I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.
A few days went by since the Sasuke retrieval mission and everyone was released from the hospital. Natsumi stayed by herself in her apartment and refused to let anybody see her since she knew all they wanted to talk about was the mission. While she was in the hospital Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Neji, Kiba and Choji came by to see her, but she didn't say much to them. News spread about the mission around the village and surprisingly nobody hated Natsumi for her actions given that Sasuke killed the chunin that were guarding him.
Naruto decided to give her a few extra days to herself as the others told him how she was at the moment and he respected her wish to be left alone. However, Naruto decided to cheer her up a bit and made a pit stop to the Hyuga compound for her surprise. The people in the village were surprised to see a Hyuga and an Uchiha walking together, but they realized it was Naruto. He made it abundantly clear that he doesn't care about some silly clan rivalry. He made it to Natsumi's apartment building and went up to her apartment.
"Open up, Natsumi. I know you're in there." Naruto said and knocked on the door
"Go away. I don't want to be bothered right now." Natsumi said
"Come on. I've brought a gift for you. It's something to make you feel better." Naruto said
"Is it ramen?" Natsumi asked
"It's better than ramen. Open up or I'll just use the key you let me have." Naruto said and he heard her groan
"Fine." Natsumi said and opened the door
"Yo." Naruto said and gave her a two finger surprise
"I'm here. What's...The...Surprise?" Natsumi asked and trailed off as she saw the person next to Naruto
"Natsumi, I'm sure you know who this is." Naruto said and she just stood there with her mouth open
"I'm Hiroshi Hyuga. Pleasure to meet you." Hiroshi said and Natsumi screamed
"NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL? I'LL BE RIGHT BACK. I HAVE TO FACE MY TEETH AND BRUSH MY WASH." Natsumi said and slammed the door
"Is she always like that?" Hiroshi asked
"You could say that." Naruto said and they heard crashing followed by swear words
"She has quite the mouth on her." Hiroshi said
"That she does. So, are you a ninja?" Naruto asked
"No. I was in your class for a bit, but I pulled out due to an injury which would prohibit me from fighting at my best. Now, I just help train some of the Hyuga members and take care of the compound." Hiroshi said
"I thought that if you were a trainer in the side branch of the Hyuga clan you aren't given the responsibilities of a caretaker." Naruto said
"I'm not, but I have nothing else to do with my free time so it's the least I can do." Hiroshi said
"You should hang out with the Konoha genin and see if Tsunade can fix your injury if you want to become a ninja again. She fixed Rock Lee and I doubt your injury is as bad as his." Naruto said and the door swung open
"Well, hello. Sorry to keep you waiting. Please come in." Natsumi said
"Thank you. I must say your hair is very vibrant." Hiroshi said, as he entered the apartment
"T-Thank you." Natsumi said and blushed
"You're welcome." Naruto and was about to go in the apartment, but she stopped him
"Leave." Natsumi said and he raised an eyebrow
"Why?" Naruto asked
"Because you're going to embarrass me. This is the first time I've said anything to him." Natsumi said and glanced at him as he was looking at her flowers
"This is the first time you're talking to him and you're worried about me embarrassing you? Did you forget what you looked like when you opened the door?" Naruto asked
"Naruto, please." Natsumi said and gave him a pleasing look
"Just answer my question. Are you feeling better about the mission?" Naruto asked and she looked back at Hiroshi
"I think I'm feeling better now." Natsumi said
"Are you going to confess your love to him?" Naruto asked and she blushed hard
"Will you shut up?" Natsumi asked
"Not a chance. Payback. Hey, Hiroshi!" Naruto said and Natsumi's eyes widen
"Yes, Naruto?" Hiroshi asked
"Did you know that Natsumi loves mmphh." Naruto said, but Natsumi covered his mouth and gave a nervous laugh
"I love flowers as you can tell." Natsumi said and glared at Naruto who gave her an annoying eye smile
"Quite the collection you have here. However, you should move them closer to the window for more sunlight." Hiroshi said and she nodded before closing the door
"Naruto! What the fuck?!" Natsumi asked
"What? I didn't do anything." Naruto said
"Don't give me that shit." Natsumi said
"I thought you'd be happy to see your boyfriend." Naruto said and she glared at him
"He's not my boyfriend." Natsumi said and her eyes went wide
"Now you see how it feels." Naruto said
"Okay. Fine. I'll stop teasing you about Temari. Can you please leave?" Natsumi asked
"Fine, but maybe you should talk to him about what's going on. You might feel better." Naruto said and she sighed
"I don't know. Did you ever talk to Temari about something like this?" Natsumi asked
"Yeah. One of my missions as a chunin turned into an S rank mission and I was the only person to make it back alive. I can't go into details, but I talked to her about it and she made me feel better." Naruto said
