A/N: I've noted the haste in the past installments, so here, I will begin and try to slow things down. Starting from here, Naruto makes a great impact on the story!!
Please read, enjoy and review!
Start
"SAKURA!!" hollered Anko with a merry tone as she marched down the streets of Konoha, people minded their business as the kunoichi carelessly scanned through the district with a kunai carelessly twirling in her expert hand, while her tongue slid around her lips.
Sakura darted past the alleyways and dove out of sight just in time when she met a curve with Anko down the block. She spun her heel and slammed her back on the building's outer wall, a hand slapped over her mouth and nose to control her heavy breath while struggling to conceal her chakra. Unfortunately, Sakura hadn't done that and first timers are expected to succeed with calmer and more steady heart rates.
In silence and in the dark, she poked her head past the wall's edge and peered through the crowd. Her chakra flared when her eyes locked with Anko's victorious one, immediately, she sent her presence scattering through the crowd.
Sakura just turned six yesterday, Gai had returned from a recently delayed mission and Anko was set on an MWF schedule with Sakura for weaponry training, with Gai covering Tuesdays, Thursdays and the weekends to continue with her Taijutsu. Today was a Monday, and apparently, things were getting off hand. Right now, the last thing Sakura could do was write her wishlist.
It all began yesterday, when Tsunade and Anko had gone on a drinking spree. The woman just happened to have spilled Sakura's interest in sharp and shiny objects as a toddler, and Anko suggested some few tricks that'll bring out Sakura's potential, with a usual drunk like Tsunade, she'd give in to anything.
Which is why, Sakura had been striving to survive today. This morning, Anko was constantly throwing kunais at Sakura, who told her that when the time comes she'd need to dodge them all, deflect them all, or better yet catch them. The girl saw this as a sick excuse for Anko to have a living target, for she seemed to be enjoying it more than taking it seriously.
With Tsunade having strict grounds on not interfering with others training methods, she just had to pull away from the scene and clear her mind to silence her conscience. She can always heal the kid, but still, Sakura had better not bleed to death, or more importantly, Anko shouldn't really aim for vital areas.
A second had gone by the moment Sakura's miserable day flashed through her eyes, her heart skipped for a marathon when a familiar female voice spoke out, "I found you, Sa.Ku.Ra-chaaan..."
"Eep!" gasped Sakura before conjuring up a massive genjutsu to make a thousand illusions of herself before spreading her presence throughout Konoha to confuse the woman and hopefully lose her. If she can make it today, she can live to see tomorrow.
"Kai!" echoed Anko's voice as Sakura darted down to the dark alleyway that parted in many directions the further she went in. Sakura, though sensitive to chakra and the user's presence, couldn't help but constantly peer over her shoulder whenever given the chance. The girl was desperate to outrun this woman.
Just as she glanced over her shoulder once more, she skidded into a halt exposing herself to the world; the street was empty and that was what worried her the most. After looking at both left and right, she turned right, where the wooden fence wall was at her right hand side and apartment buildings were on her left. She darted down the path as stealthily as she could, before colliding with a giant semi-pillow.
With a breathy 'oof!' she landed on her rear and elbows, the impact throwing her mind out of balance for a while as she took in the time for her wobbly vision to focus on a blonde blur. She blinked before she heard a familiar male's voice
"Sa-Sakura-chan!" gasped that speaker, sounding out of breath, "a-are you alright?"
"Yeah, Naruto, I'm sorry, I'm just," gasped Sakura, palming her forehead before her eyes darted around with emphasized sensitivity that edged on the border of paranoia, "I'm just running away from someone"
"R-Really? Me too!" beamed Naruto, rising to his feet with a hand offering Sakura help. She took it before acknowledging the presence of a bloodthirsty figure, but to her relief, it wasn't Anko.
There, two men clad in black robes with red-clouded patters stood with straw hats to conceal their identity. Blood pulsed through her veins and Sakura felt it, along with a certain churn that gradually flipped her stomach, enticing her to summon the contents of her recent meal that day. She felt horrible... it was the same feeling she felt around the Uchiha males.
Instinctively, she wanted to run away from those men... unfortunately... she couldn't. Her feet glued to the ground and forced her to inwardly dread for the worse to happen. Helpless like a hatchling, she stood as immobile as a statue.
"Sakura," breathed Naruto, tugging on to her shirt, "I think we should run... those men are scary... they were the ones chasing me..."
Sakura's mouth had gone dry, failing words or a scream to escape her mouth. Naruto tugged harder when the two figures began approaching them, the boy grabbed her arm and tried to wrench her out of the site, he was desperately yanking at her fragile arm, and yet she wouldn't budge.
