Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I gain any monetary means by writing stories about them.
A/N: Weee, I'm having fun over here. About ready to start a new series with my partner and can't wait to finish it. It will take me a while to get everything planned out but I will hope like hell it goes great.
Thanks to:
Inuyasha16451: I'm glad you loved it.
Melyway: Just wait and see.
CassieJones07: Sorry if it confused you, just wanted to make sure that I changed a good bit of the dialogue since it wouldn't go with the story. The most difficult part of the chapter for me to fix was when Sakura declared her love for Naruto. I had to change it to where she demanded Naruto not to chase after Sasuke but I just think that it should be this way, making Sakura seem like she's trying to convince Naruto to give up on Sasuke because she is secretly going to go and kill him.
Chapter Thirty-One
Naruto and the others stopped when they heard the footsteps in the snow, turning they saw a Bunshin of Sai's approach them. "It appears to be a Bunshin," Kakashi says as he stares at the clone.
"Sai, why did you-" Naruto stops when Sai interrupts her.
"When Sakura demanded you to not to chase after Sasuke anymore…I will now tell you what she could not," Sai tells her.
"You're kidding me?" Naruto says as she looks at the clone with question filled eyes.
"I figured something was up," Kakashi says.
"What is it, Sai?" Yamato asks the young man.
"Sakura didn't come out here to demand Naruto to give up on Sasuke. She was supposed to tell you the collective decision made by all your former academy classmates," Sai says.
"I knew something didn't feel right, so she was hiding something," Naruto says as she walks closer to the clone.
"With everything I've learned, I can understand why she acted the way she did," he says as he looks away from the blond.
"Sai, tell me," Naruto demands with narrowed eyes.
"The Leaf is going to dispose of Sasuke itself. Your ex-classmates are preparing to act as we speak," Sai says as he looks into her eyes that widen with shock, right along with the two older males.
"And Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan's okay with it too?!" Naruto asks as she grips the clones shoulder. "But Sakura-chan loves Sasuke! She knows that I love him more, and that I have kids with him! She wouldn't just-" Sai interrupts Naruto again.
"Sasuke is only helping spread his darkness across the world. Letting him live will only sow the seeds of another war. He's just another criminal now. Sasuke lost all hope of coming back when his group, Akatsuki, attacked our village. Your fellow Leaf Shinobi would never accept him now. Sakura's not stupid, either. She understands the position he's put us all in. That's why she came all the way out here, to tell you herself," Sai says as he makes his face into an emotionless mask again.
"Th-then why didn't she tell me the truth!" Naruto grits out as she scrunches her eyes shut to quell her tears.
"It's not an easy thing to say, especially since she knew how much it would hurt you," Kakashi tells her.
"But still-" Naruto says as she is interrupted again by Sai.
"Giving up on Sasuke and choosing you was Sakura's way of freeing you from your promise. She just couldn't bring herself to tell you the truth. When you refused to stop trying to save him, she was only thinking of you, and I think you understood that. Actually, Sakura forbade any of us from telling you the truth. She said she wanted to tell you in person, that it was her duty," Sai explains.
"But she must've known how Naruto would react. She never intended to tell her the truth at all, did she?" Yamato asks. "What's she going to do now?"
"I honestly have no idea, but if I had to guess, I'd say Sakura…" He stopped as Naruto looks at him again with confusion filled eyes.
"She plans to kill Sasuke herself," Kakashi tells her, making her eyes widen again.
"Does she, Sai?!" Yamato asks.
"Probably, yes. Sakura smiled at me and said she'd work with everyone, but this time, I knew it was a façade," Sai tells her.
"No way, Sakura-chan would never…she loves Sasuke so much-" Once again Naruto was interrupted by Sai.
"It's because she loves him, that she doesn't want him to sink any lower. It's because she loves him that she wants to rescue him from the evil path he walks now. Even if the only way to do it is to kill him with her own two hands, I believe she's prepared to do it, because she loves him," as Sai continues on, Naruto's eyes widened and a pain is felt in her chest. "This also means she's willing to let you hate her forever, Naruto. I think it's her way of atoning for not making you take back the promise years ago. She's hated that you have had to rescue her so much throughout the years so she's trying to end all this herself."
