What its like to be on both sides

By:

Uzumaki-taichou

Disclaimer: I don't any of the things that might be from Naruto, Bleach, or Samurai7 … I wish I owned them though 'cuz that'll be sick.

Author's Note: Thanks to all who are reviewing my story. It really means a lot to me that you guys take time to read it and review.

Chapter 3

Past and Present

A young boy lay motionlessly about half a mile deep into the caverns of the Hokage Monument. He lies there, his clothes wet from the rain and the pull of blood that surrounded him. He didn't know how he got there or managed to get there for that matter with all his wounds. His body couldn't move, numb from the pain and his eyes seemed to darken as with every passing moment he spent there lying on the ground.

He could feel his consciousness slipping away and the feeling of cold wind being blown on him seemed to confirm his suspicions: he was going to die here in this dank, musty room inside the monument where no one would even think of looking. He was about ready to give up when unimaginable pain surged through his whole body, the pain originating from the seal on his stomach. 'Why must everyone torment him so, even when he was about fade away into the darkness' he asked himself. He wanted it to end; he wanted to die just to escape everything. Through the pain he could feel his wounds closing and healing at the rapid rate he had come to know. He could see a red aura surrounding his whole entire body. Before he passed out from the body-numbing pain, he heard a distant voice echo throughout the room.

"Do not be afraid gaki…you will live to see the day this village burns itself down under its own accord for its sins…I will see to it that you will…I pass on to you what is mine. Forgive me if you have to endure more pain after what I must do but realize it must be done. Do not be surprised if you wake up and see everything in a different light; know that you are still yourself. I will leave you now with one advice: beware of the shine the Red Moon reflects upon you."

Naruto woke up with a start, echoes of his voice bouncing around his apartment and his bed sheets soaked with his sweat. It happened again. For years now, the ever-haunting dream of him going under such pain in order to live kept repeating in his mind. The dream just wouldn't go away no matter how much he tried to ignore or forget it. He contemplated about the last thing the fox said over and over again for years. The premonition obviously involved him and this Akatsuki organization. But the question is how? The fox was dead. He had died or at least in the eyes of the public. For years he searched for answers, gathering information on the Akatsuki (Red Moon) Organization; their members, motives, and plans and yet every search came up empty-handed.

He looked outside and saw that dawn was just beginning its approach. Deciding that he wasn't going to get anymore sleep after the dream, he might as well eat and train. A haircut was also in the agenda as well as a visit to the tailoring shop. He quickly glanced at the calendar and a memory ran rampant in his mind. His eyes closed, realization and understanding began to show on his face; the meeting with the Hokage became even more urgent.

Hokage Tower 12:00 noon

Sarutobi was tired—tired and hungry as a matter of fact. He was currently reading through the day's reports and stamping approved missions when someone knocked on the door. He told whoever it was to come in and saw Naruto although a very different looking Naruto. His hair was no longer the sun-kissed blonde but was now blood red. His hair seemed to be cut since he could tell it was layered and had bangs now. He attributed the color of the hair as a trait passed on by the Kyuubi and in all honesty suited his attire. The vest he had given him was now black with the swirl on the back matching his hair color. A black, long-sleeve turtle neck made of silk lay underneath the vest while he wore baggy black pants with a kunai/shuriken pouch tied t his left thigh and also had the standard black shinobi sandals on. The outfit looked very well under his light, cream-colored skin and the hair contrasts with the darkness of his attire. On his back was his massive sword that was strapped on to a set of slots that were added onto the vest. He was also surprised to find a bento box flying towards his head at an alarming speed. With no other choice, he caught it and was thankful for the perfect timing and began to eat the food. Naruto watched the Hokage with an amused look and waited until the old man was done with his last bite before finally speaking.

"Hokage-sama, I request to be allowed to leave the village for at least 2 months in order to track and retrieve Tsunade-hime. I need to leave tomorrow morining in order to speak to my informant in Wave country as to her whereabouts. The last place I was told she visited was somewhere near Kumo and now heading towards Tanzaku City."

The Hokage looked him Naruto in the eyes to figure out why would he be needing that much time to retrieve Tsunade. He decided to leave it for now knowing asking would be futile.

"Ok, this will be labeled as an A-class mission. I will send Kakashi and Gai with you as—"

"Not necessary. I don't need anyone else for this mission because I'm picking up someone along the way. I need to pack so I'll be leaving you now."

"Wait! Since you are heading towards Wave country, escort this man there." He pointed to man just walking in and from what Naruto could smell, the man has been drinking. "The escort mission will be classifiedas a C-class mission." Naruto took one look at the man and scoffed.

"Why would he need shinobi to escort him back?"

"Because a lot of people want to stop me from finishing what I'm building brat," replied the old man by the door.

He rose from his seat and started for the door, not wanting to kill the man for calling him that since nobody has for a long time and headed home to pack.

The old man watched the retreating shinobi leave his room. He wondered how the hyper-active blonde he once knew turned into these very refined shinobi. Deciding that pondering on the issue would only be a waste of time, he began his very monotonous task of reading and stamping routine again all the while worrying for Naruto's sake.

"Is that the guy who'll be escorting me?" asked the drunk with a slight red tinge on his cheeks.

"Hai, Tazuna-san. Kazama Naruto will be the one; he says he has some business in your village so you might as well go with him," replied Sarutobi.

"He doesn't look like much to me. Are you sure he is good enough?"

"He is more than capable for the job. Knowing the look he was giving you earlier, he thinks this task is only a hindrance towards his other mission. Get some rest. You leave tomorrow morning and whatever you do, do not irate him like you did just now because if you do, not even I can stop him."

