Psychic King: *focusing really hard* Hum.
Sakura: Ano. What are you doing?
Psychic King: Well. I'm trying to figure out what happens this chapter.
Sasuke: *Glaring* You mean you DON'T know? Haven't you written it yet?
Psychic King: *shaking head* nope. And I guess I can't decide which idea to go with. Naruto leaves village but you go after him . has possibilities.
Sakura: *in shock* What??! Go after him? Why?
Psychic King: *ignoring Sakura* Naruto NOT leaving the village, Kakashi and Iruka coming JUST in time to stop him .
Sasuke: *growling* I can save Naruto without their help.
Psychic King: NO! Not you! You really think Tenmar, Uzu, Ganten and Mina are scared of you? Maybe if it was just one of them (and that one was Mina.), but you're dealing with FOUR! *sticks tong out* Stupid Sasuke-kun. *Quickly moving away from Sasuke* Ano. And then the other idea I get. That is Naruto leaves, you stay behind, time lapse like ten years. You know. Maybe have Naruto return some time exciting like your wedding day to Sakura.
Sakura: *Jumping up and down* The last one! The last one!
Sasuke: *moving forward* I'll kill you.
Psychic King: BUT. I don't really want to time lapse, YET. *sighing* I guess I could have Naruto leave for a SHORT period of time and THEN time lapse to your wedding day with Sakura!
Sasuke: *angrily* I'm NOT marrying Sakura!
Iruka: *Patting Sasuke on the head* There, there. She wouldn't put that in her story for two reasons; reason one, it's been done in a couple stories she's read.
Psychic King: *nodding* sadly, I guess great minds really DO think alike. It's always so cute, Sasuke about to marry Sakura, then Naruto suddenly appears.
Iruka: *continuing* and reason # 2, she would never let you really MARRY Sakura, and despite what she says she really can't be that mean to poor Sakura, dangling a wedding in her face and then wrenching it away.
Psychic King: *covering Sakura's ears* Not in front of Akura-say! Geeze! She's gonna get a big head now, and it's entirely your fault!
Sasuke: *sighing in relief* So there's not gonna be a Sakura wedding?
Psychic King: Not for you! Maybe a Naruto wedding. I mean, Naruto being stuck as a girl isn't likely in this story, but maybe YOU could try out the Sexy no jutsu and get stuck.
Sasuke: *once again stalking forward* I'll kill you.
Psychic King: *backing away* It was a joke! A joke, really!
Sasuke: *not listening, still moving forward*
Psychic King: Aw, crap. *turns and runs away*
Sasuke: *chasing after her*
Sakura: *Sigh* I always get stuck doing the dumb disclaimer. *turns and walks away, muttering* Never mind, what do I care if she gets sued because I forget to say that she doesn't own us? It's none of my business.
Iruka: *shaking his head* You just did the disclaimer anyway, Sakura-chan. I thought you were supposed to be my brightest student. Ah well, please enjoy this chapter! I'm sure Psychic King-sama will have come up with something.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Embrace of Solitude
Chapter 7
"Sakura?" Sasuke stared at the girl Naruto was holding, forgetting about the boy that had been attacking him. She looked KIND OF like Sakura, but. different. And who was Illia? He heard Naruto say that name before, while he slept. "Naruto?" But the blonde wasn't paying attention; he just stood there, holding the red head, shaking.
The girl shot a frightened look to the tall blonde man who nodded. She raised her hand slowly, pulling up on the bright orange jacket Naruto always wore, exposing his stomach. Leaning in slightly, Sasuke heard her whisper shakily, "I'm so sorry."
That was when he noticed her hand was glowing. "Naruto! Get out of there!" He struggled towards the boy and that was when he realized his inability to move. "Shit!" He struggled but that only resulted in him falling to his knees.
"Sorry, but I can't have you interrupting them." The white haired boy that had been attacking him earlier appeared next to him, pulling a long needle from his neck. "And if I leave you with full motion you might get in the way."
Sasuke felt himself fall to the ground; he was loosing even more control. It must have been some kind of poison, but there was only one thing he could think, as darkness embraced his mind. "Naruto." He said weakly, watching as the girl suddenly thrust her hand INTO Naruto's stomach, causing the blonde to arch his back and issue a soft cry of pain. "This is all your fault, dobe." A moment latter Naruto fell as well.
Tenmar walked slowly over to the small blonde boy, patting Mina as he did so. "Good work." He bent slowly and picked the boy up watching sadly as his face contorted slightly. "Let's go."
"What should we do with this one?" Ganten nudged Sasuke slightly with his foot, rolling the dark haired boy onto his back.
Tenmar sighed, "We should at least put him back in his bed, people will be showing up soon, and if he's just lying here someone will be after us much sooner."
"Did you hear the way he talked? 'Children of the fox? Don't make me laugh!'" Uzu impersonated as he lay Sasuke down in his room. "Not just him, but the kid, too. What sort of terrible lies must they have grown up with, that they hate him so much?"
