A/N: I want to thank my beta readers for being completely awesome. You know who are, you clever minxes X3. This story would not be possible (I should say grammatically correct…T_T) without your wonderful brains.
"You'll be following us, now."
Both Sakura and Naruto released their hold on the faux forms and drew their weapons.
"I thought the ninja of Konoha were smarter than this? You're in the middle of enemy territory, surrounded by rogue-nin." Haruka's smile was smug; thinking victory was his.
"Rule number one in the ninja academy: never underestimate your opponent," Naruto said, his lips curling into a snarl. He flicked his hand and a kunai flew towards Haruka. The shinobi dodged the attack, but failed to see a certain pink haired kunoichi leap from behind her teammate. Sakura cracked her fist across Haruka's jaw line and was quick to follow the hit. This time, she brought her leg up to his ribs, and heard a satisfying crunch. Even if he had someone heal his wounds from the last time she fought him, his muscles and bones would still be bruised. She wanted to see this bastard cry.
"Sakura-chan! Behind you!"
The woman had just enough time to see Naruto jump to her side to block several shuriken that could have very well killed her. Goru was obviously not just skilled with his nostrils. Sakura grabbed a kunai and quickly tackled Haruka, slamming his body to the ground and holding the weapon to his throat. She turned to see Naruto flailing about from the top of Goru's shoulders, the Uzumaki's arms wrapped in a vice-like grip around the man's thick throat. This was too easy.
"Where's Tama?" Sakura growled towards Haruka, her hand forcing the weapon dangerously close to the shinobi's jugular.
"Tama?" The man's dark eyes widened in surprise. "You two are here for her?" He immediately began to chuckle, causing the kunoichi's blade to cut into his skin slightly, but the man didn't show any signs of discomfort. What the hell was he laughing about?
"Just shut up and tell me where she is or I'll resort to finishing what I left undone this morning." Sakura clenched his throat with her hand as she aimed the tip of her kunai directly towards his genitalia. Her blood was boiling with rage. If he didn't tell her where Tama was, she would have no qualms with removing his manhood.
"Tsk, tsk. Now we won't be having any of that here, Ms. Haruno."
Sakura turned the slightest angle so as to keep Haruka in her sights, but just enough to take in the new enemy. His portly figure was accentuated by his rather short stature. Sakura was easily this man's height, maybe even taller. The stranger's skin had a pasty pale tone and his fingers were weighed down with an insane amount of jewelry. His eyes were dark, but the kunoichi wasn't sure if they were exactly brown. There was something completely off about those eyes. With all the uneasy confusion that this man brought about, there was one thing she was sure about: This was the man they were looking for.
"Boss, the pretty kunoichi smells like cherry blossoms and honey."
The Collector nodded towards his subordinate. "Yes, she does indeed." He took a moment to adjust one of the rings on his thick fingers. "Sakura, why don't you put your kunai down? And Naruto, I would appreciate it if you would let go of Goru's neck. I'm sure that is hurting you more than it is hurting him."
What is this man playing at?
Even as she heard the remaining rogue-nins that occupied the cafeteria now surround them, Sakura made no move to withdraw her weapons. And she was damn sure Naruto could hold onto that big lug's neck all night if he had to. This bastard was trying to play the friend card. Her green eyes scanned the collecting group of shinobi; most of them seemed below her level and were definitely a far cry from Naruto's status. Sakura growled and pressed one of her blades into the man's neck. She could feel Haruka's pulse quicken. He'd better be scared. The kunoichi was in no mood to play any games.
"There's no fucking way I'm letting this asshole go." Naruto's voice barked from behind her, a reassuring sound that had her mind untangle the knot it had made. Her own sense of defiance grew with his and she looked directly into the Collector's eyes and saw that they were not a brown at all; but a deep, dark, menacing red; an all too familiar color for the kunoichi.
"I will ask you this one more time. Put the weapons down."
No one moved.
"No? Well, then. Maybe you'll listen to your friend-" he said with a sick smile on his face as he turned his head slightly, "My little minx, why don't you try and persuade these trespassers?"
Sakura could feel the shinobi below her shake with laughter.
"L-let them go, Sakura."
WHAT?
"Tama?!" Sakura jumped up immediately and began to run towards the woman.
