Chapter 25 - Picking Up The Trail: Hidden Meanings
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. They are the respective property of Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo.
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A/N #1: This chapter originally contained much more material in it. However, because of its length, I had to cut out most of it, which will appear in future chapters. The parts that were removed was what the previous chapter title was referring to.
[Hokage's Office, Konohagakure, Land of Fire, Shinobi World]
Current Time...
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?"
This particular sound came from the voice of Tsunade, who had the Team 7, Team 8, and Team Gai, along with Jiraiya, in her office. She was in complete and utter shock on what she had just heard.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NARUTO'S WORKING WITH SUI-FENG?!"
"We probably shouldn't of gotten the room soundproofed with that seal. It's causing Tsunade-sama's voice to echo a bit," Kakashi thought to himself.
Sasuke, who was seated on one of the chairs in Tsunada's office and was currently looking down at the floor, as he was trying to avoid looking at anyone in the room in the eye, sighed as he spoke again.
"It's just as I said, Tsunade. I don't think that I need to repeat myself."
After they recovered from their injuries, Kakashi and Sasuke went and retrieved Orochiamaru's body; there wasn't much to find of Kabuto as the only remains that were found of him were some ice shards with bits and pieces of him trapped within said shards. After the Konoha-nin retrieved everything they could, including two flowers, one golden-yellow and one white in color, they left the hideout of the late Snake Sannin and proceeded to return to Konoha. On their way back, Sasuke and the others ran into Team Gai at the edge of a forest 15 miles from the hideout. Neji was the only one conscious, having woken up minutes before Sasuke and co. had arrived, but was too injured to stand up and had to sit down with a tree trunk propping him up. Apparently, Ichigo and Rukia had come looking for Toshiro, the white-haired captain that the Hyuga had been fighting up to that point. The three of them where then proceeded beat up the members of Team Guy, all of whom had woken up by that time. Despite Guy having the fifth chakra gate activated (which he used to break out of Toshiro's kidō barrier which had imprisoned him up to that point) the team of shinobi were simply outmatched by the trio and were knocked after a pitched battle (again).
After Sakura healed them and woke them up (again), she and the others told them about their encounter with Naruto which, not surprisingly, took Guy and his team by surprise. The group, knowing full well that Naruto was already way too far out of range for them to pursue, all went back to Konoha and, after both revealing to some of the villagers that Orochimaru was now a dead man (forcing the shinobi to prevent some angry villagers from taking and defiling Orochimaru's corpse), and entering Tsunade's office to give her their mission report, had the unpleasant task of breaking the news to her that Naruto was the true identity of the "Menma" character who was a part of Sui-Feng team. This obviously did not sit well with the Slug Sannin who didn't bother to hide her shock and anger.
Tsunade gritted her teeth as she clasped her hands together at her mouth.
"Naruto … what happened to you … why did you leave us to join HER? Damn you, Sui-Feng... Damn you for forcing him into this!" she thought as she looked at everybody in the room.
"If you did run into Naruto then why didn't you bring him back?" she asked.
"We tried to bring him back, Tsunade-hime, but Naruto was just too strong for us to handle," Jiraiya explained before continuing. "And you have to remember that he was strong enough actually kill Orochimaru, on his own no less. Not even Sarutobi-Sensei was capable of that the last time he crossed paths with him."
"Fine, I see your point," she said begrudgingly. She then turned her gaze to Sasuke before slightly glaring at him.
"Just so you know… this is YOUR fault," she said in an almost hissing tone.
Sasuke, who wasn't really fazed by Tsunade's anger, let out a another sigh before he spoke.
"I know. That's why I'm bringing him back, remember?"
Shizune, who was in the corner and was also shocked by the revelation but had snapped out of said shock by this point, was observing the conversation in silence until she turned to look at Sai. The newest member of Team Kakashi had his fingers on his chin and appeared to be deep in thought, which got Shizune's interest.
"Is something on your mind, Sai?" She asked as Sai looked and smiled at her.
