A/N: Since when have I owned Naruto? Never
Chapter 3
Clutching her eyes shut, Ino remembered her best friend.
Ino-pig, Sakura said. She was smiling. Laughter etched at her face, happiness radiating from every pore. This was the Cherry Blossom that Ino had befriended seven years earlier. Why did she leave?
Ino furiously fought back the urge to cry. She was a shinobi; show no pity, no love, no emotion. Recalling Sakura again, that rule never applied to the kunoichi. Sakura could never keep her emotions bottled up. When she had, it resulted in an explosion and a really bad day for the receiving end of her emotions.
Ino-pig. Ino closed her eyes remembering the sad face of Sakura when her father died. She didn't cry, only put a painful expression on. Sakura had watched them chisel Haruno Riku, on the memorial stone. No tear had ever escaped her eyes.
The sad memories rushed into Ino's mind. Pain covered the girl's face and she held back tears.
---
Naruto clutched the poem book and walked through the woods surrounding Konoha. As if on accident, he came to the waterfall that Jiraiya had spent most of his time at. Sitting on a large slab of rock above the fall, he opened the book.
The spot was so peaceful, quiet, and nice that Naruto stopped reading just to bring in the sweet smell of the springs. The rushing water calmed him and a single tear rolled down his left cheek.
He stiffened and resolved to devote himself fully to the way of the ninja. His joking around was to stop. He had to grow up some day and he vowed this day was it. Silently, he took the oath and continued to stare out at the water sailing past.
Suddenly, he looked up and turned to a large tree to his right. Kakashi never acknowledged his presence, only continued to watch the sunset. He was stretched out on a large branch. As the sun sank lower, turning the sky purple, Kakashi grabbed a leaf and semiconsciously ripped it up.
Letting the pieces go, he slowly watched them be taken away by the light breeze. Putting his head on the trunk of the tree, he surrendered to sleep.
Naruto let him be as he had found another sad poem. Closing his eyes, a tear slipped onto the page and wet it. Slamming the book shut, he walked away.
---
Three days passed and Naruto kept true to his word. He didn't let anything foolish pass through his lips nor did he let his guard down. He was always alert and he began to process things faster than usual.
Searching through almost all of the books at the Konoha Library, he finally found one he liked. Setting it to the side, he walked to the poetry section. He had read Sakura's book so many times, he had memorized some of the poems.
Pulling out a couple of large books, he added them to the other book. Walking up to the counter, a book caught his eye. Story of Konoha Shinobi was a collection of stories about all the famous shinobi and kunoichi from Konoha.
It wasn't as thick as he first imagined. This would be a nice book to read. It could give him insight to many of the late ninja from this village.
Grabbing it, he carried the four books up to the checkout lines. A girl stood behind the counter. Her purple eyes lost some life as the boy came up to her. She tried to smile as he did, but neither succeeded. Handing his books back, she sat down watching the boy retire to a plush chair in small corner.
Naruto opened the ninja biography book. On accident, he came across the page on the fourth Hokage. A small portion caught his attention:
"...and sacrificing his life, he sealed the nine-tailed fox inside a young child, Uzumaki Naruto, his son..."
He reread the fraction once again and let out a sigh of exhaustion. He closed his eyes, but they weren't deceiving him. He had wondered who his parents were, but only vaguely wanted to know.
Slumping over slightly, he fell unconscious.
---
Five Months Later
---
Kakashi ran, taking to the rooftops. The wind whipped through his hair as the rising sun made it shine brightly. The eerie peacefulness unnerved the copy-nin, almost mocking his mood.
He had to find Naruto, fast. This couldn't happen, it wasn't right, why now. They were supposed to avoid war. Now, now, they were dragged into it. They couldn't avoid it. An enemy village had invaded Konoha just last night.
Obviously, with Tsunade still worried about his mental issues, he got stuck with notifying everyone. Not that all of them needed it, the huge bangs should have been an alarm clock for them anyway, but not Naruto, nothing woke him up.
Rolling his eyes, he remembered the time he had seen the ninja asleep at the library. Naruto had matured a lot. The silver haired man had seen him grow stronger as a child, but his power now was amazing.
He suspected part of the blonde's maturity, was the loss he felt for Sakura and how bad she wanted his dream to come true.
Fighting back tears, he skidded to a halt in front of the wooden door the Naruto's apartment. Entering, he saw Naruto stuffing kunai into his ANBU outfit. The tattoo on the Kyuubi container's upper arm, matched Kakashi's.
"Do you really need that many kunai?" the copy-nin questioned. Naruto stopped, and looked up before continuing with his task. It was a quick stare, but it gave away how the jounin was feeling.
Naruto had passed the jounin exam a month ago, and much to his dismay, nobody was there beside him. He couldn't bicker with Sasuke, nor watch Sakura take out a perverted man. Passing the test alone, reminded him that they were gone forever. There was no way they were coming back.
When he should have been celebrating with the other new jounin, he had wept in front of the memorial stone. He sat there tears streaming down his cheeks, running his hands over his friends, and, apparently, his father.
Now, he was about to risk his life for the village he had given his life to. Ninja are tools. They are used and discarded.
Flinching, he remembered Haku, the boy who devoted his life to Zabuza. Uzumaki had always thought that had Haku not been killed, they could have been friends, but now death was the only way he could see him again.
