Okay, here's the next chapter of Redemption. I hope you all enjoy it. Also please R&R and let me know what you think 'kay?
Also I'd like to apologise to everyone for taking so long to update. I've been preparing to go to University, and while I'm proud of myself for getting an unconditional place to the University of Greenwich, I had to go to all sorts of meetings to sort out my financial life while I'm here. That and it's been a hell of a time actually settling in and just getting the right stuff. This hasn't left me much time to sit around and write, as much as I love it. So once again, I apologise for making everyone wait. Thanks for your patience.
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Redemption.
Chapter Eight – Unattainable.
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That very morning, Sasuke was talking to his two youngest children. Little Naruto gave Sasuke a picture. Sasuke looked at the picture, where he saw what appeared to be him, Naruto, Sakura, Itachi and Kushina, Hinata, Hikari, Little Sasuke and Little Naruto. There was a black mark on Kushina's neck. "What's that on Kushina's neck Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "It's her mark. I thord it was funny wen I sawed it. Kushina-Chan sed I diddin see it, but I did Daddy." Naruto said softly. Sasuke felt a terrible sense of fear come over him. Sasuke pulled down the collar of his own shirt. "Naruto, is this the mark you saw?" Sasuke asked, showing the child the mark on his own neck. Little Naruto looked at the mark carefully, and his eyes widened. "Yeah Daddy ids da same one. Exacly the same as Kushina-Chan's!" Little Naruto exclaimed. "Did you tell anyone?" Sasuke asked. Little Naruto looked at his father incredulously. "I tole you Daddy. Me and Sasu-kun thought it was a bruise." Naruto said softly. "Where's Kushina-Chan now Naruto?" Sasuke asked his son slowly. "She's gone. Anti Sak'ra was crying. Unca Nar'to dunno where she went, and Ita-Aniki went to look for her." Naruto said softly. Sasuke felt sick. A feeling of dread came over him. Would he be told his son was back with a Rasengan-shaped hole in his shoulder, like the Chidori-shaped hole he punched into his own best friend? He looked at his two youngest children and made a split second decision. "You two, I'm gonna write a note, and you give it to Uncle Naruto from me. Alright?" Sasuke questioned. The two children nodded and Sasuke wrote a simple note.
Meet me where it started for us Naruto. That's where our two eldest are.
Sasuke signed his name and folded the paper. He handed the note to little Naruto. "Go and take that to Uncle Naruto straight away, with Hikari Nee-Chan. Okay?" Sasuke said softly. The two children nodded and left the room. Sasuke took the window to exit the hospital and disappeared within moments. He knew where he was headed. He prayed he wasn't too late.
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Sakura saw Hikari and little Naruto running around looking for someone. "What's wrong with you two? Where's your Daddy?" Sakura asked. "He wanted us to give this special note to Uncle Naruto, Auntie Sakura." Hikari replied. Sakura blinked. "Stay here for just a second you two. Uncle Naruto might be seeing how Uncle Sai is doing." Sakura said softly. The two children stood and waited for Sakura. She ran into Sai's room, and indeed Naruto was there. "Sakura, him getting injured is my fault isn't it? Kushina ran off and defected and I put Sai on the case to make sure that didn't happen. I should've thought about what would happen if they didn't want to give up on Kushina." Naruto said sadly. Sakura bit her lip anxiously. "Hikari and little Naruto are looking for you Naruto. They have a note for you from Sasuke. I don't know why. Did you send out any teams to look for Kushina and Itachi?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded. "Two teams. They're searching in two directions and around, as far as they can. Shizune, Kakashi and Nawaki on one team and Mayumi, Dan and Sakumo on the other one." Naruto replied. He left Sai's room, with Sai's family fast asleep on a cot in the corner of the room, to talk to his own charges.
Naruto looked at Hikari and little Naruto, who stared back at him incredulously. "Uncle Naruto, Daddy asked us to give you this!" Hikari exclaimed. Little Naruto handed Naruto the note. Naruto opened it and his eyes widened. He looked at Sakura. "I've got to go Sakura! I'll be back!" Naruto made to run when he heard Sakura call back to him. "Naruto! Where are you going?" Sakura called out. "To the Valley of the End!" Naruto yelled back, as he raced out of the hospital. "Please don't let history repeat itself." Naruto prayed silently as he sped out of the village after Sasuke, Itachi and his daughter.