"Sakura-chan, stop! She's on their side!" Sakura heard the Uzumaki's voice call out to her. She froze in her tracks, her eyes shifting back and forth between that large, ugly man, and her new friend. The look on the gypsy's face could only be described as utter guilt. The older woman wouldn't even look at Sakura. On their side? How can that be possible? The kunoichi kept her eyes locked onto her friend, her hands losing the grip on the handles of the kunai. Her world was unraveling at the seams.
This was the woman who basically gave her the push to find her feelings towards Naruto. This was the same woman who helped her throughout her later months of pregnancy. The woman who delivered her child!
"Well done, Tama." The Collector gently pulled on a long lock of Tama's dark hair and caressed it gently across his face. "As always." His brooding eyes flickered open to look over to Naruto.
"Since your teammate here has decided to let her captive go, why don't you follow suit?"
There was a short silence that broke into the night. Sakura was finding it all too hard to breathe now. So many lies had consumed her, and had weaved into the fabric of her life. In the end, would she be able to untangle herself from this web? Tama shifted her weight to stand away from her master and turned her eyes even further away from the kunoichi.
A low growl rumbled from next to Sakura as she felt that familiar presence of the Uzumaki. She tore her eyes away from Tama and looked to Naruto, unsure of just what was going on. He turned to her, and she could tell he was just as shocked as she was. Sakura brought her gaze back towards the head man and the traitor.
"B-but…this can't-" she said.
"Oh? Are you confused, Sakura? Not quite sure why the woman you have come to befriend, had all along been your enemy?" The man reached out quickly and took Tama by her neck, digging his thumb into her. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he watched her gasp for air and then threw her to the ground without a second thought. Sakura moved to help her but Haruka and Goru made to move in front of the fallen woman. Naruto took her by the hand and pulled her back, a snarl emitting from his mouth towards the two men.
"I own her." The Collector's eyes shined happily. "Every hair on her body and every drop of blood that flows through her veins belong to me. She was merely a pawn in my all too flawless plan."
"She is not property to be owned!" The pink haired woman's temper raged like a wildfire. She could feel her chakra pulsing through her, itching to be used. Those pair of red eyes ravaged her, scanning her body as if she were some piece of meat.
"My, my… Tama was right about you. You have quite the reserve of chakra in you, Ms. Haruno. I'm sure that your children, too, will have such delicious amounts." He turned to Naruto and let his eyes roam the young man's body. "And I'm quite sure the child of the Jinchuuriki will be just as powerful."
Sakura's skin felt like ice. The smile that came across this man's face looked brazenly confident. The portly man took a deep breath and stepped over towards the two. Sakura felt Naruto release her hand from his tightening clutch.
"And what was your plan, you bastard? To lure me into your headquarters? Why keep me on the run? You could have had me in your stupid prison months ago."
The Collector looked to Naruto and began to mindlessly fiddle with one of the rings on his fingers. "I suppose the Uchiha and that so called genius Nara thought they had figured my plan out, am I right? I was collecting rare items such as the Copy Nin, and wanted to add Naruto Uzumaki to my little treasures? And moved my headquarters around so that they would not find me?"
Sakura and Naruto gasped. How much did he know about them?
"Boss! You don't have to tell 'em a damn thing!" Haruka glared, his eyes locking mainly onto Sakura.
"Well," the man continued, ignoring the warning words, "They were only partially right. The reason I didn't capture you four months ago was because that would've been too soon. Granted that this situation happened somewhat early, but I'm a man of preparation. Does that answer your question?"
The wheels in Sakura's head were spinning at insane revolution. He knew Naruto was following his men, and was keeping him occupied. But why? He knew from the start about Shika, Sasuke and Naruto, so why not wipe them out and take the Jinchuuriki?
"Haruka," he said, "how long do you think it takes to reach the fair village of Konoha?"
"Two days if I leave now, sir."
"Two days? Well that just won't do. I need him in an hour. Tama? I'm sure my little minx can concoct something to speed my fastest shinobi's pace up. Well, second fastest shinobi, thanks to Sakura here. She went ahead and killed Ichiru." He idly played with the rings on his fingers once more. "Tama. Answer me."
Tama looked over to Sakura, and the kunoichi saw something that could only be described as pure fear. "Y-yes…"
"Then get to it. I want Haruka out of here in one minute. I'm getting hungry…"
"What do you want with Konoha?!"
