Chapter 8! Wooooo, getting closer to the finish!
As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/follows and thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far! Motivation is good!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed since last time: holydemon90, Kyuubi loves NaruSaku, Echo Uchiha, cmcwiki, Serenity Namikaze, Grayon Paladin, Bilkiluf, TheRealLifeAlucard, Toasty Warrior
holydemon90: Ya... the things Minato can do last chapter and (this chapter) is a stretch, but I wanted family to get Naruto out of his funk... I did not get the inspiration from 300, but now that you mention it I can see the similarities, now I feel clever and artistic =P
Kyuubi loves NaruSaku: Lol at the Chuck Norris entrance. Chuck Norris vs. Madara... that would be an interesting fight.
Echo Uchiha: Agreed!
cmcwiki: Thanks! you've been pretty good with your predictions so far!
Serenity Namikaze: Thanks and you're welcome! =) Naruto will figure out the truth... eventually.. =P
Grayson Paladin: Hahahaha, that's a great clue stick. If that doesn't work, I don't know what will!
Bikiluf: Hmm.. Well as I mentioned before, I wanted Sakura to actually be able to put up a fight against Sasuke. If memory serves correctly, most jounin have trained in their elemental affinities. Sakura is a medinin/genjutsu type yes, but I wouldn't be surprised if she has an affinity to water. Water is soothing, healing is soothing. Bam, match made in heaven. I gave her water manipulation abilities to keep the writing a little more varied than, "Sakura slams fist into the ground... Sakura slams fist into ground again... Sakura slams fist into ground again..." As for the rasengan and chakra chains, all credit goes to Kushina for teaching them to Sakura. The basic rasengan doesn't require a wind affinity, so if Sakura had more chakra (which thanks to Kushina in the fight she does) it would be possible for her to use the rasengan. I didn't change Naruto's name... yet. Just his parents referred to him as Namikaze. That being said, personally I don't see the big deal. Naruto was given the Uzumaki last name so his father's enemies didn't come after him, I don't see the big deal about him accepting his father's name once he's powerful enough to handle himself against them. But to each their own =)
TheRealLifeAlucard: /e salutes
Toasty Warrior: Haha, ya if Naruto was so stubborn he wouldn't be the loveable hard-headed baka that everyone loves! Thanks =)
And without further ado, please do enjoy "A Jinchuriki's Husk"- Chapter 8: Like Parents Like Son
Gaara followed Sakura through a pair of large doors and entered a room with a very familiar statue in it. Just looking at the statue caused the young Kazekage to shutter as memories of his own demon extraction coursed through his mind.
"Oh my! This is truly a great day." Came the unnerving voice of Madara Uchiha. "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!"
Gaara's eyes flickered to Madara as his words settled in. He extracted the Kyubi?
"NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Gaara's eyes followed the pink-haired kunoichi as she ran over to the body of his friend. A feeling of dread washed over him as he stared at Naruto's stiff, unmoving body.
This must be what Naruto went through when he came for me. The Kazekage felt rage bubbling up inside, as he realized that the first person to accept him, the man who saved him from his dark path, was dead. His eyes again returned to the ancient Uchiha, as sand slowly began to pour out of his gourd.
"NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" the scream came out of her mouth without her mind telling it to. She sprinted towards the body of her teammate, the man who had always been by her side, the man who had always protected her.
Once she reached his body, she sat on the ground by him and instantly scooped him up into her arms, cradling his head into her chest.
"Naruto… please… please don't be dead." Sakura whimpered as she scanned his body for any sign of life. To her sorrow the man she loved had no pulse, his body wasn't cold leading her to believe her knucklehead had just recently died.
Damnit… if only I had been quicker…
"Please come back Naruto." The pink-haired kunoichi begged, hoping if she begged hard enough he would return. Tears continued to stream down her face as she buried her head into his hair, begging incoherently, praying for some sort of miracle.
"NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sakura screamed. Kakashi watched as Sakura ran towards his blonde-haired student. A cold knot twisted his stomach as he took in Naruto's unmoving form. They had arrived too late, Madara had already extracted the Kyubi from Naruto… I failed another one…
Kakashi glanced at Gaara, who was allowing sand to slowly pour out of his gourd, gaze fixed on Madara. This must be strange for him, to experience this situation as a member of the retrieval team.
