Chapter 3: Edo Tensei
Use me as you will
Pull my strings just for a thrill
And I know I'll be okay
Though my skies are turning grey
- Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
The wooden coffin had risen from the ground and pulled itself upright, the character for four etched into its front in a bloody, garish red. Naruto had watched it open through horrified eyes and revealed a man he had only heard of in heroic stories long past.
And their cerulean gazes had met.
His heart had leaped to his throat and then blinding anger had blurred his vision. The man responsible for all of his suffering was standing right in front of him and all Naruto needed to do was pull out a katana and destroy him. Something had stopped him, some irrational need to speak to him, to ask him why – why – he had chosen Naruto.
Before he could ask, the Yondaime had smiled. It was a smile he had seen too many time to count, a smile he had longed for but had never received because of his reluctant nature. It was a smile filled with the effortless, unrequited love of a parent and all of the questions Naruto could have asked faded into oblivion.
He shook his head sharply and told himself it was genjutsu. This was not the Yondaime standing in front of him. That was not a smile meant for him. He couldn't convince himself though as the muffled thump of footsteps was hindered by the falling rain that fell like silver distractions. Naruto could no longer move and could only stare at his dead embodied reflection and greatest enemy.
"I've wanted to see you for a long time, you know," the Yondaime's voice had been soft, melancholy.
The rain had pelted down upon both of them in protest to this impossible reunion but neither of the men had taken any notice. A thousand cruel retorts surfaced in Naruto's mind but he found he could no longer voice them. The white coat, a coat he had worked towards for his entire life, rustled about them and was then promptly silenced again.
This scene had played out before in Naruto's head like a well rehearsed scene, slightly different and improved with each repeat. They all followed the same plotline though; Naruto would always kill the Yondaime, always expose the once beloved Hokage for the monster only Naruto knew he was and then the Kyuubi would somehow fade into nothingness. He would be accepted as the hero he really was and become Hokage.
But now the curtain had risen and the final performance was at hand, Naruto had forgotten all his lines and even what the play had been about in the first place.
"It must have been difficult to grow up alone. There were so many times I wanted to come back to you and make things right," he murmured quietly.
This man he had only met for under five minutes had already worked his way under his skin and loved Naruto so fully, so unconditionally that Naruto found himself asking why, why, couldn't this man have lived?
The expression on the Yondaime's face was enough to make the strongest man fall to his knees. He reached out a calloused hand hesitantly before placing it on his broad shoulder, meeting the simmering gaze of a boy whom had grown up too fast.
"I'm so sorry," he told his legacy in a whisper.
His electric blue eyes had flashed open as unfathomable pain ripped through his stomach. He curled instinctively into a ball, gripping his stomach as bolts of hurt raced through his entire body. He could distinctly hear familiar screams of anguish in the back of his mind but the pain was taking over.
Then the agony disappeared. It was gone so fast Naruto had to stop and think about whether he hadn't imagined the whole thing. It had been so intense that he couldn't have even hoped to have thought it up in his wildest dreams.
As he stumbled towards the bathroom, he decided not to tell anyone about his brief stomach ache. He had just been released from hospital three days ago and had no intention of going back there again. Slapping cold water onto his face, he stared into the stained mirror above the sink contemplatively. A face so similar to the one in the painful memory past stared back.
Namikaze Minato. The name left a bitter taste in his mouth and at the same time filled him with unexpected warmth.
Did he hate the Yondaime for shoving a nine tailed demon inside of him without his consent? Yes. Did he hate Namikaze Minato? He wasn't quite sure about that yet. Their strange encounter the night of Sasuke's death not too long ago shook the now trembling foundations of his towering dislike for the Yondaime and he honestly had no idea what to think of the man any more.
A loud tap tapping at his glass window startled him and he walked out, tanned face dripping with water. He caught sight of a persistent messenger hawk and his golden brow furrowed. Pulling open the window, it flew inside his room and settled comfortably on his bed. It stared up at him inquisitively and he felt a surge of unbridled hatred contort his face as he resisted the temptation to destroy the bird. His cerulean eyes widened and he shook his head suddenly to clear it of whatever ill intentions it held for the hawk, wondering where on earth they had come from.