"There is no need for shouting, Sakura. I am right in front of you." The Collector moved his hand and flicked it towards the surrounding men. They instantly began to return to the Cafeteria near the weapons bungalow.
"Very well. I suppose there is no harm in telling you of my marvelous and flawless plan now that the ending is inevitable. As you know by now, my powers have an unfortunate time limit-"
"Boss!"
"Haruka, may I remind you that you should be gone within the next," he said, looking at his watch, "thirty seconds?"
The shinobi and the woman took off immediately.
"Now, as I was saying...My powers have a time limit. And I feed upon others chakra to maintain my own levels. If they were infinite, I would be able to control the most powerful being known to this world- the Jinchuuriki known as Naruto Uzumaki. As we all know, every organization from Hell to high waters has been vying for possession of the Jinchuuriki Naruto since the day he was cursed with the Kyuubi. I, myself, being a rather smart man have never been one to risk my own hide in some stupid war against those like the Akatsuki. But since they were demolished by no one other than the little Uchiha brat, my problems were solved. I was now able to put my plan into action. I would control the Kyuubi."
"No one can control the Kyuubi."
"Unless, my pretty kunoichi, you have powers such as I have. I needed a stable, yet powerful chakra to consume. The type of chakra I need to eat must be one similar to the Kyuubi container himself. Say…a relative."
To her side, Sakura could feel Naruto's chakra pulsing out of his body in his rising emotions. He was absolutely livid. However, Sakura felt her blood run cold. His words were driving too close to home.
"I investigated every little detail about Naruto; starting from his shoe size all the way to his frequent routine of walking by the Konoha Hospital to catch a glimpse of a certain pink haired woman."
Eh?
"SHUT UP! So you were stalking me! What the hell do you want with Konoha now that you have me?!" Naruto screamed at the man. Sakura was completely baffled with this enemy's plans, but couldn't hide the blush that came across her cheeks at the thought of Naruto stealing glances of her at work.
"Were you not listening? I need the chakra of your relative to control the beast within you. Really now, it's not that hard to grasp."
"I don't have any relatives, you asshole. They're all dead." Sakura looked to Naruto, her stomach twisting in a torrent of knots. The shinobi clenched his jaw, obviously trying to tame the fiery anger that this man was fueling.
"Why, Sakura, you haven't told him?" A sick smile spread across the Collector's face and his red eyes glinted in the moonlight. The kunoichi looked down to the ground, not believing that she was in this situation. There could be no possible way to get out of this. Sakura opened her mouth, but her throat felt dry and parched. She couldn't muster the words that her friend deserved to hear for so long.
He has a family to call his own.
"What are you talking about you bastard?" Sakura jumped slightly at the bark of Naruto's voice and looked towards him. It might be the trick of the light, but the kunoichi swore that she could see the slightest shade of red in the Uzumaki's eyes.
"Think about it, Naruto-kun. You took your beloved cherry blossom to bed that first night of your escort mission to the Port. What normally happens when a man and a woman make love? Certainly Konoha teaches their children about sex and babies."
The look that came upon the shinobi's face was something that Sakura couldn't describe. His brow furrowed and color in his eyes started to swirl. His face contorted between so many emotions, Sakura couldn't keep up with him. But no matter what, Sakura didn't look away. She refused to turn away from him now that he finally found out the truth. No matter how he would react, she would face him head on. He deserved that much after all he had done for her.
"Naruto," she said in a hoarse whisper. But she was interrupted.
"When I came across Sakura Haruno," Their enemy continued, and Sakura finally drew her eyes away from the Uzumaki to look at the rogue-nin leader. "I was indeed intrigued. She had an outstanding amount of chakra and such a skillful control over it as well. I finally knew that I had found the answer to my little problem. I first intended to use Tama as the carrier, but it was all too simple once you led me to your precious one, Naruto. And who better to give birth to the child of the Jinchuuriki than the Hokage's apprentice?"
No, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen…
"Tama fed Sakura that illustrious fruit and it was all too easy from there. And with such massive amount of chakra herself, I'm sure that when your seed would mix with her egg, something oh-so-powerful would come to fruition-no pun intended. And I was right wasn't I? Although little Toru didn't have the chakra of the demon fox, he had what I'd like to call an eternal well. A reserve of chakra that runs so deep, that he has limitless potential should he grow and become a shinobi. But too bad for him that he is exactly what I need to consume in order to be rid of my power's handicap."
