Hey everybody its Bratja Rasa.

Nothing really happens in this chapter, just talking and more talking, and hopefully some character development, attempted development. This chapter and the next will, hopefully, be more creative and what not.

Also, next chapter will be more for….. ugh, Sasuke.

So enjoy the set up for the next arc which will be the creation of the Rasenshuriken and Asuma's death.

OKAY, LETS READ THIS SHIT! I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR YU YU HAKUSHO!

"Hey" = Speaking

'Hey' = Thinking

'Hey' = Memory, Inner Voice

"Hey"= Summon/ Tailed Beast

Chapter 36: Tears and Lectures

Team Kakashi's base…

Sai entered knocked on the door before he entered the room.

Before him was Sakura kneeling over Naruto's unconscious form. Sakura's glowing hand removed itself from Naruto's head as she used it to wipe her head.

"So, were you able to make any progress?" Sai asked as he sat down and looked at the blond.

"No, but I know he will pull through this." Sakura said confidently. "He always does."

A silent pause took reign as the two sat besides there teammate.

After Orochimaru made Sasuke leave, the two of them recovered enough to get Yamato and Naruto, picking up his necklace also, away safely. Yamato woke up several hours later and was able to make another house before being forced to rest for another day by Sakura. Naruto however did not wake up, and it was the second day since their encounter with Orochimaru.

"Sakura, I want to know something." Sai spoke, breaking the silence. "What is friendship? In that, what are bonds?"

"What do you mean Sai?"

Sai reached into his pouch and pulled out his picture book and showed her the final pages.

"I made this for my brother." Sai admitted. "He died so I could live before I could finish. I don't know why, but I had the urge to finish it, as if doing so brought me closer to my brother."

"Bonds… are what we need to survive." Sakura answered. "Humans can only go so far by themselves. We hit roadblocks that we cannot do alone, and by forming bonds we succeed."

Sakura looked at Sai before looking at Naruto, whom Sai looked at also.

"I don't think Naruto would have gotten as strong as he was if he hadn't gotten stronger for his loved ones. He told me once that an old adversary of ours told him that one becomes truly strong when they fight and protect their precious people." Sakura smiled slightly. "I also think that he may have taken them a little too close to heart, but if he never heard those words, then he may not been the person he is today."

"So by having someone to protect, he has become strong?" Sai asked. "Do you think he sees me as one of those people?"

"Honestly, he may, but he may not show it just yet Sai." Sakura answered before she stood up and exited the room.

Sai soon followed suit and thought deeply on what Sakura told him.

Mindscape…

"What does that mean Yoko?" Naruto asked worriedly.

Yoko's gazed stayed hard as she got close to the bars of the seal.

"It means Naruto, that I won't be helping you anymore." She stated.

"But why?" Naruto shouted. He did not want to lose his connection to Yoko, he cared for her too much.

"I let myself become soft." Yoko stated with a slight growl. "I let one person get close to me once and he was killed for being my friend. Thus making me hate humans even more."

Naruto blinked. He knew who she was talking about.

Her lover Shuichi Uzumaki, who sealed her powers and kept her close as a human in Uzu.

"Then I was sealed by Hashirama Senju, his wife Mito hated me. She tolerated my presence and in return I helped her, again letting someone get close to me. Next was Kushina. She was terrified of becoming my jinchuriki, and even though we were on speaking terms and would work together, we were never friends. And now you, the spawn of Kushina and Minato, grew on me." Yoko growled out as her chakra flared, her tails flailing in every direction.

Naruto guarded himself from the intense pressure her chakra was exuding.

"It wasn't all bad."

Naruto perked up at this, seeing her tails calm down and her face soften.

"I helped raise you. You were the only other person to get this close to my heart, and then Hinata did too. I separated my spirit from my chakra to be kind and gently to not scare you. I love you two very much." Yoko said, whispering the last parts softly. Her ears twitched before her face was once more a scowl.

"I WANTED TO BE EVIL AGAIN!" she howled.

The water wisped around her and Naruto, almost blowing him back.