The hawk lifted one of its scaly legs and proffered it to him expectantly. Naruto leaned down and untied the thick string holding an even thicker scroll in place. Once he had finished removing the message, it darted away from Naruto and flew out of the window back towards the Hokage tower.
The weary bed sank under Naruto's weight as he sat down and stole a glance at the luminous alarm clock sitting harmlessly on his bedside. It was four in the morning. He inwardly cursed Tsunade, wondering if she sent people mission details freakishly early just to piss them off. As Naruto unravelled the mission scroll, his gaze roved over it quickly.
It was a C class mission to help escort a young woman to Suna. She was a citizen from Tea and wouldn't be in Konoha for another day, giving time for Naruto to pack and prepare. He was relieved when he found that Sai, Sakura and Kakashi were his team mates but couldn't help but despair at how boring the mission was.
Staring out of the window at the rising sun that set the rooftops ablaze, he let a rare sigh wrack through his entire body. He wanted to see Sakura.
"Look…Tsunade, I'm sorry," Jiraiya's voice was reluctant and soft but rang through the office clear as a bell.
The Godaime glanced up at him inquisitively and put her calligraphy pen down. She mused that this was how their fights always ended, with Jiraiya apologizing for something he hadn't even started. A long time ago, it would have ended with the Sandaime insisting they talk things over or Orochimaru supplying what little common sense he deemed necessary. But the past was long gone and the present was dragging them along. There was no Sandaime and no Orochimaru this time around.
"Can you please...just let me handle Naruto?" he asked.
She sighed and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. Her hazel gaze was incriminating and Jiraiya met it determinedly.
"You know, I don't approve of what you're doing," she said after a long silence and he felt a slight smile split across his face at her approval.
He questioned, "Have you ever?"
She let a smile play at the corners of her lips but it didn't quite reach her solemn eyes. Letting out a breezy sigh, she stood up and walked to the window, staring at the impressive Hokage monument. Her stone likeness held the same stoic expression that had quickly forced away the frail attempt at happiness on her own face. Footsteps scuffed against the floor, deliberately loud so she would hear the white haired hermit approaching her.
"I still wish it could have ended differently," his voice was tentative and reluctant. His gaze was fixed upon the ever youthful sculpture of the Yondaime's profile.
"Minato chose to sacrifice himself for Konoha. If it wasn't for him we'd all be dead," she answered a bit more harshly than intended.
He remained unaffected by her words and shook his head, explaining, "I'm not talking about Minato. I'm talking about Orochimaru."
He watched her through his peripheral vision, waiting for her reaction. Her eyes waved for a moment, taken aback by the unexpected explanation. An uncomfortable silence stretched between them as she struggled to absorb the meaning behind his words. It was as if she had only remembered that Orochimaru had once been a person they entrusted with their life and they had once thought they knew.
Jiraiya let out a short humourless laugh. Disbelief tinged the edges of his voice as he inquired, "You can't have forgotten that we used to be a team, right? I'd always mess around or laze about, then you'd get mad at me and we'd get into a big fight. Sarutobi-sensei was a great teacher though and Orochimaru-"
"I know," her voice was quiet but cut through his words like a knife.
How long had it been since she had last thought of him last? The pale faced traitor was constantly pushed to the back of her mind because some things were too painful to remember. She supposed Jiraiya was right that she always ran away when she didn't want to face the truth. She had even buried away their own glory days, times when all they had to worry about were mission deadlines and the jounin exams and the most paperwork needed was a three page mission report. It was as if she had cut herself off from every memory that linked to what they once had been and it was only now that Jiraiya dug them up again.
