CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"TANUKI DREAMS 2.0"

(today i dreamt about a fox and a dog and a man made of yellow light; the fox was me; the dog my friend; the man in yellow my father)"

SUNAGAKURE

This is bad, this is really really really bad, Sakura thought to herself as she paced the corridors of the Sunagakure General Hospital. Naruto was in critical condition. He hadn't woken for two days. His heartbeat was barely there. It was so faint he was nearly admitted dead on arrival. Thank goodness for Lady Chiyo, who sensed his life-force, however faint, and had him hooked onto an IV, a ventilator, and heartbeat monitor.

Gaara was secure, and more importantly, healthy. It was crazy enough that he survived, but he seemed better for it. His tailed beast was removed from him by the Akatsuki. Sakura knew from Tsunade that should the moment arrive, and Naruto be captured by the Akatsuki, it would mean the end of his life.

Surviving tailed beast extraction was nearly impossible. But if someone could do it, Tsunade-sensei had always said it would be Naruto; Sakura didn't know if she believed that because of his indispensable courage and strong will, or because of his namesake Uzumaki. She'd read tales of the First Hokage's beau, Mito, and of her longevity and eternal youth, all credited to her Uzumaki blood.

Sakura chewed her fingernails and paced the corridor no end. And to top it all off, Kakashi-sensei is missing without a goddamn trace! She didn't know what to do at all, she'd never been in this position before. She'd never had to take calls on the open field, and especially not on behalf of her entire team. She'd sent a bird out to Konoha to deliver word of this development in their mission. She prayed in her mind that Tsunade had already received it. That the bird was faster than light and it had already informed her and that she was already figuring out what to do and how to be here so that she could save Naruto. Her medical knowledge was flawless.

But then why isn't she here? said a voice inside her head. She shook it off and kept on pacing.

KONOHAGAKURE

"Shizune," Tsunade said, "inform the councilmen and the advisory. I'm heading out for Suna!"

Shizune nearly dropped the whole stack of paperwork. "Ts-tsunade-sama, Suna? Why?"

Tsunade outfitted herself as she spoke. "Sakura's messenger bird spoke unfortunate news. My presence will be required."

Shizune silently observed her master. The woman was hiding the details. She allowed it. There was always a good reason and an equally strong superstition. When she bet she always lost. She didn't want to say something and jinx her hidden hopes and secret desires.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama, I will inform them. Which squad shall I prepare to accompany you?"

"None," Tsunade said, slapping a wrist-guard in place. "I will be going alone."

"A-alone, T-tsunade-sama, b-but—"

"No buts, Shizune. I've said it and I won't repeat myself." She swung her Hokage cloak over her shoulders. (She rarely ever wore the thing; it was too flashy for her comfort; she kept it purely for official occasions—meetings with other country-men, counsellors, etc.)

Shizune chewed her lip. "Please, Tsunade-sama, I urge you to reconsider."

Tsunade paused, grabbed Shizune by the shoulders, "I've reconsidered. I'm still going alone," and she left the fortressed offices of the Hokage Tower and blitzed out the village gates before Shizune could say another word. And that was when she heard the sound of diamonds shattering. Tsunade-sama, that jutsu?!

The Root Operative Sai observed her departure with a keen eye and an illicit curiosity. He dissipated into shadow and the place where he hid turned to ink and hit the ground a giant splash, vandalizing the neighbouring street.

In Sunagakure General Hospital, Naruto had comatose dreams. He could vaguely feel his life-force slugging along, keeping him alive—barely, but just enough that he might just live to fight another day. He knew in passing the reasons how he ended up here—in here—like this, but it escaped him for the most part. All he knew was pain, pain, pain…

What he could feel of his body hurt worse than the time he spurted the fifth and sixth tail during his training with Jiraiya-sensei. His head pounded. He had the worst migraine. And it was only getting worse with each dream he encountered…

Naruto drifted along the swampy waters of the gutter that was his mind. He passed through corridor after corridor, finally arriving to the place where the beast lived inside him. He remembered—as if this was a distant memory and not happening in the here and now—feeling like he was seeing himself in the third person. He watched his blank face as it floated across the water, his blue eyes a paler colour now, especially so in the dim light the sewer projected.

