Okay, so I think everyone can agree with me that Naruto Manga Chapter 431 was the COOLEST THING EVER and Naruto totally owned Pein!
However, I was greatly saddened and infuriated with the remark about Kakashi's well-being at the beginning. I know that Kishimoto is not going to kill off Kakashi, but the way he's torturing us like this is not something I am happy about. Therefore—this story was created.
This is my view about what will happen concerning Kakashi and a little bit about the battle between Naruto and Pein, and I just wanted to get this out there so I can see whether or not some of my ideas happen in the next couple of chapters. Please enjoy Kakashi-luvers!
EDIT: I just posted a drawing I did along with this story on my deviantart account, so please feel free to check it out! Thanks!
Naruto frantically ran through the rubble that was once his beloved village, desperately searching. He had just defeated Pein only to discover that all the bodies were some type of clone that he controlled while he was safely away from the fight. The last Pein calmly informed him as he lay there dying that his real self was eager to meet him soon and gave the location of where he was so they could. Once Naruto ensured the safety of the village he planned to meet him because the longer he waited gave more time for Pein to recover and possibly create more bodies.
Finally he spotted him, and the tears that he had been holding back during the whole battle came with a fury. The new Toad Sage rubbed his eyes and bent down, glancing at his former sensei.
He had never seen him in such bad shape, and judging by the way his headband was pulled up he must have used his dimensional jutsu and that was most likely the cause of his chakra depletion.
Not wanting to waste time Naruto scooped his broken sensei into his arms, noting in the back of his minds how light he was and focused on where Tsunade and Sakura were before transporting over to them.
Sakura was battling with her own tears as she gently held her master's hands, speaking to her softly and trying to deny the blatant fact that the last Sannin was dying.
Suddenly she heard the familiar sound of someone appearing nearby and she smiled as she recognized Naruto's chakra signature—but froze when she glanced up and saw him before her. Her mind barely processed his strange eyes or new clothes, being immediately drawn to the man in his arms.
"NO!" she wailed, covering her mouth and shaking her head, fresh tears streaming down her already wet face.
Naruto's shoulders were shaking as he held their sensei and tears were steadily falling from his face onto the soiled and bloody jounin jacket while his sporadic sobs cut through the silence. Kakashi laid limp in his former student's arms, his head tilted back almost as if he were trying to see the ground and he was covered in blood and dirt, looking as if a building had fallen on him. She could see he was dead.
"Y-you need to hurry up a-a-and save him," Naruto pleaded as he gently laid the crippled body before Sakura like a sort of tribute. He then knelt down beside their sensei and furiously wiped his tears only to have them replaced by fresh ones.
"N—Naruto," Sakura began weakly, "I-I . . . I can't . . . he's already—"
"I KNOW!" he yelled. "B-but you can save him . . . I know you can!" he said forcefully, flashing her a small smile.
"He's DEAD, Naruto!" Sakura wailed, burying her head into her hands. The knowledge hurt enough as it was—why did Naruto have to deny it? That just made it worse.
"So was Gaara!" he argued.
"No one else knows that jutsu," Sakura explained. "The knowledge died with Chiyo-baasama!"
"But you can try!" he suggested eagerly, leaning towards her and Sakura noticed his eyes for the first time.
"You want me to die?!" Sakura shrieked, close to hysterics. She just couldn't take in all that was happening.
"No you don't!" Naruto said excitedly. "I can draw out the natural energy of everything around us so you have an unlimited amount of chakra to use without endangering your life!"
Sakura just shook her head and Naruto desperately grasped her shoulders.
"We have to try!" he cried, tears falling down his face again. "I've already lose Ero-sennin to them—I'm not going to lose anyone else!"
"I never got to say good-bye to him," he yelled, shaking Sakura slightly. "He needs to see Sasuke come back!"
"HE HAS TO SEE ME BECOME HOKAGE!!"
"Oh, Naruto," Sakura whimpered, burying her face into her hands while Naruto quickly pulled her close. The kunoichi grasped his cloak and started sobbing uncontrollably.
