Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 57: Pride and Punishment

Yuki was still upset at the new appointment of Danzo as their sixth Hokage. Of all the possible choices, she believed he was the worst. His views for the village was wrong. He hungered for power. She couldn't accept that such a character could become their leader. Furthermore, knowing that he was off to the Kage Summit to represent the village felt even more wrong. She knew how he wanted things to be dealt. She knew he wanted Sasuke killed. She also knew he was after Sasuke's sharingans. To her, it meant more than that. They were Itachi's. They were the only thing he could leave for his brother. She couldn't bear the thought of having someone else possess them.

Naruto was also upset that people were after Sasuke to kill him. He still held on to the idea that he could bring him back home to Konohagakure and help him change his mind. Although Yuki disagreed, she still believed in Naruto. He often made the impossible possible. Yuki thought she had to give him, at least, the chance to try to convince Sasuke. As for the actual outcome, she just wanted the best for the world she lived in.

It was the day that Danzo was leaving the village to meet the other Kages. Yuki was sitting on a tree nearby the village's gate with Neji. As he was trying to calm her down about the whole situation, the sight of Danzo upset her once again. As she looked away in anger, she thought about going after him to spy on him. She couldn't come to an immediate decision as she was uncertain if that was the best idea or if it was simply an impulsive idea.

"I know what you are thinking." Neji told her. "There's a high chance you'll get hurt if you follow them."

"Always being the voice of reason…" She mumbled. "I just can't accept the fact that he'll go out there, representing our village, with his satanic ideas. Nobody in the village agrees with him."

"You are not wrong, but, maybe, that's the only solution right now." Neji tried to reason with her.

"Anybody else would have made a better Hokage while maintaining the founding values of this village. Kakashi-senpai, Shikaku-san…" Yuki said. "We could have waited for Tsunade-sama to wake up and just send an envoy instead. Furthermore, you don't know the Raikage's temper. Danzo will just add fuel to the fire. They'll definitely hunt Sasuke down and only stop when he's completely torn apart."

"You don't think Sasuke deserves that end?"

"I would be lying if I said I was as naïve as Naruto, believing that he could return to the village as if nothing had happened, but I don't think killing him is necessarily the only solution."

"That's one thing I never understood…" Neji started. "Why do you care so much about Sasuke?"

"Why are you asking? Jealous I'm not giving you the same amount of the attention?" Yuki asked teasing him as she hopped down from the tree.

He followed her down and pouted:

"We were having a serious conversation here."

"Let's just say it's not so much him that I care about. I was just entrusted with a mission."

"Can you not give me a straight answer?" Neji asked, still sulking.

"I care about him just as much as you would care about him. He's a fellow villager whether we like it or not." She replied.

As they started walking back towards the center of the village, they ran into Kakashi, Yamato and Naruto. They looked like they were ready to set out. Kakashi threw at Yuki her own bag. She raised her eyebrow before realizing that he wanted her to set out with them.

"Sorry, Neji. I'm going to have to take her away from you for a few days." Kakashi said with a smile.

"Eh? I… Wh-what…" Neji said as started to stutter, which was quite rare for him to do so, as Naruto chuckled at the sight of his friend being out of character.

"Are we heading to the Kage Summit?" Yuki asked as she wrapped the bag around her waist.

"Naruto wants to say a few words to the Raikage since he seems to be the one who initiated this whole idea of chasing down Sasuke." Kakashi explained. "I didn't disagree to it as long as we tagged along."

"Kakashi-sensei told me you knew him." Naruto said.

Yuki nodded. She also still owed him an apology for leaving Kumogakure without a word. It wouldn't be a bad idea for her to tag along. She looked at Neji and smiled:

"Guess I'm heading out after all."

"You always get your way, don't you?" He said. "Just stay safe. Don't be reckless."

"We will make sure she doesn't get too friendly with others." Naruto told Neji, jokingly, wanting to see Neji embarrassed once again.

Neji glared at him as his cheeks started changing colors. The four of them then rushed out of the village as Yuki waved goodbye to Neji.

Yamato had already implanted onto Omoi's team when they came to the village. Although he didn't know they would be chasing them to find the Raikage, it was preventive thing to protect the village, since, after all, they were outsiders. They already had an idea where they were heading. Whenever big discussions were to be made, they were held in the Land of Iron as it was a neutral land ran by samurais. They had always remained outside of any conflict between the others lands. They weren't part of any country either. Their purpose was to maintain a certain balance between the stronger military forces such as Konohagakure and the weaker ones.

As they approached the border of the Land of Iron, they could feel the cold air making their hair stand on their skin. They pulled out capes from their bags and put it on as a measure of protecting themselves from freezing to death. Yuki closed her eyes to sense for any sign of people close to them as they entered the Land of Iron.

"500 feet, at two o'clock, the Raikage is there. He just met up with Samui's team." Yuki told them.

Kakashi nodded as Naruto simply rushed forward in high speed. Yamato sighed at his impatience as they all followed him. Yuki was thinking of what to say to the Raikage. She knew it wasn't going to be easy for him to forgive her judging from Omoi's reaction in the village.

"Samui, you were being careless. You were being followed." Darui said as he grabbed hold of his sword, ready to fight.

"Darui-senpai, we aren't here to fight." Yuki said as she arrived first to prevent a fight from erupting.

