Hey there everybody, thesaiyanjedi's back once again for the latest chapter of "Shinachiku's First Adventure!"
I hope all of you are doing well, and in case any of you missed it, I encourage you to please check out the five-part fic I did for NaruSaku Day, "Heaven and Earth Together At Last." It was a bit rushed since I wanted to make sure the whole thing was finished on time for the big day, but I think it came out pretty well. I hope all of you enjoyed it, and in case you haven't read it, please do me a big favor and go check it out. Thank you!
Sorry if this chapter is a bit late, but I needed rest up a bit after rushing "Heaven and Earth" out in only three days. But that's okay because I'm back now, and I sure hope that all of you are still interested after the cliffhanger we had last time.
Well, with all of that said, lets get to reading!
Chapter 21: Reunited
The beam of red energy was still going. Its power incredible. The thunderous sound it gave off otherworldly. And yet for most of the people on the island where the ruins of Uzushiogakure lay, none of that was where their concern was. What was of concern to them were the fates of the poor children who were sent down below the sea to recover the thing that was undoubtedly causing this to happen.
For Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Karin, it was like staring at death itself. It was like some divine power had revealed itself to the four of them and told them, in the most spectacular and catastrophic way imaginable, that their children were now dead.
Sakura and Karin, for all of their strength and willpower both as kunoichi and as fully grown women, could not help but fall to their knees and stare at the crimson display of power, tears flowing uncontrollably from their eyes.
"Shinachiku..." Sakura said weakly.
"Sarada..." Karin likewise said.
Their husband's weren't fairing much better. Neither Naruto or Sasuke were crying, but they were both completely terrified. Naruto because he feared his son was dead, and Sasuke not only for the loss of his daughter, but because he was the miserable fool who sent both children down there in the first place.
Shikamaru, Sai, Chōji, Lee, Tenten, Shino, Kiba, all of them had their heads hung low, even Suigetsu and Jūgo did as well. Hinata and Ino were both sobbing just like the two mothers were, their were each the boy's "aunts" after all. Randamu, for once in his life, actually had enough restraint not to make a terrible joke...but that was also partially because he was somewhat distracted by the red energy beam.
The three summons—the frog, the snake and the slug—were at a loss at what to say, but all three of them did share their painful regret for their master's loss...
...That is, until Aoda noticed something in the distance.
"Lord Sasuke! Look!"
The Uchiha looked up in despair at what the giant serpent was calling attention to. What he saw stunned him.
"Hey Naruto! Look up!" Gamakichi demands in turn.
"Lady Sakura! Please look!" Katsuyu pleaded.
Both parent's followed their summons instructions and saw the same thing that Sasuke had. Naruto was stunned while Sakura started crying tears of joy.
Emerging out off the ocean with the beam of red light, seemingly floating in the air, were two familiar forms. The forms resembled two children and, despite being so far away from shore, the adults could make out that one of the figures had blonde hair and was clad in a familiar orange jacket and black shorts, while the other had dark black hair and was clad in a black vest and white shorts.
"SHINACHIKU!" Naruto and Sakura shouted out in joy.
"SARADA!" Sasuke and Karin likewise shouted.
The children, seeming to be trapped in some sort of trance as red power burst from their mouths and their hands clasped together as if they were holding something precious, were both alive!
However, no sooner had the parents realized this than the energy beam finally dissipated along with the power emerging from their mouths. The children seemingly passed out in exhaustion and fell to the waters below, their hands finally separating as Shinachiku's still remained grasping their prize.
Acting on instinct, both Naruto and Sasuke made a mad dash to the sea and with their above average ninja speed were able to catch each of their children before they hit the ocean surface.
Naruto looked at his son, asleep in his arms, and felt the happiest he had been in days.
"Shina?" Naruto asked, shaking him only softly. "Son? Its me, dad."
"Sarada?" Sasuke asked only a few feet away from them, lightly shaking his own daughter asleep in his arms. "Sweetie? Can you hear me?"
Neither of the children were able to give any response, but they each had a pulse, so there was no need to fear the worse...there had been far too much fear and heartbreak as it is.
Naruto and Sasuke shared a look. It was a look that conveyed several different emotions all at once—relief, happiness, regret, apology, forgiveness, and understanding—and all without saying a single word to one another.
