Chapter 20: Out of the darkness
Note: I took some liberties with Konan's past.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Konan was standing outside of the tree. She had watched the Kyūbi jinchūriki tear into the artificial tree, aiming to kill her only remaining friend. She had closed her eyes and, from her training long ago, started counting down the ten minutes that Nagato had asked her to remain outside for.
Her mind drifted to the past, to a man who she loved and was now long since dead. They had been together, in a way. They never did anything intimate, but they shared feelings and both knew it. Unlike other people, who needed words, gestures and contact to convey their emotions, Konan and Yahiko didn't, merely knowing the other was alive and loved them was enough. Looking back on it, Konan at least wished they had shared a night together, then she may have had more to remember him by. Losing Yahiko had been hard, but she still had Nagato by her side, at least she did until that man showed up.
Uchiha Madara, a man who appeared before them wearing purple lined black robes with a yellow and black mask on his face. That man was now posing as 'Tobi' within their group and she honestly wondered how he managed to act the way he did. All she knew is that she had looked into his eye once and her emotions nearly died so that she wouldn't break. It wasn't his strength, it was the darkness she saw swimming deep within his soul. She had never seen a person with that much pain and remain sane.
Jiraiya...Her former sensei... She did feel some guilt at directing her paper at him, but it was something she couldn't avoid. Jiraiya had been snooping about Amegakure because of a rumor that the Ame Orphans had something to do with Akatsuki, so they had to protect themselves, even if it meant killing a man they had come to view as a sort of father figure.
Konan winced, remembering her own father. Unlike Nagato, who had parents he would miss, Konan didn't miss her parents at all. Her father had been an abusive drunk and he had long since crushed his wife's spirit to dust. He had obviously lost interest in his wife, who had started to enjoy the beatings to suit her husband's brutality, so he started to bully his own daughter. A few days before the ninja from Konoha killed her father, he had slapped her for the first time. In a way, she had liked Konoha for killing that monster, even if it meant that her mother attacked the ninja with the intent of dying so she could be with the man who 'loved' her.
Konan felt a burst of chakra, then rushed into the tree to see what was going on. It hadn't even been seven minutes yet.
Konan found Naruko standing before Nagato, his throne toppled forward slightly, a pool of liquid spreading from underneath it.
"What...did you do?" Konan asked, staring at the thrumming purple chakra blade in Naruko's right hand, the bloody tipped chakra receiver in her left.
Naruko glanced back at Konan, her lavender eyes glowing brightly, the black slit pupil unreadable. "Justice."
[Seven minute ago, with Naruko and Nagato]
Nagato opened the front of his throne and shot a chakra receiver at Naruko, hitting her in a small gap between the jacket and shorts of her armor. The girl winced, gripping the black rod.
"At this range, controlling you will be easy," Nagato stated, sending his potent chakra into the girl through the rod. A moment after trying, he coughed up some blood. 'She used the receiver's connection to me so she could invade me with her chakra.'
Naruko growled and ripped the blade out of her body, glaring at the man as an almost water-like chakra aura surrounded her body. She tightened her grip on the rod, cracking it. "I belong to nobody now, thanks to you!" she shouted as she threw the chakra receiver so it landed a foot in front of Nagato.
"Hatred... I know it too well," Nagato muttered to himself, "you want revenge, don't you? I killed both of your sensei, killed the woman you love and I took your home away from you. And, in spite of your hatred of them, you want to avenge those villagers I killed as well, don't you?"
Naruko remained quiet, thinking of everything that had been happening lately, everything she now knew, everything she had lost. Killing Nagato...
"My death will do nothing for this world. It will war today, tomorrow and the day after that, all until the day our world dies. Your death, on the other hand, could save it," Nagato stated, "which is better: a sacrifice for the greater good of humanity, or your own selfishness? Is your life really worth more than all those children who will become orphans due to wars?"
Would all of her pain go away if Nagato died? Would she be able to attend Ino's funeral without breaking down? Would cutting his head off bring closure to her? Would ripping his heart out heal her own heart?
"You say my way to peace is wrong, but you have no alternative solutions," Nagato stated, "if you just give up and allow me to extract Kyūbi, I will make sure that you are revered as a hero, a goddess even."
Naruko simply glared at the man. She knew what she had to do now.
Nagato fired a volley of chakra receivers at Naruko, the girl slicing or deflecting the rods. She even caught and snapped one, but out of all of them, one struck her in the left shoulder, her movements stopping again as Nagato used his ability on her.
Nagato panted slightly. He couldn't control her, but rejecting his chakra caused her to freeze up for a moment or two, which allowed him to fire three more rods, aiming for the exposed spots on her legs and right arm.
Naruko saw the attack coming, tore the rod out of her shoulder and vanished in a red flash, the rods clanging into the wall behind where she had been a moment before.
"Wha-" Nagato started, but Naruko appeared before him in another flash of red, standing right over the rod she had thrown earlier, a tag with a glowing purple seal on it. 'Hiraishin?! But Zetsu-'
Naruko swung her chakra blade at Nagato, having liquid splash onto her face as she cleaved through her target. The man toppled to the ground, leaking all over the place and he remained that way, completely at her mercy.
Konan burst in and saw what had happened. "What...did you do?" she demanded, sounding shocked.
Naruko looked back at the woman. "Justice."
Konan did her best to hide it, but tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she prepared a large number of explosive tags. "YOU!" she roared.
"Konan...stop."
The blue haired woman looked to her only remaining friend, noticing that Naruko had chopped off the forelegs of Nagato's throne. He had managed to settle it into a standing position, staring at the girl with some of the machine oil on his chest and face. "You had a clear shot at my body, but you chose to disable the machine...Why?"
Naruko dropped the chakra receiver on the ground, her katana vanishing as well. "Fukasaku-san told me that you cut off one of sensei's arms, so I decided to do the same to you. Your body...it looks like it's already disabled, so I cut at that machine's legs off in place of your arm. Without them, you cannot harm me anymore."
"And why do you think that?" Nagato asked.
"You haven't used your rinnegan's abilities since I came here and that machine kicked back when you fired those spikes at me, this means two things: first, you cannot use the rinnegan's powers with your body in that state and, two, with those legs cut off, you will be thrown back and crushed if you tried to fire a spike at me again," Naruko explained.
Nagato lowered his head slightly. "It is as you say, I am completely at your mercy... Do as you wish."
No blade came, only an armored hand reaching out to him. "You called yourself 'Pain' and said you understood it. I told you the story of why I could have been called 'Wrath' if I followed your path, so tell me why you were Pain," Naruko said.
Nagato was quite shocked at that, but he humored the girl and told her his story. His parents' deaths at Konoha's hands, awakening the rinnegan, meeting a dog that came to be named 'Chibi,' Konan finding him, meeting Yahiko, meeting the Sannin, living with Jiraiya, Yahiko becoming more like the legendary pervert, Jiraiya leaving, Akatsuki's creation, Yahiko's death at Hanzō and Konoha ANBU's hands, the statue he summoned, all of it. He didn't understand why, but he felt a weight come off of him as he spoke, but the pain from all of those events still weighed him down.
Nagato then went on to talk about Jiraiya's ideals, of his dreams for peace. Nagato theorized that Jiraiya had come to abandon his goal of world peace, delving into his spy network and writing to avoid the guilt of failure. He also spoke of how Naruko couldn't bring about peace because she was a mere human, not a trace of divinity to her at all.
"You got that right," Naruko cut in.
Nagato raised his eye brow slightly. "Did you just agree with me on something, such as Jiraiya failing in his goal, or that his ideal of peace was impossible?"
Naruko shook her head. "No, I was agreeing that there isn't a shred of divinity in me. I have less than anyone you have ever met. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I have the opposite of divinity, that I'm profane, diabolical even."
Nagato blinked, not understanding.
Naruko sighed. "I told you before, I'm not a jinchūriki, I AM the Kyūbi no Yōko, Namikaze Naruko. I am a flesh and blood bijū, not a container to one."
