IMPORTANT NOTE
I have had multiple reviews and PM about why my grammar is not perfect so much that some wonder if I even speak English and why I do not use a BETA. So I would like to take a moment to explain. First, when I was younger I was found to have a problem with tracking in my eyes. My eyes would read the first line then skip down five or six lines in a paragraph. This makes learning very hard, so hard my teachers thought I was mentally disabled. Luckily, it was found and I got help but when I came back my teachers basically said screw you and learn it on your own, so I had to teach grammar to myself. Well I showed them and I not only graduated from college but I am now a network administrator for the company I work for. I hope this story explains why my grammar and spelling is far from perfect. In fact fanfiction has helped with my writing and grammar if you want to see bad grammar look at my first couple of stories.
Now as for why with all these problems do I not use a BETA well the answer is that I have had BETAs in the past almost 10 of them and all of them have screwed me in one way or another. My first one who is my best friend edited so much of my story out because as he said "It was all fluff." Others simply stopped editing my work or made we wait months for a chapter and changed nothing in it. I even had one take my story as his own and posting it on his profile. So like when a kid gets bitten by one dog may makes the kid afraid of Dogs, I don't trust BETAs anymore maybe I could but it would take a lot for me to do so.
Sorry for going on this speech but I was stick of dealing with message after message about this from people. Now enjoy this chapter. Wilkins75
Chapter 7 The Last Day Part 1
Once again, Sakura had to walk through what remained of the Leaf village, as she walked up the stairs toward Naruto's apartment she saw five men in civilian clothing with wet cloths over their faces.They were carrying what appeared to be fine dinner plates of some kind and other valuable goods. They looked up at Sakura and Sakura looked at them before going her way. Part of wanted to stop the lotters but what good would it be. The people in this complex beside Naruto were dead and their bodies burning or already ash.
She moved up the stairs until she reached her floor and toward Naruto's apartment door. She knocked at the door and waited, finally she undid the medical seal and entered, what she found was the same messy apartment only this time she did not see Naruto.
"Naruto?" inquired Sakura as she looked around, that is when she saw him. Lying in a strange position on the couch, one of his legs was over the back while the lower part of the opposite arm was on the floor. Sakura tried not to laugh as she did another temperature check, he still had a fever but it had gone down some more. She was about to wake him up when he started to mumble a bit in his sleep.
"But mom, I don't want to come in." said Naruto in his sleep "I want to keep training."
"He is dreaming of a family," thought Sakura with a smile.
"The family he never had." added Inner Sakura as both their heartbreak.
"I want to be Hokage, just like Dad." said Naruto into the pile of dirty cloths he was using as a pillow.
"It must be the Fourth," thought Sakura since the 3rd was far too old to be his father.
"The fourth was his hero in school, it was the one part of school he actually paid attention in." added Inner Sakura "Dreaming that his hero is the father that he never had."
"Naruto…" said Sakura sadly before she moved to shake him awake. He opened his eyes and for a moment, Sakura thought they appeared red.
"Sakura-chan, what…I never heard you knock." said Naruto as he sat up.
"It's ok, people with a fever tend to sleep it is actually a good way to get better." confirmed Sakura with a smile "However I need to do your daily test."
"Ok." said Naruto as he stood up and was about half way through taking his shirt off when suddenly he collapsed and began shaking. Foam began to come out of his mouth and he began seizing so badly that his arms and legs where hitting the couch and the coffee table.
"NARUTO!" yelled Sakura as she moved to his side and began to move things out of the way to make sure he did not hurt himself. She had never seen him have a seizer before and then it got even stranger as red kyuubi chakra began to pour out of his body.
Naruto opened his eyes to find himself standing in ankle high water in what appeared to be some kind of dungeon. For most people to suddenly find oneself standing in the darkness in a foil smelling water, with the only source of light being shaky torch light on the walls. For Naruto this was a normal event, so he looked over his shoulder toward the massive bars of the caged that contained the most powerful demon in the world the Nine Tailed demon fox, the Kyuubi.
"So you called me, that is something new." said Naruto into the darkness, he was not expecting a response the Kyuubi which had always been aggressive to him had disappeared into whatever deep part of the seal there was. Naruto had been trying since the first infections in the Leaf to contact the Kyuubi but the fox had sealed itself away and until now had never contacted him.
"These are strange days, Naruto Uzumaki." said the Kyuubi in a surprising weak voice as he moved toward the gate, his body was withered and he could see every bone in his body. "It seems that they finally did it and now it is time to pay the reaper."
