The night chapter of Blossom in a Cage of Bones. I know I said this was going to be the finale but I had too much on for just one chapter and I wanted to make it an even twelve. Kimimaro and Sakura go to Konoha where they are met with shock looks over what all has happened as a new day has come.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Hatake Kakashi, looked on at The two figures seated across from him, trying to put the puzzle together of what had happened recently and the developments from it.
Pein, The Akatsuki leader had come to Konoha and had attacked. Nearly leveling the place single handily by himself and Kakashi himself had died due to over expanding his self and crossing over to the next world where he met his father as it looked like this was the end of The Hidden Leaf Village.
Only for Naruto, who was with him now, to make his grand return having completed his training and engage Pein in battle. It had had a titanic battle between them and in the end Naruto had won defeating him in battle. But he did not deliver the finishing blow to him, instead sparing him. Pein after being defeated made amends and sacrificed his life so that himself and others could return to the land of the living, but at a great cost. Konoha had been badly damaged and Tsunade was in a coma and unknown if she would ever come out of it.
And then the following day afterwards banners of The Land of Sound, Otogakure were spotted bringing back many of their fears that Orochimaru, who was heavily rumored to be dead, was alive and had come to attack Konoha at its weakest state with many believing they would not survive if he attacked as two hundred Sound Ninjas had appeared and were marching on Konoha's doors.
But the attack didn't come, and it was not Orochimaru who lead them. Instead it was two people one of them Kakashi nor anyone in Konoha had not expected to see.
The leader of The Land of Sound taking the title of Otokage now was Kimimaro Kaguya who Naruto and Rock Lee as well had remembered fighting, and with him to the shock of many was Kakashi's lost student, Sakura Haruno.
Many tears were had and smiles were on faces upon seeing the pink haired girl who had come back home at last after several months. Overjoyed to see her again her friends and family were having rushed her and embraced her.
Kimimaro had brought much lumber and tools from Otogakure and gave his men orders to help fix the village surprising them, as Oto had not come to attack like it was feared and dreaded, but to give them much needed aid. The turn of events was shocking as Oto and Leaf had been enemies for years, not since Orochimaru had attacked and Sarutobi at the cost of his own life had beat him back. For them to come and give them aid that they desperately needed was unbelievable.
Naruto and Kakashi had wanted to speak to her but she said she would only talk to them if Kimimaro was with them. Reluctantly, Kakashi had agreed to it and here they were.
"What has happened," Kakashi said to the two across from him. "Where is Orochimaru? Are the rumors true?"
"He is dead." Kimimaro confirmed to him and Naruto as they had heard rumors of chaos in Sound with some saying The Snake Sannin had met his end.
"I can't believe it, the creep finally got his." Naruto said and broke out into a smile.
"Kabuto is dead as well," Sakura said to them and that came as a surprise as well.
"I now rule Otogakure, I have been chosen by them to lead and have taken leadership of Sound." Kimimaro told them.
"I see…" Kakashi said to them as he noticed Sakura was close with Kimimaro. Too close in fact in his eyes.
"Sakura," Naruto spoke up and looked on at his best friend. "What about Sasuke, where is he?" He asked her.
Sakura took a long breath knowing that this wasn't going to be easy to tell them about what had happened to him, the fate of the their teammate.
"He is dead." Kimimaro spoke up, saying it for her and that shocked them.
"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in shock and disbelief upon hearing the news. "How?"
"I killed him." Kimimaro said plainly and that rocked their very bodies.
"You did?" Kakashi stated as it knocked the wind out of him. "You killed Sasuke."
"Why?" Naruto asked looking on his body trembling. "Why'd you kill him?" He said in an angry tone of voice.
Kimimaro looked over at him and still saw the same foolish boy from three years ago. "He was a rapid dog. He was a threat to everyone around him and a danger to all others. I had to kill him."
"You could've just knocked him out!" Naruto exclaimed. "And bring him and make him stand trial here."
Kimimaro looked over at him in disgust. "He nearly killed my wife!" He shouted which surprised them as this was the first time he raised his voice. "He tried to kill her! And myself as well and he murdered my best friend! Nothing mattered to him anymore, only power. He was the one who slew Orochimaru and Kabuto! He attacked us and tried to have us murdered! Would you stand by as he tried to kill the one you loved?" He asked the two and Sakura took his hand in hers. "The Uchiha was a threat to everyone as he had gone mad and was a rabid animal, he was willing to slaughter everyone who was in his path in his mad quest. I had to kill him as it was either that or let him kill me and the woman I love! I killed him and would've done it again if I had the chance." He said to them. "You wish to be Hokage?" He asked Naruto who slowly nodded. "Then you must realize that you can't ignore and allow a threat to happen right before your eyes and do nothing at all to stop it." He said to him.
