Previously: Things are getting more uncertain: Meeting with Namahs, Sakura and Hinata comes across an abandoned caravan, where the girls meet a mysterious Shaman, who gave Sakura the item they had been looking for: The Kuroryuukouseki, the Black Dragon Crystal!
Naruto's condition grows even worse, when he suffers a heart attack after waking up. But the Coup de Grace was when the Shrine Maiden Cora told the dark secret the Kuroryuukouseki: For whomever wishes upon it, the price is their soul...
Naruto: From Promises to Wishes
Chapter Seven ~ Love & Sacrifice
Cora stood in her fighting stance, while Sakura closed her eyes, clutching the black crystal in her hands. "What do we do, Sensei?" Ino asked, "Is what Cora said really true?" "I'm not sure," Kakashi asked, "But, considering that Naruto's life is hanging on by a thread, now is not the time to throw caution to the wind!"
Slowly, Sakura opening her eyes after taking a deep breath. "Cora, please..." she said, "...This is something I have to do!" "Sakura..." Hinata said, looking at her. The Kagamigan examined Sakura throughly. Her thoughts, her inner feelings, her emotions...all of it. Cora was surprised by what her Kekkei Genkai was letting her see. 'Amazing!' she thought. 'Everything about her...it's definitely unlike the others who used the crystal...'
Sakura continued to look at Cora with an intensity in her eyes. "Ms. Sakura," Cora then replied, "You leave me with no choice! I'll have to take it from you by force!" "Sakura, stay back!" Temari shouted, "Wind Scythe Jutsu!" "Wind Scythe Reflection!" Cora performed a handsign and reflected Temari's technique back at her, knocking her down. "Let's see you handle this! Lightning Blade! (Raikiri!)" Kakashi shouted, attacking. "That won't work! Lightning Blade Reflection!" Both attacks collided, but Kakashi was the one who was pushed backwards.
"But how?!" "I already told you, Lord Kakashi!" Cora explained, "My Kagamigan is, specifically, designed to repel all Elemental-based techniques. Ms. Temari's techinques relies solely on the wind, itself; that makes her just as vulnerable!" "Damn!" Kakashi said, "Looks like she is just as strong as us!"
The Doctor entered the room and began to check Naruto's pulse. "His pulse is strong, but it's getting weaker by the second!" he said, "Naruto's body was already fragile from the beginning. Now that he has a heart attack, he won't survive! I'll do the best I can, but at this rate, it's gonna take a miracle to save him!" 'A miracle is what we need right now!' Shikamaru thought. Grabbing his hand and checking for a pulse, Kiba started to sweat.
'Try to hold on, Naruto!' he thought. 'Damn it! Hinata, Sakura, hurry up! Now, is NOT the time to be late!'
Rock Lee and Tenten rushed in to attack Cora, who seemed to be holding her own. Sakura stepped back, still holding the Kuroryuukouseki, Hinata watched her. "Sakura!" she said, "Don't make the wish just yet...Not until we see Naruto again..." The, she lunged in using her Gentle Fist to knock Cora down. Getting up, Cora pleaded with them again. "Please," she began, "Don't make a wish that you'll regret making later on!" "I'm sorry, Cora!" Lee replied, "We're willing to take that risk!" Realizing that she couldn't make her case anymore, Cora extended her arm and a shockwave occurred knocking Hinata backwards into the air.
"It's a shockwave!" Temari said. 'Amazing!' Kakashi thought. 'A shockwave without performing any handsigns!' "Hinata!" Chouji shouted as she flew past him, "Why you..!" He rushed in, enlarged his arm, and attacked; Cora blocked it afterwards. After seeing Hinata fall to the ground, Sakura fell to her knees. 'All of this...' she thought, closing her eyes. 'Because I want to save Naruto... I can't even use my wish, unless I'm beside him...'
"But, you can..." a mysterious voice said. Sakura opened her eyes as the Kuroryuukouseki started to glow in her hands. "What is thy desire?" "My desire...?" Sakura breathed. "Place your desire within the jewel! Only then, will your wish come true!" Sakura continued to stare at the crystal afterwards.
The heart montior was beeping slowly as Naruto's pulse was down to one beat. "This isn't good!" the Doctor said, as his patient's breathing became shallow, "Naruto's pulse is fading fast! He won't last much longer!" "Come on, Naruto!" Kiba said, still holding his hand, "Hang in there!"
'Come on, Kakashi!' Shikamaru thought. 'Naruto has got another minute at the most! If you're going to do something, do it NOW!'
