Hakujitsumu IV

The base of the tree, when up close, was so unnaturally huge it seemed almost impossible for Sakura to wrap her brain around: on even the furthest branches, the tiny droplets that hung from their undersides looked normal, until she forced herself to remember that those droplets were, in fact, people. The sight of the old battlefield was strange: it had been such a large, flat open area with nothing that defined it — though they'd all been far too busy fighting a succession of powerful enemies she hadn't paid much attention at the time — but now it seemed such a wholly depressing resting place. The deep clouds, heavy with rain coupled with the unnatural silence gave Sakura an unnerving sense of foreboding. They'd made good time in getting back to the centre of the former battlefield and Zetsu, in an uncharacteristic fit of comprehensibility, had actually led them to a goldmine of useful people. Tsunade, the Raikage, a number of Hyuuga clan members, Gaara and — much to Shikamaru's delight — Chouji and Ino; though the tree's energy was stronger closer to its main stem, it reacted quickly to the threat of someone trying to wrest one of its victims from it. The moment it's wrappings were interfered with or the connecting stem was cut, it regrew, horrifyingly fast; the tree also apparently sensed the chakra of the raiding party and sent out tendrils and branches to capture the mutineers.

Eventually, they found Yamato, though he did not look at all like himself: had of his face and body was ashen, monotone and sticky, as he if he was slowly being transformed into another Zetsu. "We really need to hurry here, he is still alive but for how much longer I don't—" Sakura's words were bitten off as she leapt up to avoid a sneaking branch, "—know."

"Hinata, what does your byakugan tell you? Is it chakra that enables the tree to move?" Kakashi asked; the Hyuuga called the chakra to her eyes and looked carefully around, paying special attention to the six branches that were seemingly called to her by the act of her kneading chakra,

"No! It isn't! The only chakra I can see are those which belong to the captured shinobi, it's slowly being drawn out of them and fed into the tree but from there… it's… it's like it's purely being channeled or something, I don't know how to describe it… but further up at the tips of the branch, there isn't any discernible chakra…" She dodged a branch and called upon her needle-fine charka at her fingertips to slice through a branch, it in no way impeded the branch's movements beyond slicing off the tip, which regrew in seconds and resumed the attack. "There is some energy controlling this, but it isn't chakra… the chakra is all being fed up the main stem."

"Then how..?" Kakashi replied, busy fighting off his own cluster of seemingly sentient branches brimming with ill-intent… but apparently nothing else? "Everyone fall back, just until the branches stop, uh, detecting us!" Five hundred meters was all that separated them from their targets, they sat and recovered for a while whilst they thought up a plan.

"What the hell?" Naruto complained, "Why the hell can we be free and we don't have anything trying to recapture us just a few kilometres that way when over here the tree is going nuts?"

"I guess the closer we are to main stem, where the chakra fruit grows, the more the tree is responsive to chakra." Sakura offered, "But the problem is how to we free everyone? How can we get Yamato back before he's transformed completely if we can use our chakra?"

"Um… oh! Sage energy! Hang on," Naruto settled himself down and gathered the natural energy, the red pigment coming to his eyes quickly, "Let me try something," He got up and darted back over to Yamato, the branches swirled and moved as if they detected something, occasionally making strikes at Naruto but often missing or striking at a place where he had been seconds before. He sliced off the stem holding Yamato to the tree and slung him over his shoulder, wrappings and all, but the branches knew that one had been severed and now had a target to follow. Naruto struggled to dodge the branches with such a burden on his back, though Kakashi was kick to leap to his aide in fighting them whilst Naruto ran for the invisible border. Even as he reached them, however, the branches kept coming, unsaved by Kakashi's defence, the kept striving and reaching for the stolen chakra. "Sakura! Quick! Try and free him from those bandage things!" Naruto shouted as he dropped Yamato, allowing Sakura to catch him and turned back to hold off the branches; Sakura called upon her chakra scalpel and tore at the white wrappings, most had stuck fast to the changed portion of Yamato's flesh which revealed his own, she cut him free as quickly as she was able, though he was soon a bloody mess. Hinata helped her to throw the scraps as far from them as they could, back towards the centre of the tree. As soon as the last scrap had been discarded, and Kakashi and Naruto were back with the group, the branches ceased their attacks.

