Authors Notes: Alright, so I kind of snuck in two updates of Darkness Falls for starting this chapter. For those following this story, I apologize for that, but I really wanted to wrap up the Land of Snow Arc. But, here it is. Chapter 4!
So, last chapter we got to see a little of what Sakura had been doing over the last week and her meeting with one crazy snake lady in for the form of Anko, whom is very protective over Naruto. Not to mention, we also learned that she has more or less dropped her diet and has been eating at Ichiraku's daily and can be assumed she has formed a friendship with Ayame.
In this chapter, we will also see a bit more of what Sakura has been doing the previous week.
As for Naruto, he has been busy training in fuinjutsu and chakra control. We also learned how he will be evading detection from Hiruzen's crystal ball, with an ingenious combination of a blood clone filled with Kurama's chakra, and a seal to distort and dampen his own chakra signature. Allowing him to train more physical exercises with little risk of being caught.
We also got to peek on on Xion, and learned that she has Zabuza's sword after it had selected her to be it's next wielder. As well as a small flashback on how she came upon it. During this flashback, we also learned that Kakashi had refused to honor the dead and that Naruto had dug the graves himself. As for Xion, her fighting style will be a lot like Cloud's from Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children. So expect her to pull out an Omnislash down the line.
Then the chapter ended with Sakura inadvertently asking Naruto on a lunch date, which shocked our resident emo into silence that she had ignored him all day and was now asking Naruto to join her for ramen of all things.
Review Corner
Einjeru Hatake – Yes, I intend for Sakura to be in the pairing, as she is already locked in. I simply like taking her on an arc with her being a fan girl and then growing as a character and learning there is more to Naruto then she originally realized.
UnsanMusho – This was touched on a little in Chapter 2, but to recap, Kakashi already plans to use Naruto's affections towards Sakura to manipulate him to further the Hokage's agenda.
Squall321 – You know, I think that is a question that will never be answered. It was even referenced in another fanfic I've been reading, titled From Ninja to Shinigami.
Thor94 – Not sure about bloodlines, but Naruto will be extremely adept with Fuinjutsu and will have full control over Kurama's power, as the two have a good relationship with one another. I may give him Kushina's Chakra Chains though. As for Naruto planning revenge, well he is more concerned with simply getting back home rather then getting revenge. After he is safe, he will no doubt want to enact some for of revenge.
YeagerMeister31 – Kushina has something very damaging planned for Konoha, she just needs to get her pieces in position. Let's just say, it involves a little black book Hiruzen keeps hidden away, that if in the wrong hands, could damage Konoha for generations to come.
Unlimited Fic Works – Unfortunately, the poll is closed and the results will be posted below. But even before that, Namine was suggested, but I had decided not to include her because I already had 3 others from Kingdom Hearts. Also, Naruto's memories are fully restored after the seals broke, he's just out of practice with his training because Konoha had purposely stunted his growth.
Poll Results
It was a close race, well at least for second place. There was no question who was going to claim one of the remaining slots, as she had rocketed up right away to the top, leaving all the other girls in the dust. As for second place, it was a neck and neck race between four girls for the past week. But without further adieu, here are the last to girls to round out the harem. Esdeath and Pyrrha.
Harem – Anko, Aqua, Esdeath, Kairi, Koyuki, Morgiana, Pyrrha, Rory, Sakura, and Xion
This is it for the harem list. No more will be added. As stated, I have learned my lesson from Darkness Falls. All other girls like Hinata and Ayame will be viewed more as a sister to Naruto then a potential lover.
Also, I do have plans for how Esdeath and Pyrrha will be introduced, but they won't appear until a bit later.
So, without further adieu, let's begin!
Remember Me
Chapter 4
Currently the young blonde was regretting his love of ramen as a very upset ramen waitress glared down at him, causing him to shrink further into the stool he was seated in. While Sakura was attempting, and failing at holding a giggle in to herself at the interaction between the two. The pinkette knew that Ayame had been beyond worried for the blonde when he hadn't come by for an entire week. Immediately believing the worst had finally happened.
