All Alone
Hey everyone! I am back again. I hope you like this chapter. It took me quite a while to complete, and I am still unsure whether or not I did it full justice. There is a decent time skip here, but according to the Naruto timeline I found, it is accurate. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Please let me know if it was good, or if there is anything I need to improve on. Enjoy chapter 5!
Chapter 5
Nearly a year had gone by since Temari had seen Naruto. She had been to Konoha several times, but each time he was away on missions. Having heard of several of Naruto's exploits from various sources, she wanted nothing more than to meet up with him again. What am I going to say to him? Will he even remember what he did for me? These thoughts went through her mind daily. Not being used to such things, Temari considered such thoughts as a weakness for a kunoichi. Nevertheless, she couldn't remove them from her mind. It seemed that the more she tried to extract any thoughts of Naruto from her mind, she only thought of him more.
Then came the news that Jiraiya, one of Konoha's legendary Sannin, had been killed by the Akatsuki. All the villages were shocked by the news. Everyone knew that Jiraiya was a very powerful and skilled ninja. Within a couple of weeks of hearing the news, Sunagakure began making plans to send an ambassador to Konoha to discuss the Akatsuki and to develop new strategies to stop them. After a week of discussion, the Suna council had formed all its plans and were ready to send a messenger. Temari knew this could be her chance to see Naruto, so she volunteered to go to Konoha.
The next morning, Temari set off towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The same awful feeling she had the year prior had come back. The closer she got to Konoha, the more she was filled with trepidation. It was as if a bad omen were hanging over her. The first night in the wilderness she tossed and turned. She had nightmares of people getting slaughtered by an unknown enemy. Each time, the dream would end with Naruto about to get killed, then she would wake up and jolt upright. I need to get to Konoha as fast as I can. Something wrong.
The next day, Temari doubled her efforts on getting to her destination. She had made record time and was only about a day's journey to Konoha before she settled down, quite tired, for the night. Again, the nightmares plagued her. She wasn't one to believe in superstition, but even she had to acknowledge that something of this nature couldn't be coincidence. Determining to wake up early, Temari finally got some sleep without any nightmares.
Temari woke with a start. The sun was already halfway up, and all the dew was gone. Oh no! she panicked. I overslept! She vowed that she would never forgive herself for this. While packing up her camp as quickly as she could, that horrible feeling she had kept getting worse. When she was done, she took off at full speed towards the Leaf village.
Upon nearing the village, something seemed off to her. She stopped to observe her surroundings. The air around her felt cool with a certain tightness to it. There wasn't any movement in the forest, nor was there any sound. Temari couldn't see any signs of life anywhere, and she felt like she would throw up at any minute. What has happened? Am I too late? The feeling in her gut intensified, and the ground seemed to be moving beneath her. Get a hold of yourself Temari! she told herself. Everything is going to be all right. Naruto isn't in any… Her thoughts trailed off. "I have to get to the village now!" she cried aloud. She took one last look around, then she sped off.
When she finally arrived at Konoha, the entire forest surrounding the village was covered with dust. She didn't see any guards, and she couldn't her anyone. Even though it was against protocol to enter a foreign village any way except the front gate, she felt that this was different. She unlatched her fan from the strap on her back. Temari reared back and sent a current of air towards the top of the village wall and rode her fan all the way. What she saw upon reaching the top left her in utter disbelief.
The village was gone! All that was left was a huge crater in the center of the village. Upon closer inspection, she could see that remnants of buildings and trees had been pushed right into the walls of the village. The only thing marking that she was indeed in Konoha was the Kage faces carved into the mountain on the far end of the village. I must be dreaming. There is no way this is happening! Suddenly, she heard what she thought sounded like fighting near the crater. She strained her eyes to see through all the dust and debris in the air, but to no avail. She was about to head down to find out, when a voice cried out, "Stop!"
Startled, Temari looked around until she spotted a large slug making its way toward her. "Stop!" it cried again.
Realizing that the slug must be someone's summoning animal, Temari spoke, "Who are you, and what has happened here? Who did this?"
The slug stopped its advance. "I am Katsuyu, a summoning beast of Lady Tsunade, the fifth Hokage."
Tsunade! "Where is the Hokage right now?"
"I am afraid that Lady Tsunade will not be able to speak with you right now. What you see before you is what one member of the Akatsuki did. Lady Tsunade did everything she could to save all the villagers by healing them through several clones of myself, but now she is in a coma from exerting all of her chakra."
A single member of the Akatsuki did this! Temari thought back to when members of that accursed organization killed her brothers. It made her stomach churn with anger. "Where is that Akatsuki member now?" questioned Temari.
