Lol XD I didn't blackmail you last chapter and i got a shamefully small amount of reviews! two! (Thankl you very much SakuraSH and Arch Zell!!! I love you guys!) buuuut... I don't care I'm updating anyway... there just might be a sadder ending for our favourite Konoha Ninjas... heh heh heh evil laugh
No, I've changed my mind!
Minato held his wife close. His blue eyes on the door. The red-haired woman beside him held onto his arm and frowned.
"I don't want to kill our son, Minato, I know this is what we've worked so hard for, but knowing he's out there, fighting, so close..."
"I know what you mean." The blond man whispered. "I don't think that we can do this. It goes against what we always believed before... that mission."
His wife nodded. "It was horrible, but can we really continue living this way? I don't believe that we have the right to take away the life of any young boy, let alone our own son... Do you remember? Before that mission we had such hopes for our child, should it ever come to us."
Yondaime nodded; "I wanted to teach him the rasengan."
"I wanted to cook him ramen and see him surpass us both."
"I wanted to give him my coat... and that kunai."
Kushina Uzumaki sighed. "I wish we'd never gone to that place."
"Team Hebi, advance." Sasuke whispered.
Minato and his wife walked through the abandoned village. They'd received an urgent S rank mission from here and there were no Jounin or ANBU around to take it, so the Hokage had left the village.
"There's no one here..." Kushina whispered. Yondaime nodded and looked around, sickened by what he saw inside the houses; bodies. Indiscriminate killings and tortures, the evidence was everywhere...
"How could anyone do this? This village wasn't influential, it didn't offend anyone or contain any treasures; these were poor people."
"Oh no..." Kushina whispered; "There's someone alive here... barely."
Yondaime body flickered to where she was pointing. A small child lay on the floor with a deep gash across her torso and evidence of small, localised, controlled burns over her arms, legs and face, one ear was missing. "Oh shit."
"Mo- Mother... Father..." The girl tried to call; but it hurt her too much. Yondaime held onto her hand, his face grim. This girl was around four years old; she'd been played with them just left in the dirt. There was no chance that she would live for more than a couple of minutes.
"Who did this?" Yondaime asked, putting a hand to her head, Kushina was still checking for survivors."
"A- a gang of bad people... Father asked them to spare us; he said he would do anything but then they... killed - Papa..." The girl began to cry, and then she died.
"I've seen a lot of this." Came a voice from behind them. Minato turned to see a sand ninja team arrive on site. "It's one of those gangs I bet."
"How can you remain so calm?!" Came a female voice, Kushina had overheard too. "They have tortured and killed everyone here! For no reason!"
"That." Said the sand ninja "Is the problem with Konoha Shinobi... Or Konoha converts. Too sheltered." The other ninja nodded.
"This happens. People aren't good creatures, Uzumaki Kushina."
Minato stepped out into the light. The sand ninja looked shocked; this was Konoha's Hokage. "Forgive us. Konoha's yellow flash. Hokage... Sama." They all left.
"Kushina-chan... I don't know how anyone could do this..."
She looked at him with eyes full of tears. "We need to find a way to stop it."
"Let's find another way." Minato whispered. Smiling. Kushina smiled too, but sadly.
"You make it sound so easy..."
"Maybe it is."
"Yeah... maybe... Let's get out of here."
"Shunshin no jutsu." He whispered, holding onto her hand. His body flicker technique took them to the stairwell of the house. "Time for our reunion."
Naruto and Yamato were the first to gain entry; they easily took out some lower level guards as the cam in through a ground floor window. "This is weird." Naruto mused, looking at the ANBU member of the team; Yamato nodded grimly. They were in a sparsely decorated room, exactly what you'd expect from a run-down, abandoned town house. Yamato looked up, remembering certain archaeological features about the house he'd noticed when last here.
"The leader must be on the top floor... Like levels in a video game. We beat the minions... we get to the boss."
"Right. Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Several Naruto's appeared and spread out to search the bottom floor for information and traps. Yamato smiled.
He's making good use of that technique...
Sakura and Sai went straight to the second floor after seeing Naruto and Yamato's entry point. Whipping out his pen, Sai created around six dogs to take out the guards in the corridors. Sakura, however, frowned.
"Why is it so easy...?"
Kakashi ended up following Sai and Sakura, lending the young Nin his dog summons, bringing out Pakkun and some other hound. Pakkun looked round at Sakura beseechingly.
"I wasn't the dog trusted with Tsunade-Sama's message..." He complained, as three guards entered the corridor from various doors. Sakura readied her fists and Sai smiled.
"Let's go butt-ugly."
Sakura used one of the guards as a club to hit Sai with. "I thought we'd stopped with the nicknames!?"
Damn straight! Who's he callin' ugly?! DAMMIT!
"Keep going!" Kakashi yelled as he took out another guard. "Don't let your defences fall!"
"I know Kakashi-sensei." Sakura grinned, easily evading an enemy attack, before taking the offending man out with a punch to the face; Kakashi winced as he heard bones crack, "Tsunade-sensei didn't mess around you know."
Kakashi smiled to himself. I know. He thought; proud at how his students had developed in character and ninjutsu... well, he was not so proud of Sasuke... for obvious reasons. Sakura could definitely surpass the Godaime Hokage... perhaps she already had? He knew that she had also been working on her Genjutsu techniques; something that Tsunade could never quite seem to grasp...
