And… here's chapter 7. It's a lengthy one, but I think (hope) you'll enjoy it!
As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/follows and thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far! Motivation is good!
Shout out to those that have reviewed since last time: Echo Uchiha, Mitzzi, cmcwiki, Bikiluf, Kyuubi loves NaruSaku, dbzgtfan2004,GraysonPaladin, bankai777, Toasty Warrior, Serenity Namikaze
Echo Uchiha: right? His mom goes and gives him this big inspiring speech and then he goes and ignores it. *slap head*
Mitzzi: /e whistles and looks away innocently
cmcwiki: hehe, Naruto certainly needs a kick in the pants from someone. Sheesh! /e whistles and looks away innocently in regards to the second part of your review.
Bikiluf: Naruto will definitely get the Kyubi back. How? Who knows. Also, thank you for the explanation, it was much appreciated =)
Kyuubi Loves NaruSaku: I actually have never watched any of the Avatar series. I thought about it, then saw the awful reviews from the movie and decided against it. I know I know, the movie is awful and the anime is awesome, just never gotten around to it since then. I suppose great minds think alike though if their water person is a healer =P
dbzgtfan2004: /e salutes
GraysonPaladin: lmao at "Duckbutt McBastard pants" Thanks :D
bankai777: I consider the Kyubi a sort of "bloodline" for Naruto. I don't plan on giving him anything else for this story as he's got everything he needs to save the world… eventually =P
Toasty Warrior: Thanks! I think Sakura wants all the Sasuke ass-whoopin' for herself though ;)
Serenity Namikaze: Thanks! Minor spoiler: this chapter contains more touching and sweet moments :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Shikamaru would be in every single manga/anime episode because he is awesome. Even if it would be troublesome for him to always be around.
Alright, enough rambling. Onwards to the story! Please do enjoy, "A Jinchuriki's Husk"- Chapter 7: Warmth
Ino stared at the large wall separating her and her best friend. On the other side of that wall Sakura was fighting Sasuke. The platinum blonde hadn't personally seen Sasuke since he left Konoha all those years ago, but from what she had heard; the Uchiha had reached a whole new level of power.
While Sakura had become powerful kunoichi, Ino knew that Sakura wouldn't be able to beat Sasuke on her own. The mindwalker closed her eyes, focusing on the two chakra signatures on the other side of the wall. She shuddered as she felt Sasuke's chakra, it felt so… dark and foreboding. It was hard to believe that years ago, the owner of that sinister chakra was the object of her affection.
Sasuke's chakra was lower than she expected, but he still seemed to have plenty left. Her former rival's chakra level on the other hand was low. Just judging from the two combatant's chakra levels, it was only a matter of time until Sasuke came out on top.
Sakura needed a miracle.
Suddenly Sakura level spiked, causing Ino to gasp.
What's going on?
Tsunade stared at the wall her student created, her mind struggling to figure out a way to get to her student.
Sakura is nearly out of chakra… We're out of time, we need to get to her now.
Tsunade's fist clenched into a tight ball.
The Hokage started running towards the wall, preparing herself to fight her way through a wall of roots, but stopped abruptly when she felt a surge of chakra from Sakura.
I recognize this chakra… it's been a long time, but this unique chakra is chakra I'll never forget. But how is this possible?
The Hokage continued staring at the wall, as the face of a woman with long beautiful red hair flashed through her mind.
Thank you.
"NANI?" both Minato and Jiraiya gasped out.
"I'm not going back. I'm happy here." Naruto replied with a calm non-wavering voice.
"Did you listen to anything your mother said before she left? Naruto, you're needed down there. Your friends need you, the entire world needs you. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to let you stay here." Minato replied, voice the exact same as his son's.
"Give up dad, there's nothing you can say or do that will make me go back."
Minato looked at his sensei and smirked, "To quote a book both you and I treasure… 'Give up… on me giving up.'"
Sapphire eyes clashed with sapphire eyes. Blonde spiky hair swayed in the wind. Father and son's muscles began tensing, both watching the other waiting for the first move to be made.
"Whoah whoah whoah. Calm down now you too. Let's try a different approach before you start fighting, you should really conserve your chakra for now Minato, you're going to need it soon." Jiraiya intervened.
Minato relaxed his stance. "What do you have in mind sensei?"