"That's...That's not possible," Nagato muttered.
Naruko lowered her head slightly. "The body is a bijū's, but my soul is human. Maybe that's why I'm able to remain sane outside of a seal, unlike the other bijū. I don't know, I don't even know if I'm a bijū or human, all I know is that I'm Namikaze Naruko, Konoha chūnin."
Nagato wanted to call bullshit, he really did, but everything about the girl told him that she was being brutally honest, just like when she spoke of how much she despised the village and its people. "Do you have another question for me?"
Naruko blinked, then nodded slightly. "Are you sure it was Danzō?"
Konan nodded. "That bastard was three feet away from me. He is the reason that Yahiko died."
"So...what do you think needs to be done to save this world from war? You called your armor 'savior,' does that mean you chose to bear my title as well? Do you think you, a tailed beast, has the power to do what a God cannot? Can you save this world with understanding?" Nagato asked.
"Hearing everything you told me, especially about everyone understanding each other, well, I think it's impossible. The Rikudō Sennin tried that and it failed, so who are we to even bother trying? If someone that powerful and influential couldn't make people even attempt to understand one another, then why bother trying it for ourselves? Nobody can force a person to care for another person," Naruko said.
"So, in the end, your answer is simply 'I don't know.' Typical," Nagato said.
"But!" Naruko cut in, "I think you were partially right."
"Hmm?" Nagato hummed, curious.
Naruko placed at hand on her curse seal, feeling the pain from it. "Pain is the only thing humans have in common with each other, pain is one of the products of fear, sadness, love and hatred. I can't make people understand each other, but I can understand their pain and I will do my best to save them from it. THAT is why I called my armor ' Kyūseishu,' not because it is armor, it's because I will become a symbol of salvation from their pain." She held up her hands, looking at the two differing gauntlets. "One hand is warped by my pain and rage, the other is calmed by the love I possess for those important to me. If I can go from wanting to kill every last person on this world, if I can rise above that all consuming hatred, then I can help others escape it as well."
Nagato narrowed his eyes slightly. "You think you can save a person from their pain?"
"I was saved from a pain and rage that wanted everything to disappear, so that means that others can too. You never wanted to destroy everyone, everything, did you, Nagato?" Naruko asked.
Both Konan and Nagato lowered their heads slightly. The thought never crossed either of their minds. World domination, yes. World destruction, no. They both wondered how far gone Naruko had been to make her want to destroy everything.
Naruko held her hand out again. "Nagato, I believe that sensei did his best, and that he was right in a way. You are too, and so am I. All we need to do is let go of our pain and lean on each others shoulders."
"What is this?" Nagato asked.
"I am offering to save you from your pain," Naruko said, then held her other hand out too, this one more towards the other woman in the room, "I will save you two."
Nagato couldn't contain his rage anymore. "You... You are just spitting out the same garbage as the Rikudō Sennin, as Jiraiya-sensei! Peace will not come to us unless the people fear pain! We cannot wait for the world to change!"
"...'I will lift the curse of war from this world's people. If any chance for peace exists, I will release it when I breathe my last. I will never, ever give up,'" Naruko stated.
Nagato flinched. "How..."
Konan looked to her friend, seeing that he was slightly scared and shocked. The last time she saw him like this, Yahiko had sacrificed himself for the both of them.
"Jiraiya-sensei's first novel. Those words are like the ones I'm most well known for: I won't give in. I find it odd though. Sensei said that these words were spoken by the one who inspired the novel, his student, Nagato of Ame," Naruko looked at Nagato, her hands still held out, "why is it that you hesitate to grab hold when a chance for peace stands before you?"
Nagato's eyes widened slightly as he realized that, in a way, Naruko had known him ever since she read the book. Jiraiya had said that the main character was mostly inspired by Nagato, but he had never described the character, allowing people to substitute themselves into the role. Only a few things were known about the protagonist: he was male, a shinobi, he was striving for peace and his name was-
"Naruto... That's the name I would have had if I didn't get put into...my sister's body," Naruko said. She was living for both of them and Ino now, so she couldn't die until she was ancient or until the world's end. She decided that she would be the last Kyūbi.
Nagato felt something change within himself, something he had only felt a few times before: hope. He moved forward, pulled his hand out of the throne's controller and took Naruko's hand. "I was sarcastic before, saying that we were similar because we had the same sensei... You are what I used to be, but so much more at the same time. I...lost my way somewhere, let my own pain and rage consume me. Pitiful, I said that I feared my power before because rage made me into a monster, then I willingly became one. Calling myself Kami when, in reality, I had become the Akuma."
"Nagato?" Konan asked.
"I became weak with my rage and delusions. I couldn't believe in Jiraiya-sensei's words because I couldn't- didn't even try to ease my own pain. I slipped off the right path, but you remain true to it, so I will trust you with the will of me and our sensei. Namikaze Naruko, bring this world the peace it so desperately needs," Nagato said, bringing his hands together.
"What are you doing?" Naruko asked.
"Atonement. Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu," Nagato stated, but didn't activate the jutsu yet. He had a role to fulfil before he undid some of the wrongs he had committed.
"Nagato!" Konan shouted, alarmed.
"Konan! Enough. I cannot turn back anymore, but you and Naruko can follow the path she walks. I have done nothing with these eyes aside from kill, it is time to use the power Kami is most known for, even if it is a weak and fake copy of that power," Nagato said.
"What is that jutsu?" Naruko asked.
Konan explained the rinnegan and the six paths. She told the girl of the 'seventh path,' the ability to grant life to the recently slain, but at the cost of the user's life.
Nagato activated the jutsu and, as his hair drained of color and his body withered away even more, he revived all those that had been killed and, because of Tsunade's decision to treat even the dead, none of them needed medical treatment.
With his jutsu completed, Nagato told Naruko about everything he knew, telling her that she now knew that the dead of those closest to her brought on the most agony due to his actions. He told her that the meaning of war was always the same: hatred, so there was no reason to go looking for any other reason. He ripped off all the masks that war wore and told her of its ugly, but simple face. He said that she now had to end the cycle of war that he failed to stop, that she had to face everything he had and more. He smiled, realizing that Naruko and the book had been there as his last chance at salvation.
He died knowing that he had chosen a successor, like Jiraiya had done before, and that he was happy to have taken her hand. She had saved him from his pain.
"So he was Yahiko..." Naruko muttered after learning about the Deva Path's true identity, "I'm sorry that I wrecked his body..."
Konan smiled sadly, though nobody could see it because of her robe's high collar, or at least she hoped her mouth was hidden properly. "Yahiko would have probably fought with you if he had been alive still, and he would have been even more badly injured than his body is now. He'd probably say something goofy as well, maybe even blame the humidity for his loss."
Naruko chuckled a slight bit, wishing that she had met the man. The mood vanished quickly as she eyed Konan. "Um, what will you do now?"
"Akatsuki is dead. I was only part of it because of Yahiko and Nagato. I will support you as I did them, because you are their legacy," Konan vowed.
Naruko realized that she was living for those two as well now. The poor kitsune didn't realize that there was a very special present waiting for her back home. Nagato, in the afterlife, face palmed along with many others when they realized Naruko's stupidity. "Sensei and Nagato gave me a lot to live up to, didn't they? Well, I'm the most stubborn woman to ever exist, so I'll die before I fail, and I'm planning to live a long, long time."
Konan created a bouquet of flowers out of paper, offering them and what she realized was a come on to the girl, since Zetsu had reported Naruko was a lesbian. Konan did not blush, but she still felt embarrassed that she had said something like that. After the girl took the flowers, she asked if she could hold Naruko's hand for a moment, to feel what had driven Nagato to sacrificing himself. Naruko offered her hand and Konan took it.