"Yuki!" He said, surprised.

The Raikage stepped forward and walked up to Yuki. He was glaring at her as she smiled apologetically:

"Raikage-sama, how have you been?"

She saw in the corner of her eye that Omoi was glaring at her and didn't move, only because Samui was holding him back. She bit her lip as she started playing with her hair amidst all the tension that was present.

"You…" The Raikage started, sounding angry before sighing. "How have you been?"

He always doted on her despite his usual stern demeanor. He cared for her like she was his own daughter at times. As much as he resented her leaving Kumogakure without a word, his care for her was much more important.

"I'm here, am I not?" She replied as she walked up closer to him. "I'm really sorry I left without a word. I didn't mean to do so, really…"

"I see you are back where you came from." He then said as he glanced over at the other three who were all proudly wearing their Konohagakure forehead protector. "It's good that you are safe. Now, tell me, why have you shown yourself here of all places and time?"

Naruto walked up and pleaded:

"Please, please do not kill Sasuke."

"Again with this nonsense!" Karui yelled out as she rolled up her sleeves ready to beat Naruto once again.

Yuki quickly stepped in and stopped her from getting any closer to Naruto by placing her hand on Karui's shoulder. Karui grabbed Yuki's arm as she glared into her eyes.

"Karui, let's hear him out at least, shall we?" Yuki whispered.

They both let go. Naruto looked into the Raikage's eyes and repeated himself:

"I… Raikage-sama, please do not order people to kill Sasuke… He…"

"He harmed one of my people. I cannot let him go."

"He… He's just lost. He was consumed by vengeance, that's why he did what he did. I don't want anybody else to be stuck in this vicious cycle." Naruto said.

"Just lost, eh? Kid, you've got guts to say that about someone who is basically trash. By getting rid of him, we are getting rid of a danger. Vengeance? Call it what you want, but I'm not going to let him live."

"He's my friend. He's not trash." Naruto said as he looked to the snowy ground.

The Raikage chose to ignore him as he walked past Naruto, heading towards the Kages Summit location. Naruto ran in front of him and went down on his knees as his eyes were filling up with tears.

"Please… I'm begging you. I want to stop this cycle of revenge. I don't want people to kill because of someone that was once killed or hurt. I'm begging you."

"Kid, being a shinobi, you shouldn't be weak like this. A man should not go onto his knees this easily. Have more pride, will you?"

"Raikage-sama, when a man lets go of all his pride to beg for something, isn't it at least worth for that something to be taken into consideration?" Yuki intervened. "I have no rights to ask you for anything as I already owe you so much, but, please, can you at least think about it?"

"My answer is no." He replied to her coldly as he kept walking.

Naruto collapsed into the snow as Kakashi and Yamato quickly rushed to his side. He was still injured from getting beaten up by Karui and the fight against Pain, yet he rushed to the Land of Iron, fighting the cold weather in order to beg for Sasuke's life. He had no energy left. As the others walked by them, ignoring their presence, Yuki clenched her fists in anger. They didn't have to dismiss Naruto in such ways. If anything, they should admire him for going after what he believed in. He only wanted peace. He was simply done with lives being thrown away for the sake of revenge. One thing kept leading to another in that cycle. She was also done with it. As Kakashi told them to head back as they've tried enough already, Yuki decided to ignore his order. She tried to go after the Raikage. She wanted him to hear her out again. Kakashi tried to stop her.

"Yuki, you've heard his answer. He's not one to change his mind, you know that very well."

"Because I know him so well, maybe I have a chance at convincing him. Sorry, senpai, I'm going to have to disobey your orders this one time." Yuki said as she flashed herself to the Kumogakure's ninjas.

She had placed her seal on Karui when she stopped her from attacking Naruto a little earlier. She didn't know if she had to go after them eventually, but she didn't want to have to use the long way to get to them again. As she appeared, she wasn't exactly welcomed. Karui actually cursed at her for placing a seal on her when she least expected it, saying that she played dirty.

"Yuki, we are going to be late to the Kages Summit if you keep delaying us like this." Darui told her. "If you need to talk, you are going to have to wait until after…"

"I don't think the matter of Sasuke can be pushed back since it is to be discussed during the summit." Yuki interrupted him.

"Not even you can convince me of sparing him." The Raikage said.

"Perhaps, you can leave it to Konohagakure to deal with him instead. I'm not asking you to spare him of any punishments. I can assure you that you won't be disappointed with the way we will handle things."

"You are being diplomatic as ever." The Raikage said. "What if I am unsatisfied with the way you guys handle things?"

"I'll take responsibilities for it then."

"That kid earlier had too little pride and you have too much." Raikage commented. "Do you think you can carry all the responsibilities on your small shoulders? He said it himself, vengeance is a vicious cycle. How can you guarantee no one will mourn for your death?"

"I'll think about it when the time comes. Besides, I don't think you would have the heart to kill me." Yuki said, smiling as she sensed that the Raikage was somewhat considering sparing Sasuke.

"Damn it, Yuki…" He said as he walked past her. "I can only promise you one thing. If I can, I will let Konohagakure handle Sasuke."

End of Chapter 57

Thank you for reading!

I hope you are enjoying Yuki's reunion with the Kumogakure people.

xox

Krystal