"Naruto, come over here. I want to show you some things. I've had enough of you thinking people hate you."
Naruto, still tense, eyed his father before joining his master by the pedestal. As he approached, Jiraiya dipped his finger in the water and swirled it a little.
"What happened to the fight between Sasuke and Sakura-chan?" the Toad Sannin's apprentice asked in a confused tone.
"That's not what I want to show you right now. This is Konoha when Shizune was informing the villagers what was going on. Take a look."
Naruto peered down into the water, where Shizune stood addressing a crowd of villagers.
In Konoha
"I've called this meeting because I feel everyone in this village has a right to know why our Hokage currently isn't here. Sasuke Uchiha infiltrated Konoha and captured Naruto Uzumaki."
Gasps sounded off amongst the crowd.
"How did he get Naruto?"
"Is Naruto ok?"
"That bastard! How could he do that to one of the few people who hasn't given up on him?"
Naruto gasped as he heard the villagers' responses. He expected them to curse him for making the Hokage leave the village.
"The villagers… actually care about me?" the startled blonde sputtered.
"Keep watching gaki."
"We're not sure of Naruto's condition. We know that Sasuke was able to capture Naruto using psychological tactics. The Hokage, along with the rest of the rookie 9, Team Guy, Team 7, and Iruka Umino are currently following Naruto's trail. I will do my best to keep you all informed as I get information. That is all." Shizune finished as she turned around to walk back into the Hokage's office.
"Damnit! If something happens to Naruto I'll hunt that Uchiha down myself!"
"I wish that Uchiha would try infiltrating Konoha again so I could personally show him what happens when you mess with one of Konoha's own!"
Tears were falling down Naruto's face as he listened to the villager's words.
"See Gaki? The villagers don't view you as a demon. They see you as one of their own. Do you really want to sit up here while Madara destroys them?"
Naruto gave no response as he just continued staring into the pool dumbfounded. Jiraiya stuck his finger in the water, and again swirled. Naruto watched as the picture changed to a battlefield, similar to the one Sakura was on.
"What's this pervy sage?" he questioned in a neutral tone.
"When all of your friends found out you were captured they came charging after the Akatsuki to rescue you. They're all fighting to save you."
Naruto watched as his friends and precious people fought against overwhelming numbers. There were no hints of fear in their eyes, no hints of doubt, only determination. Their posture screamed, 'I'm not going to lose here, I'm going to save Naruto.' A small smile found its way on his face as a wave of sand announced Gaara and the sand siblings entrance in the battle.
"They're fighting… for me…" he whispered. He watched as Jiraiya again swirled the liquid, and once again the battle between his two teammates.
Sasuke and Sakura's battle
"Naruto's come a long way since you were with us Sasuke, the village respects…" Sakura started.
"Madara has been draining Naruto of the Kyubi for a while now," Sasuke interrupted. "The dobe is probably already dead, and if he's not, he will be soon."
When Sakura heard these words, she became enraged. A very frightening and powerful wave of killing intent flowed out of her into Sasuke. "YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Naruto watched in amazement as Sakura attacked Sasuke like she was possessed by a demon.
"Sakura-chan is fighting Sasuke… because of me?"
"That's right gaki, looks like Sakura loves you after all. So, I think it's about time you get back down there to your Sakura-"chan" don't you?" the Sannin finished with a lecherous wink.
Warmth flooded through Naruto's body as the realization set in. He wasn't alone, he wasn't hated, his friends truly cared about him, Sakura loved him. His life hadn't been a literal hell, his life had been…perfect. He smiled.
I can't believe I had a perfect… wait a second…
FLASHBACK
"Naruto, I… There's something I need to tell you. I've been wanting to say this for a while now… It's finally time to tell you the truth." Naruto turned and looked straight into Sakura's eyes.
FLASH IN
This is… just like then. Everything seemed too perfect. This is too perfect…
"This… isn't real." Naruto stated finishing his thought.
An exasperated Jiraiya sighed at him, "Naruto, everything you just saw was real…"
"NO! Everything I just saw was too perfect. You somehow found a way to make me see what I wanted to see. I remember my life down there, it was not like that!"
Jiraiya was about to reply, but was interrupted with a sigh from his other present student.
"Naruto, what you saw was real. Jiraiya-sensei didn't make you see what you wanted to see. You saw reality. Now come on, it's time we get you back down there."
