Alright, this is the final chapter of this book, and its a big one, i hope you all enjoy the read, thank you for all who still read this story :) i know you are few, but i appreciate you all
Book 4 - Star Trek: Predator - Sad Day for Konoha's - Chapter 14, Joining the Federation (Final chapter)
Sasuke was standing in the middle of the Sand Village, the Freedom's Security teams had rounded up the remaining Kots
Baki: I can't thank you enough for your support Sasuke
Sasuke: It's not a problem
Baki: Our Kazekage is on a visit to Konoha, without your help or his powers we would of fell to these things
Sasuke: We won't let Konoha fall, all of Konoha must unite under 1 banner
Baki: I can't help but agree
Starfleet officers began to beam down, among them was Tenten, Kakashi and Kiba
Tenten: Sasuke !! You're alright!!
Sasuke: Hey guys!
Kiba: The enemy fleet began to flee the battle so we are now securing the planet
Kakashi: We won!
Sasuke: Great!
Tenten hugged Sasuke with emotion
Tenten: When we saw the Freedom crash I was so worried
Sasuke: It's alright, the Freedom landed safely, it will be back in space soon enough, once it's been repaired, has anyone heard from Naruto?
Kakashi: Yeah....he's in Voyagers sickbay, as is Hinata
Sasuke: What?
Without waiting for an explanation he tapped his comm badge
Sasuke: Sasuke to Voyager
Harry: Voyager here
Sasuke: Requesting to beam up
Harry: Request granted
Sasuke was beamed up, just as Kira was walking towards the group
Kira: Where is he going?
Kakashi: To check up on Naruto, we don't know the details but we been told he is alright
Kiba: Yeah, he is to stubborn to die
Meanwhile in the Voyagers Sickbay, Sakura was holding Naruto's hand while the doctor was finishing up
The Doctor: There that's all of them
Sakura: Are you sure?
The Doctor: Yes positive, he is out of danger and should be his old self now
Her smile made him happy, like just about everyone else, even he saw the emotion that Sakura had for Naruto, even if she denied it most of the time, the doors to sickbay opened and Sasuke ran in
Sasuke: Is he alright?
Sakura: Sasuke?!
She got up and gave him a friendly hug and they walked to Naruto's bed
The Doctor: I was wondering when you would show up, yes he is fine now
Sasuke: What happened
The Doctor: I believed that when he was captured by the Kots during your first mission as cadets, they did more than just experiment on him, they injected trillions upon trillions of nano bots into his blood, they masked themselves as red blood cells so when i examined him I didn't see anything wrong
Sasuke: What did they do?
Sakura: It appears that once activated they took over his body, Naruto was no longer in control...... He attacked Hinata Itachi and Jiraiya sama....But when he was told to kill me
She looked at the ground and felt embarrassed
Sakura: He just stopped....
Sasuke smiled at the remark
Sasuke: So he is alright?
The Doctor: Yes, I have removed all of the nano bots from his system, he should be his old self now, I'll wake him
He went to Naruto's side and pressed the hypo on his neck, Naruto's eyes slowly began to open
Naruto: What happened..I don't remember much
The Doctor: It's alright you have been threw allot just relax
Sasuke: We won Naruto, but you're the only idiot who ended up in sickbay
Naruto tried to get mad at the statement but the feeling of joy filled him knowing Konoha was out of danger, all of a sudden flashbacks started to enter his mind from the battle with Hinata Itachi and Jiraiya...and then Sakura
Naruto: Sakura where is she!!
Sakura: I'm right here, I'm alright
Naruto: I'm starting to remember what happened....I could see what was going on but couldn't control my actions.... I tried to stop fighting but I couldn't no matter how hard I tried..Then I remember my body trying to harm you.....I had to somehow use everything I had to stop my body but then it all went blank
Sakura was trying to hide her embarrassment
Sakura: You stopped within inches of my head
The Doctor: Alright everybody out, let him rest
Sasuke and Sakura were both walking out of sickbay, Sakura stopped for a second
Sakura: Naruto......