"I guess I'll give it a try. Wait. Do you think he likes me?" Natsumi asked
"Given how he didn't run away from you when you answered the door and then complimented you on your hair it's a possibility." Naruto said
"Nice. Wait, do you even like Temari?" Natsumi asked
"Yes." Naruto said
"Then why aren't you together? Did you even kiss her?" Natsumi asked
"I've only kissed her on the cheek goodbye and we're not together because she can't really leave the village due to them not having a current Kazekage so everything is right over there right now. She was barely able to come to the rescue mission." Naruto said
"So you're saying that you won't be able to see her is the reason why you two are not together?" Natsumi asked
"Yup." Naruto said
"Then how is it any different with me and Hiroshi?" Natsumi asked
"Because you both are in the same village and you can visit each other whenever you want. Now, go inside." Naruto said and she gave him a hug
"Thank you." Natsumi said and Naruto hugged her back
"For what?" Naruto asked
"For being a great big brother for all these years." Natsumi said
"You're welcome." Naruto said and they broke the hug
"I'll see you later." Natsumi said and Naruto walked away, but not before embarrassing her
"NATSUMI HAS A BOYFRIEND." Naruto yelled and vanished making her scream
"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE." Natsumi yelled and ran into her apartment
Tsunade's office
"Mission accomplished." Naruto said, as he appeared in the office
"What mission?" Shizune asked
"I had him get Natsumi to stop moping around in her apartment. What did you do?" Tsunade asked
"Hiroshi is over there." Naruto said
"Wait a minute. You mean Hiroshi Hyuga? The boy she has a huge crush on?" Shizune asked
"Yup. That's the one." Naruto said
"What did she do?" Tsunade asked
"She freaked out since she looked like shit." Naruto said
"You just randomly showed up, didn't you?" ShiZune asked
"Yup. I sure did. She'll thank me later." Naruto said
"If you say so. Now, since you're here I think it's best that I let you know about your little trip." Tsunade said
"What about it?" Naruto asked
"Instead of the six months that was originally planned, you'll be there for the same amount of time Natsumi is gone." Tsunade said
"Why? I thought six months was all the time they needed." Naruto said
"It was, but somebody had been supplying the mizukage's forces and I need you to stay there a bit longer." Tsunade said
"That's an extra two years. I highly doubt that counts as a bit longer." Naruto said
"True, but I know you can do it. If I didn't believe you could then I wouldn't be sending you there. Which reminds me. Your mission file." Tsunade said
"What about it?" Naruto asked
"I was reading it since you're about to leave on a long term mission and I notice that your missions on capture or kill, all of them have been captured on them. Why is that?" Tsunade asked
"Because I only kill if I have to. The enemy was already defeated and killing them would just be going too far. Besides, all of the people I had to capture were sent to blood prison after their chakra was sealed away." Naruto said
"Yes, but I figured some of them would be killed given their history." Tsunade said
"Well, there's already too much blood spilled in the world. I try not to add to it, but sometimes I'm left with no choice." Naruto said
"Naruto, when was your first kill?" Shizune asked and he sighed
"I was 7 and Danzo sent two of his root anbu after me. They had me, but I managed to kill them." Naruto said
"How?" Tsunade asked
"Yeah. You were so young." Shizune said
"My Sharingan." Naruto said
"You must've been training hard then if your sharingan was able to keep up with them." Tsunade said
"I mastered my sharingan when I was 7." Naruto said and they were shocked
"Did you say seven?" Shizune asked
"Yes." Naruto said
"That's unheard of. I know Itachi mastered his sharingan at 8, but 7 is even more of a shocker." Tsunade said
"Not really. Shisui mastered his sharingan at 7, but I've got him beat by a few months." Naruto said
"I see." Shizune said
"Well, I need to get going. I've got some training to do." Naruto said
"Right. Oh yeah. If you see Natsumi, make sure you tease her for me." Tsunade said
"You got it." Naruto said and vanished in a swirl of fire
"That was cool." Shizune mumbled
"It's flashy. Just like his father." Tsunade said
Naruto
After leaving Tsunade's office, Naruto decided to walk around the village a bit and see what there was to do. He was greeted by civilians and ninja during his walk and he kindly replied to them with a wave. It wasn't much of a secret that most civilians preferred him over Sasuke due to him being respectful and not full of himself. Naruto was walking around when he found himself in front of Kurenai and Anko's apartment building. He shrugged and went to see if one of them were home. He stopped by Kurenai's first, she wasn't home, so he went to Anko's place and heard her screaming in pain. He quickly went to her room and saw she was sweating a lot in her sleep with a pained look on her face.