"I told you, I'm not going. I'm happy here." Came his son's determined reply. Matching sapphire eyes again clashed, but this time the former Hokage smirked.
"You know Naruto, I've watched you your entire life. And I am proud of the man you've grown up into. The man you've become is strong, compassionate, caring, brave, intelligent, and never gives up. But I've noticed one flaw that seems to have persisted throughout your life. It's not the worst flaw, it's actually kind of amusing."
"You've never been good at understanding things from words alone. No, you son," a soft smile flicked across Minato's face as he drew out a three-pronged kunai. "You learn best through hands-on application. You're the kind of guy that learns best in a fight." As the Yondaime finished, he threw the kunai so that it landed just behind Naruto, and disappeared in a yellow flash.
Sakura dodged Susanoo's arrow as she felt the new chakra surge through her body.
What is this? This chakra feels almost exactly like Naruto's chakra… But this chakra is slightly different.
Sakura was brought out of her shock as Sasuke launched another arrow at her. She again dodged, marveling at the power of the chakra that was now running through her body. Suddenly images of a woman with long flowing red hair, shooting chains out of her body.
Confused, Sakura just followed her body's instincts and pink chakra chains shot out of her body and wrapped around Sasuke's Susanoo.
"What the hell is this?" Sasuke yelled as he struggled against his chains. These chains are made of chakra, how his this possible? The avenger screamed in his mind, trying to come up with a way to break them.
Sakura, for her part, would not have been able to give Sasuke an answer had she wanted to. She didn't know how she knew this technique, but she wasn't complaining. Ok, I've got it restrained, now let's see what these things can do.
Sakura used her chakra control to send her newly acquired chakra through the chains, tightening each and every single link. She watched with a satisfied smirk as Sasuke's Susanoo began faltering under the tightening chains. Just a little more…
Sakura focused more of her chakra on tightening the chains. Suddenly, Sasuke's Susanoo's armor faded, leaving muscle and bones. Almost there! The muscle disappeared, leaving only a rib cage. Sakura sent one last surge of chakra tightening chains and Sasuke's Susanoo completely disappeared. As she went to wrap the chains around Sasuke himself, he flickered out of the way.
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" Sasuke screamed. "Susanoo in its completed form is unbeatable. It's invincible. There's no way that you should have been able to beat it!"
"Aww Sasuke, you're making me sound like Naruto." She sweetly replied. Noticing the blood running down his left eye, she smirked. "You don't look so good Sasuke-kun."
"SHUT UP!" the avenger yelled leaping forward with his chidori infused kusangi. Sakura tried to catch him with her chakra chains, but he was fast, and dodged or deflected each chain. He flickered right next to her and swiped with his kusanagi.
She leapt to the left, but he still managed to land a slice on her arm. She felt her arm go numb from the chidori current, and leapt backwards. He's much faster and smaller than Susanoo. I'm not going to be able to catch him with my chakra chains. She dispelled her chains as Sasuke flickered behind her, attempted to impale her heart.
The Gondaime's apprentice dodged, but Sasuke caught her with a left hook on her jaw that sent her tumbling to the ground. Not wanting to give Sakura time to react, Sasuke formed handseals. Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" sending a volley of small fireballs at the kunoichi.
Sakura swore as she hit the ground, and used her fist to slam an earth wall to block the fireballs. She slammed her fist repeatedly to create a mini earthquake. The pink-haired member of team 7 leapt from behind the wall as Sasuke struggled to maintain his balance. Seeing his former teammate Sasuke leapt into the air, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
"Suiton: Teppodama!" Sakura yelled, shooting a water bullet to intercept Sasuke's fireball. Fire met water, instantly creating steam. Much to Sasuke's surprise, part of Sakura's water bullet made it through his fireball and struck him, knocking him out of his jump. The Uchiha twisted his body around so he landed on his feet, but instantly fell into a rift in the ground created by Sakura's fist.
"Suiton: Mizu no Muchi!" Sakura yelled. The Uchiha let out a cry of pain as she repeatedly struck him with the water whip. Just as she was about to whip him for the fifth time, the avenger channeled chidori around his entire body, Sakura couldn't stop the whip from hitting him. The electricity travelled through the whip and straight into Sakura's body.
