HAPPY HOLIDAYS, and a Very Happy New Year to everyone!
This chapter is dedicated to my awesome reviewer, Auraarzadon07! I sincerely apologize if you feel I've dragged this thing out everyone! That's why a lot is offered up in this chapter. I really appreciate all your reviews and questions - and thank you so much for reading and following my stories.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own.
Thinking or flashbacks
Biju, etc. speaking
Biju, etc. thinking
Emphasis
After writing a note telling her old friend that Sakura needed her back now - and that she had the juiciest news in the Elemental Nations, Sakura summoned a small clone of Lady Katsuya, sealed what she had written, and gave orders. "I'd like you to return to the Woods, inform your original, and do everything possible to find Yamanaka Ino-chan and Tsunade-sama."
Sabaku no Gaara was filled with a rage he hadn't felt since well before having Shukaku extracted. After hearing some interesting news - something that seemed way too familiar to him regarding a large-scale mess in the Leaf Village… No, no: it would be called a PRANK in/on Konoha, knowing his supposedly deceased blonde friend would certainly call it that.
And it was one involving clones of all things… He let out an extremely loud growl of irritation.
I swear, Naruto if you pranked us on your death, I will kill you myself… Well, maybe not, but I swear I'll come close to it. Count on a good long sand coffin experience 'of a lifetime!'
"Believe it," he said to himself sarcastically before scoffing.
And that news was on top THIS and all the other crap he had to deal with?
Now there's another person that needs to suffer sand attacks in the Leaf.
Gaara had been wanting to investigate what happened in Konoha and had sent his fastest bird there two days ago, but he didn't know if he could trust the Hokage on this. The masked man had been way too quiet lately - only contacting the Sand by bird, having an assistant meet online in his place during Kage conferences. He knew Hatake hated the job, but his absence was getting ridiculous.
"Please don't go, Gaara!" a reluctantly tearful Temari asked, following behind her little brother at the Sand village's gate. Her brothers turned to her, looking angry and determined. She knew that they were only becoming more upset because of her tears, but dammit: they wouldn't stop! Gods how she hated tears AND when her brothers ganged up against her! "Fine!" She threw her hands into the air in surrender, before clenching them to her heart. "Just please, please don't hurt him!"
"I promise nothing, Temari."
Kankuro grimaced at Gaara's words, then tried to reassure his sister that everything would be alright, giving a pointed look at their little brother, who also happened to be a very angry, especially scary-at-the-moment Kazekage. The older siblings watched their youngest family member, for now, exit the village with his two guards, Matsuri and Baki. The latter two gave waves of farewell to the huge group gathered to wish them well as they left. The three Jonin all then disappeared in a sunshin, leaving Temari and Kankurro to deal with their little brother's large fan club.
.
"I've done absolutely everything you've asked of me, Hokage-sama," the caged man said calmly, reigning in his temper while finally facing the man making his life hell. "I think it's only fair that you FINALLY," he took in a deep breath, "finally tell me the supposed truth you have about the Uzumaki woman that's - according to you, sir - not Naruto's sister."
Shikamaru had the worst feeling, making his stomach turn sourly. Why was the Hokage clearly grinning from ear to ear? He could tell even through his mask that Hatake was giddy about something - and that could NOT be good news for him. Hatake couldn't have thought of something even worse than the Tora missions, or the various "community service" orders that had him cleaning up or out nearly everything in the village, could he?
"Maa, no can do, Shikamaru-kun. You've been ordered to the Sand!" Kakashi replied, grinning like a loon.
"Has something happened to Mar - Tamari-hime? Or…" Surely Hatake wouldn't act like this if that was the case, the Nara told himself.
Kakashi waved his hand as if swatting such a thought away. "Nothing like that at all, Nara-kun. Rather, it seems that your fiance has some interesting news. Something her brother is very interested in speaking to you about."
Shikamaru sucked in a breath. "Actually, we aren't engaged, sir." He looked away guiltily.