With merely a nod to each other they both dashed at full speed back to the island. As soon as they got there they went straight to their wives. Sakura practically yanked the unconscious boy out of her husband's arms and squeezed him against her chest like she'd never let him go, her tears of joy never stopping. Karin was no different. For the moment they were both so relieved to have their children alive and in their arms that nothing else mattered.
Naruto smiled at seeing mother and son reunited, but then he noticed Shinachiku's hand was still grasping something. And there was a very faint red glow that emitted from in between the boy's fingers.
'Is that...?' Naruto asked in awe before brushing it off to focus on what was more important.
"Naruto?" The blonde-haired man turned his head to see his wife speaking to him, their son still in her arms. "Is he...?"
Naruto gave her a comforting smile. "It's okay Sakura. They're both just exhausted. Just let them rest for a while."
Sakura nodded her hear in understanding, checking Shinachiku's pulse just to be sure. She offered to check Sarada's too, but Karin signaled that she could do it herself.
After a quick scan of her son's body to check for any injuries, she laid the slumbering boy down on the grass to let him sleep, his head resting in her lap. Karin followed suit and sat down next to Sakura with Sarada's head in her lap.
Naruto walked over to his wife and placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, burying her head in his chest. Naruto just welcomed the hug sincerely, whispering soothing sounds into her ear.
Karin was looking at her little girl as she felt a presence approach her. She turned to see Sasuke standing there, not saying anything, but instead communicating through only his eyes. His message was simple but profound, "I'm sorry." Karin, after making her feelings clear with a smack to the back of his head, nevertheless hugged her husband anyway, letting out all of her relief that they still had their daughter alive and well with them.
The rest of the group there were all happy and relieved that both families were together again, but leave it to Randamu to ruin the moment.
"Aww! Isn't that cute?! And where am I without my camera?" Randamu asked in mock sympathy.
Everyone gave him an annoyed stair, including the parents. "Sorry."
But Naruto, despite his joy of being reunited with his son, nevertheless found his mind wandering to a matter just as important, once that he and Sakura were going to have to find the answer to, and soon!
'Hanami...sweetie...where are you?'
"I'm telling you that this is a bad idea!" Ōkami protested.
Shikadai had heard enough of this for one day. "If you've got a better one, I'm sure we'd all like to hear it! If not, then please stop complaining!"
Ōkami merely folded his arms in a huff, while his twin sister tried putting her hand on his shoulder in comfort.
"This isn't about our convenience Ōkami, this is about Hanami's," Bagu added.
"By the way, how are you feeling anyway?" Shikadai asked the pink-haired girl.
"A lot better now thanks to Lady Tsunade," she said, "but what about the grown ups?"
"They bought us all some time for us to get out of here, and right now we've got to get to a safe place until we can find some sort of plan."
"Shikadai is correct," Burandon agreed. "While the adult's act of self-sacrifice is most unfortunate, it is nevertheless within our best interests to find Hanami a new place of refuge until a new plan can be enacted."
"Yeah," Chōchō began, "but is it really wise for us to just sneak her out of the village on our own. We'll all be branded as deserters just like her parents."
"It can't be helped," Shikadai stated. "So long as Hanami is here, her life is in grave danger, all of our lives are. Uragi and the Anbu know the village too well and we cannot risk any more chances of being discovered again. Our best chance is to take refuge in another village."
The kids all looked at each other with skepticism before turning back to the Nara.
"But where would we go?" asked Tsuki.
"I suggest...Sunagakure."
All of them were quite surprised to hear that.
"Umm...Shikadai," Chōchō questioned. "Isn't that a bit, err...far for us to travel?"
"Yeah," Ōkami added, "the trek there would be tough enough, but we'd have to run all the way through the desert, and there's not even any guarantee that we'd be welcomed there."
"I think its safe to assume we would, " Inojin countered. "After all, the Kazekage is Shikadai's uncle and he and Hanami's father just so happen to be close friends."
"Exactly," Shikadai stated. "My Uncle's Gaara and Kankurō may be a bit lame at times, but they'd be more than willing to let us take shelter there for the time being."
Bagu shook his head in thought, "Gaara's not going to be happy when he hears about what happened to Hanami."
A sense of fear rose up Shikadai's spine, "No...no he's not."
Hanami could only stand there and listen to her friends as she took all of this in. She and her brother had met the Kazekage before and she knew that he was a good man and was friends with her dad. He'd even been a guest in their house several times. But there was always something...creepy about the Kazekage that she could never quite get passed, even though he never treated her with anything but kindness.