"Sakura?! Let's go!!" screamed Naruto, frantically hauling her away as the men sauntered towards them. Cold sweat broke throughout Sakura, and yet Naruto was still urging her to move, until finally, he resorted to something else. Noticing the shiny object tucked into her pocket, he drew it out and gasped when he realized that she wielded a kunai.
Nonetheless, Naruto stood in front of Sakura, his kunai drawn out. "Go away!!" roared Naruto, his stand stood firm to compensate his shivering voice, "go away or I'll... I'll..."
The shorter of the two walked stood right before Naruto, the boy flinched and knew that it was best to run away from the impending danger. But he didn't, something held him in place, allowing his courage to shine and break through that futile façade everyone never acknowledged; evidently, there was something in the air that made him want to protect Sakura, but that was beside the point.
The man towering him looked down and bore a malignant glint in his blood red eyes. Naruto held back his shudder, gripped the kunai tighter and initiated a stab on the man. By the time his hand reached his target, the weapon had gone missing. He blinked and gazed up, the stranger held the kunai he once had. The boy stepped back, bumping into Sakura behind him. Fear no longer registered in hi mind the moment he remembered his reason for lingering there.
"Don't hurt her!" barked Naruto
"We won't," answered the red-eyed man, "as long as you come with us, Naruto-kun"
The boy's brows furrowed and glanced over his shoulder. Sakura's eyes had gone blank as she blanched. Refusing to give Naruto more time to respond, he grabbed his arm and forcefully dragged him away.
"W-what are you doing?!" panicked Naruto as he began to flail around and dig his heels on the ground, "let me go!! Let.Me.Go! He-help! Sakura!!" he cried as he began beating the two men in vain with puny fists.
He gazed back at Sakura, searching for something in her eyes. Time slowed down to the point where everything froze, voices and all the noises nullified as an invisible force came crashing down upon Sakura. She heard nothing more but the beating of her heart and the rhythm of her breath.
"Why can't I move?" she thought, voice echoing in the air with still lips, "WHY CAN'T I MOVE?!"
Tears began to form in her eyes as her nose tingled towards a growing weight. She stared back into Naruto's eyes and the wind drove the air out of her lungs
"Are you really sure about this?" asked a pink haired woman handing over a clothed bundle to a blonde haired man atop a massive frog, hints of tears escaping the corners of his eyes. The man avoided eye contact and took his child from her arms before answering, "My decision is final"
What is this? Where was she, Sakura panicked but remained still, her vision altered with the current and something else
"Before I do, please answer me. Do you really want him dead?"
There was something in Naruto's eyes that piqued Sakura's interest; it was as if she was drowning in his oceany depths, and nowhad trouble averting her gaze
"Shut it! To be sealed away in a babe's navel is the best way for you to go down,"
She tried to avert her gaze and focus on acting quickly, but his eyes held her still.
"Didn't you want to protect the village? Didn't you want to--"
Her mind ripped through within her, letting sparse rays of light sear through her brain, forcing them apart as tears spilled from her eyes. She was in agony and it was unbearable, a certain force began drilling in the center of her head as thousands and thousands—no: it must have been milions of images flashing through her brain, all were tinted in red; and all seemed to remind her of something that she never seemed to experience, like some sort of déjà vu. Different voices rang in her head over and over with a rapid pace that made her lose her focus on what they were saying, until they repeated in broken patterns that roughly made sense
"We have little time left to speak. Leave"
"You demon! you've sworn to never touch this village! Your time has come to an end. Die in silence!"
"Are you really sure about this?"
"no"
"Very good Sakura, but no, I'm not the Kyuubi... I'm just simply controlling it"
"Madara? U-Uchiha Madara? But why?"
"so, you're the one--"
"Please don't do this, there might still be some hope, I can--"
"Shiki Fuujin!"
With all the mixed emotions bottling up from her insides, time gradually returned to their normal pace. She blinked, her eyes wide open before they slightly narrowed in awareness, the two men were walking away, and yet Naruto was still gazing at her with hopeful eyes. Another soul had taken Sakura over, her body no longer obeyed her commands, it seemed as if she was watching a movie; outstretching her right hand, she pointed a finger straight at Naruto.
Wind seemed to pick up and the aura of her chakra swirled around her, escaping from a hidden reserve as it billowed past her feet. Who was this girl? This can't be Sakura, this is unbelievable, very unreal and obviously too ridiculous even imagine. Apparently, it wasn't her at all. The moment she widened her eyes in a sudden burst of power, all her stored chakra ebbed away, it dangerously rushed towards Naruto and began impaling him with an amplifying aura.
