Chapter 18: An Eventful Interlude
February 16th, 66 AFL
It was nearing midday when Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze dismissed his clones and tried to perform the jutsu he had been trying to master for the last few days, "Wind Style - Great Breakthrough!" He shouted but to his disappointment the technique just wasn't up to his standards, 'Damn it, with my affinity to wind this should be easy but I always hated having to master multiple signs for just one jutsu,' he thought in annoyance. He was snapped out of his aggravation from an all too familiar voice,
"Naruto-kun! Are you ready for lunch?" Hinata asked as she came up to the boy she had been traveling with for almost two years. Naruto had grown and was now taller than her, not to mention how well toned he had gotten. As for Hinata her hair was down to her back as usual but she had grown in what Pervy Sage would say, in all the right departments. Fortunately for them the sage had taken their training seriously, possibly because his novels no longer required the adequate amount of research they needed before.
Jiraiya had been forced to stop writing smut in his stories by the lovely Lady Tsunade but if it bothered him, he didn't show it. Naruto had also acquired a new jumpsuit, rather necessary with his growth spurt, that was still mostly orange but now had bits of black instead of blue. Hinata had also acquired a new outfit although it was similar to her old one and with some difficulty the Hyuga heiress had even taught herself how to sew. She had designed a new cloak for Naruto that was black instead of blue but still had oranges flames along the bottom. Hinata herself had decided to make herself a dark blue cloak, that was the same shade as Naruto's old one but similar to her previous cloak it had moons patterned on the bottom and cuffs.
Hinata eventually laid out a blanket on the ground and started preparing the lunch she had made for them. Naruto smiled while joining her and asked, "Have you made any progress on the Bird Cage Seal?" Hinata sighed but took a bite of her meal before replying, "Not really but I did make a little progress on your da…" The Hyuga beauty was interrupted when they heard Jiraiya call their names, "Naruto, Hinata we have a guest who has some info on Orochimaru," he said while grinning like a fool.
Meanwhile back in the Leaf Village a pinkette was standing in front of the woman who was a sensei, grandmother, and Hokage to her, "Sakura you've asked me about the Uzumaki clan and my grandmother more times than I can count but like I said before I don't have any real records of Uzugakure or the Fuinjutsu scrolls that you're interested in." Lady Hokage explained but seeing her apprentices look of disappointment she sighed and then said loudly, "Sakura!" The young medic looked up to her master again,
"You're lucky you're the best student I've ever had and that we're so close because I would never approve of this otherwise however I can tell how important this is to you," the old woman started confusing the cherry blossom slightly. "I'll approve a solo mission for you to visit the ruins of Uzugakure and to retrieve any documents or jutsus that may be useful to the Leaf," Tsunade ordered and then stamped the mission approved after slamming the paper onto her desk,
"But you better come back or so help me Kami I'll show you just what I did to Jiraiya-kun when I caught him peeking on me years ago." Sakura gulped and nodded, "Hai, thank you Tsunade-sama," she said happily and left the Hokage's office to get ready for her mission. While walking she couldn't help but wonder, 'Naruto-kun, Hinata, I hope you two are doing ok. I miss you both so much, I just hope you're ready to come home soon.'
Meanwhile deep in one of Orochimaru's secret hideouts the Uchiha clan were standing in front of a vile snake, "Sasuke-kun I have a mission for you that should help with you're training," the sannin grinned but when the trio of Uchihas just stared at him with indifference he sighed, "Eight hundred of my test subjects have escaped from one of my prisons and I'd like you to take Karin-chan and retrieve them," he finished explaining. Sasuke snickered,
"Fine but we'll be visiting Uzugakure afterward," the Uchiha finished calmly. Orochimaru's eyes perked up at this, "Why go there Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke huffed, "It's Karin home and if there's anything left of value there, I want it," he replied simply. Orochimaru scowled at the ravin haired teen, there was always a deal with this boy but the possible justus that the Uzumaki clan had were invaluable and if there was anything left it would be worth salvaging. "Fine you two can go." Sasuke and Karin nodded before looking at Ino who nodded herself, making their departure while Ino stood in front of the sannin with a scowl,
"What Ino-chan?" Ino huffed before basically ordering the snake, "I want to know everything you know about the First, Second, and Third Hokage, as well as your experiences with the Leaf itself. I know you were in competition with the Fourth Hokage over his position and I also know why you were marked a rogue nin so tell me how did the great Orochimaru-sama get here. I want to know everything as well as whatever dealings you had with the organization called Root." This one shocked the snake but he kept his composure and actually chuckled sickly, "
Well Ino-chan you sure are a nosy girl. Hmmm, very well then I'll tell you my story," he replied arrogantly. The sannin gave the platinum blonde an entire auto biography of his greatness but the girl held on to every word nonetheless and eventually one name sparked her interest. A rival to Lord Third and leader of what was supposed to be the defunct group known as Root, Danzo Shimura as well as the First Hokage's arch rival Madara Uchiha. Meanwhile Naruto and Hinata were meeting another person whose life had been devastated by the snake,