FLASHBACK
Kakashi watched as Lady Chiyo walked past a weeping Naruto, and stared down at the lifeless body of Gaara. She sat down and stared at the young Kazekage's corpse more, before putting her hands on his chest. The copy nin watched as she closed her eyes, then opened them again as her hands began pumping blue energy into the deceased kage.
"Granny Chiyo, that jutsu will…" A concerned Sakura started.
The old lady simply turned and offered Sakura a smile as she continued her work.
"Is that…" Guy started to ask.
"Yeah." Kakashi replied.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the blonde jinchuriki questioned, starting to move forward. Sakura stopped him by putting a hand on his chest. Sakura looked into Naruto's eyes.
"She's going to bring Gaara back to life!"
FLASH IN
Kakashi watched as Sakura picked up Naruto's prone form and cradled it against her body, tears streaming down her face, begging the boy to wake up.
Thank you… Lady Chiyo. The famous copynin thought as he pulled out three soldier pills and started walking towards his two students. Popping the pills in his mouth, he felt all of his chakra come back.
Don't worry Sakura, I will not let another one of my comrades die.
Jiraiya, Minato and Naruto watched as the team that had come to rescue Naruto entered the chamber where the Kyubi was extracted.
"Shit!" Minato swore. "This isn't good. There's no way any of them can handle Madara in their current conditions."
"Oh my! This is truly a great day. 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!" Madara taunted.
"Naruto…" Jiraiya started. "We don't have…"
"NARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sakura's scream interrupted the Toad Sennin as Naruto stared curiously down at the woman he dedicated his life to. Master and apprentices watched as Sakura clutched Naruto's corpse, begging for him to come back.
"I know what you're going to say pervy sage." The former jinchuriki said, as he tightened his fist into a ball. "And I couldn't agree more, I need to get back down there."
Minato and Jiraiya beamed at Naruto. "Now that's the son I've watched grow up!" Minato said.
"Finally, my baka apprentice is back!" Jiraiya grinned at Naruto.
Naruto smiled briefly, but turned to his father with a serious face. "But I still don't understand how I'm going to get back there. I'm dead dad; the Kyubi was extracted from me."
Minato smiled, "Actually Naruto, you're not dead. Your spirit simply came here because you didn't have the will to keep it down there. Your spirit came here because you wanted to come here."
"What… but… how?" Naruto gasped. His father continued to smile at him.
"We don't really have time to explain all that right now son, ask your mother to explain it to you when you see her next."
"When I see mom next… what?"
"No time to explain! Now listen Naruto, you're going to need the Kyubi's power to defeat Madara, so I'm going to reseal it into you." To both Jiraiya and Minato's surprise Naruto merely nodded.
"Right! Just tell me what to do dad!"
"I need to go, and get started. Jiraiya-sensei, I assume you can send Naruto back?"
"It would be my pleasure." The white-haired sannin replied with a toothy grin.
"Ok Naruto, now listen. None of those people down there can stand against Madara right now, but you also aren't ready to face him. You're going to need to stall him until I can reseal the Kyubi in you. Understand?"
"Hai!"
"Madara is extremely powerful son, and has mastered space-time jutsu. The only time you can hope to land an attack is when he's attacking, that's the only time he's vulnerable. So to beat Madara, you will have to rely on speed."
His son simply nodded, taking in his father's words while staring down at the pedestal. Naruto noticed Gaara was staring at Madara with sand pouring out of his gourd.
"You cannot let Madara touch you. If you do, he will send you to another dimension. Use the hirashin as much as you can to keep him occupied." His son nodded again, eyes still fixed on the pedestal.
"Ok Naruto, I have to go now. Follow Jiraiya-sensei and do exactly as he says. I'll see you soon." His father called, disappearing in a yellow flash.
"Alright gaki, follow me!" Naruto once again followed Jiraiya through the fog until the two came upon a spot with a strange seal drawn on it.
"Ok Naruto, here's where we say goodbye." The sannin's apprentice wrapped him in a hug, tears falling from his eyes.
