He replied to the backs of the retreating couple.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and wondered why those three had acted so rude and weird, it all happened so fast to even begin to analyse so ultimately he decided to shrug it off.
A short time later Naruto arrived to his favourite restaurant, his spirits were lifted when he stumbled upon the full team seven, Kakashi, Yamato, Sakura, Sasuke and Sai standing outside Ichiraku's.
"Am I happy to see you guys! What are you all doing out here lets go inside, Kakashi-sensei's treat." The blond smiled impishly.
The arrival of Naruto stopped all current conversations and most of them quickly turned their head the other way.
"Guys? What's going on, are you playing pranks on me because I'm not really in the mood for it."
"Um, what did we talk about Naruto?" Sakura shot back hastily.
Naruto frowned at her cold hearted tone. "ahh, I'm not really sure, you wanna run that one by me again?"
"Jeez you're so stupid, the agreement was that you are only a part of this team because the Hokage order it so, therefore times outside of missions such as now, you are not allowed to communicate to any one of us. I mean how would it look on us if we were seen talking to the village monster."
Pain was written all over Naruto's face. "M-Monster, Sakura-chan why…"
The pinkette rolled her eyes. "Ugghh! Don't call me that again it makes me sick." She said before looking towards her other teammates. "Come on guys let's find somewhere else to eat, I suddenly lost my appetite for ramen."
And just like that, Sakura and the rest of team 7 headed out leaving Naruto alone and confused.
"Sakura-chan, er I mean Sakura, Kakashi sensei! Come on stop messing with me, Sai! Yamato Sensei?! Why, why are you doing this, I thought we were friends…" Aches of unmeasurable pain struck Naruto's very soul as he watches his closest friends leave him behind without a care in the world.
"Snap out of it kit they're not real, you were caught in a Genjutsu remember?" The inner voice of Kurama announced, finally breaking through the illusions defensive barrier.
The next second Naruto no longer found himself in the Leaf village but in his inner mind with the large fox standing behind him. "What happened? What was that vision I just saw?" the ache in his chest was still present from the memory.
"So it seems when she places you in your nightmares, you don't even realise you're in them. I must say that is a fearsome ability."
"Nightmares? You sure you okay buddy?" Naruto asked sceptically, then the memories came rushing back. "Oh nightmare!"
Kurama rolled his eyes.
"Angel! I can't believe that women tricked me and using Sakura no less."
"Don't say I didn't warn you." The fox snapped back under his breath.
"You can shut it fur ball, she's not getting away with showing me that shit. And wait a second, did you say her abilities were fearsome? It's not the time to be impressed baka!" He may have done a solid job of hiding it but deep down that vision hurt him more than he lead on.
The giant fox laughed guiltily. "Sorry kit, some things can't be help, I am a demon after all."
"Whatever." He replied with disappointment before forming a seal.
'Release.'
His eyes popped open as he felt no alterations in his chakra network. 'She can even disable the use of my chakra in my own mind?'
Kurama looked down on to the boy in wonder. "What are you still doing here? Changed your mind on leaving?"
"No, that women's powers is restricting access to my chakra." He explained. "Hey I need a favour, you know I don't like to do this unless it's absolutely necessary; but could you lend me some chakra? Bee told me that Gyuki once used his own chakra to break out of one of Sasuke's genjutsu, so maybe it'll work with us as well."
"Naruto, I know you're doing this whole 'fight with your own power' thing now; and I know you're more than capable to look after yourself without my help; but I've told you a million times, you can use my chakra whenever you want. You earned it after all."
"I know that Kurama, it's just you've done so much for me already, from my days in the academy to the war with Kaguya, although we didn't see eye to eye most of the time, you still gave me your chakra when I needed it, I just thought you deserve a break."
Kurama then whip one of his long orange tails around and offered its tip to his vessel.
Present
As Naruto visual abilities slowly returned to him, he could feel a hard wooden wall against his back that offered support, his body positioning also told him he was currently sitting. He opened his eyes minutely and could see the blurry figure of Nami standing above all the sleeping Straw Hats whose unconscious bodies had littered the room.
'Someone must have dragged me back here after I was sent to sleep. It also looks like Nami's the last one standing.'
On the other end the blond could only make a blue, tall muscular individual who may have had similar features to that of Kisame Hoshikagi. But even with his regular visual prowess returning, he remained unsure.
But one thing he was sure off was Nami's infuriated voice ringing in his ears, although likewise to his vision, Naruto's hearings were readjusting themselves to normal so certain words and sentences remained uninterpretable.
Then the inevitable happened, that vexatious flash of light that sent Nami straight into oblivion.
'I'm sorry for having to put you through this Nami but I can't make my move just yet. Hang in there for as long as you can, I promise this will be all over soon."
Satisfied with her work, Angel returned to her original form and gazed upon the mess of unconscious bodies. But surprisingly she didn't laugh, smile nor felt any joy in defeating the entire Straw Hat pirates. The blond turned to face the door, sighed deeply and reached for the door.