He's going to eat Toru's chakra and have complete control over Naruto and the Kyuubi!
"Then, Naruto, my boy, I can have you internally suffer as you help me take over this country and destroy what's left of your friends and newly made family. You will be imprisoned in your own body...Forever." The Collector turned to Sakura and smiled happily. "And you left your newborn son in the 'capable' hands of your dear friend Ino, am I right, Sakura?"
Sakura's heart stopped. Everything that had happened in her life from meeting Tama, right up till now, was of his doing. He was the puppet master, and indeed they have all been strung along quite flawlessly.
"Boss! The potion's done."
"Oh, nicely done, indeed! Tama, you're just in time for Sakura and Naruto to thank you for bringing about the demise of their newborn son and their country."
Tama looked over to Sakura, her dark eyes pooling with tears. "Sakura-chan…I…"
But Sakura wasn't paying attention to her. The kunoichi's green eyes were locked onto the sick sadistic bastard aliased The Collector. Sakura felt her body shake violently with hatred. She had never felt so much abhorrence towards one person in all of her life. She was going to kill him. No. She was going to slowly torture this bastard until he was screaming for mercy. She would cut away his body inch by inch starting with those stupid, fat, fingers and make him eat every fucking jewel he wore. He would pay.
"You can leave now, Haruka. There's nothing that these two can do."
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH TORU!" Sakura reached for her kunai and threw it at Haruka. But he was gone. All that was left was a blazing trail of fire that his feet left in their abnormal speed. He would indeed make it there before the hour. Sakura felt her stomach lurch. There was no way in Hell someone was going to touch her son. No way in Hell.
She needed to at least take this guy's army down. Sakura looked to the side to see the armor bungalow not too far from them, and on the door was the small white piece of parchment that she had left on the door for just this occasion. Sakura smirked and formed the seals with her hands in quick movements. Moments later a domino effect of an explosion boomed throughout the quad taking out the buildings alongside the weapons house. Those men inside didn't stand a chance.
"Hn. I didn't care for those men anyhow. My interests lie in the bigger fish." The big boss's eyes grazed casually over his destroyed headquarters. He wasn't fazed one little bit.
"Sakura-chan"
Damn. She knew this was coming.
"Naruto." Her voice was shaky, but she never felt more lucid in all of her life. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But right now my son's life is in danger. And whether you like it or not, he's your son too. And no matter what I do next, so help me God if you stop me from protecting him-" She stopped the moment she felt his warm hand grip hers tightly. She looked up to him to find his eyes concentrated onto her; they were dangerously turning towards the shade of red. Naruto was trying desperately to keep his demon at bay, but with all of this news coming at him at once, she didn't know how long he could control the Kyuubi that lay inside of him, biding his time before he could come thrashing through.
"Your chakra looks so scintillating whenever you get angry, Sakura. It's absolutely delicious. Since we'll be waiting for your son's arrival, why not we have some fun with you two? Say a little match between lovers? Now I want to save the best for last, so why not I try to tame a cherry blossom?" Sakura felt a tight grip around her body and looked up to see Goru viciously smiling down at her. The pink haired woman struggled fruitlessly against the massive shinobi. Even with her chakra increased strength, she couldn't budge.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto leapt at the man, but Goru knocked him against the nearest bungalow wall, leaving quite the crater in the metal shack. The Collector walked over towards Sakura, his pupils dilating and completely covering his blood-red irises and his sclera. The kunoichi turned her head away, knowing that if she looked into his eyes, she would lose control over her own body. But Goru grasped her head and forced her to face the man. Sakura snapped her eyes shut, determined to maintain control over her psyche.
"That will do you no good, my pretty kunoichi. I don't need to look into one's eyes to control them. I need to merely touch them once, and they are mine." Sakura snapped her eyes open and shook violently in Goru's grasp sinking her teeth into the man's arms, drawing blood. She couldn't let him control her body. There was no way!
"Hehe! That tickles!"
"Now stay still. This will only hurt infinitely."
"Don't you fucking touch her!" Sakura looked to see Naruto rise up from the ground, his eyes flaming red. Naruto clenched his fists and reached behind him for his weapons.