Naruto looked on at him and went to say something when Sakura spoke up defusing the situation.
"Kimimaro it's alright. It's hard for them to understand as we were once almost like a family." Sakura told him and he looked at her and he calmed down. Sakura turned to look at Naruto who had some of the wind taken out of his sails after the Kaguya's outburst. "Naruto, I'm sorry but he's right. Sasuke had been driven mad and gone past the point of no return as he was a psychopath. I know I made you promise but I shouldn't have made you do it if I'd known Sasuke was going to turn out that way. I saw him and he was too far gone. Maybe in death he can find peace at last." She told him and Naruto looked downtrodden at how Sasuke had become
"Sakura," Kakashi said to her. "You've been through a lot these past months haven't you? What happened?" He said and looked on at the mark on her forehead. "You've gotten strong, stronger than even me I feel now that you have unlocked Tsunade's greatest technique." He said to her looking on at the jewel mark that had granted Sakura the strength of over a hundred and boosted her healing abilities by triple. She had gone to Tsunade's bed and helped with the process and many were more confident that she would soon come out of her coma thanks to Sakura's abilities.
"Could've used your help when Pein appeared before I got here." Naruto said to her and she smiled at the blonde.
"Naruto, we've all changed, some for the better, others had for the worst. Otogakure wants an alliance with Konoha." She told them. "Sound has changed as well, they aren't the faceless enemies we saw them us. There's good people there who only fought for the wrong person. Many of them there I gladly called friend the same way I call you and others here friend." She said to them.
"That is one of the reasons why we came here, to work with you." Kimimaro said to them. "I come here offering an alliance between our villages."
Kakashi looked at him silently as he read him, Kimimaro returned his stare as he was not someone who'd be easily pushed around. "Why is it that we should listen to your offer?" He asked him.
"My men are already set on rebuilding Konoha, without our aid it'll take months, a year even for Konoha to rebuild and restore itself with the damage that has happened. With our aid, that'll happen in a fraction of a time." Kimimaro pointed out and Kakashi nodded as they were a great boon to them and were greatly appreciated. "But we are not slaves, many of us in Oto all our lives have been forced to serve Orochimaru for all our lives until the day death claimed us. We will not be subservient to Konoha or The Leaf or anyone else again. We are our own people with our own desires and goals now. We shall work with you but as equals." He said to him. "We are free now, and we will fight and die than become a slave again. We will govern our lands and boundaries, in exchange we shall aid you whenever you require it. That is my terms."
Kakashi was quiet. "The decision would not be up to me, it'd be up to The Hokage and The Council to decide what to do. I am sorry that Sasuke slew your friend and tried to kill your wife and can see that you killed him in self defense."
"His wife was able to hold her own against Sasuke." Sakura told them.
"Where is she? Is she helping with the rebuilding?" Naruto asked having finally calmed down a bit since the news of Sasuke dying.
"You're looking at her." Sakura said to them and three eyes widened to shock at her words.
"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted in disbelief at what he just heard. "S-Sakura! You're married?!" He said to them.
Sakura and Kimimaro went into detail, about how Orochimaru had put them in an arranged marriage that neither wanted at first. How the wedding had gone, Kimimaro vowing to not hurt her or allow anyone to hurt her while she was in Sound. Sakura telling them of the rivalry between Kimimaro and Sasuke who had hated each other. Orochimaru having gotten sicker and weaker as time went on which Naruto remembered happening when he and TenTen encountered them. And, how they slowly began to develop feelings for each other and fell in love. That was the reason Kimimaro killed Sasuke cause he was going to try and kill her and Kimimaro would not allow that to happen. They told Kakashi and Naruto about the fight against him and how afterwards, The entire Sound village unanimously proclaimed The last of the Kaguyas The Otokage who they would follow. In that time Kimimaro working together with Sakura had fixed it up, finding the Fuma Clan and bringing them back and finding the Crystal Kekkai Genkai wielder Guren and having her help them.
"Sakura," Kakashi asked her having taken the news. "Do you love him?" He asked making sure nothing had happened to her, that this wasn't a case of Stockholm Syndrome she had developed.
"Yes." Sakura replied to him instantly with no hesitation. "I love Kimimaro, Sensei. True love not what I thought I had towards Sasuke, I love him and want to be with him. Kimimaro is the one who I want to spend the rest of my life with." She said honestly and truthfully
Kakashi looked on over at Kimimaro as the two clutched hands. "Do you love her?"