Sai, too, was an exceptional Shinobi; his cool head in dire situations and his newfound bonds with his teammates possibly made him a more fitting teammate than Sasuke. He cared for Naruto and Sakura greatly, and, with the exception of a few derogatory nicknames, he held their feelings in high regard.
He loved them as siblings.
Kakashi readied his kunai... This was it. Time to go.
No Akatsuki. Naruto was sure of it now. He and Yamato had now reached the second floor, only facing weaker ninja and guardsmen.
This is getting really weird...
You said it Kid. Time to go...?
No way, I'm not leaving everyone behind, especially not Sakura-chan.
Wuss
Demon
Idiot
Murderer
You seem to think that those are insults boy.
Oh just go away, if I need you I'll call ok?
You little Bastard.
Naruto mentally stuck his tongue out at the Bijuu, but was snapped out of his daydream when the relative silence of the house was shattered by a long, heart-stopping scream.
Sakura-chan!
Yamato and the blond boy ran along the corridor in the direction of the noise. Then they saw it. Itachi and Sakura facing off against each other, unconscious figures of Kakashi and Sai lying on the ground.
"Uchiha Itachi!" Naruto exclaimed; his eyes widening as he saw Sakura's leg. Blood streamed down her thigh from a large, open wound.
"Naruto, stay back." She warned. "Don't let him get you." Her breaths were ragged and irregular, she was wobbly from blood loss and her eyes were closing.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto barged forwards and caught her round the waist, hiding his face in her shoulder. "Come on, we'll get you somewhere safe..." He couldn't believe it... She was leaving him. So soon.
Everyone left him... Sasuke... His father... His sensei was unconscious beside him, as was his newest friend... Now the love of his life was dying in his arms. Itachi took his sword and raised it above his head.
"Too bad you were too late. You'll never meet the true leader now."
Naruto opened his eyes with a jolt to see the girl standing beside him, her face contorted in worry.
"Are you alright?" She asked; holding onto his arm tightly. He looked at her, speechless. Realisation gradually dawned on him and he could have wept for happiness.
"G-Genjutsu... the Sharingan?" The pink haired girl nodded.
"Why are you so happy you weirdo? Come on, we have to keep going." She took his hand and pulled him up another flight of stairs.
"Where're we going?" Naruto asked, his mind still reeling from the illusion he'd been put under by- well, he'd assumed Itachi, but where was he?
"To the leader. Yamato's already up there and Sai and Kakashi are fighting Itachi right now." She pulled him forwards, urgently, green eyes narrowed in determination.
I will make this leader pay for what he's done. Murdered several Jinchuuriki needlessly, pursued Naruto for so long... I will not let them take Naruto away.
Damn straight!
Glad to get some support from you for once.
Well... They're after you too right? I don't really fancy being' locked away forever either... I'm still selfish... I swear.
You confuse me. How come you're the so called "Queen of the Bijuu"?
Well... I'm not saying! So there!
Shut up then, I need to focus on this-
"Oh..." She stopped as she saw the figures before her. "No way..."
The first thing she'd seen was Yamato's unconscious body at the top of the stairs. His eyes were closed but after looking at him from the short distance that she was away from him, she was relieved to see that he was mostly unharmed. Small injuries only.
Then she'd seen the red haired woman standing nearby. She was- beautiful... Her dark eyes sparkled like gemstones, she wore a slightly tight-fitted kimono, black with red clouds. From her ears dangled black metal earrings with red rubies and she looked... so utterly and completely sad.
But that wasn't the biggest shock. The biggest and most terrible revelation was who stood behind her... Looking no different to the pictures she'd seen in the academy, in the Hokage building, in Konoha.
"Oh no... Naruto, we have to get Yamato and the others and get out." She hissed, looking back at the boy she loved, fear blossoming in her chest and dread gathering in the pit of her stomach. Sickened, she looked at the expression Naruto was wearing. God it hurt her to see him this way.
"That's... That's..." The blond Shinobi stammered, looking at the man before him with injury and sadness. This meant...
He sealed the Kyuubi inside me, knowing what Akatsuki would do... Because he was the one who would command it...
"BASTARD!!!" The furious cry filled with so much hurt... didn't come from Naruto; rather, it came from the other half of him... the pink half. She was glaring at the image in front of them with daggers in her eyes. "How could you? You! You who is respected above all other Hokages! You! Did this to- to your own son! To Naruto!" The blond man's eyes widened in horror as he saw that black gloved fist coming right at him, failing to duck as it caught him square on the jaw.
"Minato!" The red haired woman cried, startled, Sakura turned to her.
"You're... Uzumaki Kushina... right?" She panted, her cheeks flushed from sheer fury, her green eyes glassy and unfocussed. "I've got something for you too." The fist flew at Naruto's mother, Sakura stood there, trembling as she watched the two ninja who undoubtedly had more strength than her, allow themselves to be hit. "How could you..." Sakura whispered; her voice coming in hoarse, ragged breaths.
"Sakura-chan... it's okay." Naruto stood beside her, winding his fingers between hers. She blinked away tears. "You don't need to fight on my behalf." The boy whispered gently; she looked at the two ninja who were slowly standing up, eyes averted.
Yondaime and his wife... Both of them were crying too. Kushina wept in small sobs, whereas Minato stood silently with tears flowing down his face freely. "Naruto... we're- so sorry, for everything... I don't ask for forgiveness... I just want you to know."
"We do love you Naruto..." Kushina finished.
"Why?" Naruto looked at them with nothing but the desire to know.
oh noes! Yondaime and Kushina are above Pein and Konan! be shocked!
and review? Even if you hate this story?