Death was the only thing most ninja had in common. They were all going to live short lives. Nothing but tragedy befell ninja. Sadness was always in their hearts, they were killers and protectors at the same time. Neither good nor bad, neither yin nor yang. They were ninja; their life was coveted and hated by many people.
Reality sunk in and Kakashi was snapped out of it. His face was downcast and his eyes glazed over.
"Let's go," Naruto whispered sadly. Willing himself not to cry, he walked to the door and took to the roofs. Kakashi slid the door behind him, wondering if he would finally get his death wish.
As they got closer to the edge of the village the explosions got louder, the cries more pronounced, but one stood out in all of the commotion. Sakura's scream erupted from Ino's mouth and Ino began manipulating her chakra into a way only Sakura could do. He control was perfect.
---
Sakura was inside Ino. She could feel it. Inner Sakura was a part of her, and Ino now understood why the Cherry Blossom had died. When Ino had done the Mind Transfer Jutsu, she had not only taken her soul back into her body, but Inner Sakura's, too.
Her soul resides in me! Ino thought as she thrust her kunai into a charging man. Surprise hit her when she figured out that he was dead. Chakra had been sent through the knife. When she realized the chakra had a slightly green glow to it, she quietly thanked Sakura.
The chakra wasn't there to heal, but after using too many healing jutsu, the chakra permanently remained green.
---
Naruto leapt into the fray, surrounded by red chakra. The Kyuubi was taking control; there was no way these invaders would take Konoha. His elongated nails, guarded by chakra began cleaving man after man in two. His anger was horrendous and the enemy nin started shirking away.
"Oh no you don't," his deepened voice shouted. The men froze, too scared to do anything. They were snapped back out of paralysis and into action as the demon fox erupted from Naruto.
Roaring, Kyuubi destroyed men under his tail, with his claws, any way he could. No control belonged to Naruto as Kyuubi protected the boy.
Even the Konoha villagers backed away from the awful rage. Suddenly an enemy nin shouted "TAKE IT DOWN! IGNORE THE OTHER VILLAGERS TAKE THE DEMON OUT!"
They were only too willing to oblige. The entire enemy swarmed onto Naruto and the Kyuubi. The fight lasted thirty minutes. Men were crushed, lives were taken, and as the Kyuubi fell, the deep voice rumbled, "Sasuke, here I come. I will beat you one day."
Naruto came into view and as his bright blues eyes, so full of life began to dim, the whiskers, he had carried his entire life, faded.
Time began to slow, as the enemy shinobi retreated. The blonde haired, happy-go-lucky boy fell to the ground. Kakashi fighting like mad, Hinata crying out for the boy.
The entire village ran in slow motion, and Naruto hit the ground. Sound came rushing back into Kakashi's ears. He heard the Hyuuga screaming, Ino sobbing, he heard it all.
As one last deed, he caught one of the other village's shinobi, knocking him unconscious.
---
Ibiki walked out of the room, hands bloody, eyes wide. "I don't believe it. I won't believe it."
He had just gotten done with the interrogations. Kakashi sat next to the door. Looking up from his studying his feet, he waited for Ibiki to elaborate.
"We trusted him and he betrayed us. I'm sure he wasn't lying. I could tell it in his eyes. The man who had told them to strike was Uchiha Sasuke!"
Kakashi's eye narrowed, but Ibiki wasn't done. "Kabuto was there. He led them. Even with Orochimaru gone, they still want to take down Konohagakure."
The copy-nin's eyes went wide. He didn't trust Sasuke. He had known there was something up. After watching Naruto and Sasuke fight with all they had, he knew that Sasuke had come back to kill them. When Sasuke began the hand seals for the Chidori, Kakashi had done, as he should have long ago. Creating a shadow clone, he threw a kunai and hit him in the back.
Thinking that he could have saved the entire village, he killed Sasuke. He may have saved the village, he may not have, but either way, Sasuke had had a hand in this.
---
Kakashi walked slowly to the memorial stone, where twenty-three names had been added.
Maito Gai
Shiranui Genma
Uzumaki Naruto
Aburame Shino
Inuzuka Kiba
Tenten
Hyuuga Neji
Rock Lee
Mitarashi Anko
Nara Shikamaru
The list went on and on. Kakashi smiled slightly as he traced over the name of Konoha's Green Beast. Never again would he listen to a "Fountain of Youth" speech from him. They were still tied at 63 to 63. Kakashi had sworn he was going to beat Gai in their next showdown of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
It wasn't fair that so many people had suffered. He traced Naruto's name, then Sakura's, Obito's, and Rin's.
---
Ino had begun talking to the girl occupying her body. Never again would she feel alone. She had her best friend with her. Sakura seemed content with sharing a body, as long as Ino cut her hair.
Grumbling slightly, Ino sliced off about three inches.
They swapped stories and became closer friends than they had ever been before. It probably had been helped along with the fact that they were in the same body.
Sakura's voice escaped Ino's lips sometimes, shocking the blonde, but she didn't mind. They were friends again, in the worst of times.
---
Kakashi ambled through the forest surrounding Konoha. A rustle in the bush behind him and a presence of chakra told him he wasn't alone.
Laughter erupted from the undergrowth and Kabuto stepped out.
Kakashi's eye lit on fire and he uncovered his Sharingan. "Damn you, Kabuto!"
---
A/N: As you can tell, I hate Sasuke. I'm really sorry about this cliffhanger and I WILL post the next chapter soon. It will be the last chapter, though. Oh, and with the Naruto in the library thing, it's a theory.