The Heart of the Demon

Chapter 16

The Resealing

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters

Time seemed to have stopped as the elite ninja watched the once beautiful girl turn into the physical manifestation of hatred. The killer intent radiating from her debilitating for even the most veteran ninja there, she let out a massive roar the could undoubtedly be heard for miles around before suddenly disappearing.

Naruto reappeared a second later slamming into Jariya like a freight train sending him flying through the forest. Jariya barely managed to get his guard up before the hit though he managed to prevent any serious injury. He landed on his feet skidding to a stop before having to immediately jump away as a small tailed beast bomb came flying toward him. The force of the explosion behind him nearly knocked him back off his feet and a second later Naruto came charging threw the forest.

Jariya started going through hand seals as fast as he could but before he could finish his jutsu a pillar of stone shot out of the ground nailing her in the side causing her to tumble through the trees tearing apart the landscape. Hiruzen landed next to Jariya along with several ANBU "Jariya do you have any chakra suppression seals?"

"No, keep her off me so I can make a few." He quickly pulled out some sealing paper and a pen and ink well and started making the seals.

There was another roar in the distance before a massive wave of fire flooded toward them, incinerating everything in its way. A large stone wall shot up in front of them as several of the ANBU used the protective jutsu stopping the fire in its tracks. Almost as soon as the fire hit Naruto charged in behind it crushing the wall continuing toward her target unhindered, she would not stop till he was dead, he had to pay for what he had done.

Hiruzen slammed his massive staff into Naruto forcing her away from Jariya "Naruto stop this!" he called desperately trying to get her to see reason before she did something he couldn't overlook. She looked at him for a second before opening her monstrous maw and letting out a deafening roar. One of the ANBU jumped toward her hoping to hit her while she was distracted but one of her tails shot out and swatted him like a fly slamming him into the ground with immense force. The man didn't get back up, he just laid there lifeless on the ground.

"I'm done!" Jariya called from behind the line of ninja.

Naruto didn't like the sound of that she needed to finish Jariya before they finished whatever they were planning and she wasn't going to let anyone get in her way, even if it was her jiji in her way. She shot forward slamming her tails down at the gathered ANBU causing them to scatter. Hiruzen and Jaryia jumped back and began retreating toward the village.

They continued to lead Naruto through the forest but she was faster and would catch them soon. She almost had him one of her tails stretched forward grabbing at the murdering bastard that had killed her beloved. "Tenzo now!" Hiruzen called as they entered a clearing, Naruto cursed as she was suddenly wrapped in a tangle of wood that twisted around every part of her restraining her despite her massive strength.

Hiruzen and Jariya turned to the now captured Naruto, her monstrous form struggling against her restraints. She howled in anger as the man she hated more than anything in the world approached her "Hurry, I don't know how much longer I can hold her." Tenzo warned from his position at the edge of the clearing. Jariya got to her looking into her dead white eyes with immense shame and sadness, he had caused this, she wouldn't be this way if he had been there for her, if had protected her, if hadn't killed the boy she loved, this was his fault.

She roared again at the trash that had killed Gaara, he was so close but just out of reach. Jariya pulled out the chakra suppression seals and slapped them onto Naruto's stomach. She felt her energy draining and he chakra cloak slipping away 'No, NO! HE DOESN'T GET TO GET AWAY WITH THIS!'

'Naruto, he won this time but you will have your revenge.'

'NO! HE MUST DIE NOW!' despite all her inner protesting she had lost, she struggled to keep her eyes open as Tenzo let her go. Jariya caught her and the last this she saw before falling unconscious was the look of pity in his eyes.

Jariya held the now unconscious Naruto in his arms, she looked so fragile "How could I let this happen"

Hiruzen went forward and stood next to his student "You didn't, it was my fault, I saw the signs but was too stubborn to act, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened."

"No, it's all my fault, I should have been there. Minato entrusted her to me and instead of being there for her instead of protecting her, I was off drinking and sleeping with any woman I could get in bed. I was selfish and now I've killed the boy she loved, this happened because of me."

Hiruzen put his hand on Jariya's shoulder deciding words couldn't console his guilty conscience. An ANBU landed next to them to report "Lord Hokage, bear is alive but severely wounded, his left leg is broken and his breathing was labored, he is already on root to the hospital."

Hiruzen let out a sigh of relief, this meant she didn't kill anyone, or at least not yet, so he could be a lot more lenient on her, after all she had gone through a lot of trauma.

Naruto shoot up from her position breathing quick short breaths, she tried to move her arms but realized they were restrained which only made her struggle more franticly. Slowly her senses started to come back to her as someone grabbed her shoulders and their voice gradually got louder. Her breathing slowed and she looked to whoever was holding her, it was Sasuke and finally his words came through. "Naruto, calm down! You're safe." She nodded slowly and looked around the room, they were in the hospital, why were they in the hospital? It all started to come back to her, the sound ninja attacking her, Shukaku rampaging around the village, Gaara. She fell back in the bed tears streaming down her face, she didn't care who saw anymore Gaara was gone and this was all she could do.