"Well then, I guess we should all get going to the village gate then," Tsuki surmised.
"Why risk going that way when you can hitch a ride?"
All of the children reacted in alarm. That voice did not come from any of them, but from a shadowy section of the area they were hiding in. All of them instantly got into their fighting stances, even Hanami, as the mysterious figure stepped out of the shadows...
...And then Shikadai and Hanami both relaxed upon realizing who it was.
"Sunako?"
"Hello Shikadai," the person said.
She was a very young girl, just barely younger than Shikadai was, with long but somewhat unkempt and dirty auburn hair, fair skin, pale blue-green eyes surrounded by think black rings. She was garbed in a light sandy brown T-shirt with a long sleeved red shirt underneath, black pants, black sandals, and strapped to her hip was a small gourd filled with sand. Her face had a very serious expression, almost cold, but that was just her usual persona coming through, she was s good person at the end of the day.
The strange girl approached them, startling the rest of the kids except for the two that recognized her. Shikadai stepped up to her and looked liked he was going to give her a hug, but neither of them looked comfortable with it so they settled for a handshake instead.
"Shikadai, who is this girl?" Chōchō asked in confusion.
"Guys, this is Sunako, she's my cousin."
"T-This chick is the Kazekage's daughter?!" Ōkami asked in shock.
"Indeed. What of it?" the girl asked.
"My onii-chan is just surprised is all," Tsuki responded. "We heard no announcement that Lord Kazekage and his daughter were paying the village a visit."
"You all misunderstand," Sunako clarified, "my father sent me here alone."
All of the kids were confused, except for Hanami, who was so pleased to see one of her friends that she ran up and embraced her in hug...a hug that the Sand heiress was clearly not totally comfortable with, but accepted anyway.
"Sunako! Its been a long time!" Hanami said.
"It has little one," Sunako said. "about two years since last I visited your family's house."
Hanami was all smiles. Her dad may have been a bit creepy, but Sunako, even if she was a bit cold, was one of Hanami's friends since she was little.
"Sunako," Shikadai interrupted, "what do you mean that Uncle Gaara sent you here by yourself?"
Sunako broke the hug and faced her cousin and the others. "My father has been called to a Kage Summit meeting by Councilman Uragi—"
"Technically, he's Interim-Hokage now," Inojin corrected.
Sunako stared at the Yamanaka coldly, "Not to my father he isn't."
"Nor to any of us," Bagu added. "Please go on."
"As the Kazekage, my father is required to be in attendance along with Lords Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Mizukage. Uragi claims that the meeting concerns some top secret proposal he want to make, and that it involves securing a weapon that could jeopardize the safety of the Hidden Villages if it were allowed to fall into the wrong hands."
Shikadai's brain quickly put the pieces together, thinking back to Shinachiku's mission before this whole mess started. "The Chakra Gem."
"Exactly," Sunako confirmed. "My father believed that the gem should be kept a secret until it can be properly decided who can be trusted with it, so he leant it to me for safe keeping."
The entire group fell silent at what the Sand kunoichi had just said.
"What?" she asked.
"Umm..." Chōchō began, "What do you mean your dad gave you the gem?"
"Just as I said, he entrusted it to me so that it would stay safe, at least until I completed my mission here."
"Yeah...that doesn't make any sense," Ōkami rudely remarked.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Sunako," Hanami said getting her attention, "my big brother went with my Uncle Sasuke to find the Chakra Gem. How could your dad have given it to you?"
Sunako was actually surprised, but she did not overreact. The other kids were all waiting patiently for answers.
"You say Shinachiku traveled with Sasuke Uchiha to find the Chakra Gem?" she asked.
"Yes," Tsuki said. "They left the village days ago, before his and Hanami's parents were forced to flee the village and Uragi took over."
Suddenly, a realization came across both the Kazekage's daughter and her cousin.
"They're looking for a different Chakra Gem!" they both said as one.
All of the children were clearly very confused, until Shikadai started explaining.
"When my dad told me about this mission Shinachiku was going on, he said that were seven Chakra Gems out there, and they were only looking for one of them."
"That is correct," Sunako confirmed. "I know nothing of this Chakra Gem Lord Hokage's son is searching for..." she pulled something from her pocket that she held tightly in her hand. "...But this gem has been in my village's possession for decades now."