'Kit, you better apologize to her.' Kurama barked from inside the boys mind, clearly worried about what the girl would do to his host. 'Because I have never seen a woman that angry before, well, maybe your mother, but regardless. Apologize now.'
"Do you have any idea of how worried I was for you, Naruto-kun?" Ayame ground out as tears began to form in her eyes. "I had feared that the worst had finally happened!"
"Sor-sorry Ayame-chan." The blonde squeaked out as the brunette girl continued to glare down at him. "It's just that after my last mission, something happened that I really needed time to myself to figure out."
"You could have at least stopped by and let us know you were fine." The waitress continued to berate the young blonde. "Even Sakura-san here has been looking for you all week!"
This of course caught the blondes attention, to learn that the pink haired girl had been looking for him all week. Prompting him to give her a questioning look, which elicited a slight blush from the pinkette. As he took in her reaction, he noticed a small bandage on her right bicep, making him wonder what had happened. As far as he knew, she had done nothing that would have cause an injury during training.
"Umm, Ayame-san." Sakura interrupted the waitresses rant. "Could we perhaps get something to eat before you continue to scare Naruto?"
Ayame looked between the blonde boy and the pink haired girl for a moment before turning her attention back towards her little brother figure.
"Don't think you are off the hook yet for scaring us like that." She warned, before she seemingly flipped a switch and turned to Sakura with a cheerful expression. "The usual, Sakura-san?"
"Hai." The pinkette smiled.
"And I already know what you want, Naruto-kun." The ramen waitress stated before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving the two genin alone in an awkward silence as neither really knew what to say.
"So, um, I take it you henged as Sasuke to get the scroll you were reading this morning?" Sakura tentatively asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"Yeah." He answered honestly with a slight shrug. "Don't worry, I will return it before the due date so the teme doesn't get in trouble."
"This wasn't the first time you henged as Sasuke, was it?" She inquired.
"No." The blonde sighed, knowing where this was going.
"On the bench, after the bell test." She began, blushing slightly. "That was you, wasn't it?"
'Ha, ha, busted kit!' Kurama laughed from the back of the boys mind.
'Only took her how many weeks?' Naruto responded in a sarcastic tone. 'Damn teme would have never said that to her.'
'Better late then never, kit.'
"Yeah, that was me." He sighed, and waited for the pinkette to physically lash out, however it never came. Causing him to look towards his team mate in confusion.
"I figured, since Sasuke would never say something like that." She responded, looking down at the counter, a slight frown on her face as she came to a small realization that the boy she had a crush on for so long would never be the romantic she had dreamed of him being. Yet Naruto had, causing her to blush lightly, stealing a glance at the blonde next to her.
'Hey kit, have you noticed something about her speech pattern?' Kurama inquired, prompting the blonde to mentally cock an eyebrow in thought.
'No, what?' Naruto replied to his older brother figure.
'She has dropped then -kun suffix from the Uchiha brat's name.' The fox pointed out, causing the blonde to slightly widen his eyes. 'And she has almost used it on you, twice now.'
'You're right.' He mentally responded.
"I suppose you want to know why I henged as Sasuke." It was more of a statement then a question, as he figured Sakura would be curious as to why he had decided to henge as the brooding emo. Though he had henged as other random civilians and shinobi as well through out the week.
"No, I know why." The pinkette sighed. "It's because a lot of the businesses in the village will either throw you out or charge you double or triple the standard price."
"How do you know this?" Naruto asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Three days ago, I got to know you." Sakura replied, rubbing her right bicep where her bandage was. Giving the blonde a clear idea of what had happened, causing his heart to sink into is stomach. "After I couldn't find you, I decided to spend a day in your shoes."
Flashback no Jutsu
Sakura let out a long sigh as she leaned up against the side of a building. It had been four days since they had returned from Wave, and she had not seen any trace of her blonde team mate. To be honest, it was starting to get frustrating for the pink haired girl. She was also growing more and more concerned, after listening to how Ayame and her father had found the boy every so often over the past few years. Shuddering slightly as she recalled some of the gruesome ways they father and daughter duo would find the poor boy, the ramen waitress had reluctantly divulged.