[Konohagakure, fifteen minutes later]
Naruko panted as she picked up the robe she had discarded. She ignored the fragments of heavily condensed chakra that fell off of her with each step, as she did with the black rags that flew off every once in a while.
'I will not streak. I will not streak. I will not streak,' Naruko mentally repeated in her head. She'd get to someone who could offer her a change of clothes and privacy before this armor came apart completely. She would not wind up nude in front of everyone. Again!
Naruko stumbled when the armor on her left foot cracked off in mid stride, her foot slipping out as she tilted forward.
Kakashi caught the girl, righting her and holding her up by her arm and shoulder. "This is becoming a pattern, isn't it?" Kakashi jokingly asked, referring to her triumph over Kakuzu and the ensuing exhaustion she displayed afterwards.
"Kakashi-sensei..." Naruko muttered, her chakra levels almost as low as they could safely drop, "I need some clothes..."
Kakashi realized exactly how torn up Naruko's armor was, which was approaching a barely legal state by now. He sweat a bit when he realized that, unlike last time, there was no spare shirt to offer her. He sped up a bit, but not so much that Naruko would fall over trying to keep up. He didn't want to explain why he was holding on to a naked seventeen year old girl, especially since a large number of kunoichi were going around right now. He did stop for a second to put the girl's robe around her shoulders.
Imagine Naruko's surprise when everyone brightened up upon seeing her. Her eyes widened as a woman ran up and offered Naruko a one-piece sundress, seeing as how Naruko was on the verge of making every pervert in the village extremely happy. A medic ran up and started looking at her wounds, doing his best to heal them as quickly as possible. And to top it all off, a guy who would probably be handsome hit on her, but his attractiveness was lost on him because he was an infamous playboy that had a strike zone that had few criteria, such as them being human(or humanoid), female, attractive and between the ages of sixteen and thirty. When he was rejected, four guys popped up (his friends) and shouted that he had been rejected instantly, like always.
"One part of your dream down, isn't that right, Naruko?" Kakashi asked.
"I told everyone what happened," Mini-Katsuyu stated, feeling quite proud of herself.
Naruko was now smothered with people who were trying to help her or praise her. The poor medic who helped her now needed a medic himself, since he had been trampled.
"Can I have your autograph?" a pair of civilian girls asked.
A young boy pushed through the crowd. "I'm going to be strong, just like you!" he declared before he was sucked back into the tangle of people.
A pair of small arms wrapped around Naruko's waist from behind. "Naruko-onee-sama!" a young genin girl squealed as she blushed so red her head should have exploded.
"No fair! I want her as my onee-sama too!" another girl shouted.
"No! Me!"
"I'm the best for Naruko-onee-sama! Not you idiots!" a third shouted, who was wearing a copy of Naruko's orange jacket from her early genin days.
Naruko and a number of other people sweat dropped as they bore witness to Naruko's fan girls forming a club and rivalry over her. It was Sasuke all over again, but Naruko wasn't going to betray the village and she didn't sulk in corners or whatever it was that Sasuke had done.
Naruko noticed a dear friend of hers coming and called out to her. "Sakur-"
SMACK!
"-aaaaah!" Naruko shouted as she gripped the top of her head.
"BAKA! Always pushing yourself to the brink of passing out! BAKA!" she shouted, then latched onto the girl, squeezing her tightly. "Thanks for coming back..."
Naruko would have been tossed into the air, like the crowd was planning, but the sounds of metal cracking and leather tearing made Sakura blush, wrap Naruko in a blanket and shove her through the crowd as the last few fragments of her armor fell off of her from under the blanket. To their horror, a number of girls squealed in delight, a few men blushing at the realization that the heroine was now naked.
'At least I'm not streaking!' Naruko thought to herself as she was brought into the mostly intact ruins of a building. There was a small room with four walls and no windows, meaning she could get dressed again without tacking public indecency charges onto her name, again.
Naruko had redressed in a spare set of her new outfit (She had left a few pairs with the toads) and added some bandages to her arms, because she had accidentally burned herself with some scalding water in the mess tent, resulting in her being declared a bad cook and banned from cooking for a while. She pouted as she looked at the bandages that covered her hands, forearms and part of her biceps. 'I'm a good cook, dattebayo! It was all Sai's fault!' It was true, Sai had accidentally dropped one of his ink wells on the ground, making Naruko slip on it long enough to dump boiling water on her arms. Luckily, she not only healed fast, but she wound up having three medics actually fight over who healed her. Ironic that three medics would almost trade blows to heal an injury.
Naruko sighed, her arms only covered to hide the red marks that the burns had left behind, marks that would become burn scars, then heal away without any traces left behind in less than a day. She still felt a bit empty inside. Sure, she had the village's respect and the disgusted glare to sympathetic smile ratio had switched, but Naruko had lost someone very important to her and it brought up old, painful memories.
"Am I really going to be alone for the rest of my life?" Naruko asked herself. She had been told that so much that she had thought it may be true, then Ino came into her life and it seemed, until recently, that she could share her life with somebody. But...Ino was gone, leaving Naruko alone again. "Maybe I shouldn't have gotten together with Ino-chan, then she might still be alive..."
Sai and Sakura had come up behind Naruko a minute or so ago and both had pained emotions fill their hearts at Naruko's words. Sakura didn't know why, but she was becoming more and more conscious of Naruko's emotional state, which resulted in her realizing that Naruko had only smiled, truly smiled, in the presence of the Ichiraku family, the two Hokage and Ino. All Naruko's other smiles were mostly forced, mere masks to hide her real feelings. Sai had been recovering his emotions as he spent more time with Team Kakashi and, while they were very faint, he could feel emotions and the negative ones were coming back very quickly, sadness being one of them.
Sakura decided to go her usual route and got behind Naruko, who was oblivious that she had a fellow redhead behind her, carefully avoiding the kitsune's tail. When Sakura decided it was time, she lifted her fist up and lightly bonked Naruko on the back of her head. "Baka."
"Eh? Wha- Sakura-chan?" Naruko gasped, shocked that somebody had snuck up on her.
Sakura didn't know why, but her heart hammered in her chest when Naruko called her 'Sakura-chan' for the first time in a while. Thankfully, she could use Naruko's tail brushing against her legs for a moment as an excuse for the faint blush that spread on her cheeks. "Follow me or I'll knock you out and drag you there," Sakura said, turning and walking towards the tents that made up the ICU right now.
Naruko, not wanting to spend some of today unconscious, followed her long time teammate. Sai stood for a moment, chuckled slightly and followed as well. Maybe he'd use the camera he had bought, since he found it easier to take pictures of scenery outside of the village and paint it later, since he couldn't always set up his painting gear and stay still for a few hours.
After fifteen minutes, Team Kakashi was fully assembled in a tent that was large enough to have been used for a major medical operation, but was small enough for one person. Naruko stepped in, honestly wondering why she was here.
"Hey there, Naru-koi."
Naruko instantly froze up. She recognized that voice, and only one person in this world referred to her as 'Naru-koi.' Her voice cracked a bit, but she managed to ask, "I...Ino...chan?"
The people gathered parted, allowing Ino to be seen in the hospital bed that had been salvaged from the ruins of Konoha's hospital. "That's me," the girl cheerfully said.
A few running steps, a leaping hug, a loud crash and then thud later, people outside the tent wondered why there was killing intent flowing from a medical tent. Did they catch an enemy nin recently?
Naruko had charged forward, then jumped into the air to perform a 'hug flop' on her revived girlfriend, but Inoichi had caught the flying girl's ankle, making her fall short of her goal, smacking her forehead off the hard metal railing at the foot of the bed, knocking her out. He had been so shocked that he let her go, letting the young woman limply fall to the ground.
Inoichi felt something he had only felt in the presence of his wife before, something he dubbed 'genital removal intent.' The scariest part of this was that it was coming from his daughter this time. He cautiously looked to his 'princess,' then quickly groveled, saying he didn't mean to knock Naruko out, just prevent Ino from suffering anymore injuries.
