This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Naruto, which is trademarked by Masashi Kishimoto. Everything aside from the original characters are created from the wonderful mind of Kishimoto.
Most of the following unrecognizable are original characters of mine, please bear with me I am still in the process of making the character profiles for an even better visualization.
Comments, suggestions, criticism, even just simple messages are welcomes, please feel free to message me anytime.
Thanks for reading!
Chapter 22:
"Misaki!" Naruto turned to find Misaki was being pulled down by the dark waters as soon as she finished her monologue, the same black matter wrapped around him waist down, keeping him from going anywhere.
"Misaki!" Naruto yelled in dread panicking as the las of Misaki's luscious red locks disappeared under the opaque waters.
Suddenly something, or rather a someone grabbed him like a sack of potatoes and freed him from his restraints, landing them both down to where Misaki was last seen.
Reaching down, the stranger grabbed a hold of Misaki like she was just beneath the surface. Worried, Naruto rushed to his coughing sister's side but only one thing ran in their mind
Who was the stranger that rescued them?
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Misaki wiped her mouth to get rid of the nasty taste of the black water as she looked up at their savior trying to figure out how he could have saved them from within Naruto's conscious. Observing him silently, it didn't take long for Misaki, or even Naruto to deduce who was standing before them, although they both recognized the person before them correctly, each twin had different knowledge of this person.
Unruly blonde hair, blue eyes, and a coat that says the fourth hokage, he wasn't really trying to hide who he is. She stared with wide eyes, mouth agape trying to process everything, not really knowing what to say.
But really who would know what to say in a situation like this.
Both Misaki and Naruto were offered each hand to help them stand up and gain their ground as they looked at him with disbelieving eyes.
"You, you're, you're the fourth hokage" Naruto muttered.
"Namikaze Minato" Misaki informed him, hoping that he might connect the dots in his shock.
"I worked into the seal spell hoping that I would appear within your psyche should the seal be broken to the point you sprouted to the eight tail, I really wanted to avoid that since I had no desire to see you again… Kyuubi" Minato explained the situation of his visit beyond the grace, finishing with that sharp look on the nine tailed beast.
"But then I did look forward to seeing my son as a young man, what's more is I get to see my daughter as a young lady, so the odds are still in my favor" Minato smiled at them. Misaki's heart felt tighter as a burst of emotion surged in her chest, this time she didn't bother to hide the tears as they spilled from her eyes.
The twins were in such a shell shock that a terrifying being stood by them threatening their father, but all they could ever care for at the moment was the man before them.
"Isn't that right? Misaki Naruto?" Minato once again smiled at them.
Meanwhile, Naruto had heard Minato call them his children, he just still wasn't able to believe it, could it really be this man before them, revered fourth hokage who gave his life to save the village their father.
"Whoah, Naruto, my name, how come the fourth hokage knows my name" Naruto asked out loud as Minato called their attention.
"Well, I am the one who name you after all, you are my son" Minato informed him with another one of his smiles.
"Son then that means, I'm, you're-" Naruto couldn't seem to finish his sentence, a word both of them never had the chance to call someone with.
"He's our father" Misaki validated, Naruto's lips slowly turned upward as his own tears came running down his face, intertwining his hands with Misaki, gripping them hard.
"Our father, he's our father, the fourth hokage is our dad" Naruto repeatedly, as if it was Misaki was the one he was trying to convince. Misaki chuckled as Naruto's antics as she continuously humored him with affirmations.
"Loud fellow isn't he, why don't you say we go someplace quite" Minato snapped his fingers and instantly they were somewhere far away from the kyuubi, and in a completely different, lighter more peaceful place.
"Huh, where are we, did we go somewhere" Naruto looked around.
"No, we're still inside of your mind Naruto, this, this is your mind, this is the feeling, this feeling is what I usually feel when we reach for each other's thoughts" Misaki explained.
"The third hokage didn't really mention much, I guess he wanted to suppress as much information about the ninetails as possible, if people were to find out you are my son you would have been in great danger," Minato said.