The amber eyed boy had always been aware of her attraction to him but never acted upon it, retaining the quiet, mysterious persona that had initially drawn her to him. An A rank mission gone wrong and a breaking suspension bridge was ironically the thing that brought them together. As the strings had snapped and the rotting wood beneath her had given way, she had seen her life flash before her eyes and plummet sixty feet below her into the rushing river rapids.
A sheer layer of sweat had plastered his onyx hair to his pale face as he gripped her hand tightly. He was slipping too and she could hear the planks creaking beneath him. She would drag him down too if she fell and that was the last thing she wanted for him.
Let me go, she had screamed, you need to continue with the mission
He had grit his teeth, the first time she had ever seen some semblance of an expression on his usually indifferent face. Shut up Tsunade, we're getting out of this together
And he had pulled, his muscles bulging and his neck straining with the effort it took. She had tried to let go of his hand but his slender fingers had threaded through hers like cross stitches to hold them both together.
"Do you think we ever meant anything to him at all?" her voice was nearly inaudible but he listened.
The pain in her strained whisper made his heart clench. A village forced responsibility upon its Kage but forgot that their Kage was human and had human needs too. He wondered when was the last time she had ever talked to anyone other than him about basic things like village gossip and even more importantly, Dan or the collapse of their team.
"If we had meant nothing to Orochimaru, we wouldn't be alive. He had so many chances to kill us but he never took them," he answered simply.
He saw her hand twitch, as if she had entertained the idea of reaching for his hand but thought better of it. His large calloused hand touched her shoulder tentatively before sliding down her arm, down her wrist, until he threaded his thick fingers through her dainty ones like cross stitches to hold two broken hearts together.
As Naruto shut his door behind him, pain ripped through his stomach once again. He gasped with the intensity of it and leaned against the wood for support, shutting his eyes as he waited it out. A thousand poisoned swords seemed to stab into his stomach repeatedly to the point where he could see white spots dancing before his eyes. It wasn't long before he fell unconscious, he thought.
"Hey, Naruto!" a familiar voice called his name.
He grit his teeth, wondering at Sakura's impeccable timing. Maybe someone had planned out his entire life to cause him absolute misery. Shaking his head free of those pessimistic thoughts, he realized that not all of it had been awful. There had been Team 7, and the Rookie 9 and Sakura…
A small petite hand grasped his shoulder and electricity raced through his entire body, filling him with warmth. A renewed wave of pain quickly took the place of the warmth and he gasped, his face sweating.
"Sakura-chan, my stomach hurts," he confessed in a husky voice and her brow furrowed.
"Come on, let's get back to your flat," she told him, slinging one of his arms over her shoulder.
She fished around in his large pocket for his keys and fitted them into the keyhole. It turned with a screechy grating sound that made her wince and she nudged the heavy wooden door open with her foot. She would have led him to his couch but he didn't have one. Eventually, they managed to get to the bed in the corner of his room and he lay on it weakly. As she surrounded his throbbing stomach with her cool, silky chakra Naruto had found himself unconsciously longing for these past few days, she chewed on her lip worriedly.
"Naruto, I'm taking you to the hospital," she decided aloud.
He suddenly gripped her wrist very tightly, his eyes unfocussed with pain but dead serious. In a tone that brooked no argument, he said sharply, "No, you can't tell anyone about this."
"You've been sick so frequently and it's really starting to worry me. I can't figure out what's wrong with you and I think you should be watched," she explained.
He shook his head and told her, "I don't want to go back to the hospital anymore, Sakura. It reminds me too much of…"
His sentence was left hanging in the tense air but it was clear how it finished. The mission to retrieve Sasuke. Sakura averted her jade gaze.
"Can't you…can't you look after me here? You're one of the best medics easy and you can heal something stupid like this," he mumbled weakly and she sighed, running a hand through her pastel hair.
She hesitated before answering, "If I'm found out, Tsunade-sama is going to kill me," Naruto's lips twitched upwards in a slight humourless smile, "but you're absolutely sure you don't need to go to hospital?"
"Yeah, they've been happening over the last few nights. I must have eaten something bad," he mused.