"Sai, why are you telling me all this?" Naruto asks him.
"I feel like I may have helped push Sakura into her current state of mind, too. So I wanted you to know, I knew I couldn't just let her go alone. Like I said, I'm part of team 7, too," Sai tells her and her eyes show a bit of tears as she grunts her agreement.
'Naruto's mind must be reeling from all this, what'm I gonna do,' Kakashi wonders as he stares at the girl that's became so much a part of his life. Suddenly, Naruto holds her head as the Kyuubi bashes at her shields, not agreeing to the plan to kill what she thought of as her mate. Kakashi suddenly turned his attention to a person who lands near twenty-five feet from them, drawing Naruto's attention when she hears the crunching snow.
"We came to bring you guys up to speed, so listen carefully, because a lot went down at the Kage summit," Tamari tells them, and they brief the group about what happened.
"Wow, talk about a long meeting," Yamato says as he crosses his arms. "I knew Danzou couldn't be trusted."
"I've never been enthused about the idea of becoming Hokage, but even in this situation, I can't do anything until we get back to the Leaf village and get everyone else's opinions," Kakashi tells him.
"Madara declared war on the whole world, there's no time for politics," Tamari says.
"I have a feeling everyone will agree right away, we can continue the discussion once Kakashi-Senpai is Hokage," Yamato tells everyone. "They know that if they wait, Madara and Akatsuki will make the first move, and we'll be stuck reacting to them."
"Very true," Kakashi says and then huffs out and then looks at Naruto whose face is downfallen.
"Then there's Sasuke, sheesh, I can't believe he attacked the Kage summit," Yamato says.
"Naruto, just so we're clear, this is a war to protect the eight and nine-tails. In other words, a war to protect you, and in doing so, the whole Shinobi world. I, as the Kazekage, am putting my life on the line for you," Gaara tells his friend, knowing she's hurting for all of this.
"Not only me, but my kids too, Gaara. You forget that they have a new Kyuubi inside of them as well," Naruto says as she starts looking even more depressed.
"That's a given, something I would do even if they weren't new bearers," Gaara says as he made everyone surprised at how much he cares about the twins. "And if Sasuke, a member of Akatsuki, stands against me, he'll be shown no mercy," he hated the defeated look on Naruto's face when he said that but knew that he wanted to protect this girl from anyone going after her even if it was Sasuke himself. He then remembers the conversation that he had with Sasuke when the summit was attacked. "Sasuke has topped looking for you, he seeks the darkness of his own free will," Gaara tells her knowing this might break her even more, case in point her eyes widen even more if it were possible. "Naruto, you once said to me, 'I'm the future Hokage!' Well, I became the Kazekage," as he says this, Naruto's eyes tear up and Gaara places his hand gently onto her shoulder. "If you're truly prepared to take up the mantle of a Kage, then as Sasuke's friend, you know what you have to do." Naruto's eyes flash up to stare into Gaara's teal eyes before she knocks his hand from her shoulder. She stared down, trying to keep the tears in her eyes hidden.
"We relayed the message, our job's done, let's go home, Gaara," Tamari says as she knew her little brother was upset when Naruto rejected his comforting hand. "We'll return to our village. The Sand will act as if you were Hokage, Hatake Kakashi. As the Leaf's ally, we'll ask you to ensure there's no confusion about what's happening."
"Roger that," the white haired male tells her.
"I consider you a friend," Gaara tells her as he had his back to her now. "As a child, 'friend' was simply a word. Nothing more, nothing less, but after I met you, I understood that the word's meaning was what counted. Think carefully about what that word means, and what you can really do for Sasuke," he tells her as he looks at her from over his shoulder. "Move out," as he tells this the others all speed off, not noticing the tears flowing down the blonds cheeks.
"Naruto-" Yamato tries to say something but Kakashi stops him with a pat to his chest.
"She needs to come up with her own answer," Kakashi tells him as the blond is lost in her own thoughts. Naruto stays in the same spot as the others continue to watch what she does.