"Dad" Naruto called to Minato, head hung low, the very gesture of Naruto calling Minato father for the first time made everyone's hearts burst.
Of course, until Naruto acted out in instinct and buried his fist into Minato.
"Naruto" Misaki gasped, placing her arms around his shoulders as Naruto's whole body began to shake.
"Why did you seal kyuubi inside your own son? Do you know what I went through because of that? All the grown ups scorned, and I couldn't make any friends. Then Misaki and I were separated, Kaede-baa had to raise Misaki on her own because she couldn't tell anybody who are parents are, because of that the people thought lowly of them, but then Misaki and I became friends and decided we are going to make people accept us so we worked very hard, we met Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Ero-sennin, and I was happy because they helped us grow stronger, but because of the kyuubi a group called Akatsuki came after me and Misaki placed herself on the line to protect me so I had to train even more, but then the Akatsuki came and killed my friend, and uh -ARGH what am I even saying, am I supposed to be happy or mad, I don't know anymore" Naruto burst into an angry monologue, almost like a child complaining to his father, Misaki cried harder as Naruto poured his heart out to their father.
"How old are you?" Minato asked his children.
"16"
"16, you've probably been through a lot, it must have been hard for the two of you, I am sorry, and I supposed the after putting my children through that, I have no right to act like a father and apologize" Minato offered his heartfelt apologies, but the twins had already began to dry their eyes.
"It's alright now" Naruto said.
"After all, we are the children of the fourth hokage, right" Misaki smiled and Minato can almost feel his wife's presence with them. He didn't expect for the twins to grow up looking like their mother and father, and act in vice versa. Naruto looked at lot like him, but is so like his mother in so many ways, and Misaki grew up just as beautiful as her mother, but he could almost see himself in her.
"Naruto, I sealed half of the nine tails chakra inside of you and the key of the seal to Misaki, because I believed that one day, you'd be able to control its power with each other's help, because you are my children" Minato said.
"And there is a reason why I did this, when the kyuubi attacked the village on the day of your birth 16 years ago, I learned something," Minato began, and both twins focused into the conversation a bit more.
"There was a mastermind that manipulated the kyuubi to attack the village, and a powerful one at that. It would require a special kind of power to go up against such an opponent, I believe he will attack the village once again" Minato revealed, this information instantly electrified the gears inside Misaki's head as she pinched her chin in deep thought staring at the unending ground.
" But, Konoha is already destroyed!" Naruto revealed almost ashamed to inform his father, the fourth hokage who had given his life to protect the village.
"Yes, I know I have been watching from inside of you, I also know about Jiraiya-sensei" Minato informed him.
"So, what it Pain that attacked the village years ago?" Naruto asked.
"No it wasn't him" Minato answered.
"Then who was it,?"
"A man from the Akatsuki, a man with a mask, back then he read every action I took, he's no ordinary ninja," Minato said and the wheels in Misaki's head went on overdrive as everything began to click in place.
"It now makes a lot of sense, we all thought that Pain was the head honcho calling the shots of his foot men, it turns out there is a sinister puppeteer behind all of this" Misaki wondered out loud.
"Yes, he is probably just using Pain" Minato said.
"No Pain has a grudge on Konoha, he said long ago his own village was wiped out like ours" Naruto said.
"Used someone as strong as him" Naruto yelled.
"That's the thing Naruto, this puppeteer was smart enough to recognize Pain's powers, and zero in on his hatred was used as a tool to manipulate him, look back Naruto, at his actions and compare him to other members of the akatsuki, he was purposive and didn't take any unnecessary action, he managed to destroy the whole village but the count of lives lost doesn't match up for the physical devastation, he was doing everything he can to finish the battle as soon as possible, and he dragged his and your battle away from the evacuating village, looking back all his casualties were shinobi who were uncooperative, not so much of a collateral damage." Misaki explained. Minato smiled, impressed by his daughter's observations.
