AN: Note that I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any of the characters from either Anime. This work is a fanfiction written out of my love for the series and not in any attempt to make a profit.
Proofread by: Author
Okay, this is actually where I've decided to cut it. This is officially the last chapter of this story. From here on out, I will be polishing and editing this story. Once I am done, or it's the 7th of January 2021, I plan to release the sequel, whichever comes first. Now, enjoy this chapter, it will be the last one for a while I'm afraid. I will post an additional chapter for this story in the future with thanks, credits, and a notice once the sequel is posted.
Chapter 126: The talk
It had been a long while since team seven had sparred against each other as a team. Sakura and Heikō had been confident in their new techniques and training they had undergone. The results showed as they were able to finally keep up with Naruto and Sasuke when it came to speed, but what really got the boys wary of them was their strength. Together with their Inner Chakra Weave reinforcing their body, the amount of chakra they could afford to push into their strikes increased dramatically, meaning their kicks and punches became deadly. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto engaged them in taijutsu after a single demonstration of the damage they could do when Sasuke had dodged their first punch.
Sadly, without using Natural energy, Sakura and Heikō were severely lacking in mid to long-range attacks, forcing them to resort to using kunai and shuriken to attack the two boys, who had decided to ally themselves against the Haruno twins before turning on each other. Sakura and Heikō didn't mind. After all, two versus two was just fair, and they enjoyed the challenge.
Compared to Sasuke, their Shurikenjutsu wasn't anything special, but it wasn't in any way useless. Combined with the brief bouts of strength they could achieve using bursts of chakra, kunai and shuriken became just as deadly as their taijutsu skills, due to the power behind each throw, and the speed with which they flew. Naruto resorted to clones to keep himself from tanking hits, while Sasuke managed to deflect and dodge their attacks using his Sharingan. Sadly, making a clone fo their own wasn't an option for the Haruno twins, as they hadn't been in top shape when they arrived, and with the amount of chakra they had used on launching kunai and shuriken, there wasn't even enough to attempt a reduced Shadow Clone. Naruto's own clones fortunately didn't just rush in and swarm them with numbers. While they were confident that they could take care of any number of clones using Natural energy, testing with their own clone had revealed that a clone dispersed by Natural energy, returned the Natural energy to the host, meaning a clone killed with Natural energy was likely to kill its user as well. Fortunately, the Haruno twins did get an idea to even the numbers.
Using the clone seal, Sakura smirked in Naruto's direction, before shouting out for both Naruto and Sasuke to hear. "Shadow Clone Technique!" What she actually formed, were three regular, textbook perfect, academy clones with a generous shroud of smoke to conceal their form for a bit. At the same time, Heikō cast another technique, taking advantage of Sakura's distraction to finish the technique, as it took longer to perform without forming hand seals, the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique.
Unfortunately, the poorly thought out deception combined with the effect of the technique didn't have quite the effect Sakura and Heikō had hoped for. Instead of Naruto or Sasuke being tricked into thinking that they had managed to summon an army of shadow clones, which, by all means, should have been a terrifying thought and akin to a nightmare to the two in that situation, it wasn't what the two of them saw.
Sasuke, with his Sharingan active, managed to immediately see through the terrifying number of clones, as well as the true nature of the academy clones Sakura had produced. Naruto, on the other hand, had been caught in the Genjutsu, although what he saw produced a startling result as Naruto's clones suddenly burst into smoke, released, as Naruto shot forward, screaming at the top of his lungs, distraught. "Sakura! Heikō!"
Sasuke and the twins were so surprised that they exchanged surprised glances with each other, as Naruto threw himself in front of the Haruno twins' feet, and began sobbing, looking absolutely distraught. "W-why?! S-Sakura, Heikō?" He demanded to know, sounding absolutely heartbroken.
Realizing the Genjutsu had been a bit too much, Sakura immediately dispelled it. "Naruto! It was just a Genjutsu, snap out of it!" She shouted at him, while Sasuke's eyes returned to their onyx black, the Sharingan once again inert, as their spar was clearly over. Instead, he looked worried for Naruto as he looked up at Sakura, realizing what she had said, blinking his eyes free from teas before wiping them.