"One more move, boy, and I'll have Goru snap her like a twig." The Collector didn't take his eyes off of Sakura as he motioned towards his subordinate. Instantly Sakura felt the big lug's grip tighten harshly onto her body. Her face contorted in pain as she swallowed a scream. Any more pressure would reduce her bones to dust.
"You son of a bitch!"
"Naruto! Matte!" Tama ran over to the raging Uzumaki and Sakura saw through her blurry vision the gypsy's mouth moving rapidly. Naruto stilled, though his fury was still evident.
The kunoichi's green eyes flickered back to the man in front of her just in time to see him reach his hand out towards her face. His eyes were completely black now, concentrating onto her with such an intense focus. Sakura was waiting anxiously to feel the loss of her mental and physical control. Would it feel like just as her dream had shown her? But that was the chakra depletion…Would this be even more painful? Sakura's muscles tensed in anxiety and fear as the man placed his cold and heavy palm onto her cheek. Sakura gasped at the chill of his skin and the bastard grinned happily… for only a split second.
"How does it-WHAT?!" He snapped his hand away, glaring lividly at Sakura. He looked up and down her body and then focused his eyes intensely below her throat. He reached out and tore at her shirt, ripping it open. Sakura felt Goru's grip lessen significantly and she used all of her strength to knock her head back into the man's face. She heard a loud crack and a wounded cry as Goru realeased her, clutching his broken nose. Sakura pushed away from the man, turning her body, and she sent three kunai flying towards the muscled man. Each landed right in his throat and knocked him down dead. Sakura landed painfully onto the ground, knocking the wind right out of her lungs.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran over to Sakura and helped her to her feet. What was going on? Shouldn't she be a mindless drone now? Sakura grabbed tightly onto Naruto's shoulder as she began to catch her breath.
"You- but…how did you-?"
"So you think you've prepared for everything, you fat bastard?" Sakura looked towards Tama to find her standing beside the two teammates; her hands plopped firmly onto her hips and her eyes glowed with defiance.
"The stone-"
"That's right. You didn't think a Seer couldn't find the one handicap of the Mighty Shouta? You're even stupider than I thought." Tama growled and opened the ripped collar of Sakura's top, revealing the green necklace she had given her many months ago. "The Stone of Jizo. The god's purpose is to protect against evils like you. Your powers have absolutely no effect upon the wearer of this stone." Sakura clenched a fistful of Naruto's shirt in her hands. So Tama didn't betray them? She had, from the very beginning, protected her?
"You stupid whore! I'll-" Shouta was cut short with a punch to his pudgy face and was knocked to the ground. Tama growled and kicked him repeatedly.
"You killed my family, enslaved me and my entire village! You stole our earnings and to top it all off, you made me betray the one friend I have ever had!"
"What are you doing? I own you!" Shouta the Collector was shocked. That enough was obvious. Naruto and Sakura were at a loss for words as they watched their comrade furiously beat the man.
"What am I doing?! This is something you should be all too familiar with Shouta!" The woman slammed her knees into the man's chest, pinning him where he laid and pulled out a senbon from her mussed hair. Her breath was jagged, but her aim was true. She held the sharp weapon right above one of Shouta's eyes. "Revenge."
"Holy shit…" Naruto breathed as he clutched onto Sakura's arm.
"Sakura! Naruto! If you leave now you can still beat out Haruka! I only gave him enough to make it half way there! Here, take this!-" Tama reached into a pouch behind her and tossed a bottle of dark liquid to the two. "It's only enough to get you part of the way there, but it should help you catch up! Go now!"
"But…" Sakura was torn. Such a big part of her wanted to stay here and kill the bastard for doing all of this to her family and friends. But the biggest part of her wanted to protect her child. Sakura turned to look at the Uzumaki and found him looking to the ground, his brow furrowed in thought. He took a deep breath and exhaled harshly. He was never one to leave a mission incomplete. Sakura pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and turned away from Naruto. If he didn't want to save his son, then fine. Sakura would go.
"Tama-chan." Sakura froze at the sound of his voice. "We'll be back. So you better save some of this bastard to kick around."