"As long as there is shinobi in the world there can be no peace, Pain questioned you about peace, but finding the answer will be difficult, Indeed it was Pain who had struck down Jiraiya-sensei but the chaotic world of the ninja which gave rise to Pain is no less guilty, to be a ninja is to confront hatred, each and every one of us battles hatred, Jiraiya sensei entrusted you to find a way to end this hatred"
"Still I can't forgive Pain, there's no way… Fourth hokage, tell me what I should do?" Naruto asked.
"I am afraid I don't have the answer Naruto, you must find it out for yourself" Minato answered.
"If ero-sennin don't know it and you don't know it how am I supposed to know? Everyone is expecting too much, I am not like Misaki, I am not a genius and I am not a great ninja, and-" Naruto was cut off when Minato placed his hand on his head and Misaki elbowed him in the gut simultaneously.
"Naruto I believe in you" Minato earnestly said, making Naruto freeze, he looked to his father then to his sister who nodded with a smile.
"You really believe I can do it?" Naruto asked.
"To be a parent is to have undying faith in one's child" Minato smiled removing his hand from Naruto's head then caressing Misaki's face, removing the stray tears that were left unwiped. Misaki placed her hand on Minato's hand and clung to what little time they had together.
"Well, it's almost time for me to go I will repair the seal once more, but this would be the last time" Minato said and used his free hand to seal the kyuubi in place once more.
"Konoha can be rebuilt, I'm counting on you two" Naruto and Misaki stared at their father as he began to vanish.
"Hey Dad, don't worry about it, Naruto may not be smart but he's very strong willed, so he'll get there no matter what. And tell mom, not to worry too much, mom, I mean Kaede-kasan took care of us, did you know that Naruto copied Kaede-kasan for his sexy jutsu, she misses you too, oh and she's married to Kakashi now, finally, I'm hoping that they will have a lot of cute kids so that I can take care of them like they took care of me and and-" Misaki panted, there was so much to say and so little time as she watched their father, memorizing everything about him, how his touch felt like, the sound of his voice and his gentle smile that he wore as he slowly disappeared in front of their eyes.
When he did, the twins dried their eyes and looked to each other with eyes filled with determination that can rival their father's.
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In the surface Pain watched form within his cage as the rampaging nine tailed puff into nothing but a smoke, leaving a Naruto standing on the surface of his planetoid, staring back at him with his senjutsu eyes. Misaki, who had exhausted all of her sage mode approached him on Suzaku's back.
"He's exhausted from using that technique, but I sealed him in place just in case. As of now we're safe from his attacks, but he's also safe from our attacks." Misaki recapped Naruto when all of a sudden the planetoid began falling apart, so Misaki snatched Naruto midair and Suzaku safely delivered them on ground.
"Thank you Suzauku, I wouldn't have done it without you" Suzaku transformed into his human-esque form and nodded at them with a smile before disappearing into a ball of light.
"Huh, I guess evacuation was complete, thank god" Misaki pondered, catching the remains of light left by Suzaku, at the mention of the villager's safety, Naruto became hyper aware of his surroundings in sage mode, gripping his jacket he turned to Misaki in shock as he looked around.
"Where are we, what happened" Naruto asked looking off into the distance where the battle was just was" Naruto asked, thankfully, Misaki wasn't subjected to his questions as lady Katsuyu sprung from his collar to explain everything. Hearing this, Misaki felt Naruto's mind fill with dark thoughts so she raised her sheathed katana and tapped Naruto on the head.
"Idiot, stop thinking dark thoughts, and use your sage mode" Misaki said with a blank face, he gripped his jacket tightly with the amount of relief.
"Hinata?!" Naruto asked.
"Yup, she's alive and kicking, so why don't we hurry up here, so you can see for yourself." Misaki said with a smile, Naruto cried rivers of relief upon hearing Hinata was alright.
Does he seriously not know how much Hinata means to him? Misaki thought raising an eyebrow, but she shrugged.
