Nature's Trouble

Chapter 10: of names and prophecies

Koomahana

Ko-chan pretty means little kid, the kanji for child is pronounced as 'ko' so I just used it. Aka-chan is typically used to address babies and Sakura isn't a baby, she's seven, so I figured 'Ko-chan' would have to do.

Please correct me if I'm wrong

Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site

Thoughts

Paragraphs are flashbacks

…

…

"This way Rin-chan!" the girl shouted cheerfully, pointing excitedly at the park that was barely seen through the thick crowed of the populace of Konoha. "I wanna go over there!"

"Hold on Ko-chan!" Rin giggled, stooping to lift her skirts up so she could hurry with the little pinkette. "Don't you want to enjoy the celebration?" Rin asked winking playfully with the girl who stopped to take a look around herself thoughtfully. "There are plenty of games you can play..."

"I wanna see the flowering trees!" The girl said, turning to look up at Rin with a pout and teary eyes.

"Okay, Okay just give me a moment," Rin sighed, feeling slightly exasperated with the pinkette. "How can you even move so fast in that kimono? I can hardly move..." The girl looked down at her barrowed violet and white kimono, she turned and grinned up at Rin cheerfully, her eyes lighting up like the lanterns that surrounded them. Rin sighed and shook her head with a fond smile, she took up the girl's hand and gently moved through the crowed towards the park and, more importantly, towards the big flowering trees of Konohagakure.

"Pretty!" the girl shouted with twinkling eyes, making Rin giggle at the girl. "I like it here," She said suddenly, turning to look quite seriously up at Rin. "Can I stay here? Like... forever?" Rin was surprised and she just stared at the curious pinkette looking up at her so hopefully, she was just about to answer when a familiar voice interrupted her.

"Of course you can!" Minato smiled shocking the two girls, actually making the pinkette squeak and launch herself into Rin's arms. Behind Minato was a red haired woman named Kushina; Kakashi and Obito, Hiruzen, Inoichi and Shikaku where as well, dressed up in their best Kimono's.

"I'm sorry Ko-chan," Minato said quickly, stooping to her level with a soft expression of apology on his face. "I hadn't meant to scare you but what I said is true. Lord Hokage would be very happy if you stayed here in the village with us. You don't have to worry about the war; you'll stay here, where you'll be protected."

"I can't be a shinobi?" she questioned with teary eyes as if she was hurt by the thought of being protected

"Oh no that's not what I meant," Minato chuckled settling himself a little lower, observing how she clung to Rin and how Rin's hands had automatically embraced the seven year old clinging to her. "You can enter our academy but you have to have a name first, do you think you can pick one out?"

"Tonight?" she questioned with a frown, her eyes locking onto Minato's surprised orbs. "Okay, I can come up with a first name... before I go to bed..."

"Uh... sensei," Rin said, patting the girl's head reassuringly. "Ko-chan and I have been thinking of viewing the flowering path, would you like to join us?"

"The flowering path?" Minato chuckled in amusement; he held his arms out expectantly to the child who still clung to Rin's skirts. "Well you can't see all of their beauty from down there! Why don't I show you how a pretty girl should see pretty flowers?" The girl grinned and she ran into Minato's arms giggling, squealing when he lifted her high into the air and settled her on his shoulder.

"Minato aren't you going to introduce us?" Hiruzen chuckled, grinning up at the bright haired girl sitting on the blonde's shoulder. "Hello little one, my name is Hiruzen Sarutobi..."

"Hello," the girl said automatically making eye contact with Hiruzen, her eyes twitched and she shook her head, making her pink pig tails swing back and forth with the motion.

"Are you alright child?" Hiruzen asked worriedly when he saw the girl press one hand to the side of her head with a cringe.

"I'm okay," she answered with a shaky smile, "You look like Jiji..." Hiruzen smiled sadly and held his hands out to her expectantly. She hesitantly lowered herself into his hold, as if he might blow away and leave her tumbling to the ground without support. Minato loosened his hold and let her settle into Hiruzen's arms gently, smiling when Kushina took her place at his side.

