Well, Here's chapter 6! I hope you all like the way I've set up this story line. I wanted to change the plot slightly away from the traditional cannon, but still make it somewhat familiar. When I get to the Shippuden timeline (Which I plan to) The story will begin to go its own way from what I've thought of. A few things, I saw in a review by Arianna Le Fay that she was wondering about some plot questions. So here they are. Currently, since this starts after the Chuunin Exams, Naruko does know toad summoning and knows Jiraiya, but doesn't know Rasengan (I'm not sure if she will learn it either, since I don't plan on making Jiraiya her permanent mentor). Sasuke knows the Chidori, and Tsunade and Naruko's relationship will be different than cannon.
Hope that helped anyone who was confused. Don't forget to review and comment! Thank you!
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO :(
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"Ah nothing like the sight of a beautiful, living village am I right Tsunade?" An older voice spoke.
The owner of the voice walked beside Tsunade as they neared the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The person who spoke of course being, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, and infamous pervert. Next to him was a busty, long blonde haired, brown eyed beauty, Tsunade Senju, the Slug Princess.
"It looks the same as it did years ago." Tsunade commented, hiding her emotions behind a monotone voice.
Behind the two Sannin walked Tsunade's apprentice, Shizune, and pet pig, Tonton. Together, the three ninja had walked several miles after being convinced by Jiraiya that Tsunade was needed to take the position of Hokage. At first, the woman rejected and insulted the position. However, everything changed when Orochimaru had shown up and attacked the three ninja.
During the battle, Jiraiya had been severely hurt, and it was then that Tsunade realized that she didn't want to lose anymore of her dear friends, and gambling and drinking away from the village would do nothing. Whether she liked it or not, she was the last Senju, someone with close ties to the village. If she wasn't there to lead it, no doubt someone like Danzo would take over, and that wasn't an option. Danzo would sacrifice ninja for his own motives. She wouldn't let something like that happen.
So here she was, returning to Konoha to take over as the fifth Hokage. Shizune, of course following her master, walked closely behind as they approached the enormous red gates of Konoha. When they arrived to the sign-in stand, Jiraiya and Tsunade immediately noticed that something was very wrong. Both attendants were passed out in their chairs.
To any normal ninja or civilian, it would appear as if they were sleeping on the job, however the two Sannin noticed the chakra in the two ninja had been disrupted. Quickly, Jiraiya and Tsunade placed their hands on the two ninja and yelled in unison.
"Kai!" The Sannin yelled.
Both chuunin shot directly upwards, having been released from a powerful genjutsu. At first they looked extremely confused, trying to recall the events before they had been knocked out. When they noticed the two Sannin and Shizune, they tried to explain what happened.
"Jiraiya-sama! Tsunade-sama! Two men with black cloaks and red clouds infiltrated the village! Please, you have to warn everybody!" One of the chuunin yelled out quickly.
Jiraiya's eyes widened with the information he had received. The Akatsuki were in the village, no doubt after Naruko! He had to find the girl as soon as possible.
Jiraiya turned towards Tsunade and Shizune. "You two warn as many ninja as you can, I'm going to go find the two men!"
They both nodded before running off into the village. Jiraiya, with a few hand signs and summoned two small yet very old looking toads.
"I'm going into Sage Mode, I need to find Naruko. Please help me!" Jiraiya stated as the two toads hopped onto his shoulders and nodded their heads.
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"Hello…foolish little brother."
Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked down his hallway, seeing a large, blue, shark-like man with a large sword wrapped in bandages, and next to that man was a smaller black haired man. Sasuke didn't realize the blue man…but the other one. The other one he knew very well.
"ITACHI!" Sasuke roared with recognition. His two tomoe sharingan flaring to life and electricity beginning to spark in his left hand. The sound of chirping birds rang throughout the Uchiha mansion, and the intensity of the jutsu was nearly blinding.
Naruko's eyes widened at how hostile Sasuke had suddenly turned. She witnessed Sasuke's aura turn cold and dark. Seeing Sasuke like this…it scared her. He looked like he was losing his mind. Whoever these two men were, they were clearly bad news.
The blonde girl laced her hand within Sasuke's right hand, trying to break him from this hate-filled aura.
"Sasuke!" Naruko yelled over the sound of a thousand chirping birds.
When Sasuke felt Naruko's hand within his own, he mentally cursed, remembering that he wasn't the only one in danger. Itachi was a ruthless ninja, killing all of his closest loved ones. It was then that the young Uchiha realized that Naruko was in more danger than he thought.
'W-what if Itachi kills Naruko too? No! I can't let that happen! I need to get her out of here!' Sasuke thought.