"Okay!" Naruto grinned, wiping the sweat from his face, "Now we just gotta get the others! We'll get Tsunade-baa-chan next!"

Sakura leaned back on her stool as far as she dared, doing her best to stretch out and relieve some of the tension her muscles had acquired after hours spent hunched over, starting at her research and Yamato alternately. If only she was better of for it. Yamato seemed neither Yamato nor Zetsu. Despite the damage that had been inflicted upon him whilst she removed the wrapping from him, it had healed back over with Zetsu's flesh. She'd taken samples from both 'sides' of his body and they were remarkably similar, as if Yamato was somehow made from Zetsu or the other way around; she had been wracking her brain trying to remember if she'd heard or read anything which might explain their connection. She sighed heavily and rubbed at her eyes, between the rescue and worrying that none of them had yet awoken and trying to figure out the tree, she felt as if she was permanently running on empty.

There appeared no obvious option that could potentially help save everyone: so long as the tree existed, it would strive to steal their chakra and the tree continued to exist because Otsutsuki fed it and sustained it. Though Sakura suspected that whilst it had everyone bound in its supple phloem layer, it might well have more than enough nutrients to sustain itself. If that was the case, then why did Otsutsuki need to remain? What could she possibly be doing as the last human alive? Sakura still had her chakra and it felt perfectly normal, everyone else seemed to have access to their chakra, but would it remain so? Sasuke had mentioned that they'd been under the Infinite Tsukikomi for around six months, if the tree could deplete their chakra through proximity then they should all be completely dry — clearly the tree had no ability to shut off the body's ability to generate chakra. Regardless of the legend, Sakura's chakra was her own. But that raised another point: if chakra was the basis for all ninjutsu, all a shinobi's strength, and the tree was a living mass of chakra, then how could they even begin to fight the tree? Or Otsutsuki for that matter? Though Naruto's sage energy had offered them a vital opening.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto's sudden entrance into her medical tent had her start,

"Naruto! Don't you ever knock?"

"Haha how I knock on a tent?" Naruto laughed, "But sorry to startle you… I was just checking in, how's it going?"

"Not great," She replied, sweeping a hand through her hair, it had grown long and thick (and was fantastically soft, she'd noticed, apparently the chakra tree doubled as a top-notch spa treatment along with the dreams of one's deepest desires… if one didn't mind the drawback of begin forcibly dragged back to cold reality). "How can we fight the living embodiment of chakra? You at least have the sage technique, but how can the rest of us be of any help? How can you fight her by yourself?"

After a moment of thought, Naruto replied, "With special chakra!"

"What? What do you mean?"

"When I had to get control of Kurama, Octo-dude showed me how to see inside myself, where I met my Mum!" He grinned at the memory, "She had special chakra, which could get Kurama under control, at least for a little while,"

"So… do you have any of her chakra? Does anyone else?" Sakura asked slowly, unclear as to how Naruto's words were going to help them,

"Um… I dunno, I just know that Kurama was a living mass of angry chakra — at least until we made friends — but none of my jutsu could hurt him until Mum's chakra held him captive… no well, actually it was hurting him, but I was in sage mode…"

Sakura sighed slowly, she knew Naruto was only trying to be helpful, but in his own, immutable style: he was not making things easier. "Sorry Sakura," He sheepishly offered, apparently aware of the issue, raising a hand to scratch his cheek,

"No, it's okay Naruto, anything could be helpful at this stage, I just don't know enough about chakra, about how to fight living masses of chakra about how to—"

"Eh? Sakura? Did you think of something?"