"Pain, the Akatsuki member responsible for this, is currently in a battle with Naruto Uzumaki."
NARUTO! What on earth can he do against someone capable of blowing away an entire village? Is he crazy?!
"Naruto has asked everyone to stay out of his fight with Pain so that no one else gets hurt."
"How can he take on such a powerful-" Temari was cut off mid-sentence when a giant toad flew over them and landed somewhere outside of the village. Shocked, Temari looked toward where the toad had come from. Most of the dust and debris had been blown away, and she could finally see the fight she had been hearing.
She was in awe at the scene that lay before her. Naruto Uzumaki was fighting two members of the Akatsuki with the assistance of two small toads. She could make out four corpses on the ground near them, all wearing Akatuski robes. Just how strong is Naruto?
She turned back to the slug. "Katsuyu, are there any survivors?"
"There are many people that made it through Pain's attack thanks to Lady Tsunade."
"Can you take me to help with the recovery efforts?" Temari knew that she wouldn't be of any help to Naruto, but she wanted to be of some use to him.
"Unfortunately, no one is in good enough condition to even form a recovery unit. The only healer we have left that is not majorly injured is Sakura Haruno. She isn't too far from here. Would you like me to take you to her?"
Temari remembered that Sakura was the one that had made an antidote for Sasori's poison. She had arrived a day too late, and Kankuro passed away before she could administer it. "Yes. Take me to her."
"Sakura!"
"Temari?" The last person Sakura expected to see was someone from another village. "What are you doing here? It's not safe."
"I came on official business from Suna, but it looks like that will have to wait. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Right now we have to wait for Naruto to defeat Pain before we can launch any form of recovery efforts."
Temari heard a loud shout and looked back at the fight. Her stomach lurched when her eyes befell the current state of the fight. One of the small toads was now laying dead, and Naruto was pinned to the ground with several black rods.
Temari panicked. I have to save him! I can't let him die like Gaara! Temari didn't know why, but she felt that if Naruto died, she would have nothing left. Suddenly, her body began to move all on its own. She reached around her back and whipped out her fan. She was just about to swing it back when Sakura grabbed her arm.
"What are you doing?" demanded Sakura.
"I have to go rescue Naruto!"
"You can't Temari!" shouted Sakura. "Look around you. The last Pain you see down there is the one that destroyed my village. What can you do to save Naruto?"
Temari could see tears rolling down Sakura's face. She didn't know her relationship to Naruto, but she knew that Sakura must be close to him.
"I have to do something. I don't know what, but he needs help!"
Temari wrenched her arm free and tried to swing her fan, only to be stopped short again. This time, Katsuyu had engulfed Temari's body inside of her own. Temari struggled as hard as she could but couldn't break free.
"Let me go! I have to help Naruto!"
"You will die if you go down there. I cannot allow anyone to recklessly get killed in Lady Tsunade's absence."
Temari looked back at the fight. Then she saw a figure launch from out of the debris somewhere close by. It was headed straight towards Naruto. When the shadow finally broke through the dust, Temari could tell that it was a person. Is that Hinata Hyuuga, from the Chunin Exams?
"What is Hinata doing?!" sought Sakura. "Doesn't she know that she'll only get killed!"
When Hinata made it to Naruto, she tried to remove the rods that were impaled in his body, but Pain sent her shooting away with a flick of his finger. Hinata struggled to get on her feet. Then she started to attack Pain with all her might. The Akatsuki member easily dodged all her attempts. Then he shot her high into the air. She came crashing back down full force into the ground. Once she had hit the ground, Pain moved over to her body and pulled out a long black rod, aimed it at her heart, and thrust it as hard as he could.
Temari was speechless. Hinata is dead! The air began to get hot and thick. It was hard for Temari to breathe. Suddenly, a huge explosion came from where Naruto lay. Some form of red bloodlike matter shot into the sky. Where Naruto had just been was now completely encased in the same bloody substance.
A shock went through Temari's spine. She was mortified. Her body was shaking uncontrollably, and she was frozen in place. Temari hadn't felt such fear since the last time she saw Gaara turn into a tailed beast. What is happening to Naruto!?
The bloody mass finally disappeared, and what it left behind frightened her very core. What once had been Naruto, was now a bloody demon fox with six tails. Bones protruded out of it and formed a spine, legs, and a fox skull over Naruto's body.
Barely believing what she was witnessing, Temari spoke aloud, "Naruto, just what on earth are you?"
I hope that I did this scene justice. It was hard for me to describe exactly what I wanted to convey. Please let me know if you enjoyed this new chapter, or if there is anything that you think would improve the story.