Naruto decided to leave Uzushio in December. She had stayed away from Konoha long enough, and even though she felt at home here, she knew Hinata needed to get home.
She needed to explain things to the Sandaime, anyway.
The duo left the island, Sasuke deciding to stay. He handed her all the paperwork he needed, his hitai-ate, and Karin and Tayuya had done the same. They had no desire to stay in Konoha.
And Naruto understood.
~:~
Naruto stepped in the gates, her face hard.
"Naruto!" Kotetsu, she thought his name was, scrambled to greet her. "I'm so sorry for your loss," he tried saying.
Naruto looked at him blankly.
Then she started walking again.
It was painful, walking through the market. People still shot glares at her, but it was different.
She walked into Ichiraku and sat down.
A bowl slid in front of her.
"On the house, kiddo," Teuchi said with quiet sympathy.
He didn't act like he knew her grief. Though he probably did, considering how old he was.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He smiled at her.
"Does it get better?" she asked, not seeing Haruno Mebuki sitting near her, probably listening in for some gossip. Or some other way to hurt the 'demon'. "Does the hole in your heart... The blockage in your throat... Does it go away?" She was aware of tears again sliding down her face, onto the counter. She snapped her chopsticks, and ate. Her grief haunted her, and she cried even as she asked for a second bowl.
One for her, one for Kiana. That's all she could stomach.
And then she wiped her face, offered the father and daughter a watery smile, and left.
Haruno Mebuki was haunted by her words.
~:~
Naruto entered the Hokage's office.
"Hokage-sama," she said, ignoring the three ninja in the room. "I've come to give you these."
She handed him the stacks of paper and went to leave, when she was grabbed and restrained.
By a shadow.
She struggled against it, her eyes spinning into the Sharingan she had.
But she could barely twitch.
"Inoichi. Do it now."
She canceled her eyes as the man in question came around to her front and placed his hand on her head.
She had no choice.
Kurama.
Her mind shattered, splintering into millions of fragments.
Kurama roared.
~:~
Inoichi entered her mind, but rushed to get out of it. Her mind, in the few seconds it had taken him to get into it, had completely shattered.
"Her mind is... Broken," Inoichi said.
Her eyes were closed, and Inoichi opened a lid.
And recoiled.
They were red, and furious. But the Kyuubi did nothing, only faded from her eyes.
"Well, she might be malleable now," the Sandaime said.
Inoichi shook his head.
"No. You can't. Release her, Shikaku."
Shikaku released her. She fell with a sickening thud onto the ground. A broken person's mind would be a blank slate. But hers...
"She shattered it on her own volition. I'm sure I could put it back together, but without the help of someone like Tsunade-sama of the Sannin, I'm not sure it would work."
"Then I'll go get her," Jiraiya said, coming out of the shadows. "The council said one of the Sannin should be the Hokage - you're getting old, sensei. So why not have Tsunade do it?"
"Good point. But make certain her mind is malleable for conditioning," the Sandaime instructed.
Jiraiya dipped his head.
Inoichi assumed he was as worried about the Uzumaki kid as much (if not more) as he was. The gaki had the misfortune to be the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, and all Kages had 'owned' them.
Naruto had been scared when she'd looked at him, then determined. And then blank as he'd dived into her mind.
He didn't want to lose her - she was a good person.
And those were rare to come by. Especially now.