"Misaki, I'd like to finish this fight on my own" you've done as it is, thank you Misaki Naruto thanked his sister, what Misaki did for him, had the seal been successfully broken, Misaki could have died with him with her conscious inside of him, to enter his mind forcefully even as Naruto was near the ninth tail, putting complete faith in him, just as she always had.
Misaki smiled and nodded before making a few hand signs.
"Unseal" Misaki said and released pain from his current prison. It wasn't long after that Naruto was finally able to take down the last and final path of Pain. Pretty soon they found themselves going towards the real Pain's hiding place. Misaki thought back to the time where Naruto had stabbed himself with Pain's rods, she didn't know what he saw, but it probably wasn't something good, because despite Naruto's request on finishing the battle alone, he asked her to come but rejected the notion of reinforcements.
It came to Misaki that Naruto doesn't need help fighting Pain, he needed someone who would stop him from making a premature decision because he was too angry, he needed someone who would stop him from killing and destroying what was left of Konoha if he ever so gives in to the nine tails once more.
Misaki doesn't know what he's planning to do, but it wasn't the first time Misaki followed Naruto blind, that's just how much faith Misaki puts into Naruto.
"Naruto! Misaki!" the twins stopped in their tracks as they were halted by the party of Inoichi and Shikaku.
"The fact that you're here, does it mean that you have defeated the final pain?" Inoichi asked, the two in question looked at each other before looking down.
"It doesn't matter who won or loss" Naruto seriously, Shikaku regarded the twin's posture as to what could have happened leading them to act out of character.
"What happened?" Shikaku asked and when Naruto replied that he couldn't explain in words, Shikaku turned to Misaki who simply shook her head.
"Look, We're going to see the real Pain, please don't follow us, we need to go alone" Naruto strongly requested.
"Naruto, you know where the real Pain is?" the byakugan user asked.
"Yeah, we found the real Pain's body through sage mode, when we pulled out a rod we felt him" Naruto explained.
"I see but you want to go alone what's going on?" Inoichi asked, there has to be a good reason why these two were requesting such a thing.
"I just need to confirm something" Naruto replied.
"confirm, what is it?" Inoichi pushed, his emotions was raging, they were trying to get to the man who caused such devastation to the village.
"I want to talk to the real Pain" Naruto answered.
"Talk, we're way past talking now, we're all grateful that you've defeated Pain, but it's too far out to settle with words," Inoichi chastised.
"Then tell me, once we have destroyed Pain, his minions and the village and everything else connected to the enemy, will it 'settle'' things?" Naruto yelled back.
"What good will taking do? He is our enemy who destroyed Konoha, we cannot forgive him," Inoichi shot back, Naruto was about to yell back when Misaki outstretched her arms in front of Naruto to tell him to stop talking.
"Talking does a lot more than yelling, that's for sure, and what you feel right now, It's reasonable and understandable because we too feel the same way, but acting rashly under intense emotions is what got us here, we're trying to prevent it from ever happening again. And if that doesn't work, I think Naruto deserves a word with the real Pain after he just took down all of them" Misaki said with determined eyes, it doesn't take someone of their caliber to notice that if they are still not allowed to push through, Misaki will hold them back whilst Naruto continues with the trip.
"Then-"
"Inoichi" This time, it was Shukaku who stopped his comrade from pushing through with his thoughts.
"Let's do as they say and let them go alone" Shikaku said.
"But Shikaku-"
"Misaki was right, they were the ones who stopped Pain, they have every right to speak to Pain, besides I'm sure they have their reasons, otherwise Misaki would have stopped Naruto on her own, Just let them go" Shikaku explained
"Thank you Shikaku ji san" Naruto left without another word.
"Sorry about that and Thank you" Misaki bowed in respect before leaving to follow Naruto.
Once they reached a seemingly normal large tree, Misaki went ahead and waited for Naruto at the trunk. From a far it did look like a normal tree but looking closer it wasn't hard to tell that it was made out of millions of pieces of paper.
I wonder how many papers they needed to make this Misaki thought as she unsheathed her katana.