"So you're name's Sasame Fuma," Naruto stated. "And Orochimaru recruited most of your clan promising greatness but he just ended up using them for his experiments," Hinata finished. "Yes!" The brown eyed, orange haired girl said in tears as she cried into the Namikaze matriarch's chest, "I've been on my own for over a year but I hadn't found them. Then I… I wandered into a cave and I… I found them all dead. Their bodies had been joined together, it was so… so inhumane," she continued while sobbing. The pair tried to help the girl to the best of their ability while Jiraiya summoned a toad and wrote a message on a scroll. He then put a hand on the girl's shoulder and said simply,
"Follow my friend back to the Leaf, my hime we'll take care of you, I promise," he said softly. The girl was still sniffling but as she started to follow the messenger toad she turned to the pair one last time and said sadly, "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help but I do pray your friends fare better against that bastard then mine did." Sasame disappeared into the trees with the toad and the Namikaze pair looked at each other sadly, "Well that's a way to kill an anniversary," Naruto tried to manage a joke but Hinata looked at him confused, "Anniversary?" She questioned and he just looked at her fondly before saying,
"It's February 16th, Hinata-chan, two years ago was the day we first kissed, believe it," he said while wearing a stupid looking grin. Hinata gasped, even though she had forgotten, he had remembered and that's what really shocked her, "Now there's a festival tonight right Pervy Sage." The old man nodded and then said, "You might want to run to town to get a kimono Hinata. Don't worry I'll make sure Naruto gets something... appropriate," the old man said while thinking of the obvious orange choice his apprentice would make.
Hinata jumped to her feet and squealed in delight, grabbed the blonde by his face and kissed him hard before skipping into town in some sort of delirium of bliss. Naruto went to follow his soulmate but was stopped when Ero-sensei placed a hand on his shoulder. The blonde turned around wondering what the hell his sensei wanted but when he saw what was in his hand his jaw hit the ground.
It was late into the evening before Sasuke and Karin located their targets, "Alright Sasuke-kun, there's two hundred and sixty to the North. One hundred to the south, nearly three hundred heading east and the remaining targets are to our west." Karin explained while using her incredible sensory abilities. Sasuke simply nodded and one by one he hunted down the escaped prisoner with skill and precision. He defeated everyone without killing any of them but when he heard a scream he immediately darted back to Karin's original position. What he saw turned his stomach, one of the prisoners had a long sharp dagger and was currently lunging at his redheaded soulmate.
He lunged into action without thinking and when Karin opened her eyes she saw her attacker cleaved in two while Sasuke wiped the man's blood off of his katana. "Sasuke-kun you… you killed him for me," she managed to whimper out and then collapsed to the ground, "Damn it, I'm useless I know how much you hate killing unnecessarily and now because of me you had to…" The girl stopped when she felt the young Uchiha cup her chin,
"We're shinobi Karin and remember what I said the day we met." Sasuke said as she looked up to him with tears, "I will never let any harm come to you or Ino no matter what I have to do." He finished calmly and then released the poor redhead. "Still you definitely need some more offensive jutsu. I know Kabuto's been training you in medical ninjutsu and your sensory abilities are beyond incredible." Sasuke stated honestly causing Karin to blush. Sasuke sighed before looking to the girl and thinking, 'Well it's worth a shot.'
"Karin let me try teaching you my Fireball jutsu," he said causing the redhead teen's eyes to widen but she replied sadly. "But Sasuke-kun you know I don't have an affinity to fire, I'm a water and earth user like Ino, Orochimaru tested me when he captured me." She finished with a look of disappointment. Sasuke sighed again but only said, "Humor me." She got ready and Sasuke showed Karin the signs while shouting, "Fire Style - Fireball Jutsu!" As he did this he kept his eyes locked on Karin's and unbeknownst to him his unique form of sharingan activated.
As soon as Sasuke executed his signature jutsu Karin mirrored the action without fail, "Fire Style - Fireball Jutsu!" Lucky for the pair they directed their attacks away from each other and together their combined flame burned several trees to ash. Sasuke looked back to the girl with his mouth wide open, "How?" Karin looked around just as bewildered as he was, looking to her hands and then eventually back to Sasuke, "I don't know." She replied just as confused as he was but then she pointed to the young sharingan wielder, "Sasuke-kun I didn't know you could invert the colors of your sharingan," she said simply. Sasuke put a hand over his eyes and thought,
'The normal sharingan copies and steals an opponent's techniques but this form gives jutsus instead of takes them. Shit, that still doesn't explain why Karin has fire style chakra when all she ever had was an affinity to water and earth,' he thought. Sasuke huffed and turned his attention back to the lovely redhead, "Will you let me try again Karin." Karin nodded with a determined look and Sasuke used a jutsu he had picked up while stuck with the snake, "Lightning Style - Lightning Ball!"