"Aa. Well, no wonder. Should be an interesting meeting between you and the Kazekage, ne?" The smile left the Rokudaime's face as he stood up, Hokage-style, as Kakashi used to call it when Tsunade was in the position. "I hereby order you to the Sand. You leave in an hour. Use your time well, Nara: gather any and everything you may need to complete this… Oh, it's really not a mission." Kakashi looked down at the scroll he brought out of his vest. "You'll temporarily be under the orders of the Kazekage. I've already had word sent back to Gaara; he'll have you for two weeks, then I need you back here."
Shikamaru looked up in shock. It was one thing being the ambassador between countries - he'd been doing it for years - but being under the direct ORDERS of a foreign leader? That was different, and unprecedented, too.
Kakashi chuckled and continued. "The orders I do have for you will continue henceforward." Shikamaru stood up straighter. "You will not speak of the woman you have so many questions about to anyone. In return for your acquiescence to this - and as I have already promised - I will answer your questions upon your return." He saw the disbelief in his subordinate's eyes and sighed. "We'll discuss her immediately upon your return: in private."
Shikamaru thanked him politely; Kakashi was the Hokage after all, and he really didn't want to anger the man any more than he already had. But I better get those answers.
"One more thing. ANBU can be chunin, but ambassadors now cannot. That being the case, I return to you your rank of Jonin." Kakashi enjoyed seeing the brat's shoulders relax, and the best part is coming! "Oh, and aside from being able to continue your ambassadorship duties, there's the bonus that the extra pay will benefit the little one, ne?" The confusion on Shikamaru's face was so apparent, Kakashi wanted to laugh, but that would be for later, along with a celebration - well, as long as the brat lived through his encounter with the Sabaku siblings. He held out the scroll, watching Shikamaru pale more and more as he read it. "Congratulations are in order, ne Tou-san?"
Shikamaru was kneeling on the floor, horrified at the news. They'd been careful! They had planned! Nothing like this was supposed to happen before they were ready to…
The Hokage entered his cell, now squatting down beside him. Shikamaru realized his leader had ruffled his hair - then gave Shika his ponytail holder back. "Maa, I commend you on still being conscious. If I got news like that, I can't say I would be." He chuckled softly at the sad man again. "Get it together, Daddy-chan. Be out the village gates within an hour." Shikamaru nodded blindly and staggered to his feet, before taking off in a run.
Kankuro's clone followed his brother as they trekked along toward the Leaf. His original was currently partnered with his sister as both her guard and village leader.
Man does this suck.
To make things worse, his youngest sibling was on some kind of secret secondary mission to prove that Uzumaki Naruto was alive. Oh, he'd heard Gaara's mutterings while he did his paperwork on the subject. His brother did that a lot, never spilling anything classified: just personal things that were on his mind.
Normally he was grateful for that particular habit of his, as was Temari because their little brother was a quiet, often too-private man. There were many times they had no idea what he was thinking about, so when he'd mutter something personal of interest under his breath, one sibling would go to the other and report on what either had heard. Surely that's not treason, right? Meh, Gaara loves us, he wouldn't do anything other than tear into us... With his sand. He shivered at the thought before blowing it off.
This time though? He really didn't need to hear that his brother was hot for Uzumaki Naruto. Bleh! He shook his head in horror, trying to shake out of his brain several different things he'd heard his otouto say beneath his breath. Who would've known?!
I should have!
The way those two were - ugh. It was rather obvious they had strong feelings for one another, the more he thought about it. Naruto must have felt the same way: all those tears he'd shed? Very unmanly indeed, unless one was in love and absolutely desperate.
Kankuro would have laughed at the whole situation, but now his brother was nearly convinced the deceased blonde fellow-pervert was alive.
If only...
He needed to track the group he was following without alerting his way-too-sharp for his own good brother. Kami only knew what his brother/leader would do once in the Leaf. He had to ensure his brother did nothing that would negatively affect the peace in which they now lived. He also needed to make sure that the Nara jerk wouldn't be hurt too badly. After all, the man would way-too-soon have a child to support.
Damn him! Damn him AND Temari-chan!
'
"She's furious, sensei! What. Did. You. DO?" Sakura asked heatedly. Kakashi noticed that her clothes and hair weren't as neat as she always wore them, and her head was sweaty.
Obviously, she means Naru, but what happened?