"Arigato… Jiraiya-sensei. For everything." Jiraiya tossled the hair of his youngest apprentice. "Don't mention it Naruto." He gently pushed Naruto towards the seal.
"Oh one more thing Naruto, tell Tsunade I am and will always be watching over her. So she should stop crying already when she's alone, it's depressing!" Naruto chuckled at his master's words.
"Will do…pervy sage."
"Oh, so I'm pervy sage again." Jiraiya joked, getting another chuckle from his student. "Ok, ready to go?" Seeing the nod from his student Jiraiya began forming hand signs. "Good luck Naruto, until we meet again!" with those words the Great Toad Sannin Jiraiya slammed his hands into the ground.
The seal Naruto was standing lit up to the point where it blinded the Yondaime's legacy. The light was so bright that Naruto passed out.
Jiraiya watched as Naruto began falling, disappearing before he could hit the ground.
"Good luck Naruto."
Kakashi approached his hysteric pink-haired student and gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"Sakura don't worry, everything is going to be alright." He said with his one-eyed smile.
"NO IT'S NOT SENSEI! NARUTO IS GONE, HOW IS EVERYTHING GOING TO BE ALRIGHT WITH NARUTO GONE?" the kunoichi screamed back.
"He may be gone now Sakura, but I'm going to bring him back, so set him down." Came the calm reply of the copy nin, as he began focusing his chakra. This brought Sakura out of her hysterical state.
"Kakashi-sensei, you don't mean…"
"I do." The grey-haired jounin interrupted, one-eyed smile still plastered on his face.
"Sensei, that technique will…"
"I know." Kakashi gently interrupted Sakura again. "I won't allow another one of my comrades to die. Especially someone as important as Naruto. He's the one who's going to surpass the Yondaime and save this world, not me."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that Kakashi." A cold voice said. Madara appeared out of nowhere. "I can't have someone as powerful as Naruto running around, he has the potential to interfere with my plans." Madara reached out to attack Kakashi but Kakashi leapt backwards.
"Sakura, protect Naruto's body!" the copy nin called out, lifting his headband to reveal his mangekyo sharingan. "I'll handle Madara."
Cruel laughter filled the room as Madara was doubled over. "You… handle me? Please Kakashi, you are nothing more than a bug to me." The ancient Uchiha disappeared with these words, reappearing behind Kakashi.
Just as Madara's attack was about to land, a wave of sand engulfed his hand, forcing the ancient Uchiha to teleport away.
"So… the Kazekage wants to be involved too huh? Let's see how long you pathetic fools can entertain me!"
Naruto slowly felt himself coming to, his hair was drenched, and his face was pressed against something very soft. He fought back a blush when he realized where his face was as Sakura still desperately clung to him in a tight embrace. Resisting his instinct to jump up, Naruto began drawing in nature chakra.
I'm going to need to be in sage mode if I want to hold off Madara. The blonde jinchuriki thought, while simultaneously praying that Sakura didn't kill him once she found out he was conscious.
Just give me a few minutes guys; just stay alive for a few minutes.
Kakashi twisted as he felt Madara appearing behind him, thrusting a raikiri at his foe. Not surprisingly, the lightning blade passed through the Uchiha. Madara again slowly moved his hand towards Kakashi, toying with the legendary copy nin. The ground the masked man was standing on suddenly opened up into a rift as the Hokage entered the fight.
Kakashi again leapt away from Madara. Damnit, how are we supposed to beat this guy? We can't even come close to landing a hit on him and he's just toying with us…
Madara teleported in front of Kakashi again, but instantly teleported away as he dodged a wave of sand.
"Kage Mane no Jutsu." Shikamaru called out, as his shadow caught Madara. Tsunade charged, striking at Madara with a chakra-enhanced fist, which again passed through the Uchiha. Guy used his formidable speed to get the Hokage away from Madara before he could try a counter attack.
More cruel laughter began to spill out of Madara's mouth. "Did you actually think an ant like you could catch me in a jutsu? None of you are worth my time!" Madara yet again disappeared, reappearing next to Zetsu, who had not left his perch on the statue's finger the entire "fight."