Naruto: Yes?
Sakura: ......No never mind.
And she kept walking as the doors closed behind her
Sasuke: I see you are finally giving into your emotions?
Sakura: What emotions?
Sasuke: Give it up Sakura we all know by now
Sakura was speechless
Sasuke: ....Let's get something to eat; we can come see him latter
A few days had passed , all of the Konoha officers were given permission to stay on the planet for as long as they needed, in the capital city of the Planet, a celebration was taking place, all 5 KAGES were present for the occasion and it was being broadcasted all over Konoha
Naruto and the gang were in there dress uniforms, Chakotay was with them, he had been given the task that he was about to take
Naruto: I can't believe this day has finally come
Sakura: Calm down your going to wrinkle your uniform
Naruto: Our world now knows the real truth and is about to join the federation, and you think I'm worried about a few wrinkles?
She smiled at him, the Hokage was about to make his speech, she grabbed Naruto's hand
Sakura: Come on we can't miss this
They arrive just as the Hokage was getting up for the speech, all the other KAGES were standing behind him
Hokage: My dear fellow Konohans, by now you all know the truth about our past and that we are not alone in the universe, we come from a far away planet called Earth, and out of fear our ancestors chose to hide the truth from its children, but we can no longer allow this fear to control us, only a few days ago, Konoha was under a planet wide invasion, had it not been for the Federation and its allies, we would have no doubt fallen to the hands of the invaders, we owe them our freedom
Everyone cheered and clapped their hands
Hokage: 6 years ago , we first encountered the Federation, and sent a few of our young into space, these young ninjas grew up to become fine Federation Officers, our fear was that if we allowed our people to explore, they would lose the ninja way, they have proven not only was that wrong, they came back more powerful than ever
Again the people cheered
Hokage: Today I don't talk to you as leader of the Leaf village or Fire Country, but as head of the new Unified Council of the Planet, all 5 of the KAGES have decided to unify under 1 banner, a banner that represents not only our countries, but all of Konoha, we are no longer alone, we stand united and we have friends, Captain Chakotay please come
The people cheers were raging on, Chakotay got up from his seat and joined the Hokage
Hokage: It is with pride that we the council of Konoha wish to join the United Federation of Planets
Chakotay: As the person who made first contact with your people 6 years ago, I am honored to welcome you into the great Family that is, The Federation
The People cheered and screamed, the Hokage couldn't help but smile
Hokage: I would like to allow someone to speak now, he is one of the 12 we sent into space, he is a lieutenant, and Future Hokage, LT Uzumaki Naruto
The crowd cheered, Naruto was surprised, he wasn't expecting on having to talk let alone to the entire planet of Konoha, he stepped up to the Podium, not sure of what to say or talk about
Naruto: It is an honor to be here on this day, I cant say I haven't dreamed about it for a long time, Konoha is my home and I'm proud to be a Ninja, I'm proud of my heritage and I will be dammed if I lose it, I have a message to anyone who wishes to go out there and explore, it's not all good, I know firsthand the dangers that are out there, and I suffered a lot from it, but the risks are well worth it, I wouldn't trade this for anything, and one day, when I am asked to come home, I will proudly bear the title of Hokage
The crowed let out cheers of joy
Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm in excitement
Sakura: I though you didn't know what to say!
Naruto: I don't know, it just came to me....
Hokage: We cannot forget the men and women who sacrificed their lives in order to make this day come true, the many Ninjas who died at the hands of the Invaders, they died for freedom , for OUR freedom, I declare today to be known as the day Konoha takes its rightful place among the stars !! Today will forever be known as our Liberation day!! May the celebrations begin!!