"Sakura?" He asked, before suddenly standing up and hugging her close, surprising her and Heikō.
"Naruto?" Sakura asked, feeling really bad for having shaken him so badly. "What did you see?" She asked him, a little worried she wouldn't like what they heard. In hindsight, Naruto of all people, who could smile through the childhood of a village pariah, what could be bad enough to bring him to tears? What did Naruto fear?
"I-I saw you die. I thought you and Heikō used up all your chakra. Y-you stopped breathing, and… and you became still, like Haku." Naruto told her, his hug slackening around them as Naruto hung his head at the admission and regret that came with the memory.
Sighing, in relief and regret at the same time, Sakura hugged Naruto back. "Naruto, we're glad that you worry for us, but we're not that stupid or weak to just keel over and die. I'm sorry for using that Genjutsu on you, although, I think you might need to work on getting out of it. Perhaps that Nine-tails chakra inside of you can do something about it. You did learn to use it, right?" Sakura asked, breaking the hug and poking Naruto's forehead protector.
"Um, yeah," Naruto responded, nodding, before blushing and avoiding looking staring at Sakura. For a moment, Sakura was confused by his reaction, before Heikō figured it out.
"He has a crush on us, and we just shared a hug. Step back, or he'll end up saying something stupid." Heikō reminded Sakura, who rolled her eyes at the reminder, but did as Heikō suggested, glad to see Naruto recover from his embarrassment.
"Well, if you two lovebirds are done…" Sasuke then spoke up with a smirk, teasing them, making Sakura blush slightly in turn, while Heikō laughed, while Naruto's blush returned as he whipped around to glare at Sasuke.
"Hey! Don't make fun of us!" Naruto protested, which only seemed to amuse Sasuke more.
"Make me." Sasuke challenged, and suddenly the two of them had resumed their sparring, while Sakura merely sighed and shook her head.
"Good grief. They just can't get along, can they?" She asked Heikō.
"Eh, they're rivals. I'd say it's healthy and normal for them." Heikō replied, shrugging it off while observing the two of them duking it out. Although, once they began using more destructive Ninjutsu, they decided to step in and stop them before they destroyed the training round, or worse, hurt each other.
Sakura couldn't help but blush heavily, wishing for the ground to swallow her up as her mother finished the dreaded TALK with them. Even worse, she had then quizzed them on it to make sure they had paid attention. They had read medical books, so the details of puberty and menstruation hadn't been a surprise to them, and while they had heard rumors about the dreaded TALK, they hadn't been prepared for it. Especially not, since the reason for the TALK was due to their coming journey. Sakura and Heikō were late bloomers and hadn't had their first period yet, but Mebuki was convinced that within the next two years, it would occur, and considering that she'd be traveling with another boy her age, and a self-proclaimed Super Pervert, she had decided to give Sakura and Heikō the talk before they left.
"Mooooom!" Sakura groaned, trying to interrupt, Mebuki and interject. "We don't see Naruto that way, please stop!" She pleaded, only to dismay as she heard their mother chuckle.
"Oh, Sakura, Heikō. Don't think you'll be spared the hormones. I remember how I was at your age, every boy becomes pretty, one way or another, it's normal, you shouldn't be ashamed of it." She tried to assure Sakura, who flipped her braid over to the left shoulder.
"Oh, I'm not worried. Naruto is strong and I wouldn't mind, he's funny. Sakura is just a prude." Heikō assured Mebuki with a smile, making their mother chuckle while Sakura groaned in annoyance as her sister took their mother's side.
"Please, not you too!" Sakura complained, only for Heikō to giggle and continue.
"I mean, even I got curious and decided to read those Icha-Icha books Kakashi Sensei likes so much, and she hasn't even bothered to try and look at my memories of them. She's missing out." Heikō explained, which made Mebuki laugh.
Having had enough, Sakura took back control, flipping their braid back to the right shoulder, now more out of habit than with any intention to allow her mother to identify her, before standing up, intending to leave.