"You three are the best Konoha and Suna has to offer now? Pathetic. If you don't mind, I think I'll end this."
"Naruto?" a startled Sakura gasped.
Sakura was clutching Naruto's body to her as she watched Kakashi, Gaara and Tsunade tried to land a blow. Madara simply teleported around, following Kakashi and slowly reaching out to attack the copy nin. He's toying with three of the most powerful ninja alive… Tears continued to stream down her face and into the hair of the Yondaime's legacy.
She thought she felt Naruto's body getting warmer, but ignored it, assuming it was simply wishful thinking.
"Kage Mane no Jutsu." Shikamaru called out as he caught Madara in his shadow. Tsunade rushed at Madara, but Sakura didn't notice. Naruto's body was now radiating warmth. She cautiously peered down at his body, hoping this wasn't all her mind playing a cruel trick on her, as Madara's cruel laughter again filled the room.
His eyes! A yellow hue surrounded Naruto's eyes. Is he in… sage mode? "Naruto?" the startled girl gasped.
The future Hokage's toad-like eyes shot open.
Come on… hurry up! Naruto thought as he heard his comrades fighting Madara. Almost there… almost there…
"Naruto?" he heard Sakura gasp.
His eyes shot open, and he couldn't resist the blush this time as his sight now confirmed where Sakura had his head. He reluctantly pulled himself from the clutches of his favorite cherry blossom.
"Naruto… you're alive! Naruto I'm so…"
"I know Sakura. We'll talk later, for now I have something I need to do." The former jinchuriki softly said, smiling into her eyes. He took out a three-pronged kunai and put it in her hands.
"Hang onto this." He whispered before standing and facing Madara.
"So… like mother like son eh? No matter, you're too weak to beat me now."
"I don't know what you're talking about Uchiha. But this… ENDS NOW!" Naruto yelled as he withdrew 6 three pronged kunai and tossed them in seemingly random directions. He then pulled out another one of his father's kunai and ran forward.
"Don't think just because you beat Pain means that you can hold a candle to me boy." He teleported in front of Naruto. The former jinchuriki threw his father's kunai at the ancient Uchiha, which phased right throw. Madara's hand landed on Naruto's shoulder. As Naruto felt himself getting pulled he hirashined to the kunai he had just thrown.
He turned around and again stared Madara down. "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." He calmly called out, as Naruto clones formed a ring around the two. The clones all pulled out three-pronged kunais. "Let's see you handle this!" Kunais began flying in the clone ring and Naruto flashed randomly from kunai to kunai.
Madara simply sat still observing the young sage, as the kunais phased through him. Very impressive Naruto. But this won't work on me. The Uchiha thought before teleporting out of the clone ring.
Damnit. Naruto thought as he dispelled the clone ring. I was hoping his arrogance would cause him to stay in the ring a little longer buying dad more time to seal the Kyubi back into me. Maybe I can catch him by surprise with the frog kumite. Now to wait for him to make his move…
Naruto didn't have to wait long as Madara appeared behind him, with his sage enhanced senses Naruto was ready. He quickly turned around striking at Madara with the frog kumite as Madara's hand neared the former jinchuriki's body.
Naruto's blow connected, sending the startled Uchiha sprawling backwards. The former Kyubi container threw a three-pronged kunai to follow Madara, and used the hirashin to instantly appear by Madara with a giant rasengan in his hand.
"Senpo: Odama Rasengan!" the blonde yelled hoping to end the ancient Uchiha. Much to the young sage's dismay the attack phased through Madara, who teleported away to get away from the ensuing explosion.
"Impressive Naruto. I haven't taken a blow since your father managed to hit me with a rasengan 16 years ago. You should be proud."
Naruto's toad-slit yellow eyes were locked onto Madara's sharingan and rinnegan eyes. The yondaime's legacy stood completely still, drawing in nature chakra. Damnit, I can't stay in sage mode much longer, and he hasn't even used the rinnegan yet. He's toying with me…
"But every action has a consequence Naruto. You landing a blow on me has forced me to take this fight more serious." The ancient Uchiha said as releasing the long chain that connected his two cuffs. Madara charged at Naruto. As the Uchiha reached him, Naruto tried to strike him with another frog kumite but simply phased through the masked man.