Several yellow orbs of lightning erupted from Sasuke's mouth and scattered themselves around the area before detonating in a large explosion of electricity. Unfortunately for Karin her attempt to use the jutsu failed miserably and she collapsed to the ground in a state of exhaustion. Sasuke immediately rushed over to the girl and picked her up while asking in concern, "Karin, Karin are you okay?" He asked but she simply smiled and replied, "Sorry Sasuke-kun," before leaning up and quickly pecking his cheek. Karin collapsed into Sasuke's arms, although Sasuke would swear she wasn't asleep but then a thought crossed his mind, 'If Karin has my fire then does that mean Ino has my lightning,' were the Uchiha's thoughts as he set up camp and prepared for their journey to Uzugakure. All while several other sound shinobi gathered the escaped but alive nin and transferred them back to Orochimaru's prison.
Meanwhile Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze was tapping his foot, waiting impatiently outside of Hinata's tent wondering what the hell was taking so long. He was dressed in a black kimono while his hair was just as messy as it always was. When the Hyuga heiress finally did emerge for the second time today, the blonde's jaw hit the floor for the second time today. Hinata emerged wearing a light blue kimono made of the finest silk. Like always her long hair was down and flowing freely while a necklace made of clear white pearls surrounded her neck. She giggled a little at the boy's reaction and said happily,
"Do you think I look alright Naruto-kun?" Naruto got out of his stupor and looked at her fondly before cupping her face and bringing her close, "You look beautiful Hinata-hime." He quickly pecked her lips before grabbing her hand and soon enough they were at the local festival. They started with a light dinner, proceeded with several games, and by the end of the night they were making their wishes. As the two walked in the moonlight they found themselves coming out of the woods and stood atop a small hill. Hinata caught a chill and moved closer to the blonde who held her tightly in his arms.
He looked down to the girl with a small smile but when he went for their two year anniversary kiss they heard a loud bang. The sky was illuminated by the various colors of the beautiful fireworks that glowed brightly in the night sky. Hinata leaned up to kiss her soulmate but was surprised to see him on his knees. The Hyuga princess gasped before asking, "Naruto-kun is that what I think it is?" Naruto smiled affectionately after her,
"This ring was apparently Ba-chan's grandmothers and I know I'm not the smartest when it comes to this kind of thing but I still want to ask you the normal way." The blonde chunin gulped before looking back to meet the princesses's eyes, "Will you be happy with me and becoming Mrs. Namikaze, Hinata-chan." Naruto opened the box and revealed a ring with a diamond at the center, it was a modest piece of jewelry but it fit the First Hokage as well as Naruto's personality. Hinata went wide eyed for a moment but then squealed in delight,
"Yes Naru-kun, yes a hundred times yes!" She took the ring and slipped it on her finger and then grabbed the poor baka's face and forced him into a deep lip lock. Although Hinata's first reaction made him happy and relieved, the second made him sigh, when the beautiful girl collapsed into his arms in a state of blissful unconsciousness,
"Kami damn it! Damn it! What the hell, you haven't done that in years my sweet moonlight. Hinata-chan was my proposal really too much for you," he said, half somewhat irritated and the other half a bit amused. "Sorry Naru-kun," she managed to whisper out through her state of emotional delirium. Naruto actually laughed at that and decided it was a good time to call it a night so he returned to their campsite and laided Hinata in her tent. Before leaving her to her dreams he pecked her cheek and then brushed his hand against hers.