"Anko! Anko, wake up!" Naruto said and shook her making her jump up while breathing heavily
"Naruto?" Anko asked and held her neck in pain
"Yeah. Same nightmare again?" Naruto asked as he used some medical ninjutsu to relieve her pain the curse mark was causing her
"Yeah. The same one over and over again. I'm in pain on the ground from the curse mark and he just walks away doing his usual evil laugh." Anko said and laid back down
"Need me to stay for the night or get Iruka?" Naruto asked
"No. I'll be fine." Anko said, as she looked out of the window since it started to rain
"Then how about I cook you some food? Red bean soup and dango. Your favorite." Naruto said
"I'm not really hungry. I just want this nightmare to end." Anko said
"Maybe it's still occurring because you need closure about the situation." Naruto said and she held a kunai to this throat
"I'm fine! I don't need any closure!" Anko said and Naruto calmly lowered the kunai
"Anko, I've known you since I was a baby. I can tell when you're lying about something. This nightmare keeps happening because you still feel betrayed by Orochimaru. Is it the fact that he abandoned you or the reason he gave for abandoning you?" Naruto asked
"Neither. I want to know why he didn't kill me that day. I was right there, lying helplessly on the ground and I was an easy kill. Why didn't he do it?" Anko asked
"Because you're valuable to him." Naruto said
"He fucking left me there to die! He said I lacked the drive after he gave me this curse mark! Valuable to him, my ass!" Anko said
"Think about it. You told me that he tested 10 subjects including you with the curse mark, right?" Naruto asked
"Yeah. What about it?" Anko asked
"You were the only one to survive. I'm guessing he had been expecting the curse seal experiment to fail and was really surprised that you lived. It isn't your fault, but you're the reason he's able to give out so many curse marks like he did with the group that came after Sasuke and I'm willing to bet that he has many more people with the curse mark." Naruto said
"That doesn't make any sense. If I was so valuable to him, he wouldn't have abandoned me." Anko said
"You have a point, but him not killing you had nothing to do with you seeming too weak for him. It was basically a giant middle finger to the people who made fun of him because of his desire to become immortal. You being alive showed them that he had a breakthrough albeit a small one in his quest for immortality. He basically used you as living proof that he can become immortal. Another thing, him abandoning you must've been because you were always strong willed. Even to this day you refuse to use the curse mark even though it's fully functional and causing you pain." Naruto said and she sighed
"I guess it makes sense, but I have to live with this thing forever." Anko said
"Well, not really." Naruto said
"What do you mean?" Anko asked
"Remember when I was 5 and I first saw the curse mark then you explained to me what it does and its purpose?" Naruto asked
"Yeah." Anko said
"Well, I've been looking into it over the years and I may or may not have come into your apartment while you were sleeping to look into it some more." Naruto said and she interrupted him
"You do realize I sleep completely naked at night, right?" Anko asked
"Yeah, but I only need to see your shoulder and I didn't touch anything. Anyway, the seal can be removed from what I can tell, but it's extremely dangerous." Naruto said
"How?! Tell me!" Anko said and shook him causing her cover to fall off her chest
"Please cover yourself up. I don't want to see that." Naruto said and she did
"It's not like you haven't seen them before." Anko said
"That's besides the point! Anyway, inside that seal is something evil. Although yours isn't to the level like the other ones we recently saw, it's still just as dangerous if released." Naruto said
"What do you mean?" Anko asked
"That cursed seal has three components. One of them is his sinister chakra which is how he's able to track curse mark users so easily if it isn't sealed off, the second component is what I'm guessing your seal doesn't have which is supposed to be filled with some kind of dna to transform you and the third component is the part that makes it so dangerous." Naruto said
"What's that?" Anko asked
"He basically placed a piece of his soul inside of the curse mark." Naruto said
"WHAT?" Anko yelled
"It's true. It was the only logical thing to do. If the curse mark is supposed to be placed on people he wants to use to revive himself after death, his soul would need to be there for the seal to work how he wants it to. The question of how he managed to seal abortion of his souls into that is a completely different problem." Naruto said