Silence fell between the two of them and Naruto found himself absentmindedly staring at Sakura, the object of his unrequited love. She looked so beautiful sitting there with the morning casting light upon her sharp, womanly features that never failed to snag an unsuspecting man's attentions effortlessly. A small, contemplative smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he realized he liked her there, on his bed, in his room, with him. It was a foolish, fleeting notion but one that left a deep imprint on his mind.
His hand lifted to her face and he brushed the rough pads of his fingertips against her soft, full lips, deep in thought. He was treading dangerous waters but for Sakura, he was willing to do anything. His fingers ghosted past her lips to rest on her flawless cheek and he slowly drew his hand away from her face again, avoiding her eyes in shame.
Perhaps he was moving too fast- no, he knew he was moving too fast. Their best friend and the man she had loved faithfully for so many years had just died. There was no way she would-
A pair of wispy eyelashes fluttered shut against his scarred cheeks and she was suddenly too close. It was too late though because her lips, like the sweetest poison, had already pressed against his and he knew in a heartbeat that he would have sold his soul to the devil if only to experience another moment like this.
She pulled away first, her smouldering gaze captivating his surprisingly calm and collected one. Naruto's mind whirred with possibilities. One of the more bitter ones sprang to mind, the one in which she didn't love him; she just needed comfort and who better to give it to her than him? He could have been a replacement for the Sasuke who had never been.
But as the colour began to rise to her face and she looked away in endearing embarrassment, he found himself wanting to believe that she really loved him.
"You can feel it, can't you?" the voice reverberated in the endless pale yellow.
It was strange but Naruto had somehow been expecting endless white. But white was unwelcoming and sterile and detached, whereas pale yellow was like dawn's warm golden glow. It set him at ease, even though the person whom had spoken was not facing Naruto. Instead, his white clad back was and when he eventually took time to stop to read the kanji embroidered tirelessly into it, he realized the true identity of the man as the character for four stared back at him.
"You can feel your seal breaking. It won't be long before it breaks completely and the Kyuubi destroys Konoha." A flash of steely blue and then the man's eyes closed again. He looked tired and burdened, as if the world had thrust its responsibility onto his already weakened shoulders again.
Did Naruto bother asking why the Yondaime was suddenly roaming the chambers of his subconscious as he pleased? When it came right down to it, he guessed he didn't really care. His body and mind had never really been his to begin with and what was another strange inhabitant going to hurt?
Naruto asked, "What can I do to stop it from breaking?"
"Nothing," the bitter word that slipped from the Yondaime's mouth was not the one Naruto had been hoping for.
"What are you talking about? There has to be something, you made this seal, can't I just reseal the Kyuubi again?" he pressed the former Hokage for answers.
Minato turned around, his coat flaring around him as he did so, and Naruto wondered if the man had been as impressive when he was still alive. He explained, "It's impossible for you to reseal the Kyuubi into yourself. You would have to seal it into another person using your own life as payment and I don't believe you would want to put anyone through the same pain I put you through."
Naruto's cerulean gaze flickered to the floor for a moment, thousands of memories washing over him like a tsunami and all of loneliness and hatred. He could never wish that pain upon anyone else, even if they willingly volunteered and at the same time he had to protect Konoha. But what else could he do…?
A darker idea presented itself to the demon container, "If I killed myself-"
"No." His voice could cut through diamonds and his eyes were flash of blue steel that would have chilled a lesser man's heart.
However, Naruto persisted, "What would happen though?"
A stony silence followed his words and Minato's reluctant answer followed eventually, "The Kyuubi would die along with you. However, the chakra it had would be released in one massive explosion, big enough to wipe out Konoha."
"If I was in a place where there was nobody around-" Naruto suggested but as the Yondaime's eyes flashed dangerously and his stance tightened, he fell silent.
A large, warm hand rested on Naruto's shoulder and cerulean met cerulean. There it was again, Naruto realized, that same look of unguarded and boundless parental love. Somehow he had been pulled into its mesmerizing spell and the emotion in the expression overwhelmed him, rendering him speechless.