"Naruto, I'll go in first" Misaki instructed and Naruto nodded, knowing that Misaki only intended to be some sort of buffer between Pain and him. Once Misaki is certain that Naruto will stay behind her, Misaki split the tree façade revealing the very hideout of the leader of the notorious group.
When the blue haired kunoichi made a move forwards to attack them, Misaki had already anticipated her reaction to their arrival and created a whip out of her adamantine chakra, whipping the ground before Konan letter her know that she is ready to fight so Naruto can get his word across to the real Pain, who was the red haired man attached to the weird contraption.
"Sorry for the intrusion, but I believe we need to talk" Misaki said retracting her chakra whip into nothing.
"Konan, stay back" the real Pain, or rather Nagato ordered his female companion.
"But Nagato" Konan protested but Nagato assured her that it was alright.
"Are you the real Pain?" Naruto said stepping forward in line with Misaki. Looking at him, he looks like he wasn't going to put much fight, he was thin and sickly, already panting, but it was those eyes that made him formidable, the coveted eyes of power that surpasses the sharingan, heck that surpasses even life itself.
"So peace has stumbled onto me" Nagato remarked looking towards Naruto who already had his sage mode on. Standing face to face with the man who has taken a lot of people dear to him, Misaki can feel anger growing within Naruto, but he kept his word to not act out on his anger and stood his ground no matter how hard it was for him.
"Do you hate me? Your facing the object of your vendetta, do you wish to exact revenge" Nagato chided.
"Nothing in this world will change, even if you kill Pain now and inflict your revenge, all it will be is for self-satisfaction" Konan added.
"If you could not give me the answer, then there is nothing more you can do, so surrender as I create a peaceful world" Nagato concluded the small talk and launched a rod towards Naruto, to which to their surprise, both twins didn't even bother to dodge or deflect.
"At this distance I can easily control your movements, rest assured that I did not hit any of your vital spot, you are after all invaluable jinchuriki." Nagato said, to which Misaki merely smirked, showing no signs of worry.
"You mistaken our choice to not attack as a sign of weakness, but I can assure you, the truth is the farthest thing from that" Misaki said as Naruto raised his head, his sage mode mixing in with his rage mode, sending Nagato flares of his raw power, letting him know where exactly he is standing in the game board.
"I came here intending to talk to you, but I also wanted to confirm something, I wanted to confirm my feelings that if I stood before my enemy, what would I do? I wasn't sure what I'd do so I asked Misaki's help, so I wouldn't do something rash" Naruto revealed.
"And?" Nagato inquired.
"I can't forgive you! Even now I can't hep but kill you, I can't stop shaking" Naruto growled, taking out Nagato's rod, resisting his chakra manipulation.
He threw the rods aside and began to charge towards Nagato, Konan acted on instinct and placed herself before Nagato.
"Naruto" Misaki called out calmly, and almost immediately, Naruto himself halted his attack, and stood before Konan.
"Ero-senin said that the day would come when everybody truly understood one another, I wasn't paying much attention when he told me that even when he mentioned he entrusted me to find the answer. I got excited taking it as a sign of him acknowledging me as his student. I finally understand what Ero-senin meant" Naruto shared.
"Still that doesn't change the fact that you won't forgive me. Words of forgiveness come easy, love does not" Nagato said.
"Yeah, you're right about that" Naruto agreed.
"Jiraiya-sensei's words reflect an idealism from an era long past, it is far too removed from reality, Didn't you say you would kill me and bring peace to the ninja world? Even if you seek vengeance for your own satisfaction, if that is your idea of justice so be it. You are not a god, after witnessing everything do you really still believe Jiraiya-sensei's silly ramblings?" Nagato challenged.
"When I found out that you too were Ero-sennin's student, I wanted to ask you one thing?" Naruto pondered.
"What is it?"
"How could a student of Ero-sennin turn out the way you did? I understand that you are not like the Akatsuki members, who will kill out of sheer enjoyment, but I don't know a thing about you guys, that is why I want to hear your stories then come up with an answer" Naruto said.