"So, what's our next move? I think we should get back to the village and inform everyone as soon as possible, and there's Sakura to deal with," Yamato suggests.
"I'm still with her, I'll make sure she doesn't go anywhere near Sasuke, so you can rest assured she'll be okay," Sai tells them.
"Maybe, but I feel I should go personally and talk her out of this," Kakashi tells him and then closes his eye to ponder exactly what they should do. "Okay! Yamato, you and Naruto head back to the village. I'll hunt down Sakura and bring her back myself, she's nowhere near Sasuke's level, she's essentially marching to her own death. As for informing everyone about the summit, I'll send my Ninja hounds ahead. We need to get the word out ASAP."
"Roger that," Yamato affirms.
"Okay Sai, tell me where Sakura is, if you would," Kakashi says to the young man.
"Yes, sir," Sai says as Naruto's mind goes around and around. Suddenly, Naruto starts to panic when she realizes she might lose the man she loves and everyone around her is telling her that it might be better for her if he dies. She starts hyperventilating; every breath coming from her was like a gasp of hot air, a breath that could be her last. She collapses onto her knees, clutching her chest as it starts feeling like a huge weight is pushing in on her chest. The others around her are shocked when she falls flat on the snow, the breath coming out of her quicker and quicker.
"Snap out of it, Naruto!" Yamato shouts at the girl.
"She's hyperventilating! Take slow, deep breaths! Naruto!" Kakashi shouts as he quickly runs over to her.
~3~
Naruto moans as she starts to wake up, then when she is fully awake she shoots up into the bed. "You awake?" Yamato asks.
"What happened?" She asked.
"You fainted, you really know how to worry a guy," Yamato says.
"Where's Kakashi and Sai?" Naruto asks him as she grasps the blanket and stares at the man.
"You and I are going back to the village, Kakashi-Senpai's orders," he tells her and she looks disappointedly at the floor. She didn't say anything as she gets up and starts gathering her stuff, when Yamato sighs and winds wood around her. "Sorry, but Kakashi-Senpai's going to take care of Sakura. Got it!?"
"I know, I'll go back to the village after I rest a bit more," she says, keeping her back to him, she gets under the covers.
"Naruto, we'd better get going, you ready yet?" Yamato asks her as he is about to fall asleep.
"I don't feel like going out, just give me a little longer," her muffled voice says from under the covers where a clone is hiding with a Kunai drawn. 'Good, looks like he doesn't suspect anything yet!' The clone thought as she sweats with nerves.
~3~
Naruto grit her teeth as she sped through the forest in Sage mode, determined to get there before Sakura killed the man she loved. 'Kakashi-Sensei's Chakras, this way!' She thought as she changed her direction a smidgen.
~3~
Sasuke activated his Chidori, ready to take Karin's life. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted which made Sasuke's hand jerk a little and Karin to open just one of her eyes.
"Sakura," he grits out, staring at the pink haired woman.
'He's…like a different person. Is this really Sasuke?' Sakura wonders as she pants and stares back at him.
"What do you want with me?" He asks.
'Wh-who is she?' Karin wonders as she stares at her.
"Sasuke-kun! I will follow you! I'll leave Konoha!" She shouts at him and lands a good twenty-five feet away from him.
"Why would you want to join me? What are you trying to pull?" He asks her.
"I have no ulterior motive! Ever since you left the Leaf Village, I've regretted not going with you!" She admits to him.
'She's…an old friend. She must love him too, but…' Karin thought as she stares at them.
"I'll do whatever you want, I don't want to have any more regrets," Sakura tells him.
"Do you know what I want to do?" He asks.
"I don't care! I'll follow any order you give me-" she says but he interrupts her.
"To crush the Leaf! That is my goal," Sasuke says and stares back at her, noticing the small jerk she made at his declaration. "Are you really willing to betray the Leaf for me?"
"Yes, if that's what you want me to do," she says.
"Hmph, then prove it," he demands and turns and points down at Karin. "Kill her, and I'll accept your offer," him saying this made Sakura's eyes widen before she narrows her eyes a little and slips out a Kunai.
"Who is she?" She asks.