"It's now or never..." Sakura breathed. 'Naruto...After all of the promises you made to me... This is my promise I make to you...' Hinata sat up and saw her making her wish. "Sakura, don't do it!" she shouted.
The shockwaves coming from the crystal were beginning to engulf the whole Leaf Village; from the entrance, to the Hokage Monument. Everything was covered in a purplish-like color. Everything paused. And then, everything went silent...
"Naruto...I wish..." Sakura thought as she closed her eyes, putting her feelings into the Kuroryuukouseki. "I wish you were back to normal, like you always were. I want to see you help out other people again; get other people their courage. I wish that you were eating ramen right now, instead of fighting for you life. I wish that you would keep improving yourself until that one day you become Hokage... And..."
An image of Naruto smiling came to Sakura's mind...
"...I wish that you would smile again. That same, goofy-looking smile you had always showed me, knowing that everything will be okay. Kuroryuukouseki, heed my wish... Please, HEAL NARUTO BACK TO NORMAL!"
A blinding flash came, surrounding the whole village. Everything was engulfed, instantly. Nearly twenty seconds later, the flash disappeared, with everyone covering their own eyes. Everything turned back to normal as the night was long. "What the Hell is going on?!" Chouji said blinking. "Is everyone okay?" Kakashi said looking around. Looking behind, he saw Sakura laying on the ground, unconscious, with the Kuroryuukouseki right beside her.
"Sakura!" he shouted rushing towards her, trying to wake her up, "Hey! Are you okay? Sakura!" Everyone raced over to check upon her, except for Cora, who fell to her knees, feeling like she had been defeated. "She did it..." she said to herself, "...She bestowed her wish to the Kuroryuukouseki... Ms. Sakura...has just doomed her own life..."
Sakura opened her eyes, only to look up at a ceiling. "Wha...?" she said, sitting up rubbing her head. "Hey!" a voice said, "Did you have a good night, Sleeping Beauty?" She turned to her left and saw Shikamaru smiling at her. "Shikamaru...?" she breathed, "How...Where am I?" "You're in the hospital," Shikamaru answered, "You have been all night... It's morning." "Morning?"
"Hey, Sakura!" another voice said. The voice made her gasp as she turned to her right and saw another familiar face smiling at her. "Naruto..." she breathed. "Yo!" Naruto said, winking at her. Unable to hold back her smile, Sakura jumped out of her bed and hugged him. "Woah!" Naruto said, hugging back, "What's this all about?" "I'm just happy to see you again," she said.
"The Doctor told me and Kiba last night," Shikamaru began, "that you recovered fully, after a huge flash came out of nowhere. Sakura, you were unconscious. Your readings are low, but you should recover throughout the day." "That's good," Sakura replied. "There's more good news: Both of you are being discharged right now. I'll go see if you're all set to go..."
As Shikamaru left the room, Naruto and Sakura looked at each other. "So, uh..." Naruto said starting to blush. "How about..." Sakura began, "when we leave here, you and I get some ramen? My treat..."
Several minutes had passed as Naruto and Sakura were both released from the hospital. "Man, it feels like forever and a day since I've been in there!" Naruto said stretching. "Come on, Naruto!" Sakura said, "Let's go get some ramen. I'm hungry." "Did somebody say ramen?" a voice said. The two of them turned around to see Konohamaru and Moegi walk up behind them. "Konohamaru! Moegi!" Sakura said.
Another few minutes passed as Naruto started eating his bowl of ramen at a fast pace. "Boy, this is good!" he said. "Ow!" Konohamaru said, trying to eat with his left hand, "It's hot!" "Say, Konohamaru! How's your arm?" "It's okay. I'm finally getting feeling back into it. The Doctor said that the bandages come off in a few days." "That's not what I heard!" Moegi said, "He tried to restart his training again, even though he wasn't supposed to do anything!" Then she hit Konohamaru in his sore arm, causing to cringe. "Moegi!" Konohamaru shouted, "That hurts! That's my arm!" "Good! Now, that you've noticed, come here! I'll feed you your ramen."
"Looks like somethings never change!" Naruto said as he and Sakura looked on to Moegi feed Konohamaru. As Sakura looked on, she remembered the good old days when Naruto hurt his arm and that she had to feed him. "Huh? Sakura, what wrong?" Naruto asked turning to look at her, "You haven't touched your ramen!" "Oh!" Sakura breathed, "It's nothing! I was just waiting for it to cool down!" Naruto then started to smile when she started eating.
