Dark proposals
Sakura was surprised to awaken to the golden luster of the setting sun. How much time had elapsed since she fell asleep on Naruto? It was early afternoon when she had entered the hospital and she was sure that Kakashi had returned home. "Did sensei see us like this?" She thought with a hint of embarrassment. She had wondered if Kakashi knew how she felt about Naruto. Yamato figured it out a long time ago. Sakura touched her arm at the spot where she was struck by the four-tails. Had she really loved him for so long? She looked at the peaceful expression on his face as his whiskers seemed to fade in the sunset. She had to try that technique; it was the only way that she could help Naruto. Her heart began to waver as she stood in the doorway, but she decided to keep moving forward when his sleeping form muttered that he loved her.
His peaceful expression in sleep couldn't hide the inner turmoil in Naruto's heart. Could he open himself up to Sakura, he, who thought that after Hinata couldn't love another woman? He had been thinking of ways to move his body ever since the accident but nothing would work. What good was his massive supply of Chakra if he couldn't use it to simply move his arms and legs? Naruto began to take the spiritual journey that had become so familiar and in moments he found himself in the sewer-like container of the nine tailed fox. In his twenty years of living with the gift and curse that his father saddled him with Naruto had never known the fox to be kind or benevolent. It was evil and destructive and in the years since the accident the fox began to curse Naruto's useless existence. Naruto just stared into the menacing eyes and asked his request. "You have a way we can walk again, don't you? The fox's gigantic grin began to appear in the shadows, The Voice was demanding and cold. "What do you have to offer me if I did have what you seek, you infernal human? With his head low and his thought clouded Naruto answered. "I'll remove the seal." The fox began to bellow with laughter. 'I know you boy; you will never remove this accursed seal. Offer something more concrete and I will agree." The fox roared with excitement when he heard Naruto's second offer. "You'll get to end that bastard Madara and I can settle the score against Sasuke." Naruto smiled as the fox laughed wildly. "You drive a hard bargain but you have a deal puny human. We will make them suffer." Naruto awoke to a lonely room, and he found himself questioning if Sakura's warmth was just an illusion or trick of the mind. He concentrated on summoning the fox chakra and infusing it with his own, something that he hadn't done in years. The red chakra flowed through him, giving him great power. He began to slowly raise his left arm… and then his right! He could move his arms now, and his legs couldn't be much harder. He realized that he would have to use the fox chakra or he would have to be in sage mode to maintain it but he could actually move his body again. He could live his dream again.
~~~~~~~ A remote village~~~~~~~
"I can't believe that Akastuki has been reduced to such a weak state! With Sasuke and his bunch we may be able to use the sealing statue lord Madara." Kisame said with a hint of annoyance. "Patience Kisame, Sasuke's in the process of assembling the ten members we need to overtake the eight tales." Madara sat on his throne, uninhibited by his subordinate's overzealousness. "Have you retrieved Orochimaru's ring yet, or are you still waiting for Konan to kill herself in grief to take hers, Kazuki?" Zetsu spoke with his usual two-toned dialect. "It's too much trouble to go all the way to Otogure for something so meaningless when I can watch a beautiful woman slowly slip into despair all because she lost her partner." The newcomer said with a sly tone. Konan just glared as her afterimage disappeared. "What about the nine tails, Master? Is it too soon to retrieve the body of a half dead person?" Kazuki asked, showing his novice understanding. Madara removed his mask to reveal his blood red eyes. "It is Sasuke who must finish off my pet. That task cannot fall to anyone else but my future successor.
~~~~ Back in Konoha~~~~
Sakura was walking the streets again, carefully thinking about her decision and the possible consequences that it entailed. She could be branded a traitor and she would never be permitted to return to her home again. But that didn't matter now, Naruto was at the forefront of her mind and nothing else could replace him. She made her way to the office of the Hokage and she paused. This was the same door she came to when she wanted to become stronger, and this was the same woman that molded Sakura into who she was today. She opened the door and she looked at her master, now fifty seven in age, reading mission papers like she had become accustomed to. Tsunade didn't look up once but she spoke anyway. "My wayward student decided that she had to end this useless running and finally returned home. She has grown to become more like me in every moment that has passed like Jiraiya said she would." Sakura was silent. "You came back because you found the key to helping Naruto haven't you? Knowing what it takes, are you willing to put your heart and soul through the trials required to save him. Sakura's answer was swift and it left a smile on her Master's face. "For Naruto, I would drag my soul through hell thousands of times." Tsunade rose from her seat to meet Sakura. With a hand on her shoulder Tsunade answered solemnly "good, because the pain you experience will be one million times worse."
Naruto had forgotten the sheer joy of leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and even though he was in severe pain he continued. He had to re-teach himself the most basic concepts of walking and running and because of the limits of his natural body he had to slow down. He attempted his first hand signs in four years and he was amazed at the results. Two shadow clones, perfectly formed, stood next to him. To look at them made him tingle with excitement. He could be a ninja once more; he wasn't bonded to a hospital bed for the rest of his life. In a flash of concentration Naruto began to have his clones mold and rotate chakra in his hand… and the process was complete. A blue sphere of wind sat in his palm, he could do the rasengan! He began training like old time sake, pushing past his limits and mastering the skills of new and old. By the time that the full moon set its gaze on the village Naruto was already around the skill level he displayed at the chunnin exams. Little did he know someone was watching his ever step in the moonlit night.
~~~~Otogure~~~~~
Sasuke was also practicing in the moon, his scar illuminated by the milky white sky. At twenty he was the one of the most powerful ninja's in the world but he still felt as lonely as ever. He had become the leader of Otogure and it turned into the new hideout for Akastuki. Itachi had died telling him the truth; he murdered the clan for the sake of Konoha, and Sasuke knew that he wasn't the same after that. None of his actions had any purpose anymore. When he was younger his only goal was to kill Itachi and when he died in his arms his goals shifted. He needed someone to fill the void, and then he remembered the scar under his right eye. "Naruto… and Sakura, yes they are the one who took my arm and gave me this grievous scar. I shall make them pay dearly."
"Naruto you can walk again?!! I thought it wasn't possible, but we can be together again!" Naruto turned around suddenly to see the figure of the woman who had been there for him even when Sakura wasn't. Hinata was wearing little more than a blue kimono and a silver ribbon that tied her long silky hair up. "I had been watching you for a while now trying to figure out if it was the moon playing tricks on me but it's really you." She embraced him but he didn't return her affection. With his back turned he simply uttered that she wasn't right for him, but she refused to listen. "You used to tell me that once you learned to walk again that we could be together and everything would be great. Something has come along and clouded that promise hasn't it. Sakura, I'm guessing." Her mention of the other woman in his life made him turn around. "I refuse to lose to Sakura. She was too foolish to chase that traitor all while you where forever there for her. She never had eyes for you, not like me!" Her words grew fearsome now. "Do you remember the reason you couldn't walk!? It was because you took Sasuke's blade for…" At that moment Naruto's hands were over her mouth. She had always become her boldest when it came to him but he could not comprehend her feeling on this matter. He released his hands when he felt that she had calmed down but he could still see the passion in her eyes. "Hinata, I… don't know what to do. This answer, you or Sakura, is the hardest thing that I have ever had to give anyone. Please let me think this through." Slowly she began to let go of him but she still had one thought in her mind. "I won't lose to her, I downright refuse."