Just as her hand made contact with the door knob, she suddenly felt the impossible presences of someone behind her.
"I thought I told you I wasn't gonna let you walk away from here." Naruto whispered over her shoulder with his black lightning cladded fist.
A gasp inducing realization fell upon Angel as her eyes widen at the gravity of her situation.
"Lightning style – Temporary Paralysis Jutsu."
Five minutes later
Sounds of slow moving bodies and deep throaty moans took Naruto's eyes away from the tied up blond sitting in the corner of the room and onto his awakening crew mates.
In a split second all sleeping pirates shot up in a heart racing panic, their faces displayed utter dread and their breathing was a total mess.
"What the hell was that dream?" Zoro mumbled with a hint of frustration.
Naruto rose from his seat to greet his confused and panicked friends. "Guys calm down, you were caught by Angel's nightmare powers remember."
The pirates did their best to recover their breathing to normal while remembering the previous events.
"I was getting pretty worried there for a second, I thought you lot were never gonna wake up." Naruto half- joked with a semi-smile as he walked towards the sitting Nami with the blank expression. But that expression was soon lifted when the blond offered her his hand.
"Everything's okay now Nami, we're all safe."
His smiling face somehow forced one on hers, she was still slightly overwhelmed by her nightmare but she wanted to believe in Naruto's words. Accepting his offer, Nami was helped up to her feet in a one swift move. Everyone else managed to get back onto their feet but very little conversation was present and the silence made the room a little edgy.
'They look a little shaken up from whatever they saw. I don't blame them, without any knowledge or training in how to deal with illusions of course they're gonna act like this.'
Naruto was brought out of his thoughts by the voice of Nami.
"Hey wait a second, why are we all awake? Didn't Angel say the nightmares were inescapable? And how were you up before everyone else, I remember being the last one she took out so you couldn't have been awake?"
Naruto then pointed to the tied up, sleeping Angel in the corner of the room.
Eyes popped as the crew they witness the defeated Mare Mare fruit user.
"D-did you do that Naruto?" Usopp nervously asked.
The blond nodded. "I did, with Kurama's help I was able to escape her illusions just before Nami fell. She thought I was still asleep so it wasn't hard to catch her off guard and perform a simple paralysis jutsu and tie her up."
"Impressive Naruto-san" Robin commented as she regained her calm demeanour.
"I hope whatever you used on her hurt." Zoro added angrily and cross his arms.
Luffy let his emotional memory of his nightmare slide for now as more important manners needed to be address. "What should we do with her now?"
It was then Chopper grabbed his bags of medical equipment and supplies and charged to the sleeping intruder.
The rest followed him to inspect her unconscious form.
"You don't need to help her Chopper, it was just a small lightning paralysis jutsu. She should be waking up any minute now." Naruto reassured the reindeer.
Carrying out his medical routines, Chopper replied back. "It doesn't matter, I may not like what she did to everyone but she's still a patient and I have to help her."
But true to his word, Angel showed signs of consciousness and Chopper screamed and dashed away and 'hid' behind Franky's leg.
With her ankles and wrist tied up, Angel jerked as she spots all ten Straw Hats glaring down on her and they all wore pissed off faces. There were far too many to even think about using her powers to escape and they also weren't stupid enough to fall for it twice.
She released a beaten chuckle before declaring. "I'm guess that's me done, go on. Get it over with." She spoke defeated.
No blood boiling arrogance? No teasing? Not even a plea for her health? Questioning her shift in behaviour, Zoro cocked an eyebrow before asking. "Is that all you got to say? Where's all that confidence you showed us earlier?"
"Oh you mean that bad girl routine, since I failed the mission I won't be needing to do that anymore." She said with cold honest truth.
Picking up on Zoro's lead, the rest of the pirates also questioned what happened to the cocky Angel.
"Routine? So you were pretending to be like that all this time? But why? And what does failing your mission got to do with it?" Sanji asked her kindly.
The tied up blond formed an unconvincing smile and shock her head. "You guys really don't know anything about Jagger-sama do you? He doesn't tolerate failed mission or anyone weak in his crew. Even if you guys let me go I'd still have to tell him I failed this mission, which then he'll probably respond with a knife to my heart."
"What! He will kill one of his nakama's just because they couldn't do something?!" Luffy erupted with mass rage.
"It's just the way it goes in our crew, we're protected by his name and in return we must do his bidding successfully or else he won't see a need for you anymore." Angel replied back with no hint of fear, just acceptance.
"But you said you were faking your personality earlier, why was that?" Nami quizzed in an attempt to understand the women and her reasons.
"I did that because that's who I have to be when I'm around Jagger-sama and other crew members. I told you my captain despises anything weak, especially anyone in his crew. So I have to act as tough as I can to keep my place. I learned that lesson early when he persuaded me to join his crew."
Angel paused for a minute while she remembered her past. "Before I met him I was a nobody; no one knew who I was, no friends, no family, no one. That was until Jagger-sama found me and saw my devil fruit abilities and offered me a place in his crew. He saved me, he gave me friends, a home and a reason to live for."