"Wait, so if we were to remove the seal then what would that mean for his soul?" Anko asked
"It means we'll have more than one Orochimaru to deal with and I highly doubt we want that. There's only one way to remove that seal and it's the evil unsealing jutsu." Naruto said
"That sucks. The only way to remove it will cause more chaos." Anko said
"Well, there is another way for it to get removed safely, but you'll slap me if I tell you." Naruto said
"Tell me." Anko said
"Well, you'll have to activate the curse mark for a bit and I can use my chakra to force my consciousness inside of the seal and defeat the Orochimaru that's in there." Naruto said and Anko looked at him before slapping him as hard as she possibly could
"Are you fucking nuts? There's no way in hell I'm letting you do that." Anko said
"Just hear me out. You'll be able to tell if I'm in danger and you can stop using the curse mark which will force me out. The plus side of this means the seal can be safely removed and there's a high chance that killing this portion of Orochimaru's soul can cause him excruciating pain." Naruto said and she sighed
"Naruto, I can't. What would Kurenai think if she heard about this stupid plan of yours?" Anko asked
"I'd slap him just like you did." A voice said and they saw Kurenai standing there
"Shit." Naruto mumbled
"That's right. Besides me, think about Natsumi and Temari. They'd be distraught if you did that and died." Kurenai said and Naruto thought about it for a bit until he thought of something
"I got it!" Naruto said
"Got what?" Kurenai asked
"A way to fix this and get that mark off of her after destroying the soul." Naruto said
"Explain." Anko said
"Okay, remember when I told you that Fū took me into her mindscape to talk to the 7 tailed beast?" Naruto asked
"Yeah and you refused to tell us what you talked about." Kurenai said
"I have my reasons. Anyway, what if we do the same thing? Technically speaking, Anko is kind of like a jinchuriki with that seal on her. She has the soul of something sealed inside of it and she has the ability to use its power, but she doesn't. While you're sleeping, have you ever woken up in a weird space and you were able to control what it looked like?" Naruto asked
"Yeah. After I had got the curse mark I was out for a few days and I was in a dark space that turned into a torture chamber when I thought of killing Orochimaru." Anko said
"If you can manage to do that, then you'll meet me in the seal. Together we can take on the part of Orichimaru's soul that's inside that curse mark. While the soul may have a form, you can control what happens inside of it and help me destroy the soul. You can make it so he can't move and quickly destroy him, or you can torture him for as long as you'd like." Naruto said
"That seems kind of far-fetched to me. How would the three of us even get in the seal if your hand has to be in contact with the seal?" Kurenai asked
"Well, you'd have to stay out here and watch us. If either of us show any signs of danger, wake Anko up. She can force me out of the seal and we'll be back in the real world." Naruto said and Kurenai looked at Anko
"What do you say? It's your call." Kurenai said
"Would it really work?" Anko asked
"I'm 65 percent sure." Naruto said
"What if it doesn't?" Anko asked
"I'll tell you where Iruka hides the extra dango, play kunai tag with you and I'll let you tell Temari an embarrassing story about me." Naruto said
"I want something more." Anko said
"What?" Naruto asked
"You have to pay for my dango for the next 3 years." Anko said and Naruto was silent
"You should've known that coming." Kurenai said
"I know, but I'm leaving for nearly three years soon." Naruto said
"What?" Kurenai asked
"I have a mission and I'll be gone for 2 and a half years. I can't tell you what it is, but how about I leave you in charge of my money if this doesn't work and you can buy as much dango as you'd like until I get back?" Naruto asked
"Deal, but we're talking about that mission when this is over." Anko said and he nodded
"What do you need us to do?" Kurenai asked
"I need Anko to activate the curse mark just a bit and then go into her mind. She should be able to feel my chakra being forced into the seal so she can pull my consciousness in there. All you need to do is supervise us really and pull us out if any signs of danger begin to show." Naruto said and they nodded
"Okay. Let's do it." Anko said and activated her curse mark as Naruto placed a hand on it
Anko's mindscape
Anko opened her eyes and saw that she was in a torture room of sorts. Everything in here is what she dreamed of torturing Orochimaru with and it made her smile as she ran her hands across all of the equipment inside. She felt Naruto's chakra and sort of grabbed it then he appeared next to her.