"Fine then, we will tell you about our pain" Nagato agreed.
"Nagato, it's a waste of time, let's just finish him right now" Konan contradicted.
"Wait, Konan, I want to hear his answers, besides, these two have proven to be no easy opponent, they did in fact destroy all of the six pains and made it here," Nagato reasoned with Konan before he got to telling the story of his pain, about the two painful memories that brought him where he is right now.
First one was when he lost his parents to Konoha shinobi when they looted their home during the war, listening to the story of his life, Misaki couldn't help but empathize with his pain and salute his strength to continue forward. The Second was the death of his friend Yahiko at his hands for the life of Konan who was kidnapped by the joined forces of Hanzo and Danzo.
After he finished telling Naruto the story of his life, he then questioned Naruto for his answer.
"You may be right, I also think the same" Naruto whispered, talking out the copy of Jiraiya's first novel, the tales of the gutsy ninja.
"I get where you're coming from now, but I still can't forgive you, I still hate you" Naruto truthfully said.
"But, Ero-sennin believed in me and left me his quest, so I am going to believe in Ero-sennin, that is why I won't kill you guys" Naruto concluded.
"You'll believe in what Jiraiya-sensei believed in? So that is your answer and you expect us to wait until you make this world a peaceful place? Don't toy with me, it's far too late for me to believe in Jiraiya's words, there is no such thing as true peace, as long as we live in this cursed world, peace is impossible!" Nagato raised his voice, Misaki raised an eyebrow at his outburst, Nagato finally showed his true colors.
That he has lost his patience with achieving peace and had began to see his impatience as truth.
"Then I'll break that curse, if there is such a thing called peace, I'll seize it and never give up, I won't stop until I get there" Naruto declared, and at his words Nagato paused, staring intently at Naruto, but Misaki caught the gist that maybe he wasn't looking at Naruto, maybe he wasn't looking at Naruto, probably even a reflection.
"Those words were taken directly from this book, at the end of the book, Ero-sennin wrote something about the boy that inspired him, it was you Nagato" Naruto revealed.
"Maybe it wasn't peace that has been lost Nagato-san, maybe it's you who lost your faith and belief in peace. Pain and hatred blinded you so much that you lost sight of your perspective, you grew impatient" Misaki enlightened him walking forward to stand next to Naruto.
"And the name of the hero of this novel, is Naruto. My name is a precious keepsake from Ero-sennin, I cannot just give up and stain my master's keepsake, I will be the hokage, and I will bring peace to amegakure please believe in me" Naruto persuaded.
"How can you say that you will never change, that you will never change no matter the pain you face, can you continue believing in yourself? Can you guarantee it, can you have such faith in yourself?" Nagato questioned.
"I experienced pain too, and there's a lot of pain nesting inside of me as well, there's no telling what kind of pain will come after me, but if I stop believing because of that, if the hero should change, it'll turn into another story than the one my master left behind, then it won't be Naruto. I can't write novels like my master did, that is why the sequel has to come from the life I live, no matter how great the pain, I'll continue walking, because that's who Naruto is" Naruto declared his resolve.
"The story will change if the hero should change, you and I are sibling disciples, as students of our master, we ought to be able to understand one another, that is what I said earlier. I meant it as a joke, you are a curious fellow, you remind me of how I once was, I wasn't able to believe in Jiraiya, nor could I believe in myself. However, I have a feeling that unlike me, you will walk towards a different future, I think I shall believe in you Uzumaki Naruto" Nagato pulled his arms from it's confines
"Gedo Art of the Rinne Rebirth" Nagato placed his hands in a form of a hand seal, causing Konan to panic.
"Nagato don't!"
"It's alright Konan, I'm making a new decision now, a decision I once had given up on" Nagato said.
"What is it? What kind of jutsu is that?" Naruto asked worried about the reaction of Konan.