Sasuke hated it, he wanted to help, to take away her pain but knew nothing he said could help, so he didn't speak he just sat there by her letting her know he was there for her and he wasn't going anywhere. They sat like that for a while before the door opened and Hinata and Konohamaru walked in with several bowls of ramen. Upon realizing Naruto was awake Konohamaru nearly tossed the ramen he was carrying on to the empty second bed in the room before running to her. He pushed past Sasuke and climbed onto the bet with her wrapping his tiny arms around her neck "Naruto, you're okay!" Naruto tried to smile and return the hug but the restraints on her prevented the hug and her smile was faker than they had ever seen.

"Hey Konohamaru" He pulled away with a wide smile but it went away when he saw her face, it was easy to see she wasn't okay even for him.

"What's wrong?" she nearly broke down again forcing herself not to sob.

Sasuke picked Konohamaru up and set him down next to the bed "Why don't you go tell the Hokage that Naruto is awake" He started to protest but stopped when he saw the stern look Sasuke was giving him.

"Alright" he nodded looking over to Naruto again before leaving to find his jiji.

Hinata went over and stood by Naruto wrapping her hands around Naruto's. Naruto didn't speak, she looked out the window and tried to force back the tears. Hinata and Sasuke shared a short look before Sasuke spoke "Naruto, I know it's hard to think about but, who else did you tell you were leaving?" Sasuke and Hinata had discussed it while she was asleep, they decided they would protect her no matter what even if it meant lying to the Hokage. Sasuke had already pleaded to Itachi not to tell Hiruzen about Naruto's plan to leave the village and after learning that the guy she was going to run away with had died in the battle Itachi agreed deciding it was unlikely she would still try to leave without him.

Naruto took a deep breath and finally looked over to them "just you two" she paused for a few seconds "I left a note for Konohamaru and jiji."

Sasuke and Hinata looked to each other again "Konohamaru has been by your side since he heard you were in the hospital, we finally got him to go get Ichiraku's for when you woke up." Hinata explained.

"I'm guessing he hasn't seen the note. Where did you put it?" Sasuke pressed.

Naruto answered slowly as if she didn't care "I left them in Konohamaru's dresser, so he would find them the next morning."

Sasuke looked to Hinata and she nodded "Don't worry Naruto, we're her for you." She said before leaving for the Hokage mansion.

Hiruzen sat at his desk with Kakashi and Jariya sitting across from him "I called you two here to talk about Naruto, it seems the seal has broken"

"No, it hasn't broken just weakened quite a bit from what I could tell. I would guess it happened a while ago most likely due to a traumatic event."

"The attack? So the Kyuubi has been able to influence her for seven years?" Kakashi questioned

Hiruzen nodded "I'm afraid Kurama very well might be the Kyuubi"

Jariya nodded in agreement "With what happened the other night I think that is a safe assumption, did the Hyuga report yet?"

Hiruzen nodded and motioned for an ANBU who stood in the corner to come over "take off your mask" the ANBU complied removing his mask reveling the Hyuga underneath "give your report."

The ANBU nodded "Naruto's chakra system is like nothing I've ever seen, she has twice the tenketsu of a regular ninja and more chakra than I thought humanly possible. Her chakra is also unique, it didn't appear as the regular blue or even the red of tailed beast chakra, her chakra was more of a purple like a mix of the two."

Jariya sighed "It's as I feared, she has become completely dependent on the Kyuubi's chakra, it seems that their chakra is completely intertwined in her system."

"What does that mean?" Kakashi questioned

"It means I can't be sure what will happen if I repair the seal, it could cause a lot of damage if not kill her."

"So what are our options?" Hiruzen prodded

"I doubt anyone in the village will be able to untangle their chakra so that's not an option. Otherwise we could risk the effects and seal it anyway or leave it the way it is."

Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his chin "Neither is a good option" There was a rapid succession of knocks on the door accompanied by a loud shout from his grandson

"Grandpa! Naruto's awake!"

Hiruzen looked between the two men in front of him "We can't let the seal stay open, we are going to have to risk repairing it." Both men nodded still conflicted themselves.

Hinata arrived at the Hokage mansion and activated her Byakugan, it was easy to locate Konohamaru's room in the house, it stood out compared to the formality of the rest of the house. She went to the window but noticed a woman heading toward the room with a basket of freshly cleaned cloths. 'no no, I have to get her away from there before she finds the note!' she quickly looked through the rest of the house confirming that she was the only one inside before creating a clone.

Konohamaru's mother set the basket of his clothes on his bed and heard a knock at the door. Hinata watched the woman leave to get the door, once she was out of the room Hinata pushed open the window and climbed in to get the note.

The door swung open "Can I help you?" the women at the door asked

"I'm sorry to bother you, is the Hokage in?"

"He's still at the tower, lots of paperwork after the attack last night" She said with a somber smile

"Oh of course, I'm sorry, I just wanted to inform him that Naruto woke up."

"Naruto? Is she a friend of yours, is she alright?"

"Yes she's my friend, I can't say she's alright though after what happened."

The women frowned slightly "It must be rough for her."

The Hinata clone nodded "It has been. I should go get the Hokage now"

"Alright, have a nice day"

"You too" she said with a small bow before turning and jumping away.