"Then if he's this kind, second chance giving person, why does he kill his own nakamas so willingly?" Robin added.
Angel dropped her head to cover her face with her yellow bangs. "Because it was all a lie, at first everything was great, I made many new people who I could call my friends. But then I learned how Jagger-sama truly treated his people. Like a ruthless general giving orders to his soldiers. How many of my own friends had lost their lives because of him… and what's worse is that he persuades everyone that it's for the greater good and that weaklings will only hinder and slow us down, and everyone's stupid enough to believe him."
"If you hated it so much then why did you stay, Angel-san?" Brook questioned the lady.
"The same reason why everyone else stayed, security. Being a part of the Jagger pirates carries great power and influence in the New World, we hardly ever had people starting trouble with us while we did whatever we wanted. But thinking about it now, that reason is pretty ironic. But the main reason I stayed was because there were no other options, in Jagger-sama's eyes quitting is a grand form of weakness, a weakness punishable only by death."
At this point some of the male Straw Hats were nearly trembling with frustration while the ladies; although they didn't like her for obvious reasons, felt a smidge of sympathy for the blond.
Speaking of blondes, Naruto had somehow managed to calm himself and halt his shaking fists. "What kind of man threatens us with false acquisitions and treats his own people this way, people who put their lives and faith's on him then goes and stab them in the back at the first sign of weakness." His anger leaked with every word.
"A man who doesn't deserve to be called a captain!" Luffy snapped back and punched his hand.
"You got that right." Naruto replied before calling out Angels name to get her attention.
"So does that mean if I were to ask you where we could find your little captain, I'm guessing you wouldn't be too reluctant to answer would you?" The jinchuuriki added.
"Wait, aren't you going to kill me?" Angel shot back with surprise.
Naruto paused for a second and made a soft chuckle before replying. "My buddy Kurama just said 'tempting' and I'm having a hard time disagreeing with him, but I'll tell you what. We'll agree to let you go just as long as you tell us where you're captain is hiding because frankly; and I think I speak for everyone when I say we have a bigger bone to pick with him than with you."
Angel almost lost her words as most of the Straw Hats had unmoving, determined faces which only solidified her thoughts.
The insightful Robin then moved closer to Naruto and grabbed his arm, she leaned in close to his ear and whispered. "Can't you not use your sage mode in order to find him like how you found Nami and Enel?"
The blond leaned even further so Angel couldn't see his lips. "I was planning to. But a good shinobi knows how important information is, right now I'm just trying to find out as much as I can about the enemy before planning counter measures."
Robin gave an impressed smile and nodded before returning to her usual spot.
"Hold on a second, you're not actually crazy enough to even think about fighting Jagger-sama are you?"
"Of course we are, I'm gonna show that guy what a real captain is!" Luffy roared with passion.
Zoro smirked along with his captain. "We've never fought an Emperor calibre crew before, and I've been waiting for a good challenge for a while now."
"Just don't slow me down when we get there, Marimo." Sanji shot back as he accepted the inevitable battle.
"Hey, hey, hey wait a minute guys aren't we going to talk about this first?!" Usopp asked in a panic. "I mean this isn't just some other pirate, this guy was nominated for a seat for one of the Four Emperors!"
"Usopp, right!" Nami joined in just as scared as her long nosed friend. "Think about it Luffy, you've seen the things the Four Emperors are capable off first hand! We're not ready for this kind of fight!"
"I think she's right Luffy, and what's worse the wounds from your fight with Takumi aren't completely healed yet! If those wounds reopens and for some reason I can't help you then there's a chance of you dying!" Chopper added to the argument.
"You see?! Listen to the doctor, captain!" Both Usopp and Nami screamed with comical tears.
Luffy grinned his usual grin. "Nope."
Angel as watched Nami, Usopp and Chopper pleaded their captain to reconsider, she couldn't even being to fathom how anyone could anyone would be so willing to fight her captain.
"So how about it? Tell us where your crew is hiding and we'll let you go." Naruto asked as professional as possible.
Angel looked away from his intimidating blue orbs and took a silent minute to consider.
"No."
The crew was taken aback by her unexpected answer.
"What do you mean no? He treats you like your life belongs to him!? How can you support a person like that?" Naruto questioned while his frustration begun to resurface.
"It's not about him, I don't care whether you fight him or not. But it's my friends, my nakamas. If I tell you where they are ill be putting their lives in danger. So my answer is no." Angel rejected firmly.
Zoro grunted in irritancy. "Looks like we're going to have to find them on our own."
"Seems that way." Sanji added.
Taking everyone by surprise, Naruto stepped forward with a goose bump inducing aura.
Angel and her fellow blond looked deep into one another's eyes, questioning the oncoming events.
'Kurama, I'm going to need you to do your little trick.'
"Asking for my help twice in one day? Are you feeling sick, kit?"