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Itachi had caught up to Kushina. He'd known exactly where she was heading. "She's going to Oto." He thought to himself. He'd chased her trail, until he saw her at the Valley of the End. It was a place his father had told him about. The place where his father, and Kushina's, had fought when Sasuke had defected to go to Oto. Itachi saw Kushina standing on the water, looking up at the great statues of the founders of Konoha. One was the first Hokage, the other was Madara Uchiha.
"Kushina!" Itachi yelled out. Kushina turned to look at Itachi. "Go back to Konoha Itachi. I don't want to fight with you. I have to do what I have to do. You can't stop me. So don't bother. Let's just say goodbye and leave it at that." Kushina stated softly. She turned back to look at the statues. "I can't just let you leave Kushina. Your whole family are going to be devastated. Saiyuri will have told them that you're gone by now." Itachi said. "I'm surprised it's you who came after me and not my father, or Nawaki-Aniki-Sensei. Although in another way, it doesn't surprise me. You knew where I'd be going. They don't have a clue." Kushina said softly. The roar of the waterfall didn't drown out her voice however.
"Kushina why would you go to Oto? Is the mark that much in control of you now?" Itachi asked. "No. The mark has no control over me. I'm doing this of my own free will." Kushina said coldly. "Why?" Itachi yelled. "To save your father!" Kushina yelled back. Itachi stared at Kushina in horror. "How? Why?" Itachi was confused, horrified and frightened at the same time. "Tsunade will tell you what I'm saying is true. Your father was poisoned with the virus that was killing him. The rogue medic-nin, Kabuto, had the cure. The creature that gave me the mark is half Orochimaru, half Kabuto. I don't know how but that is the way it is." Kushina said softly. Itachi stared at Kushina in shock. "He had the cure?" Itachi asked. "Your father didn't want mine chasing Kabuto down, trying to force the cure out of him. He knew that Kabuto would never hand it over and that my father would feel guilty forever because he couldn't save yours." Kushina added. "You... you got the mark..." Itachi trailed. "I never asked for it. I got it when I had my last report before the academy graduation exam. He kept trying to convince me to go. I refused. I found out by chance the Kabuto of Oto had the cure. I was listening in when I was stuck in the hospital after our first C rank. I asked him, and he said he'd give me the cure. In exchange I had to promise to go to Oto. I promised. My father and your father are men that will do anything to save the people they love. I respect and care about your father, and I love my father. Saving him, saves all of the people I love from pain. So I made the bargain. Now I need to live up to my side, and you need to let me go and do what I promised Itachi!" Kushina exclaimed.
Itachi shook his head in disbelief. Kushina, his dearest friend, was standing there, asking him to just let her go straight into the darkness. Her long red hair, whipped around like an out-of-control flame, and her blue eyes blazed like blue fire. She and Itachi faced each other down, before Itachi took up a fighting stance. "If I have to I'll break every bone in your body to drag you back home Kushina! It's where you belong! You'll be killed if you go to Oto! I won't let that happen!" Itachi yelled. Kushina looked at Itachi sadly. "If that's the way it is then I guess we'll have to fight it out. We'll see who wins. Me and my honour bound word, or you and your determination. Either way this isn't going to end well for either of us." Kushina said softly. She took up her own fighting stance, and the pair ran at each other. Another battle had begun, at the Valley of the End.
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Sasuke was speeding towards the Valley. He knew he wasn't fully recovered yet, but he had to get there and stop another pair of friends fighting it out. "Let me get there in time. Let me get there in time. Let me get there in time." Sasuke kept repeating in his mind, over and over again as he sped on.
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Itachi threw punches and kicks at his best friend. Kushina in turn blocked them effortlessly. "Is that the best you can do Baka?" Kushina mocked. Itachi glared. "Why are you so set on fighting Kushina? Why not come back and let your father sort this out?" Itachi yelled. "Because I never go back on my word!" Kushina yelled back as she made a familiar handsign. Hundreds of shadow clones appeared around Itachi. "When did you learn that?" Itachi exclaimed. "Does it matter?" Kushina asked. "I suppose not." Itachi replied. Itachi charged at the clones with zeal, pounding them into poofs of smoke. He was soon duelling with Kushina again. He dodged a well-aimed fist to his head, and aimed his own foot to kick her in the gut. She dodged by jumping upwards and punched Itachi in the stomach.
