Chapter 12

Destiny

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto. And never will. And neither will you. So give it up.

Naruto watched as the gray bricks of the cave flew by, like hardened, cold storm clouds. It had been almost five minutes according to his counting. Obviously, wherever these people were taking him, was somewhere close…or hopefully somewhere close.

Suddenly, the jerking and pulling on his body came to a halt, and Naruto was thrown onto the ground. His now grayish eyes glared at the four people wearing hooded black cloaks in front of him. "What do you want with me?" he demanded in a strange, careless tone. "I have done nothing to you, nor have I ever met you."

One of the figures stepped up to the blonde Hokage, and bowed ever so politely. "Please, Hokage-sama. We only wish for your help." They said in a polite, high pitched tone, like a girl.

"Now, now, Haniue. There is no need to be so cautious around Hokage-sama. He is a friend to us." One of the other people said in a darker, more masculine tone. "Right, Hokage-sama?"

"I want to know who you are first." Naruto growled, still emotionless. "Then we will decide friend or foe."

"Very well," Haniue said, and took of her hood. Under the hood flowed long, fire-red hair, black bangs in her face. Her eyes could be seen more clearly, a striking diamond gaze. Her ruby lips framed a razor-sharp grin, tons of fangs to be seen from the girl's mouth. Along her cheeks were slashes of black, as if claws had raked across her porcelain complexion. "My name is Kumo Haniue. I am from the Blood Country, one of the few shinobi who fled the village. I do not mean to be hostile, Hokage-sama."

The man who had spoken to Haniue took off his hood to reveal short, spiky silver hair, accompanied by the same diamond eyes and black bangs as Haniue. His teeth weren't as sharp as hers, which made Naruto come to the conclusion that this man was younger than Haniue. "My name is Kumo Montamaru. I too fled the Blood Country." He spoke in a friendlier tone. Montamaru smiled brightly, his fangs hanging out of the sides of his mouth. "Please let us explain all of this."

Naruto eyed the two of them carefully, but then looked at the other two hooded people, mostly the one on the left that was noticeably short. "Who are they?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "They have not revealed themselves."

Haniue looked immediately at Montamaru, scared. Gently, she whispered in his ear, "Do you think it'd be okay if we tell them to reveal themselves?"

Montamaru, returning the same glance, replied "I don't think it would be wise to do so." He froze when he saw Naruto glare at him with his gray expression, and Montamaru coughed nervously. "Uh…Hokage-sama…I think it would be best if you didn't see them just yet…"

Naruto stared at the silver-haired man, anger rising within him. "And why would that be?" he challenged, his eyes for a split second flashing red. "What is it about them that I cannot know?" Haniue twiddled her thumbs, staring at her two hooded comrades. Obviously, and Naruto could tell, she was keeping a secret which they did not want him to know. "Well?"

"I don't mind introducing myself." The hooded figure on the left said. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Montamaru looked at his comrade in shock. "B-but you said yourself that you didn't want to take off your hood!"

Naruto arched an eyebrow at the short member. That voice…where have I heard it before? The blonde Hokage stared at the hooded person, concentrating. Through his closer examination, he could peer beyond the shadowed face to see violet eyes. Where have I seen those eyes before?

The hooded figure took off his hood to reveal short blue hair, clashing with the violet gaze. "It's okay, see?"

"Aoi!" Naruto gasped, noticing the spirit guide from Seishou Ichidou. "How-I thought you were dead!"

Aoi smiled at Naruto. "Let's just say I'm taking a visit." He replied, chuckling a little. "I had one of the spirits keep an eye on things so I could come and help you." The playful expression that glimmered in his violet eyes disappeared, and sudden shock replaced it. "What happened to you? Last time we met, your eyes were…blue. And you were full of energy!"

Naruto just looked at him, and answered coolly. "An evil person used a jutsu to take over my body, but he required a spirit. I merely emptied my spirit."

Aoi just stared at him, shocked, scared, worried, and angry expressions flashing across his face. "So…you have no spirit. No moods, no feelings, no emotions."

Naruto nodded his head, "Hai."

"Well…" the dead spirit sighed. "I suppose you'll do anything to save Konoha. Even give up your spirit…" Aoi's gaze averted to the ceiling. "…you truly are one of kind, Naruto. The Tentei no Hi were wise in choosing you."

Haniue looked at Aoi with confusion. "Tentei no Hi?" she asked. "What's that?"

"The Tentei no Hi are the Sun Gods." The little spirit explained. "Most of them decide the destiny of others, and the rest go and help those destined people."

"But you can change your destiny," Naruto interrupted, recalling his battle with Neji. "It's not set in stone."

Aoi nodded his head, but at the same time he was saying no. "You can change your destiny," he said, and ran his fingers through his blue hair. "But it is set in stone."

Montamaru scratched his head. "How can you change your destiny if it is set in stone?" he asked, confused. "It's like asking someone to stop the Earth's rotation. It's not in your position to do so."

Haniue sat down on the ground, and fiddled with her hair. "No, there is a way for that to happen…" she said after a long period of silence. "You can change your destiny, but changing it is a part of your destiny."

"Ara?" Naruto asked.

"The Tentei no Hi look at each person, giving them a great destiny." She said, still twisting her red hair. "If they prove themselves worthy according to all the things that the Gods assign, then they achieve that destiny. But if they fail at even one, they stay on the trail they stopped at, never proceeding. They become a failure." At the word failure, Naruto started listening carefully to every detail. "As well though, if they redo where they messed up, the Gods might put them back on that trail. Like a second life."

"So," Naruto began to speak. "In terms, you have two destinies. That's where the change occurs?"

Aoi grunted, "Hai." Then he patted Naruto on the back. "You had two destinies. One of a failure and the one you are on right now; a hero."

Montamaru nodded, and looked over at the other hooded man, but he had vanished. "Hey! Where did Totaiyo go?" he yelled urgently. "He was here just a few minutes ago!"

Haniue jumped up, and started running down the south corridor. "I know where he went! Follow me, Hokage-sama!" she yelled down behind her.

Naruto stood up and ran after the red hair that was barely visible as far as she was. Aoi watched as he ran, and muttered to Montamaru, "So…he has no emotions, eh?" A cold chuckled escaped his lips. "That girl he's in love with…I wonder how she'll deal with it."

"You mean the pink haired one?" Montamaru implied, recalling Sakura. "It'll be quite a show…she's sensitive about certain things."

"I see…" the dead spirit mumbled. "Well, we better go and cool things down if she gets emotional."

"Yeah…"

With that Montamaru and Aoi ran down after Naruto and Haniue, just in time to see them bursting through the door of one of the rooms. Right when they entered the room, they saw Sakura and Naruto just staring at each other, one with happiness glazed over the eyes, but one with just the gray expression. And one word echoed out of Naruto's mouth, so soft and gentle. "Haruno-san."

Uh-oh. How will Sakura react to her new name? Find out in the next chapter.

NOTE: The next chapter might be delayed a little due to little inspiration and motivation to write it. I already had these done, but it seems like you guys don't really want to read this anymore. So, yeah, I'm kinda blank on the next chapter...I've got the first two pages of it done...but I just can't write the rest for some reason. So, sorry if it's delayed. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!! I MISS THEM!!!!

Yamahato Yokimoko-san