"W-wait, Sakura. Please, don't go, I'm sorry, but Heikō is right, you shouldn't be so embarrassed about this topic, it's natural, and while indecent to speak of in public, completely natural and healthy." Mebuki tried, keeping herself from laughing.
"Healthy?! How is this healthy?" Sakura demanded to know, turning around, shouting slightly as she was almost convinced that her mother was just trying to trick her in order to milk the situation further.
"Look, sweetie. It's a Natural process, it's part of growing up, and repressing it won't help you in any way. It's important to acknowledge and understand this part of yourself once it comes around." Mebuki assured her, which Sakura had to admit, made sense, even if it didn't make the entire topic less embarrassing.
"We haven't even hit puberty yet." Sakura pointed out, still hoping to get out of discussing the topic.
"Perhaps not, but it's coming, and you should acknowledge it all now, rather than once it all begins. So, while embarrassing, I think that it's best if I show you how to deal with it all before you leave." Mebuki told them, and Sakura hated how much sense it made, something Heikō made sure to point out and insist on reminding her that they would come to regret it if they put it off for later.
"Fine," Sakura muttered, sitting back down at the table, only for Mebuki to get up and smile at her.
"Great, in that case, it is time for us to go shopping." She announced, bewildering Sakura for a moment, before explaining as she saw her confusion. "You'll need to bring your own supplies for your journey after all, and this way, you'll know what to look for and buy," Mebuki explained. Sakura sighed but gave in as she stood up to follow their mother.
Sakura read the label on the small bottle of pills once again in horror, while her mother explained to her exactly what they were for.
"So, if you ever feel like your urges become too much… well, I'd rather you be responsible and take these pills to avoid getting pregnant. Now, these are the more expensive, Kunoichi variant, not the one civilians use, so getting them outside of the village might be a bit more difficult, although I severely hope you won't end up using the entire bottle in the time you're gone. Still, considering how unrestrained Heikō seems to be, it might not be a bad idea to get two bottles just in case." She told Sakura, who shifted her gaze to stare at her mother instead, horrified, scandalized, and showing just how healthy her heart was, displaying a full-body blush in front of her amused mother, while Heikō cackled in the back of her mind.
"Y-you think I'd… WITH NARUTO?!" She demanded to know, before looking down at the pill bottle again, seeing that there was a total of eighty pills in the bottle. "T-that many times?" She asked, unable to comprehend that their own mother thought so poorly of them, to think such countermeasures would be necessary.
"Well, I've heard that boy has a lot of stamina." Mebuki offered, looking a bit confused at Sakura's insistence. After all, it was well known that teenagers had a bit of trouble keeping it in their pants, especially Shinobi out on long-time missions. Although, it wasn't as big of an issue amongst civilian born or even regular Shinobi since the end of the warring era. Still, Mebuki knew a few children who had become the results of a supply shortage of Kunoichi pills, there was no way she'd let her daughters make the same mistake.
AN: Now, doesn't feel much like an ending, does it? I'm afraid that the departure from the village is unfortunately going to be part of the sequel.
Now, I imagine some people here would be asking what the fuck Sakura's mother is smoking. I assure you, she is being reasonable if a bit… blunt about it. Sakura is going on a long journey, and knowing others from Sakura's profession, dead and alive, Mebuki would be aware that during the war, some Shinobi found ways to relieve stress and tension in some rather… pleasurable ways. Shinobi were considered to be short-lived unless they made it to Chūnin, that is to say, they survived their first time on the front lines. And even after that, there was never a guarantee that you'd return, so a lot of confessions and last moment lovemaking was a likely result to ensure that they didn't have any regrets. I imagine that during wartime, Kunoichi pills (which do more than just prevent pregnancy) might not have been able to keep up with demand, so… yeah, a bunch of kids would be the result, something the village Council might have secretly supported and made sure went on for as long as possible to improve future numbers and potential Shinobi after the war. After all, the population of the village is the village. True Kunoichi could handle battling while pregnant, as well as a quick recovery after giving birth, and then have their children taken care of by civilians. Wars in the Shinobi Nations would change things a lot. Some of the changes will actually be bought up in the sequel when Jiraiya takes it upon himself to share a little history not really taught in the Academy.