"Kuso!" Naruto muttered as Madara's chains wrapped around him.
"YOU'RE FINISHED!" Madara pulled the bound Naruto to him, ready to send the blonde boy to another dimension. His hand fell upon the former jinchuriki's head and he sucked the boy into another dimension.
"No…. NARUTOOOO!" Sakura screamed, tears streaming down her eyes.
Having just eliminated the biggest threat to his plans, Madara again began laughing as he turned towards the pink-haired kunoichi.
"Don't be so sad! Here, I'll let you join him. See? I'm not such a bad guy after all!" Madara said in a sweet tone. "Consider this my thanks to you for killing Sasuke for me."
Sakura watched in awe as Naruto flashed about.
He really is amazing. She beamed at him. The kunoichi was still getting over the shock of him suddenly coming back to life. The sudden warmth his body began emitting had felt so good. A small blush adorned her face as she thought of where she had been pressing Naruto's face when he came to.
No, I can't think about this right now, I need to watch this fight. I almost lost Naruto once, I'm not going to lose him again.
A proud smile covered Sakura's face as Madara bounced backwards from Naruto's strike. He managed to hit him! Naruto flashed above Madara with a giant rasengan in his hand.
"Senpo: Oodama Rasengan!" The giant rasengan caused a large explosion as it hit. Did… he win? Sakura frowned as she spotted Madara, who appeared relatively unharmed.
"Impressive Naruto. I haven't taken a blow since your father managed to hit me with a rasengan 16 years ago. You should be proud. But every action has a consequence Naruto. You landing a blow on me has forced me to take this fight more seriously." Madara released a long chain that connected the two cuffs on his wrist.
The ancient Uchiha charged her knucklehead, who's counterattack phased through Madara.
"YOU'RE FINISHED!" Madara yelled as his chains binded Naruto. He pulled the bound boy towards him…
No… this can't be happening. Naruto can't lose like this… I just got him back… Sakura's panicked mind thought.
Madara placed his hand on Naruto's head…
No, please kami no! Tears began pouring from Sakura's emerald eyes.
She watched in horror as Naruto was sucked into another dimension.
"No… NARUTOOOO!" Sakura screamed as tears continued to pour from her eyes. That… BASTARD!
Madara began laughing as he turned to Sakura. "Don't be so sad!"
Sakura felt a strange pull, confused, looked to her left to see Kakashi.
"Ah. I was wondering why he just sat here next to me when he substituted himself with a kage bunshin. Very clever Naruto." Her sensei muttered, calming down his pink-haired student.
He's still alive… Thank kami.
Sakura followed her sensei's line of sight to stare Madara's back as he approached what she assumed was Naruto henged into her form.
"Here I'll let you join him!" Madara continued, unaware of the substitution jutsu that just took place, his sweet tone made Sakura's stomach sick. "See? I'm not such a bad guy after all! Consider this my thanks to you for killing Sasuke for me."
Sakura clenched her fist as Madara came closer. The Uchiha's hand slowly reached towards henged Naruto, who suddenly whipped out a three-pronged kunai.
This is too much fun thought Madara as he slowly reached his hand toward the pink-haired girl. He couldn't hold back his small gasp when she suddenly whipped a three-pronged kunai at him, disappeared in a puff of smoke, and was replaced by Naruto with a strange looking rasengan in hand.
The large orb had small mini orbs rotating around it as electrons, protons and neutrons would rotate around an atom. The boy disappeared in a flash, using the hirashin to teleport to the kunai that was now phasing through Madara's head.
"FUTON: GENSHI RASENGAN!" the sage yelled, slamming the strange looking rasengan into the ancient Uchiha. Madara gasped in pain as he felt the smaller rasengans orbiting the main ball tear into his flesh in every random direction, as the main ball began ripping away at his shoulder. Before the attack could kill him, Madara teleported away. The ball and its rotating satellites crashed into the ground in a giant explosion of energy. As the dust cleared, Naruto walked from the large crater he had just created.
A fuming Madara was staring at Naruto, as blood dripped from his body. He had gotten away before any serious damage could be dealt. "You… BRAT!" Naruto was suddenly rocketed backwards as Madara began using the rinnegan.