"There is, Shizune-san. Now that I have had some time to think about it, there are some things that Naruto-kun said and did that just don't add up."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this as he turned to look at his "subordinate." Even though Sai was no longer a member of the ROOT faction of the Anbu Black Ops headed by Danzo Shimura, having left the organization a few months before it was dissolved after Danzo unexpectedly died of old age, he still had the same mentality he had when he was still a part of ROOT when it came to his thoughts on missing-nin. To hear that Sai was actually thinking about this situation with such a seemingly open mindset caught Kakashi off-guard.
That said the Copy Ninja was curious to hear what Sai had to say.
"What do you mean, Sai?" Kakashi asked.
"Well, I initially thought that Naruto-kun had left Konoha simply out of his own free will and was simply refusing to go back. However, some of actions are making me question whenever or not that Naruto-kun, for one reason or another, actually believes that he can't come back to Konoha."
"What do you mean by that, Sai?" Sakura asked as the former ROOT-nin began his explanation.
"Well, for starters, he held back against all of us. If he were allied with Sui-Feng, he would have became as ruthless as her and, given his mistreatment by the villagers throughout his life, he would probably have far less restraint than she does. Instead, he held back the entire time during our fight as his attacks were more focused on restraining us or putting us out of commission with serious injury. Secondly, he passed on his dream of being Hokage to Sasuke-kun, even going as far as to give him Tsunade-sama's necklace. If he willingly defected to join Sui-Feng, he wouldn't have cared less about his old dream. But he did care about that dream enough to pass it on so wouldn't die with him. The fact that he still cares about it enough to pass it on shows that he still has enough of an emotional attachment to his life here in Konoha but is seemingly unable to go back to that life in his mind. Lastly, if Naruto-kun did not want to come back to Konoha, then why didn't he just kill us to get that point across? I could understand if Naruto-kun didn't want to kill those he cared about but he even went as far as to spare me, despite not knowing me. He could of at least killed me to get his point across, but did not."
"You're right, Sai. It doesn't add up," Sasuke said, the young Uchiha still refusing to lift up his head to speak.
"Sai had a point... but what reason could Naruto have to not come back to Konoha? I wonder... is it possible that something physically changed Naruto?" Neji thought to himself before he turned to his cousin.
"Hinata-sama, did you notice anything off about Naruto's chakra with your Byakugan that everyone else who fought him didn't?"
After some thought, Hinata answered his question.
"Actually... I did notice something wrong with Naruto-kun's chakra network."
Everyone looked at her in surprise as the now embarrassed Hyuga heiress continued her explanation.
"Naruto-kun's power felt very different than how I knew it from before he left Konoha. Even his bodily chakra pathway looked off."
"What do you mean?" Tenten asked as Hinata continued.
"The pathway of Naruto's chakra system was still visible to my Byakugan, but the chakra points that are supposed to run along those pathways were not."
Surprisingly, no one in the room questioned her on why she didn't point this out sooner. The sudden shock of Naruto's return, and the thought of him turning against Konoha by allying with a notorious S-rank criminal, meant she had not more than likely thought much about this until now. There was a reason why Hinata only tried to strike thirty-two of Naruto nonexistent chakra points.
Everyone listened on before Neji spoke, which caused everyone's attention to shift to him.
"It's just as I thought. I noticed the same phenomenon with Sui-Feng, Ichigo Kurosaki, and the white haired boy I fought in the forest. The pathways of their energy system were still visible to me with my Byakugan, but their chakra points were not. Technically it is possible to suppress those points to prevent a Byakugan user from seeing them, but Hinata-sama and I have been trained to rely on our memories of where they are of this were to ever happen. But in this case, Naruto and the white-haired boy were hit where the points should've been and yet they were completely unaffected by this. The only possible explanation is that they don't have chakra points to begin with, which the white-haired boy comfirmed with his revelation that he doesn't even possess chakra. This can only mean one thing: Naruto, Sui-Feng, and their teammates have somehow acquired, and are using, a power that is unknown to the rest of us shinobi, but one that is similar to chakra so that it can be mistaken for it by most shinobi."
"That actually makes a lot of sense," Sasuke said. "It would also explain why Naruto didn't use his shadow clones or Rasnegan when he fought us after he blew his cover."