Naruko woke up to Inoichi being dragged off to the side by a fuming Lamia while Ino glared daggers at her father. Upon seeing Naruko lift herself up, Lamia offered a quick smile, then continued to drag her husband to the side so he'd learn of his impending doom.
"Naru-koi, are you okay?" Ino asked.
Naruko was up like a lightning bolt, standing at the side of Ino's bed while holding her girlfriend's hand. "Forget about me, what about you? I thought-"
"That I died? I did, but I was brought back somehow," Ino said, quite puzzled over her resurrection as well.
After a moment of thinking, Naruko slapped her forehead. "I forgot that Nagato revived everyone in Konoha! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" she half whined, half growled as she sunk to her knees.
Ino giggled a bit. "With what happened, I would have made that mistake too. I mean, really, a jutsu that revives people? You said he used a jutsu and I woke up in my own body, so I guess he really could bring people back to life."
Naruko hugged Ino, crying a bit because she was that happy that her lover was alive. She had thought that finding love was the best thing she ever could experience, but she was wrong, finding that her love was safe and sound was leagues better.
Ino hugged Naruko back. "I'm alright Naruko. I'm not going anywhere."
Whether it was brilliance or idiocy, though it was most likely idiocy, Naruko's mind settled on what Ino said and took it the wrong way. "Ino...will you marry me?" she asked.
Ino blushed.
Sakura blushed too as her mouth fell open, her mind blank for once in her life.
Sai blinked. 'This is certainly unexpected.'
"Oh my!" Lamia excitedly gasped.
Inoichi looked like he just witnessed his 'hidden' Icha Icha stash getting torched.
"I WON-"
SMACK!
Inoichi was lying on the ground, a steaming fist print on his cheek, his wife's knuckles smoking slightly. "I told you before, our little girl can choose for herself!" she shouted. Inoichi obviously forgot that his wife used to be a chūnin.
Ino stuttered a whole lot, but eventually managed to say, without stuttering every word like Hinata, "N-Naruko... As happy as I would be to...m-marry you... I want it to be because you want to marry me, not because you're afraid of losing me."
Naruko lowered her head slightly and sighed. "You're...right. I do want to marry you one day, but almost losing you made me lose my head for a minute there." Naruko then grinned. "I'm going to marry you sooner than you think. I was thinking of...October...maybe November..."
Ino blinked, then realized what Naruko was saying. Ninja could marry at sixteen, but only if one of the two people was eighteen, like civilians had to be for marriage. Naruko was intending on marrying Ino sometime after her eighteenth birthday, which meant that Ino had a few months til she was her cute kitsune's wife. The thought made Ino's face burn.
"Awwww! Our Ino-hime is loving her fiance's words," Lamia cooed.
"MOM! She's not-" Ino stopped, realizing that she WAS Naruko's fiance, but there was no ring on her finger, not yet. Ino covered her face a bit, to hide her embarrassment and the wide, happy/nervous grin that was spreading on her face.
Sai blinked, remembering how lying through his teeth last time resulted in Ino not smashing his face open, as opposed to how the truth made Sakura slap him. "She's quite cute when she blushes," he lied. Honestly, he felt it was interesting to watch her reactions to Naruko's words and actions, but he never saw a girl that he considered cute before.
Sakura, Lamia and even Inoichi paled and backed off as Naruko released a death threatening aura, her tail flicking about angrily. "Sai..." she growled.
The painter gulped, realizing that he was in trouble.
"STOP HITTING ON INO-CHAN! SHE'S MY FIANCE!"
'Shikaku-san is right, women are troublesome and impossible to understand,' Sai thought as Naruko shook him hard, glaring at him like she was ready to murder him with just a hard stare.
[A few days later]
Naruko would, any day, love to have a woman clinging to her like right now, but the redhead that was latched to her, well...
"I'm so sorry I destroyed your village!" the dark skinned redhead wailed, "that idiot Omoi is at fault since he dodged that rock! The crater should be in his empty skull, not Konoha~~! He's a bakaaaaa~!"
"Uh... There there," Naruko tried, lightly patting the woman's back a bit. This was beyond awkward...
The blonde who had followed the redhead sighed and walked away. 'I don't get paid enough to deal with this. I'll leave Omoi and Karui to this young woman.'
Just then, Omoi, aka the idiot, came around the corner and saw his flat chested teammate clutching on one of Konoha's many hot women. "K-Karui... Are you that desperate to stop me from getting a hot girlfriend? Or did you go lez because no guy could ever be interested in your flat chest unless he was part of a minor, special interest group?" he asked.
Karui's tears were gone and she started roaring at her teammate. She briefly crumbled a bit when Omoi mentioned 'the rock,' but Naruko shook her head when Karui looked back, making the woman realize that she wasn't responsible for this mess.
The fight looked like it wouldn't end for a while, so Naruko decided to sneak away. 'I wouldn't stay around at all, even if it was a paying mission,' she thought to herself as she walked into a wide open space with wooden beams waiting to be re purposed for housing. Seeing as how there were some people nearby who looked like they'd need some support beams soon, Naruko created a number of shadow clone and went to lift a beam to carry over to them.
"Naruko..."
[Ten minutes later]
The two female members of Team Kakashi were sitting on some of the wood, both silent as what they sat on.
"How is baa-chan?" Naruko asked.
Sakura shook her head. "She's in a coma from using so much chakra all at once. She saved those who were revived, but she might not make it herself."
Naruko lowered her head slightly. She thought for a moment and decided that Sakura was a good enough friend to share this bit of herself. "Sakura... You know how I never really had a family, right?" Naruko asked, hoping that Sakura would take the news as easily as Ino had. Last thing she needed was the village going nuts about this. Heck, nobody would believe it was possible to begin with!
"Yeah..." Sakura answered.
Naruko had a last bit of hesitation, but pushed it aside for now. "My paternal mother was Tsurenai, the Kyūbi, and my adoptive parents were the Yondaime Hokage and his wife, remember that?"
"Namikaze Minato-sama and Uzumaki Kushina-san, right?" Sakura asked.
Naruko nodded. "But there's more to it than that," she started, "the night I was born, the Hokage's child was also born. For years, you knew me by his name, heard his voice when I spoke, saw him when you looked at me... until Wave." She stopped for a moment, swallowing hard. "This body and my soul, they don't match."
"What are you saying?" Sakura asked.
"The body is Naruko's, but the soul is that of Namikaze Naruto, the Yondaime's son," Naruko said, cautiously looking to her teammate. She explained what had happened that night, especially about the man, Madara, and how the human soul had been sealed in a demon's body. She felt that, at any moment, Sakura would storm off, disgusted or believing Naruko to be insane.
It didn't happen.
Sakura gently hugged Naruko, somehow sensing that the girl was scared and confused about all of this.
"SUPER good work there, Naruto!" a loud voice boomed, "you got Sakura to yourself! I'm proud of you, little lady!"
"Good work, Naruto-nee!" a younger, but still loud voice chimed in.
Sakura recoiled as if a kunai hit her in the eye, falling onto the floor. She quickly rolled over, hiding her red face in a dark spot between plank stacks while trying to calm her rapid heartbeat.
Naruko thought recognized the man and youth who stood before her, both wearing matching outfits, right down to the towel draped over their shoulders. "Tazuna... Inari?!"
"Right on, heroine," Tazuna said with a smirk.
"Whoa... Inari, you got taller and Tazuna...you got even older," Naruko said.
"Bah! Once a brat, always a brat," Tazuna muttered.
"Naruto-nee changing a lot would be weird, right?" Inari asked.
Tazuna grumbled, then nodded.
"Um, you should know that her name is Namikaze Naruko, not Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura said as she stood up, finished with hiding her face.
Tazuna froze at the last name, but Inari just smiled. "Sakura-san, you're really pretty now," he complimented. It wasn't just looks, there was an...air about her now that was different from last time he saw her. It felt weird around her, almost like a...like there was a charge around her all the time. The Sakura now seemed to radiate a calm and happiness that wasn't there before.