Slamming into the wall, Naruto could no longer maintain his sage mode. Damnit, now he's using the rinnegan and I can't use sage mode. How am I supposed to beat him now?
Before Naruto could think of anything else, Madara used his rinnegan to pull the former jinchuriki. This time I won't suck a kage bunshin into another dimension… This is the actual one! Madara thought with a vicious smirk. The Uzumaki disappeared before he could reach Madara using hirashin.
"You shouldn't make it so difficult for me Naruto-kun." The Uchiha called in a sickeningly sweet tone as his eyes scanned the room. "I might get bored with you…" the Uchiha's eyes scanned finally finding what he had been looking for. The real Sakura stood next to Kakashi. "And move onto someone else!" as the words left his lips, he used the rinnegan to pull Sakura towards him.
"NOO!" Naruto yelled, blurring to her just as Madara's hand neared her. He shoved her out of the way, but could not react fast enough as he felt Madara's hand on his shoulder. He tried to use the hirashin, but he had exhausted too much chakra.
Damnit… the jinchuriki thought. Suddenly he disappeared in a golden flash.
"What? No… that's impossible. You should be in the shinigami's belly! How you are you here?"
The Yondaime put Naruto down as he turned to face Madara with a smile. "Let's just say there's a reason everyone called me a genius." Turning back to his son he whispered, "Sorry I'm late. I see that you managed to land a blow, good job!"
"Sensei?" Kakashi gasped.
Minato's eyes met Kakashi's eyes, and Kakashi was greeted with a smile he hadn't seen in 16 years. "Hello Kakashi, it's good to see you again. Thanks for looking after my son." He looked at the rest of the shinobi gathered.
"I would also like to thank you all for coming for Naruto, but we don't have time to chat. We've got work to do. Ready Naruto?" The former Hokage said as he sent a soft smile to his son.
"Ready as I'll ever be dad. Let's get this over with."
"I have to warn you, this is going to hurt, so prepare yourself."
"I'm ready." At his son's words, Minato threw one of his trademarked kunai at the eye that had opened upon Naruto's extraction and instantly flashed to it. Before starting he looked at Sakura.
"Sakura, I believe you can use chakra chains correct?"
"Umm… hai" the shocked pinkette sputtered out.
"Good, get ready, we're going to need them." The girl nodded and ate a couple of soldier pills to replenish her chakra. She eyed Madara, figuring her love's father wanted him restrained.
Madara however just sat there, in a state of shock. Never in a million years could he have prepared for this. The man who gave him his second greatest fight, next to the shodai Hokage, had defied death and returned. He desperately tried to kick start his brain from the shock.
Minato began forming a complex series of hand signs while mumbling something intelligible to everyone else in the room. As he finished, he slammed his hand against the eye. A burst of red light exploded out of it, and a sinister chakra filled the room. The older Konoha shinobi instantly recognized it.
As the smoke cleared, the Kyubi no Yoko stood before them. "SAKURA, NOW!" the dead Hokage yelled.
Sakura wrapped her chakra chains around the Kyubi, attempting to restrain it. Everyone except Minato stared at the pink-haired girl in shock.
"Yondaime…" Sakura grunted as she struggled to restrain the Kyubi. "I'm not going to be able to hold it down for long!"
Zetsu appeared suddenly appeared behind the girl intending to strike her down. Instead he was wrapped in sand and crushed in Gaara's sand coffin. Sakura shuddered as she felt Zetsu's blood spatter against her back, but remained focused on restraining the Kyubi.
Madara snapped out of his shock as the Yondaime flashed to his son and put the eight trigrams seal on the boy. Madara teleported behind Minato but was forced to jump back to dodge a raikiri from Kakashi.
Minato flashed through more handsigns and again muttered something unintelligible, causing Naruto's seal to begin glowing.
"DAMN YOU MINATOOOOOO!" the Kyubi roared as it managed to break out of Sakura's chains. But the Kyubi had escaped to late, it began getting sucked into Naruto's body. Naruto's screams of pain echoed throughout the cavern as he again became the jinchuriki of the mighty Kyubi.