"Your dyeing?" inquired Naruto stunned then his eyes widened as he remembered that if he died then the Kyuubi died, he wasn't sure if it worked the other way to.
"In a way, my chakra is being drained by their sickness and absorbed into your body." Explained Kyuubi before he fell down, his muzzle was sticking out of the bars as be breathed heavy. "This was part of their plan which is why they sent me, one of their criminals to be sacrificed."
"What are you talking about?" inquired Naruto confused about what the fox was talking about.
"This plague isn't a plague it is the first round in a plan to end your kind once and for all." explained the Kyuubi "They will be coming soon and when they come you will have something far worst then those Akatsuki or even me to deal with."
"Who is coming?" inquired Naruto
"The demons, goodbye brat." answered the Kyuubi with his last breath then right before Naruto's eyes the Kyuubi began to break apart into nothing but chakra, which flew through the bars and entered him. That is when the torchlights began blazing and the massive iron gate, which had held the bulk of the demon foxes chakra at bay disappear until nothing of the gate remained. Seconds after that happened the very dungeon itself began to disappear and then Naruto opened his eyes to see Sakura kneeling over him.
"Naruto!" yelled Sakura with fear in her eyes.
"What happened?" inquired Naruto as he sat up rubbing his temples.
"You had a seizure of some kind and then the demon chakra began leaking out of you." explained Sakura "What the hell happened?"
"The fox…the fox died." answered Naruto as Sakura blinked.
"What?" inquired Sakura not believing what she had heard.
"The fox, Kyuubi the 9 tailed just died." restated Naruto who could not believe it himself
"How could the Kyuubi die? I thought your lives where linked?" inquired Sakura as Naruto nodded his head.
"I don't know how but he died. Right before that he said that the plague wasn't natural and that they were coming." added Naruto
"Who was coming?" inquired Sakura
"The demons, whatever that means." stated Naruto as he rubbed his temples.
"How are you feeling?" inquired Sakura
"Better actually." admitted Naruto as Sakura did her normal check up again, his temperature had dropped three degrees and the red skin was back to normal. There was no sign of the sickness, which had been clear as day only moments before.
"Naruto we better get you to the hospital." ordered Sakura "Because somehow you beat this thing in a matter of seconds."
"Come on, grab get dressed and let's get going." ordered Sakura as Naruto stood up and walked into his bedroom.
"Sakura-chan can you seal up Jiraiya's papers, I want to take them with me." yelled Naruto from his bedroom.
"You will not need them, Naruto!" yelled Sakura back, she was angry because sealing the papers would take time and every moment they delayed cost the lives of countless numbers of people. If Naruto's suddenly healing could be copied then they could turn this whole thing around in days.
"I don't want them stolen while I am gone," answered Naruto back as Sakura cursed to herself, he had a point. So she quickly sealed the papers back up in their scrolls and waited. In a couple of minutes her teammate came out of his bedroom, he was in his normal clothing orange pants with his orange and black jacket. The only addition was the green chunin ninja vest which he had earned in the exams days before the first outbreak, he was strapping on his leg weapon pouch.
"Naruto you will not need your weapons." explained Sakura, then she saw that also had a field pack which contained scrolls full of different supplies. It was what any team would carry into the field. "You don't need those either."
"Sakura, I have heard the robbers from my window I don't want my stuff stolen." explained Naruto
"Alright," confirmed Sakura as she walked out the door followed by Naruto who locked the door behind him. When he turned around he finally saw what had become of the area where he had lived for most of his life. The whole apartment complex had the red marks on their doors marking the dead inside.
"Put this on." ordered Sakura as she held up a face mask, in truth it was nothing more than an air filter that was normally seen by sewer workers to help hold back the smell of the sewers. "It will stop people from asking questions.
"Alright." said Naruto as he put the mask over his face; it only covered the lower part of his face. "Sakura-chan how many people are dead?"
"In truth we don't know but it's over three quarters of the population is either sick or dead, and those who aren't on edge," explained Sakura as she remembered all those people crammed into the small areas around the Hokage building.
"We still have no idea how to stop this or where it came from?" stated Naruto as Sakura nodded her head.
"No." confirmed Sakura "Maybe Lady Tsunade can make something about what the Kyuubi said."
"Let's hope." confirmed Naruto as they headed toward the Hokage building, as they walked Naruto got his first view of what had become of his village. The streets where almost totally abounded, the only people they saw were either ninjas doing sweeps to collect the dead or looters who took the chance to raid the abounded homes. Naruto had expected the ninjas to stop them when he saw a young woman step over a still alive old man to get into his house to take his set of fine china dishware.