"Do you still have access to Kurama? Can you still feel his chakra? Is he still sealed within you?"

"Umm…" Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, he frowned slightly, as if unable to settle and took a seat, crossing his legs, rested his arms on his thighs joined his hands; Sakura remained quiet and let him concentrate. His breathing evened out and for a moment, Sakura felt as if he was no longer in the tent. A deep red pigment suddenly covered his eyes and he opened them, "Kurama's still there but I can't seem to wake him, I think the tree took a lot of chakra from him, he still needs to sleep a bit."

"Naruto… do you think any of the frogs of Myobouku might have survived? Free from the Tree's effects? Can you try and summon one?"

"Um, yeah, I'll try," He bit his thumb, called upon his energy and slammed his hand to the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Shino had been staring at the great branch from which he had been wrested for some time; it looked like a normal tree, it smelled like a normal tree but it was not a normal tree. He was itching to explore it, to understand it but the few bugs which had survived the ordeal of being caught in the Infinite Tsukikomi — the act of being captured had stolen a great portion of chakra of each person or creature whom it touched — and, as a consequence, had massacred a great many of his bug population. With his freedom brought back his chakra, and the presence of his chakra had stimulated the bugs back to their normal cycles and they had managed to regain a good number from their diminished population. He called upon his scouters, those with negligible chakra and released them with instructions to explore every inch of the tree that they were able. They could potentially be gone for several days and he would send out more swarms in due time to relay messages and reduce the time toll.

Shino missed his dream realm: there he had the same swarm that he'd nurtured for years, so intertwined they were that he had no need to whisper verbal commands to them; they knew him and he knew them. The breeding triage had become so stable, so connected that they could perform a partnered transformation technique to rival Kiba and Akamaru's. He'd found his peace in that version of Konoha; where before he felt he must hide to preserve the Aburame clan's mystique, he'd later realised that his comrades had a genuine desire to know him better and the parts of himself he revealed, were met with warmth and acceptance and only improved their teamwork. Konoha had been nothing but green leaves and strong boughs, it had its share of occasional thorns, but ever had the sun shone he was secure in his knowledge that his team and his village stood strong together.

He stared at what little he could see of the sky above, it looked as intensely blue as he'd always remembered and even the overhanging leaves and branches reminded him of Konoha in the summer; but there was an odd feeling about the woods. Aside from precious few insects, Shino had seen no signs of animal life: no tracks, no scat, no evidence of herbivorous consumption. The forest felt dead. To his instincts, to his bugs: dead. As if the trees were technically still alive, fuelled only the presence of the sun, but nothing more. The previous autumn's leaf litter was still fresh and crisp, despite the weather suggesting mis-summer, no birds flew between the trees nor called out to one another. All beings had chakra, it was as much a part of the body as blood or cells, but one those who trained and moulded it had a detectible signature. Was the tree powerful enough to detect and ensnare every living creature? So then, why hadn't it made any attempt to re-ensare those who've left it's clutches?

After a few moments of ruminating, Shino sent out a second small party of higher chakra bugs; they were to fly off, around the tree and investigate if the tree responded to chakra signatures extraneous to itself. He and the others that had been revived had so far encounter no problems, the tree seemed to make no attempt to recapture them, but was not a foregone conclusion that they had nothing left to be wary of. Given that the tree had made no direct attempt to recapture any individuals, it was possible that the tree made no decisions for itself — could the Otsutsuki still be directing it?

"Yo, Shino," Shikamaru appeared at his side,

"How's it going?"

"I've just sent out two swarms, one will investigate the tree without drawing any attention and another, which has a chakra signature to test if the tree responds."

"Good, that should give us some clues; Sakura and Shizune are still doing what they can but this tree is a big mystery… ahh, I hate having so much to think about right after I wake up." Shikamaru settled into the nook of the tree Shino was leaning against,

"It's been almost a week since you were awoken."