"A member of my organization, 'Hawk'. As you can see, she's useless to me now. Actually, you're a medical Ninja, aren't you Sakura? This works out perfectly, you can take her place," he says.
'How heartless, he really isn't the old Sasuke-kun anymore. He's completely changed,' she thought as she slowly started to move until she is standing besides Karin.
"Well? Can't you handle this, Sakura?" Sasuke asks staring at her.
'She doesn't matter, if I…if I,' she thought. 'If…I can stab Sasuke-kun right now, this will all end!'
"Sasuke, don't do it," Karin weakly says as she saw him charge up his Chidori yet again, making Sakura realize that he's about to attack her. She spins around and saw the electricity covered hand coming straight at her. A splatter of blood hits the ground as Kakashi deflects his attack and draws blood from the young man.
'He meant to kill her,' Kakashi thought as he stared into Sasuke's eyes. "You've fallen so low, Sasuke," he says and avoids the kick the young man sends his way and throws a kick at Sasuke, sending him back a good distance.
"Ha! Just keep on coming!" Sasuke says with a smirk on his lips.
"You were trying to kill Sasuke on your own, weren't you Sakura?" He asks his former pupil. "There's no reason for you to shoulder this burden all by yourself. As the leader of team 7, I blame my own personal shortcomings for the team failing. Sakura, it was irresponsible of me to say what I did just to make you feel better. Maybe I was just trying to convince myself. I apologize; I've been a terrible Sensei to you all."
"No, you…" She stops and looks down at the crouching man.
"Sasuke, I hate having to repeat, but I'll say this one last time. Stop your obsession with revenge!" As soon as Kakashi says this the young man bursts out into manic laughter.
"Bring back Itachi, and my mother, and my father, and my clan! Bring them all back! Then I'll stop!" He shouts at him crazily.
"I don't want to kill you," Kakashi tells him.
"Oh, you think you can just take me out whenever you want, huh?! Don't act like you're still my teacher, that time's over! I want to kill you so badly I can taste it," Sasuke says as his eyes take on a little bit of a crazy sheen to it.
'Madara's corrupted him so much,' Kakashi thought and he groans inwardly. "Take this girl and get her stabilized to the point she can talk. There's still time, she should know a lot of information about our…enemy."
"And you, Sensei?" Sakura asks.
"Sakura, take that girl, and get out of here," he says as he never takes his eye off of Sasuke.
'Kakashi-Sensei,' she stared at him.
"I see this through with the same determination and resolve as you. That's my job, after all!" Kakashi tells her as he smiles at her, making her lip tremble. "Now get going, Sakura," he tells her and turns to look at the young man that he thought has so much potential if only he would give up the thought on avenging his clan. "No matter how far he fell, the Third always looked upon Orochimaru with affection," Kakashi tells him as he closes his right eye and reveals the Sharingan in his left. "I think I understand now what he went through those years ago."
"Well then, you and the Third will have plenty to talk about when you join him!" Sasuke snarkily replies.
'Good,' Kakashi thought as he looked at the bridge that was behind him to not see Sakura and the young woman.
"You listen to me, the Sharingan is the symbol of the Uchiha," Sasuke tells his ex-Sensei as he bows his head down while closing his eyes. "A lowlife outsider like you has no right to go around showing that eye off!" He shouts and starts rushing towards the older male, shocking him. Suddenly, Sasuke activates Susano'o that sends an arrow straight at the white haired man, making his eye widen. A huge blast of water shot everywhere and blocked Sasuke from seeing Kakashi, but soon he was able to see his shadow as well as the now Mangekyou Sharingan that he sported.
'That was too fast, my only option was to warp it away with the Mangekyou,' Kakashi thought as Sasuke wondered how he could use it not being an Uchiha. "So that's 'Susano'o,' I take it?"
"I can't believe you, a non-Uchiha, awakened the Mangekyou. So that's what saved you, that's your eyes ability," Sasuke says from inside of Susano'o. "I hope you're grateful to the Uchiha."
"Sasuke, your clan and your hatred can't be the only things left in your heart. Look deep inside yourself one last time," Kakashi tells him.