He saw his body drift through the gigantic prison-bars that separated him and the Kyūbi, and he tried to yell at his third-person Self to STOP!…to no avail, his-Self did not stop floating into the abyss of the Kyūbi's cage, and he feared—he knew, deep inside—that this was the end for him. Even if he lived, it would be a faux-existence; not truly him, just the Kyūbi playing its part pulling his strings.

Naruto drifted into darkness, inch by inch, the water getting deeper. He felt like he'd crossed into an ocean of pain. The water pricked his body through the fabric of his clothes. He felt like he was getting heavier. He began to sink into the depths of the ocean. The prison-gates were a great distance away now. He had crossed the border into its depths and was now in the Kyūbi's domain. He succumbed to it…

Sink…

Sink…

Sink…

SINK.

Naruto opened his eyes and saw the beast (from his own point of view, no longer an abstract phantom witnessing his self from the outside in), its eyes blood-red, its fur on edge, mouth salivating at the sweet sight of Naruto. Time to eat, Naruto thought. He imagined the painful sight of seeing his innards drowning in the water as the beast ate him up bit by bit.

It didn't.

A tear fell on his face, like a great splash from a bucket of water. Kyūbi was crying. Why? Naruto wondered. Why do you cry? Isn't this what you've always wanted?

(No…not always…)

I don't understand. What is this?

Kyūbi didn't answer. A great flash of yellow light enveloped the ocean whole. When Naruto blinked his eyes he saw a shadow standing atop the still water. It was a man. He was bathed in yellow light. He felt pure. Naruto felt at peace staring at the man. And then he spoke.

"Naruto, right?"

Naruto nodded. The man's features becoming clearer as the light began to dim…

"It's good to meet you, properly this time. My name—well, you must already know my name—Jiraiya-sensei must have told you. But for the sake of introductions, my name is Namikaze Minato, aka your Fourth Hokage."

Naruto wide-eyed stared at the man.

Kyūbi disappeared. The cage disappeared. Everything dissipated until they were standing in an empty white room, comprised of nothing but the two of them floating within it.

"How is this possible? Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?…"

"Hahaha! Nothing of the sort, son. Just your mind-scape. I stored a little bit of chakra inside of you in case a moment ever arrived where the Kyūbi took over; it was to reset the seal, except…your seal is all fine and dandy. And you're going to be absolutely fine. Which begs the question, why was my chakra summoned forth?…"

Naruto didn't hear a word after son. He slammed into his father wholeheartedly and held him in a tight hug. Tears brimmed and he felt his cheeks go hot. "Dad!"

Minato smiled and rubbed Naruto's back. He ran his fingertips through the boy's hair and pulled him in closer. "I'm sorry, son. It's been too long. I'm sure you've gone through enough."

Naruto wept into his father's shoulder. He didn't speak for a long while. He wept all his sorrow out in one go. Minato simply held him, whispering sweet sayings to his young boy, consoling him as best as a man can who has only now met his son properly for the very first time.

Naruto pulled away after endless minutes of crying. He stared into his father's eyes. "You have no idea what I've been through."

"You're probably right, Naru—"

"No! You don't understand! Everything I had to go through just because you decided to make me the vessel for the Kyūbi, just because you chose to make me a Jinchūriki! I lived alone for so long, nobody wanted to be friends with me, everyone hated me, the villagers cornered me with their evil stares and they all thought I couldn't hear them talking about me but I heard every single on of 'em and I-I-I hated them!"

Minato shed a tear. He held his son's cheek. "I'm very sorry about all that, Naruto-kun. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, if not now then maybe someday in the future."

Naruto softened at his father's touch. He'd never felt comfort before, not like this, not from a man he could call his father. The closest he'd had to a parent was Hokage-jiji, but then he died, and after him it was Jiraiya-sensei. "I understand," he said, "I understand every bit of why you did what you did, dad, of course I do. But it doesn't stop it from hurting me. And it didn't stop the villagers from turning me into a pariah."

Minato nodded. "Yes, people can be like mountains."

"I only wish mom was here too," Naruto said.