"We had thought up names for you little one," Hiruzen said as he turned and started for the path that went through the largest park in the village like a river. "We haven't come up with much, but we also thought that we could leave the first name up to you."

"You thought up a last name for me?" she questioned with wide eyes and excited smile. "What is it? What is it?"

"Well..." Hiruzen hesitated just long enough to glare pointedly over to Inoichi, as if warning him about something. "We thought that Hokoshi was a good surname for you... if it was okay with you..."

"Hokoshi..." she repeated a slow sad smile spreading across her lips, making her green eyes glow hauntingly. Before Hiruzen could say anything more about it being her decision, her hand snapped out and took hold of something falling before them. Blinking in confusion, Hiruzen watched as the girl pulled her hand close and opened her hand wide, revealing to them the tiny pink flower she caught without looking. Hiruzen watched as her green eyes widened, she sank in his arms holding the flower up close a she leaned her head on to his shoulder, a peaceful, happy smile relaxing her features.

"It's me," she whispered holding the flower a little higher for Hiruzen to see. "It's me, I know it is, this flower is me." She whispered her words so softly that Hiruzen nearly missed them, she fell asleep soon after her eyes half lidded as she fell asleep staring at the little pink flower she caught.

"A cheery blossom?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow "Well isn't that redundant..."

"At least we have a first name to call her," Rin replied with a warm smile aimed at the little girl. "Sakura Hokoshi, I like it. It... It somehow fits..."

"A lucky cheery blossom," Minato chuckled, one arm wrapped around Kushina who kept in step with him. "Now that's a name!"

"Better then spirals," Kushina commented with a smile

"Try being the 'first pig'" Inoichi snickered

"Everyone in your family uses 'Ino' as a foundation name," Shikaku grumbled at him with a smile. "I bet you'll even name your first kid 'Ino'."

"Hay that's not fair Shikaku!" Inoichi shouted glaring at his old teammate "I've been saying that for years!" Hiruzen laughed as he continued forwards; glad that some of his best shinobi could still laugh despite the terrors of the war. The group kept walking, smiling and joking and watching the flowers of the trees around them fall like snow.

She's so small and light, Hiruzen thought as he lifted his eyes and made eye contact with a dark haired couple walking towards him with welcoming smiles. Was that normal for a seven-year-old child?

"Hello Lord Hokage, are you enjoying the festival?" Fugaku smiled at Hiruzen bowing slightly and eyes looking quizzically on the pink haired child in his arms.

"Ah, Fugaku-kun, Mikoto-chan, it's always nice to meet you both," Hiruzen smiled and nodded his head in greeting at the young couple. "This is little Sakura Hokoshi, a war orphan."

"She has pink hair," Mikoto giggled, giving the red headed kunochi behind Hiruzen a sly smirk. "Perhaps one of her parents was a blonde and the other a red head?" The red-hared woman blushed brightly at the implications, her blue eyes glancing shyly up at the smirking blonde beside her.

"Her mother was a blonde," Inoichi agreed, not seeing the teasing look Mikoto gave the other woman until she glared at him, making a few others chuckle in amusement. "What? Her memories showed that her mother was a blonde..."

"Did you see what her father looked like?" Kushina asked with a smirk at Mikoto, amusement dancing in her navy blue eyes.

"Well... his hair was pretty muddy..." Inoichi said with a thoughtful frown, "but it did look pretty red to me..."

"Red?" she asked with a frown, suddenly her hole attention was on him, her eyes dark with determination and fright, a kind of fear that was hard to see in her determined blue orbs. "Did he have blue eyes? Tanned skin?"

"...Yes," Inoichi agreed, shifting lightly uncomfortably. "Listen Kushina-chan... I doubt she's a relative of yours... Her father was pretty banged up when he passed away trying to protect her."

"But he didn't go down easily did he?" Kushina asked, her hand that was wrapped around his upper arm tightened slightly.

"No," Inoichi agreed with a sad look on his face, he knew that Kushina was the last Uzumaki, that she was still hopeful that she still had family out there somewhere, regardless of how thin those chances were. "No, I think it took some time for him to bleed out and he had a good few scars on his body. She may not have known it, but her father was a shinobi."