"I wanted my savagery as the kyubi back." She confirmed. "I rejoined with the chakra I discarded to be myself once again."

"But what was wrong with being kind?"

Yoko raised an eyebrow.

"I don't understand." Naruto said. "I can understand you being afraid of letting others in because of what happened to Shuichi. Trusting people after that and continuously being sealed makes it hard to trust humans again. But I know you still care about me even with your chakra back!"

Naruto made eye contact with Yoko, his gaze hard and sharp like hers.

"And how can you be so sure that you know!" Yoko shouted back.

"Because you still love me." Naruto stated. He pointed at her accusingly. "If you were back to your evil self again then you would have possessed me as soon as the opportunity presented itself. And here we are, having this conversation, I am unconscious, you could easily take over now, yet you won't."

Yoko's fists were clenched and shaking.

'How…?' she thought. 'How can this boy, no, my son see through me like this?'

Yoko's knees felt weak and she slowly collapsed as she took deep breaths from shouting.

"You're right." She said softly. Her fox ears down on her head and her tails wrapping around her protectively. "I still do love you Naruto, but I can't take another loss like I did with Shuichi."

Yoko gripped her head and started to cry.

"It's too painful, to see your loved ones taken from you when you could do nothing." Yoko screamed as she started to shake.

"Yoko…"

Yoko felt Naruto hug her tightly.

"I can understand that." He said sympathetically. "I lost Hitomi when her disease was irreversible and I could do nothing to help her."

Yoko kept crying as she hugged him back.

Several minutes passed before Yoko got a hold of herself and she stood up, with Naruto helping her.

"I can't accept your love anymore Naruto." She said sternly.

"Why not?" Naruto asked. "You have never done anything that upset me?"

"I wanted to sever my bond to you so I would not feel the pain of loss when you die." Yoko said. "I even reclaimed my tainted chakra to intimidate you to fear me and to keep us distant. I am an evil being that deserves to be alone."

"I'll never leave you by choice."

Yoko smiled.

"You are just as stubborn as Kushina my son."

"I am huh." Naruto said as he scratched his head.

"Yes you are." Yoko said with a chuckle.

"So, what now?"

"I'll heal your body, but I will let you know now." Yoko said as she put her hand on her hit and pointed a finger at him. "You are a young adult, so don't come to me begging for help. Unless you are in great danger, I won't help you. Do you understand?"

"Yes mom."

"Okay, now, let us begin the healing process." Yoko said as her chakra slowly made its way to Naruto and sped up his healing.

Skip, Konoha, Tsunade's office…

Team Kakashi stood before the Hokage, who listened carefully to their report.

"So, this whole mission was a bust." Tsunade said, her head leaning into her hand.

"Yes ma'am." The team announced together.

"Then I guess I'll deal with these results. You did destroy one of Orochimaru's labs, so I will give you the next three days off, dismissed." Tsunade ordered.

The three young shinobi bowed and left the room, leaving Yamato and Tsunade.

"He really is amazing, Lady Hokage." Yamato said.

"Yes he is." Tsunade retorted. "Being able to keep his cool and display maturity is what one needs to be a chunin and jonin." Tsunade said as she looked Yamato in the eye. "That is what you were talking about?"

"Yes, so I, Yamato, recommend Naruto Uzumaki for the Rank of Chunin in an independent exam." Yamato said proudly.

Elsewhere…

Naruto and Sakura walked out of the building, bidding Sai good bye as he left.

The two walked in silence as the mission replayed in their minds.

For Sakura, her heart weighed heavy. Sasuke had been so cold and was not the same person she knew when they were children on team seven.

"Sakura…"

"huh…, yes Naruto?"

"I won't kill him."

"Who?"

"Sasuke."

Sakura blinked.

"What does that mean?"

They stopped walking and looked at each other.

"Sasuke wants to kill Itachi in an act of revenge for murdering their clan. I hate Sasuke for kidnapping and harming Hinata." Naruto said calmly, starting to walk again and Sakura followed. "I am still angry at him for doing that, but unlike Sasuke, I am not going to hunt him down to kill him. I will fight him if our paths cross and have him tried for his crimes as a missing ninja."