She opened her hand to reveal a small green gem, one that omitted a bright green light and gave off a power unlike any the children have seen before.
No sooner had the children got a glimpse of the powerful artifact than Sunako covered it back up in her hand, hoping that it's light did not attract unwanted attention.
"Whoa..." was all Ōkami could say in reaction.
"Its beautiful," Tsuki said.
"Never before have I encountered a power quite like it," Burandon noted.
"Ditto," was all Bagu could add.
"Such power could indeed be problematic if aloud to fall into the wrong hands," Inojin said.
Hanami didn't say anything, she was too entranced with glimpse she got of the glowing gem. 'So that's what onii-chan left to go find with Uncle Sasuke...?'
"Sunako," Shikadai, interrupted, "you said that Uncle Gaara sent you on a mission with that Chakra Gem? What kind of mission exactly?"
Sunako walked over to Hanami, kneeled down to her eye level and put her hands on her shoulders. "I was sent here to collect Lord Hokage's children. My father does not believe any of the rumors about Naruto or Sakura's criminal actions, but with both of them on the run as wanted criminals he feared that their children may be in grave danger."
"He's got that right..." Ōkami muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"The day Naruto and Sakura were forced to leave," Inojin began explaining, "some Anbu Black Ops attempted to capture Hanami and they injected her with some sort of serum that have nullified her ability to access her chakra network."
Sunako did not say anything, but her eyes did widen in shock upon hearing this. She looked to the girl to see if it was true, to which she nodded her head sadly.
"They tried to take her," Bagu continued the explanation, "but before her chakra dissipated completely she used the last of it she had to create a shadow clone for the Anbu to take as a hostage instead."
Sunako turned back to the girl, "That was quite clever of you Hanami." The girl only nodded back.
"We found her inside a panic room hidden beneath her house," Tsuki added. "She was in beaten and battered shape since she couldn't use any chakra to heal herself. We were able to get her to Lady Tsunade's for healing thanks to help for Kakashi-sensei, Captain Yamato and Konohamaru-sensei."
"I see," Sunako said taking this all in. "Where are Lady Tsunade and the others now?"
All of the children got very guilty looks on their faces before Shikadai spoke up again for them.
"Anbu tracked down our hiding spot. They placed all of the grown ups under arrest...including our parents...all just so we could make our escape with Hanami."
Sunako felt sorry for the children's plight, but she showed limited expression on her face.
"I am sorry for your loss," she said to all of them, "but now that I have rendezvous with you all, perhaps I could invite you all with me as I take Hanami back to Suna."
"Wait, WHAT?!" Ōkami asked in shock.
"Were you not listening to what I explained earlier? My father gave me an assignment today to bring the Uzumaki children back so they may stay save. But if what you tell about Shinachiku's whereabouts is true, then it is for the best that I settle for just taking Hanami by herself. Unless the seven of you would like to come with her?"
The children all looked at each other, thinking long and hard about their decision. Clearly some of them wanted to stay and try to break their parents out of jail...but that would only risk putting Hanami in even more danger, and that would destroy everything that the adults sacrificed themselves to protect.
"So, do we have an agreement?" Sunako asked everyone.
"You know what I think?" Burandon said, "I believe that the next course of action ought to be Hanami's decision."
Sunako looked to Hanami, awaiting her answer. After a few seconds of thinking, the little girl sighed and gave her answer. "I'll go with you."
The other kids smiled and nodded to each other.
"I guess this means that we're all coming too," Chōchō said.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Ōkami shouted.
"What is it?" Sunako asked with a tinge of annoyance.
"Didn't you say that your dad gave you this mission today?"
"Yes," Sunako answered, not really getting the Inuzuka-Hyūga boy's point.
"Well, if that's true...then how the hell did you travel all the way from Suna to Konoha in less than a day?!"
All of the children, including Shikadai, widened their eyes at Ōkami's keen observation, and they all looked to the girl for an explanation.
"Actually," the girl responded, "it only took me less than a second to arrive here."
Everyone's mouths dropped open in shock at the Suna girl's statement.
"But that's impossible!" Tsuki declared.
"No it is not," Sunako countered, "not with this."
She held out her closed fist once again, and in that instant all the children understood...though they were still at a loss for words.