[Hokage's Office]
Kakashi and Cora, along with Yamato, were discussing something.
"It's been nearly ten hours since Ms. Sakura has bestowed her wish to the Kuroryuukouseki," Cora replied, holding the jewel in her hand, "She won't have much longer to live now..." "What are the symptoms after using the jewel?" Kakashi asked. "She will collapse; her body with give out on her before the day is over."
Kakashi and Yamato continued to be silent as Cora continued. "Nobody lasts twenty-four hours after their wish has been made. To her, it's going to feel like her soul is being sucked away...every second that she is trying to stay alive." "Yamato," Kakashi began, "Gather all of Sakura's classmates...She would want to say her final goodbye..." "But, Kakashi..." Yamato began, "It's impossible. Even the Doctor said that her readings were low, but she would make a full recovery."
"Knowing Ms. Sakura..."
[Training Area]
"...She's wielding herself to stay alive..."
Naruto and Sakura were standing in front of three logs that were in the ground. "I still haven't forgotten this old place," Naruto replied. "Do you remember our first time being here?" Sakura said chuckling, "All you really cared about was your stomach and Kakashi-sensei tied you to the post." "Please, don't remind me! Just thinking about it, gives me rope burns!"
"It sure feels good to reminisce about the old days," Sakura said closing her eyes. Naruto was right behind her as the wind started to blow silently. "What made decide to come back here?" he asked. "I don't know...I just wanted to..." "Where do you want to go next?" "I'm sorry, Naruto...I just don't have the strength to go anywhere else..."
Sakura's arms went limp as she nearly fell backwards. "Sakura!" Naruto said, grabbing her by the shoulders, "Are you okay?" "Just set me down, slowly... And, please, just hold me..."
Setting her down on the ground, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sakura waist. "What's happening to you?" he asked her. "The wish I used on the Kuroryuukouseki," she began, "...it came true...but it came at a price." "You mean, you're dying?! All because of your wish!?" Instinctively, Sakura raised her arm and placed her hand on his cheek. "I'm not ashamed of my wish..." she said, "...Besides, even Sasuke would want you to stay alive as well..."
Before she could talk more, Sakura's arm went limp again. Her eyes closed as her head fell on to Naruto's chest. "Sakura! SAKURA!" he shouted.
A minute later, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Temari, Tenten, Rock Lee, Chouji, Hinata, Kakashi, and Yamato made it towards where Naruto and Sakura were. When they made it there, they noticed that Naruto's tears were failing down his face.
"Naruto..?" Ino asked, "...What happened?" "She's gone..." Naruto replied above a whipser, "Sakura's dead..." "She's dead?!" Hinata said in shock. "All this happened...because of a wish she made...to save me..." Cora walks up behind them and said, "I'm sorry, Naruto. I couldn't stop her from making the wish. I never wanted this to happen..."
Moments later, another shows up at the Training Area. "Namahs!" Hinata said. "Looks like I got here too late," Namahs replied, "It looks like the girl bestowed her wish on the Kuroryuukouseki, and it claimed her life..." "Yeah," Shikamaru said, "That's exactly what happened." "I'm sorry for your loss... Then again, another victim's soul has been claimed!" "What did you say?!" Kakashi said.
"That stupid girl..." Namahs began, "...She had so much resolve within her. She wasn't going to stop until she saved her dear friend!" "What about you?!" Hinata shouted, "You were the who decided to help us!" "Help you? Hahahahaahaha! I was the one who gave the crystal in the first place!" Hearing that, Naruto opened his eyes as he pupils became small.
"Now, that her soul belongs to the Kuroryuukouseki," Namahs said, "I can finally ditch this disguise..." The mysterious Information-gathering Ninja suddenly transformed a decrypted old man with a mask over his face. "It's him!" Hinata said in shock, "That's the guy who gave Sakura the Kuroryuukouseki!" Cora walked, slowly, in front of the group as she stared at Namahs. "Is there something wrong?" the old man said.
Without hesitation, Cora immediately activated her Kagamigan, with anger in her eyes.
"YOU!"
Tragedy has struck the group of Leaf Ninjas as Sakura Haruno has passed away. And, a big surprise has unfolded when Namahs has transformed into a mysterious old man. Who is this old man that the shrine maiden Cora has anger for? As the Leaf Ninjas mourn their fallin friend, they set for one more thing... REVENGE!
A/N: Next Chapter: A plan to save Sakura's soul...? Please Review!