"Did she whiteness him fighting?" Kushina asked, her breath coming a little faster and her eyes widening a little further.

"She heard him fighting," Inoichi sighed, knowing that it couldn't be easy for Kushina. "Listen Kushina, her chakra reserves aren't massive like yours. They're small, really small—"

"Inoichi that is by far more common then you think." Kushina said turning a thoughtful look on to Sakura. "In Uzu there was a small branch there, they specialized in chakra control not chakra quantity like my branch did."

"Wait a moment Kushina-san," Kakashi said turning wide dark eyes on to the red head. "Are you saying that this girl just might be a distant relative?"

"It's possible," Kushina agreed, turning to look back at the sleeping pinkette. "There were a lot of small clans in Uzu and all of us were brightly colored, like coral. There were blondes, orange heads, and red heads... I once saw some kids with neon blue hair and some with green. I've seen some with hair bright violet and some with snow-white hair. Uzu was like looking at a flower garden with hundreds of flowers spread out in front of you, if it was odd and unusual Uzu housed it."

"I think Pink hair counts as odd," Fugaku grumbled thoughtfully. "Is there a way for us to test weather or not she could be a relative of yours?"

"It's imposable to say," Kushina sighed, leaning into Minato's side. "Everyone in Uzu shared at least five percent of the same DNA; it was what made some of us stronger at seals then others."

"Where there any bloodlines in Uzu?" Minato asked curiously,

"Not really," Kushina sighed, "Not innless you count seals as a bloodline. Especially Baa-chan's seal, that was an A-class seal, even I couldn't replicate it if I tried and I'm apart of the seal branch. Baa-chan was apart of the control branch, she had a minor in seals but she still managed to pull that one off almost without any problems."

"Eh? Mito-sama had a seal?" Mikoto asked with a bewildered look on her face, recognizing the name Kushina gave to the Shodai Hokage's wife.

"Yeah," Kushina smiled and pointed at her forehead, "it was a diamond shape seal. It took chakra from her normal reserves and stored it, converting it into healing energy when she needed it. The down side is that it actually shorted her life span when she used it. The plus side is that she wasn't forced to use it often, just the one time with the Kiyobi."

"A diamond shaped seal?" Inoichi asked looking pointedly at the pinkette in Hiruzen's arms.

"Now Inoichi—" Hiruzen cut himself off with a sigh as Kushina spun around him and pushed the pinkette's bangs off her forehead, revealing the large violet diamond in the center of her forehead.

"Uzu," Kushina whispered, tears springing to her eyes as she stared at the familiar diamond. She looked up into Hiruzen's eyes, her body trembling as her hand shakily stroked Sakura's pink hair with trembling hands.

"She's an Uzu... one of my kinsmen..." Hiruzen smiled gently and shifted his hold on the tiny seven year old in his arms, gently handing her over to a teary-eyed Kushina. Minato and Mikoto quickly wrapped their arms around Kushina, keeping her up a she held the child in her arms as if she was made from glass.

"Mommy!" Mikoto looked up from where she held the softly crying red head to see her own four-year old come running up. "Mommy look what I found!"

"Itachi!" Mikoto giggled releasing her friend to catch her running child. "What'd you find today love?"

"This!" Itachi smiled as he shoved a little pink seashell into his mother's hand, giggling Mikoto turned it over and stared at the beautifully etched petals.

A shell that looks like a cheery blossom? Mikoto though smiling in confusion at her son.

"I asked Tsukiko-Hime for a good luck charm," Itachi said his fingers brushing over the edge of pink sea shell blossom. "I found this near the river..." Itachi pointed to the small stream that ran through the park. Fugaku chuckled and patted Itachi atop his head, a smile on his face and amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Sakura-chan?" Minato called softly, his hand brushing Sakura's pink hair back from her face, showing that her green eyes were wide and staring dully at the sky high above them, a strange white design blooming in her iris as she stared. Kushina kneeled on the ground, holding Sakura so that her head was on Kushina's shoulder but her feet were touching the ground.