"It doesn't matter. Come on."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Naruto found himself lying in a long dark corridor. "What the hell am I?" His voice echoed quietly back to him. Pushing himself into a sitting position he crossed his arms and began to think. "Let's see, I was cleaning Sasuke's yard, and then. Those guys came and we started talking, but they said something weird and. Illia!" As he said the words the hall filled with pictures, not just a few, but everywhere, on the ceiling, the floor. Each showed the woman from his dreams, in each she was doing something different.
He stood and began to slowly pace the corridor, looking at the pictures. One caught his eye the most; it was something he had dreamt about. Illia, sitting at the lake, smiling. That was the day they confessed their love for one another. As he looked he realized the water looked like it was actually moving, he could almost hear Illia calling his name.
"Naruto." He jumped as the picture came to life around him, drawing him in. Illia moved closer to him. "What?" She said with a laugh, "you look like you've seen a ghost!"
Naruto's legs moved against his will, closer to the painting woman. His lips moved without him telling them to. "Just an angel." He could feel his face break into a silly smile.
That response got him a playful smack on his arm, and a gentle laugh. "Right. That has to be the worst line I've ever heard, and that includes your brothers, 'I'll give you a choice, you can marry me or your village can burn,' thing."
Tan, gruff hands grabbed pale, soft ones. "I meant it."
Illia's smile wavered, "So did your brother."
"I can protect you from him. I'm stronger than he is, I can keep you safe." Naruto felt himself stand, turn away from the girl, "and Tagen will honor my claim if you agree."
"No." Illia said sadly, "He'll blame me for tearing his family apart. You don't know how much your brother relies on you, if I agreed to marry you he'll lose that! We'd have to leave; you know that, he knows that, Kentaar knows that! If only to protect my village we would be forced to leave!"
Naruto's hand racked through his hair, and his body turned to face Illia, whose face was streaked with tears. "Do you love me?"
Illia's tears increased, and she could only nod in reply.
"Then MARRY me! God! It's so simple! I don't care if I never see Kentaar again if I can be with you! I don't care if I have to kill the evil, spineless bastard! I'll go do it now!" Naruto felt his body turn, pulling him away from the sobbing woman.
"No!" She seemed to have found her voice again, as she flung herself into Naruto's arms. "No! I don't know what I'd do if he killed you!"
Naruto felt a smile fill his face again, "So marry me." His hands were cupping her face, their faces were getting closer, and then their lips touched briefly. She gave him a small nod and a triumphant smile covered his face. "There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"
She laughed, but her voice was getting distant now, Naruto felt himself being pulled away and suddenly he was back in the hallway again. "Weird." With a flurry the pictures of Illia were gone, replaced with random pictures of some of the strangest things he'd ever seen. Some on these memories were from his own lifetime, like that weird guy Shino, and the creepy way he always seemed to have bugs around him.
Being extra careful not to look deeply into any of the pictures, he glanced around. "Hum. What about something I wouldn't remember much about. my father." He stood and waited, only a few pictures appeared. The large hallway seemed empty. He looked around, but the pictures didn't have anyone that could be his father in them at all, he recognized all these people, they were people that had been kind to him, that perhaps at one time or another he had dreamed of having for a father, but nothing from his past life at all.
"Wait. not MY past life, that monster's! I'm not that damn thing that destroyed Konoha!" He called out, as he realized that he was thinking of himself as the demon. Then he chided himself as he realized he spoke out loud again. The hall was full of pictures now, pictures of a muscular man with grey-brown hair and yellow eyes.
"What?" Naruto said, "THAT'S what the fox demon looked like?" The hall changed again, as pictures of Naruto filled the corridor, in some he was older than twelve, in some he was practically a baby, in some he stood with Sakura and Sasuke, but they were all definitely him. "What the-" He glanced from picture to picture, but there was one large one that stood out to him. He walked over to it slowly. It was huge. He stood full in front of it, looking it up and down. It looked like it was made of patches of many pictures, but his face stared back at him. He stared at it in a mixture of wonder and terror, fixated, waiting to be dragged into the picture.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sasuke woke up, his head screaming in pain. "What? Naruto!"
Iruka pushed him gently back down onto bed, his face etched with concern. "Lie down. The poison's not out of your system yet."
Sasuke ignored Iruka's order and glanced around. "Where's Naruto?"
Iruka sighed. "He's gone. We've looked everywhere. You have to tell me everything you know. If Naruto's not found there could be very big trouble. So, can you remember anything? Anything at all?"
"There was some girl whose hand was glowing, she. stuck her hand inside his stomach. That's all I could see before." He fell silent, face a mask of dark emotions. "It was like the dobe WANTED to be taken, he just SAT there."
"I there anything else? Physical characteristics? A name maybe?"