"That is our absolute last resort. We still have time to come up with another plan that won't involve your death," he told him firmly.
Naruto averted his gaze from Minato's suddenly too piercing one. He fixed his eyes on the flaming edge of a Hokage's long white trench coat. He was having to remind himself every time he spoke with Minato that this man was the Yondaime Hokage and not another regular person. It was so easy to forget when they were together.
"Naruto," he called his name.
His head snapped upwards to meet the warmer blue eyes of the former Hokage. There was no honorific at the end of Naruto's name and he was speaking to Naruto as though he had known him his entire life. Most people would have been offended by such a lack of respect but for some twisted unexplainable reason Naruto found himself pleased.
"I need you to promise me you won't kill yourself," he said quietly.
The effect this man had on Naruto was monstrously changing. When had anyone so blatantly been concerned for Naruto, not just some ninja who needed medical assistance? Naruto felt his throat clench and his eyes burned unexpectedly. He began to blink rapidly and glanced upwards for a moment, trying to compose himself.
"Why do you care so much?" a question blurted from his chapped lips before he could help himself.
Surprise flitted across the smooth, soft features of the Yondaime's face. The shaggy golden mane swayed slightly in a nonexistent wind and the colour of his irises deepened to an infinite, calming ocean blue. Even though they were nearly the same height, Minato made Naruto feel as though he were three heads shorter. He ruffled Naruto's hair and smiled at him fondly.
"You're my most precious person, Naruto."
They were words Naruto had waited for his entire life. It suddenly became too hard to look at Minato and he wouldn't have been able to see him anyways because his vision was so blurry. He fought to keep from blinking but the world bled away before he could answer Minato's closing words.
Click. Click. Click.
The silver haired man snapped his silver lighter open and shut absentmindedly, staring up at the dirty white ceiling from his position on the threadbare dark green sofa. His mismatched eyes followed the discoloured mark where his neighbours had pleasantly forgotten to turn off their tap and had flooded their entire house.
Click. Click. Click.
Boredom had always proved a dangerous state of mind for the copy-nin. It made way for painful memories and unnecessary brooding, however it was a state not easily broken. The huge collection of books in the corner of his room were suddenly too far away and his body was too tired to even try to sate his idleness.
How did Minato-sensei cope when Obito died? He wondered. The man had always known what to say and what to do but Kakashi couldn't remember exactly what Minato had done. He had been too overcome by his own grief to notice anybody else's. He was sure Minato must have suffered but could never remember him grieving in front of them.
Click.
He stared at the flickering flame his lighter produced as if he would find an answer in its depths. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing his teacher was still alive because he still subconsciously believed that he had all the answers. Snapping the lighter shut, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. His hand reached out blindly to the small wooden coffee somewhere to his left and when his fingers brushed against a flimsy plastic covered box, he grabbed it.
An onyx eye opened lazily as he opened the box of cigarettes and cursed inwardly as he realized he only had one more. Despite his complaining, he pulled the cigarette out and slipped it between his lips. The lighter clicked as he lit up and closed his eyes, letting the artificial calm spread throughout his body. The box dropped from his hand and onto the faded wooden floor.
"Wonder what Rin would say," he murmured to himself, letting out a soft, humourless laugh.
Her image sprung to mind and he swore he could see her dragging him to his feet and stomping on his cigarette. His imagination pulled at the corners of his lips but they fell slack once reality stepped in brief moments afterwards. He supposed he should pack for the mission he was going on with the other three tomorrow but they were probably expecting him to be late anyways.
As rare sleep persuaded him into its tantalizing embrace, he came to the conclusion that they wouldn't mind if he was a little late.
He came not one, not two, but three hours late.
Sakura was desperately trying to console their outraged client and managed to send Kakashi a death glare out of the corner of her eye. Sai harrumphed and hitched the straps of his backpack higher up his shoulders, ignoring the copy-nin as he took his place leisurely beside the artist. Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet and Kakashi came to the conclusion that he was probably still feeling ill.
