Chapter twelve. I'm almost there! Has Sakura really forgotten about Naruto? If she has, can their love survive? And what of the council?
Warning: Happy ending ahead.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The characters and storyline both belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Naruto feels no shame in letting the tears fall and run down his cheeks. He can only feel the slow tearing at his heart. "No. No, it can't be." He grabs Sakura's shoulders. "Please tell me you remember me!"
Sakura looks more confused than ever. "I... wish that I could, but I can't."
Naruto still doesn't believe it. "You don't remember this place?"
"The park?"
"No! I mean... here. This bench... That night." Naruto asks desperately.
Sakura breaks the eye contact to look down to the floor as she tries to deal with the situation. "I've never met you. But, you feel familiar."
Naruto clings on to whatever hope he has left in his heart. "Can you remember anything of me? Anything at all?"
Sakura shakes her head. "No, I can't I'm sorry."
The words shatter his hope filled heart. Naruto's eyes run out of tears to cry out. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan." He places his hands on Sakura's shoulders. "I only wish a life of happiness for you."
Sakura's eyes widen in amazement. "Did you call me 'Sakura-chan'?" Naruto takes his hands from her shoulders and starts to walk away. Naruto halts to feel gripping on his hand. He looks back to see Sakura's hand holding his. His heart warms at her action. "I don't know or remember you. But, I don't want you to leave. I don't know why."
Suddenly, the sky is blanketed by a field of ominous darkness. Naruto's ears hear loud booming thunder in the sky. Sakura looks up at the sky with worry in her eyes. Naruto knows that this isn't natural... nor is it the Demon Council's doing. This can only be the work of the almighty Heaven. Naruto's worst fears are finally upon him. He remembers back to Kurama's story about the White Snake to the part that she got sealed away for all of eternity. He doesn't know his fate. The only thing he can think of is being with his beloved Sakura. He takes Sakura by the waist and pulls her into his chest to embrace her one last time. Sakura surprises him by returning his embrace as the thunder begins to sound more violent. A streak of flashing light is thrown across the sky. Naruto separates the hug to look at Sakura with the eyes of deep sorrow. "I don't know if i'll ever see you again. If I don't, I'll leave you with this." He leans his head in and kisses Sakura.
Sakura doesn't flinch, she doesn't move. She just stands dazed at Naruto's kiss. Naruto's eyes begin to water again as his chest aches. This may as well be his last kiss with Sakura and it will be one he pours all of his love into and won't get any in return.
After a moment of kissing, Naruto feels soft pressure against his lips. He doesn't know what is happening so he opens his eyes and separates the kiss. He looks into Sakura's emerald eyes and no longer sees eyes of blank confusion. Instead he peers into the eyes he can only remember as his love's. Sakura opens her lips with a slight unnoticeable smile. Her eyes start to shine as they water. "Naru-kun?"
Naruto's heart soars. He smiles at last. "Sakura-chan?"
Sakura doesn't hesitate to lean forward for another kiss. Naruto shows no reluctance as he closes his eyes and returns the kiss. He melts away in her soft lips. They kiss for what feels like an eternity until they separate. Naruto hears the thunder growing nearer.
He then notices something different. He looks around and sees trees... everywhere. Sakura looks around as well looking confused and scared. She looks to Naruto. "Where are we?"
The thunder cracks the sky. Naruto's heart and mind are speeding up. "I don't know," he answers truthfully. He looks the the darkening sky and then to the trees. There is nothing beyond the seemingly never ending forest except the shadows cast by the trees. "This doesn't feel good at all."
Naruto grabs Sakura's shoulders and looks to her with pleading eyes. "Do you remember the day we first met?"
Sakura is thrown aback by his choice of question in this situation. "Yes. The dare, the mountain,... the beautiful shrine. I don't ever want to forget it ever again."
Naruto's heart warms at her answer. "Do you remember our first kiss?"
Sakura is even more accepting of the question this time. "Of course. I can't believe I ever forgot about it." Sakura shrugs. "I can't believe I forgot about... you." She looks away from Naruto and her eyes tear up.
Naruto gently caresses his hand over her cheek. She looks back at him and places a hand on top of his. Naruto needs to ask her one more thing. "Do you remember the night of the festival what I asked you from behind the bush?" Naruto is attentive and must hear her.
Sakura's eyes don't look away from Naruto. Her eyes glisten as the tears well up. "If... I knew... what you are, would I still love you?"
Naruto is still unsatisfied. "Would you?" The thunder nears. The miasma permeates their surroundings. Naruto needs an answer immediately.