The kunoichi felt her heart swell at the thought of having Naruto with her to protect their son. She was such an idiot sometimes! How could she doubt that Naruto would come to protect his family? Sakura turned back to Naruto and pulled the cork from the bottle. The concoction's smell turned her stomach, but she plugged her nose and took a big gulp. It tasted like spoiled ramen and curdled milk. She handed the bottle to Naruto and he chugged the rest of the contents, his face instantly turning blue.
"Expert potion maker, terrible cook." He growled, his hand covering his mouth to force the drink down. He threw the bottle to the ground, shattering the container to pieces.
The potion began to work its magic. Sakura felt her blood boiling, and her heart pounding as it sent blood cells racing throughout her muscles. Her adrenaline was pumping and she felt like she could run the course of the Earth in minutes. The kunoichi grabbed her teammates hand and looked into his swirl of blue and red eyes. Naruto's chest was moving rapidly with his quick, rhythmic breathing.
Sakura took one more look at Tama and the gypsy woman nodded in knowing. The kunoichi turned back to the blond shinobi.
"Let's go!"
Trails of fire were left in their tracks.
It took them only twenty minutes before they could both pick up his scent. But it didn't matter, for all they had to do was follow the burning trail his feet left behind. Sakura and Naruto had indeed covered almost two days length run in under an hour. But Haruka's trail was drawing dangerously closer to Konoha than either of them expected. The potion must have been of a higher concentration than what Tama had explained. Sakura's muscles felt absolutely normal going at this insane speed. She couldn't even fathom how fast they were running. But would it be fast enough to beat out Haruka? They were merely miles from the Gates of Konoha.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto called out, his voice rough, "I want you to answer my question."
"Naruto, I don't know if this is the right time…"
"When is it ever going to be the right time, Sakura-chan? There's always going to be something that will stand in our way, whether it's a mission or your hospital work. And I'm sick of all these stupid things that keep us from talking. I want you to answer me truthfully."
Sakura looked ahead, trying to keep her mind focused on the task at hand. But Naruto was right. Kami, the stupid idiot was right. And it made Sakura want to cry.
"Okay, baka."
Naruto was silent for a moment, leaving only the sound of the blurring wind and roar of the passing trees between them. Finally the shinobi spoke.
"Even if it's the smallest bit, no matter how tiny and completely insignificant…is there even a small part of you that loves me?"
Sakura's heart clenched tightly and she could feel her breath hitch despite the rapid flow of air she was processing. From those very lips came the question that so many people before had asked her. Does she love him? Her mind and heart had been plagued with her mixed feelings for so long, but now that she had found her answer, she was surprised that she couldn't come to a conclusion sooner. Because of their rapid speed, their was no possible way she could take her eyes off of her course to look at him, so she would have to deal with just saying the words for now. She could feel a blush come over her face as she finally began to say those long awaited words.
"Naruto, I lo-"
"Shit. There he is!"
What?
Sakura angrily looked around and sure enough, a mere few hundred yards ahead was Haruka. He had now slowed down to a regular human pace of running. Sakura knew that if he was out of the potion's power, than she and Naruto didn't have long either. She pushed her body for all it was worth in order to close the gap between them, and Naruto followed suit. Inside she screamed obscenities.
Her confession would have to wait.
Haruka was just one hundred yards away now, and Sakura could feel the effects of the concoction wearing off. She pushed her body even more to reach him. Just as the two shinobi came into the man's perimeters, Haruka spun around and released several senbon at the Konoha shinobi. Sakura dropped to the ground and rolled out of the weapons' paths, and Naruto flew over the senbon that came his way. The orange clad shinobi jumped right back up and tackled Haruka to the ground, digging a kunai into the enemy's shoulder.
"Your run ends here, asshole!"
"Oh but I so wanted to play around with that bouncing baby boy of yours, Jinchuuriki. And once I've delivered that little brat," Haruka turned to look towards Sakura, a sick smile on his face. "I'm gonna give that blossom the time of her life." He spat into Naruto's face and laughed manically and pushed the Uzumaki off of him. Sakura rushed over to Naruto, but he grabbed her hand, stilling her. The blond stood up, his eyes flaming red.
"No one touches Sakura," he said in a darkened tone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Jinchuuriki. But I don't give a flying fuck. No one touches Haruka. So once I hand that kid over to my boss, I'm gonna take her and then skin her pretty fair flesh from her body. And hang her corpse to dry like jerky."
