"Naruto," my mother breathes heavily.
"Sakura, you haven't changed a bit," Ino says with a large smile, one that everyone has one their face.
Kaasan turns to the blonde, her green orbs full of tears. "Ino." I blink in surprise as my mother takes a step back, away from them, as if she just wants to disappear.
"I think you're wrong about that. Sakura-san's beauty has increased for sure," Lee states, his teeth shining.
"What's the matter, Sakura?" Kakashi asks, "Not happy to see us?"
Kaasan just keeps shaking her head in disbelief, her hand coming to her mouth to stop the sobs.
Naruto's blue eyes soften. "Sakura-chan, we heard everything. There's no need to be afraid of us," he utters with a small smile. "We understand."
I see my mother is still shaking, so I speak to her. "Kaasan," she looks at me, "They're still you're friends, they never have stopped being."
My mother takes a deep breath and removes her hand from her mouth. "You guys aren't angry?"
Naruto shakes his head. "You just explained everything, how could we be mad? I'm just upset you haven't at least stopped by to say hi."
My mother smiles. "It wasn't as simple as that you know," she says. "Hokage now I assume?"
Naruto grins. "You got that right, the best ever," he states proudly.
Kaasan wipes the tears from her eyes. "I bet."
Naruto pulls Hinata to his side. "And this is the one that rules my heart."
The woman blushes. "Naruto-kun."
"You finally figured that one out," Kaasan says with a small laugh. She looks at the others. "I missed you guys."
"Same here, Sakura-chan," Hinata smiles.
"I missed you too, Kaasan," Sakuke states, appearing from behind the crowd. Kaasan kneels as Sakuke crawls into her arms.
"Sakuke-chan," Kaasan breathes before letting the girl go.
"Kaasan," Sakuke says, her eyes gleaming, "I like it here, can we stay?" She pulls off a pout. "Please?"
Kaasan shakes her head. "No, we can't, we have to go back home," she answers.
I raise an eyebrow. "You call that place home?" I scoff, crossing my arms.
Kaasan looks down at me. "I told you why we must stay, Seiko-kun."
"Sakura-chan, we could help you know," we all glance at Naruto as he speaks. "We'd be more than willing to help you get out of there, we mean."
Kaasan smiles gently and closes her eyes. "Thanks for the offer, Naruto. But, I can't," she replies. "We must stay in Sound."
Naruto's eyes sadden. "Demo…"
"I said no," Kaasan repeats. She wipes her eyes. "Please don't make this harder than it already is. Let's go, kids." She grabs Sakuke's hand and gestures for me to follow her.
I look at Naruto. He nods. "At least stay a little longer, Sakura-chan," he suggests.
Kaasan bites her lip. "I can't. I must get home to my other children, I have a sitter watching them right now, let's go Seiko-kun," she denies the offer.
I bow my head in defeat, and start to walk alongside her. I look back at all the sad faces. I took another step, then I hear something in the bushes.
The others must have noticed too, they grabbed kunais from their holsters. Kaasan stops in her tracks too, pushing Sakuke to hide behind her. Then, a nin stands up from the bushes, and another beside him. I look around as we were cornered by ninjas. We were surrounded.
Naruto growls, placing a protective arm in front of his wife. "What do you all want?"
"Destruction of Konoha, what else would it be, Naruto-kun?" one questions, pulling down his hood to reveal gray hair and glasses. I narrow my eyes to look at the headbands. Sound ninjas.
"Kabuto," Naruto spits.
"Disperse," This 'Kabuto' orders, the nins jumping out through the forest, heading into Konoha.
"After them," Naruto orders the others, who nod in response. They run after the ninjas.
Naruto looks at the three of us. "Sakura-chan, get out of here," he says.
Kaasan nods and jumps into the trees, Sakuke in her hold. I follow after her, but not before watching Naruto charge Kabuto, their kunai clashing.
I turn my head toward my mother. "What are we going to do?" I question.
"This isn't our fight, Seiko-kun," Kaasan explains. "We need to get out of here, and fast. If we get caught, it will be bad news."
"So, we're just going to run away," I say, stopping in my tracks. Kaasan does also, looking back at me. I shake my head. "You go on, ahead, Kaasan. But I have to do something. You forget, I'm a ninja. I can't just run away and hide."
Kaasan shakes her head. "You're a Sound ninja, Seiko-kun. You can't fight against them. It'd be betrayal," she states, stepping toward me on the branch.
I look down at the bark. "My loyalty never was with Sound," I proclaim. "You find a safe place to hide, but I'm not going with you."
"I won't let you go fight," Kaasan says. "I won't let you get hurt."
"I won't get hurt," I say stubbornly. "I don't even know if I will fight, but I have to help somehow." I leave her there without another word. My mother is tactical, she'll find a good place for her and Sakuke to take cover.
Okay, now where should I go? I decide to see how Naruto was holding up. Not wanting to interfere, I kneel behind a bush, peeking out. I come just in time to see Naruto holding a blue ball of Chakura, placing it through the man. The man fell the ground, there was no way he could be alive after that hit. I walk out of the bushes, and Naruto looks at me through ragged breaths.
"Are you okay?" I ask him, the blonde nodding in response.
He wipes the sweat off his face. "I've been waiting a long time to kill that guy."
I walk over to the dead body. "What are they up to?"
Naruto stands beside me. "I have no idea. Orochimaru's ambition was to destroy Konoha, but Orochimaru is dead, there's no reason for this."
An idea flows through my head. "Naruto-san, there's no way for someone to come back to life, is there?"
Naruto shook his head, then scratched his head. "Actually, Orochimaru once said he could bring the dead back to life somehow."
"Do you think he taught it to someone?" I ask.
"I don't know, but that could be the case," Naruto answers. "I just hope it isn't. We'd be in big trouble if they brought that snake back to life."
Hm, is Orochimaru going to come back to life? What could Sound be planning?
Please review.
sasuke fanatic1