"Protect him," Sakura whispered, confusing Minato and Kushina as they listened to her; Sarutobi kneeling beside her, tilting her head towards him in concern. "Protect him—them" Sakura ordered, locking white etched swirls on a green back ground with Sarutobi's serious dark eyes.

"Who?" Sarutobi asked, "Give us a clue child..."

"The key, they are the keys" Sakura murmured dazedly, her eyes unseeing. "For the Skeleton Key: love is closest to hate, save him before darkness reaches him. The other is a golden heart—save him, you have to save him, failure isn't an option."

"Why?" Sarutobi asked, "Why do I have to save the golden heart?"

"He is pure of heart but he is surrounded in darkness and death," Sakura answered. "Save him, save him or all shall fall. Save them both and war is forgotten. Lose the Skeleton Key... Lose him and more then the clan shall fall, more then the village shall fall, more then the fire nation shall fall..." the adults close by, listening to her words so closely, had terrified wide eyes and hearts beating erratically; how were they supposed to respond? Was it a prophecy? Who was this strange child?

"Lose the Skelton Key and a war stronger then the five nations shall come..." Hiruzen's heart stopped, his face paling and his eyes widening. "Lose both keys... and the five nations... will be no more..."

"Hokage-sama..." Minato whispered, dropping to his knees beside Kushina.

"Rest child," Hiruzen murmured stroking Sakura's cheek reassuringly. "You need to sleep now, your safe and everything is well..."

"Promise?" the girl whispered, her head tilting to the side slightly. "Promise you'll save them?"

"I promise to do my best," Sarutobi answered, watching breathlessly as the strange design in Sakura's green eyes faded from sight and she returned to sleep, relaxing like jelly in Kushina's trembling arms.

"Wha-wha-what was... who is... what is—"

"It's alright Mikoto-chan," Hiruzen cut off the frightened woman easily, sighing and rubbing at the bridge of his nose tiredly. "I think I just figured out who her parents are..."

"Really?" Kushina asked with wide eyes, her voice trembling.

"Hai..."

"Who?" Minato asked, trying to steady Kushina as she rose shakily to her feet. "Who do you think her parents are?"

"Do you remember that priestess in Ogre country?" Hiruzen asked his eyes not leaving Sakura's sleeping features.

"The death Fortuneteller?" Fugaku asked, his arms wrapped tightly around his wife and first born, refusing to belief even for a moment that the strange girl's reaction was to the sound of his son's voice. That fortuneteller doesn't have any children, so she couldn't possibly be the girls mother... could she?

"Yes," Hiruzen agreed easily, rising to his feet. "She's just the strongest in her clan... Kushina-chan has already confirmed that one of Sakura-chan's parents was an Uzumaki, most likely her father..." Hiruzen took a deep breath before he continued. "I belief that one of the ogre priestess's relatives married one of the few Uzumaki's left in the world..."

…

…

"You're spinning a web of lies, if you aren't careful you'll get tangled up" Danzo said the instant he and Hiruzen were alone in his office, his old friend scoffed and glared half-heartedly at him. "What are you going to do when Minato takes over?" Danzo asked, purposefully throwing his old friend for a loop. "You know it's only a matter of time before he really dose takes that hat from you..."

"Please don't remind me," Hiruzen groaned. "Did I say to much tonight? Should I have let Kushina take Sakura? Should I just have taken her home with me? She's a lot calmer with me..."

"But not nearly as calm as she is with Minato," Danzo reminded him. "And you did good, kept the more important things to yourself and told them just enough that wouldn't alarm them into doing anything rash."

"Plus Kushina-chan gained a new relative," Hiruzen chuckled in amusement. "I wonder what tomorrow will bring..."

"Knowing Minato and Kushina, nothing good" Danzo answered straight faced

"Very funny Danzo," Hiruzen smiled at his old friend. "I know you like to joke about their 'lack'" really they were both genius just in different subjects "of intelligence but really now, they're our best Jonins..."

"I wasn't joking" Danzo smirked at him. "I know for a fact that those two are going to come in here first thing in the morning and start demanding answers, you know how demanding Kushina can get."

…

…

Thoughts are helpful

Opinions are wonderful

Helpful criticismis lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?

Please no cursing!

And don't forget to review!

Page 9