"Don't even think about talking to her," Sakura hissed as he passed her, taking his position at the head of the group.
Kakashi angled his head ever so slightly to catch a better look at the person they were escorting. She appeared to be a proud, haughty woman with an arrogant tilt to her chin that made it seem as though she constantly looked down on everybody. He found himself quickly losing interest, spoiled overconfident women had never really appealed to him. The weary pack horse in front of Naruto was weighed down with heavy bags of nonsensical women things he presumed and he came to the conclusion that the woman was only walking with them because there was no room for her to ride on the horse.
"I think you broke your record, Hatake-san," Sai commented to him with one of his infamous smiles.
Kakashi shook his head and answered, "I've had worse."
"I don't like her," the artist stated bluntly and the copy-nin glanced back at the woman subtly to see if she could hear what they were talking about. She seemed too caught up in her own world and he let out an inward sigh of relief. The last thing they needed was a screaming brat.
Although Kakashi was inclined to agree, he asked Sai, "Has anybody ever told you that you're a real dick sometimes?"
"Well, at least I have a dick unlike the idiot somewhere back there," Sai said, completely unaffected by the copy-nin's words.
"Sai, that has nothing to do with what we're talking about."
Said artist shrugged indifferently.
Naruto was silent, waiting for Sakura to initiate something. He was really just waiting for her to take the lead, if she acted as though nothing had happened last night and they hadn't kissed then he would play along. However, he wasn't sure what he'd do if it was the other way around…
"Are you going to go see Gaara?" she ventured in an attempt to break the uncomfortable atmosphere.
He grinned at her a bit too brightly and answered, "'Course! He loves having me around."
"Didn't he throw you out of Suna last time?" Sakura smirked at him and his expression faltered slightly.
And so the conversation continued playfully in this manner, bordering on the teetering edge of outright flirting. It didn't escape Kakashi's notice and he was glad that Sakura was happier than he had seen her in a while.
Four hours later, their charge had demanded they stop for a rest and they had grudgingly agreed. Escorting civilians around could be quite annoying in terms of their physical limitations and it irked Sai that they had to wait on this woman's every want and need. Had Kakashi not been there to keep him in check, he probably would have killed the woman and run back to Konoha; owing it to some tragic mishap.
There was a sudden rustling movement in the trees bordering the path that caused all Naruto and Sakura's heads to snap upwards simultaneously. Kakashi caught Sai's gaze out of the corner of his onyx eye and Sai nodded imperceptibly. There was no wind and the copy-nin couldn't pick up the dim chakra signals of an animals running throughout the treetops. It had to be a ninja cloaking his chakra and, as Sai's eyes scanned the area where the sound had come from he caught a glint of silver.
As Naruto's hand itched for his kunai holster, Kakashi uttered a quiet command to him, "Hold."
His calloused fingers dropped to his side limply. Sakura forced a smile and spoke with him, putting up the illusion that they were completely unaware of a possible ambush. Closing his onyx eye, Kakashi let his senses rove over the area; picking up the faintest chakra traces. Sai watched him silently.
"I heard Keiji is turning twelve in a few days," Kakashi commented loudly enough for Sakura and Naruto to hear.
The meaning behind his words was not lost on them. Twelve ninja waited to ambush them. Their charge was still blissfully unaware.
"Are we going to buy him a present?" Sakura ventured. Are we going to attack them?
Kakashi shrugged and answered easily, "I guess we'll see what everyone else is getting him first." We'll let them attack first.
The woman stood from where she had been sitting on the side of the road for the past five minutes, brushing her hands against her violet skirt to rid herself of any dust. She began to walk away, the four ninja rushing after her. Kakashi and Sai took their place in front of her and Naruto pulled the horse along by its leather reins beside Sakura from their place at the back of the formation.