It was cold. The morning fog seemed to make things even more cold with all the moisture it carried as Naruto waited for the bridge builder to get here. He has been waiting now for over an hour when he heard someone walking towards the his direction. He looked up and saw old man Tazuna walking up to him carrying his things on his back. Naruto straightened up and began walking towards the gates, the bridge builder following from behind.

As they passed they passed the gates, Naruto stopped and noticed a puddle of water in the middle of the road.

'Strange, it hasn't rained for nearly half a month now, so why would a puddle be here?'

He began his trudge again, putting the little anomaly in the back of his mind all the while keeping on guard in case anything might come up. Tazuna meanwhile was wondering what made his escort suddenly stop and focus on the puddle. As he followed Naruto from behind, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something flying through the air from his right flank and then it happened so fast. Tazuna couldn't believe what just happened; he watched as chains with what looked like blades welded to it, wrap around Naruto and a split second later, a rain of blood showered the grounds as the chains decapitated his escort. He watched as the chains retracted in a wild manner towards his direction. Out of impulse, he moved out its way and turned around and saw to people swinging the blades around like it was a toy.

Disappearing into thin air, the two assailants moved in for the kill as they watched amusedly the man ahead of them running for his life.

Tazuna kept on running, fearing for his life and the need for self-preservation imminent on his face, until he tripped on a wayward rock conveniently placed in his path. He watched in horror as the two figures he was running away from were heading straight for him with their chains swinging dangerously around them. He closed his eyes and braced himself from the certainty of death when he heard the most horrific, pain-stricken howls he has ever heard. When he finally opened his eyes, he ended up wanting to shut it again because he felt like he was going to throw up as he watched the two figures wailing out their hearts out on the ground from the pain that they felt. Tazuna saw a pair of legs that were cleanly cut from the knees up a few feet away from the two and assumed that that was the reason they wailing about.

He watched in surprise and shock as a Naruto with all his limbs attached to his body walked up to the remaining whimpering fool; the other one dead from blood loss and shock. Tazuna looked away as Naruto brought his sword down on the man's throat, perfectly silencing him as well as severing his head from the rest of his body.

Tazuna pushed himself up as he walked up to his savior to try and explain why these nins were here and what just happened. When Naruto began moving again.

"I don't want to hear it Tazuna-san. Clearly someone is after you and you don't have enough money for any missions higher than a C-lass. Completely understandable. I'm officially upgrading this to an A-Class mission. Don't worry about the money; I'll find some other way to get the payment. For now, we need to move."

Tazuna watched the retreating Naruto and couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself for deceiving these people as well as feel thankful for continuing the mission. With renewed vigor, he began his walk towards his home in a faster pace, determined to get there as quickly as possible.

"Tazuna-san, how far are we from your home?"

"About a quarter mile once we reach the dock at the other side of this river but the mist might cause some problems."

Naruto and Tazuna were currently on a boat heading across the Wave country river border. Naruto could vaguely see a silhouette of a huge structure through the mist.

"Is that the bridge you are building, Tazuna-san?" Tazuna looked at the thing Naruto was looking at and nodded.

"Hai Kazama-san, that is the bridge. The bridge is going to be the symbol that will remind my people to stand up for ourselves. Its going to free all of us from everything holding us down. It'll free us from Gatou."

"The man who is after you?"

"Hai, he has for sometime now ever since he found out about the bridge. He controls everything that happens in Wave Country and that's why we live in poverty. He just came here one day and took over us…"

Naruto listened intently to the old man's story. He felt pity towards the people of his home but knew that they didn't need it or want it for that matter. From that moment on, he decided to finish this aission to the end and see to it personally that this Country recovers from its sorry state.

"…and once the bridge is finished, I will finally be able to give my daughter and her son what they deserve."

"Your daughter?"

"Hai. Tsunami is her name and is about your age, 27 years old I think. She lives with me and her son. She should be at the docks when we arrive to meet us. "

"No husband?"

"No. The bastard walked out on her as soon as she told him he was pregnant. I have never seen her truly smile after that incident. She needs someone in her life to make her happy and not just her family. I wan to find her someone for that. Someone who will truly love her and make her feel happy."

As they approached the docks, Tazuna could see a silouhutte of blue hair through the mist and a face of angel and immediately recognized as his daughter.

Naruto was captivated, awestruck even. For the first time in his life, he never felt his body go out of sync with his mind as he continued to stare at the woman who looked like a goddess sent from above. With her blue hair, angelic face, and the most gorgeous body he has ever seen. The clothes didn't help either; a form fitting blouse and a skirt cut just above her knees. Her legs probably caught his attention the most. She just literally took his breath away as he just continued to stare. This didn't go unnoticed by Tazuna as he caught Naruto staring at his daughter with pure admiration and fascination in his eyes and continued to do so as they continued to get closer. He contemplated whether Naruto would be a good choice for her daughter; he was strong and could definitely defend her from anyone. Yes he would be a good pick based on what he has seen from him and the only thing he would have to see is if Naruto will act on his daughter. 'Maybe I could do something about that?" he Tazuna thought. With that he began to formulate plans on how to get these two together and to finally see his daughter smile a true smile again.

Tsunami was waiting patiently at the docks for nearly and hour now waiting for her father. In his letter, he said to be at the docks an hour ago and there still wasn't any signs of him. 'Something must have happened," she thought. She was also carrying two grocery bags in her arms and the waiting wasn't helping the straining in her arms. She was about to walk back to the house when she saw a light shining through the thickness of the mist. As the light got gradually closer, she could make out a boat with two people on board, one at the front and one at the back. Little by little, she recognized who was at the front as none other than her father but what intrigued her the most was the person in back of him.

To her, the person was the most handsome man she has ever seen. From his red, flowing hair to his handsome face, she definitely concluded