She fell to the ground, temporarily paralyzed. Quickly using her chakra to get rid of the paralysis, she couldn't react quick enough as Sasuke leapt out of the rift and shot another fireball at her. Sakura screamed out in pain as the fireball burned her body.
Sasuke flickered in front of her, landing a kick to her ribs that sent her tumbling backwards. He flickered in front of her, preparing to strike the final blow with his kusanagi. Sakura quickly shot chakra chains out of her body, catching Sasuke off guard.
The kunoichi's chakra chains latched around the kusanagi and she ripped it out of Sasuke's hands and into hers. Maybe I can catch him in these chains now that he doesn't have his sword. Sakura sent the chains after her former teammate, who simply pulled out a kunai and proceeded to dodge and deflect the chains while closing in on her. Before he could get too close, Sakura stamped her foot into the ground, sending a wall of earth towards Sasuke, forcing him to flip backwards.
Dispelling her chains, Sakura grabbed kusanagi's blade, and with chakra enhanced strength snapped it in two pieces.
"YOU BITCH!" Sasuke yelled seeing his favorite sword snapped in two like it was a pretzel. Sakura smirked,
"Oh so sorry, did I break your favorite toy?"
Sasuke growled in response, and shot ameratsu out of his eye. Sakura dodged, but gasped as the flames changed course and followed her. Swearing to herself, she pushed more chakra into her legs and sped up. The black flames followed her as she continued attempting to dodge them. She caught sight of her former teammate.
He seems so… focused. Is he controlling the flames? Sakura sent chakra chains at Sasuke, who yet again dodged. As Sakura expected, the flames stopped following her, and hit a few trees setting them aflame. The kunoichi again dispelled the chains. Pumping chakra into her legs, she surged forward, catching Sasuke off guard as she caught him in the jaw with a punch. Sasuke bounced across the ground from the force of the punch, and as he skidded to a stop Sakura appeared above him, slamming a chakra-enhanced knee into his gut. Sasuke coughed up blood as he attempted to get up, but his former fangirl kicked him in the face, again sending him flying.
Twisting the air, Sasuke threw a barrage of shuriken at Sakura and yelled, "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Sakura was forced to halt her attack, and slam an earth wall up to shield her from the mass of shurikens.
After the wall blocked the shurikens, Sakura cracked it and yelled, "Kaze no Bakehutsu!" the blast of wind that shot out of her palms sent small, sharp pieces of rock towards the Uchiha.
Sasuke smirked, "That's not going to catch me off guard twice!" The avenger made quick handsigns, forming the chidori in his hand. He threw a wave of chidori senbon to negate the attack. He threw another wave of chidori senbon at Sakura who pushed more chakra into her legs to leap out of the way.
A gentle breeze blew across the battlefield as the two exhausted sannin's apprentices stared each other down.
Damnit, who ever would have thought Sakura would have been able to take me this far? I only have enough chakra left for one more attack. From the looks of her, she's exhausted most of that other chakra she's been using.
"We're both almost out of chakra. What do you say Sakura, why don't we end this fight now?" Sasuke called out.
Before Naruto could react, he felt his father's fist colliding with the back of his head. Taking out a three-pronged kunai of his own, he threw it and used the hirashin to escape before his father could land another blow. Much to Naruto's surprise, Minato appeared right behind him, landing a kick to his stomach, sending him tumbling.
How did he just reach me? He didn't throw another kunai…
Minato smiled at his son, as he got to his feet. "Come on Naruto, did you really think I wouldn't be able to teleport to your kunai? Those seals on it are exactly the same as mine."
"Kuso…" how did I not think about that? Damnit! He knows more about the hirashin than I do, I'm not going to be able to beat him with it. I need a different advantage if I'm going to beat him, I need sage mode. I just need to stall him now.
"I guess that was kind of foolish of me to think huh dad?" he grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Care to tell me how the seal works? I've only copied it directly from your old kunai." Naruto then stood perfectly still, drawing in nature chakra.
"Good try Naruto, but I know about your sage mode." Minato flashed right behind a startled Naruto, kneeing him in the gut. He put a hand on his son's shoulder, "I'm not going to give you time to enter sage mode."
"How… how did you just do that? I didn't throw a kunai, there's no kunai near me!"
"You have more three-pronged kunai in your pack Naruto."