"I guess it works." Anko said
"Yeah. What is all of this stuff?" Naruto asked, as he looked around
"My equipment I want to torture Orochimaru with." Anko said
"So you want to torture him?" Naruto asked
"I did, but I want this damn seal off as soon as possible." Anko said and then they heard an evil chuckle
"What a wonderful surprise, Anko? Look at how much you've grown. It's been quite some time since I last saw you." Orochimaru said
"Cut the shit." Anko said
"Anko, this Orochimaru doesn't know what's going on because your seal was blocked off." Naruto whispered and she nodded
"So he doesn't know about anything after that day?" Anko asked
"Apparently not. His chakra levels are low as well so he's obviously a lot weaker than the current Orochimaru." Naruto said
"I want to watch him burn alive and scream." Anko said and suddenly Orochimaru burst into flames making him scream
"Well, there you go." Naruto said
"I wonder what else I can do." Anko said
While Orochimaru was burning to death, Anko made sure to torture him as much as she could. His arms were ripped off, reattached and then ripped again. He was electrocuted multiple times, stabbed all over his body. She even castrated him a couple of times, making Naruto cover his man parts. While all of this was going on Anko was laughing and crying at the same time as she got her aggression out on him. Years and years of torture of her not being able to get her hands on him finally came to fruition. Eventually the soul of Orochimaru was no more as it was burned to ashes and the best part about this was that Orochimaru in real life was screaming at the top of his lungs as his body was in immense pain right now. Anko collapsed to the floor and started to cry so Naruto just gave her a hug as she let out all of her emotions.
"Thank you." Anko said and wiped her face
"Anytime. Ready to go?" Naruto asked
"Just a second." Anko said and then 9 tombstones appeared before she was ready to leave
"What are those for?" Naruto asked
"The nine other people who died during that experiment. I may not be able to come back here after the seal is gone, but at least I'll always know they're here." Anko said and they faded away
Real world
"They've been like this for how long?" Iruka asked, as he came to see Anko after his class was over with
"About an hour." Kurenai said
"Is she crying and smiling at the same time?" Iruka asked
"Yup. I guess it worked." Kurenai said and then Anko opened her eyes followed by Naruto
"Finally." Anko said
"Did it work?" Kurenai asked
"Yup. It's gone. Just one more thing to do." Naruto said and did the evil unsealing method on the curse mark then watched it burn away
"How does it look?" Anko asked
"Looks like you never even had a curse mark to begin with." Kurenai said and Anko pulled her in for a hug
"It's about time I got that shit off of me, huh?." Anko asked
"Yes, it is. Now, not that I don't appreciate the hug, but can you atleast put some clothes on first." Kurenai said and Anko laughed
"Not happening. Iruka is here. The two of you have to leave." Anko said and pulled Iruka into a kiss
"I'm out." Naruto said and vanished
1 month later
Time went by and Naruto was getting ready to leave for Kiri in a few days. He and Natsumi wanted to get some more missions in so Tsunade sent them out on a few B-rank missions to keep them from bothering her. Natsumi was in a good mood because she spent every second she was in the village with Hiroshi and Naruto teased her for payback. Right now Naruto and Natsumi were in Tsunade's office after returning from their last mission.