"Yeah, but I still feel like it was only half an hour ago, I still feel drowsy."

"Agreed." Shine replied, "Did you dream of being in Konoha?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I rem— I dreamt, one time, of an occasion where you were training with Kurenai-san's child, but she made a mistake and the kunai sliced through your ponytail… do you remember that?"

Shikamaru sat up, "I remember that! It was the same day that Hinata went into labour!"

"With Naruto's child? They had a boy and named him Iruka."

"Yes!" Shikamaru sprang to his feet, "I can't believe we didn't think of this before… if we had the same dream, then it's possible that we have all shared the same dream, we need to establish this… I've gotta find Kakashi. Thanks, Shino." Shikamaru darted away, leaving the unflustered Aburame still sat at the crook of the tree.

…

"Kakashi!"

"Hmm? Shikamaru? Are you ready to go? I sent Naruto to get Sakura they should have been here by now," Kakashi answered, he'd just been able to brief the two teams of nin,

"Kakashi, I need you to tell me something about what you dreamt, did Naruto have a child?"

"Huh? What?"

"I was just talking with Shino, he and I both dreamt similar events; tell me, did Naruto have a child? A son, named Iruka?"

"Yes… he did, with Hinata. But even if we all dreamt the same thing, what edge does it give us?" Kakashi responded, feeling like the conversation was going to trample over somethings he did not feel like discussing.

"But… if everyone is dreaming in the same 'universe', then anyone still under the Tsukikomi will be able to tell if things are different there, now that we've all woken up, are they still seeing us? Talking to us?" Shikamaru asked in a hurry — he wasn't sure how exactly the realisation was important but his gut was telling him it would become important. He racked his brain for who still had not been awoken but who he knew and knew him equally well in return. "Ino! Where's Sasuke?"

"Eh? Probably still in the medical tent,"

"I need to find him," Shikamaru sped off before Kakashi stop him — where they ever going on this mission? He sighed deeply and followed the other nin. If everyone did share the same dream reality, then others would have dreamt of he and Sakura… surely she would also have dreamt of them together… of their Misaki.

"Shimuda-san, Kurroki-san, Darui-san, please spread through your respective shinobi and ascertain just how many of your dreams you shared or if you have any major inconsistencies." Kakashi explained, "We will meet later to corroborate our perspectives, the mission is on hold for now." Kakashi ordered,

"Wait, Hatake-san, what difference does it make if we all shared the same dream? Its just a fantasy, right?" Shimuda asked, raising a tan coloured eyebrow in disbelief,

"We need to gather all possible information, it's been weeks since I was awoken and we have made very little progress. Talk to your people and find out what you can."

As he hurried through the trees, back to the make-shift HQ, through the milling shinobi until he came upon the large tent where Sakura and Shizune were working, the thick canvas suddenly budged and exploded, revealing an enormous portion of Katsuyu.

"Yo! Long time no see, Naruto!" The tiny frog raised a hand in greeting as the smoke cleared,

"What? Who are you?"

"What d'ya mean 'who are yer?' I'm Fukukichi! Gamakichi's lil boy!"

"Eh? Gamakichi had a son? I had no idea!" Naruto cried, "Nice to meet you!" He offered a short wave, "I was trying to summon Gamakichi, where is he?"

"Pa's dead… how did you not know that?" The little frog looked offended,

"I'm sorry! But we've been in the Infinite Tsukikomi for months, I don't know anything that's going on."

"Excuse me," Sakura cut in, sensing the conversation was going no where, "But what is Myuboku like at the moment? Has it suffered any interference from the tree?"

"Eh? What tree? We have trees, what kind of paradise wouldn't have trees?" The frog angrily rebutted,

"Ah, she's means that tree," Naruto lifted the flap of the tent and pointed out to the colossal branch overhanding them, laden with entrapped people; the little frog hoped over until he could get a better view,

"Wh… what is that? That ain't like no tree I've ever seen!"