Sakura turned to mush at the compliment, as many would expect given the fact that she was bullied when she was younger.
"Naruko, are you really related to that man?" Tazuna asked, not having to mention who 'that man' was.
Naruko nodded. "He's my dad." It was true, sort of. Kami this was confusing!
Tazuna nodded his head slightly. "Following in his footsteps... Thanks again for taking care of Gato. If not for you and your team, we'd probably be dead by now."
Inari grinned. "So, how is our payment? We told you we'd help you out later!"
"Thanks," Naruko said, blushing slightly. She wasn't used to being paid back.
Inari blinked. "Naruko-nee is pretty too!"
Naruko mimicked her girlfriend's much earlier actions and covered her face as she blushed.
Kakashi showed up and a conversation started up between the two men. After a minute or two, Tazuna started to look around. "Where's Sasuke? I wanted to thank that kid too."
Naruko accidentally cut her palm with her sharp nails. She swallowed hard, then put a fake grin on her face. "We got into a pretty bad fight a few days ago, even came to trading a few blows. He joined up with a border patrol so he wouldn't see my face for a while," Naruko said, adding on a fairly convincing laugh too. She looked to Sakura. "Bet you'll be happy when I go kick his ass back towards Konoha later, right Sakura?"
"Ye-yeah..." Sakura added, feeling a bit awkward, but happy that Naruko spoke up. A few seconds longer and Sakura would have told them about Sasuke leaving the village years ago.
Tazuna raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? Does that mean you're score points with Sakura while he's gone?"
"I got a girlfriend already, old man!" Naruko shouted, "I ain't cheating on Ino-chan, ever! Especially since we're going to get married in a few months!"
"Ino-chan, huh?" Tazuna asked, a sly smile on his face.
"I wanna meet Naruko-nee's fiance!" Inari shouted. In a way, this 'Ino' would be his big sis.
Tazuna shook his head. "As much as I'd like to poke fun at you, me and Inari have to get going. We'll tease, er- talk with you later. And make sure you bring your cute girlfriend along, I want to meet my future daughter-in-law," he said, smirking a bit.
"The sake shop got crushed!" Naruko shouted back, hoping the man would freak out. He didn't. "Dattebayo!"
A few minutes after the two builders left, Naruko sat down, her energy seeming to vanish. "I never knew him at all..."
"Naruko?" Kakashi asked.
"Sasuke... I thought I understood him a little. We both hated people so much that we wanted to just destroy until we felt nothing anymore. But him...He actually started to lose feeling. I never did, I was consumed by rage and pain, neither fading in the slightest, then I met people important to me and I buried that anger deep within myself," Naruko said, "I think that is part of the reason why I failed to bring him back three years ago..."
"Naruko, that..." Sakura stopped, not knowing what to say to alleviate Naruko's doubts.
Naruko stood up. "I'm different now, I've found myself. When I meet Sasuke again, I'll kick his ass a bit and then talk with him. If I have to, I'll bring one of those couches the Yamanaka have you lie on and tie his broody ass to it and force him to talk! Whether he likes it or not, I am going to make him let go of his anger."
'She seems much stronger than ever before,' Kakashi thought to himself, feeling some pride that he was in charge of such an exceptional kunoichi. He only wished that he had a bigger role in her growth.
Naruko smiled. "After I've saved him, we'll all be a team again and Sakura can bop me over the head for getting into fights with Sasuke! I guess Sai can be all aloof with Kakashi-sensei while Yamato-taichou makes that creepy face of his to make us stop." She shivered, remembering that look.
The three decided to go ask Shizune if there was anything they could do, like a mission, so they started to make their way to the tent Tsunade was in. Naruko also wanted to see the woman, mostly to make sure she was okay, partially because she wanted to see her without that henge on.
"HEY!"
Team Kakashi turned to see Kiba, who was sitting on the back of a heavily panting Akamaru.
"Kiba, I think Akamaru is good for now," Sakura said. It wouldn't be the first time that Kiba ran the dog into the ground during a 'walk.'
"I've been looking for you guys while spreading the news all over the place. You won't believe how angry people have gotten over this bullshit!" Kiba shouted. Where the hell was Ino when you needed to spread information? He half expected people to tell him that they already heard from Ino, but it was like she vanished.
"What news?" Kakashi asked.
Kiba looked very worried, especially when he looked at Naruko. "Um, promise you won't kill the messenger?"
"Why would I kill you?" Naruko asked.
Kiba resigned himself to his possible fate. "Some guy called Shimura Danzō was just named Rokudaime Hokage."
"Danzō?" Kakashi asked. What was the daimyo thinking? Guy would be a better choice and that man would lose his mind if he was given a desk job. Heck, Akamaru was a better Hokage candidate than Danzō!
Here came the part that Kiba figured would lead to his untimely demise. "The first time he addressed a person as Hokage was to...declare Sasuke an S-rank criminal and authorize a kill on sight order for him."
"WHAT?!" Naruko roared as the curse seal on her neck activated, the gauntlet for her left arm starting to form from ragged chakra.
Sakura quickly placed her hand on Naurko's shoulder, ignoring the freezing sensation the seal gave off. "Naruko, calm down."
Naruko grit her teeth, the grey that had crawled halfway across her left eye stopped, then started to recede as the seal did the same. The gauntlet stopped forming and was well on its way to crumbling off. "How the hell can he do that? And why is he Hokage?"
"I don't have a clue either," Kiba said, figuring that Danzō talked so much that he was named Hokage just so he'd shut up.
"I can understand them wanting to elect a new Hokage, given Tsunade-sama's condition. I can even understand Sasuke being declared a missing-nin, which would have happened a long time ago if it weren't for Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said, then frowned, "what troubles me is Danzō becoming Hokage. The bad rumors about him alone would make it highly unlikely that he'd be considered, forget chosen."
"Danzō is going to get an ear full," Sakura said.
"Sakura, like it or not, he is the Hokage and, since he's so strict, he'd have you locked up if you barged into the office and started shouting," Kakashi said.
"I don't care who he is! What he's doing is wrong! Tsunade-sama isn't dead!" Sakura snapped.
Naruko glared towards the office of the Hokage, not knowing that Danzō had left a clone there to trap her when she arrived. All he'd have to do is say that she attacked him and the village would, regrettably, allow her to be 'detained for a while.' Once she was out of sight, he could make any number of excuses to prolong her incarceration, allowing him more than enough time to mold her into the perfect weapon with heavy use of his Kotoamatsukami.
"Naruko, calm down. You aren't going either," Kakashi said.
"I'm not letting him get away with shoving Baa-chan aside and ordering people to kill Sasuke!" Naruko shouted, turning to go straight into a trap.
Kakashi grabbed her arm and tightened his grip enough that he was sure he left marks, but he needed to get this into her head. "Naruko, this is what Danzō wants."
"All I'm going to do is talk to him about pulling back the order," Naruko said.
"Even if that is all you do, Danzō will blow it up to be something even greater," Kakashi stated, "you are a prize to more than just Akatsuki. Danzō has been trying to draft you into Ne ANBU since the night you were born. I can tell you now that no jōnin will accept him, so his powers as a Hokage will be limited to those of a Hokage Candidate, meaning he cannot mobilize the ANBU without more than half of the jōnin, the jōnin leader and the ANBU leader agreeing with him. If he gets you and does something to control you, he will get all the power he lacks now."
"He won't capture me," Naruko said, yanking her arm free.
Kakashi sighed. "If you go and see Danzō now, you'll probably wind up being the one who kills Sasuke. Do you want that Naruko? You'll also lose Ino and all those who are precious to you. He'll destroy you, piece by piece, until all that is left is your instincts, ninjutsu and a body."
Naruko stopped. "What...what do I do?"