"Still reciting the same old pleas," Sasuke says as he smirks at the man.
"You know what's really there," Kakashi says staring at him through his only opened eye.
"They're all…laughing," Sasuke tells him quietly. "They're all laughing it up, at the cost of Itachi's life! Cackling in unison with no idea of the price he paid!" Sasuke shouts at him and Susano'o started to change again, surprising Kakashi. The huge armor was now revealing his full garb even with the Samurai mask that is from his own personal guardian. "All I hear in your laughter now is scorn and ridicule! But I'll change it; I'll turn your laughter into screams of anguish!"
'Sasuke!' Kakashi shouted out inside of his head. 'This is bad news!' Kakashi thought but suddenly the Susano'o started to wane in power and went to the form of a skeleton. Sasuke cried out as he covered his eyes as the Susano'o faded away completely.
"Fuck!" He shouts and uncovers his eyes and shock fills his face. 'My vision!' He starts to panic as he could barely see Kakashi now. He started to panic and rubbed his eyes madly while Kakashi stared at him, wondering what was going on. Sakura stared down at Sasuke from the bridge over hang, where she hid Karin safely.
'Sakura, why did you come back?! Stop!' Kakashi panics as he knew that even though Sasuke was having issues right now with his sight, he was still one of the dangerous people he knew.
'I won't let you carry the burden, Kakashi-Sensei!' Sakura thought as she steeled herself to complete her task. The Kunai she held to Sasuke's back shook as tears ran down her cheeks. 'I thought I could do this!' As quick as could be, Sasuke spins around to see a fuzzy vision of Sakura behind him.
"Sakura!" Kakashi shouts and starts to rush towards them as Sasuke grabs her by the shoulders. Kakashi stumbles, 'Shit! This had to happen the second after I used the Mangekyou!' He thought as he watched Sasuke put a hand around the young woman's throat before he snatches the Kunai from her hand and swings it around. "Don't do it, Sasuke!" Kakashi shouts at him as Sasuke slices the Kunai through the air, but before he could cut the woman, Naruto speeds in and quickly snatches her from him. 'Naruto!' Kakashi almost sighed in relief that the girl came.
"Naruto," Sakura says as she stares up at her friend. When the blond turns to stare at the love of her life, she knew already that something was wrong with him. She saw his eyes seemed to be unfocused and feared that he over used his eyes to the extent that they were beyond repair. Kakashi quickly rushed up to the young man who couldn't take his unfocused eyes from Naruto, showing a little bit of a weakness. Sasuke looked over his shoulder just in time to see the fist coming towards him and he puts his arms up to brace the punch, flying towards the bridge as he loses his grip on the Kunai and drops it. His feet lands on the bridge and he quickly pushes off from it, landing on the other side of Kakashi.
"You've got even better timing than me, Naruto. I never expected you to come, but I sure as hell am glad you did," Kakashi tells the girl.
"Th-thank you, Naruto," Sakura says as she stares up at the blond a she stands straight up.
"Sasuke, Sakura-chan is part of team 7, just like us," she says as she glares at him.
"In case you forgot, I'm ex-team 7," Sasuke reminded her.
"Was that proof enough, Naruto? Sasuke's not the same person anymore, so I doubt it anything would change that," the white haired man tells her as he stood beside her now.
"Sasuke," Naruto says as she stares him over.
"What?!" Sasuke grit out.
"Tobi told us the truth about Itachi! I don't know if I believe him or not, but either way, everything you've done…" She couldn't help but stare at him as she talks.
'The 'truth' about Itachi?' Sakura wonders what she's talking about.
"I understand why you did it!" She tells him, making everyone stare at her in shock.
"Naruto, I told you once before, you never had parents or siblings, you never had anyone," he glares at her. "So shut up, you outsider!" When he says this Sakura glares at him when he says this.
"Naruto's had faith in you, Sasuke-kun! No matter how badly the world slandered you, she still considered you her beloved! She still does…" She says as she looks at Naruto. "Although I'm still trying to figure out why, because of what you done she's went through hell for the past three years. You are wrong though, she's got family-"
"Sakura, shut up!" Naruto grits out at her, and Sasuke's eyes widened before he narrows them back a second later.