"That Chakra Gem," Shikadai questioned, "it...it has to power to teleport people?"
"Indeed," she confirmed. "Whoever possesses this gem has to power to teleport themselves or whomever else they wish wherever they want in the world instantaneously."
"So its like my daddy's Flying Thunder God jutsu?" Hanami asked.
"No. The Fourth Hokage's technique is incredibly powerful, but it can only teleport the user to wherever there is a marker set up by the user, but this chakra gem has no such limitation. It can take you literally wherever you want in the blink of an eye."
"Whoa..." all of the kids said in unison.
"So," Sunako interjected, "now that all of that has been cleared up, shall we go now?" Everyone nodded their heads in confirmation. "Very good. Everyone stand close to me."
They all did so and waited for...something.
"Umm..." Tsuki asked, "how exactly is this going to work?"
Sunako smiled only barely, "Just...don't move."
With that, the girl opened her hand and an intense green light emitted from the Chakra Gem. As soon as the green light appeared it was gone...and so were all of the children.
In another flash of green light, the children all reappeared once again, in a place none of them have ever seen before.
As they all got their bearings, they determined that they were in the middle of some sort of office, similar looking to the Hokage's office but with a lot less color.
Shikadai could tell immediately where they were, but he was the only one. The boy turned his head and, sure enough, there was a familiar auburn-haired man sitting at a desk.
"Uncle?"
"Hello nephew," Gaara said. "And hello Hanami, and the rest of you children. Welcome to Sunagakure."
Shinachiku woke up with a groggy sense of deja vu.
'What happened? The last thing I remember was that red light...'
The boy's eyes readjusted to the glare of the sun and he noticed his head was resting on something soft...something familiar. He also felt something running through his hair in a calming, caressing manner. But as his eye's finally came into focus, he saw a familiar face above him, a face he missed so much and had longed to see again for a while now.
"Mom?"
The woman above him immediately looked down to face him, her hand stopped running through his golden locks.
"S-Shinachiku?" Sakura asked, really more of a statement than a question.
The boy could only come up with one response that made sense. He smiled.
That was all it took. Tears of joy dripping down the mother's face onto her son's own face, Sakura pulled him into a bone-crushing hug from which she refused to release him.
Shinachiku couldn't help himself either, he wrapped his arms around his mother and returned the hug.
'This isn't a dream...She's really here. But how...? I thought she and dad were...wait...DAD!'
Thee boy snapped his head to see his father was there, having a conversation with his friends.
'Wait? How can dad's friends by here? Sai? Shikamaru? Aunt Ino? Aunt Hinata? What the hell is going on?'
"Shinachiku?" Sakura asked in worry.
The boy turned back to his mother, "Mom? How?"
"We came here looking for you? Your father and I thought you were in danger."
In that instant he heard another groaning voice next to him. Sarada was waking up as well. Karin noticed this and had the exact same reaction that Sakura did, hugging the girl against her chest like she'd never let her go again.
It was about that time that he sensed somebody else coming their way. He turned and saw his father sitting down next to Sakura with a huge, very happy smile on his face. He wrapped his arms around his son and his wife for a much needed group hug.
All of Naruto and Sakura's friends looked at the scene with happiness, Ino and Hinata even fought back tears at how beautiful it looked. Finally, after so much loss, pain and strife, the family was back together again...
...Almost.
Shinachiku pulled away from his parents in fear, worrying both of them.
"What wrong sweetie?" asked Sakura.
"Mom...Dad...where's Hanami?"
The parent's faces faulted, as if the breath of life and happiness that had just overcome all of them was already disappearing. Sakura put a hand up to her mouth, fighting to keep back any more tears as she feared the worst.
Shinachiku was no better. 'I...no... No it can't be! I swore I'd protect her! I promised I'd come back to her! And I couldn't save her!'
Naruto, however, was quick to overcome his despair and put his bandaged, artificial hand on his son's shoulder.
"I'm sorry Shina, but your sister's not here...But mark my words that you, your mother and I and all of our friends, we're going to get back to the village, save our home, stop this Taka nonsense, and get Hanami back. That's a promise of a lifetime!"
Sakura and Shinachiku both listened to Naruto comfort and reassure them, in a way that only he could. As usual, it gave them the confidence and the motivation to dry their eyes and regain determination all over again.