"Yeah. She looked kind of like Sakura. He called her Illia." Sasuke fell back onto the bed, asleep.
"Illia?" Kakashi asked, walking into the room, glancing at the passed out Sasuke. "And she looked like Sakura?"
"Does it mean something to you, Kakashi?"
"Maybe, it'd be too early to be certain." He turned. "I'll be back soon, watch over Sasuke."
"Damn it Kakashi, why do you always have to be so mysterious?" But even as Iruka asked, his mask lover was nowhere to be seen. "I'll just wait here, then."
Kakashi jumped away from his lover with a slight guilty feeling. "Sorry Iruka, I couldn't bear to get your hopes up, though." He landed soundlessly outside the Haruno residence. Sakura pulled the door open before he could even knock.
"Sensei! What's going on? Has Sasuke woken up yet? Is Naruto back?" Her fists were clutched helplessly at her chest, and her eyes were so desperate.
He sighed, "Gomen, Sakura. Sasuke woke up for a short while, but it looks like it's gonna take a while for him to regain his strength completely. Naruto is still missing. And I'm here to speak to your mother."
Feeling lost and helpless, Sakura wordlessly stepped aside and let Kakashi in. He mother turned the corner, wiping her hands on her apron. "Sakura, you should have told me we had company! Kakashi-sensei, isn't it?" She held out her hand in greeting to the jounin.
"Yes, mam. It's good to finally meet one of my student's mothers." Kakashi said, taking the offered hand, trying desperately to keep the urgent feeling down. A few moments of pleasantries were NOT going to slow down Naruto's retrieval or Sasuke's awakening.
"And what do I owe this visit? Sakura never tells me what's going on in her life now that she's an adult." The woman sent a wink towards Kakashi. "But a mother can always tell when something's bothering her daughter."
"Actually, that IS what I'm here about, you see, Naruto has disappeared. The only person to see what happened was their teammate, Sasuke, who was heavily drugged. He woke for a short time and said that someone that kind of resembled your daughter was responsible. He said Naruto called her Illia."
The plump woman fell into a nearby chair, hands clenched at her mouth. "That's not possible, Illia died the night the demon attacked."
"Are you certain?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye watching for some hint of a lie or hesitation.
"Completely." The woman sighed, "There are a few things you should know, Kakashi, if you're going to find Naruto."
"Oh?" His eyebrow raised. This woman was going to be more helpful than he thought.
"First, the fox demon was not the one who attacked our village that night."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you ever mention this before?"
"What was I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry, but the Fourth died sealing the wrong guy? I think we should unleash THIS demon and go after another one, because this one just lost his wife and his children are going to need him.' I somehow don't think that would go over very well."
"Children? Does the Hokage know ANY of this?" Kakashi demanded. There was definitely no lie in this woman's words.
"Probably. How should I know what the Hokage does or does not know? I'm just a simple house wife. Do you want to know the rest or not? SOMEONE should be out looking for Naruto-kun, you know."
Kakashi sat for a moment in shocked silence before nodding, adding ruefully, "You are anything but a simple housewife, I think, Haruno-san."
The woman rolled her eyes before continuing her story. "Second, as I already mentioned, the fox was MARRIED to Illia, they had four children.Let me see if I can remember their names.I never properly met them, but Illia talked of them so often. Let's see. Tenmar was the eldest, he's probably around 21 or 22 now; then came Uzu, the trickster; and then Ganten followed by the daughter. Marna? Something like that. I don't know much about the younger two, they were so young when they lost their mother. And that unfortunate business with their father." The woman shifted a distraught look still covering her face. "My guess is that it was those cubs that took Naruto-kun, but it could have been the real monster. The only reason I think it's even possible that it's the cubs is because they left the Uuchia boy alive, so that's not proof."
Kakashi sighed. "So you're telling me that the fox demon was framed by some other demon and that he married your sister in law, Illia, and they had four children and it was probably their children that kidnapped Naruto and it's possible that the Hokage isn't even aware of these things?"
Sakura's mother nodded, "That's what I'm telling you. And you're always complaining that he's not very bright, Sakura!"
Kakashi scratched a masked cheek, glancing at Sakura. He had forgotten she was there. "Ahem, well. I should go report my findings. Thank you, Haruno-san."
"I have a lot of respect for that boy, growing up as he did. Probably should have been more helpful to him, but. I never knew what to say, how to act. I'd do anything for him though, as if he was one of my own. Just know; if you find him and it IS the little ones that took him, it might be too late to get back the Naruto you knew."
Kakashi nodded and was gone. He felt a small smirk grace his face as he thought, "I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now, having to explain that story to Sakura." The realization that he was going to have to explain it to Iruka sunk in quickly after, managing to bring down his good mood. "Maybe I should just go look for him without Iruka." He shook the thought away, right now he needed to report his findings to the Hokage.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenmar stood again, pacing slowly in front of the room they had put Naruto into. "How long will this thing take?" He asked for the fourth time.