"Mission accomplished." Natsumi said
"Did the client get there safely?" Tsunade asked
"Define safe." Naruto said
"What did you two do?" Tsunade asked
"In our defense, the guy was an asshole." Natsumi said
"What did you do?" Tsunade asked
"Wait a minute. It wasn't me this time." Natsumi said
"I find that hard to believe." Tsunade said
"She's not lying." Naruto said
"You did it? You're like the most level headed person here next to Kakashi." Tsunade said
"He had it coming. He kept bragging about being rich and that he could kick my ass. Simply put, he wanted to fight and got his ass handed to him." Naruto said
"How bad was it?" Tsunade asked
"He won't be eating anything for a few weeks. Naruto broke his jaw in multiple places." Natsumi said
"Naruto." Tsunade said
"Yeah. Yeah. Don't harm the client. I know, but rules say we must obey the client and I did. I technically didn't do anything wrong." Naruto said and Tsunade sighed
"Fine." Tsunade said and Shizune came bursting into the office
"Lady Tsunade! It's an urgent message from Suna!" Shizune said and gave her scroll
"I see. Natsumi, Naruto. I have one last mission before the two of you leave for your respective journeys." Tsunade said
"You're leaving? Where are you going?" Natsumi asked
"It's not important." Naruto said and Natsumi looked at him
"Bullshit!" Natsumi said
"Natsumi! That's enough! I want the two of you to gather a team and head to Gaara. Naruto's a sensor so I'm sure he can find them. It's Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. Four ninjas from the village of artisans have kidnapped a girl who is Gaara's student. It's clear that they're after Gaara, but we don't know what for. They challenged Gaara and took off. They're headed toward the land of fire so you might run into them. You have thirty minutes to leave." Tsunade said and both of them vanished
Team Naruto
"So what's going to happen?" Natsumi asked
"We split up. They're already fighting. It's four enemies and one of them is further ahead. Kiba and Choji, take to the west forest. Ino and I will take the hills to the northeast. Natsumi and Lee take the northwest forest. We'll operate in backup squads of two." Naruto said
"I still think we should've gotten the others." Ino said
"You mean Shino, Neji, Hinata and Sakura?" Natsumi asked
"The four of them are already ahead. They've been sent on a different route and won't be participating in the battle. They'll be responsible for healing the wounded so we can keep fighting. Neji and Shino will be the backup fighters in case somebody gets hurt while Hinata and Sakura will focus on healing. Move out!" Naruto said and they all went their separate ways
Temari
Temari was covered in cuts and bruises and she was in a tough position. Her opponent was also a wind user, but she used her wind on a level completely different compared to Temari because she could use her swords to slice the wind or send Temari's attacks back at her. Her opponent just destroyed all of the trees surrounding them with a powerful wind jutsu and Temari was in a pinch right now.
"Aw, nowhere left to hide and you feel helpless. Poor thing." Kujaku taunted
"She can take everything I throw at her. I've got no choice. I have to try it." Temari thought and used her wind style: sea dragon jutsu, but nothing happened
"I'm waiting. Wasn't something supposed to happen? It looks like the wind has turned its back on you." Kujaku said
"I wouldn't be so sure. The wind and I are good friends." Temari said
She held her hand up and then Kujaku was caught in the middle of a tornado that formed from the sky. However, much to Temari's shock, she recovered and countered the jutsu, sending it back towards Temari. Once the jutsu hit, Temari was sent flying into a tree and coughed up some blood. Kujaku used the air slash jutsu and before it connected to kill Temari, Temari vanished.
"How did she dodge that?" Kujaku asked
"Right on time. Sorry to disappoint you, but she's not dying." Naruto said, as he was holding Temari in his arms and Ino was next to him
"Who are you?" Kujaku asked
"Allies of the sand. We're shinobi of the leaf village." Naruto and Ino said
"So you're the one the leaf trotted out for me, huh?" Temari asked, as Naruto put her down
"Something like that. Think of it as us cashing in the favor." Naruto said
"Gaara and Kankuro are chasing down the ones who have our village girl. You should go help them out. I can handle this." Temari said
"You sure are doing a fine job of handling it. You look like shit and she looks like she's not even trying. Besides, Gaara and Kankuro have their own backup on the way." Naruto said
"Good to know." Kujaku said
"Why don't you take a break? I'll handle this one and we can go get the girl." Naruto said
"I said I can handle it." Temari said
"Sure you can. Ino, make sure she doesn't fall over." Naruto said
"Uh. Sure." Ino said
"You want to fight me as well? Fine, just another person eager to die." Kujaku said and got her swords ready
"Don't worry, I'll end it quickly." Naruto said and pulled out his sword
Naruto took one step and then he just vanished before their very eyes, making them gasp. Kujaku wasn't prepared for an attack from behind due to how fast he was moving and he sliced her on her back. She dropped one of her swords as she yelled in pain and then Naruto appeared in front of her. Before Kujaku could react in time, Naruto kicked her other sword out of her hand and then punched her in the gut.