"Yes, and I will protect Sakura from anything that will bring her harm and will never hurt her. You forget that when a Kaguya marries, they take a vow to protect their love from all, and I have done so as I protected her from Orochimaru, Kabuto, and other threats and I will continue to do so, even if The God of Death tries, I'd tell him to go screw himself and cut him down."
"You will protect Sakura. And make and keep her happy." Kakashi said to him and there was just a hint of a threat that Kimimaro detected.
"I've done away with and destroyed many of Orochimaru's experiments that he had done. His body was properly burned along with the others. His legacy will be forgotten soon in years' time in the past and be nothing more than a dark memory. It's a new day for The Land of Sound and us. I seek to rebuild it and forge a new path for it." He told them who looked on at him.
"Like I said, it'd be up to The Council and Tsunade or whoever takes her spot if she's unable to continue if we'd agree to an alliance with you, this is surprising but not unwelcome that you'd come to our aid when we needed it." Kakashi replied to him again as he could see the benefits of allying with The Hidden Sound now. "For now I think we should take a break, Sakura I know your family and friends want to see you. But I'd keep your marriage a secret from them until later." He told her and she nodded.
A few minutes later Naruto stood outside looking on as Konoha with The aid of The Sound Ninjas under the orders of a redhead he and Shikamaru remembered three years ago. He watched as Sakura was reuniting with her family while Kimimaro looked on at her as tears fell out of her and her mother and father's eyes over their daughter returning and coming back.
He thought of Jiraiya, The Toad Sannin was gone, he had sacrificed himself in an attempt to stop and stall Pein, and gave Konoha a message to strengthen his defenses in his last moments. He missed him, but knew he had done him proud.
He watched on silently at the reconstruction that was going on, Kimimaro's words in his head about how he had killed Sasuke. Would Naruto have done the same thing? He had vowed to bring Sasuke back home but was Sasuke really that far off the deep end? He had tried to kill Sakura and if Naruto was there he had a feeling he would've killed him as well if he had tried to do so. Maybe he was right, maybe he was a bit foolish in thinking that Sasuke would just return to normal. He knew back when he saw him in Grass that Sasuke was unhinged and was willing to kill them if he had to. But he had ignored it.
"Hey," A voice said and he turned his head and saw TenTen walking towards him. "You're not in a celebratory mood like I thought now that Sakura's back." She said to him.
"Hi TenTen, sorry its just there's a bit on my mind right now." He said to the bun haired girl. "A lot just happened since yesterday."
"You're the triumphant hero aren't you?" TenTen asked him with a smirk trying to brighten the mood as even though he had bested Pein yesterday and Sakura had come back today, something seemed to be bothering him. "Did you lose all your celebratory spirit or something?"
Naruto let out a sigh. "I guess I can't hide anything from you after these past months together. Sasuke is dead." He told her and TenTen eyes widened a bit but she nodded her head. "He tried a while back to kill Sakura but he was cut down by that Kaguya guy who now rules Oto. And now I'm wondering to myself if I could've done the same thing and go back on my promise." He said to her.
TenTen walked over and put her hand in his surprising him a bit. "Naruto, that's the thing about promises, sometimes you have to realize that some aren't worth or are impossible to keep. I could promise you I'd hit the moon with a shuriken, you really think I could keep that promise?" She asked him. "You try too hard you know that? Let others help carry burdens for a change, you should've realized what you was getting into and know that some things you just can't keep." She said to him and Naruto looked on at her. "Sakura did come back like you promised, so that's one thing you can say you kept that you wouldn't give up until she was back with Konoha and now she is."
Naruto looked on at her, the past month he had been training unlocking Sage Mode with The Toads. Undergoing intense training were one misstep could result in him becoming a statue for all time. He had returned after completing it and feeling that much more powerful had rushed back to Konoha sensing something big was going on and fought against Pein who had decimated most of it. He had defeated him at the end as it had took all he had to beat him but did not kill him feeling it would be pointless and Pein had resurrected many who had died before passing on. Naruto after recovering and helping Konoha rebuild was going to march on Otogakure and free Sakura from Orochimaru himself only for her to show up the very next day with them.
"Move it you worthless pineapple haired jackass!" The redhead known as Tayuya was heard shouting at Shikamaru yelling at him to help rebuild as he muttered under his breath at how she was back like a bad nightmare. Naruto and TenTen allowed a smile as both Leaf and Sound were working together in restoring Konoha. An image that seemed like one that would never happen.