"Naruto," Tsunade whispered. The boy glanced up quickly and his eyes widened as he took in her appearance.
"What happened?!" he demanded, letting go of Sakura to rush to her side.
If it weren't for her clothes he wouldn't have been able to recognize her; she looked so old but what was so alarming was how frail and weak she appeared.
"That's not important now," she said slowly.
Naruto smiled. "Don't worry, Hokage-sama. Once Sakura is done with Kakashi I'll have her use my chakra again to make you feel better!"
"What—now that you're the new Toad Sage . . . you think that you need to become . . . formal with me?" Tsunade chuckled softly.
Naruto grinned and glanced at Sakura and then back at Tsunade. "Tell her that she can heal him, baachan! I know she can!"
Tsunade glanced at Sakura who hadn't moved from her spot beside her sensei's body, her arms wrapped around herself tightly as she stared at him, looking completely lost.
The Gondaime slowly shook her head. "I don't think she can do it—"
"What are you talking about?!" Naruto yelled, tears flowing down his face once more. "She has to—"
"Just . . . because she can't . . . doesn't mean I can't," she protested weakly, each word becoming more and more of a struggle to utter. Naruto frowned at her and shook his head.
"There is no way you are in any shape to do that," he scolded her. "All you need is some rest and Sakura can fix you up easy! You taught her well and—"
"Naruto, I'm already dying," Tsunade explained.
"Don't say that!" Sakura screamed, finally turning her attention over to them. "Naruto's right—all you need is some rest from healing all the villagers and saving them from the attack! You can't—"
"Urusei!" Tsunade bellowed as if she weren't hurt at all. Naruto and Sakura blinked in surprise, completely taken back by her unexpected outburst.
"I know . . . that I am dying and Sakura you know that as well," (Sakura looked down and grasped both sides of her head while she shook it from side to side as if not hearing it would deny the fact), "and as the Hokage I want to . . . do the village one last favor."
"But—" Naruto began.
Tsunade glared at him like she never had before and once she made sure she had both of their attention she said evenly, "As the Hokage of this village you are bound . . . to do whatever I say . . . and to do anything otherwise will be considered treason!" The two shinobis' eyes widened in shock, finally stunned speechless.
"Now, I want Naruto to bring Kakashi's body over to me . . . because I won't make it over there," she said while glancing at Naruto and was pleased to see him carry out the order. "And Sakura—I want you to help me sit up properly while Naruto places his hands over mine and gives me as much chakra as I tell him to." There was absolute silence as her orders were carried out and once they were ready the two younger shinobi pleaded with their eyes for her to reconsider.
It broke her heart to know what she was doing to them, but it had to be done. "Naruto," she said softly and noted how the young boy turned to her fearfully, tears already welling up in his Toad Sage eyes. "I want you to know that I could never be more proud of you than I am right now. You protected the whole village . . . and I know that you will succeed as Hokage and I only wish that I could have seen your face up there." Naruto let out a noise that was a cross between a chuckle and a sob while he wiped his eyes on his sleeve.
"Sakura." The girl closed her eyes as if to mentally prepare herself and slowly opened them as she faced Tsunade with silent tears running down her cheeks. "I know . . . in my heart that you will be a medical kunoichi . . . unlike the world has never seen, and you will definitely surpass me." Sakura gave her a small smile but then laid her head against Tsunade's shoulder and sobbed quietly.
Tsunade turned to face the ANBU who was standing guard beside her and nodded. "Be sure that code 013 is carried out with the one I have chosen," she ordered as the man nodded curtly, his stance completely rigid. He had been a sort of special guard to her for quite some time, and she was able to read his emotions, so she knew how hard this was for him as well.
"Let's begin."
No one knew how long they knelt there, with a furious blue glow all around them, each solely focused on their task. Finally Tsunade lifted her hands off of Kakashi's chest and started to fall backwards while Sakura and Naruto caught her immediately and laid her down gently.
"I . . . love you . . . both," she said slowly as her own tears fell from her eyes and as Sakura and Naruto cried out in pain as her eyes closed for good.
"SHISHOU!!" Sakura pleaded as she threw her arms around her. "SHISHOU!"