The blond pinched the bridge of his nose at the fox's banter. 'Yeah, yeah joke all you want but I have no other choice.'
"Alright but I told you this before, this skill was designed for entire villages as big as Konoha. There's no telling what would happen if I use it on a single women."
'Then infuse less chakra into the jutsu, we don't want her going crazy, just in a state so she can tell us the answers we need.'
Bring himself out of his mind frame, Naruto knelt down closely to the fearful Angel. She used her feet to retreat but the corner of the walls stopped her instantly.
Every feature on Naruto's face then slowly shifted to accommodate his inner partner. With blood red eyes and black slits, Kurama had taken over.
"You should have answered the kit when you had the chance, because now you have to deal with me."
The frightened Angel leaned back as far as possible to elude the newly transformed Naruto.
"Wh-what are you?" She stuttered fearfully. "A-a demon… or something?"
"Precisely"
Kurama's eyes, like Angels, flashed with a mind numbing red light causing Angel's body to stiffen.
The effects of the fox's jutsu came into quick effect, Angel's stiffened body relaxed and her green eyes no longer showed any life in them.
"What did you do to her?" Asked the anxious doctor seeing the swift change in her body first hand.
Satisfied with his work, Kurama stood up to tower the blond.
"I put her under a genjutsu I used in my old days to induce mass fear on entire villages, but this time I only used a fraction of my chakra to place her in this hypnotic state. Ask any questions you so wish but I warn you, she won't be in that state for long before her mind breaks so ask the right questions." And with that warning, Kurama returned to Naruto's mind allowing the blond to take over.
Without hesitation, Luffy stepped up hastily. "Where is this jagg-guy so I can beat the day lights out of him!"
In a slow, lifeless, monotone voice, Angel slowly responded. "Jagger-sama is currently staying in the abandoned Suzuki mansion."
"What has he been doing and what's his business on this island?" Naruto questioned with authority.
"Jagger-sama kidnapped one hundred and twenty seven men and used them as his work force and is currently looking for it."
Eyes rounded as the painful revelation dawned upon the Straw Hats.
"H-he's the one who kidnapped all the missing people!" Nami screamed from the top of her lungs
"Ahh! Luffy this guy is too dangerous! Let's take up on his offer and leave sounds good right, right?" Usopp desperately pleaded his friend.
But hearing the news only added more fuel to Luffy's fire. "Jagg-guy wherever you are I'm gonna kick your ass all over this island!" He shrieked before pushing pass his nakamas and ran straight for the door.
Naruto moved into action as he saw his captain fleeing the group. He formed his signature seal to summon a clone to prevent the rubber man from leaving.
The clone stood firmly with his arms out wide blocking the Straw Hat captain.
"Naruto! What are you doing! Let me go and find this guy, he's not getting away with messing with us and the nice people of this island!" He roared to the blond with great power.
"I'm sorry but I can't let you go out right now, Luffy." He said with his calm, jounin voice.
"And why not!"
Naruto took a second to let his enraged friend calm down. "I know how you're feeling captain, we all feel the same as you, but if we engage in a fight with no plan and if he is as dangerous as I think he is, then there's a high chance of all of us being killed." He spoke with cool, calm logical manner that taught to him by his sensei's. As much as Naruto wanted to bust through Jagger's mansion doors, he knew he had to act like a jounin to ensure everyone's safety on this new mission.
"I don't really like going with a plan but I think he's got a point, Luffy." Supported by the one man Naruto thought would be most difficult to persuade.
"You too, Zoro?" Luffy asked sceptically.
The three style swordsman nodded slightly to show his seriousness.
"I agree, Luffy-san. We're planning to fight someone whose power matches those of the Four Emperors, we can't take that too lightly. And besides, a plan won't hurt right, captain?" Robin smiled her usual smile in hopes to persuade her captain.
Luffy then looked at all of his friends faces before asking. "And you all think it's the right thing to do?"
A cocktail of agreeing responses from the rest of his nakamas had finally persuaded him.
"I don't, I think we should leave this hell of an island." A defeated, crying Usopp whispered to himself.
"Fine!" Luffy folded his arms, sat down on the spot and pouted while Robin giggled at his childish antics.
"Thank you Luffy, I promise you won't regret it. Now let's get back to business." Naruto stated an apologetic smile then shifted his sights to the hypnotised Angel.
"Earlier you said that Jagger was using the missing men to look for it? What is, it?" The blond fired which got everyone's attention.
"I do not know, I was never told the purpose of our search." Angel replied in her usual monotone voice.
Releasing a small grunt, Naruto asked his next question. "Then where is he keeping all the people he took?"
"Jagger-sama keeps them underground where they work behind the mansion, but there are always guards on standby." Angel's voice then begun to break and indicate some emotion. Her body also showed some form of life.
'Shit! We wasted too much time and now we don't have long before her mind snaps from the jutsu!'
"Quick answer me this! What is Jagger's devil fruit powers?!" Naruto questioned hurriedly.