"Do the opposite of the norm. Don't confront him, help us rebuild, eat some ramen, maybe go on a mission later on," Kakashi wondered aloud.
[Twenty minutes later]
Sai got hit by a blur and found himself carted off into the forest. The blur slammed him into a tree, dazing him slightly.
"Found you. Now, start talking about Danzō and don't stop!" Sakura ordered.
Naruko stepped out of the trees. "Sakura, I think you shouldn't have smacked him into the tree like that," she said, then looked at Sai, "still, I want to hear all about Danzō as well."
Sai frowned slightly, looking away a bit. After a moment, he sighed. "I can't tell you anything."
"Why not? Afraid to betray your master?" Naruko asked.
Sai was angry at that statement, or at least he thought it was anger. "He's not my master anymore. I just can't say anything about Danzō," he said, then stuck his tongue out so that the seal was visible.
"Is that a...seal?" Naruko asked.
Sai nodded. "If I try to say or do anything to reveal information on Danzō, my throat will constrict until I stop. If I try to attack him, it will close my throat until I die. If a Yamanaka attempts to search my mind, I'll fall into a deep coma that will lock them out. All members of Root have this seal."
"That's excessive," Sakura stated.
"With what we do and what he has done, death is the only way to completely hide such knowledge," Sai explained.
"Still, it's not right to go putting seals on all your people. That's no better than Orochimaru," Sakura said.
"That...is true," Sai said, happy that the seal didn't activate, "unlike Orochimaru, Danzō and us Root care for the village and all we do, in spite of how unsavory some of it can be, is for the protection of Konoha."
"So why is it that he wants Sasuke-kun killed?" Sakura asked.
"He wants... But he didn't..." Sai stopped, realizing that Danzō might have been suspicious of him, making the man watch what he said around him.
"Sasuke, eh? How about we all talk about that heartless little bastard?" a woman asked as a long katana slid forward, blade down, but still between Sai and his teammates..
Naruko quickly pushed Sakura aside while knocking the blade that was thrust between herself and Sai up and away. She quickly summoned her blade as a dagger and was about to strike, but a man appeared and knocked the blade out of her hand.
"Don't kill!" the guy shouted, holding Naruko's hand in place.
"Tch!" The woman rolled over her teammate's back, trying to get a better angle. She twirled her blade around to merely stun the girl as she took aim at her waist.
Naruko caught the sword and, not giving the woman a moment to catch her breath, lifted her up and smacked her away with a tail smack to the side.
"It's over!" Sakura shouted, aiming to take down the guy. Sai was backing her up from the man's side.
The man ducked the kick Sai aimed at his head, his leg swinging out to trip Sakura, but he didn't stop there, he kept moving and used his sword's hilt to flip the airborne Sai, then drew his weapon and held it over Sakura. "Stop or I'll do something we both regret," the man stated.
"Who the hell do you think you are!?" Naruko demanded, throwing the woman's sword away.
"They're ninja from Kumogakure... What are you doing here so deep in Konoha's territory?" Sai asked.
The redheaded woman got to her feet, favoring her side a bit. "That bastard Sasuke, we're here because of him!"
Sakura glared at the man who still held his sword over her body. "What does he have to do with your country?"
"Sasuke attacked and kidnapped our sensei, Killer-B, a shinobi of Kumogakure," the man stated, putting his sword away before he got too heated.
That was quite a surprise for the members of Team 7.
"He's your missing-nin and you didn't even bother eliminating him properly! Because of you assholes being so slack, our sensei is probably dead by now!" the woman snapped.
"Why would Sasuke-kun attack a ninja from Kumo?" Sakura muttered to herself as she sat up.
"Who knows what Akatsuki is planning. All we know is that your missing-nin attacked us," the man stated.
"What does Akatsuki have to do with Sasuke?" Naruko asked.
"Are you just playing stupid, or are you just plain stupid!? That little shit is Akatsuki!" the woman roared.
"Because of you not taking responsibility for your missing-nin, we got attacked! We were sent here for information, but the Hokage told us that we can kill him if we want to," the man said.
"Enough of you kids acting dumb! Tell us everything about Sasuke. His jutsu, his special traits, his favorite fucking food, anything that will let us track him down and kill him!" the woman growled as she pointed her sword at the teens.
"Don't forget Akatsuki. Konoha's been clashing with them a lot lately," the man stated.
"Sasuke-kun couldn't have..." Sakura muttered.
"Wake up, you stupid bitch! What is he to you anyway, a past lover or something?" the woman asked, "if that's the case, drop him before you start to attract the wrong attention!"
"Was he really with Akatsuki?" Naruko asked.
"Our scout made sure of it by paying the ultimate price," the woman said. When Sakura started to cry, the woman got even more annoyed, if such a thing was possible. "Will you shut her up or something? Tears won't bring back Yugito-sama or Killer-B-sensei!" the woman shouted.
"Wait a moment," Sai said, "if you've been given leave to hunt Sasuke, why are you here when you should have access to his files?"
"We aren't going to sit around doing nothing. We're out here to get information that might not be in his files," the man stated.
"Besides, our teammate is getting those files as we speak," the woman said, "dammit! Thinking about that bastard is making my blood boil! He attacked our sensei, for Kami's sake! Do you have any idea how that feels? Of course you don't, you a-"
A wave of heavy chakra rolled over the area, making the Kumo kunoichi's knees shake as she felt her strength leave her body. The man didn't fare much better, his lollipop dropping into the dirt.
"Any idea how that feels? Losing a sensei is painful, but losing a man who was sort of like a father, do you know what that is like?" Naruko, the source of the chakra asked as she glared at the two people before her with slit purple eyes. "I understand that you're angry, but snapping at people because of that anger is stupid beyond all reason. If your sensei could see how you two are acting, he'd be ashamed of you."
The two Kumo-nin felt that they had accidentally run into a former member of Konoha's ANBU and were about to be skinned alive.
Naruko realized something. "Yugito and Killer-B, were they jinchūriki?"
"H-How did-!?" the man stuttered.
Naruko let up on her chakra, thinking that was most of what took the man's voice from him. "Jinchūriki are the only ones Akatsuki attack now since I killed their bounty hunter, Kakuzu. They targeted me because I have the Kyūbi." She sighed. "Akatsuki needs to capture the jinchūriki alive for some reason, so you should try to focus on a rescue mission rather than a search and destroy mission."
"Y...You're serious?" the man asked, shaking from the tension and relief flooding through his body.
"Told ya that sensei was too tough for that brat to kill," the woman said, looking all smug despite her early assumption that Killer-B was dead.
"I'll help you save him and I'll tell you everything I know about Akatsuki. My master was spying on them a lot and he told me a few things about them," Naruko said.
"I think I kinda like you now, Red! Let's go and save our sensei!" the woman shouted.
"It's Naruko, miss..." the fox girl started.
"Just Karui, no 'miss' crap!" the woman snapped, "the lollipop guy next to me is Omoi."
"Naruko, what-" Sakura started.
"I'll handle this," Naruko said, putting her hand on top of Sakura's head for a moment.
"Alright, let's hear all about Sasuke," Karui commanded.
"Your sensei," Naruko said.
"Oh, we'll be sure to rescue him, but we're also going to kill that little shit," Karui said with a smile that was definitely not meant to be sweet.
Omoi nodded slightly. "Not just sensei, we lost valuable ninja to Sasuke's blade. If not for sensei, then we will end Sasuke for them."
Naruko lowered her head slightly. "Even if he has murdered people from your village, I can't-"
"He's a missing-nin, a traitor and a murderer! If you keep this up, we'll be coming to destroy what's left of this village next time, and we won't be alone!" Karui shouted, lifting the girl off the ground.
"He's...my best friend, and I promised..." Naruko muttered, feeling the weight of her responsibility again. It felt like she was carrying the world on her back...
"I don't give a shit about your friends of some kiddy promise you made! I want to kill that little traitor!" Karui snapped.