'How does he do it?' Sakura wondered. 'How does he always know exactly what to say and how to motivate people to believe in themselves and do the right thing? Its just one of the reasons why I love him.'
'Dad...' Shinachiku thought, '...you really are the coolest dad ever, y'know!'
"Shinachiku?"
The boy looked over to see the all of his parent's friends, including his two surrogate aunts, smiling at him, happy to see the boy alive and well.
"Hey you guys! Hey Aunt Ino! Aunt Hinata! Shino-sensei! What're you all doing here?"
"We all came looking for your parents after...certain incidents happened back home," Shikamaru answered carefully.
"I figured I had to help make sure that one of my favorite students stayed safe," Shino said, in an unusually pleasant tone.
"Yes, but now that you are safe we are most grateful and relieved Shinachiku!" Lee said in his usual enthusiasm, causing Tenten to smile and shake her head to herself.
"It is...good to see you and Sarada are still alive," Sai complimented.
"You kids had us all pretty scarred," Ino said. "Thank God you're both safe."
"Yes, thank goodness," Hinata agreed, with Kiba placing his hand on her shoulder and smiling at the boy as well.
"Good to have you back kiddo!" Kiba proclaimed.
"Yeah, nice job kid," Chōji agreed.
Akamaru even walked over to the boy and nuzzled his snout against him in a friendly manner. The boy petted the old dog before the aging animal returned to his master.
"Shinachiku?"
The boy turned to the source of the voice, Sarada, still in her mother's embrace.
"I'm really sorry about your sister."
"Arigato Sarada...But don't worry, now that our mission here is finished we're going to go back to the village to get her back!" The boy said all of this with determination and spirit that mirrored his father's during his youth; Sakura smiled at this.
"I'd like to help with that if I can," Sarada asked, before getting a devilish smirk on her face. "And after that you can treat me to that present you owe me."
Shinachiku blushed bright red in embarrassment, and his mother noticed it.
"Shina, what is Sarada talking about?"
"Umm...nothing! It's nothing mom! Really!"
Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Shinachiku Uzumaki! You know how I feel about you keeping secrets from me!"
"Aunt Sakura," Sarada answered for the boy, "Shinachiku and I made a deal that if we got out of that underground cave alive, then he would treat me to a private singing concert, just between the two of us."
Sakura was surprised by this, before putting on a really cocky expression and turning back to her son. "Oh you did, did you?"
Poor Shinachiku was feeling really, really embarrassed now.
"Sarada," Karin interrupted, "how did you get Shina to agree to such a thing?"
Sarada stole a quick glance at Shinachiku out off the corner of her eye, noticing him making a 'shut up!' gesture with his hands that, thankfully, Sakura didn't notice.
"Oh, well, I got a bit scarred down there and Shinachiku wanted to cheer me up," Sarada lied. "So he offered to sing to me to help lift my spirits."
"Oh. Well that was sweet of you," Karin said to the boy.
"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "Just don't let your sister find out about this young man, or else she's bound to get jealous."
"T-Thanks mom," Shinachiku said scratching the back of his head.
As Sakura and Karin smiled at each other over how cutely they felt their kids were getting along, Sarada shot the boy a look. It was a smug-yet-stern look that telegraphed a very clear message: "If you try to weasel your way out of our deal, I will tell your mom about those dirty magazines under your bed!"
What could the boy do...she'd totally blackmailed him...not-so-fair and square.
"Well isn't this a beautiful sight?!"
Everyone turned to be greeted by a certain red-and-black clad, masked ninja missing-nin with a big mouth.
"All of these old friends back together, the kids safe and sound, the boy about to serenade to his girl...Smooth move by the way young lady...And everyone's favorite missing-nin with a mouth gets to be here to see it!"
"Umm...who are you again?" Chōji asked in confusion.
Sasuke decided to answer for him, 'His name's Randamu; he's a missing-nin with no past and with an incredible healing ability that may put even Naruto's to shame...Also he's kind of insane and likes to talk nonsense, never shuts up, and claims he has the power to 'break the Fourth Wall,' whatever that means."
"Hey!" Randamu shouted, "I told you before Sasuke, I'm not insane! I just act insane to keep myself from going insane! ...But thanks again for the complement!"
Nobody from the Konoha 12 had any idea what to say, nor did Shinachiku and Sarada, both standing up on their own now and both kind of worried how Shinachiku's parents were going to react to their new 'friend.'