The blond Angel eyes started to show their normal colour, her movements became livelier and her voice continued to break. "J-Ja-Jagger-s-sama's devil f-fruit power i-is- AAAHHH!"
An ear splitting screamed damaged the ears of the Straw Hats. Angel's motor functions had completely returned and she continued to back up against the wall in absolute panic. She wiggled desperately as she screamed in terror at nothingness.
"No! No! Get away from me! I'm sorry please forgive me!" Another mind busting screeched stung the ears of those in attendance.
Nami winced at Angel's rabid like movements. "Can't you do anything to stop it, Naruto?" Nami asked with genuine hope. She, like many other Straw Hats didn't have the stomach to see the horrible sight below.
"I'm sorry Nami, there's nothing I can do. I don't like it as much as you but we just have to wait until she passes out from the fear." He said with slight sympathy.
"Please make it stop! I can't- I can't take it anymore someone help me!" Angel squealed as desperately as she could.
Not wanting to see any more of the sickening sights and hear her agonising screams, Nami threw her arms over Naruto's shoulders and hugged him tightly. Quickly recovering from the initial shock of the hug, Naruto kindly placed a hand to cover hear ear whilst tightly holding on to her waist with the other. No feelings of romantic gesture radiated from the two, it was truly a friend helping another friend.
All the other pirates had grim looks on their faces as they couldn't stand to watch the horrid scene. They knew what she did to them was terrible but compared to this, they would gladly return to their nightmares for days than experience a minute of this gruesome and painful torture.
All but one who was did his best to keep a straight face.
"Ha, I hope it… hurts." Zoro said with obvious conflict in his voice.
Robin gazed upon the semi clenched face of Zoro. "It's obvious you don't mean that." She said with confidence.
Zoro froze at the truthful comment but wanted to keep his image maintained. "Of course I do, that women deserves everything she-"
Another helpless scream rattled the ship causing even the three sword style master to wince.
"Alright maybe not this." He reluctantly admitted earning a soft giggle from the archaeologist.
Ears twitches as Angel's cries and moving slowly ceased in volume and intensity. It wasn't long till the absolute fear had consumed her mind ultimately knocking the girl unconscious.
Naruto then released Nami from his arms, walked up and knelt down next to the girl. After cutting the ropes around her wrist and ankles, he gently laid her on her back to make her more comfortable. "I'm sorry I had to do that to you. No one deserved what you've just been through."
With his apologies done, he stood up and turned to face his friends. "Physically she's fine but it may be a while until her mind recovers. But Angel's not our main problem now." He spoke with sympathy.
"You're the one who says we needed a plan, so what's the plan Naruto?" Sanji asked his fellow blond.
Said blond looked into the eyes of his nakamas, all of whom looked back at him patiently waiting for answers.
"This is what we're going to do."
Konoha
Laying on her long comfortable sofa, Sakura Haruno, the birthday girl was lost in the depth of her thoughts as she actively ignores the constant knocking and pleading outside her door. It's been several weeks since the disappearance of her best friend and teammate; and all her friends and family could easily tell that something was wrong with her. She's become very antisocial, she avoids friends, colleagues, teammates and family alike. Although she maintained her obligations at the hospital, her colleagues had never seen her like this before.
'Oh Naruto where are you? Why did you leave us, leave me? Where did you go? What if that thing really did kill him? No! What am I thinking? There's no way Naruto is dead, I refuse to believe it, no way. But I can't help but think that maybe if I confronted him about his feelings sooner this could all have been avoided. I've known a long time ago that he liked me but I never had the courage to speak to him about it, I guess this is what I get for being a self-absorbed bitch for liking the attention he gave me while I still like Sasuke.' The thought of the Uchiha had the girl shaking her head.
'Oh let me not think about Sasuke, he hasn't even tried to find me or ask me how I feel about Naruto, I mean I know he's busy with his work with the police force but would a visit kill you? Why can't you be more like Naruto?' Sakura thought to herself. She may not have admitted it to others but she had missing her favourite blond a great amount, it reached to the point that he's the only thing she can think about but she doesn't know why that is?
However, the medic was dragged out of her thoughts as an exceptionally loud bang on the door rattled her ears.
"Come on forehead it's your birthday! You can't stay in there by yourself!" Her best friend Ino shouted out the door.
"I told you that I didn't want to see anybody! Just go have lunch without me!" Sakura yelled in return.
"But everyone's here, Choji, Shikamaru, Tenten, Lee, Kiba, Shino, Hinata and we all got you presents! So stop being such a party pooper and come out here!" The fiery blond replied.
Outside, Kiba had become impatient with the stubborn pinkette. "I don't see why she wants to spend her birthday alone and not with her friends?"
Choji placed a handful of potato chips in his mouth and retorted mid-chew "Maybe if Naruto was here he could persuade her to spend some time with us?"
"Yeah! Good thinking Choji, but where is Naruto? Shouldn't he be here? I'm sure he would be the last person to forget Sakura's birthday?" Tenten quizzed the group.