"Of course you do," Minato said, peeking behind his shoulder and holding in his sheepish expression. Maybe one day, Naruto, but not today, he thought. I think you'd be surprised to know her…she would be so proud of you. Ah, how I miss your presence—

"Why are we even here?" Naruto said.

Minato gave him a look. "Your guess is as good as mine, son."

A lightbulb lit up in Naruto's head. "The Hiraishin no jutsu…"

"Ah."

"Shit."

"Well, that would probably be it."
"Again, I'm sorry, it was the only choice I had. I read about it in one of Jiraiya-sensei's scrolls while he was off peeping years ago. It took me a while to understand and I never really got the hang of it—obviously, since we're here right now—but it was either that or to hand myself over to the Akatsuki along with the Kyūbi," Naruto said.

"No apology necessary," Minato said. He smiled. "You took a tough call on the battlefield in the heat of battle. I'm proud of you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto stared at his father's expression, his cheeks flush and his eyes turned up as he smiled innocently at the man. "Thanks, dad!"

Minato clapped him on the back. "Come, let's take a walk. And don't sweat it about the jutsu. Practice makes perfect, you know. Although, I wouldn't try it again with the Hiraishin…"

"I've been watching everything going on, Naruto-kun, I know everything about what happened with Uchiha Sasuke and more recently…Hyūga Hinata…"

Naruto chewed his lip. "You do, huh."

Minato swung an arm around Naruto's shoulder. They seemed to have been pacing on endlessly through the white room, which, it would appear, extended along with their steps forward to wherever they went and would continue for infinity. "Listen, Naruto-kun," he started, "That moment, when Hinata-san died, I felt everything going on inside you. I thought that I might just have to preemptively break out of the seal in order to stop you from unleashing the Kyūbi completely, but then something happened…"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Something did happen. Hinata said something to me and I felt this weird feeling and then this warmth overcame me and I started burning yellow."

"Precisely, Naruto-kun, precisely that. Do you know why that happened?" Naruto shook his head. "I think, Naruto-kun, Hinata-san channeled her feelings for you into a type of power source. And in turn, so did you."

"I don't quite understand, dad."

"Neither do I, to be quite honest," Minato said, "but I have a theory that all of that purity you felt for Hinata and that Hinata felt for you—her love, your appreciation of her, your pain at losing her—it altered the evolution of how your chakra and the Kyūbi's chakra usually mix together. You see, usually, whenever you use the Kyūbi's chakra it's been a volatile result. The chakra hurts more than it helps. But in the instance with Hinata-san, it was almost as if your chakras were complimenting each other. Helping one another the way two halves of the same whole do."

"Yin & Yang," Naruto whispered.

"Precisely," Minato said.

"But how is that possible?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure. But maybe it's possible that what you feel, your aura, your purity, your intent—it all affects how you and the beast interact with one another."

Naruto nodded. "Basic math. A positive and a negative always equals negative."

"Yes, but it's more than that. It can play out two ways here; either you give in and meet the Kyūbi's negative with your own negative, play into its methods and you would gain its power but in return you would become evil; or, you meet the Kyūbi with your positive…and—"

"The Kyūbi meets me with his positive."

Minato nodded.

"But then that would mean…"

"Yes."

"Shit."

"Haha, indeed. I think you and the fox need to have a conversation in private. What do you say, Naruto-kun?"

"Will you come with me?" he asked. Minato shook his head. "Why not?"

"I brutally injured and resealed the beast. I think me being present would only deter the goal of the conversation."

"So what," Naruto said. "and the beast killed both my parents and has ever since only tried to escape from me, whether it caused me harm was the least of its concerns."

"Well it would seem that that's changed," Minato said with a smirk on his face.

Naruto huffed. "Then you can come with me after all if the beast's turned over a new leaf."

Minato sighed. "Listen, Naruto-kun, I was only able to store whatever chakra I had left. And I'm about empty."

Naruto didn't say a word in return.