Sakura cups a hand on Naruto's cheek. "Naruto,... I will always love you... as long as you always love me."
Naruto's smile spreads across his face. He can't hold in his happiness. "Sakura-chan." He pulls Sakura in for another warm embrace. Suddenly, he can't feel Sakura's body against his.
Slowly, but powerfully, he is getting pulled away from Sakura. Sakura panics and puts her arms around him to make his stop. Naruto has no control, he is being forced to be separated from Sakura. He feels Sakura's arm gripping tightly. "Naru-kun!", she cries to him. Naruto hears her shriek in fear. He feels her hands slipping away. Naruto wants to grab her hands but Heaven won't let him. Sakura is at Naruto's motionless hands. She grips tightly, but the force pulling her is far too great.
...::::
Sakura is scared to death, confused, and worried. The force she feels all around her is pulling at her away from Naruto. Why isn't he trying to hold on? It doesn't matter. She tries to hold on as best as she can, but Naruto's body is gradually lifted into the air. The force successfully separates them and Sakura lands on her buttocks onto the floor. She looks up at the floating Naruto as he is lifted higher and higher. Sakura doesn't understand what black magic this could be, but she can't deny what she is seeing in front of her eyes.
Naruto is lifted about ten meters into the air when the dark and foreboding clouds open up to let a ray of light shine upon Naruto. He stops flying away and is suspended high in the air. The small breeze picks up and becomes a strong wind. Some of the leaves from the surrounding trees detach from the branches and is caught by the fast moving air.
Sakura can see the pattern of the wind by the swirling of the dancing leaves in the air as they are lifted towards Naruto. The leaves encircle Naruto and spin around him. The light that is shining from above onto Naruto gets brighter making it easier to see his features. She is on complete disbelief. Naruto seems to be changing. Orange-red hair sprouts from his arms and cheeks. His limbs contort and his hands form pads at the palms. His nose and jaws protrudes and his mouth opens to show canines. His clothes no longer seem to fit him correctly as the transformation begins to end. The light never dims and Naruto is slowly dropped back onto the dirt ground below. As he nears Sakura, she can see Naruto's new form. A fox. Not just any fox. She remembers this fox from a dream. Could this be Naruto? What just happened to him?
Naruto's body drops to the floor and lays motionless. Sakura runs to the fox Naruto and sees that he is much larger up close, about the size of a horse. She sits on her knees beside him. She slowly places a curious hand upon the furry head of the fox. Naruto starts breathing which relieves her. "Naru-kun? Are you okay?"
The fox groans and lifts his head up. He looks at himself to see what he is. He shifts his gaze from his paws to Sakura's eyes. "Sakura-chan?"
Sakura gasps. Naruto speaking ability isn't hindered by him being a fox at all. "Naru-kun, you can still speak?! What just happened?"
Naruto sits up and rests his paws on the ground and looks down into her eyes. "If you what I am, would you still love me?"
Sakura begins to piece everything together. "So... this is what...?"
Naruto can't bring himself to look at her anymore. He turns away and closes his eyes to make sure. "Yes, I am not human. I am a fox demon," he admits.
Sakura gasps. "A kitsune?!" Naruto nods still refusing to look at Sakura out of guilt. Naruto looks in pain for revealing his identity to her. She can understand why. The being in front of her she has never seen before, but she knows it it Naruto. She still loves him. Her heart yearns to relieve his pain. His suffering is her punishment. She rests a hand on his furry shoulder. "I never knew..., never suspected anything. Yet, it feels like an honor to have meet the demon of Akuma no Yama for what he truly looks like."
Naruto finally shifts his beautiful ocean blue eyes to look at her. He smiles mildly. "I am the kitsune demon of Akuma no Yama, you are a girl from the city. Heaven dictates that we cannot love each other." he says shamefully.
Sakura is in awe at how the rumors and stories were true. "But, ...I..." She wants to tell him her answer.
Naruto cuts her off. "Before you give me your answer, let me say a few things." He lowers his body and lays down to give the best hug that he can in his current form. His head is over her shoulder. Sakura begins to hear sniffling. "Sakura-chan,... I have been on Earth for a thousand years. But, every single one of those years is worth less than a moment with you."
Sakura is on the verge of tears. Her heart melts at what he said. "Naru-kun, say no more. I understand you. I finally understand everything." She pushes Naruto away to see his canine face. "But, you must understand one thing. My answer."
Naruto's eyes are filled with worry. "Would you still love me? Even if you know that I am a kitsune?"
Sakura puts her palms over his paws. She doesn't search her head for the right words. Her heart did the talking. "I never stopped loving you."
...:::: Happy ending ahead ::::...