Ganten sighed as he watched his brother's restlessness. "It depends on how long it takes for him to accept the memories. The Chakara will flow into him when he's mentally and emotionally ready to handle it. I created this slow working technique for that purpose, I suppose it IS theoretically possible that he will deny the memories completely and remain asleep forever, but then, it's only BEEN three hours, so it would be a little premature to assume that. I would wait at least three weeks before worrying about that."
Uzu stood and placed a warm hand on Tenmar's shoulder. "Calm down. This IS dad we're talking about. He'll be up and about in no time. I bet we won't even have to wait long enough to start worrying about who's gonna change the sheets when he performs necessary body functions!"
With both his brothers 'reassurances' Tenmar felt almost worse. "I just hate to wait here. I mean, we're like sitting ducks and Mina's cut herself off since we left that village. Until he wakes up, she's probably going to keep acting like a cornered kit-"
There was the sound of movement in the cave, the boys looked at each other in surprise. "Ganten, go get Mina!" Ganten nodded and was gone, leaving Uzu and Tenmar to sit and stare at the cave.
"Ow! Damn. That's a low roof." The voice inside was definitely awake. The air suddenly chilled as a burst of raw power shot out from the cave, causing more crashing noises. "Oh yeah. It's been a long time."
Uzu looked questioningly at Tenmar, an excitement in his voice. "You think we should go to greet him?"
Tenmar looked slightly blank, and then smiled. "I don't know." He turned and called into the cave, "Naruto-sama? Are you alright in there?"
"What kind of question is that?" A deep voice replied from near the doorway of the cave. "Of course I'm alright." A tall figure walked towards the exit of the cave, blonde hair already shimmering in the sunlight.
Tenmar could only stand in amazement as his father, looking just like he did the day he left 12 years ago, stood before him again. Uzu had already bolted from his position, racing to greet the man at the mouth of the cave. "Father." For the first time in twelve years Tenmar felt a ray of hope blossom in his chest as he ran behind his brother.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Psychic King: *sigh* A happy chapter ending for the children. *glancing a Sasuke* and next chapter the time lapse and wedding for Sasuke and Sakura!
Sasuke: WHAT? Teme.
Psychic King: *holding up hands* I'm TEASING, geeze, get a sense of humor, weird-o.
Sakura: *sigh* That's all well and good, but what the heck happened? You said NO huge time lapse.
Psychic King: *nodding* And there wasn't! You think with Naruto's full Chakara out he couldn't control what age he looks? My only problem now is. Is Iruka Jewish?
Sakura: *looking confused* what? Where'd that come from?
Psychic King: *shaking head* Well, apparently I called him a gentile in the last chapter. Wasn't quite what I had been going for, but. if he's Jewish he's gonna be pissed.
Sakura: *shaking head* I wouldn't worry about it, really. *watches as Uzu, Tenmar and adult Naruto walk into the room*
Uzu: *Hanging off a full grown Naruto* Daddy!
Tenmar: *holding onto Naruto's other side* Father. It's so good to have you back!
Adult Naruto: *smiling at Psychic King, Sakura and Sasuke* Hi guys! What's up?
Sasuke: *small trickle of blood coming from his nose* THAT'S what Naruto is going to look like.?
Sakura: *blushing* When does this happen? He's. tall. and. *blushing more*
Psychic King: *smiling* Yay! Naruto! How do you like your new body?
Adult Naruto: *Pulls Tenmar and Uzu off and whispers to Psychic King* It's alright, but I don't want to be like this forever. Life was GOOD in Konoha, and I was really starting to get some respect! Anyway, if this manga thing is right *holds up some Naruto manga* they're still gonna need me there. I mean, I want to help the kids, sure, but I don't see why we don't just go back there together so I can do both.
Psychic King: *holding up hands* Say no more! I have a few ideas, trust me! I wouldn't leave Sasuke hanging like that.
Naruto: *rubbing the back of his head* You know, I understand those jokes now, the ones you're always tormenting Sasuke with. About me.
Psychic King: *nodding* ah yes, I feared that insight into certain things would come with the memories. *clearing throat* Ahem. Do you want me to stop them?
Naruto: *shakes head* No way, he's so cute when he blushes. *giggling*
Psychic King: *sigh* some things never change. *looks to the audience* Anyway, peoples, I just wanted to say that I will NOT leave things as they are! I promise! I have lots of ideas! Just not right now. Right now sleep. *falls asleep*
Adult Naruto: *covering Psychic King* Aw. isn't that cute? *changing back into a 12 year old* Well, while the writers away. *runs up to Sasuke and Sakura* Hi!
Sakura: *looking disappointedly at Naruto* what happened to being older and good looking?
Naruto: *pouting* Sakura-chan! How cruel.
Psychic King: *talking in her sleep* Review. Mumh, nice reviewers.
Sakura: *shaking head* Even in her sleep.