"I have not seen Naruto-san for nearly a month now, perhaps he is currently on a mission?" Lee expressed his theory.
Hinata kept her head low in disappointment and sadness. She and Naruto had been close since her confession and after the war. Although he rejected her gently, he still saw her as a precious friend and made several good memories together. But these past few weeks she's been saddened by his sudden disappearance.
Shikamaru then thought about his last encounters with the jinchuuriki. "Well the last time I saw him he was asking the Hokage for a mission. Knowing him he probably picked the highest ranking mission possible and he hasn't come back yet." The lazy jounin said as reassuring as he could. Although that theory could be true, he didn't fully believe it himself. He saw Naruto's face before he left office room and what he saw wasn't right.
'His recent absence must have something to do with his talk with Sakura before he requested for a mission. It's the only explanation I can think of that explains why no one has seen him for weeks and why Sakura wants to be alone on her birthday… man this is such a troublesome situation.'
It was then the Hokage herself made herself known to the group. But she didn't come alone, Kakashi as well as Sasuke was right along beside her.
Ino formed a large smile on her face as she sees the trio making their way to Sakura's house. "Why don't we ask the Hokage herself?"
"Ask me what?" Tsunade quizzed the younger blond as her and the males besides her stood with the group of younger shinobis outside Sakura's home.
"We were all wondering why Naruto's not here? Or why none of us has seen him for a while? Shikamaru thinks it's because he's on a mission right now and he hasn't returned, is that true?"
The Hokage choked on her words before looking at Kakashi and Sasuke for support. But after a peculiar look from the two, she knew she had to lie to the best of her abilities. "Ahh, yes, Naruto, he did ask me for a mission a few weeks ago, it was the only A rank I had so naturally the little idiot picked it to do it on his own. But I wouldn't worry, he should be back in a few days." She lied through her teeth. After an exchange of awkward looks with Kakashi, Tsunade addressed a different matter.
"Wait a second, what are you all doing out here for? Is Sakura not home or something?" She asked the group in hopes the change of subject will divert their attention away from the Naruto issue.
"Oh no, she's inside but SHE'S TOO BUSY BEING A STUBBORN LITTLE BABY AND WON'T SPEND TIME WITH HER FRIENDS!"
Without any warning, the door smashes open displaying an enraged Sakura. "For the last time Ino I said I don't want to see anyone right now. I'm sorry guys; I know you all made an effort and I'm thankful but I just don't feel well right now."
But her mood suddenly shifted upon seeing the unconvinced Hokage and her two teammates. "Lady Tsunade, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun, what are you guys doing here?"
"Well I think it's a customary to say happy birthday to your friends' right?" Kakashi joked with a tiny smile through his ask.
But Sakura was less as enthusiastic, there was no way for one second did she believe all three would meet up just to wish her a happy birthday. "No seriously."
Tsunade then stepped up to face Sakura up close and personal. "Maybe if you answered my summons for once then perhaps I wouldn't have had to assemble your team and discuss important manners in your dining room table. May I?" She asked permission to enter her apprentices' apartment. Although she knew it was more than a curtsey than asking permission.
Sakura looked down onto her feet in shame, she had purposely been avoiding everyone, including the Hokage. "I'm-I'm sorry Shishou… I just been… a little busy with work that's all."
"Yeah like I believe that."
Succumbing to the power of her glare, Sakura instantly side stepped out the way to make room for the trio.
The sannin turned to face Ino and her group of friends. "Us four have some important business to discuss, could you guys give us about 20 minutes? I promise as soon as I'm done with her she'll be all ready and dressed for whatever birthday celebration you lot thought up." She asked with a beaming smile.
"O-okay" Ino stuttered, bewildered what this important business could be.
Tsunade then gestured for Kakashi and Sasuke to enter the premises and Shikamaru and crew left the area to entertain themselves while they waited for Sakura.
The younger medic watched as her master and teammates enter her home and sit around her rectangular dining table. She closed the door and took a seat at the far end, Tsunade sat to her left, Kakashi to her right and Sasuke sat all the way on the other end of the table.
"Kakashi-sensei, what's this all about? Is it Naruto? Have we found him?" Sakura asked hastily.
"Woaw slow down, Sasuke and I are as just as clueless as you are." He told his only female teammate.
Sasuke folded his arms before announcing himself. "Is this gonna take long because I've got plenty of work to do in the station."
Tsunade felt a vein pop in her head at the sound of the arrogant Uchiha. She never did like or understand why Naruto favoured him so much, but since he was his friend, she had to be civil.
"Relax Sasuke, this is only going to take a minute." She explained as calm as possible before switching her attention to the younger medic. "And yes Sakura this has got to do with Naruto." Tsunade saw the girl's lips move but opted to cut her short. "And before you ask the answer is still no, we haven't found him yet."
The pinkette dropped her head low in disappointment.
"But that is why I've assembled you here."
Kakashi felt his body tense up as he waiting for the inevitable news.