The landscape around them begins to shift. The trees disappear and the dirt ground is replaced by a smooth wooden floor. Sakura is scared of all of the new experiences she is seeing today. She looks at Naruto to see that he is bowing to something behind them. Sakura turns around and her eyes widen. Sitting before her are the largest creatures she has ever seen. She frantically follows Naruto's example and gets on her knees and kowtows.
The huge kitsune with many tails smirks and raises his paw. "Rise. Sit up." The young ones heed and sit up. Sakura's body is trembling in fear. "You have been sent here by order of Heaven," the kitsune's booming voice says.
Sakura feels like there is a rock lodged in her throat. She is speechless. The huge demons that are sitting are the most fascinating yet overwhelming beings she's ever seen. To Sakura's surprise, Naruto steps forward and speaks. "Fine. What does Heaven want? I'll take it."
The large demons exchange looks and the kitsune looks down to Naruto with a parent-like feel towards him. "Actually, Heaven has something special in store for you, kit"
Naruto tilts his head slightly in confusion. "Special? Like what?" Sakura stays back not willing to speak her mind to the ominous figures ahead of her. Naruto is speaking to them as if they are his family.
The nine tailed fox forms a porcelain vase and grabs it with his paw. "Naruto, you were chosen by the council to be my successor. All decisions made by the council are permenant by Heaven's law. But, Heaven is willing to compromise." He sets the case down. "Go on, kit. See what it is."
Naruto looks at the larger fox with suspicious eyes. Sakura is curious to what the vase has to do with anything. Naruto's curiosity engulfs him and he walks toward it. His snout sniffs at the handle and then the rim of the vase. He then looks to see what is inside so he snoops his head in. All of a sudden, kanji writing appears around the vase on the floor. The writing glows a throbbing red. Naruto's ears pop up and he is whimpering. Sakura stands up to go to Naruto. He needs help! She runs a few steps to Naruto. Naruto just vanishes away.
Sakura is in shock. Where did he go? The kanji glows no more and goes away as well. She sees the vase shake back and forth like something is inside of it. "Naru-kun?" she whispers.
"Heaven is giving your love for each other a chance to go on." another loud voice says. She looks up to the nine demons. The voice came from a ox with octopus tentacles for hind legs. "Naruto is sealed inside of that vase. They said that the only way to free him is for you to bring the vase to his home once you become of age and if you still love him. On the day of your birth and you are of eighteen years of age, you can free Naruto from his porcelain prison. Heaven also promises a wish to be granted to you of anything you desire. You, not Naruto."
Sakura swallows the lump in her throat. "Become of age? Wish? What? I'm sorry, I'm still letting what is happening all of a sudden to set in. Is this real?" Sakura moves cautiously towards the vase.
The multi-tailed fox raises a paw. "If it is no bother, I'd like to have a word with the girl myself. In private." The other demons thought it over for a few seconds then they disappear in a swirl of mist. Sakura is dumbfounded at how to act towards such an impending being. The beast turns to Sakura. He deeply inhales through his nostrils and sighs to recollect himself. He then peers into the very soul that is Sakura. "So... you are the human that is breaking the law of Heaven."
Sakura's nervousness returns and her legs begin to rattle. "Y-yes, Kitsune-sama."
The large fox scoffs. "Sama? So the modern society still knows proper etiquette. I'm impressed. I thought only us demons clung to the ancient ways." Kurama stands on all fours and walks the short distance to the vase and sits. "I know you are confused. Don't worry, young one. I'll explain everything. I'm not like the others of the Elder Council."
Sakura, who is still soaking in information, is curious to what he speaks of. "Elder council?"
Kurama picks the vase up and carefully holds it with two paws. "Yes, all of the demons that just left are members of the Elder Council. We are the only direct connection to Heaven from Earth. We keep the world of the demons a secret from the world of humans. We are the ones that brought you and Naruto here. "
Sakura still needs answers. "I heard you call Naruto 'kit'. Are you his father?" She holds her fear inside for her love's sake.
The kitsune looks rather surprised about the question. He gently sets the vase down and pats it. "No, he's not my kit. I adopted him when his parents died. I've known him for all of his life. It feels as if he is my kit," he says like a father would talk about his child.
Sakura is surprised and her hand comes up to her mouth. She never knew that Naruto is an orphan. It makes her wonder what else did she not know about him. But, she'd rather ask Naruto herself. "Is there any way for me to speak to Naruto? I have so many questions. Kitsune-sama?"