"Those who possess the rinnegan are able to manipulate the jutsu of all six pains, and are said to exist outside the realm of life and death, Nagato's ocular power is the jutsu that controls life and death, he is the seventh pain" Konan explained.
As they stood their waiting, Misaki felt something reattach to her like some sort of life line that flooded her senses, she gasped in contact making Naruto turn to her in worry.
"He-he's resurrecting the people who died in the attack" Misaki confirmed, holding on to her chest, relishing the feeling of the connections she thought she had to continue living without.
"What you mean?" Naruto looked to Nagato's whose red hair had already turned to white, meaning his expending chakra to an extent that he won't be able to return from.
"I have revived those who have died in my attack, it's the least I can do for them" Nagato said as he concluded his jutsu.
Konan began to tear away their hideout's façade, when Misaki felt there is something they had to do together, but she also knew Nagato wouldn't last long, so she extended her adamantine chains and wrapped it around Nagato's body, giving him some of her chakra. Nagato asked as Misaki's foreign, strong and bright chakra entered his body, looking in shock at the red haired kunoichi. After that, Misaki extended two more chakra chains and wrapped them around Konan and Naruto, once she was physically connected to everyone, she transported them to a place in the village where the forest remained undisturbed by the fight.
"I'm sorry I can't let you go yet, there is something we still must do, together" Misaki apologized and summoned the scroll she had once asked Wani to keep and guard.
"Unseal" Misaki laid out the huge scroll and out came the cloth sealed body of Jiraiya.
"We salvaged his remains as much as we can so he can have a proper hero's burial, but I figured, Jiraiya-sensei would have preferred to be buried in the presence of his students, honoring their master" Misaki said and with each other's help, they dug up a whole for Jiraiya to rest in and made him a small shrine in silence, each and everyone of them saying their goodbyes in the whispers of their mind.
"Thank you for sharing me this even though I must be the unworthy disciple who killed his master" Nagato told Misaki.
"Not at all, if anything I think Jiraiya-sensei must have been hitting the roof with joy right now. No master wants to see his student go to the deep end, I bet he's happy that the prodigal student has finally come home" Misaki said Nagato nodded, gesturing Misaki that he was ready, so gently Misaki removed her chakra chains around him as he bid his farewell to Naruto, entrusting him with his will.
Pretty soon, it was Konan's turn to bid her goodbye, so she used her paper justu to wrap Nagato's body and also Deva Pain's body.
"You're taking him too?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, this Pain is created in Yahiko's body and he is very precious to me" Konan revealed.
"So he was Yahiko" Naruto repeated.
"That explains a lot,?" Misaki remarked.
"I'm leaving Akatsuki, Nagato and Yahiko meant the world to me, and now that their dreams have been passed to Naruto, he now embodies their hopes. Nagato placed his faith in you that is why I will place my faith in you, we the of the amegakure will pursue their dreams with you" Konan said.
"The name Naruto, and the guts to endure the pain, that is what I inherited form my master and my sibling disciple!" Naruto convicted, Konan stared at him and held out her hands to make a bouquet of paper flowers.
"I pray that you will be the blossom of hope that never wilts" Konan said, bidding her farewell.
"Wait, where are you going this time?" Misaki asked.
"Back to Amegakure, Pain maybe dead, but someone need to resume leadership or a civil war may occur" Konan said.
"The news of what happened today will spread fast, what Nagato did, was direct betrayal to the man behind the scenes, besides Nagato's eyes will prove to be invaluable, it may not be safe for you" Misaki voiced out her worries. Konan looked at Misaki and smiled softly, thinking how the world will be in better at the hands of young shinobi worrying about the welfare of their enemies.
"I'll be fine" Konan assured.
"Be careful" Misaki advised as Konan took her final leave. Naruto and Misaki offered the flowers to Jiraiya as well as his book.
"Welcome home Sensei" Misaki whispered once she was finished with a small prayer.
"Alright! let's go," Naruto urged his sister as they began to sprint home. It wasn't long until they realized how tired they were now that the battle was through, soon the twins were at each other's support like two drunk people running a three-legged race,
"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked.