Another split second was spared.
xxxxx
Harshly thrown in the midst of his mind, he scrambled to his hands and knees as he held on to a cold iron bar. He scowled in disgust when he realized he was submerged in sewer water before pulling himself up. The moment he stood straight and tall, he nearly jumped back in fear. Before him was a massive, malevolent eye, angled widely at him as it reflected his image from head to toe.
Naruto stood there with a rigid body, and widely parted his mouth with eyes pried open. Within the darkness, the iron bars harbored an ominous silhouette, baring herculean canines, drew back in a sneer. It began to shatter the iron bars, which Naruto figured was a cage that held whatever-it-was back. It growled dangerously and Naruto faltered at the sight when red mist began to billow out of the spaces. It inched towards him and he turned his heels in fear.
He darted out of the dungeon and bolted down the canal-like surrounding, breathing hard, panting hard as his legs moved in a blur at an impossible speed. He dared to look back only to realize that it managed to latch on to his ankles; he stumbled forth and feebly began to crawl back up in another attempt to run away
"Do not resist the help I'm offering"
Naruto yelped and felt his lungs constrict as the slithering orange wind-like thing wrapped around his legs, "Wh-Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"
"I'm the Kyuubi—"
"No you're not, you're like an ugly orange cloud that—"
"Silence! Fine, I'm the essence of it, since my real form remains locked up in that wretched dungeon your navel managed to recreate—"
"WHAT.DO.YOU.WANT?!" howled Naruto in unbelievable trepidation, eyes widening as the red mist gradually devoured his chest
"It is not a matter of wanting to help you, but a matter of being commanded to rescue you. Unless you want to die, do not resist for the time being, fool! I'm in no condition to overtake you, so just give in!"
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The two men halted their pace and glanced at Naruto from their peripheral vision. Layered with chills at the presence of a demonic chakra, they were dumb-struck when the boy glowed a reddish aura as he shuddered with his head hung low. The shorter of the two stood still with caution, while the other experimentally tugged at the boy's other arm.
He snarled and snapped at the hand, which the man hastily drew back. Naruto somersaulted away and landed several feet before them, crouching animalistically. The vulnerable, ignorant child they once knew was replaced by a rabid monster gone rogue. He was glowing red, excess chakra took in the silhouette of a demon fox they all knew, three tails swayed elegantly on his rear and clung on to a dangerous pattern.
Claws stuck out from his fingers for Kami's sake and the lines on his face grew to prominent, untamed whiskers. Soft, spiky human hair stood out on an emphasis, bringing out the worst red tint in the boy's eyes. He defined the word dangerous with a low gutteral growl, making a deadly combination with his elongated canines.
The two men glanced at each other and the shorter of the two explained, "the Kyuubi was supposed to remain dormant until the day he begins to mold chakra."
"Abort mission?" asked his partner, with an abrupt nod as a response from the other man, they disappeared in a blur, leaving no traces of their sudden departure.
Naruto's mind faded to indistinction as soon as he gave in to the living nightmare that lurked in the corner of his mind. His vision was imprecise and his recollection did not function well, he felt his muscles flex with every movement, but never seemed to remember controlling them. After some good minutes that almost lasted a lifetime, his vision began flooding back into his eyes; his senses had gone back to normal, in exchange for the energy his seven-year-old body contained.
He body deadened, but from the way he abruptly descended, he fell to his knees. A subconscious tug pulled at the corners of his mouth when he saw Sakura unharmed, then he felt his mind rise above unwanted territory that breached the limits of the sky, even if his body was planted firmly on the earth. His string of unconsciousness broke before greeting the ground with a heavy thud.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ever since she released that massive surge of chakra from her body—correction: ever since that massive surge of chakra exploded out of her body, her whole form stung with icy coldness, resulting to temporary paralysis. Her vision was affected as whatever she saw seemed surreal and blury. A flicker of red and a flicker of black before her eyes gradually retraced to its rightful degree of sight before she saw Naruto fall unconscious ten feet away from her.
She made a move to walk over to him, but her body gave in, banishing her ability to balance for her to collapse. She clung on to the rhythm of her heart to remain unconscious, she just saw the base of the buildings and her hand near her face; she waited and waited for someone to come.
Voices rang in her ears but sounded as if they were out of picture—if possible— and saw a pair of feet, before her world turned and saw the ground and someone's back. Through her peripheral vision, did she see Naruto being lifted up... and that was all she needed to know before she let her vision slip into the darkness.
Naruto was safe... and strangely enough, it was all that mattered to her.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Ooohh!! What' happens next?! Even I don't know... yet. Anyways, I thank Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain for his constructive criticism for my story. Now, I haven't taken on a whole new perspective and swear that the next chapter after this, Naruto will not go unnoticed from here on out. So, I am truly grateful, Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain!!