The fox shrugs to give him some comfort on his wooden floor seat. He doesn't speak but rather looks back and forth for an answer. Sakura suspects that he has the answer but is deciding on whether to tell her or not. The Kyuubi sighs. "... Yes, you can. In fact, you are permitted one hour to talk to Naruto who is inside of the vase for an hour a day. The only stipulation is that the hour to talk to him is the only time window you can talk to him. You only have one hour after the sun sets for the day. You may talk to him tonight. He will be so happy to be hearing from you."
Sakura kneels to the vase that Naruto is sealed in. She looks at the Elder Demon with pleading eyes. "I also was able to pick up that I can break Naruto out of the seal. I need to know what he tried to tell me."
Kurama points to the vase. "Naruto is sealed inside of that vase. Heaven has a law that forbids humans and demons to intermingle. But, Heaven is actually bending that law for this case. They're giving you a chance to be together." He gestures a paw in a swirling motion and out of the fine smoke that formed around his paw comes a crystal ball. He holds the ball in his paw and lowers it down to Sakura. She feels that she needs to look into the ball and sees Naruto's shrine. "On the day of your eighteenth birthday, the day of your coming of age, you must deliver the vase into the shrine. Heaven with look into your heart and soul. If you truly still love Naruto, he will be set free for you." He takes the crystal ball away from her. "Along with setting Naruto free, as a reward for staying faithful, Heaven will grant you one wish of your choosing."
Sakura is thankful for the fox's explanation. "I think I understand now."
"Good. Because your time in this realm is almost up." He hands her the vase which she gladly accepts. "I wish the Heavens will reign good fortune over you, Sakura."
Sakura is nervous. She still feels as if she if meeting Naruto's parent. "Could I ask you what I could call you? A name?"
The vulpine smiles. "You may call me Kurama."
"Kurama," Sakura whispers to herself. Smoke begins to accumulate and spin in a circular pattern around her. She guesses that signals her time is up. She raises an arm up and waves goodbye to Kurama. "Goodbye, Kurama-oji-san!" Kurama nods to accept her goodbye and to approve of his name.
The smoke rises and is too thick to see through. She does not dare move to make sure that nothing happens to her and the vase. She closes her eyes to keep thws smoke out of them. She then feels the rush of air fade away. She opens her eyes to see that she is in Naruto's unfinished shrine. Naruto had gone to work, but had no time to finish it.
She sets the vase down carefully and sits next to it. It feels too surreal that her boyfriend is trapped in there. She wants nothing more than to get him out as soon as possible. To her dismay, as soon as possible is the same as one and a half years. At least she will be able to speak with him everyday. But, how will she speak to him? A question she should have asked. Can they speak to each other telepathically? Will he be transported out for an hour? Will she be teleported in for an hour? She concludes that she will find out at sunset, which is not too far in the future.
She picks the vase up to examine it. The vase has a painting of a white snake locked in battle with Buddha. Within the coils of the white snake stood a man that shows how large the snake is. The choosing of painting is rather strange and she has no idea if the painting was chosen randomly or if there is a reason for it.
She stands up and starts walking towards her home. He grips at the vase with both hands. She decides to bring it home and put it somewhere in her room. No one will suspect a demon trapped in it. She will just tell them it is a decoration.
...::::
The afternoon sun is making its trip towards the horizon. Sakura opens the front door of her home and walks through. The lights are off. No one is home. She turns on the lights and sees a note left on the dinner table. She walks to it and picks it up to read it.
To Sakura. Sorry for the short notice but your father just called saying that he locked his keys in the car. If you are reading this, I may not be home to make dinner. You'll have to make something yourself. -Mom
Sakura mentally facepalms. Dad locks his keys in the car almost every week. She crumples the note now that she has read it.
She sets the vase on the table to go and throw the note in the trash can in the kitchen and returns to pictithe vase up. She walks to her room and opens the door and enters. The room is just the way she left it, spacious. She clears a space for the vase on her desk and sets it there.
She looks out of her room window. It will be a couple hours until sunset. Perhaps she can kill some time with a shower. She grabs her clothes that she wears only at home and heads to the bathroom.
...::::
It feels like an eternity passed by once she steps out of the bathroom. Sakura feels fresh and clean. Despite the feeling of an eterity shower, she only managed to kill twenty minutes. She walks back to her room.
She sits at her desk and eyes the design of the vase once again. There is something about the painting that intrigues her more and more she looks at it. The design doesn't look Japanese in design. Perhaps Naruto will know something about it.
She doesn't feel hungry. She has too many questions and very few answers. She plays the waiting game. A game that quickly proves difficult.