The blonde then sighed before exiting the tent and heading to his own. As he laid down in his own sleeping bag he couldn't help but be happy that Hinata truly did want to be with him, although he couldn't help but wonder how his cherry blossom was doing and if she would be just as eager to become Mrs. Uzumaki. As the Namikazes drifted off to sleep Ino Yamanaka Uchiha was preparing to enter the land of dreams herself. As she got into the massive bed alone she couldn't help but reflect on all the things Orochimaru had told her,
'So the First Hokage killed Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End after he failed to convince our clan to betray the village. Then after Hashirama's death his younger brother became Hokage and formed the Uchiha police force. This was done as an act of good will but anyone with half a brain knows how the police force can be viewed by the general public and it sure as hell didn't help that our clan were the majority of the members in the force.' Ino shoved her face into the red pillow she was using and let loose an aggravated scream,
'Then there's the fact that Madara's weapon of choice was the nine-tails. I mean not even the Fourth Hokage could control that thing, that's why he had to seal it inside Naruto so how the hell did he just order it around like some damn pet.' Ino sat up in her bed and actually said aloud in realization, "What if… What if it was Madara's sharingan that allowed him to control the nine-tails and if that's the case then… then is that reason Sasuke and Naruto were placed on the same team." Ino flopped back down on the bed and shook her head trying to clear her thoughts,
'Alright so if the sharingan can somehow control the nine-tails then…" Ino eyes shot wide open again, "Then it was a member of the Uchiha clan that attacked the village fifteen years ago and released that damn thing and… and if the Hokage and the other members of the Leaf knew about this then… then they would have assumed the clan itself was involved, shit!" Ino sighed and shook her head again before turning over and trying her best to get asleep, 'Is it really possible that the Leaf ordered Itachi to do what he did. I thought it was crazy but the more I learn about the village and the Uchiha in general the more it seems like it could really be true but even if that's the case what the hell am I supposed to do,' were the blonde's last thoughts before succumbing to her mental exhaustion.
February 19th, 66 AFL
Roughly three days later Sasuke and Karin finally arrived at the ruins of Uzugakure, "So this was where you were born, huh Karin." Sasuke said, causing the redhead to nod and simply reply, "Yeah, I spent my childhood here until this place was overrun and my clan was nearly all but wiped out." Sasuke nodded and the pair proceeded through the ruins but stopped when they heard an explosion. "Those sound like paper bombs Sasuke-kun and I'm sensing someone, we're definitely not alone," Karin explained. Sasuke nodded and the pair headed toward the direction of the explosion. "Sasuke-kun over there," she said while pointing directly ahead,
"Damn it, I was lost in thought and didn't even notice the damn thing," the girl yelled in annoyance as she used medical ninjutsu to heal her injured leg. "Here let me help," Karin said to the unknown kunoichi. The redhead started healing the kunoichi and she said, "Thanks but who are you and what are you doing here?" Before Karin could reply the raven haired Uchiha appeared and answered for her, "Long time, no see Sakura and this Karin, Karin Uzumaki." Sakura looked toward the direction of the voice and her jaw nearly hit the ground,
"Sasuke!" She said and then immediately jumped up and gave her long lost teammate an overbearing hug before releasing him, "But why are you two here and where is Ino?" She said in a much more agitated tone. Sasuke rubbed his sore shoulders, 'Damn she's strong, ow,' he thought before answering the pinkette, "Ino is still with Orochimaru, the snake's not stupid, he only ever allows two of us to leave at a time," he explained. Sakura sighed, "Well I guess that means you two aren't coming back anytime soon," she replied but then looked at the Uchiha pair suspiciously before asking again,
"So what are you two doing here in Uzugakure?" Sasuke huffed and started heading deeper into the ruins with Karin following close behind. Sakura huffed herself but followed the pair nonetheless. After a few moments the Uchiha finally replied, "The only reason where here is so Karin can grab anything she feels we need and if we're lucky, anything that belonged to Karin's mother." Karin smiled fondly and grabbed the Uchiha's left hand but he did not pull away. "And what are you doing here Sakura?" Sakura smirked and replied,
"Hinata's project for Naru-kun is almost finished but we can't risk the assholes in the village fucking with it so I was hoping to find some privacy and invisibilty seals among other things." Karin chuckled a little, "What you're looking for would probably be in the village's council chambers, it's directly ahead at the center of the village," she explained to the cherry blossom. Sakura nodded and headed off while Karin led Sasuke to her childhood home. Meanwhile several miles away the great sage Jiraiya of the sannin came up to his apprentice with a very dangerous and stupid idea.
"Hey Naruto I'm curious about something, take off your shirt and let me examine Minato's seal again," he said. Naruto looked at the old man curiously at first but decided to comply, wondering what the hell was going through the old man's mind.
At the exact same time, in the Hidden Leaf Village the future Kazekage was meeting with the current Hokage, Lady Tsunade. "You know this jutsu is only technically supposed to be used on shinobi of the leaf and their soulmates not the future Kazekage," the elderly woman explained. "I know," Gaara started, "However both of my siblings have gone through it and it's how Naruto Uzumaki was able to gain at least some control over his tailed beast." Gaara sighed before explaining further, "And if I am going to be Kazekage it will put the villagers minds at ease knowing the line is still going strong." Tsunade couldn't argue with that and after grabbing the sand's shinobi's hand she shouted, "Sacred Art - Soul Seal Jutsu!"