"Must be, we've been walking for ages" Misaki staggered under Naruto's weight and collapsed, thankfully, Kakashi and Kaede caught them both in time, placing them on their backs for a piggy back ride home.
"Whoah, this feels nostalgic" Misaki cooed, rubbing her face on Kaede's back, already half asleep from exhaustion.
However, the sound of cheering as the sunlight hit her eyes awoke her and before them every single person in the village waited for their return patiently, but eagerly.
"What is this?" Misaki looked just as dumb founded as Naruto as they watched the scene before them.
"Everybody has been waiting for your return" Kakashi remarked as the twins climbed back down on the ground, as they stepped forward, crowds of children hurdled them forwards asking them how they were doing and what not.
Both twins remained silent as they didn't know how to act in situations like this one. Kaede looked at the twins with tears in her eyes, as she leaned against Kakashi, his arms wrapping around her, today was a whirlwind of emotions for all of them, and Kaede couldn't help by visualize little birds leaving the nest as she looked at their backs.
Sai followed Sakura as she moved forward towards the siblings, ignoring everything in their way, for nothing mattered but the destination.
"Cut it out" Naruto whined as children were tugging at his arms.
"Oh Sakura-chan" Naruto acknowledged.
"You're reckless you idiot" Sakura hit him in the head so hard that the already weak Naruto stumbled forward.
"Ow" thankfully Sakura also caught him in a hug. Misaki smiled as she stared at the two friends, soon Sai was able to pass by Naruto and Sakura to stand before Misaki. He read a lot of books, practiced a lot in front of the mirror, but right now no left his mouth to describe what he was feeling that Misaki returned in one piece.
So without a smart think to say, Sai extended both arms and wrapped them around Misaki, pulling her tight against him in a warm hug, his world growing silent as everything else dispersed into nothing whilst Misaki is in his arms.
"Welcome home Misaki" Sai greeted with a sincere novice smile as soon as he released Misaki from his adoring chokehold.
"Umm, it's great to be back" Misaki smiled back, then look towards the only emblem that symbolized their home, the hokage rock where in her father's face is etched, always watching over the village. '
'Mom, dad, we're home, we did it did you see us? Naruto was amazing' Misaki thought, her eyes looking towards the sky, hoping that the wind will carry her feeling across.
*_-+% =o#$*_-+% =o#$LINE_BREAK*_-+% =o#$*_-+% =o#$*_-+% =o#$
After Naruto and Misaki were tossed in the air by the villager like a salad, they were both marooned in a makeshift medical tent, so they can be examined and given the chance to recuperate without any intrusion.
"Well, it's quite a miracle that you didn't receive anymore damages than this, considering what the lady katsuyu reported" Kaede said examining their whole body with great difficulty as the twins were being as fussy as toddlers refusing to eat during the entire treatment, continuously insisting that there are hundreds of other people that required her attention more so than they did.
"Fine, I'll go just let me see if you tore your stitches" Kaede surrendered, placing her clipboard in her armpits as she opened the front of Misaki's hospital gown, revealing the wound had turned into a scar, like the wound was inflicted a good year ago, Kaede had never seen anything heal as fast as her wound did, well aside from Tsunade's miotic healing, or Naruto's kyuubi hastened healing.
"See, there is nothing to worry about" Misaki closed her shirt as soon as she has proven her point.
"Fine fine fine, but your going to stay here and rest" Kaede looked at the two teens with stern eyes.
"yeah yeah" the twins sighed in unison as Kaede stared at them in the eyes as she walked out of the room. It didn't take long for the two of them to fall into a deep much needed sleep.
*_-+% =o#$*_-+% =o#$%$%$W$FIN*_-+% =o#$*_-+$% =o#$*_-+% *=o$
DUN DUN DUN DUN !
Voila! Chapter 22, things are accelerating! OMG
I never thought we'd come to this point but it wouldn't be possible without you guys.
Thanks everyone!
Again, feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts in the review or the messages.