She takes out a laptop out of a case and places it on the table. She opens it and turns it on. She is just too impatient to wait for answers. The screen returns to her last session, nothing important. She opens a new tab and begins a search engine. She first wants to find out what the painting is of. She knows who Buddha is so she searches for any article about a white snake.
The search engine pulls up results of albino snakes of different species. Nothing she can use. Perhaps she needs to include Buddha into the search.
The page comes up with many results. But, the top has something very interesting. She clicks a result about the 'Legend of the White Snake' on Wikipedia. Instantly what catches her eye is the kanji that is 'shirohebi tsuto'. The photo of a painting shows a Buddhist monk with a snake with a woman's head behind him.
She begins reading and learns that it is in fact a Chinese legend so her hypothesis of it not being Japanese styled was correct. She keeps reading with a thirst to know more. She must know if there is any correlation between everything that is going on and the image on the vase.
As she reads, the minutes dwindle away. Sakura is drawn into the story and how similar it is to Naruto and her own love life.
"I wonder what everyone outside is doing?" Sakura jolts in her chair at the voice. It's Naruto! Sakura wonders if he can hear her if she talks. "Huh?! Sakura-chan, is that you?! I can hear you!"
Sakura didn't even speak a word. She just thought it. She mentally asks if Naruto is okay.
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's very spacious in here. The view is amazing!"
Sakura is dumbfounded. View? What view could possibly be inside of a vase?
"It's not just a vase! It's a whole world in here! The waterfall is breathtaking! Too bad you have to get sealed in order to see it."
Sakura is jealous, but still glad that she isn't the one sealed away. She realizes that Naruto can hear her thoughts so she explains to Naruto that there is only a one hour time frame for them to speak to each other.
"Oh, it that so? Well, I'd like to know where you are right now. Are you okay?"
Sakura assures Naruto that she is unharmed and that she is at home in her room.
Naruto sighs. "That's a relief." A short silence befalls over them. "I feel that there is something in your mind. What troubles you?"
Sakura just wants to know what Naruto knows of the Legend of the White Snake.
"That old story? I just heard it not too long ago. It's no legend. It really happened. I visited the pagoda that the White Snake is sealed in in China. Could you be asking this because of the painting on the vase?"
Sakura sighs. "Yes," the first word she says to Naruto without her mind.
"Well, I don't know the details. But, the story goes a white snake demon falls in love with a human man. Heaven doesn't allow this so Heaven seals her, the White Snake, inside of a huge pagoda because it's the only thing that can keep her sealed for eternity. It is also the reason why demons and humans aren't allowed to be together."
Sakura curses Heaven. She doesn't know whether to view Heaven as good or oppressive. Perhaps both.
"Heaven is just bias towards humans. Heaven has always viewed us demons to be harbingers of evil and doom. They may be right on some demons, but the most of the demons world are just peaceful beings that want to venture out. I was just granted special permission to live in the human world away from human society."
Sakura's paradigm of the word demon is rapidly being flipped. Demons are not malicious hell-bent monsters, at least not all of them. They are living beings with emotions and hearts as well.
"Sakura-chan, do you still love me?"
Sakura's heartstrings are plucked at his question. "Yes, Naruto, I still love you. I just wish that I can free you out of this vase so I can tell you that face to face."
"At least Heaven allowed us to speak to each other for a while. And everyday no less! And... thank you Sakura-chan. I will always hold you in my heart. Even if I am locked in here forever."
"Actually, it won't be forever. I will free you, don't worry. "
Sakura looks a the clock that is to her left. The hour is drawing to a close.
"I guess that's it for today, huh?"
Sakura smiles that she was able to talk to Naruto and learn so much today.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you that I'm a centuries old demon."
"Wait. Centuries old!?"
"Hehe. Sorry no one told you about that either. I am about ten centuries old. To you humans, I should be dead. To us demons, I am still young and full of life."
Sakura is amazed at the demon's longevity. She looks at the clock again. Half a minute left.
"Awright, I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Sakura is thankful that she can talk to him everyday. The hour ends. She no longer hears Naruto's voice.
She stands up and takes a pen. She walks to the calendar that hangs on the wall. She flips the pages until she gets to March and goes down to the twenty-eighth. She writes in the small box 'One more year to free him'. She then flips to the last page to December and marks New Year's Eve with 'mark eighteenth birthday'.
Sakura is tired. She walks to her bed and slumps down into it.
So now Naruto is inside of a vase. Weird stuff. How would you feel if your lover gets sealed away in something you can hold? I'd cry. D': The next chapter will take place on Sakura's eighteenth birthday and will be the epilogue of the happy ending or it will be the end of the story completely. I may not do an unhappy ending because I initially wanted this story to end on a good note.