"Umm...okay then," was the only reaction Shikamaru could make, though he did whisper into Chōji's ear, "What a weirdo!"
Even Lee was creeped out by this guy, 'This man's youthfulness may be too much even for the likes of me!'
"But seriously," Randamu interrupted, "I'm sure Sasuke must have told all of you about me before now, right ladies?"
Ino narrowed her eyes in annoyance, "Nope. Not a thing."
Randamu then, in seemingly the blink of an eye and with absolutely no warning whatsoever, snuck up next to Naruto, alarming the blonde male as the masked man shook his hand with way too much enthusiasm.
"So, Mr. Naruto Uzumaki, wait, can I call you Naruto? Oh whatever! Anyway, I don't know if you caught it before but I'm one of your biggest fans!" Randamu suddenly pulled back out his limited hardcover collector's edition of The Tale of Naruto along with a ball-point pen, once again pulling them out of absolutely nowhere. "Would you mind autographing your book for me. Pleeeeeeaaaassssseeeee?!"
Naruto was totally taken aback by this sudden fanboy attention he was getting from this total stranger. Even after dealing with fans for decades now, some of whom were willing to do some pretty extreme things, something about this guy just came off...weird. He stole a glance at Sasuke as if to ask if this guy was for real, and Sasuke's only response was to shrug his shoulders.
"Ah...Of course!" Naruto decided to agree. "Always a pleasure to do anything for my fans." He said that somewhat through gritted teeth.
As Naruto signed his name and a message on the inside of the book, Randamu was really close to his personal space, acting all giddy and fangirly while doing so.
'Where the hell did Sasuke dig up this nutjob?!' Naruto thought to himself as he handed the book back to Randamu.
The masked man read the autograph out loud. "Dear Randamu, hang in there and keeping smiling. Believe it! Your friend, Naruto Uzumaki." He closed the book and went into fanboy mode again, squealing like a preteen girl. "Ohhh! Thank you so much! You're so awesome! Oh wait!"
He reached behind himself and pulled something out a non-existent pouch attached to his hip. It looked like a doll, a plush doll, home made, apparently in Naruto's own image. It had blue button eyes, yellow cloth hair, a makeshift Leaf Village headband, and makeshift doll clothes resembling Naruto's signature orange jumpsuit.
"I made this Naruto doll for you!" Randamu squeezed the doll and it made a squeaking sound as he pushing it into Naruto's personal space.
Poor Naruto, once again, was at a loss for words. "Oh...umm...thank you Randamu. Its...its...cute." Naruto grinned like an idiot as he, awkwardly and reluctantly, accepted the doll.
Naruto's friends could only stare at the scene in confusion (or in Sasuke's, Karin's, Suigetsu's and Jūgo's case, embarrassment) at what they were seeing.
Kiba leaned into Shino's ear and whispered, "Where'd he get that book and the doll from anyway?" Shino's only response was to shake his head in bewilderment.
"Thank you so much again Naruto!" Randamu said. "Oh! But can I tell you one more thing?"
Naruto groaned, "Alright! What?!"
"...You're wife's smoking hot!"
"WHAAAAATTTTT?!"
Out of nowhere, Randamu crept up to Sakura's side, creeping the pink-haired woman out big time!
"Helllooo there! I don't believe we've met." He took the woman's hand as he got on one knee. "My name is Randamu, missing-nin by reputation, mercenary by profession...and lover by passion!" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively, and not he least bit subtly, through his mask.
Sakura was not amused. "Let go of my hand creep or I swear to God I will crush every single bone in your body."
"Go ahead, I'll just put myself back together again."
"It's true, he will," Sasuke added. "But seriously Randamu, you probably don't want to risk anything with Sakura. You have no idea what she can do to you!"
"Oh that's alright," Randamu said cockily. "For a smoking hot piece of ass like her, I'll risk it! Tell me Sakura, for real, what is the policy on ménage a trios?"
"WHAT?!" Sakura yelled in disgust.
"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled in fury, his friends forced to hold him back. "Get away from my wife you son of a bitch! I'll whoop your ass!"
"What?" Randamu whined. "She's married to the undisputed master of the Shadow Clone Jutsu, so obviously she has experience in threeways."
Sakura looked like she was going to die of embarrassment...just as soon as she murdered this perverted jerk!