Naruto placed his hand over Tsunade's and sobbed furiously as he tried to dry his tears with his other hand. He had felt her chakra connection to the world snap as she died and for some reason it hurt him more than any wound he had ever received.
The ANBU that was there knelt to the floor in respect of Tsunade while trying to keep his own emotions under control. It wasn't the first time he was grateful for the privacy the mask provided as small tears trickled down his hidden face.
"There are some people who want to meet you."
Kakashi glanced up fearfully, afraid to hope.
"Who?" he asked timidly.
"Kakashi!"
"My, my. Look who's all grown up."
Kakashi jumped up from where he was sitting and stumbled backwards as two figures came out from the shadows. Two people he thought he would never see again.
"M-Minato . . . sen-sei?" The familiar blonde grinned and nodded furiously, still in his Hokage robes.
"Rin?" The young girl was the same age she had died on the night of the Kyuubi attack but her smile was as heartwarming as ever.
They both walked towards him and Kakashi held out his hand, unsure whether or not to believe what he was seeing.
"Are you real?" he asked as a few tears slid down his face.
"Of course we are, Kashi," Rin smiled. Minato simply walked forward and embraced Kakashi tightly which the jounin returned in full, sobbing silently as he did so, remembering all the times his sensei hugged him in the past when he needed it most.
"You need to stop punishing yourself," the man ordered as they pulled away from each other, tears in his own eyes.
"None of us blame you," Rin choked, desperate to hug her friend as well. Kakashi turned to her and knelt down so he was eye level with her and embraced her awkwardly. He felt strange looking down on her and wanted to make it just like old times.
As he stood up Kakashi frowned and peered into the darkness as if scanning for something. "Where's Obito?"
The others glanced at each other fearfully and Minato stepped forward.
"You see—that's what we wanted to talk to you about . . . "
After a few seconds had passed Naruto suddenly glanced up and turned towards Kakashi, causing the others to do so as well.
"Is he . . . " Sakura asked, afraid it was too good to be true.
"It's time for you to go back, son," Sakumo said sadly.
"I don't want to go back," he protested. "I miss all of you so much!"
"So do we, Kashi," Rin smiled. "But you need to help bring him back."
Minato placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I know it will be hard, but he's waiting for you and you're the only one who can do it."
There was complete silence for a few seconds more, and then Kakashi's chest heaved upward and his body was racked with desperate wheezing, similar to the way a person would gasp for air after being choked. His whole body shook with the shock of having air back into his lungs and Naruto cried out in relief.
"Kakashi-sensei!!" The two students ran to his side with wide grins on their faces as Kakashi gasped for air and stared at them with wide eyes.
"Wh—what happened?" he wheezed. Then he noticed Naruto's eyes and was even more confused. "N-Naruto?"
"It's me," Naruto sobbed. His sensei frowned for a second then passed out.
"Sensei!"
"Baka!" Sakura sighed, hitting Naruto in the head. "He just got back to life and most likely died from overuse of his sharingan. He's most likely going into a temporary coma at the moment." She couldn't help smiling though, incredibly grateful that at least something had gone right.
Naruto rubbed his head gingerly and smiled at Sakura warmly. "I guess we should go work on the rest of the village," he said as he stood up, pausing to lend a hand to Sakura who blushed and took it. They stared solemnly at Tsunade's peaceful body, then at Kakashi's sleeping form, then each other, and then the ruined village.
"We've still got a lot more to do," Sakura whispered sadly, to which Naruto nodded.
"Fukusaku!"
Suddenly the green frog appeared beside Naruto as well as the other summons.
"You called?"
Naruto smirked. "It's time to find Pein and end this once and for all."
So, what do you think? PLEASE don't get on my case about Minato not being able to be in his "coma/dream" state because I'm aware that he gave up his soul to be in limbo or hell or whatever—I just needed it for the story! And yes, I'm a Obito/Madara believer!
I guess I have to apologize for the crappiness of this little oneshot. All I wanted to do was get my ideas out there and this is my way to ease the pain and burden of waiting to find out how Kakashi is doing.