Back in Uzugakure Sasuke and Karin were leaving her and her mother's old home, "I'm sorry there wasn't much left Karin," Sasuke said, actually sounding slightly disappointed. Karin looked to him and smiled, "Don't worry Sasuke-kun, my mother's necklace and a few old photos are more than enough for me," she replied happily. "Alright then let's find Sakura and get the hell out of this death trap. I don't know why this place is littered with paper bombs, Kami must really not like us because a good enough shock wave will set them all off," Sasuke explained.
Karin nodded in agreement and that's when Sakura reapered with a smile of her own, "I found more than I could have hoped for, formulas for sound proofing, camouflage, and even some self cleaning seals." she said happily. Sasuke and Karin nodded and the trio began to make their leave of the old Uzumaki village when Sakura asked, "So after you kill Orochimaru and Itachi, you and Ino are coming home, right Sasuke?" Sasuke opened his mouth to answer but suddenly he grabbed his head and let out a deafening scream,
"Sasuke, Sasuke, what's wrong?" Karin asked in concern but when she grabbed his arm he flung her to the ground, "Stay away from me Karin!" He said in an odd voice. Karin turned to Sakura for help as Sasuke cried in agony but the poor pinkette was grabbing her right hand, her seal glowing and flashing at an erratic rate. "Fuck, this hurts, it hurts! What the hell is going on!" Sakura yelled in pain, "I can't even describe it, it's like my hand is on fire and it's going to fall off!" She explained and without warning Sasuke collapsed to the ground lying on his back motionless with his eyes glowing the bleakest black. "What the fuck is going on?" Karin said in worry as she did her best to treat the two members of Team 7, one in unbearable pain and the other near catatonic.
At the exact same time Hinata made her way to where Jiraiya and Naruto were at albeit with difficulty from the sheer pain coursing through her left hand, "What the hell did you do? Why is Naruto-kun just laying there like that and what happened to his eyes?" She asked seeing her soulmate passed out on the ground his shirt off and his eyes glowing a pure white. "I… I don't know! I was trying to loosen the seal a little to see if the kid could handle more of the fox's chakra but he ended up like this," the sage explained in worry. "Well tighten it back up, I don't know what you did but it's affecting me too, Aaahhhhh!" She cried out in pain while holding her hand. "R-Right!" Jiraiya said but as he got in position a huge eruption of chakra blew him back, "Kami what have I done," he thought out loud.
Meanwhile Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze awoke to a voice he had never heard before, "Naruto, Naruto it's time to get up." The blonde slowly opened his eyes and immediately realized he was deep inside the seal but when he looked up and he was almost brought to tears. He still had one score to settle first however so before embracing the unknown person he quickly formed an orb of condensed chakra using his right hand and shoved it into the person's chest, "Rasengan!" The person flew back several feet but landed up right and actually chuckled,
"Should have seen that coming I guess," he said. Naruto got to his feet and looked at the man again before shouting, "That's for sealing that asshole inside of me dad!" The blonde shouted while shedding tears and pointing at Kurama who huffed and pretended he was asleep. Naruto walked over to his father and after a moment embraced him in the tightest hug, "But how… how are you even here dad?" Minato smiled and returned his son's embrace before ruffling his hair,
"I was the first one to use the Soul Seal Jutsu and my chakra was forever bonded to the formula but I feared this day would come." The Fourth Hokage sighed, "Tell me Naruto were you really bonded with two girls and not just one?" Naruto looked at his father confused but replied, "Yeah but why does that matter?" The chunin asked, Minato sighed again, "It's because…" "Wait Minato Namikaze I'll answer that!" A voice that Naruto had only heard twice in his life said, causing Naruto to turn around and shout,
"You!" "Hahahah, so we meet again Naruto Uzumaki, it's such a shame I can't just absorb you right now but these damn seals prevent me from consuming you," the unknown man said with annoyance. Naruto looked around the room again and on one side he could see Sakura on the ground grabbing her right hand and crying in pain. To his left Hinata was on her knees but grabbing her left hand instead. Naruto turned to the man again and shouted, "What the hell are you doing to Sakura and Hinata! Tell me who the hell really are you!?" The man laughed cruelly pissing the young blonde all the more off but Minato put a hand on his shoulder before scowling at the man himself,
"So which one are you, Indra or Asura?" The man's laughing suddenly stopped, "So father left more than just that jutsu behind huh. Very well then allow me to introduce myself, I am Asura Otsutsuki, youngest son of the Sage of Six Paths himself Hagoromo Otsutsuki." "So you were just giving me a bunch of crap when you said you were the true me huh, get the hell out of my body you freak!" Naruto shouted causing Asura to laugh again,