"As you all know, Naruto had become quite the village favourite after his encounters with pain and his actions in the war. So naturally it wouldn't take long before people began to notice and start asking questions about his sudden disappearance. In fact, Ino and the rest of your friends had just asked me about this exact problem, Sakura. So now I have no choice, I have to declare Naruto as a missing Nin."
Sakura almost couldn't believe what she just heard from her master, even Sasuke was taken by surprise by the Hokage's decision. The only one who kept their composure was the older jounin who expected the sombre news.
"B-but this is Naruto we're talking about? How can you sign him off as a missing Nin?" Sakura asked her in disbelief.
"Too many people are noticing, Sakura and I can't keep lying to people's faces anymore. Protocols entail that I should have declare Naruto a missing Nin the moment I knew he was no longer in the village. I was only willing to delay the process because it's peace time and the treaty between the nations is still intact. But there are rules and we need to stick to them." Tsunade said with obvious sadness and distress in her voice.
"But we don't know that Naruto really left the village right? I mean we haven't heard anything from the other nations or smaller countries have we?" Sakura desperately hoped.
"No but we also don't have any signs of him still being inside the village. Dammit where is that kid?! It's like he vanished into thin air!" The Hokage yelled to release some built up stress.
Sakura took the moment to question her uninterested Uchiha teammate. "What do you think about all this Sasuke-kun?"
The last Uchiha leaned back on the support of his chair casually. "I think it's a little pathetic how the dobe could outsmart an entire village for this long." He said with a hint of a compliment.
"Sasuke." Kakashi responded in his lowest tone.
"Watch your mouth, Uchiha." Tsunade snapped back.
"Jeez is that all you got to say about your missing teammate, some friend you are. You know what, if you have nothing productive to say then don't say anything at all." Sakura fired back, surprising herself, Kakashi and the sannin in the process.
The grey haired jounin decided to change the subject before the atmosphere became too daunting.
"Have we tried looking for him in Mount Myoboku? He may had used the reverse summoning jutsu to spend some time there?"
The older blond sadly shook her head. "I asked to summon Lord Fukasaku last week and he told me he hasn't seen or heard from Naruto recently. This is so frustrating, perhaps if we knew if his true intentions then maybe we could have a place to start but we have nothing." She voiced in irritation.
"I know from what you told me that he was upset with Sakura's rejection, but would he really leave the village because of that? Was leaving his intentions from the very beginning or did that crack in the air with the unusual chakra had something to do with his disappearance?" Tsunade finished.
Sakura took a long moment to organise her thoughts. "It's possible that the cracks had something to do with it, I mean, I think me and Kakashi-sensei would have sense if Naruto performed a jutsu to run away?" She looked at Kakashi for support.
The older male jounin sighed heavily before retorting. "I would like to say we would but in the heat of the moment; it's was very easy to miss certain things, especially if that thing was the Hiraishin no jutsu."
Every pair of eyes popped open at the name of the jutsu.
"Hold on a second, Kakashi. You're not actually telling me that Naruto mastered it? He mastered his father's jutsu?" The sannin questioned in disbelief.
Said jounin kept a neutral expression. "To be entirely honest? I don't know, but as soon as you gave him his father's belongings, he was completely obsessed with the scroll that contained the Hiraishin's secrets. When I even asked him if he needed any help with the jutsu, he rejected me immediately. He said since it was his family's jutsu, it was his responsibility to revive it."
"So did he revive it?" Sakura quizzed with great interest.
"I have no idea, but the last that I heard from people who secretly watched him train was that the jutsu was too difficult to master and he gave up on it entirely. And I don't blame him, the Hiraishin is one of the world's most complex jutsu, and with no one alive to even guide him the basics then you can say he was destined to fail." He explained truthfully. "But if he somehow had mastered it, he could have snuck out underneath our noses and we wouldn't have known any better."
Sakura understood her teammate but she didn't believe him entirely. "No, no? If Naruto had mastered his father's famous jutsu, don't you think he would have told everyone? If not, he would have at least told me?"
Tsunade failed to supress a tiny scoff. "Oh Sakura, there are certain things about Naruto that even you don't know."
Peaking her interest into the subject Sakura asked seriously. "Like what, shishou?"
The blond tilted her head to man across the table. "Why don't you ask Kakashi?"
"Kakashi-sensei?"
The son of the white fang sighed before answering. "Well I'm not sure if you're fully aware of this but after we defeated Kaguya, something about Naruto changed."
Sakura frowned at his vagueness. "What do you mean changed?"
"I mean that with everything he experienced in the war, something had changed him. He had become obsessed with getting stronger and developing himself as a shinobi."
"But isn't that who Naruto is? He loves to train every day for the sake of training?" She asked dubiously.
"There's a difference between regular training and working yourself to death, Sakura. Throughout the last three years, he's abused my mass shadow clone training technique with two other jounin's he asked training for." Kakashi said with slight regret he thought Naruto that training method.