As the last of the Kyubi was sucked into Naruto's body, the jinchuriki fell forward unconscious. Before he could hit the ground, his father caught him with a sad, yet proud smile.
"Good job Naruto." The Yondaime whispered in a soft voice.
"DAMN YOU MINATO! Do you really think this is going to make a difference? I can just summon another King of Hell statue and rip the Kyubi from your son again! THEN I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!" Madara yelled in a cold, furious voice.
"Sorry Madara, not today." Came Minato's calm reply. He turned to his son's rescuing party. Everyone link together, we're going now."
"Don't think I'm going to let you escape Minato!" Madara screeched running forward. Minato's sapphire blue eyes met Madara's sharingan and rinnegan eyes, just before the group disappeared in a flash.
Naruto sat ontop of the Hokage monument in Konoha. Smiling he looked down at the village. Everyone was so happy, everything was so peaceful. The jinchuriki was grateful to have finally received their acknowledgement. He finally had precious people, a group of great friends, and the love of the woman of his dreams. The blonde let out a happy sigh as he leaned back and stared into the sky.
The future Hokage was brought out of his cloud watching as a terrified scream came from the streets below. Flinging a three-pronged kunai towards the scream, he flashed down to the village. Konoha's streets were on fire, and enemy nin were slaughtering the villagers.
"Looks like you failed… Naruto." Naruto turned around and gasped, "Sasuke?"
"All that talk of becoming more powerful because you had someone to protect... look where that's gotten you and your "precious people. You should've followed my path. You should've used your anger at the villagers to reach a whole new level of power. You would've been able to beat Madara if you had.""
"Stop talking like it's too late. I'm going to beat Madara and protect this world!" the blonde growled.
"It is too late dobe. How can you expect to beat Madara if you couldn't even save me?"
"I WILL save you Sasuke, I WILL defeat Madara, and I WILL become Hokage."
A cruel laughter sounded behind him, and Naruto turned around just in time to see Madara suck Sakura into another dimension.
"SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAAAAN!" Naruto screamed as he rushed the ancient Uchiha. His attacks simply phased through the laughing Uchiha.
"Ah Naruto, so nice of you to find me. I was just about to come and take my Kyubi back!"
Naruto fell to the ground, writhing in pain as Madara simply pointed at his seal.
Suddenly the scent of cherry blossoms reached Naruto's nose, and cherry blossoms filled his entire vision. He felt a warm, familiar pair of arms wrap themselves around him.
"It's ok Naruto. Everything will be ok. I love you."
Naruto's rescue team was shocked when they suddenly appeared in an old house. From the looks of the place, no one had been there for years.
"What happened?" Sakura asked.
"I teleported us all back to Konoha. I had one of my kunai in our house." Minato said, as he gently laid his son down.
"Is he going to be ok?" a worried Sakura questioned.
"Yea, Naruto will be fine. He just passed out from pain." A look of relief flooded Sakura's face, as she sat down and laid Naruto's head in her lap. A small smile adorned the Yondaime's face as he watched Sakura gently play with his son's hair.
"Thank you everyone, for everything you have done for my son. I don't want to be rude, but using the hirashin to travel such a distance, and with so many people, has nearly drained me of all my strength. I don't have much time left, I would like to be left alone with my son, Sakura, and Kakashi if you don't mind."
The shinobi all nodded, leaving the house after thanking Minato for everything.
"Sensei… I'm sorry." Kakashi said as the last person left the house. Sakura curiously looked up at the two men while still playing with her knucklehead's hair.
"Why are you apologizing Kakashi? I was just about to thank you." Minato replied with a smile on his face.
"No, I need to apologize. Your son had a very rough childhood, I should've looked out for him more. That was the first time I failed him. I failed him again when I let Sasuke break him, and take him to the Akatsuki. I'm so sorry." To both Sakura and Kakashi's surprise the Yondaime began laughing and scratched the back of his head.
"Geez, you're actually blaming yourself for all of that? I've watched Naruto his entire life Kakashi. I know you did what you could to help him. I didn't see what Sasuke did to Naruto, but I do know that there was nothing you could have done to stop it. Stop thinking of yourself as a failure. Thanks to your training, my son has become a powerful and noble man, and you are a precious person to him. So as I was about to say earlier, thank you."