"He did more damage than I could after only three moves." Temari thought
"Man, he's fast. I can't even see him move." Ino thought
"H-How are you so fast?" Kujaku asked
"Training and I get natural speed from my father. He was the fastest shinobi alive before he died." Naruto said
"Is that true?" Ino asked and Temari looked at her
"You mean to tell me that you didn't know the fourth hokage was the fastest shinobi alive before he died? What did they teach you in the academy?" Temari asked
"Y-You're the son of the yellow flash?" Kujaku asked
"Yup." Naruto said
Before Kujaku could make her move, Naruto punched her again in the stomach and then gave her a few strikes underneath her left arm striking a few pressure points rendering that arm useless. While she was kneeled down holding her arm, Temari came and smacked her away with her fan before finishing her off with the wind dragon jutsu that literally ripped her to shreds.
"That's not fair. I had her." Naruto said
"Well, I was tired of seeing her face." Temari said and fell down in pain
"See what happens when you don't listen?" Naruto asked and poked her nose
"Shut up. Ino, can you heal me?" Temari asked
"Sorry. I don't know any medical ninjutsu." Ino said and Naruto smirked
"I know medical ninjutsu." Naruto said and she looked at him
"Then heal me." Temari said
"What's the magic word?" Naruto asked
"Seriously? You're going to do this now?" Temari asked
"You're right. Kankuro and Gaara might need backup. You're a big girl, I'm sure you can handle a little bit of pain." Naruto said and he was about to leave
"WAIT. Will you heal me please, Naruto?" Temari asked, as she grit her teeth
"Sure. See, that wasn't so hard." Naruto said and started to heal Temari's wounds
"I'm going to kick your ass when you're finished." Temari said
"You can try." Naruto said
"Who taught you this stuff?" Ino asked
"Myself. I'm surprised you don't know any medical ninjutsu. You aren't much of a fighter." Naruto said
"Hey! I can fight!" Ino said
"Yeah. Maybe an academy student. You're a far range fighter thanks to your clan techniques. Learning some medical ninjutsu won't hurt. It would actually help your team." Naruto said, as he finished healing Temari and helped her stand up
"Thank you." Temari said
"You're welcome. Now, let's go save your brother and his student." Naruto said and left in a swirl of fire
"He's so amazing and he's cute." Ino said and left
"Oh hell no! He's mine!" Temari thought and quickly went after them
Few minutes later
"Who the hell is that?" Naruto asked, as he, Ino and Temari met up with the others
"My name is Seimei." Seimei said
"He was resurrected thanks to them taking away Gaara's chakra. I think he wants to extract Shukaku from Gaara." Natsumi said
"Well, unless he knows how to open that seal on Gaara then it's not going to happen." Naruto said
"Matsuri, are you okay?" Temari asked, as she went over to the girl
"Yeah, but Gaara-Sensei needs help." Matsuri said
"Okay. You guys look after her. I'm going to help Gaara." Natsumi said
"Will you all relax? Gaara is fine and doesn't need any help." Naruto said
"He's losing chakra though." Kankuro said and Naruto chuckled
"Taking chakra from people like Gaara and Natsumi is pointless. Natsumi and Gaara have more chakra than everybody in their respective villages combined, but Natsumi has way more chakra than Gaara. He hasn't lost much chakra actually." Naruto said
"Then why is Gaara turning into the Shukaku?" Kankuro asked
"Well, he's pissed off. They came into his village and took his student." Naruto said and then the sand started to fall off of Gaara
"Look! He's returning to normal!" Matsuri said
"How though?" Natsumi asked
"He's fighting off the transformation." Temari said
"He wants to finish this fight using his own power. Not the monster within him which he knows he can't control." Kankuro said
"So, you still have some fight left in you to fight off the Shukaku, huh?" Seimei said
"If I'm to help my friends, I must do it for myself on my own." Gaara said
"You're such a fool. Allowing your emotions to guide you. A shinobi must abandon emotion to obtain ultimate power and power is the only truth in this world. You're about to find out. Your time is up, freak of the sand village." Seimei said and Gaara smirked
"That's what you think." Gaara said
"Why so cocky? I'm still draining your chakra as we speak." Seimei said
"It's as Naruto said. I still have plenty of chakra left. However, all that time you had me trapped in that cage earlier, do you think I was sitting on my hands doing nothing?" Gaara asked
"Meaning what?" Seimei asked
Gaara clapped his hands together and used his sand tsunami jutsu to create sand from the earth around them. Gaara buried Seimei with his sand burial, but Seimei managed to escape it and then started to drain Gaara's chakra even faster. Gaara simply held his hand in the air and formed his ultimate attack known as Shukaku's pike. Gaara threw the pike at Seimei and it broke through his ninja tool armor as well as stabbing him in the stomach. With his ninja tool broken, Seimei fell to the ground and Gaara buried him underground with his giant sand burial, trapping him for good.