Itachi gasped as he flew across the water, and landed hard in the icy cold river. He started sinking. "If she's serious about fighting me, why isn't she using her Byakugan? She doesn't really want to hurt me. But if I don't fight her properly instead of trying to be easy on her, then I'll never bring her back home." Itachi thought to himself. He swam up to the surface and used his chakra to push himself up and out of the icy liquid, and to stand on the surface of the water. Kushina's eyes pulsed with the Byakugan. Itachi stared at her. "It's time to stop playing Itachi. This is serious. If it's a game, I'm in to win, and I'll have to stop going easy on you. If you carry on going easy on me you won't win." Kushina said calmly. Itachi glared slightly as he activated his Sharingan. "Gaki! I'm not playing a game!" Itachi yelled back. Then the pair charged at each other again, both fists meeting their marks, as they punched each other in the cheek. Both Genin flew backwards, Itachi into the cliff face surrounding the Valley, and Kushina into the water. Soon enough they were back on their feet and charging again.
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Sakura was checking on Sai. She saw his eyes start to flutter open. "Sakura?" He asked softly, as he focussed on the face in front of him. "Hey Sai. How are you feeling?" Sakura asked. "Like my insides were turned into a gelatinous mush?" Sai questioned back. "Ino's been here all night." Sakura said softly. "Is she alright? Inoshi and Shiori?" Sai asked blearily. "They're all fine. Ino was really worried about you. The kids think you're sleeping." Sakura replied. Sai smiled slightly. "I never knew what love felt like for a long time Sakura. It was thanks to you and Naruto that I learned anything about love at all." Sai said softly. "Glad we could help." Sakura told Sai gently. "I wanna talk to Ino before I end up falling asleep." Sai said softly. Sakura nodded. She walked over and nudged Ino awake. Ino looked at Sakura hopefully. "Sai's awake he wants to talk to you." Sakura said happily. Ino smiled widely and got up gently, so as not to wake her two children.
Ino walked over to the bed and gripped Sai's hand. "You baka! I was so worried! You could've died!" Ino exclaimed. Tears streaked down her cheeks. "I'm alright Ino. I'll be glad when I can go home. Think about the silver lining." Sai stated softly. "What silver lining?" Ino asked, intrigued. "I'll get some time away from work to recover. So we'll get to spend more time together." Sai said. A smirk crossed his face. An evil grin crossed Ino's face also. "I'm so glad I married you." Ino stated happily.
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Kushina and Itachi were exchanging blows. Their family bloodlines shone clearly in their eyes. Kushina dodged every blow that Itachi made, and he was speeding up to try and keep up with her. Both their bloodlines were allowing them to spot the moves they were making. Kushina and Itachi stood apart on the river, breathing heavily. "I guess I don't have a choice. There's no going back anyways." Kushina said softly. Her voice filled with sorrow. All of a sudden, the mark on her neck started pulsing, the commas of the heaven mark started spreading like a plague across Kushina's body. Her face was marred by the black markings that looked like swirls of wind. All of her visible skin was showing the same markings, and Itachi knew that it was the same throughout the whole of her body.
The two faced each other down. "I won't allow you to run away from all of us Kushina." Itachi said softly. "If you can stop me, then do it now. Otherwise you won't have a say in the matter." Kushina replied calmly. Her voice was as cold as ice, her eyes showed no emotions. The two Gennins stared at each other, preparing to attack again. Kushina struck first. Her hand, sporting the Rasengan that her family were famous for, drove it's self into Itachi's chest. His own attack, as he held on to a kunai, managed to scratch across Kushina's headband. Itachi trembled violently at the pain that erupted through him. Kushina felt tears dripping down her cheeks as she lowered Itachi to the ground. Her tears dripped on to Itachi's face as she removed her fist from her friend's chest. She saw he wasn't moving, but she knew he was still alive even if he was unconscious
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Naruto could practically sense danger in the Valley of the End. He knew that he would be there soon, and Sasuke would be there sooner. He hadn't bumped into Sasuke yet. But he prayed he'd get there in time to stop his daughter from making the same mistakes that his own best friend had made. He carried on running, and saw the clouds gathering.
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"I'm sorry Itachi. I'm so sorry. I've chosen to be a monster. God save me Itachi-Kun. I'll never forgive myself for this day. But you'll be able to fill the gap I've left behind. You're a good person. Not like me. I did what I felt was right, but still I attacked you in the end using this mark." Kushina said softly to her unconscious friend. She washed the blood from her hands in the never-ending flow of the river. Then she removed her headband. She saw the scratch on it and gave a sad smile. "You deserve this more than I ever did Itachi. Look after them all for me." Kushina said softly, as she folded the straps of her headband and placed the ruined forehead protector on Itachi's stomach.