"Why didn't I think of that? -As far as I know Sui-Feng had never fought a member of the Hyuga clan up until recently... maybe that's why no one noticed that. That still leaves so much unanswered, though-" Tsunade said as she gave a facepalm.
"Neji-san, do you believe that this might have something to do with why Naruto believes he can not return to Konoha?" Shino asked before Neji spoke again.
"I'm not sure… but Sui-Feng and her other teammates certainly would… we need to find and capture one of them."
Before Neji could continue, and before anyone could respond to Neji's idea, a knock was heard at the door. Everyone turned their attention to the door as a voice began to speak from the other side of said door.
"Tsunade-sama, the preparations for Orochimaru's autopsy are now complete."
"Alright," she said before focusing her attention on everybody in the room.
"I am only going to say this once: no matter what happens, this discussion does not leave the room. Until we find out what is going on, you are not to tell anyone, not even Kurenai or the members of Team Asuma, about what has happened to Naruto. If anyone asks, Menma's identity is still Menma. Do I make myself clear?"
Everyone then nodded in response as Tsunade turned to Sakura.
"Sakura, I want you to go to Ino and see if those flowers that Naruto left by Orochimaru's body might be of any help."
Sakura nodded as Tsunade then looked at Kakashi.
"As for you, Kakashi, I want you to help Shikamaru who's currently undergoing his own investigation of Sui-Feng; perhaps you guys might get lucky and find something that might help us. The rest of you are dismissed."
Everyone soon left the office to either follow their orders or go about their own business. Tsunade then looked at Shizune, who had now moved back to her master's side.
"You're going to have to head the autopsy this time, Shizune."
"Alright... but why me, Tsunade-sama? Seeing as Orochimaru was your former teammate I thought you'd want to perform it yourself." Shizune questioned to which Tsunade sighed in respond.
"I do... but I've received word from the new Mizukage that she has given her approval for the Five Kage Summit just before Kakashi, his team, and the others arrived. I have to prepare for it. And that's to say nothing of this new problem of Naruto returning as an associate of Sui-Feng."
"Alright," Shizune said as she left her master to her thoughts.
[Yamanaka Flower Shop, Konohagakure, Land of Fire, Shinobi World]
Meanwhile…
While Kakashi went to help Shikamaru with his investigation, Sasuke had gone with Sai to train, leaving Sakura to her own devices. Since she wasn't currently on a mission and was also off-duty from the Konoha Hospital, Sakura, who had her hair undone as she did whenever she was off-duty (with the ponytail undone her hair fell, reaching down to her waist), decided to get the issue with the flowers out of the way. She entered the Yamanaka flower shop where her friend Ino was currently working at the counter.
"Hey, Sakura. Back from your mission already?" Ino asked. Sakura sighed at this.
"Yeah." Sakura said.
To her surprise Ino seemed very annoyed by this.
"Man... I can't believe you're getting all of the missions and action outside the village while I'm stuck here; it's been at least a three weeks since my team even had a mission, minus that ass-kicking we got from that Sui-Feng girl." she complained.
Sakura sighed at this complaint as well.
"Well, last time I checked Ino, I am strong enough to take on an S-Rank missing-nin. More missions tend to come with greater strength." Sakura pointed out.
"I think Tsunade-sama's playing favorites since you're her apprentice!" Ino accused.
At this point, Sakura was trying to avoid exploding like she did in her argument with Rukia... and was failing miserably as she had to resist to urge to explode on Ino.
"That's ridiculous, Ino! I'm the one who approached her so that I could train under her. And I've also been training under Kurenai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei. If you want to go on more missions maybe you should follow my example and ask for some training from someone." Sakura explained.
"True... maybe I should. Beats standing here all day for weeks with nothing to do. (she sighs) Anyways, you're not going to believe this, but I've just heard that THEY have now been pushed into activate service. Now that Orochimaru is dead and their loyalties are no longer in question, due to whole thing with Sui-Feng reappearing."
A horrified Sakura paled at this, as she looked at her longtime best friend in her visible eye.