KUSO! "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 100 shadow clones formed a ring around father and son. Each clone took out a three pronged kunai. "Let's see how you do against this dad!"
The clones began throwing the kunai back in forth between the two, catching a kunai, and throwing it back into the fray.
Impressive and brilliant. He creates a ring around himself and his opponent using kage bunshins, then has them fill the area with three pronged kunai so he can essentially teleport anywhere in the ring at anytime making it nearly impossible to predict his movements. This technique requires his clones to throw each kunai with perfect precision, as one kunai striking another would disrupt the flow and his opponent would be able to start predicting his movements. What's more, in addition to having to throw each kunai with perfect precision, each clone has to catch the kunai and instantly throw it again.
This is a great technique to beat a sharingan user, good job Naruto. Minato smiled and disappeared in a yellow flash of his own. Father and son flashed about the clone ring, neither able to land a blow. This is a genius technique Naruto, but it won't work on another hirashin user. Time to end this. Minato flashed to a clone that had just caught a kunai, and destroyed it. Without missing a beat, he flashed to Naruto and slammed his son into the ground.
As the clone ring destroyed itself, Naruto gasped, "How?"
"Your technique is very impressive Naruto. But it's still no match for the 2nd level of hirashin." Getting a confused look from his son, Minato pointed to the boy's shoulder. Naruto gasped again when he saw a seal where his father had touched him earlier.
"You can't beat me now Naruto. I can teleport to you instantly. Give up, this fight is over."
"Give up…" Naruto whispered, "ON ME GIVING UP!" he finished with a yell.
Kakashi stirred, his body felt like he got hit by both Tsunade and Sakura's fists at once. He groaned as he opened his eyes. Getting his bearings, he glanced around at his companions. Looks like the sand siblings joined the battle, that's good news for us. Everyone still looks exhausted though.
His eyes fell upon the wall his pink-haired student had created at the start of the battle.
Sakura!
The copy nin scanned surrounding area for Sakura, but could not find her. She's still fighting Sasuke. Hang on Sakura, I'm coming!
Kakashi leapt to his feet, drawing the attention of the Konoha and Suna shinobi. I haven't regained much chakra, but I have enough to get in one raikiri. I'm going to have to sneak up on Sasuke to make sure it counts. He started sprinting toward the wall.
"Kakashi stop!" the Hokage ordered, causing the copy nin to stop and give her a confused look.
"Hokage-sama, Sakura is still fighting Sasuke by herself. I'm not sure why you guys haven't gone to her aid yet, but she can't beat him alone. So I'm going to go help her."
"A black Zetsu is in that wall, and is using a powerful root wall to keep us from getting through or around that wall. It said that Madara requested no one interfere with the fight, and that the Zetsu would kill anyone who tries." Shikamaru said.
"Damnit… there has to be a way around that. I don't know how long Sakura can last alone against Sasuke…"
"She's not alone Kakashi." The last remaining sannin said calmly.
"NANI?" all of the Konoha and Suna nin gasped at once.
"What are you talking about Hokage-sama? All of our team is on this side of the wall, who could be fighting with her right now?"
Tsunade looked directly into his eyes, smile present on her face. "Kushina Namikaze." She stated simply.
"NANI?" the Konoha and Suna nin gasped yet again.
"Sensei's wife? But Hokage-sama… she died on that die along with sensei… How could she possibly be fighting with Sakura?"
"I'm not sure Kakashi. But she was a smart woman, and her husband was a genius himself."
Kakashi nodded his head, and stared at the wall, his mind lost in thought.
"Ironic isn't it Sasuke? Me, who you always called a burden has forced you to resort to one final attack to finish our battle."
"Hhn, shut up and prepare to die." The avenger replied. He formed handsigns, and a chidori formed around his hand.
Damnit, I don't have any jutsu that can go up against that… Sakura thought. Suddenly a memory popped into her mind.
FLASHBACK
A young Naruto stood in front of Sakura protectively staring at an enemy jounin that had managed to separate the pair from Kakashi.
"Give up kid and I'll make both of your deaths quick." The man sneered.
Naruto's response was muttering, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." A shadow clone appeared next to Naruto. Her teammate seamed to focus on forming a powerful sphere of chakra, while the clone focused on rotating the sphere.