Sakura: Ano. What are you doing?
Psychic King: Well. I'm trying to figure out what happens this chapter.
Sasuke: *Glaring* You mean you DON'T know? Haven't you written it yet?
Psychic King: *shaking head* nope. And I guess I can't decide which idea to go with. Naruto leaves village but you go after him . has possibilities.
Sakura: *in shock* What??! Go after him? Why?
Psychic King: *ignoring Sakura* Naruto NOT leaving the village, Kakashi and Iruka coming JUST in time to stop him .
Sasuke: *growling* I can save Naruto without their help.
Psychic King: NO! Not you! You really think Tenmar, Uzu, Ganten and Mina are scared of you? Maybe if it was just one of them (and that one was Mina.), but you're dealing with FOUR! *sticks tong out* Stupid Sasuke-kun. *Quickly moving away from Sasuke* Ano. And then the other idea I get. That is Naruto leaves, you stay behind, time lapse like ten years. You know. Maybe have Naruto return some time exciting like your wedding day to Sakura.
Sakura: *Jumping up and down* The last one! The last one!
Sasuke: *moving forward* I'll kill you.
Psychic King: BUT. I don't really want to time lapse, YET. *sighing* I guess I could have Naruto leave for a SHORT period of time and THEN time lapse to your wedding day with Sakura!
Sasuke: *angrily* I'm NOT marrying Sakura!
Iruka: *Patting Sasuke on the head* There, there. She wouldn't put that in her story for two reasons; reason one, it's been done in a couple stories she's read.
Psychic King: *nodding* sadly, I guess great minds really DO think alike. It's always so cute, Sasuke about to marry Sakura, then Naruto suddenly appears.
Iruka: *continuing* and reason # 2, she would never let you really MARRY Sakura, and despite what she says she really can't be that mean to poor Sakura, dangling a wedding in her face and then wrenching it away.
Psychic King: *covering Sakura's ears* Not in front of Akura-say! Geeze! She's gonna get a big head now, and it's entirely your fault!
Sasuke: *sighing in relief* So there's not gonna be a Sakura wedding?
Psychic King: Not for you! Maybe a Naruto wedding. I mean, Naruto being stuck as a girl isn't likely in this story, but maybe YOU could try out the Sexy no jutsu and get stuck.
Sasuke: *once again stalking forward* I'll kill you.
Psychic King: *backing away* It was a joke! A joke, really!
Sasuke: *not listening, still moving forward*
Psychic King: Aw, crap. *turns and runs away*
Sasuke: *chasing after her*
Sakura: *Sigh* I always get stuck doing the dumb disclaimer. *turns and walks away, muttering* Never mind, what do I care if she gets sued because I forget to say that she doesn't own us? It's none of my business.
Iruka: *shaking his head* You just did the disclaimer anyway, Sakura-chan. I thought you were supposed to be my brightest student. Ah well, please enjoy this chapter! I'm sure Psychic King-sama will have come up with something.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Embrace of Solitude
Chapter 7
"Sakura?" Sasuke stared at the girl Naruto was holding, forgetting about the boy that had been attacking him. She looked KIND OF like Sakura, but. different. And who was Illia? He heard Naruto say that name before, while he slept. "Naruto?" But the blonde wasn't paying attention; he just stood there, holding the red head, shaking.
The girl shot a frightened look to the tall blonde man who nodded. She raised her hand slowly, pulling up on the bright orange jacket Naruto always wore, exposing his stomach. Leaning in slightly, Sasuke heard her whisper shakily, "I'm so sorry."
That was when he noticed her hand was glowing. "Naruto! Get out of there!" He struggled towards the boy and that was when he realized his inability to move. "Shit!" He struggled but that only resulted in him falling to his knees.
"Sorry, but I can't have you interrupting them." The white haired boy that had been attacking him earlier appeared next to him, pulling a long needle from his neck. "And if I leave you with full motion you might get in the way."
Sasuke felt himself fall to the ground; he was loosing even more control. It must have been some kind of poison, but there was only one thing he could think, as darkness embraced his mind. "Naruto." He said weakly, watching as the girl suddenly thrust her hand INTO Naruto's stomach, causing the blonde to arch his back and issue a soft cry of pain. "This is all your fault, dobe." A moment latter Naruto fell as well.
Tenmar walked slowly over to the small blonde boy, patting Mina as he did so. "Good work." He bent slowly and picked the boy up watching sadly as his face contorted slightly. "Let's go."
"What should we do with this one?" Ganten nudged Sasuke slightly with his foot, rolling the dark haired boy onto his back.
Tenmar sighed, "We should at least put him back in his bed, people will be showing up soon, and if he's just lying here someone will be after us much sooner."
"Did you hear the way he talked? 'Children of the fox? Don't make me laugh!'" Uzu impersonated as he lay Sasuke down in his room. "Not just him, but the kid, too. What sort of terrible lies must they have grown up with, that they hate him so much?"