Sasuke's chidori slowly dulled down into nothing, an action that actually surprised Itachi. He thought that his younger brother would be so overwhelmed with hate that he would charge in without thinking. It seemed that Sasuke was more in control of his emotions than Itachi thought.
Sasuke gripped Naruko's forearm tightly and turned towards her, an intense hurried look on his face. "
"Naru, you have to get out of here!"
"I don't understand Sasuke, what's going on?" Naruko asked, clearly afraid with how distraught Sasuke was.
"There's no time to explain! You have to leave NOW!" Sasuke yelled.
Naruko paused a moment, her crystal blue eyes connecting with Sasuke's she could see all his anxiety and his worry. Whatever was going on, Sasuke feared for his life, but he feared for hers much more.
"I-I can't leave you!" Naruko said, causing Sasuke to grip her forearm harder in frustration.
"Just go, get Kakashi and come back! I'll be alright!" Sasuke yelled, becoming very impatient. This was no time for her to be stubborn.
Naruko slowly nodded her head and turned around, she ran forward, running towards the exit of the home. Suddenly, within the blink of an eye, the shark-like ninja flew past Sasuke, faster than he could see, and reappeared in front of Naruko, blocking her escape.
Sasuke's eyes widened. 'Fast!'
Naruko jumped backwards, her own back coming in to contact with Sasuke's. She had to get out of here, and if possible, bring Sasuke with her. She didn't know who these men were, but she did know that if she left Sasuke for too long, he would….he would…Naruko couldn't finish that thought.
"Woah there squirt." The shark-man grinned, while placing his wrapped sword onto his broad shoulder. "Who said you could run?"
Naruko gulped in fear. She steeled herself however, as she thought of a way to escape the large man. Shadow clones. The young gennin brought her hands in a cross-like formation and chanted the words that she's said hundreds of times in her career.
"Shadow clone jut-!" She yelled, only to be cut off as the giant wrapped blade swung towards her body. She quickly ducked under the sword, prepared to finish her jutsu, only to find that the chakra she had built up disappeared. She looked towards the blue man and her eyes widened in horror as the sword seemed to move underneath its wrapping, as if it were alive.
"Ah, Samehada likes the taste of your chakra!" The man said. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself…I'm Kisame Hoshigake. As you can see, my sword Samehada has the ability to eat chakra…and I'm afraid he wants more."
Meanwhile, Sasuke felt his body go tense as Itachi took a step closer to him. Feeling an intense fear, Sasuke quickly went through multiple hand-signs before taking a large breath of air.
"Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled as a large flaming ball came out of his mouth, expanding to the size of the hallway.
Sasuke watched with anticipation as Itachi made no move to dodge the blazing inferno. When the fireball connected with Itachi, an explosion rocked the entire Uchiha mansion, and broken wood and dust flew around the area where Itachi stood.
Red sharingan eyes scanned the hallways, hoping that he had killed his brother with that devastating attack. However, instead of seeing the body of his older brother, Sasuke saw a bunch of crows lying where Itachi stood.
'Did you really think it would be that easy?' A voice said within Sasuke's head, and the crows suddenly took flight, aiming for the young Uchiha. Sasuke was stunned as the crows converged onto one point just in front of the boy before taking shape into a human figure.
A fist buried itself into Sasuke's stomach and the boy's eye's widened. The black haired gennin felt the air get knocked out of him, but it didn't stop there. A flurry of fists quickly planted themselves into his stomach, Sasuke hunched over gasping for air, only to be picked up by the neck and held in front of his older brother Itachi.
'Is this, the difference between me and him?' Sasuke wondered. 'It feels like nothing's changed since back then.'
Itachi brought Sasuke close to his face and the sharingan stared into sharingan. "You know Sasuke, you still lack hatred…and you know something." Itachi said leaning closer to his younger brother. "You will never have enough." Itachi whispered before his eye's morphed into a shuriken form, something Sasuke had seen many years ago.
"No!" Gasped Sasuke as he tried to struggle against Itachi's grip on his neck. However, he was too weak to resist, and the young Uchiha found himself being teleported to the world of Tsukuyomi.
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-Within Tsukuyomi-
Sasuke frighteningly looked around as he found himself at the entrance to the Uchiha compound, however he wasn't fooled by the seemingly calm atmosphere. He knew where he really was. He wanted, no needed to get out of here, he needed to run away.
Sasuke tried to move, only to find his own body unresponsive to his mind. He felt himself get up and walk further into the compound.
"No!" Sasuke screamed but his body refused to listen.
He witnessed the Uchiha massacre from start to finish just like he did all those years ago. With every death of a loved one, Sasuke screamed out harder and harder for the madness to stop, but the torture continued for days and days. Sasuke cried out as he witnessed his mother and father being killed for the thirteenth time, but instead of starting over like the nightmare usually did, a door opened up behind the boy.