"What the…" the man began to say, but was interrupted by Naruto's yell, "RASENGAN!" Her blonde teammate shoved the ball into the man's gut sending him crashing into a tree, a strange spiral wound on his stomach.
Sakura remembered seeing Naruto use that jutsu on the roof while fighting Sasuke, but it was the first time she had actually seen him create it and hit his opponent with it.
Without thinking Sakura held out her hand, and began forming what remained of her chakra into the a sphere, while using her excellent chakra control to spin it.
Sasuke's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he saw the familiar chakra sphere. Nostalgia swept through him as he realized this was exactly how his battle at the Valley of the End with Naruto ended. Except Sakura's rasengan was larger, it was the size of a small basketball.
"So… the dobe taught you his favorite move? I'm surprised, I didn't think you had the chakra to use it."
His opponent smirked at him, "Not exactly, I just sort of figured it out. Now let's end this… SASUKE!" she yelled charging towards him.
Time slowed down, he started running towards her. Memories of his time in team 7 began flashing through his mind, their bell test, hunting down Tora the cat, their mission in the wave… Sasuke was about to kill one of the people who saved him from his loneliness, the girl who always cheered him on.
I… I can't do this.
As the two former teammates met, Sakura slammed the rasengan into Sasuke's chest screaming "RASENGAN!" In that split second, the avenger could have thrust his chidori through the girl's chest, but he instead he allowed his chidori to dissipate. He couldn't hold back his cry of pain as the sphere twisted away at his stomach.
He coughed up blood. So this is it. He looked up to see his former teammate shakily standing over him. She was breathing heavily, it looked like the rasengan took everything out of her.
"I know that you hate me for what I did, but for what it's worth… I'm sorry." The dying Uchiha gasped out.
"Tell me Sasuke… was walking the path of the avenger worth it?"
He looked into her emerald eyes, "I know you will never understand. But it's the only path I could have ever walked. But you've stopped me now." For the first time in his life, Sasuke Uchiha gave Sakura Haruno a real, large, genuine smile.
"Thank you… Sakura." His eyes closed for the last time, and Sasuke Uchiha, the "last" Uchiha, the avenger, died.
Sakura looked down at her former teammate as tears slowly fell from her eyes. Even though she hated him for what he did to Naruto, he was still her old teammate, her old friend. He could've killed me with his chidori, but he held back at the last second. Naruto will be happy to hear that he chose our bonds in the end.
Sakura started stumbling away from the body of her former teammate, before passing out.
Tsunade was calmly staring at her apprentice's wall, when the black Zetsu slinked out.
"Hokage-sama, Madara-sama would like to thank you for training your apprentice so well. She was able to save Madara-sama the trouble of killing Sasuke, who had outlived his usefulness." Having said what it needed to say, the black Zetsu disappeared again into the wall.
Everyone gasped as roots shot out of the ground and destroyed the wall.
"Neji, Hinata, see if you can find any trace of the black Zetsu." Shikamaru ordered. Both Hyuugas activated their byukugans, and began scanning the area. The two found no trace of the Zetsu. Not that Tsunade cared. She wasn't focused on them, she was focused on the form of her apprentice, on the ground.
"Sakura!" she yelled as both she and Kakashi rushed to the girl's side.
"Is she going to be alright Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked in a concerned voice.
"She'll be fine Kakashi, she's just exhausted from her battle." Tsunade replied, as she began healing Sakura.
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief, and began walking towards the body of his other student. As he reached Sasuke's body, he was surprised to see a large smile on the boy's face.
"Was the Zetsu telling the truth Kakashi?" the Hokage asked, as she continued her healing.
"Hai… Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied in a sad, soft voice. "Sasuke Uchiha… is dead."
Sakura opened her eyes and gasped. She was in a bright meadow, filled with cherry blossoms. Taking in her surroundings, she spotted her inner sitting underneath one of the many trees.
"What are you doing here? Where are we?" she asked her inner.
"We are in your mind." Her inner replied casually.
"How did I get here? Did you call me here?"
"Nope, she did." Her inner pointed behind Sakura. "Go talk to her, she really wants to meet you."
Turning around, Sakura noticed a beautiful woman with long red hair that swayed in the gentle breeze. She had a perfect figure, and her eyes were a brilliant sapphire blue… just like Naruto's.