"No, I really wasn't, you see Naruto, our spirits, our very souls are one in the same. You are my current reincarnation just like Hashirama Senju was my previous incarnation. Why the hell do you think you have two soulmates they're not both yours. Every incarnation of mine has had their own partner created for them while mine has cycled with me since the very beginning. Don't you get it, one of those two girls is my soulmate, although I haven't figured out which one yet." Asura looked to the girls who were still bent over in pain and then back to the father son pair in front of him,
"Truth be told, I don't know why father made that jutsu but as soon it was activated my personality emerged from deep within in your soul and know that I have consciousness for the first time in centuries I promise you." Asura grinned at the pair before Naruto barked out, "Promise me what!" Asura grin turned cynical and he only replied,
"That I will end Indra's line forever and to do that I will take over your soul and body, kill Sasuke Uchiha as well as any other members of that accursed clan!" Naruto had heard enough, "Screw you!" He shouted as he charged the projection of Asura full force, "I'm not you and Sasuke isn't Indra!" Asura just stood there as the blonde closed in, "I will never kill Sasuke or his family because to me Sasuke is a part of my family!" Suddenly the blonde disappeared in a puff of smoke and appeared right behind Asura,
"Now screw off you bastard, Rasengan!" Asura turned around and caught the blonde's jutsu with his right hand surprising the chunin and as his original incarnation laughed coldy he said, "Oh, I wonder if cutting off their hands will stop these annoying seals from going off. What do you think, huh Naruto?" The blonde filled with more rage than ever before summoned an even greater amount of chakra into his free hand and tried again, "Rasengan!"
"Haha, do you really think that simple trick, what!" Naruto's rasengan was powered by nine-tails chakra this time around and Asura managed to turn his head to see an old friend of his smirking, "Damn you Kurama!" As soon as Naruto's jutsu made contact with Asura's left hand a deafening explosion was heard and the sewer, Kurama, Asura, and the Fourth Hokage vanished from the blonde's sight.
Just as Naruto awoke in his seal Sasuke Uchiha found himself in his own mental landscape, "Hey wake up," someone the Uchiha had not heard before said. Sasuke got to his feet, backed away quickly and then he looked on in shock, "The Fourth Hokage but you're... you're dead." Minato chuckled and informed the young Uchiha of the same thing he had told Naruto but their conversation was cut short by a deep voice,
"So young Uchiha have you come seeking my power again?" He asked wearing a sick looking grin. "Who are you!?" Sasuke shouted in anger but Minato held him back, "He's your first incarnation Sasuke and his name is Indra, Indra Otsutsuki." "What?!" Sasuke said in disbelief. "It's true Sasuke and now I have to inform you of your greatest threat, my little brother's reincarnation but you know who that is already don't you." "Naruto," Sasuke almost whispered,
"Yes, my little brother has stood in the way of my quest for power since the very beginning and now with the Senju as well as the Uzumaki near extinction it is up to us to insure he is never reborn again," Indra stated. Sasuke chuckled a little, "Sorry but I have no intrest in you or your stupid brother, all I care about is killing mine and restarting my clan so you can fuck right off." Indra looked at the boy coldly before laughing again, Sasuke grabbed his left arm in pain and let out a wail of agony,
"It seems I don't need your consent after all." Minato examined Sasuke's arm but didn't understand what was happening, "Sasuke you and your soulmates have both of their seals don't they?" The Fourth questioned but Sasuke shook his head confirming his suspicions. "Haha, it looks like I can just absorb you slowly, soon enough young Uchiha I will be reborn again and through you I will have my revenge!" Sasuke managed to scowl at his original incarnation before shouting,
"I will not be controlled! I will not be someone's puppet or tool! I am Sasuke of the Uchiha clan, Now Begone! Sasuke's inverted sharingan flared and Indra said, "What the hell kind of sharingan is that!" Suddenly the landscape around them disappeared and Indra was pushed back, deep into the depths of Sasuke's soul.
Far away at one of Orochimaru's hideouts Ino had just felt the unbearable pain leave her left hand and as she sweat while struggling to breath she shouted, "What the fuck was that? It was like my hand was being ripped from my body," she shuddered before saying aloud, "Kami Sasuke-kun, Karin I hope you two are alright." Meanwhile Pervy Sage had finally gotten close to Naruto and with the fox's key he managed to re-tighten the seal.
A large discharge of chakra was felt while Naruto's eyes and seals stopped glowing but he was still passed out and extremely exhausted. The sage turned to the Hyuga heiress hoping for some help but he saw she was passed out as well, still tightly clutching her left hand. Jiraiya immediately scooped up the pair of Namikazes and did his best to treat their symptoms, which from what he could tell was simply chakra exhaustion.