Sasuke felt his body turn around and watch as someone came out of the Uchiha mansion's guest room. 'That room, it's…!' His mind froze as the person walking out of the room became clearer and clearer. It was Naruko, sweet innocent Naruko. Dressed in her blue pajamas and night cap, her hair disheveled from a long nights sleep, and rubbing her tired eyes from being woken up.
"NO!" Sasuke screamed as he realized why she was here.
Naruko opened her wide blue eyes tiredly and yawned cutely. "Sasuke, are you making breakfast?" She whispered quietly, walking closer to Sasuke.
"G-Get out of here! Run!" Sasuke screamed.
Naruko continued to take slow and gentle steps across the wooden floor, and a shadow grew behind her. Sasuke watched as the shadow took the shape of his older brother dressed in a bloodstained ANBU uniform, silently clutching a bloody katana.
"NO! PLEASE!" Sasuke pleaded.
"Hm?" Naruko mumbled. "Oh Sasuke…good mor-!"
NOOOO!" Sasuke screamed, horrified as he watched the blade pierce through the girl's tiny little chest. Blood began to leak out of the girl's mouth and around her stomach, eventually dripping to the floor. The image of Naruko's wide terrified eyes was stained into the Uchiha's memory and he felt himself scream endlessly, falling into a pit of insanity
This. This was hell.
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Naruko watched, terrified as within seconds, Sasuke had been thoroughly beaten and suddenly began screaming like a horrified child. The blonde gennin saw Itachi roughly toss Sasuke behind him, and walk closer to herself. She took a step back, only to halt as she remembered that Kisame was on the other side of her. She was cornered.
"Naruko Uzumaki" Spoke Itachi, in an oddly gentle yet creepy voice. "You're coming with us."
'T-this is Sasuke's brother. The one who killed his entire clan.' Naruko thought.
Suddenly there was a large explosion, blasting through the walls of the hallway, and a large tongue-like object shot through the opening, wrapping up Naruko. Following the tongue, Jiraiya the Toad Sannin, with two elder toads on his shoulders walked into the building.
"Well, well, well, looks like Akatsuki is moving a little faster than I expected." Jiraiya said, placing his hands on his hips and glaring at the two cloaked ninja.
Kisame chuckled. "You wanna go old man? I wouldn't mind tearing you to shreds." Kisame said as he began to unwrap Samehada.
Naruko's eyes widened as she heard Jiraiya's distinct voice, although she couldn't see anything because of the odd tongue-like material that she was wrapped in.
"Kisame, let's leave…that's Jiraiya of the Sannin. You won't be able to beat him, besides, we don't want to attract any more attention." Itachi said.
"Fine, I hate that we always leave before I get to let loose." Kisame sighed. "I guess it can't be helped."
Jiraiya's eyes widened as the two ninja began to run down the hallway at an insanely fast speed. Quickly the toad ninja flew through multiple hand signs before placing his palms on the wooden floor. A strange fleshy pink substance began to spread across the walls at an equally fast speed, and Jiraiya watched silently as the two ninja turned a corner into a dead end.
The toad Sannin waited for the stomach of the toad to capture the two Akatsuki, however his eyes widened as he felt a large 'hole' being made. He ran towards the end of the hallway and glared at the peculiar black flames around a large circular hole in the Uchiha mansion.
Naruko suddenly felt herself be released from the tongue-like material and her eyes widened seeing the state of the Uchiha mansion.
"What happened here?" She quietly asked.
"Ah you're okay! That's great!" Jiraiya said as he walked back to Naruko and placed his hand on the floor, causing the pink substance to recede. Naruko nodded her head slightly, dumbfounded by what exactly had just happened only to remember her teammate.
"Sasuke!" Naruko yelled and hurried to his downed figure, clutching his head in her lap. She saw his chest move up and down signaling that he was breathing and alive, something she was thankful for. However she also saw the pained look on the boy's face and his feverishly hot skin.
"Jiraiya-sama! You have to help Sasuke! H-he was screaming and wailing! I think that Itachi guy did something real bad to him! Please you have to help him!" She said as her eyes began to water.
Jiraiya's face contorted to an intrigued and thoughtful look. He placed his hand on the Uchiha's shoulder and spoke. "Kai!" However, the Sannin saw that there was no effect at all. Sasuke's chakra was still being disrupted.
"Hm…It appears that he is under a genjutsu that won't break at the application of chakra. Luckily the best medic in the world is here in the village, we'll go see her." Jiraiya said, while picking up Sasuke and throwing him over his shoulder. The two ninja walked out of the mansion, searching for Tsunade.