"I swore on my life, so I won't sell him out. I wouldn't sell him out, even if there wasn't a promise, because he's my friend," Naruko said, "please, just let me save him!"
"Y-You little!" Karui shouted, feeling her rage rise even more, if such a thing were possible.
"There are still people who admire Sasuke here, strong people. If you kill him, they might try to attack your village. If that happens, a war will break out, and it will be because of revenge, and it will keep going and going until nothing is left. It's a vicious cycle that I want to stop!" Naruko tried.
"YOU STARTED IT ALL! IF WE KILL HIM, IT'S ALL OVER!" Karui practically screamed.
Naruko had heard from her sensei, about Sasuke's complexes and how, indirectly, Naruko was the cause of him leaving. Kakashi hadn't said that, not exactly, but Sasuke had been threatened by her and it was part of what pushed him out of the village. It was her fault...
"...If we do choose to leave Sasuke alone, who pays for his crimes? Who will shed blood for our fallen comrades? What do we do with the hatred we have for him?" Omoi asked. Truth be told, he was starting to see the sense to this girl's words, but how far would she go, what would her solution be?
"..." Naruko thought about it for a moment, "...me...Hit me until you can't anymore, until you are drained of your hatred... I'm-"
SMACK!
Omoi blinked in surprise as Karui smashed Naruko straight in the face, actually sandwiching the teen's head between wall and fist. He watched as Naruko fell to the ground a moment later, going to clutch at her bleeding nose, but Karui lifted the girl up enough to drive a solid punch into her stomach, making her cough hard.
'I wanted to know what she was going to say,' Omoi thought as he watched his teammate viciously beat the redhead from Konoha. It was brutal, the kind of thing even the most brutal bloodsport would frown upon, but the girl didn't faint under Karui's fists, nor did she start blabbing or begging for it to stop, she just kept taking the blows, even after Karui smashed Naruko into the wall with a knee to the chest. Seeing this made Omoi think a bit, something his hot tempered teammate was horrendous at.
After a few minutes, Karui became tired enough that Naruko could get up, though anyone could see the girl had taken a few too many blows to the head. More than once, Naruko fell back to the ground, sometimes landing on her bloody, battered face.
"No...No matter how much I punch you...it...isn't enough," Karui panted.
"No matter how much you...ghh...punch me, I won't tell you any..anything," Naruko countered, wobbling slightly on her feet.
Karui grit her teeth and rushed forward, a punch with no strength left in it set to hit the girl one more time.
Sai appeared between the two, catching the woman's fist with ease. "Enough," he said.
"She told me to do this!" Karui growled, struggling to free her fist.
"Sai..." Naruko muttered.
Sai felt a rush of emotion, one that he identified as a 'righteous anger,' one that was aimed at a certain person. "Naruko, I won't allow you to suffer like this because of Sasuke. You've gone through enough already without him adding on to it."
Naruko managed to balance herself pretty well in spite of her new injuries. "What I do is my choice, not yours. Move."
Sai now understood Naruko. "You're so used to getting hurt that you can't feel it anymore... Naruko, you need someone to save you now, like you did Pain and Konan."
"I'm not used to getting hurt," Naruko protested.
"Sasuke has been nothing but a source of pain for you, yet you do everything to defend him. If I were you, with your power, I would have..." Sai stopped, not wanting to reveal that grisly image. He didn't notice it, but he started to tighten his grip on the woman's fist, actually hurting her.
"Move!" Karui snapped as she lifted her other fist up, aiming for the newcomer's face.
"Enough!" Omoi shouted as he caught his teammate's arm, "beating them is pointless, and it will just make us look worse in the long run."
Karui scoffed as she pulled her arm's free from the two men, frowning as she looked away like a spoiled brat who was denied what they wanted.
"She did offer to help us find Sensei, remember?" Omoi asked, certain that she forgot.
A moment of stiffening in Karui's body told it all, but she waved it off. "I remembered, I just wanted to avenge my fallen comrades."
'You so forgot,' everyone thought.
Omoi watched as Sai helped Naruko stand up properly, or as proper as the battered girl could. "She let you go to town on her face, something most women wouldn't let happen. She's not our ally, but I respect her and the strength of her 'life promise' involving Sasuke. You couldn't find a single person who would take a promise that seriously, no matter what they swore on." Omoi shook his head, knowing he'd never be able to keep a promise to the extent this young woman had. "She'll never say anything about him to an enemy, even if it means her death."
At that moment, a blonde woman dropped in. "Omoi, Karui, anything?"
"Ah, Samui. No, nothing," Omoi said.
Karui looked down like a kid caught red handed. "N-Nothing..."
Samui looked at her redheaded teammate hard. "Karui...have you been causing trouble again?"
Karui didn't answer, just started to sweat, hard.
"Samui, more importantly, Akatsuki takes jinchūriki like sensei alive, meaning we can still save him!" Omoi shouted, wanting to get Karui out of the oil filled pit she dug for herself before the idiot said or did something that would make Samui drop a match in it.
"With Akatsuki being as powerful as it is, with as many bases as they have, it would be next to impossible to mount a rescue operation. Our best bet is to find a way through Sasuke's movements," Samui stated, "if we just move without thinking, it will be a repeat of Yugito." She then looked to Karui. "Since you seem to have done something stupid, again, YOU will be doing the bulk of the copying. Omoi and I will keep you stocked with scrolls to copy, scrolls to copy onto and ink."
Considering what she had done, copying a few scrolls was like a slap on the wrist compared to what she would nor-
"And you get to report everything we learned to Raikage-sama himself," Samui finished.
Karui felt like she should confess to beating an innocent girl, since it might get her out of telling the Raikage all that she had learned just now. When he found out Killer-B was still alive, he'd pick her up, shake her a few times, maybe swing her as well. The man's happiness was almost as deadly as his anger.
"I want to help you save him," Naruko said, "please, take me to the Raikage."
Samui shoved a hand into Karui's face before she could talk, since she had a feeling the idiot had been the cause of the Konoha kunoichi's injuries. "I'm afraid you can't. At the current time, Raikage-sama has too light of a guard for him to be meeting unknown individuals, I hope you'll understand." She recognized the girl, in spite of her injuries, as the one who defeated the man who devastated the village with a single jutsu. If the girl could do that, then she could seriously injure, if not kill the Raikage. While Samui figured the girl, who was revered as a hero, wouldn't do such a thing, they still had to be careful. And while she wouldn't openly agree with some of the people she met, Naruko did strike her as a better choice to lead this village as opposed to that bandaged man who stank of underhanded schemes and treachery. Actually, even Karui would be a better choice to run this village and the redhead from Kumo was full of bad ideas and her temper got her in more trouble than anything else.
"Karui, Omoi, we got some work to do with Uchiha Sasuke's files," Samui commanded, "and by 'we' I mean Karui."
The two agreed, though Karui would come to regret agreeing, as well as being the one who had to speak to the Raikage later. She would swear that her brain didn't stop shaking for a week.
A/N~
Sorry this took so long, but I've been through a bit lately, mostly just my depression acting up. (don't worry, it is manageable WITHOUT drugs or therapy, I just need to avoid unhappy thoughts)
As always, I'll revise any errors I find later. The last chapter is already being checked again and has some slight changes. I'll upload the fixed c19 later when I'm finished with it.
Responses-
Gadman85: Even though you are commenting on chapter 6, I just had to respond to this one. What you described is almost exactly what I imagined happened, but in my mind, Jiraiya tried to hit on the women, which resulted in an even more painful beatdown.
Hope you enjoy the rest of my fanfic.
Krazyfanfiction1: First of all, the openings are complete and total bullshit. In the first opening, Naruto decks a man that is literally three times his size and knocks his ass out, but as we've seen in canon, Naruto was barely able to knock out Mizuki with hundreds of shadow clones. The whole phoenix thing was probably an allusion to Naruto being revived later after having the Yin half of Kurama sealed into him after Madara extracts the Yang half of Kurama from Naruto.