Meanwhile Sasuke finally awoke and an intense shockwave of chakra erupted from his body. He got to his knees quickly and shouted, "Shit!" The shockwave had triggered the paper bombs around the area and were causing a chain reaction. Even though he was near exhaustion he used the jutsu he detested the most, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" The sharingan wielder picked up Karin while the clone took the unconscious Sakura, moving as fast as their legs could carry them while dodging explosion after explosion.
Eventually the pair reached the edge of the village and when they turned around they saw the remains of Uzugakure were nothing but debris, an entire village was completely gone. Sasuke's clone managed to lay Sakura on the ground before dispelling and the young Uchiha collapsed to one knee while panting. 'So one eye teaches instead of steals and the other dispels mental landscapes, even my own. I wonder if it would work against Ino's mind transfer, I'll just have to ask her to try it." Sasuke thought but was quickly snapped out of it by Karin who was now applying healing chakra to his body. Sasuke looked at the girl who was drenched in tears then back to the pebbles that were once her birth village and said,
"I'm sorry about your home Karin." He said with regret in his voice. Karin finished her treatment and punched him in the skull, then wrapped her arms around him, "Idiot, I don't care about that, I'm worried about you," she explained. Sasuke managed a half smile before saying, "Come on Karin let's go back." Karin released her hold on the boy but looked to the pinkette still asleep on the ground, "What about your old teammate?" Sasuke jumped to a tree but turned around to reply,
"She's one of the strongest kunoichi I've ever met. I'm sure she'll be fine once she wakes up and it will be better if we're not around when she does." Karin nodded and followed her soulmate through the trees wondering just what the hell happened to Sasuke and Sakura. While Karin was stuck in thought Sasuke looked at his left arm and noticed a small black spot on the back of his hand. He tried cleaning it off but nothing he tried worked, annoyed and exhausted he decided to deal with it once he got some rest and chose to hide this information from everyone but himself.
February 22nd, 66 AFL
After waking up in the forest outside of Uzugakure, Sakura managed to remember what had happened but decided to keep the incident with the Uchiha to herself until she could tell Naruto and Hinata about her reunion with two-thirds of the clan. It was nearly three days later when she found herself back in the Leaf and standing in front of Lady Tsunade. "So did you find anything good Sakura?" The cherry blossom gave a genuine smile, "Hai Lady Hokage, I found everything I need to finish our little project." Sakura said happily. Tsunade eyed her suspiciously,
"Did anything else happen?" Sakura had turned around and was almost at the door when she heard the Hokage causing her to gulp and start sweating profusely. Luckily the pinkette was saved when Shizune came bursting through the door, "Lady Tsunade, I can't take it anymore I can't watch your daughters and my son nonstop." The raven haired woman had burst in wearing what looked like the ultimate child caring device, in the front was a little girl not even a year old yet who looked like a miniature clone of Tsunade named Mito after her grandmother. On her back was another toddler who looked strikingly similar to her sister but her hair was a bit spiky like her fathers. In Shizune's arm was a little boy who was even younger than the twins with black hair but one could swear he was a kakashi clone, even his blanket was covering the bottom half of his cute little face.
Tsunade sighed before giving Sakura a new mission, "Sakura you're watching Mito and Anzu for me, Shizune leave the little ones with Sakura for now if you're so exhausted." The slug sannin replied with annoyance at her apprentice. Shizune handed her son to Tsunade and then placed Mito and Anzu into Sakura's hands, "Have fun now Sakura." Shizune said with a grin and then picked her son back up into her arms, "Alright Obito-kun lets go and find your daddy so we can have a nice family meal." The raven haired woman said as she walked out of the office, trying to make her stoic son laugh using funny faces. Tsunade went to turn to Sakura but the pinkette and her daughters were long gone,
Tsunade just shook her head before returning to her paperwork forgetting completely about the last question she had asked the future Uzumaki matriarch. Sakura eventually made her way back to her parents, the two little Senju babies in hand but when she got to her front door she found her mother and father waiting for her, "Umm, mom, dad, what are you doing?" Kizashi grinned at his daughter before announcing quite loudly, "Me and your mom are going on a two week vacation so you're stuck with little Kaiza until we get back, ok see ya!" Kizashi announced and then started booking it down the road.
"Kizashi-baka wait for me!" Mebuki yelled as she sprinted out the door but turned to her daughter with a smile, "Kaizas sleeping in his crib, take good care of him ok hunny," she gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before take off as fast as she could after her husband, "Damn it Kizashi I said wait you damn stupid baka of mine!" Sakura sweat dropped then she turned her head to the two toddlers in her hands and right on cue they both started to cry. Sakura sighed before entering home and doing her best to calm the children of Tsunade and Jiraiya but just as she did and collapsed on her couch she heard, Waaaaahhhh!"