The seconds passed with the heavy weight of anticipation. Each step had them wondering if and when the surrounding ninja would attack. Naruto swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing up and down in wait impatiently. A bead of sweat charted a course down the side of Sai's alabaster face and-
Clang!
Sakura deflected the kunai with one of her senbon. The woman screamed, a shrill, annoying sound that set the horse on edge. It reared in fear and Naruto snapped at her, "Damn it woman, get your horse under control!"
She was too frightened to do anything but comply with his demands and snatched at the reins, forcing her horse back down. The four nin now surrounded her and the horse in a protective square. As a rain of kunai fell upon them, they deflected each and every projectile with practiced ease.
"Support!" Sai called out and instantly Kakashi appeared at his side.
Sai pulled out a clean scroll and his painting brush from behind his ear as Kakashi shielded him, deflecting twice as many kunai as he had before. He finished his painting within seconds and formed the correct hand signals, causing the paper of the scroll to glow ominously. From it leaped three large lions, tossing their manes in excitement. As one let a terrifying roar loose, the trees shuddered and leaves fell from their branches. He was aware that the horse was growing gradually more and more agitated behind him but the woman seemed to have it covered.
As the lions moved in a whir of inky black into the trees, baring sharp teeth and flexing razor like claws, Sai stood and quickly took his place at the woman's side. As his paintings took out five different nin, the number of remaining enemies dwindled considerably to the point that they could only pick out two more. Sakura's senbon whistled through the air and pierced one nin deep in the hollow of his neck. He fell to the ground, gurgling blood and clawing at his throat. He fell still seconds later.
The last ninja escaped in a hurry and, as Naruto threw a kunai to halt him, it pierced his shoulder. Naruto swore colourfully and as he threw another kunai, it thudded into the wood where the ninja would have been had he not disappeared with a jutsu.
As the woman made to run away, Kakashi's vice strong grip held her in place. She cried out in pain but was silenced immediately as his piercing onyx gaze victimized her.
"Why don't you start at the beginning and tell us why you lied about the mission rank to Konoha?" his voice was polite but his gaze was colder than the Antarctic.
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All she could think and feel was Naruto and an unspeakable fear that she was going to lose him. She couldn't lose him, he was hers and he had always been there, he was invincible and he was Naruto. Time seemed to slow as the ninja emerged from the sand and suddenly Sakura was moving, moving impossibly fast because he was in danger, because he could die-
Just in case you were wondering...
Edo Tensei?
This chapter is called Edo Tensei because Edo Tensei is the name of the jutsu Orochimaru uses to bring the dead Hokages back to life during the chuunin exams when he fights the Sandaime. If you didn't figure it out, Orochimaru/Sasuke used edo tensei to bring the Yondaime back to life to fight against Naruto. But because Sasuke/Orochimaru died and didn't complete the jutsu, the Yondaime sort of died...again.
Was that a hint at orotsu?
Wow, you got me. It's a relationship that could possibly have happened. What happened in Jiraiya's team was way too similar to Team 7 that the idea of Tsunade harbouring an unrequited stupid love for an asshole wasn't entirely unbelievable.
So the Yondaime saved Naruto earlier...
Yeah. It's a bit hard to explain but Minato explains it all with his wonderful wisdom later on.
Kakashi's really depressing.
Isn't he? He gets a little less sad later on. The close relationship he and Sai have sort of happened on its own; I just sort of figured that if Sakura and Naruto were always hanging out then naturally Sai and Kakashi would stick together.
What was the Keiji code?
I sort of figured that ninjas would speak in code. Keiji is the name of Asuma's kid (I think, please don't smite me if I'm wrong) and I couldn't really think of any other code. If this story wasn't so serious, I'd have them speaking in pig latin. It'd make my life much asiereay. Uh oh, I think I forgot how to speak pig latin.
What do you mean the lady lied about the mission rank?
I'm not sure how many of you remember the wave arc (episode 10-14ish), but Tazuna lied to Team 7 about the mission rank to get a cheaper price since the higher missions were supposedly much more expensive. This evil woman did the same thing.