"It doesn't matter. Come on."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Naruto found himself lying in a long dark corridor. "What the hell am I?" His voice echoed quietly back to him. Pushing himself into a sitting position he crossed his arms and began to think. "Let's see, I was cleaning Sasuke's yard, and then. Those guys came and we started talking, but they said something weird and. Illia!" As he said the words the hall filled with pictures, not just a few, but everywhere, on the ceiling, the floor. Each showed the woman from his dreams, in each she was doing something different.
He stood and began to slowly pace the corridor, looking at the pictures. One caught his eye the most; it was something he had dreamt about. Illia, sitting at the lake, smiling. That was the day they confessed their love for one another. As he looked he realized the water looked like it was actually moving, he could almost hear Illia calling his name.
"Naruto." He jumped as the picture came to life around him, drawing him in. Illia moved closer to him. "What?" She said with a laugh, "you look like you've seen a ghost!"
Naruto's legs moved against his will, closer to the painting woman. His lips moved without him telling them to. "Just an angel." He could feel his face break into a silly smile.
That response got him a playful smack on his arm, and a gentle laugh. "Right. That has to be the worst line I've ever heard, and that includes your brothers, 'I'll give you a choice, you can marry me or your village can burn,' thing."
Tan, gruff hands grabbed pale, soft ones. "I meant it."
Illia's smile wavered, "So did your brother."
"I can protect you from him. I'm stronger than he is, I can keep you safe." Naruto felt himself stand, turn away from the girl, "and Tagen will honor my claim if you agree."
"No." Illia said sadly, "He'll blame me for tearing his family apart. You don't know how much your brother relies on you, if I agreed to marry you he'll lose that! We'd have to leave; you know that, he knows that, Kentaar knows that! If only to protect my village we would be forced to leave!"
Naruto's hand racked through his hair, and his body turned to face Illia, whose face was streaked with tears. "Do you love me?"
Illia's tears increased, and she could only nod in reply.
"Then MARRY me! God! It's so simple! I don't care if I never see Kentaar again if I can be with you! I don't care if I have to kill the evil, spineless bastard! I'll go do it now!" Naruto felt his body turn, pulling him away from the sobbing woman.
"No!" She seemed to have found her voice again, as she flung herself into Naruto's arms. "No! I don't know what I'd do if he killed you!"
Naruto felt a smile fill his face again, "So marry me." His hands were cupping her face, their faces were getting closer, and then their lips touched briefly. She gave him a small nod and a triumphant smile covered his face. "There, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"
She laughed, but her voice was getting distant now, Naruto felt himself being pulled away and suddenly he was back in the hallway again. "Weird." With a flurry the pictures of Illia were gone, replaced with random pictures of some of the strangest things he'd ever seen. Some on these memories were from his own lifetime, like that weird guy Shino, and the creepy way he always seemed to have bugs around him.
Being extra careful not to look deeply into any of the pictures, he glanced around. "Hum. What about something I wouldn't remember much about. my father." He stood and waited, only a few pictures appeared. The large hallway seemed empty. He looked around, but the pictures didn't have anyone that could be his father in them at all, he recognized all these people, they were people that had been kind to him, that perhaps at one time or another he had dreamed of having for a father, but nothing from his past life at all.
"Wait. not MY past life, that monster's! I'm not that damn thing that destroyed Konoha!" He called out, as he realized that he was thinking of himself as the demon. Then he chided himself as he realized he spoke out loud again. The hall was full of pictures now, pictures of a muscular man with grey-brown hair and yellow eyes.
"What?" Naruto said, "THAT'S what the fox demon looked like?" The hall changed again, as pictures of Naruto filled the corridor, in some he was older than twelve, in some he was practically a baby, in some he stood with Sakura and Sasuke, but they were all definitely him. "What the-" He glanced from picture to picture, but there was one large one that stood out to him. He walked over to it slowly. It was huge. He stood full in front of it, looking it up and down. It looked like it was made of patches of many pictures, but his face stared back at him. He stared at it in a mixture of wonder and terror, fixated, waiting to be dragged into the picture.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sasuke woke up, his head screaming in pain. "What? Naruto!"
Iruka pushed him gently back down onto bed, his face etched with concern. "Lie down. The poison's not out of your system yet."
Sasuke ignored Iruka's order and glanced around. "Where's Naruto?"
Iruka sighed. "He's gone. We've looked everywhere. You have to tell me everything you know. If Naruto's not found there could be very big trouble. So, can you remember anything? Anything at all?"
"There was some girl whose hand was glowing, she. stuck her hand inside his stomach. That's all I could see before." He fell silent, face a mask of dark emotions. "It was like the dobe WANTED to be taken, he just SAT there."
"I there anything else? Physical characteristics? A name maybe?"
"Yeah. She looked kind of like Sakura. He called her Illia." Sasuke fell back onto the bed, asleep.