'Inner, I have an idea.' She began, wondering how her inner self would react.
'What's that Outer?'
Instead of replying, the pinkette ducked into an alley way and ensure no one could see her before she made a ram seal. Immediately, a cloud of smoke obscured her body for a split second, before it dispersed, leaving a blonde haired teen boy in a horrendous orange jumpsuit in it's wake.
'You can't be serious!?' Inner exclaimed, immediately concerned for what her outer self had planned.
'I am.' Sakura, now henged as Naruto mentally replied. 'If I can't find him to talk to him, then I can walk a day in his shoes and get a look into his daily life.'
'But you heard what the villagers said about Naruto, what if they think you are him and attack you?'
'That's the idea. I want them to think I am Naruto.' Sakura frowned as she looked over her henge. As far as she could tell, it was spot on.
'Just be careful, Outer.' Inner stated in concern, still not liking this plan. Especially after hearing from the ramen waitress what had happened to the poor boy in the past. 'You heard what Ayame-san had said about how her and her father has found him before.'
'I know Inner, I know.' Sakura sighed before taking a deep breath and left the alley way, placing her/his hands in her/his jacket. Knowing that she couldn't accurately portray his mannerisms nor imitate his voice, the pinkette had opted to merely stay quiet and walk around.
The change was almost immediate as soon as she stepped back onto the main street. All the glares directed at her made her want to shrink back into the alley way and hide, but she forced herself to carry on. She needed to experience this so she could better understand Naruto. As she continued to walk through the street, she saw people whispering to one another while gesturing towards her. Mothers pulling their kids away from her, telling them not to go anywhere near the 'demon child'.
As the day wore on, 'Naruto' wandered through the streets and various shops. Getting kicked out of most, and if they did let him in, the owner would charge him double or triple the asking price, stating it was a 'Demon' tax, causing the pinkette to frown. She did her best not to cause further trouble for her blonde team mate, though had still managed to get him banned from a few of the places that had allowed her in, making her feel slightly guilty.
Hours Later
Slowly, the sun began to set; basking the village in an orange glow as the pinkette still henged as the young blonde made her way back towards the alley way she had started in. Lost in thought of everything she had experienced throughout the day.
'To think, he lives this every day.' Inner commented with a solemn understanding of just how much pain and hate the blonde boy has to contend with on a daily basis.
'How does he do it?' The pinkette wondered absent mindlessly. 'After the first few minutes I wanted to run and hide away from it all.'
However, her musing was cut short as a kunai grazed her right arm, eliciting a yelp in pain from the henged cherry blossom. Turning, she saw a small mob of people gathering behind her with some chuunin level shinobi's among them.
"There he is!" One from the mob cried out. "Get him! Kill him! Avenge the Yondaime!"
'Shit!' She mentally screamed out as she broke out in a run, avoiding additional projectiles that were being thrown in her direction.
As the minutes ticked by, she was becoming more and more tired. Not having the same stamina as her two team mates, and as she got more and more tired, the projectiles the mob were throwing at her got closer and closer. Having nearly hit her countless times.
'I need a way out!' Sakura thought in a panic as she looked around for anything she could use. Seeing a tree just ahead she quickly came up with a plan. Taking a cautious look behind her, she timed began to time it. As soon as one of the chuunin in the crowd thew one of their kunai, she substituted herself with a log and disappeared into the tree, quickly dropping her henge.
"Damn it!" A yell could be heard from one of the nameless pursuers. "The demon got away again."
Watching as the mob slowly began to disperse, upset that their prey had eluded them once more as they grumbled to one another about how they would get the demon brat next time. Letting out a sigh of relief, Sakura dropped down from the tree and lingered for a moment before leaving in the opposite direction that a majority of the mob left in. Unaware of a pair of blue eyes that had been watching her.