"Oh, Kami... does that mean we're now going to have to deal with HER now as well?" she asked in a dreaded manner as Ino responded with a simple nod. Both of them shuddered at the thought before the Yamanaka decided to change the subject.
"I need your help with something," Sakura said as she pulled out a plastic bag containing two flowers of different shape and color. She handed the bag to Ino as she began to explain.
"We recovered these at the site of Orochimaru's death. Apparently, 'Menma' left them there for some reason. Is there anything special you can tell me about these particular flowers?" she asked.
Ino raised an eyebrow.
"And why exactly do you need my help with this?" the Yamanaka kunoichi asked.
"In case you haven't noticed, my mind has been focused on other things besides flowers for these passed few years," Sakura pointed out. Ino didn't bother to question her longtime friend as she knew that Sakura was referring to the fact that was focused on training herself so that she could actually help in both finding Naruto (the Yamanaka was obviously left unaware of what happened during Sakura's last mission) and bringing him back.
"I see your point. May I take a closer look at them?" she asked as Sakura complied.
She then began to intently study the flowers. Ino mentally noted that the flowers had been deformed a bit whilst in the bag, and the petals had been dipped in someone's blood, which she assumed to be Orochimaru's given what she had heard about Sakura's last mission. A quizzical expression formed on Ino's face as she voiced her opinion.
"Are you sure these two flowers were placed together?"
"I am. I found them when looking around the spot of Orochimaru's body for evidence after Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun recovered it."
"Well, then Menma probably picked these flowers out of some philosophical belief... because these two flowers are the complete polar opposites of each other."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked as Ino sighed to her. In response, she pointed to two sections of the store where bouquets of these same flowers were sold before speaking again.
"The yellow flower is a marigold while the white one is a snowdrop. If you know the symbolism behind them, then you would know that they're opposites." Ino pointed out.
"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned.
"Do you remember how some flowers have deeper meanings behind them?"
"Yes... but like I said, Ino, I've had other things on my mind recently."
"Then allow me to explain: the snowdrop is a flower that symbolizes hope. The marigold, on the other hand, is a flower that represents despair, the opposite of hope."
Sakura's eyes widened as the realization of what Ino was saying hit her.
"Is it possible that Menma didn't know about that?" Sakura asked.
"That would be a possibility if he didn't add another layer of symbolism to it by dipping the petals of the flowers in Orochimaru's blood. I read somewhere that a flower has a hidden meaning behind it if somebody dips the flower's petals in blood. It means that the person's hiding a great burden related to the meaning. Since both flowers were dipped in blood, we can come to the conclusion that Menma's carrying a heavy burden that's filled with both hope and despair. There's also something else you should know," Ino pointed out.
Sakura raised an eyebrow at this.
"What is it?" she asked. To her surprise Ino reached under the counter a pulled out a map of the Shinobi World. What was interesting about this map was that it show the distribution of several different species of flowers in the wild.
"I don't know where exactly Menma got that specific Snowdrop flower as that one is very common in the Land of Fire and can be found anywhere in the wild... but I've seen that species of Marigold before and it only grows in one specific area in the Northern Land of Fire... right here," Ino said as she pointed to a place marked by the map...
...a place that was on the border between the Lands of Fire and Sound.
Sakura didn't take long to realize where the map pointed to.
"The Valley of the End... (she pauses) Thank you, Ino... I have to get going now," Sakura said after she came to another sudden realization. Taking the flowers, she then left the store and began to walk down the street, thinking to herself.
"There's no mistaking it now... Naruto trying to tell us something by leaving us those flowers if he went as far as to get that flower from THAT place, but what is it? What was he trying to say?... I need to think this over a bit?" she thought.
Even as she thought about what she had learned, however, Sakura did not fail to detect a mysterious figure somewhere behind her... one who had been shadowing her movements ever since she left Tsunade's office...
Next Time - Kisuke's Message: Reinforcements From Within?!
A/N #2: Before you guys accuse either me or Rocker of being "girly" or something the whole scene with the explanation about those two flowers is of great importance and not just because of the symbolism.