"If the Sage of the six paths didn't take away the powers we used against Kaguya, then maybe he wouldn't have had this problem." Sasuke said in annoyance. Although everyone could tell he was thinking about himself more than Naruto. "A temporary solution." He mockingly repeated the reason why the Sage took their powers in disgust.
Sakura however wasn't interested in Sasuke's whining. "I knew you two were training but I didn't know he asked anyone else for training?" She asked Kakashi.
"Oh yes he did, he asked Muzuki Yugao to learn kenjutsu and he even reached out Guy to help him enhance his taijutsu. With me however, he had a much more different request."
A little annoyed at how slow her older teammate was explaining the story, Sakura fired another question. "And what kind of request was that"
"Originally he came up to me and asked to teach him all the jutsu I know based on his chakra natures. But since I don't have an affinity for wind, we focused strictly on lightning and water while he studied wind jutsu by himself. You should have seen him Sakura, he was like a man possessed. One after another he mastered lightning and water styles jutsu at days at a time. He even learned my Raikiri in three days when it took Sasuke nearly over a month."
"You can't be serious, Kakashi!" Tsunade yelled out in surprise.
"Really Kakashi-sensei! That's amazing!" Sakura complemented in complete surprise.
Sasuke on the other hand stayed as composed as possible and pretended that piece of news didn't shock him.
"It was amazing, never would I have thought that the shadow clone training method would be so effective. But back to Naruto, although he learned my jutsu faster than anyone I've ever taught it to, he was never really that keen on it in the first place. He said it was too brutal for his style of fighting, but really I think it had to do with someone-"Kakashi flicked his head towards Sasuke. "Using the same technique to bury a whole in his chest a long time ago."
Everyone looked at Sasuke with a peculiar look as he shrugged their intimidating looks.
"But after I thought him ninjutsu, he asked me for a type of training I never thought in a million years he'd ask for. How to become a true jounin."
Sakura was left confused more as ever. "A true jounin? I'm not sure that I'm following?"
Kakashi dropped his head in defeat. "Everybody knows that training for destructive jutsu isn't enough to graduate to jounin. Naruto was smart enough to know that so that's why he asked me for help on his other shinobi skills. Information gathering, surveillance, infiltration, stealth, map reading, plan formulations, every aspect required in order to make an exceptional jounin, he mastered it all in months."
"Wow, Naruto really? Never thought he had it in him?" Sakura complimented highly. "But what's that got to do with this change you mentioned?"
"We were just about to get to that." Tsunade interrupted. "With Naruto's inhuman obsession of training, Kakashi, Yugao and Guy came to me for my help. They feared what I discovered." The Hokage lowered head and sighed. "It seems that Naruto developed a form of PTS from his experience in the war." She said gravely.
Sakura almost wanted to laugh at her master's comment. "Naruto?" She asked in comical disbelief. "Naruto developed post-traumatic stress disorder?"
"It's not funny Sakura, you and I both know PTSD is very common after a war and can manifest itself to pretty much anything on anyone." Tsunade shot back to silence the girl. "For Naruto, he developed an obsession, maybe even an addiction to training because he was on a constant state of alertness."
Sakura regained her composure to speak seriously. "But if that's true then why didn't I notice it sooner?"
"Because he didn't know he had the condition himself until I told him. And I also managed to supress his obsession to a relatively normal levels, well, normal for Naruto that is. All we can do now is hope that he won't relapse or develop other symptoms, where ever he is." The sannin explained before standing up from her seat. "But I'm afraid that's all I have time for today. I'm sorry that I have to do this but I have to sign the papers to declare Naruto a missing nin, I just thought it best if you three heard it from me first rather than hearing it from someone else."
However, Sakura was no longer listening to the Hokage as she was far too busy wrestling her mind on why Naruto never told her about his condition. But she was brought back to the room when she heard her name called from Tsunade.
"Sakura, I know your still upset about Naruto but don't forget about your other friends here. They're making an effort for you on your birthday, don't you think they deserve a little effort from you too?" The slug princess asked with kind wisdom.
Sakura nodded in understanding. "Yes, I will shishou I'm sorry for being a little absent recently, I promise I'll do better from now on." She said happily.
"Now that's what I like to hear." Tsunade flashed a warm smile. "By the way, just in case I haven't said it yet, happy birthday Sakura."
Said girl replied with an equally warm smile. "Thank you, shishou."
Lady Tsunade then made her way to the door to make her leave. But before she got there, she randomly stopped and turned around to face the remaining team seven.
"Oh before I forget, there was one more thing that I forgot to mention."
Team seven remained on their seats in silence as Tsunade mentally prepared herself for what she planned to say. She had to dig deep and practically had to force the words out of her body.
"In light of Naruto's new shinobi status, I've been made to reconsider who I want my next successor to be. So therefore, when I'm announcing my retirement a few months from now, I'll also be announcing Sasuke as the next Hokage."
AN/
I knew the ending would raise questions but as for Sasuke being the next Hokage, there will be a reasonable explanation for it in the future soon so don't worry about it too much.