"Okay, but why are you telling me this?" Sakura asked as she saw that they were nearing her house.

"As a medical ninja, I put my life in your hands to keep me alive." Naruto answered. "So I am giving you something that will repay that. I know you still like him, and I am very proud that you kept a professional attitude when we saw him on the last mission Sakura."

Naruto stopped in front of her house and smiled.

"See you later Sakura." Naruto said before he started walking again, his hands in his pockets.

Sakura watched silently as he distanced himself from her and smiled slightly.

'Thank you Naruto.'

With that Sakura entered her house and started to use her days off.

Short time later…

"Sup Naruto." Anko said as she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.

"Hi Anko-Sensei." Naruto choked out as he gripped her arm, tapping it to show her he was choking.

After he got his air back, the two went to Anko's favorite dango shop and ordered some food.

"How was your last mission?" Anko asked as she sat in her chair and he sat in his. "I heard that you went after a spy in Orochimaru's inner circle. Did you get him?"

"It was Kabuto, and I actually fought Orochimaru…" Naruto stated as he told Anko what happened during the mission.

"WHA THE HELL WERE YOU THINKNG!"

Some birds in a nearby tree flew away in fright from the sudden shout.

"If I was in your shoes I would have just left the pale bastard to die since he not only double crossed you once, but twice." Anko said as she drank some beer and chewed her dango.

"Your right, but I could not leave a teammate behind. If I did, I would be no better than Sasuke or Orochimaru." Naruto answered, causing Anko to stop mid bite. She relaxed and let out a sigh.

"OW!"

Naruto held his head as a massive lump appeared on his forehead, a steaming crater in the table being the cause.

"You are truly too nice for your own good brat." Anko said as she finished her food. "You could have died and he would have not cared."

Naruto saw a somber and melancholic look on Anko's face.

"Just remember, that for us as shinobi, being nice isn't always the cleanest route. Others shinobi won't listen or pull punches, and if one is too nice, like the departed Sandaime, death is all too willing to take you in any form. The Sandaime let his sentiments to Orochimaru cloud his judgment when the snake fucker turned traitor, so he paid for it two years ago with his life." Anko lectured, pointing her dango stick at him before she finished her beer and pulled out some cash. "I'll pay for the food, you pay for damages."

"Wait what?"

"Later." Anko said cheekily as she shunshinned out of the store, leaving the food money and Naruto to pay for the broken table.

Akatsuki Hide out….

"We have found them leader." Kakuzu reported as he and Hidan's astral projections were among the remaining members of the group. "Shall we retake the Nibi?"

"No, you and Hidan are to wait for the Toguros' to arrive." Pain ordered. "They will take the Nibi and the Rokubi."

"But what about the Hachibi? He will be right there for us to take." Hidan stated.

"And what do you mean they will do it?" Hidan asked rudely.

"First, the Hachibi and the Kyubi are the strongest of the Biju, so we must take the Kyubi last with the Hachibi before it." Pain explained. "So the Hachibi will be left for later, he will be forced to stay in the village by his leader to keep him safe. We will know where he is when we need him."

Pain turned his gaze to Hidan.

"You and Kakuzu won't fight because we are low on funds. Paying the Toguros' isn't cheap. So you will two will go earn some money. The Fire Temple has a member called Chikiru has a high bounty, go get it."

"Alright, leader." Kakuzu and Hidan said, bowed, then vanished.

"So, what will we do?" Itachi asked.

Pain gazed at the other five members.

Zetsu, Kisame, Itachi, Deidara, and Tobi.

"You will make use of your time by sharpening your skills and stay alive." Pain ordered. "The more members we have the faster the sealing. If any of you die, the sealing will take longer. So don't die. Dismissed."

Chapter 36, DONE!

Hope you liked it, I think I write better when I have a lot of freedom to make it my own.

If anyone can guess where Yoko's base rant came from and who said it you'll get a cookie.

Thanks for reading, and if you liked please leave a review. If you liked this, you may like my other work on my Bio page so why don't you give them a shot.

SEE YOU THEN!