Minato smiled at the young boy. "This is goodbye, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled. He understood very quickly that their time must be limited. He cherished the fact that he got to meet his father. He would tell Jiraiya-sensei all about it when he got home. Still, he was sad. Sad that he couldn't have a father. Sad that he couldn't have a mother. But that's okay, because when he becomes Hokage, he'll have an entire village to call his family—people who will have acknowledged him and understood him and buried their biased hatred of him. He wouldn't have to be a pariah anymore. One day…

Minato hugged Naruto. Naruto held on tight. He felt Minato dissipate like the yellow light, then the vast white room along with him, and Naruto closed his eyes before he would be back in the sewer with the beast again. He opened his eyes when he felt nothing but the cold, empty air to return his embrace. And then came the foul stench of the sewer. Kami, my mind's really a gutter, ain't it…

Naruto stood before the giant gates that bridged the gap between Kyūbi and him and the world beyond. A paper of equal size taped both side of the gate shut—atop it, written boldly: SEAL.

Naruto willed the beast's presence. It did not show its face.

Naruto urged it without words, only his unmoving presence. I will not move until you show yourself to me.

It did not show its face.

Naruto spoke. "Kyūbi, for as long as I've known you, you've never hidden from me."

It. Did. Not. Show. Its. Face.

"Why now?" he asked. "Why hide now, when I've finally come on my own. Just to see you."

Naruto couldn't sense anything beyond the bars. He ground his teeth together. He furrowed his brows. He squinted…

Something walked by the gate. Naruto couldn't quite see it. It was dark. It was a tiny creature. It came through the bars. It was a dog—no—a…Tanuki? he wondered. It smiled goofily at him before receding back into the darkness.

The Kyūbi still had not shown its face.

"OYE! Why won't you show yourself you stupid mangy mutt!? C'mon, I'm here and I wanna talk asshole! You always do this, so attitude-y, like a girl, huh, I'll just call you Kyūbi-chan from now on. Yeah, that sounds good to me. Neh, Kyūbi-chan…chanchanchanchan~ Kyūbi-chaaaaa—"

"OYE! GAKI! YOU DARE COME IN HERE AND START NAME-CALLING WITH ME! STEP PAST THOSE BARS IF YOU'VE GOT THE BALLS, BOY! I'LL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS BEFORE YOU CAN SAY THE WORDS, 'Chan' AGAIN!"

Kyūbi's voice boomed. Echoes bounced through the cracks and came out whispers from other corners of the dank prison. It emphatically imitated Naruto's way of saying the word, chan.

Naruto grinned and scratched his head at that. "S-sorry…just wanted to get your attention."

Kyūbi huffed. "What do you want," it said, stepping closer to the gates. Its figure towered the prison itself, and in order to avoid bumping its head against the ceiling, it had to crouch down low. "Did you think I was waiting for you to extend a hand of friendship, brat? That we would become inseparable partners in and outside of our combat lives? Just 'cause your dead ol' daddy said so?"

"Well, yeah," Naruto said.

"Don't think I'm amused, boy. Get the hell out of here. We have nothing to discuss."

"Sure we do," Naruto said. "What happened to me after…after…after Hinata died? I've never felt power like that before, not even when you lent me your chakra during the fight at the Valley of the End. Not even when you nearly killed me after almost sprouting the 8th tail during my training with Jiraiya."

"Don't fool yourself. It was my chakra. That's all."

Naruto facepalmed. "Listen, you've been inside me for—no, no, wait, that sounds wrong…uhmmm…you've been sealed…no…you know what I mean, Kyūbi, you've been in this predicament for the past 15 years—"

"Wrong," Kyūbi said.

"Wrong?"

"Hm."

"How? Wait, you—"

"I have been sealed for over 100 years, Naruto. You have no clue about anything. No idea about me."

"I-I…I want to know."

"No. I won't let you, Naruto. Now, if you're done pestering me, fuck off for a little while. I'm sure I'll see you again, whenever you get yourself into a situation next-door to Death. Pester me then. Begone now!"

"Kyūbi, that's not fair—"

"Oye, I'm not here to teach you what's fair and what's not. This isn't moral philosophy class, Naruto. You realize if these bars weren't here we wouldn't be 'just talking' right now. My claws would've been in your heart. I would've traced scars into the spot where you're 'best friend' stabbed you with a jutsu your 'beloved teacher' taught him. Begone, Naruto. Begone."