"You! I saw an image of you while fighting Sasuke, are you the one who helped me?"
"Yep!" the woman beamed. "Minato and I couldn't let you die, and I was the only one that could use his jutsu to get here."
"What? Who's Minato? What jutsu? Who are you?"
"Oh! I forgot to tell you my name didn't I?" the woman sheepishly grinned, scratching the back of her head. "My name is Kushina Namikaze. Wife of Minato Namikaze, mother of Naruto Namikaze. Well, I guess you would still know him as Naruto Uzumaki at this point."
"You're Naruto's mother? Naruto's the Yondaime's son?"
Kushina continued smiling her. "Yes and yes. Believe it!"
"What jutsu were you talking about, why were you the only one that could use it, and why couldn't you and the Yondaime let me die?" Sakura stuttered, still trying to wrap her mind over the entire situation.
"Hmm, where to begin. Well… Minato managed to outsmart the shinigami, and escaped with the rest of the souls of Konoha's Hokages into heaven. Kami was so impressed with Minato that he allowed Minato certain privileges. He let Minato start experimenting with new jutsus, and eventually Minato created some jutsus that we would be able to use from heaven to help Naruto on Earth."
Sakura dumbly nodded, still striving her best to comprehend all the information she was taking in.
"The jutsu I specifically used, allowed me to pour all of my chakra that I had while I was living, into you. And it also allowed me to influence your memories while you were using my chakra. So I used my and your memories to teach you the chakra chains and the rasengan," Kushina paused. "Consider those an early wedding gift." She winked. Sakura blushed.
"I was the only one who could use this jutsu because it can only be used by a mother on a woman who loves her son. As to why we couldn't let you die… Minato and I have watched Naruto his entire life. It's easy to see how much he loves you… and that you love him too." Kushina smiled warmly at her.
"We couldn't let you die, because you are family. It's only a matter of time before you're our daughter-in-law after all!" Kushina again winked, causing her "future daughter-in-law" to blush even harder.
"An added perk to the jutsu is that it allows me to bring you into your own mind after you're finished using my chakra, so I can actually meet you in person."
"Thank you Kushina-san…"
"San? No need for that, just call me Kushina!"
"Hai… thank you Kushina."
"No problem Sakura." Kushina's pleasant smile turned into an intimidating frown, and killer intent began to radiate from the woman. "But if you ever hurt my son, I'll make you regret it ttebayo!" Kushina intended for the comment to be more of a light-hearted joke, and was concerned when she saw her future daughter-in-law's face fall.
"I'm afraid I've already hurt him… I…"
"Do you love my son Sakura?" Kushina interrupted, determined to put a smile back on the face of the pink-haired girl. This is supposed to be a pleasant meeting after all…
"Of course!" the girl quickly replied.
"Then I know that you would never purposefully hurt him." Kushina's smile caused a warmth to spread through Sakura's entire body.
"But Kushina… I still hurt him. Sasuke controlled me, and forced me to crush his heart." Sakura whimpered, tears starting to fall from his eyes.
Kushina however, would have none of it. "It doesn't matter, if you love him, you will heal him. If you love him, you will be the one to make him happy ttebayo!"
Sakura looked into the beautiful sapphire eyes of her future-mother-in law. "Do you really believe it?"
"Of course!" the Namikaze woman yelled. "I'm certain you're going to be a Namikaze woman eventually, you're the one for my son. And I honestly couldn't have picked out a better woman for him. You're a lot like me." She gave Sakura a lopsided grin.
The pink-haired girl couldn't resist smiling at Kushina's words and lunged forward, catching the woman in a tight embrace. "Thank you so much Kushina!"
"Don't worry about it dear. As much as I would like to stay here, it looks like we need to bring this meeting to an end. Your friends are waiting for you to wake up. Now go wake up so you can get my baka of a son!"
"HAI… Oka-san." Sakura smiled at the woman, and Kushina smiled back.
"Oh wait, a few more things! First, once you wake up you won't have access to my chakra anymore. But since your body housed my chakra which is far larger than yours, you will find that your chakra pool has significantly increased."
"SHANAROO!" Sakura fist-pumped causing Kushina to chuckle.
"You now know the chakra chains, and the rasengan and will be able to use them without my help. By the way, I was impressed with the chakra control you showed in tightening each individual link. I always just used the chains to hold down… a certain something. You were actually able to use it as a weapon, very impressive!"