Flashback no Jutsu Dispel
"What you did was incredibly reckless, Sakura." The blonde frowned after the pinkette had finished her explanation. Sakura was about to retort before he held up his hand to prevent her from saying anything. "But, I thank you for actually trying to understand my life."
"You're welcome." She replied softly.
"Just promise me you will never do that again." He requested with a serious look in his eyes that she had never seen before, prompting her to simply nod her head in agreement. "If you really want to come talk to me, my apartment is in the Red Light District, top floor, all the way to the end. Just look for the graffiti."
Sakura frowned at this, but nodded none the less. Becoming further disappointed in the villagers actions. Weighing her options, she decided to ask the question that was foremost on her mind ever since his comment in Wave.
"Naruto, why do the villagers hate you?" She asked bluntly.
"Maybe they don't like my pranks." He offhandedly commented, earning another frown from the pinkette.
'He's hiding something.' Inner commented with a mental frown, earning a nod from her outer self.
"Your pranks aren't that bad to get the entire village to hate you." She commented, causing him to let out a soft sigh.
"Sorry, but there is a law surrounding it." He answered in a low tone. "To reveal it would be a death sentence for you."
Nodding slightly, she decided to back off from the subject for now. Though his answer only got her more curious as to what it could be that required such a law to surround her blonde team mate. Though before she could reply to the blonde, Ayame returned with their bowls and placed them in front of the two genins.
"Here you go." The brunette happily stated.
"Thank you." Both responded as they began to dig into their respective bowls.
The two ate in silence as Ayame went to tend to other customers that began to filter into the ramen stand. After they finished, the two paid for their meals and bid the brunette waitress farewell, with Naruto promising that he would not disappear like that again.
'You should leave her a hint.' Kurama commented as the two silently walked away from the ramen stand. 'Like your birthday.'
'You sure?' Naruto inquired with a mental frown. 'I thought the whole reason of giving her a second chance was to have a friend on the team while I am still here. If she learns the truth, she could….'
'If she is smart enough to figure it out, she is smart enough to know we are two different entities.' The fox replied, cutting off the blonde. 'I am not saying reveal our close friendship or anything.'
"I guess I will see you tomorrow?" Sakura asked, breaking the blonde from his inner conversation with his tenant.
"Yeah." He nodded, turning to leave before he paused. "By the way, my birthday is October 10th."
This caught the pinkette off guard as she watched the blonde walk away from her. Frowning, she pondered why he would give her such a mundane bit of information about him as she walked in the direction of her home.
'Why did he tell us his birthday?' Inner inquired. 'It's not like it's coming up soon or anything.'
'No, it has to mean something.' Sakura mentally replied. 'Why does that date sound familiar?'
Frowning further, she made a detour towards the village library. She knew there was a reason that Naruto had told her his birthday, and it wasn't because he was expecting a birthday party when it rolled around. Something in her gut told her that it had something to do with why the villagers hated him.
Hokage Tower
"Anything new to report?" The elder village leader asked as the silver haired jonin entered his office, reading his usual orange book.
"He is still more subdued since after the mission, not as loud as he used to be." Kakashi replied lazily, not looking up from his book. "He still struggles on chakra control exercises. He was unable to complete the leaf cutting exercise today."
"That is good," Hiruzen stated as he took a puff from his pipe. "We don't want our weapon to get too strong before he is mentally broken and completely loyal to this village."
Kakashi merely nodded in agreement. He knew full well the damage the demon could cause if he gained too much power before he was mentally conditioned to be the villages weapon. Especially if he decided to retaliate against the villagers attacks on him.
"Any other developments with your team?"
"Since Sasuke has unlocked his Sharingan finally, I've began to train him to use it. Hopefully within a few months I can start training him on how to use it to subdue other jinchuriki or biju."
"Good, good." Hiruzen nodded in approval. "Shame Itachi had to massacre the entire clan, we could use more matured Sharingan users to keep the weapon subdued. Has Sasuke shown any interest in reviving his clan?"