"You're being awfully mean considering you helped me back then. Admit it. You synched our chakra, didn't you?"

"Your dad and you, you're both insane. He was the one who designed this damned seal to synchronize our chakra together with time. This is only an inevitability. Don't fool yourself—"

"Yeah, I know, but you've always had the ability to deny me power. You've said no before, when it wasn't of enough interest for you. Why did you help me. Why with Hinata?"

"You helped yourself."

"Tsk. C'mooooon, man. Enough with your moodiness. Get off your high-horse already and accept that we're both fucked. You might not have chosen this predicament but neither did I. My pops did. And he did it because he knew there would come a time when I would need your help. He anticipated the Akatsuki—or at least, something big and evil. Please, Kyūbi, search your feelings. I'm not ashamed to admit that I need your help. The Akatsuki are strong, stronger than I am. You see everything that goes on from inside here. You saw how I barely escaped. I had zero control over that teleportation. I'm lucky I didn't leave my head behind."

Kyūbi came right up to the bars. His snout peaked between. It reached where Naruto stood. He could dine on Naruto right now if he so desired. Instead he smiled. Naruto couldn't tell if it was evil or friendly or just how his face looked when he bared his fangs. Kyūbi kept on smiling.

"Oy, Naruto…"

"Yeah," Naruto said, unsure of what was to come.

"FUCK OFF—"

"Naruto, wake up…please, wake up, Naruto…!"

Eh, who's there? Naruto wondered.

"Naruto!"

The voice came from above, he thought.

"NARUTOOOOO!"

Naruto stared at the prison bars. They began to grow distant. No, he thought. Not until we're finished talking, Kyūbi—

He saw the beast looking at him through the gates, his expression inexplicable. He was crying again. No—he wasn't crying. He was never crying. His eyes…what the hell was wrong with his eyes? "Oy, Kyūbi, what's wrong with your eyes?! Oy! Kyūbi!"

But Kyūbi never spoke…

He just flashed blood-red eyes…

Weird-shaped, a shuriken encircled by tomoe…but it was definitely…

It was unmistakeable to Naruto…

That what he was seeing…

…was a Sharingan.

(Though it will long be forgotten by the time you awake, Naruto…I'm sorry. You remind me so much of Him…I'm sorry I couldn't help you more)

SUNAGAKURE GENERAL HOSPITAL

Tsunade pumped vigorous amounts of chakra into Naruto's brain and heart. She manually channelled his neurological impulses and restarted them to jumpstart Naruto's consciousness. He finally opened his eyes. She shed a tear. It fell into his eye. He blinked and sat upright, rubbing his eyes vigorously. He stared at her and Sakura and he smiled brightly like he always did. She wouldn't have been able to bear it if he died. She wouldn't bear it. And now she wouldn't have to. She knew now, that everything was going to be okay. Because Naruto was okay. And so she was okay.

"Yo," he said, eyes shut in a delightful grin.

Can't let you out of my sight for too long, she thought

He snickered, as if hearing her thoughts.

I missed you, brat. Don't ever do that again.

"I can't do that, Tsuna-chan," he said aloud, confusing Sakura, surprising Tsunade.

Why's that? she thought.

"Well, if I stopped being broken, then who are you going to fix?"

The moment was imagined. Naruto simply sat there, grinning at the both of them, happy to be back in the world of the living, unaware of the thoughts that had just flowed through her head, unaware of her bond to him, her affection for him. He was the closest thing she had to a friend other than Jiraiya. Friend, she thought. It took her half her life to find one. And she wasn't going to spend the other half mourning the loss of it.

A single tear let loose off her cheek. Sakura didn't notice. Naruto did. He stopped laughing. He stared at her face. Without hesitation, he reached forward—palm out—and caught the tear in his bare hand. He made a fist and pulled her in for a hug. She didn't fight him. She held him tight. Sakura joined.

Tsunade held back her tears. Not in front of Sakura. Not in front of Naruto. Not anymore. Not in front of those who looked up to her.

She wouldn't let a single one of them die on her watch.

She was the Hokage. It took her a long time to understand what that meant, but now she knew.

You all are my family. And I'll gladly die fighting for you all.

CHAPTER END.