"Just now, just moments ago I finally got revenge for Itachi on one of his betrayers, one of the Leaf's top brass, his name was Danzou," Sasuke tells them.
'Wha…he killed Danzou?!' Kakashi's eyes widened.
"It was a high unlike anything I've ever felt. Like I was finally cleansing the Uchiha name o f the stigma that's dogged it for all these years," Sasuke says as he has a cocky grin on his face. "Like I was freeing the Uchiha from being associated with this corrupt Shinobi world. In a sense, it's what the Leaf has always wanted. After rejecting my clan for generations, I'm finally going to wipe it from your memories," after he says this, the three has a guilty look on their face, knowing that Sasuke couldn't do that. "By killing every last one of you, until the Leaf is crushed forever! Any link to the Uchiha will be severed and our name will be purified! That is how I'll revive my clan!"
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura says as she felt a pain inside of her chest since she knew he doesn't know about his own kids that are in the village now.
'A history of hatred, that's what turned Sasuke into what he is now,' Kakashi thought. 'Unfortunately for him, if he does go through with destroying everything in the Leaf, he will find out that his children were there as well, then what will his reaction be? Sakura doesn't fully understand how much Sasuke was a victim of that Era, but she'll learn from experience soon enough. That's why…' Naruto starts weaving signs but as soon as her clones pops up, Kakashi holds his arm out to stop her. "This is my job! Sakura, get out of here."
"But Kakashi-Sensei-" She tried to refuse but he interrupts her.
"I don't want you two to have to see this. Get out of here, now!" He emphasized on his demand.
"I-" she starts to complain.
"The kind of poison Kunai you'd have learned to make from Shizune won't kill Sasuke. Orochimaru would've made sure he'd be immune to it. And besides, you've seen that you can't handle this," Kakashi says as Sasuke bows his face down, activating his Chidori as he walks towards them.
"Kakashi-Sensei, are you…are you going to kill Sasuke?" Naruto asks even though she's scared to hear the answer.
"Leave!" Kakashi tells them, but with a splashing sound, Naruto took things into her hands as one clone grabs a hold of Kakashi while another rushes past him with a Rasengan.
"You've left him vulnerable! I won't hesitate for a second!" Sasuke shouts at her as he starts running.
"Naruto, wait!" Kakashi shouts at the girl.
"Naruto!" Sakura shouts at her, but nothing was stopping the girl. As they both rose their attacks Naruto's eyes narrow slightly as she stares into the dim eyes of Sasuke.
'It's funny, Sasuke, you and I could've easily been standing in each other's shoes right now,' she thought as she placed Sasuke as being the one using the Rasengan and her the Chidori, then their attacks hit and they both stared into each other's eyes. "You know why everyone hated me when I was a kid, because I have the nine-tails inside me," she says as she places her hand over her stomach. "I hated all of them, too. I wanted to get revenge on them. One misstep and I might've been thinking the same horrible things as you. I thought I'd never have a real bond with anyone, not until I met people like you and Iruka-sensei," she says as a smile works its way to her lips, one that Sasuke wished he could see clearly. "I knew you were always alone. I felt better knowing there was someone like me; I wanted to hang out with you. It just made me happy!" She tells him as she rubs the back of her neck. "But I couldn't, I was jealous of how skilled you were, so I turned you into a rival even though we were basically dating. I wanted to be just like you. I started with nothing, but I finally made a connection. We went on missions as team 7, and I kept chasing you, wanting to be just as strong, just as cool. I'm really glad I met you!" Naruto says as her smile turns into a bright grin.
"Naruto, it's too late. Nothing you can say now can change me! I'm going to kill you and every last person in your beloved village! It's time to make your choice! Kill me and become a hero, or die at my hand and be another one of my victims!" He tells her even though he is losing heart at wanting to really kill her with every second he stares into her heart, he noticed every word he said regretfully hurt her even more than he thought.
"I'm not gonna be your victim or go down in history as the person who killed you! Neither!" She tells him and the explosion threw the water up like a huge wave straight up in the sky.