Sakura blushed at the compliment as Kushina continued.
"And lastly, and most importantly, take care of my baka of a son." She finished, smiling at Sakura, as she wrapped her in another hug.
"I will Oka-san, that's a promise of a lifetime."
Kushina smiled at her one last time, before pushing her back into consciousness.
Tsunade watched her unconscious apprentice's face curiously. Her face contorted from surprised, to more surprised, to sad, to unbelievably happy. A peaceful, content grin adorned her features as her eyes slowly flitted open.
"Sakura!" the Hokage yelled catching the pink-haired girl in an embrace. "You're awake!"
"Hai shishou."
"Looks like you were able to beat Sasuke after all. I'm very proud of you Sakura." The master beamed at the apprentice.
"Thank you Tsunade-sama. I didn't do it alone though. Naruto's mom helped me." Her apprentice replied with a gentle smile on her face.
"How?" the Hokage inquired, already knowing of Kushina's involvement.
"She was able to use a jutsu to give me her chakra, and I got to meet her afterwards. I got to meet Naruto's mom! She was so beautiful and kind." Her face suddenly became serious.
"But we can talk about that later, for now we need to go to Naruto!"
"Right. EVERYONE!" the Hokage bellowed getting the attention of all of the Konoha and Suna nin. "We're going to rescue Naruto now, let's go!"
The tired mini-army walked towards the Akatsuki base.
Naruto was slammed into the ground yet again. He couldn't figure out a way to get rid of the seal his father had placed on him. His entire body ached, but he wouldn't stop. He would not let his dad force him back to that life. His place was here. He could not lose, he would not lose.
"WHY ARE YOU SO DESPERATE TO SEND ME BACK? DON'T YOU WANT ME HERE WITH YOU AND MOM?" that frustrated blonde boy yelled.
His father's face softened. "Naruto… Of course I want you to be with your mother and I. It would be so great to finally have us all together… as a family. But I know you Naruto, you'e my son afterall. You and I are the same. We are both guardians."
The battered and exhausted son charged and threw a punch at his father. Minato simply caught Naruto's fist and pulled his son into a hug.
"You and I both exist to protect others. If you give up now, and let all of your precious people, and all of the people in the world down, you will hate yourself for the rest of eternity. Nartuo Namikaze, your destiny down there isn't finished yet."
Naruto sobbed in his father's embrace. "But what if I fail dad… what if…"
Minato put his hand on his son's head and smiled warmly at him. "Didn't I tell you already Naruto? I have faith in you. You won't fail."
Naruto's tears stopped as he smiled at his father. "Thanks dad…"
"Minato! Naruto! Get over here. You need to see this." Jiraiya yelled to his apprentices as he stared into the pedestal with a worried look on his face.
Sakura led the way through the Akatsuki base, desperate to get to Naruto. After meeting his mother, and being called her future daughter-in-law, Sakura was even more anxious to retrieve her knucklehead. She zigzagged through each corridor on sheer instinct, she just knew where Naruto was, she couldn't really explain it.
The mini-army stopped in front of a large set of doors. Here we go… please be ok Naruto…. She pushed the doors open, and strode into a room, that contained the statue she had seen when they rescued Gaara from the Akatsuki. A large, cold knot formed in her stomach.
"Oh my! This is truly a great day." Came the unnerving voice of a man wearing an orange swirling mask. "I get someone to kill Sasuke for me, the Hokage AND the Kazekage come to ME so I can kill them, AND I extracted the Kyubi!"
The Konoha and Suna shinobi felt a cold sweat drip down their backs when Madara said he extracted the Kyubi.
Sakura scanned the room, her eyes falling on the body of her knucklehead. The stiff, completely unmoving body of her…
"NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
6,317 words! Man what a long chapter! For the second chapter in a row, I wrote more than I originally intended which forced me to push some things to the next chapter. But oh well. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with this chapter, and I hope it made up for all the sad stuff that's been going on since the third chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. See you next time =)
Jutsu list:
Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu- Fire release: Phoenix Sage Flower
Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu- Fire release: Great Fireball Technique
Suiton: Teppodama- Water release: gunshot
Suiton: Mizu no Muchi- Water release: water whip
Kaze no Bakehutsu: Windblast