"It's a chakra tree, it entraps anyone and anything with a chakra signature… we've only just escaped," Sakura explained, annoyed the frog's apparent ignorance, but well aware allowing her frustration to show would probably scare the frog away and then they'd be left with no answers. "You haven't seen anything like it at Myuboku Mountain?"

"No… no I ain't…"

""Fukukichi, how many other frogs are at the mountain?"

"Loads… thought everything was normal."

"Um…" Naruto looked to Sakura, unclear what the next step should be, "Can you call Katsuyu? Maybe she might know more?"

"Of course!" Sakura remembered, she channeled her chakra and summoned the slug. Although she'd only intended to summon a small piece of the slug, it was not what happened. Simultaneously absorbing everyone into her body, so as to avoid injuring them, Katsuyu appeared, destroying the tent in the process.

"Katsuyu! Sakura! What's happening?" Shikamaru cried as he arrived on the scene,

"Hai, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and the toad are safe." Katsuyu replied, slithering herself off the four,

"Ugh… Katsuyu! I meant to only summon a small version of you,"

"It has been a very long time since we've last spoke, Sakura, I was worried. I did not exect you to summon me inside a building."

"It's… it's okay, how are you? How is the Shikkotsu Forest? Have you had any invasion from the tree?" Sakura pointed as she spoke; Katsuyu looked carefully around for a few moments,

"No. I do not understand what this tree is?" A miniature version of herself peeled off from the main mass and sped (relatively speaking) towards the nearest trunk,

"Please be careful Katsuyu! The tree absorbs chakra but we are still quite ignorant of it's abilities."

"Hai!"

"Sakura, what's going on?" Shikamaru asked, still looking rather befuddled,

"I was taking to Naruto and we were wondering if any of the hidden realms had remained untouched by the chakra tree, Fukukichi thinks he hasn't seen this tree in Myuoboku Mountain."

"Interesting…"

"I can't believe I hadn't thought of this before, but Naruto is still able to gather sage energy, it has nothing to do with chakra… and it might be the key to defeating Otsutsuki and the tree, if it comes down to a fight."

"Sage energy?" Shikamaru asked,

"It the gathering of the natural energy, it's highly advanced techniques, but it makes sense to go in with this line of attack… it might give us an edge." Kakashi offered, momentarily catching Sakura's eye as he drew attention to himself; she quickly looked away.

"Katsuyu, what can you tell me about the Shikkotsu Forest, is everything normal there?"

"Yes, things have been very peaceful for the past few months, Katsuyu has been able to gather a great deal of natural energy without disturbance, the war cased immense disturbance to the natural balance and it concerned her greatly."

"Wait… Katsuyu can gather natural energy, too?"

"Of course, I am one of the three, the three original animals with the ability to access natural energy, this is what separates us from the Bijuu. As time went on we learned how to channel chakra, which gives us the ability to work in tandem with our human friends as well as perform several low level ninjutsu, but the basis of our power has always been the gathering of natural energy."

"So what about ninja dogs? Or ninja cats? Or ninja birds?" Naruto cut in before anyone else could,

"They are lower level animals, they rely entirely on chakra,"

"Wow it's so cool Team 7 each got one of the original natural animals!" Naruto grinned,

"Yes but it is not by accident, you each were apprenticed by one of the sannin and as such, you each have the ability to surpass them. Life is cyclical and you three are the just the next stage."

"But… Tsunade never trained to be a sage and as far as I know, neither did Orochimaru," Sakura replied, casting a glance to the barely awake Uchiha, sitting on his cot;

"No. Tsunade had no desire to become a sage and although you are right, Orochimaru never formally trained, he took many of the concepts and abilities to utilise in his research."

"He didn't but Kabuto learned the sage arts from the snake sage Ryuchidou," Sasuke finally interjected,

"Hmm," Sakura replied, faltering for a moment in where next to direct the conversation. "Keep analysing the tree, please Katsuyu, anything you find might help us."