"No, Hokage-sama." The masked jonin sighed, closing his book. "His sole goal right now is to avenge his clan."
The elder man frowned at that. He had hoped the last Uchiha in the village would have at least have a few illegitimate kids running around with the sheer amount of fan girls the boy had. A few of which had blatantly stated they wanted to bear his children.
"Just make sure he is ready. The last thing we need is for the boy to die before he can sire any children." The hokage stated. "Anything else?"
"There has been a small development with the Haruno girl."
"And that is?"
"Since the incident in Wave, she has been consciously seeking out the jinchuriki."
"Do you suspect they are romantically involved?" The elder man asked. It was no secret that the blonde jinchuriki had a crush on the pink haired girl. If the two were romantically involved with one another, he would have to end it, possibly by disposing of the girl as she was more expandable then the weapon. However, the more he thought about it, the more he considered how this development could work in his favor.
"No." Kakashi replied. "It seems his crush on her has died in Wave. Her goal however, is to prove to him that there are others who would care if something were to happen to him. Should I intervene?"
"No." Hiruzen answered. "Allow her to continue. We could use this to our advantage."
"How so, Hokage-sama?"
"If they were to actually form an emotional bond with one another, we can exploit that bond to speed up the process of breaking his mind." Hiruzen grinned darkly. "I want you to start pairing them together on assignments. Subtly nudge them closer together, but don't force it."
"And if they do become romantic?"
"I will allow it for a time, to ensure that bond it set." The hokage replied, the grin still on his face as he imagined how his current plan would turn out in the villages favor. "Once the bond is set, we will remove the Haruno girl, allowing the weapons mind to completely break."
Kakashi frowned slightly, not wanting to toss away a potential kunoichi for the village, but it was for the greater good of the village. So it was an acceptable sacrifice to ensure Konoha took it's rightful place as the strongest of all the villages.
"It will be done, Hokage-sama." He bowed before departing the office, leaving the village leader alone with his thoughts.
A malicious grin on his face, the elder village leader took out a single black notebook from a safe under his desk and began to detail his current plan involving the young pink haired girl, and the village weapon. It was risky to have all of the villages dark secrets he had ordered in a single place, but the elder man knew there was a chance he would not see his plan to fruition, and it would fall to his successor to see it to the end. And this book would guide them along the path to make Konoha the greatest of all the Hidden Villages. Once his successor fully believed in the 'Will of Fire'.
'Forgive me, Sakura Haruno.' Hiruzen thought to himself. 'But your sacrifice is necessary for the greater good of Konoha when the time is right.'
The Next Morning, 7am
In a word. Sakura was tired.
She had stayed up well into the early morning hours combing over the scrolls, books, and various other newspaper clippings that she had borrowed from the village library. All relating to the date Naruto had given her, and what she had discovered from the newspaper clippings had made her heart sink. The same night her blonde team mate was born, the Kyuubi had attacked the village.
She knew the story well enough of how the Yondaime Hokage had valiantly fought against the massive demon fox and had killed it at the cost of his own life to preserve Konoha and it's people. However, she had found irregularities between the newspaper clippings and the lessons from the academy. Realizing they didn't match up. There was also the fact that the villagers had called her, when she was henged as Naruto, a demon or a demon child.
That was what had prompted her to look up scrolls about biju. Learning that they were constructs made purely of chakra and thus, unable to be killed by any known means. Even if the biju would sustain enough damage to disperse, it would only reform some time later. As she further researched, she came across the bit of information that made her body run cold. The only way to 'defeat' a biju, was to seal it within a newborn child that had yet to form any chakra coils. It was then that everything clicked together. Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed within him.
With that new knowledge, the pinkette had quickly scrounged for any information regarding jinchuriki. Learning that with the exception of Kumogakure and Berugakure, nearly every Hidden Village that had one had treated their jinchuriki as if they were worse then trash, and Konoha was no different. The reason why the villages would do this was just as horrifying. They wanted to break the jinchuriki's mind and strip them of their humanity. Turning them into mindless weapons to be pointed at the villages enemies.