Kushina knelt down next to Itachi. Her red hair fell like a curtain over Itachi's face, and at that moment the heavens opened, and it began to rain. "You wanna know a secret Itachi-Kun?" Kushina whispered, looking into her friend's unconscious face. "From when I met you I knew we'd be friends. When we kissed by accident I wondered if we'd be anything more. But that's selfish of me when I'm leaving. So I want you to be happy when I can't be. Be the person my father and your father would expect, and make them proud, because I can't. Maybe we'll meet again. I hope not. I don't want you to see me as more of a monster then I already am." Kushina added softly.
She placed a gentle kiss on Itachi's cheek, as tears dripped from her eyes. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt as she stood up. She heard running footsteps from the forest as she stood up. She hid herself in the trees, and waited for the person to arrive. The person to break through the trees was Sasuke.
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Sasuke was horrified by the sight before him. His first born child, his son, Itachi, was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Much the way he'd left Naruto when they'd fought as Genin in this very spot. He took note of the headband that had been scratched and left on Itachi's stomach. Sasuke looked up into the sky and felt the rain dropping on his face. Tears escaped his eyes as he looked down at his barely living son, and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Naruto, who looked as saddened as he was. "I'm sorry Sasuke." Naruto said softly. Sasuke looked down at Itachi again. "I need to get him back to the village if there's any hope of saving him." Sasuke said softly. "I know. I'll look for Kushina. You get going." Naruto said. That was when the pair heard a noise in the trees.
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Naruto had arrived to the sight of Sasuke kneeling on the ground over a prone body. Naruto saw the tuft of dark hair, and realised it was Itachi who was lying on the ground. He was injured, Naruto could see and smell the blood even now from this far. He felt sick inside. "How could Kushina do this to her friend?" Naruto questioned silently. He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and said the only thing he could say. "I'm sorry Sasuke." Sasuke nodded his understanding. Discussing taking Itachi back to the village was painful. Naruto had told Sasuke to take Itachi back to the village and that he'd search for Kushina. That was when they'd heard a movement in the trees. Naruto saw a flash of red and darted after it. He heard Sasuke calling after him, but Naruto didn't stop. He knew if he did that he'd lose his daughter forever.
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"Naruto wait!" Sasuke yelled. But it was in vain. He saw Naruto vanish within moments. That was when another chakra signature appeared, and Sasuke saw Shizune with Nawaki and Kakashi. "You need to help him now." Sasuke said softly. Shizune looked at Itachi and gasped in horror. "Where's Naruto-San?" Nawaki asked. "He's gone after Kushina. I'm going to follow him. You're a skilled medic Nawaki. Itachi is your student as well, try and help him." Sasuke replied. Before anyone could argue, Sasuke got up and headed after Naruto. "He's been there for me all this time. Through everything. I need to help him this one time." Sasuke thought to himself as he carried on quickly. He saw Naruto stop and stare at something. Sasuke then noticed what it was that Naruto was staring at.
Kushina was standing on a tree branch, looking down at them both. She had seen Sasuke. "I'm sorry Uncle Sasuke. I injured Itachi. I'm a monster, just like he said." Kushina said softly. "Who said that Kushina?" Naruto yelled. "The man that gave me this mark." Kushina said softly, showing both males the mark on her neck. "He said I'd let the hate grow inside me and I'd end up hurting someone I cared about and he was right. Still, I have to go and nothing either of you can say will be able to change my mind. I'm sorry Daddy. Like you, I can't go back on my word." Kushina said softly. She made handsigns then. Naruto's eyes widened, "Kushina wait!" Naruto yelled, but within moments, she'd used a substitution jutsu and she'd disappeared.
They looked around for hours, but they found no trace of Kushina. She had taken the chance to run, and neither of them had seen it coming. Kushina Uzumaki had gone to the dark side. There was no turning back now. Sasuke rested a hand gently on Naruto's shoulder. "We'll get her back Naruto. If you could get through to me, we can all get through to her. Somehow, we can get her home again." Sasuke said kindly. Sasuke looked at his best friends face and saw tears streaking down his face. The rain had finally stopped, but Sasuke knew, for Naruto it had just begun. They were once again looking for something that was unattainable.
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Okay end of chapter eight. Yes I know everyone hates me right now. Kushina has crossed to the dark side and I am a horrible person. Although I'm still unsure of whether or not I'm going to bring her back to Konoha, we'll soon see. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please R&R and let me know what you thought.