"Alright!" Natsumi said
"Gaara-sensei beat him!" Matsuri said and then Gaara fell to the ground
Konoha few days later
"So, this is it, huh?" Natsumi asked, as she was standing next to Naruto at the gate
"Yeah. I guess it is." Naruto said
"I'm sure the two of you will be fine." Tsunade said
"Maybe, but I have to travel with the pervert and I'm developing now. He might try something on me." Natsumi said
"Just remember to use the barrier I gave you. Trust me, you're going to love it." Naruto said
"What does it do?" Natsumi asked
"You'll see." Naruto said
"There you are. I was looking all over for you." Jiraiya said, as he appeared at the gate
"You obviously didn't look hard enough, pervy-sage." Natsumi said
"DON'T CALL ME THAT." Jiraiya yelled
"BITE ME." Natsumi said
"Will the two of you calm down? Anyway, Natsumi. This scroll contains jutsus from my grandfather's vault. With the way you progress, you should have most or all of them down when you get back. I also added some wind, earth and water ninjutsu in there as well." Tsunade said and gave her a scroll
"Looks kind of small to hold all of that." Natsumi said
"It's a storage scroll. You have sections labeled for each chakra nature on the scroll to make it easier for you." Tsunade said and Temari appeared at the gate
"There goes your girlfriend, Naruto." Natsumi said
"Shut up." Naruto said and walked away
"YOU DIDN'T DENY IT." Natsumi yelled
Naruto & Temari
"I thought you went back to Suna." Naruto said
"Not yet. I wanted to see you before you left. 2 and a half years is a long time without seeing you." Temari said
"I'll still write you letters. Tatsu doesn't mind." Naruto said
"I know, but it's just weird not knowing where you are." Temari said
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I promise." Naruto said and she looked down
"What if you're not? What if something happens and then I..."
Temari was cut off by Naruto who pulled her in for a kiss that made her eyes widen until she slowly closed them and relaxed into the kiss. This was their first official kiss instead of on the cheek like they always did and she pulled him deeper into the kiss. They broke apart and she stared up into his eyes with a smile on her face.
"I'll be fine, okay?" Naruto asked and she nodded
"Okay. Just promise me that you'll write as soon as you get there." Temari said
"I promise." Naruto said
"So, are we official?" Temari asked
"I don't know. I'm about to be gone for nearly three years. Who's to say that you don't find somebody else?" Naruto asked and she gave him a kiss
"I don't want anybody else." Temari said
"Then I guess we're official then." Naruto said and they heard a hawk in the sky signaling he had to leave
"I'll be here when you get back." Temari said and gave him a hug
"I'll see you later." Naruto said and gave her a kiss before going back to the others
"So, how was it? Did you kiss?" Natsumi asked
"Did you kiss Hiroshi on your birthday?" Naruto asked
"NO." Natsumi said and blushed
"Right. Anyway, do you still have the scroll on the rasengan?" Naruto asked
"Yeah." Natsumi said
"How about a challenge? One more for the road. No wagers on this one." Naruto said
"I'm listening." Natsumi said
"My challenge for both of us is to create our own version of the rasengan. Dad already had the massive rasengan. I'm talking about something unique that's never been seen before." Naruto said and spit on his hand
"You're on." Natsumi said and spit on her hand before shaking his
"Come back as strong as me, Natsumi. I may want to test you when you get back." Naruto said and gave her a hug
"I'll come back even stronger than you. I can't become hokage if there's somebody stronger than me." Natsumi said and he chuckled
"Of course you can't. Take care of yourself." Naruto said
"You do the same." Natsumi said and then Naruto left with a squad of anbu making her sigh
"Are you alright?" Tsunade asked
"No. He's been with me like everyday since we were five. It's going to be weird not having him around." Natsumi said
"I guess you're right, but this is best for the both of you." Tsunade said
"I guess you're right." Natsumi said and gave her a hug
"Take care of her, you pervert." Tsunade said
"Don't worry I will." Jiraiya said and they started to walk out of the gates, but Natsumi stopped to say something
"I'll see you later, mom!" Natsumi said and ran after Jiraiya
"Mom. I thought the day would never come when I'd hear those words." Tsunade said and looked at the direction they went
"Take care, Natsumi. It'll be a long 2 and a half years without you." Tsunade thought