Sakura shot up at once and rushed to her little brother's room and held him close while whispering in his ear, "It's alright Kaiza-kun, big sis Sakura is here so don't cry, please Kami stop crying." Her comforting words seemed to do the trick but as she sat him down she heard another deafening, "Wahhhh! Coming from her kitchen and the poor cherry blossom reached her limit, "Is this what my life is now taking care of babies who aren't even mine!" Unfortunately Sakura's scream awakened her brother and the twin who was sleeping peacefully, it was clear the pinkette was in for a rough two weeks especially if she would be taking over babysitting duty for Lady Tsunade.
Several miles away Sasuke and Karin finally returned to their bedroom at Orochimaru's. The trio shared a short embrace and recapped their trip to Uzugakure but Sasuke refused to say a word about what had happened in his mind. As for Naruto and Hinata they had recovered soon after the incident but the blonde had taken a page out of his brother's book and chose to reveal nothing about the experience with Asura and his father claiming he didn't remember a thing.
The Namikaze pair were currently following their sensei, while walking down the road they talked about home, Sakura as well as the problems they had with the Hyuga and Uchiha clans but one thought haunted the boy's mind, 'Could it really be true that Hinata-chan or Sakura-chan is technically Asura's soulmate? Am I even worthy of you two then? Am I even worthy of one of you?' The blonde was shaken out of his stupor by his sweet moonlight grabbing his right hand and the pair looked forward to face the future together, in just a little over a year they would be home, reunited with Sakura and their real mission would finally begin.
AN: So yeah a lot of An lol
Like I said this was going to be a Naruhina centered chapter and it kinda should of been obvious that it was time for Sasuke and Karin to bond wish I could done a little bit more with the festival but they are not my forte and don't worry Sakura will get Kushina's ring when it's time and they will have a more western style date than the traditional japanese like I did for Naruto and Hinata
Yes I had a lot of revelations here the reason they have two soulmates is because one of the girls and no I will never reveal who is Asura's reincarnated soulmate and one is Naruto's and yes I will be going with the Asura spelling over Ashura really just because I had to pick one or the other
I know a lot of people don't like the Asura Indra connection to Sasuke and Naruto but I've wanted to use this idea for like ever and this was the plan from the very beginning and yes I'm aware that they weren't evil in the original but for the sake of this fic they are, deal lol
Visiting the ruins of Uzugakure was a fun idea to explore and Sakura picked up some Fuinjutsu stuff although it's pretty simple stuff and next chapter we will finally learn what Hinata's idea was for Naruto all the way back from chapter 4
Yes Ino is figuring stuff out and putting it together quickly actually really lucky that gossip queen is one of her character traits lol
Yeah Sasuke has figured some of what this new sharingan can do and if your wondering I wasn't going to transfer any power via the soul seal jutsu but literally all of our girls had Earth and Water releases so I figured I would transfer Sasuke's fire to Karin and Lightning to Ino as well as Naruto's girls getting his wind although they don't know that yet and Naruto will get Hinata's lightning and Sakura's water to go with his wind. Same applies to Sasuke with Ino's water and Karin's earth and it will only be for them.
I told you old I was starting next gen with Tsunade and Shizune and I did Tsunade had twin girls (If you're wondering when before they left not saying anymore) and Shizune had boy who was obviously named Obito and yeah Sakura's parents hopped on the baby making train too and gave our pinkette a little brother. Also if your curious there are two more children that were born around the same time but you'll have to wait till next time to see who they are, one couple is blatantly obvious while the other, heheh I don't know how you're going to react but I will say it's not one of the rookie nine still have a ways to go before that.
Garra will be paired with exactly who you'd think it would be, enough said
Next time we will start Shippuden yeah although I will say this Naruto's story will go similarly to canon but I have special plans for Sasuke and his motives going forward especially after the battle with Itachi and whether or not they'll uncover the truth by then and his story will definitely be a bit more Au than Naruto's but I promise they will meet in combat at the end although it may not be the finale battle hehe, oh and if you're wondering Sakura doesn't bother trying to bring Sasuke home alone, she couldn't defeat Sasuke let alone with Karin's help so she just makes the most of the time she has with one of her closest friends
A response to reviews
Gunner: As always great to hear you enjoyed and hope I can keep you entertained going forward lol
Guest: Really no response other than if you guys are curious for Naruto I like him with Sakura, Ino, or Hinata anyone of those or even a mix are good for me in a story and I even like him with other girls too but those are my top 3 although Sakura is my personal favorite to read as a power couple. As for Sasuke it's Ino, Hinata, and then Karin I know pretty much the same girls for both guys but whatever lol and Ino has become my favorite from just writing this story.
As always I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you in two weeks with the beginning of part II until then may you all have a fond farewell