Then Sakura saw something she never thought she would see, a single tear drop slid down Kakashi's eye. "You're welcome sensei… and thank you."
The moment was interrupted as Naruto began thrashing about and started mumbling something. Sakura quickly formed hand signs and placed her hand on Naruto's head. "Yume-no Sakura Jutsu." Naruto calmed down, and a smile appeared on his previously distraught face.
"That's some genjutsu you created there Sakura." Minato said, smiling warmly at the girl as Sakura blushed.
"Thank you Hokage-sama." Sakura quickly replied.
"Hokage-sama? Oh no, not you too." Minato groaned, causing Kakashi to chuckle. Sakura looked at her sensei with a confused look.
"Sensei never was a fan of being called "Hokage-sama" he insisted that everyone continue calling him Minato. Kushina however refused, much to sensei's displeasure and would keep calling him Hokage-sama every now and again." Kakashi's smile was visible even through his mask.
"I haven't been the Hokage for 16 years now and she STILL calls me Hokage-sama from time to time." The legendary Yondaime Hokage complained, causing Sakura to laugh. "Just call me Minato ok? We're family." Minato smiled as he yet again caused Sakura to blush.
"I'm glad you were the one he fell for Sakura. You're a good woman, and I will be proud to call you my daughter-in-law."
"Thank you Hoka…Minato." Sakura replied with a smile as tears gathered at the corner of her eyes.
"Now Sakura if you don't mind, could you wake Naruto? I don't have much time and I would like to say goodbye before I go." Sakura nodded. Minato watched her, curious to see what brilliant technique she had invented to wake Naruto up, after seeing her Yume-no Sakura Jutsu in person.
Sakura leaned in close to Naruto's ear. "NARUTOOOOOOOO! GET UP!"
The Yondaime sweat dropped. She really is similar to Kushina.
Naruto shot up. "Wha? What's going on? Sakura-chan? Where are…" he was silenced as Sakura put a finger on his lips.
"Stop asking questions, your dad wants to say goodbye!"
"Dad… you're leaving?" Naruto softly asked as his eyes went to the floor.
"Yep, the technique I used to get here is almost out. I want you to know, this is the absolute last time that myself, your mother or Jiraiya sensei will ever be able to directly help you on Earth. But that doesn't mean that we won't be watching you. I know you'll do great Naruto, I'm proud of you." Minato wrapped his son in a hug.
Tears fell from Sakura's eyes as she watched the touching moment.
Minato's hand started to become transparent. "It looks like it's time for me to go now."
Tears streamed down Naruto's face. "I love you Dad." The jinchuriki whispered.
His father smiled warmly at him. "I love you too son."
"Take care Kakashi, and thanks again. Sakura, take care of my son. Goodbye and good luck Naruto."
With those words, the Yondaime faded away as his son continued to spill tears.
"Thanks dad." Naurto whispered.
Whew! 5,628 words. Anywho... I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know having Minato suddenly show up on Earth and all that is a bit of a stretch, but hey, it needed to be done.
I would also like to thank DanddoSerri for the suggestion of Kakashi copying the technique Granny Chiyo used to revive Gaara with his sharingan. Neat idea, thanks again Danddo!
I'm going to take a slight break from this story and work on a NaruSaku fluffy Christmas oneshot since I've finally managed to end a chapter without a cliffhanger! Now don't worry, when I say "take a break from this story" I don't mean ignore the story for a couple of months and then come back to it. Nothing like that, I expect I'll have this story finished by the end of this year (only 2 more chapters to go after all!) I've just been pushing updates out so quickly. I would say I'll return to it in a week or two and finish it.
Also one last note, I don't think I'm going to have Madara and Naruto fight for real in this fic. I want to wait and see how Kishimoto has Madara fight with his fan and rinnegan eye, I'm also curious to see how Naruto fights now that he can harness the Kyubi's power.
The new rasengan that Naruto used translates to "Atomic Rasengan" if anyone's interested, there really weren't that many jutsus this chapter so no jutsu list.
Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next chapter!