Sakura felt like tearing this man's throat out. She reached for her kunai and looked up to find Naruto clutching Haruka by his throat. "My name is not Jinchuuriki." The blond shinobi shouted into Haruka's ear before throwing him to the ground. "And don't you EVER touch my family!" Fists went flying as Naruto pummeled Haruka with repeated blows.
Sakura's body was numb with shock, watching as he continuously beat the shinobi to a bloody mess. The medic-nin could already tell that Haruka would never be able to see out of his right eye ever again. And from the looks of it, his legs would not be moving anytime soon. But none of this mattered- she didn't feel anything but a rush of blood to her head as she processed Naruto's words.
My family
"Naruto…" Sakura walked over to the fighting shinobi and touched the blond's shoulder. "Naruto, that's enough." As much as Sakura wanted to torture this man to a quivering mess (which he was practically already at), they needed to get going. Whether it was to Konoha or back to Tama, they needed to go.
"No! This bastard is gonna get it!" Naruto swung at him, his body shaking with anger. He wasn't going to stop. Sakura bit her lip, her mind racing through her options. But she knew there was no other way around this. The kunoichi reached behind her and drew one of her kunai. Sakura took aim and threw it deep into Haruka's throat, killing him. But Naruto continued to relentlessly beat him.
"Naruto, what the hell are you doing? He's dead!" Sakura grabbed hold of him, securing her arms around him in a tight hold. He struggled against her, his arms still trying to angrily punch the body. Sakura gathered her chakra into her arms, locking the shinobi in place. He thrashed against her for minutes, but eventually stilled, his breathing heavy and angered. The blond dropped his head down onto Sakura's shoulders and muffled his scream.
"Gomenasai, Sakura-chan…I…I just…" He wrapped his arms around Sakura and took a deep breath, exhaling his warm air into her pink tresses.
"I know…"
Sakura held him tightly, calming not only Naruto, but herself as well. Her heart was racing so quickly with just the thought of Naruto being protective over his family. He followed Sakura to come here and save their son. One he didn't know he had until an hour ago. The kunoichi finally broke the silence between them.
"Naruto…to answer your question…"
"…Nani?" Naruto lifted his head and looked into her green eyes.
"There isn't a small part of me that loves you."
Naruto's eyes widened as a look of pure hurt came across his face. He slowly dropped his arms from Sakura's waist and nodded lightly. "I…Sakura-chan…"
"Baka. There isn't a part. Not even a big part-"
"Sakura-chan you don't have to rub it in…" He looked away and Sakura rolled her eyes, tightening her grip around the lean but muscular man. Sakura obviously went about this the wrong way. This was Naruto she was talking with…
"Try the entire thing you idiot."
Naruto looked to Sakura, his brow knitting in confusion. But it only took a moment for him to grasp her words. "N-NANI???!!!" The biggest, goofiest (and toothiest) grin came across his face and Sakura felt that wonderful electric shock run down her spine. He could make her feel so wonderful with just a slight curve of his mouth.
"I love you completely, Naruto. Not with just a part of my heart, but all of it." Sakura rolled her eyes once more at the thought of this blond idiot having such control over her emotions. "I couldn't get rid of the feeling if I tried…"
"Sa-sakura-chan…" Naruto leaned in towards Sakura resting his head against hers. Sakura took in a deep breath, inhaling Naruto's wonderful, masculine scent.
"You're not going to cry are you, Dobe?"
The two lovers sat up stock straight.
"Te-teme?! What the hell are you doing here?" Naruto stood to his feet, helping Sakura to stand up beside him.
"I should be asking you the same thing." Sasuke turned and looked over to Sakura, his eyes sharpening. "He knows, I assume?"
Sakura looked to Sasuke and her eyes widened. "You know about Toru?"
"Know?" If Sasuke could laugh, he would have at this moment. But, this was Sasuke Sakura was talking to… "Your little spawn has been annoying me for the last four hours. I hope you're finally here to retrieve him."
"We can't. We have to go and get Tama." Sakura looked to Naruto and he nodded. The woman turned back to Sasuke and found him looking past her and Naruto. His eyes were dripping with anger, and she could tell his Sharingan was going to flare on soon. Sakura turned and gasped.
"No need. I brought her." Shouta smiled sickly, gesturing to the corpse that lied by his feet.
Tama.