His girl was fine when he last saw her when Genma approached - and it was Sakura that had accompanied her from there! "Nani?" asked the Hokage, hoping that his pregnant former student wouldn't punt him through the wall - it had been a while since she last did it, but it always hurt.
Sakura grabbed Kakashi's vest and lifted him slightly off the floor. "I said Naru-chan's completely pissed off! She had a bit of a near nervous - or more like a crying breakdown in there," she growled out in that Scary-Deep Sakura voice she sometimes inadvertently used as she stuck her thumb back towards her closed office door. "I TRIED to find out what was wrong and comfort her, but NO! No, she just had to nearly destroy my office! I had to use a chakra restraint on her!"
Kakashi tried to get past the medic, but Sakura stopped him: tossing him against the opposite wall. "Whoops: sorry," she said looking only a little bit apologetic. Kakashi got up from the floor and brushed himself off. "You can't go in there, sensei… The one thing I've CLEARLY been able to make out from all her mutterings - all the way through her screaming nonsense at me - is that she is 100% pissed off at you."
It didn't help Sakura's mood that Kakashi looked baffled.
"She's alright in there now?" Kakashi asked. Sakura nodded and explained that after balling her head off while cursing more than that can't-be-killed Jashin character years back, that Naru had gone into a rage, but finally exhausted herself. "She was fine when you took her to your office, Sakura: what happened in there?" He looked deeply into the pregnant woman's eyes: to him, Sakura looked mighty guilty.
"She wasn't fine! She hasn't been fine in a couple of weeks - you said so yourself! What did YOU do, sensei?" Kakashi knew that she was deflecting by the way her bottom lip stuck out as she rubbed her thumbs against her fingers, but gave her a moment to tell him the truth: one way or another, she would tell him the truth. It was always just a matter of time.
"We had a lovely morning, Sakura-chan."
Great, she doesn't believe me. He scratched the back of his head. "Maa, I made sure she followed your orders, and I even added a few more to make sure that she was getting better as quickly as possible." Sakura looked disappointed, but that wasn't fair. He'd been highly creative!
"Like what orders, sensei?"
Kakashi told her, openly admitting that he'd added kissing and hugging to her earlier orders. They were additional prescriptions, Kakashi felt, to whatever was causing his sweet feisty Naru's melancholy. Hell, Sakura should have thought of having him do that kind of thing to help Naru, he thought.
"You're an idiot, sensei. Your horniness is going to doom us all."
"I'm not - well of course I am - but that's beside the point. Sure, Naru was a little put out at first, but by the time we finished breakfast she was nearly her normal self... Now, Sakura: and this is an order. I know you haven't told me everything."
"FINE! I gave her some books - medical topics, as we'd discussed. I think she sat down to read when I got called down to Emergency…" At his raised eyebrows, she continued. "I wasn't actually needed - it was a newbie who freaked out when she was told to get a doctor. No idea why the idiot decided to go up 3 floors rather than just grab someone else. I'll deal with her later." She shook her head and made another mental note to herself to speak with the brat's supervisor. "Anyway, when I came back, she was," Sakura groaned, the overwhelming feeling of exhaustion already flooding her system. "She was holding a picture of our team."
Kakashi heatedly demanded more answers and she gave them. "I told her about us… Well, she didn't seem to care about the traitor, thank Kami."
Kakashi nodded, that was very good news: Naru previously had enough anxiety about this supposed "brother" of hers "trying to kill" her… It was only after rather brutally interrogating Shikamaru-brat that he'd figured out that she was probably referring to her "brother," Sasuke. Even now, that idea made him sick.
Some brother he turned out to be.
"I should've killed you alongside the five Kage immediately after the war, Naruto! I won't let you stop me this time! Chidori!"
Kakashi took a deep breath, trying to get the deranged Uchiha and his words out of his mind. Not for the first time, he once again wished he had been the one to kill him, rather than Sakura. He closed his eyes and calmed himself, asking Sakura to repeat what she just said while he was overtaken by violent thoughts of retribution against a dead man. She looked very guilty.
"I said that I told her about Naruto…"
"YOU WHAT?" Kakashi then looked around anxiously and pulled her to the corner. "Did you tell her that she's him - or however we should phrase it? What did you say?"