"The only way you're touching her is over her dead body, you sick perverted bastard!" Ino yelled, before getting a smug look on her face. "Besides, from everything I've gotten Sakura to tell me, you could never live up to Naruto."
"INO!" Both Naruto and Sakura shouted in humiliation.
"Oh yeah!" Randamu countered, "well, I'm willing to take that challenge!" He started doing obscene gestures without any dignity whatsoever, including thrusting into an invisible woman. Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and even Hinata were all ready to rip his head off by this point.
And then, the perverted missing-nin with a mouth went one gigantic step too far. He reach back into his 'magic satchel' and pulled out a photograph. "Hey Sakura, wanna see a picture of me naked? I'll show you mine if you agree to show me yours—"
"AAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
Sakura delivered a full-powered, unrelenting, unforgiving chakra-enhanced punch right into Randamu's jaw. The masked man went flying clear to the opposite end of the island, leaving a trail that tore through the ground, the trees, the ruined buildings, everything.
...Normally, seeing Sakura display such unrelenting power would be utterly terrifying to Naruto, Shinachiku, and everyone else...But Randamu really had that coming.
Randamu, with heavy effort, climbed out of the crater he'd landed in, his bones snapping back into place, including his neck and jaw, and all of his many, many gashes and holes, already self-repairing.
"Oooohhh! OWWWWW! AAAAAGGGHHHHHH! Damn!...I deserved that, didn't I?"
"YES!" Sakura, Naruto, Ino, Karin, Hinata and Tenten all said in unison.
Sarada leaned into to whisper something into Shinachiku's ear. "Y'know, your mom can be really scary sometimes."
Shinachiku merely gulped and replied, "I know."
And on that humorous note we close out another chapter!
Sorry if I didn't offer you guys a huge cliffhanger this time, but I decided to take some advice given to me by SilentRaider52. He suggested that I take a time out to savor the reunion of the family again, which I wanted to do, and even now that I've written it I hope it was good enough to satisfy you.
Of course, to make sure you all left this chapter with a smile on your face, I decided to end it with Randamu officially introducing himself to Naruto, Sakura, and all of their friends...And what a first impression it was!
While we are talking about that scene, the idea for Randamu's interactions with both Naruto and Sakura were inspired by two episodes of "The Legend of Korra." In the episode "The Stakeout," Team Avatar is trying to rent a room to do a stakeout of a traitor from the Metal Clan who is allied with the evil Zaheer. When they get to the inn, they are approached by two rough looking bounty hunters who they think are there to collect a bounty on their heads...but instead in turns out they just want to get Bolin's autograph because they are both HUGE fans of his mover series "The Adventures of Nuktuk: Hero of the South." Randamu's fangirl behavior, Naruto's awkwardness, the plush doll, all of it was inspired by this scene...which in turn was likely inspired by an encounter the creators had with a a real-life fan. LOL!
The other episode that served as an inspiration was called "Reunion," where Korra finally reunites with Asami and Mako for a lunch date, only for the obnoxious Prince Wu to get in the way and blatantly hit on Korra, much to her annoyance. Some of that was on my mind in crafting the stuff between Randamu and Sakura...only with the perverted factor turned up to the max! LOL!
This chapter also introduced yet another new character, Sunako, Gaara's daughter. I was trying to make her seem as cold and aloof as her father was, and probably still is to some extent, just without the cold-hearted murderer aspect.
The reveal that Sunagakure in already in possession of one of the Chakra Gems opens up still more possibilities. Who knows where the other gems are now, or if will even be seeing all of them in the story...Or whether or not Taka is already in possession of any of them!
By the way, just a minor reference, but Sunako's line "Just...don't move," was based on a line that Professor Xavier says in "X2: X-Men United." He first says it to Wolverine and then later to Jason Stryker while he appears before Charles as that creepy little girl. Both times it was a heads up before he activates Cerebro in their presence. I just thought that it was an appropriate line for what the gem was going to do and I had Patrick Stewart's exact delivery in my head as I wrote it.
I hope I made it clear the difference between what the green Chakra Gem can do and what Naruto can do with his Flying Thunder God Technique. While the technique required markers to teleport where he wants to go, the Chakra Gem allows for godlike instantaneous movement that will take you anywhere you want in under a second just by thinking about it.
I think that's all I've got for this time. I hope you enjoyed it, and as always feel free to leave a comment. Until next time, see ya!