Fire works fired into the sky and parties erupted planet wide, today was a day of celebration, all the way through the night
Chakotay and the Hokage were talking about the future during the party
Chakotay: I think it would be a good idea to have a school on Konoha, a place to make sure your people are ready for Starfleet Academy
Hokage: Indeed, but we won't allow any technology we don't need, we still want to remain the same
Chakotay: We understand, also we will want to build an outpost in orbit as well as defense platforms and planetary shielding, none of this will interfere with your daily lives, we just want to make sure Konoha is protected
Hokage: I think we can agree to that, but as you said, as long as it doesn't interfere with our lifestyle
Both men agreed and shook hands meanwhile in a more festive part of the village Naruto and the gang were having fun at the party Naruto was talking to an old friend, Shino, when Gai and Lee approached him
Gai: Hey Naruto
Naruto: Hey Gai, hey Lee
Gai: Me and Lee have been thinking
Lee: Yes, we think we are going to resign from Starfleet
Naruto: What? Why? Is it because your still ensigns?
Gai: No, no, we never put importance in rank, we been quite happy on the USS Nova
Naruto: Then why?
Lee: We feel that we must stay on Konoha, this is a bright new future for our people and we wish to be here with them
Naruto: I think I understand.....But why tell me about it
Gai: We felt like we had to tell you first, in a way the entire planet owes everything to you, had you not jumped on Chakotay that day
Naruto was feeling kind of embarrassed, he had never looked at it that way, he did think, indeed what would have happened had he not accidentally been beamed over to Voyager on that day
Naruto: Starfleet is going to miss you guys
Sakura: Naruto!! There you are, I have been looking all over for you
Lee: Sakura!! My spring time Flower !
Sakura just looked at Lee, ever since they were kids he had this crush on her, and he did very little to hide it, but she really had no feelings what so ever on him
Sakura: ....Uh yea
She slowly grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him away
Lee: What did I do wrong
Gai: Don't feel bad Lee, losing to Naruto is nothing to be ashamed of
Lee: Naruto?
Gai: Don't you know yet? Sakura has a crush on Naruto, Kakashi heard it from Ino who heard it from Kiba who heard it from Sasuke
Lee fell to the ground crying
Gai: There there Lee, we are young and full of spring time youth !! We will find someone special
Back with Naruto and Sakura
Naruto: What was that about?
Sakura: Don't get any ideas...I had to get away from him...
Even as she said those words she knew she was lying to herself
Naruto: I wasn't thinking anything I swear…
fireworks flew into the sky, Naruto grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her to come with him
Sakura: Where are we going?
Naruto: Just come on fallow me, trust me, it's worth it
She fallowed him holding onto his arm, they kept on running until they reached the Lake, an area was hidden from the rest of the area, there was no one around, they could see the fireworks perfectly from that spot and to make it even better, it reflected perfectly into the water
Naruto: This place is special to me, when I was a kid I use to come here and think about stuff or just to get away from Sasuke who was always being a jerk to me
Sakura: You know....He actually always looked out for you, even back when we were kids he kept on referring to you as a brother
Naruto: I know, and I guess that's what brothers do, fight, but this was my special place, its hidden from the rest of the lake but you can still see everything
The fireworks just kept on going, Sakura felt happy, she felt safe, she felt safe with Naruto, she hugged him
Sakura: Thanks Naruto....
Naruto: It's alright, I trust you, it can be our special place now
Sakura: That's not what I meant....although I am happy that you showed me this spot, what I meant is, thank you for always protecting me......Even when I'm always such a pain to you
It was Naruto's turned to look embarrassed
Naruto: It's no problem, I wouldn't let any harm come to you
She smiled at him, she pulled down on him forcing him to sit down with her, they laid down looking at the sky, the fireworks didn't seem to want to stop, and they watched it together, she didn't let go of his arm during the entire night
End Chapter 14, End book 4
Konoha is now part of the Federation and the war has taken a new turn, have we seen the last of the Kots ? Find out in the next exciting Episode
Book 5 StarTrek Predator: Archangel