"Illia?" Kakashi asked, walking into the room, glancing at the passed out Sasuke. "And she looked like Sakura?"
"Does it mean something to you, Kakashi?"
"Maybe, it'd be too early to be certain." He turned. "I'll be back soon, watch over Sasuke."
"Damn it Kakashi, why do you always have to be so mysterious?" But even as Iruka asked, his mask lover was nowhere to be seen. "I'll just wait here, then."
Kakashi jumped away from his lover with a slight guilty feeling. "Sorry Iruka, I couldn't bear to get your hopes up, though." He landed soundlessly outside the Haruno residence. Sakura pulled the door open before he could even knock.
"Sensei! What's going on? Has Sasuke woken up yet? Is Naruto back?" Her fists were clutched helplessly at her chest, and her eyes were so desperate.
He sighed, "Gomen, Sakura. Sasuke woke up for a short while, but it looks like it's gonna take a while for him to regain his strength completely. Naruto is still missing. And I'm here to speak to your mother."
Feeling lost and helpless, Sakura wordlessly stepped aside and let Kakashi in. He mother turned the corner, wiping her hands on her apron. "Sakura, you should have told me we had company! Kakashi-sensei, isn't it?" She held out her hand in greeting to the jounin.
"Yes, mam. It's good to finally meet one of my student's mothers." Kakashi said, taking the offered hand, trying desperately to keep the urgent feeling down. A few moments of pleasantries were NOT going to slow down Naruto's retrieval or Sasuke's awakening.
"And what do I owe this visit? Sakura never tells me what's going on in her life now that she's an adult." The woman sent a wink towards Kakashi. "But a mother can always tell when something's bothering her daughter."
"Actually, that IS what I'm here about, you see, Naruto has disappeared. The only person to see what happened was their teammate, Sasuke, who was heavily drugged. He woke for a short time and said that someone that kind of resembled your daughter was responsible. He said Naruto called her Illia."
The plump woman fell into a nearby chair, hands clenched at her mouth. "That's not possible, Illia died the night the demon attacked."
"Are you certain?" Kakashi asked, his visible eye watching for some hint of a lie or hesitation.
"Completely." The woman sighed, "There are a few things you should know, Kakashi, if you're going to find Naruto."
"Oh?" His eyebrow raised. This woman was going to be more helpful than he thought.
"First, the fox demon was not the one who attacked our village that night."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you ever mention this before?"
"What was I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry, but the Fourth died sealing the wrong guy? I think we should unleash THIS demon and go after another one, because this one just lost his wife and his children are going to need him.' I somehow don't think that would go over very well."
"Children? Does the Hokage know ANY of this?" Kakashi demanded. There was definitely no lie in this woman's words.
"Probably. How should I know what the Hokage does or does not know? I'm just a simple house wife. Do you want to know the rest or not? SOMEONE should be out looking for Naruto-kun, you know."
Kakashi sat for a moment in shocked silence before nodding, adding ruefully, "You are anything but a simple housewife, I think, Haruno-san."
The woman rolled her eyes before continuing her story. "Second, as I already mentioned, the fox was MARRIED to Illia, they had four children.Let me see if I can remember their names.I never properly met them, but Illia talked of them so often. Let's see. Tenmar was the eldest, he's probably around 21 or 22 now; then came Uzu, the trickster; and then Ganten followed by the daughter. Marna? Something like that. I don't know much about the younger two, they were so young when they lost their mother. And that unfortunate business with their father." The woman shifted a distraught look still covering her face. "My guess is that it was those cubs that took Naruto-kun, but it could have been the real monster. The only reason I think it's even possible that it's the cubs is because they left the Uuchia boy alive, so that's not proof."
Kakashi sighed. "So you're telling me that the fox demon was framed by some other demon and that he married your sister in law, Illia, and they had four children and it was probably their children that kidnapped Naruto and it's possible that the Hokage isn't even aware of these things?"
Sakura's mother nodded, "That's what I'm telling you. And you're always complaining that he's not very bright, Sakura!"
Kakashi scratched a masked cheek, glancing at Sakura. He had forgotten she was there. "Ahem, well. I should go report my findings. Thank you, Haruno-san."
"I have a lot of respect for that boy, growing up as he did. Probably should have been more helpful to him, but. I never knew what to say, how to act. I'd do anything for him though, as if he was one of my own. Just know; if you find him and it IS the little ones that took him, it might be too late to get back the Naruto you knew."
Kakashi nodded and was gone. He felt a small smirk grace his face as he thought, "I wouldn't want to be in her shoes right now, having to explain that story to Sakura." The realization that he was going to have to explain it to Iruka sunk in quickly after, managing to bring down his good mood. "Maybe I should just go look for him without Iruka." He shook the thought away, right now he needed to report his findings to the Hokage.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenmar stood again, pacing slowly in front of the room they had put Naruto into. "How long will this thing take?" He asked for the fourth time.