"TenTen," Naruto said and gently took both her hands in his surprising her. "I'm going to make another promise." He said and TenTen looked at him skeptically. "Something I feel that I need to do so I don't make the same mistakes from before. I promise that from this day forth, I won't make any ridiculous things that I can't keep. That I'll realize that I can't burden it all by myself and be willing to accept help from others such as yourself, Kakashi and those who I know I can count on. That's what I want to do from this point forward as Kimimaro was right with what he told me."
TenTen looked on at him and nodded and Naruto smiled at her as blue stared into brown.
"And I think I need to do this as well." He said and leaned forward.
TenTen gasped and her eyes widened at the feeling of the contact of his on her own before softly closing her eyes at the feeling she was experiencing.
Sakura from afar who had been looking for him watched on and smiled as Naruto had found someone to be with. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind and stared up at her husband's face who smiled back at her and kissed her as well.
With Otogakure's help, Konoha was soon restored and rebuilt the damage done by Pein undone as peace was had and restored. Konan who now ruled Amegakure which had been Akatsuki's hideout had also offered an allegiance with them, to make up for her role in what had happened.
Kimimaro is shown looking on, Sakura is with him as he meets with others as he delegated while many were dismissive and mistrustful of him for what his clan had been before, he did not back down from them as he was intent on letting his and Sound's voice be heard.
Tsunade soon recovered as well thanks to Sakura's healing efforts and she was stunned to see that her student also had the similar mark that she had as she had learned everything she could teach her. Perhaps soon she would surpass her.
However, the new found peace between them would soon be tested.
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One month later…
Kimimaro stood on Sakura with him and he took her in his arms embracing her as all their struggles and trials were finally over with at last.
A ninja who had claimed to be The Founder of The Uchihas, Madara Uchiha had appeared, bent on domination as he revealed himself to be the true leader of Akatsuki and set to take over all using The Tailed Beasts. With the remnants of Akatsuki he plundered Pein's body and stole his Rinnegan eyes while The Akatsuki member Deidara faced Konan and she defeated him but not before Madara could escape with what he sought as he made his motives known of what he planned to do. He also killed the plotting Dazno, ripping out his hidden Sharingan eye and with the exception of Sai, took control of ROOT adding them to his forces.
Seeing the magnitude of the threat, All Five Villages were forced to put aside past grudges and join together. The Hidden Sound Village lead by Kimimaro also joined the battle as well as a Fourth Shinobi War broke out with the fate of many hanging in the balance.
It was a great and terrible battle against Madara and his army that he had, tens of thousands of clones of The Akatsuki member Zetsu as well as unleashing and using Gedo Mazo to let loose with attacks from The Bijuu he had captured. In the end after a long hard fought battle, it had come down to Naruto and Madara and Madara had prepared to kill him and take The Nine Tails and fulfill his plan.
But Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's brother who had vanished off the face of the earth for some time had suddenly reappeared and activating his own Sharingan intercepted and blocked his attack giving Naruto an opening to deliver the finishing blow to him.
Why Itachi did it, nobody knew as he took his secrets and reasons with him to the grave as he died shortly afterwards succumbing to some unknown illness and extorting his body. Yet Naruto felt as if this was something he wanted to do as he died peacefully.
"Just who was he?" Naruto asked about Madara as he looked on and he felt Konan touch his shoulder. "He wasn't Madara, just someone who claimed to be." He mentioned as the man had different aliases as Madara wasn't who he really was.
"Just a man who could never come to grips with his past, maybe now at the end he finally can." She told him and he nodded at her as the battle was over and they had won. He looked on as people celebrated their victory. Even Tayuya and Gaara allowing a true smile to show.
Naruto looked on and saw Kakashi who smiled at his student, Kakashi had been elected to become The Rokudaime of Konoha, after Tsunade had stepped down. He smiled at TenTen as well who smiled back at him.
"Everything is finally over. All our trials and battles. Its reached its end." Sakura said as she looked on as they celebrated as she looked on with her husband as both had taken part in it.
Kimimaro nodded at her and they heard a sound and looked and spotted above them flying overhead a white hawk flying into the raising Sun. It flew alone in the sky the first animal seen since the battle. Looking at it, the two knew it represented everything that had transpired. And it also represented the beginning of a new age in the land. A Land of Hope.
"White Hawk, fly far and free." Kimimaro said to it as they looked on as it flew overhead. "Fly! Fly without limits or boundaries!"
A/N: That's it for this chapter. Review please. The next one will be the finale.