While her clone was distracting Konohamaru's mother the real Hinata had found the notes and made it look like she was never there. She got a fair distance from the house before tearing up the notes and letting the pieces blow away in the wind.

There was a knock and Sasuke turned to see the Hokage at the door "I heard Naruto had woken up" Sasuke nodded and looked to her, Naruto was now staring blankly out the window. Hiruzen walked to her and held her hand in his, he could see the tears still wet on her cheek. Hiruzen didn't know how he was going to tell her what they were going to do, he didn't think she would take it well but it needed to be done.

"Naruto" he said softly and she finally turned to look at him tears again welling in her eyes. He took out a key and began to undo her arm restraints "Sasuke, could you go for a minute, get some food maybe" Hiruzen suggested. Sasuke looked to Naruto again lingering on her for a few seconds before nodding and leaving.

He finished removing the restraints and Naruto wrapped her arms around him and began sobbing into his shoulder. He returned the embrace and held her for a while "Shh it will be alright Naruto"

"No it won't" She said through the sobs.

"It might not feel like it now but time heals all wounds."

"Time won't bring him back"

"No, no it won't, but time will dull the pain and you will move on."

They sat there until her sobs turned into quite whimpers and Hiruzen finally pulled away keeping his hand on her shoulders "I'm sorry Naruto" he gave her a sad look and that's when she noticed they were no longer alone. Kakashi, Jariya, and Asuma had entered the room and she felt her heart skip a beat.

'Run Naruto they're going to take me away from you!'

Naruto shook her head "No no" she looked to Hiruzen "how could you?" she had never felt more betrayed in her life. She tried to push Hiruzen away but he was strong for his age and her chakra was still being suppressed.

"Asuma, Kakashi come hold her" He hated doing this but they couldn't leave the seal open. Kakashi and Asuma did as they were asked and Naruto started violently struggling.

"NO! Let me go!" she looked to Jariya her hatred searing into his soul "You've taken everything from me you can't take Kurama too!"

Jariya sighed, it looked like they were right about that as well. He didn't have anything to say, it seemed he only made things worse when he talked so he walked over to Naruto, who thrashed more the closer he got, silently.

He looked at her with all the pain and shame he felt for what had happened to her and moved his hand to her stomach. "NO! STOP!" she yelled in a desperate attempt to stay his hand.

Sasuke heard her screaming and ran to the room "What's going on? What are you doing to her?!" he yelled when he saw what was going on. "Let her go!" he tried to run to her but ANBU appeared out of nowhere and held him back. Jariya finished repairing the seal and Naruto let out a deafening screech he was sure the whole village could hear. Naruto's back arched and she started violently seizing and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

"What's wrong? What's happening?" Hiruzen asked concerned about his pseudo granddaughter

"I warned you it could be dangerous" Jariya replied also concerned

Hinata jumped in through the window "What happened?!" she shouted horribly worried about her best friend that was now seizing uncontrollably. Naruto suddenly stopped falling lifeless on the bed and all the machines she was hooked up to let out a high pitched continuous sound before several medical ninja ran in and pushed everybody back so they could get to Naruto. They frantically tried to get her heart beating again but it wasn't working.

Sasuke watched in horror as Naruto died in front of him, he felt so helpless. After a couple of minutes the doctors shook their heads "call it" Sasuke shoved the ANBU away and ran to Naruto, he couldn't breathe, no she can't be dead. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her "Naruto! Wake up! Wake up damn it!" his chest felt like it had been crushed and his eyes felt like they were on fire, he could feel the tears running down his cheeks.

"Sasuke" Hinata grabbed him and pulled him away from Naruto, hugging him as she too cried over her friend.

Sasuke couldn't comprehend it, she couldn't be gone, how could this have happened. His pain bent to rage and hatred as he thought about it and he pushed away from Hinata sending all of it toward the cause of this. "You!" he pointed at Jariya "This is your doing! YOU KILLED HER YOU BASTARD"

Jariya and the others his direction were taken aback, he wasn't surprised he was being blamed it was Sasuke's eyes that surprised him. Sasuke's sharingan wasn't the same, it now looked like a flower.

Sasuke started toward Jariya, he didn't know what he was going to do only that Jariya needed to pay. He stopped dead when he heard a beep and then another and another, a continuous chain of beeps he looked to Naruto where the medical ninja were checking her and the machines. "I don't know how, but she's alive." One of the medical ninjas said completely dumbfounded at the turn of events.

Sasuke stayed at Naruto's side watching over her like a hawk for the rest of the night. The news from the doctors didn't sound good, she was alive but her whole chakra system was severely damaged and she likely wouldn't wake up while it was, and there wasn't anyone in the village who could fix it.

"You ready to go" Sasuke heard from the door, he Jariya a short glare before turning to Hinata

"Make sure she stays safe."

Hinata nodded "I won't leave her side" Sasuke nodded and then bent over and gave Naruto a short kiss on the forehead before grabbing his bag and walking out with Jariya.

"So this Tsunade can really heal her?"

"If it's possible, she will be able to do it."

"Then we better find her fast."