"No! You know I've been thinking of how to speak to her about it gently for a long time! But right at that moment? All my preparation left my mind! And after she'd been so bad off - after whatever the hell it was you did to her!" Kakashi growled at her, but she continued after taking a breath. "No. No, Kaka-sensei: I just like, described Naruto. You know, that he was a hero - and I told her that Naruto still is one! Because he - or she as the case may be - always will be, sensei."
Kakashi let go of her wrist and backed up a step. She continued trying to describe their conversation but Kakashi walked over to her office door.
"Time to face the music," he said, scratching his head and feeling pale. Sakura tried to argue that they should figure out how they were going to say whatever it was they were going to say, but he ignored her as he opened the door. He looked at the disaster that was her office, feeling uneasy when he saw the open window. "Naru? Hime, come out: we want to talk to you." He looked into the attached bathroom and began to feel sick. "Hime?" he nearly shouted. No one was in the examination room attached to Sakura's office either.
Naru-chan was gone!
Minutes earlier, Naru had been there. Her fury had abated - probably cause I'm so tired. She looked around the otherwise empty room, which she realized she'd destroyed with the anger she hadn't been dealing with as long as she'd been in this place.
Guilt overwhelmed her. It was quickly replaced by fear. "Sakura-chan's gonna kick my ass! And it's so damn scrawny, it'll be easy for that crazy-strong woman to do it, too!" The blonde closed her eyes and finally looked up toward the ceiling, allowing a deep, heavy sigh to escape her lips. "What the hell is this anyway?" She asked no one - there wasn't anyone she could ask!
She'd already tried to make a clone, but whatever the headband thing Sakura put on her made her feel drained. Normally she could make a clone without even really thinking about it or doing that thing with her hands. Actually, that had happened quite a lot lately: she'd think of wanting someone to talk to or do something for or with her, and one of her identical twins/clones just poofed into existence. Handy.
If I survive, I'll ask her what this headband is. Opening her eyes she guiltily glanced around the half-destroyed room. She'd make it up to Sakura, and definitely clean up the mess she'd made. Then her gaze landed on that photograph.
"Kakashi, you bastard." Getting up from her chair, she opened the window. Sue me. I'm not dealing with Hokage-sama.
She jumped out of the window and realized she couldn't stop herself. Panic-filled, she closed her eyes tightly.
She heard a groan and looked up from her soft landing spot, realizing that she had landed in the arms of a familiar man.
"It's really you. Oh, Kami, it really is you," he said.
Naru felt herself being once again whisked away against her will in a sunshin.
The blonde plastered a wide smile on her face, deftly checking her surroundings. She wasn't sure where she was exactly, but from her walks around the village with the Hokage, she knew that she wasn't too far away from the hospital. Thank Kami! She would NOT be naive this time.
Spinny Man's kicks? Breaking into a house? Her murderous brother's friend stealing her away? No thank you!
She heard the crying man - she'd once again been kidnapped by some weirdo, she was reminded - stop sniffling and knew there was only one thing she could even try to do.
The man reached for her. Naru flinched back, and he apologized. "I only want to help, Naru-chan," he said gently. She looked into his brown eyes and saw a gentleness accompanied with affection.
Great. I landed in the hands of a pervert. A psycho-pervert, no less.
Her energy and more returned in abundance, flowing through every part of her body as he pulled his hands away from her head. Looking at the funny design on the headband he now held, she immediately knew for a FACT it was a seal: a chakra restraint seal! She didn't even know how she knew what it was! The kidnapper asked her to wait a moment as he checked their surroundings. Before he could return or even look back toward her, she acted - her hands flying through seals faster than she could even think of them. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" She poured every bit of energy - or chakra - whatever it was - into her actions and felt a pull.
She knew they warned her against this, and she may not trust Kakashi right now, but she trusted his pack of ninken! Any one of them would help her; she just knew it!
What she did not expect was an enormous plume of smoke or whatever it was to fill the air. And the very last thing in the world she could imagine was now directly in front of her. Looking well above her, she realized she was facing an absolutely enormous, incredibly pissed-off-looking orange smoking frog.