"Hai,"

"Shikamaru, did you come over for a reason?"

"Huh? Oh yes, I was talking to Shino earlier and it turns out he and I dreamt of the same events and Kakashi I also dreamt of similar events; it's possible we all dreamed the same dream. Tell me something, do you remember what Naruto's son was called?"

"Uh, Iruka?"

"Hey, yeah! He was! Aw, I miss my son," Naruto lamented,

"What time was Naruto's inauguration?"

"Uh, it was late in the day, wasn't it? About three or something, it was delayed because of Hinata's morning sickness."

"I remember that too."

"That was also the day Ino broke her leg and four ribs in a training exercise,"

"What? I don't remember that," Shikamaru replied,

"I do," Shizune cut in, "But I don't remember Naruto's inauguration being during the day, I remember it being at night time, seven-ish,"

"What?" Kakashi finally butt in, "I remember it being first thing in the morning… and seeing the duty roster telling me she was out on a mission that day." They all stared at each other a for a few moments,

"What about a different day — I remember once we had a visit from Gaara, and there were heavy thunderstorms that week, there was a lot of flooding," Sakura said,

"Hai, I remember that," Shizune and Shikamaru both replied,

"Eh? I don't, I don't remember any floods, Gaara only came to Konoha twice and both times it was hot, we had watermelon." Naruto offered, looking at Kakashi who nodded his agreement.

"I remember Naruto's version, I don't remember Konoha ever flooding."

"Okay, let's go back to what we all do agree remembering: I remember that HInata and Naruto married and had a son, Iruka. I also remember Hinata being pregnant with your second child,"

"…" Naruto merely nodded his agreement of the memory, his face turning sullen with grief, "We wanted a girl, we were gonna call her Atsuko," Shizune took a step closer to Naruto and rubbed her hand over his back,

"I'm sorry Naruto; I remember that too, I remember giving Hinata her first check up,"

"I also remember TenTen was in a relationship,"

"Yeah with one of allied shinobi, Naoko, was it?" Sakura answered,

"That was her!" Shikamaru agreed, "You too, Sakura, you had a daughter, didn't you? Misaki?" Sakura tensed at the mention of the name, momentarily rendered speechless,

"Yeah! I remember! Misaki was so cute! Those great big green eyes and her always messy silver hair," Naruto snickered, "Like her dad," He looked squarely at Kakashi, who's eyes were glued to Sakura's. They stared blankly at each other for a few tense moments, both equally terrified of admitting what they remembered and uncovering a heartbreaking inconsistency.

Kakashi eventually opened his mouth to speak but someone else beat him to it,

"Kakashi-san! Shizune-san! Gaara-sama has awoken!" A yound Sand Chuunin had alerted them;

"I'll speak to him." Was all Kakashi said without sparing a glance behind him before he took off; Shizune paused to request a portion of Katsuyu accompany her, but too was gone in a moment, along with Naruto. An awkward silence pervaded as no one knew what to make of Kakashi's actions,

"I still have work to do," Sakura excused herself and went back to her tent, just managing to seal the doorway behind her before the two fat tears blurring her vision escaped and tracked two wet trails down her cheeks. She choked back a sob as it finally hit her: it didn't matter how clearly she remembered the warmth of Kakashi's arms, the purity in Misaki's giggles or the softness in Kakashi's eyes when he sat with his family. It didn't matter how much she wanted it back. It was gone, it had never even existed and with the realisation that Kakashi… what? Remembered? Didn't remember? Either way, he apparently didn't want to give her an answer. Had he dreamt of her, only to wake up disgusted at the realisation? It seemed nothing on heaven or earth could bring back her husband or daughter. She could barely breathe through her crying as the point was finally driven home: the two people she loved most in her life would never be anything other than figments of her imagination.

..

.

A/n - This chapter has been re-written!