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"-and that's the situation so far." Jiraiya finished as he recalled the events that took place only a few minutes ago. Now, Naruko, Jiraiya, Shizune, Tsunade, and an unconscious Sasuke were in a hospital room.
"I see…well I'll try what I can." Tsunade said calmly while looking at Sasuke lying on the bed.
"Please! Save Sasuke!" Naruko yelled, becoming worried and frustrated with how calm everyone was being. Naruko could clearly see that Sasuke was in pain, she wanted him to be cured so he wouldn't have to suffer longer.
"I'm sorry…who is this?" Tsunade said, annoyed at the blonde's outburst.
"I'm Naruko Uzumaki! But that doesn't matter! Stop lounging around and help my best friend! He's in pain!" Naruko replied.
"Listen here brat! I won't take orders from you or any other brat here in this village. I said I'll do what I can, I'm the next Hokage anyway! So shut up and let me do my work!" Tsunade yelled.
Naruko looked towards the ground while her blonde bangs overshadowed her eyes, silently mumbling to herself.
Tsunade, hearing Naruko's mumbling grew even more irritated. "What was that brat!?"
Naruko shot forward, looking the blonde woman directly in the eyes. Tsunade's eyes widened when she saw tears sliding down the small girls face.
"I said! What kind of a Hokage stands around while one of her ninja is suffering and she can do something about it!" Naruko yelled/cried.
Tsunade's mouth closed into a thin line and looked towards Sasuke, writhing in pain on the hospital mattress. She silently got up, and walked closer towards Sasuke, scanning his body over. The blonde medic pulled a chair over and sat down while placing her glowing green hands over Sasuke's forehead.
Naruko, wiping the tears from her face, quietly watched the woman heal Sasuke. She observed how Tsunade's hand would hover slightly above Sasuke's body, constantly scanning him over.
"Heh." Tsunade chuckled, causing Naruko to look at the woman, who had her back to Naruko. "Look at me…getting put in my place by a brat…..thanks…Naruko."
Naruko nodded her head, once again wiping a few stray tears from her reddened eyes.
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"Hm?" Naruko mumbled. "Oh Sasuke…good mor-!"
NOOOO!" Sasuke screamed, horrified as he watched the blade pierce through the girl's tiny little chest. Blood began to leak out of the girl's mouth and around her stomach, eventually dripping to the floor. The image of Naruko's wide terrified eyes was stained into the Uchiha's memory and he felt himself scream endlessly, falling into a pit of insanity
This. This was hell.
Sasuke felt his body shoot up, sweating as if he had a nightmare. However, what he experienced was worse than any nightmare he had. He observed his surroundings, finding himself in a dull hospital bed in a white room. The moon was shinning its light through the windows, gracing the room with its beauty. Sasuke gripped his head in pain as he can to terms with everything that had happened. He felt...broken.
His musings were brought to a halt as he looked to his side, finding Naruko, sleeping silently in a ball on a wooden chair besides his bed. The moonlight made her blonde hair glow, and caused the small line of saliva dripping from her mouth to shine. He breathed a shaky breathe as he realized that she never really died. She was still alive.
He felt something he hadn't felt in a long time...something wet on his face. He slowly brought his pale fingers to his cheeks, and touched them, startled by the slippery feeling. 'I'm crying?' He wondered.
A small moan of distress made its way out of Naruko's mouth and the young Uchiha looked over towards his teammate. He watched as she stirred herself from sleep and slowly opened her eyes.
When Naruko opened her eyes, she saw a figure sitting up on the bed in front of her. "Sasuke!" She whispered happily.
As her eyes began to focus she could clearly see the Uchiha's face, but instead of his usually calm features, she saw his red puffy eyes, and his tears.
"Sasuke." She said again quietly, hoping that he was alright.
Sasuke nodded his head slightly and chuckled. Naruko got out of her chair and crawled up onto his mattress. Almost instantly he took her within his arms and placed her against his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head.
"I-I'm so h-happy you're okay." Sasuke choked out, still crying silently as he held her.
Naruko closed her eyes and nuzzled herself closer into Sasuke's chest. She too felt tears slide across her own face. She had been just as worried.
"Me too" She whispered gently.
She felt his lips against the top of her head, pressing down on her firmly. Naruko felt the way Sasuke's body shook as he continued to cry. The two gennin continued to rest quietly on the bed, letting their emotions do the talking.
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And that's it! Next Chapter should be posted by Saturday! I'm gonna try (keyword being "try") to post every Saturday, but we'll see how that goes. Thank you all for reading this chapter! Please review and comment! Other than that have a wonderful, amazing day! Since you all are so wonderful and amazing!
BYE!