Ganten sighed as he watched his brother's restlessness. "It depends on how long it takes for him to accept the memories. The Chakara will flow into him when he's mentally and emotionally ready to handle it. I created this slow working technique for that purpose, I suppose it IS theoretically possible that he will deny the memories completely and remain asleep forever, but then, it's only BEEN three hours, so it would be a little premature to assume that. I would wait at least three weeks before worrying about that."
Uzu stood and placed a warm hand on Tenmar's shoulder. "Calm down. This IS dad we're talking about. He'll be up and about in no time. I bet we won't even have to wait long enough to start worrying about who's gonna change the sheets when he performs necessary body functions!"
With both his brothers 'reassurances' Tenmar felt almost worse. "I just hate to wait here. I mean, we're like sitting ducks and Mina's cut herself off since we left that village. Until he wakes up, she's probably going to keep acting like a cornered kit-"
There was the sound of movement in the cave, the boys looked at each other in surprise. "Ganten, go get Mina!" Ganten nodded and was gone, leaving Uzu and Tenmar to sit and stare at the cave.
"Ow! Damn. That's a low roof." The voice inside was definitely awake. The air suddenly chilled as a burst of raw power shot out from the cave, causing more crashing noises. "Oh yeah. It's been a long time."
Uzu looked questioningly at Tenmar, an excitement in his voice. "You think we should go to greet him?"
Tenmar looked slightly blank, and then smiled. "I don't know." He turned and called into the cave, "Naruto-sama? Are you alright in there?"
"What kind of question is that?" A deep voice replied from near the doorway of the cave. "Of course I'm alright." A tall figure walked towards the exit of the cave, blonde hair already shimmering in the sunlight.
Tenmar could only stand in amazement as his father, looking just like he did the day he left 12 years ago, stood before him again. Uzu had already bolted from his position, racing to greet the man at the mouth of the cave. "Father." For the first time in twelve years Tenmar felt a ray of hope blossom in his chest as he ran behind his brother.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Psychic King: *sigh* A happy chapter ending for the children. *glancing a Sasuke* and next chapter the time lapse and wedding for Sasuke and Sakura!
Sasuke: WHAT? Teme.
Psychic King: *holding up hands* I'm TEASING, geeze, get a sense of humor, weird-o.
Sakura: *sigh* That's all well and good, but what the heck happened? You said NO huge time lapse.
Psychic King: *nodding* And there wasn't! You think with Naruto's full Chakara out he couldn't control what age he looks? My only problem now is. Is Iruka Jewish?
Sakura: *looking confused* what? Where'd that come from?
Psychic King: *shaking head* Well, apparently I called him a gentile in the last chapter. Wasn't quite what I had been going for, but. if he's Jewish he's gonna be pissed.
Sakura: *shaking head* I wouldn't worry about it, really. *watches as Uzu, Tenmar and adult Naruto walk into the room*
Uzu: *Hanging off a full grown Naruto* Daddy!
Tenmar: *holding onto Naruto's other side* Father. It's so good to have you back!
Adult Naruto: *smiling at Psychic King, Sakura and Sasuke* Hi guys! What's up?
Sasuke: *small trickle of blood coming from his nose* THAT'S what Naruto is going to look like.?
Sakura: *blushing* When does this happen? He's. tall. and. *blushing more*
Psychic King: *smiling* Yay! Naruto! How do you like your new body?
Adult Naruto: *Pulls Tenmar and Uzu off and whispers to Psychic King* It's alright, but I don't want to be like this forever. Life was GOOD in Konoha, and I was really starting to get some respect! Anyway, if this manga thing is right *holds up some Naruto manga* they're still gonna need me there. I mean, I want to help the kids, sure, but I don't see why we don't just go back there together so I can do both.
Psychic King: *holding up hands* Say no more! I have a few ideas, trust me! I wouldn't leave Sasuke hanging like that.
Naruto: *rubbing the back of his head* You know, I understand those jokes now, the ones you're always tormenting Sasuke with. About me.
Psychic King: *nodding* ah yes, I feared that insight into certain things would come with the memories. *clearing throat* Ahem. Do you want me to stop them?
Naruto: *shakes head* No way, he's so cute when he blushes. *giggling*
Psychic King: *sigh* some things never change. *looks to the audience* Anyway, peoples, I just wanted to say that I will NOT leave things as they are! I promise! I have lots of ideas! Just not right now. Right now sleep. *falls asleep*
Adult Naruto: *covering Psychic King* Aw. isn't that cute? *changing back into a 12 year old* Well, while the writers away. *runs up to Sasuke and Sakura* Hi!
Sakura: *looking disappointedly at Naruto* what happened to being older and good looking?
Naruto: *pouting* Sakura-chan! How cruel.
Psychic King: *talking in her sleep* Review. Mumh, nice reviewers.
Sakura: *shaking head* Even in her sleep.