However, there was one bit of information that the pinkette had come across that had froze her very soul. A discovery made by pure accident. Setting an empty glass on top of one of the newspaper articles that one brave or stupid reporter had managed to snap an up close picture of the rampaging Kyuubi, the pinkette had saw something odd with the beasts eyes. While it was difficult to make out through the pixelated photo, she could make out the markings of an advanced Sharingan eye.
This accidental discovery had sent the pinkette on another round of research, looking up scrolls and such about the Sharingan eye and it's advanced forms. From what she had learned of biju themselves, she knew that the chakra beasts them selves held no dojutsu. So upon reading up on the various forms of the Sharingan that the library had, she had learned that the Mangekyou Sharingan is capable of casting powerful genjutsu over it's target that would allow the wielder to control their victim. Furthermore, she had learned that one such Mangekyuo wielder by the name of Madara Uchiha was capable of asserting complete control over the Kyuubi.
Piecing the pieces together, she had come to the conclusion, as unlikely as it was, that the Kyuubi had been forced to attack the village that night. Though for what reasons, she didn't know. Letting out a sigh, she leaned her head back on the training post. Desperately wanting to close her eyes and fall asleep, but resisted all the same. She wanted to, no, needed to talk to Naruto about what she had learned. Praying to Kami that the blonde would arrive before the rest of her team.
Fortunately, her prayers were answered as she heard the sound of foot steps approaching her locations. Looking up, she saw her blonde team mate. Standing up, she brushed the dirt off her clothing before turning to greet the blonde.
"Morning Sakura." Naruto greeted. "Did you sleep…"
He never got to finish as the pinkette wrapped him in a hug, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Catching the young blonde by surprise by such an action. Though, he knew why.
"You found out, didn't you?" He asked, earning a nod from the girl as she broke away from the hug.
"I did some research last night about the date you gave me." She replied as she took a step back, looking down at the ground as she tried to form how she was going to approach the subject. "I know now why most of the villagers hate you."
"I see." Was all Naruto answered with.
"But I don't think differently of you." Sakura quickly reassured.
"I know." He chuckled. "Otherwise you wouldn't have hugged me like you did, Sakura-chan."
Upon hearing the -chan suffix added to her name once more, the pinkette's heart fluttered with joy. A few weeks ago, she would argue as to why she felt this way, but now, she knew exactly why. She missed the blonde referring to her in such an affectionate manner. Her week long search for the blonde, her meeting with the crazy snake lady, and her experience living a day as him had opened her eyes and allowed her to view to blonde teen in a new light.
"There was something else." She stated, her voice low as if she didn't want anyone else to hear what she was about to say. This of course caught the blondes attention as he looked to her, waiting for her to continue.
"What is it?"
"I think… I think 'It' was controlled that night." She all but whispered, putting an emphasis on the word 'it' so Naruto knew exactly who she was talking about.
Additional Authors Notes: And that's a wrap!
So, our little pinkette got to live a day in the life of Naruto and nearly payed for it when she got attacked by a mob of villagers and chuunin that she just barely escaped from. Giving her a new insight on just how hard of a life her blonde team mate leads.
On top of that, she also learned Naruto's secret. Which is always fun. I like portraying her as being intelligent enough to come to accurate conclusions with little information. Even taking it a step further and having her notice something most villagers would have over looked, and coming to the conclusion that the Kyuubi may have been controlled by someone to attack the village.
We also got to see Naruto fully give her a second chance, by calling her Sakura-chan again. Seeing that she learned his secret and still accepted him was a huge relief for him. Though he didn't expect her to come to the conclusion that Kurama was controlled, which allows him to trust her more. However, he still doesn't have a crush on her.
Lastly, we got to see a bit more of Hiruzen's twisted plan and how they now plan to use Sakura to further their agenda. And yes, his little black book will come into play later on, for those wondering.
Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments in the reviews, or feel free to hit me up with a private message!