Chapter Ten
A/N:
Me: Oh, hello everyone! I'd like to introduce you to someone special. After chatting with one of my readers, I decided to be a fangirl for a little bit...*ahem* This, is Yamato-Taichou!
Yamato: Hello.
Me: And this is Kakashi-sensei!
Kakashi: Yo.
Me: Alright, guys. You know what to do!
Them: Oh okaaayy... *ahem* Hi, LouAronShinobi! Thanks for supporting Leisa's fanfics! She really appreciates it! 3
Me: *you're welcome* XDDDD ANYWAY...time for the chapter!
(And thanks all of you, as well! It makes me super happy when you like my stories :D I just wanted to do this because LouAronShinobi and I were having a conversation about having crushes on imaginary people LOL...sorta XD Anyway, THANKS!)
-xXx-
Chiasa smiles, wickedly as she pulls herself free from the dead boy's mind. A small frown darkens her face when she finds him crumpled to the floor, his eyes open but blank. Unseeing. Empty. "Sorry, kid." She whispers. "But getting my revenge is the most important thing right now. Even if it means taking a few innocent lives. Sorry you had to get caught up in the middle of this." She bows her head in respect for a moment. Then, with a small tug, the kyuubi's chakra is yanked from Naruto's motionless body.
As the Fox Demon literally spills out of him, it begins to take form. Snarling and furious as he tries to find the woman who had taken control of him. Chiasa yanks on the black, shadowy chains and the Fox is, miraculously, pulled forward. "Down, boy..." She chuckles, smugly. "And don't even try to kill me." Her eyes turn distant for a moment. "It won't work..."
However, as the witch leads her captured demonic spirit away in chains, she completely misses the small twitch of a certain blonde's hand. And as the door slams shut, she also misses the pained groan break from his lips as his eyes flicker, fall shut and then open once again...
-xXx-
The sun had just risen in the Hidden Leaf village when Sakura's alarm clock buzzes, loudly, signaling it was time to wake up. The rosette groans, rolls over and slams her fist down on the snooze button. "Not now, alarm clock..." She grumbles. "I wanna sleep..." She flips over again, tugging the sheets over her head and closes her eyes. I wonder how Naruto is doing? She thinks, groggily. He didn't seem in very high spirits yesterday...
...
With a weary, frusterated sigh, she sits up. "Ugh, why am I so worried about that idiot?! He's probably still asleep, knowing him!" But the more she sits there, stewing in concern, the more convniced she is that she needs to check on him. He was really upset about hurting me...She remembers. I hope he's not beating himself up over it... Then, she gets up and gets dressed. "I suppose I have no choice. I need to make sure the knucklehead is okay."
It's happens almost on que. As soon as Sakura's headband is tightly secured over her hair, she feels an enourmous quake in the ground below her. "An earthquake?" She gasps, bracing herself for more shockwaves. The earth rumbles, sending her sprawling to the floor. "Ah!" She flips back to her feet just in time to miss a potted plant that crashes to the floor from her bedside table. "That's not an earthquake!" She decides and rushes to the window.
Throwing open the curtains, she finds herself looking at scene she thought, or at least hoped, she'd never see. How it had evaded her attention until now was miraculous.
The horizon was bathed in blood red chakra. Already, hundreds of shinobi were pouring out of their homes, armed and ready to defend the village against the beast. Nine, powerful tails crash against buildings, shattering them into pieces as a pair of glowing, red eyes scan the mob of ninja with a hungry expression.
Sakura clamps a hand over her mouth as she stumbles away from the window. "Oh God..." She breathes. "Please...please tell me I'm dreaming..." She squeezes her eyes shut as tears sting them. Wake up, wake up! A single tear rolls down her cheek. No...this is real. This is really happening... Numbly, she reaches for her kunai pouch and straps it across her waist. Her jade eyes staring, blankly at the floor as she hurries outside. The tears were rolling freely now.
"If the Nine Tailed Fox is really here...then Naruto must be..." But the thought was too horrible to finish. "Oh, Naruto...what happened to you?"
The kyuubi lets out a deafening roar, shaking the village at its foundation.
-xXx-
"Uhhh..." Naruto's stiff moan fills the cluttered room. He tries to open his eyes but immediately shuts them again as a throbbing pain shoots through them. "Ohhh..." Even with his eyes closed, he feels his head spinning. "What...just happened...?" He groans, pushing himself onto his elbows. Wincing at the pain in his stomach. Almost as soon as he manages to sit up, a wave of crippling weakness washes over him. He slumps back to the floor with a heavy thump. A steady ringing in his ears accompanies the weakness and dizziness that now plauged him. "How am I...alive?" He wonders, half-heartedly. "That witch...pulled the Fox out of me...I should be dead..." It was a sobering thought. If not for, whatever what keeping him alive now, he'd be dead. And he would only have himself and his own stupidity to blame.
Sucking in a breath, he tries to move again. "C'mon...Uzumaki...get up!" He wills himself, battling the aching urge to sleep. "Get...up...!" But it was no use, his body gives out and he collapses again, hitting his head against the floorboards so hard he sees stars. "Ughhh..." He groans, pathetically. "What am I...hoping to accompish now?" He asks himself. "Even if I get up...there's nothing I can-" His breath catches. "Oh no..." Almost before he even realizes what he's doing, he's on his feet. "Chiasa is..."
He starts running, ignoring the protests of his defeated body. He was a man on a mission. He had to save his home. And all the people he cared about.
"I refuse to let them die because of my mistake!" He grits his teeth. "I've fought tougher opponents than some frail old hag! I'll just defeat her and take the kyuubi back before it can kill anyone!"
He pauses.
But how am I gonna do that? I can barely stay on my feet as it is...one hit from them and I'm really going to die...
With a furious shake of his head, he decides he'll just have to risk it.
After all, this is my fault. I'm the one who trusted Chiasa in the first place. It's my duty to save the village and I don't intend on failing!