(While on the subject of flight, Naruto recently displayed the ability to fly unassisted)
Naruko can reform the chakra tails, only her original one is flesh and fur, into claws or blades at will. I would go revealing more of her abilities, but where is the fun in that?
MizoreShirayukiFan: Sorry for the long way, again. I hope this chapter is good.
The Keeper of Worlds: Glad you liked the fight, hope you liked the talk. As for Sakura, she was where she was in canon, somewhere she could safely watch the fight while treating an injured shinobi.
DarkLordK: I didn't put Hinata out because she doesn't get with Naruko, not that she's going to get with Naruto in canon, not if the creator hasn't completely lost his mind and decided to end the story on a sour note. I was actually thinking of making it Tsunade at one point, but the image of Naruko screaming while holding Ino, the kitsune's tails and hands torn open and bleeding as red tears ran from her eyes came to me in a dream and I just had to go with it. I hope it had the impact on you readers that it had on me.
Here's the next chapter, so now you can wait for the next one (im)patiently.
Bakaneko-chan11: Here's the next one, enjoy!
ShadowCub: You probably didn't read it a hundred percent. It wasn't for the village, it was so that she wasn't as bad as the villagers. She didn't want to lower herself to their level, so she saved them. It doesn't take much to hate someone, but it takes strength beyond measure to save that same bastard in spite of what they've done to you. In actuality, Naruko hates Konoha and would rather see it burn, but she's a better person than the villagers that surrounded her growing up. She won't stand by idly and watch people suffer when she can do something about it.
I guess I didn't write it properly or something. I'll look over it later to see if I can clear it up so that it isn't so confusing and giving the wrong message to readers.
Shinkicker: Glad you liked it.
Gaara king of sand: A rushed review, time to decrypt it a bit.
As long as you read the story, it is all good. You really don't need to be forgiven, but if you feel you need it, I forgive you for not reviewing so much lately.
In this universe, the bijū are completely insane and highly destructive when outside of a jinchūriki. Since Naruko is the exact opposite, and her almost completely human form lead the members of Akatsuki to disregard all the rumors floating around that she's a real demon, figuring that Naruko is 'broken' and indulging in the demonic powers of her tailed beast. Then again, Zetsu might not be reporting things properly to Pain...
My lips are sealed when it comes to Madara and the war.
Reviled? Kage summon act... OH! You meant 'revealed!' Well, no, not if Danzō wants to control her. If he revealed that Konoha had a biju under their control without a jinchūriki, the other villages would want her studied so they could somehow control their bijū without a jinchūriki, which would result in Danzō losing what he considers the most powerful weapon in his arsenal.
Danzō's a bastard and an asshole, but he's nowhere near stupid.
Harelquin320: Here's the update.
Lobod287: I knew from the very beginning that I wasn't a part of a minority of people, but the problem is that I'm an outcast among outcasts. I find it difficult to actually connect with anyone really, well, to guys really. (all my friends, aside from a small handful, were girls) I tried to kill myself when I was younger and it had an effect on my mental state and abilities. I damaged my mind, making my memory get messed up and my thought speed and amount to rise to the point where I developed speech problems because my mouth couldn't keep up with my rapid mind. To this day, sixteen years after the event, I still have trouble talking properly, though it isn't as bad as it used to be. I could do without the headaches, but that's an unfortunate trade off for my increased mental speed.
It's nice to know that there is someone out there who understands me and my friend so well, and it would have been nice if there was a group of people we could have met back in school, but we turned out alright enough. The biggest problem of today is that bullies are nearly invisible now, no longer fitting the typical bully stereotypes anymore. It would help if the people in charge of TV commercials that promote the bully awareness realized that bullies haven't acted the way they depict them since 1993.
Well, some bullies learned not to mess with me... By the way, that part about hating everyone was her and me, but the part about wanting to destroy them all was just me. I've learned to control my anger, but some morons just wouldn't learn unless I beat it into their uselessly empty skulls. I'm not proud of it, but at least they didn't bully anyone else after I kicked the crap out of them or smashed them into something harder than their skulls.
Dragon and Sword Master: I was worried about losing readers over the differing soul and body part, in fact, I expected flames galore. It's actually part of the reason I didn't finish this chapter sooner. As you said, I've never seen that before, so I hoped the originality would make people intrigued.
As for bringing a tear to your eye, I hoped that happened to a few others. I really wrote the pain of myself and another person into that part, actually ripping open some old wounds of mine in the process. You could say that those paragraphs were written with real emotional blood and tears. If the only thing people liked in the last chapter was that painful past, I would be happy.
LordCanine: Sakura will step in soon. As you see in this chapter, she is starting to blush when people mistake her and Naruko for a couple. She is starting to become (more) attracted to Naruko and more aware of her than the medic ever was when it came to Sasuke. She just needs to snap out of it and realize that, not only can Sakura get with a girl, Naruko can easily love and pleasure two women! She has tails for Heaven's sake, tails that can extend to decent lengths! Naruko could probably handle a woman with each tail, each hand, each foot and her face!
All in all, Sakura needs to wake up and smell the lesbian harem coffee, then drink it and go jump in Naruko's bed!
Seth Motley: A LITTLE LATE, BUT HERE IT IS!
thedarkpokemaster: Actually, Naruto's last name was originally Namikaze, but Hiruzen had it changed to Uzumaki to protect Naruto from whatever it was that he perceived as a threat. Naruko changing her name...well, you'll see how I planned to keep Kushina's legacy attached to Naruko. It will be revealed soon how she keeps her ties to her human mother.
As for drawing tears from readers, the last chapter was aiming for that. I brought up real pain, real sadness from my own soul and shaped it into words in an attempt to evoke the same feeling in others.
Be happy I'm not like those people who decide that Minato is from the 'Namikaze clan.'
ValeriaNeria: As I said earlier, that was the real pain of me and my friend, and my own rage reworked into Naruko's past. It was supposed to evoke tears, as was the scene of Naruko being consumed by grief over Ino's death.
Willain and jack and jake: Here's some more.
Dothesehavesaltonthem: Um, here you go? ...Prancing...
danny: I hope you didn't really die from the cliffhanger. I guess my brief absence might work in my benefit...
Apache27: Actually, this is more of a Naruko/Ino story with Sakura joining up soon. The development of the relationship between Naruko and Ino will be more detailed than Sakura's growing feelings for Naruko. Remember how I had us in Ino's head a lot, stuck with them while Sakura became background and had us see Naruko muddle over her belief that Ino was playing with her. Since Naruko and Ino are together now, I'm going to pop into Sakura's head a bit at times, so we can see her confusion a little bit as well as meet a certain little scribble again.
I can understand not liking specific character stories/pairings. I won't bother with stories that are strictly NaruHina or SasuSaku, so I won't read one just to bash it like all those morons out there that know they are going to hate a story but read it anyway. That's just utter stupidity.
Mangaka Shuzen: I know what you mean about encountering stories that you want to read the end of and the rare few where you don't want to end. In fanfics, the latter is rare. I can only name a few that I don't want to end, Naruto the Dragon Champion being near the top. As for manga, it has to be the To-Love-Ru series and Kyou no Keroberos. (I like romantic comedies and harems! Don't look at me like that!)
I'm glad I can hook people in, since I wanted to release a freaking legacy story, or was it an epic? Either way, I got a series of novels, three stories that are linked to each other through events, that I want the world to read some day. Some of my characters from that story have been reworked into OCs that I use, or in some cases, it IS the characters from the stories in my mind that appear in my fanfics. (some of them are dimension hoppers, so they can pop in, especially since all of my stories, even my fanfics, take place in the 'Exceleverse,' a multiverse linked together by various things such as a shared 'nightmare' realm and such)
I was thinking of making some of my OCs, like Yue from KTD, into characters in the original story I am planning on writing.
SithLordNilis: Here you go!