"Sakura-chan we have to stop her." said Naruto as Sakura looked at the woman coming out struggling to carry as much of the dishware as she could. She could see the man had boils on his skin marking him in the level 3 and doomed to die, the woman had a mask to protect against the virus. She was likely a survivor just like Sakura because no one else was dumb enough to risk getting that close to an infected man.
"There is no real reason, we can't take the old man with us and if we stop her and get the dishware back, she will come back and get them or someone else will." explained Sakura
"This isn't right," countered Naruto
"I don't like it either Naruto!" snapped Sakura as she looked into Naruto's eyes. "But there is nothing we can do, the only thing I could possibly do is end the man's life so he will have a quick painless death."
"You're a doctor you're supposed to help people," countered Naruto surprised that Sakura would even consider killing the man.
"Sometimes the only way to help someone is by ending their pain," explained Sakura with sadness in her voice. "If it makes you feel better she is likely going to sell the food to a black market dealer. There is a lot of them running around right now. The best we can do is get you to the hospital and find a cure."
Elsewhere in the Leaf village, Rin Nohara sat in the alleyway of one of the green zones, with all the people crowded into a small area no one noticed a new face, which had not been there a few days ago. She turned her gaze toward the crowd of people gathered around a cart full of food. Then she felt a shadow fall over her.
"The birds used to come to the village during this time of year," said the woman's voice
"I believe you are mistaken this is the time they leave." said Rin as she finished her part of the code phase. She turned her gaze toward the figure only to see that she was dressed as a leaf ninja.
"So your one of them too?" inquired Rin surprised at who stood before her.
"Yes." confirmed the ninja as she handed Rin a vile. "I am sure you know what this is."
"I do." confirmed Rin sadly as poured the vile into a simple scent sprayer. The sprayer was small enough for her to palm and with a single push it sprayed a small mist of whatever was contained within, normally it would be used to mask scents from ninja hounds but in this it was deadly. "You better get going before you are missed."
With that, the ninja turned and started walking away; Rin steeled herself for the next part of her mission. Then she walked into the crowd of people hitting the spray button every third step. She had done this before when they first infected a major population but there was a huge difference between doing a port city in Lightening country and her own home village. Finally, she reached the far side of the group and down the packed streets, passed a stand where Minato sensei would treat the three of them after a mission. Past her old home and the park where her mother used to take her to play, the park was now full of refugees. She crossed through it before the spray ran out with her mission done there was one last thing she had to do.
She moved toward the ANBU building, from the outside it looked like a normal office building like any company would have the only thing out of the ordinary about it didn't have a business sign or logo on it. It was an open secret that it was the official headquarters of the ANBU and Jonin core. Rin walked up to the roof of the neighboring building from which she could look into the top floor. Normally a person standing on the roof so close to the ANBU headquarters would draw the attention of dozens of ANBU but with refugees clogging every location the roofs had become a prime area to rest above the crowded streets. No one paid her any mind as she stood on the roof looking up at the stone faces of the Hokage's above her. Then she turned her gaze to across the gap between buildings. From her view, she could see her old teammate Kakashi Hatake sitting behind a desk looking at different reports.
"He must hate that," said Rin to herself as she looked at her teammate for the first time in the person. She had seen him only in photos during her time with the demons, he looked tired as hell and judging by the bed cot in the corner, he was not sleeping well. Kakashi lifted his head up from the paperwork as the phone rang; he spoke into the phone for a moment before moving out. Last Rin saw of him he was heading toward the hospital. She coughed a bit as she reached for a pill case in her pocket and downed two pills.
Down below her a scream filled the air as an older man fell down with clear signs of the sickness. The pure sample of the virus was working a lot faster than even she thought. If the others did their mission in the other green districts then the village will be in a panic when the attack happened.
Kakashi Hakate moved into the isolation area of the leaf village hospital, he had put on his own oxygen system and radio to allow communication with others. When he walked in he found the only two original member of team seven which were still loyal to the village. Sakura was drawing some of Naruto's blood but Naruto seemed to be his normal self. As Sakura turned around his blue eyes ran down her body before snapping back up as she turned back to draw some more blood.
"He is Jiraiya's student for sure." thought Kakashi before putting his hand under his chin "Sakura should have caught his eyes moving, so either she didn't notice or she doesn't care if he is checking her out."
"Naruto you seem like your back to normal." noted Kakashi as Naruto turned his gaze to him.
"He is, the question is how that happened." explained Sakura "He was sick less than an hour ago and then right in front of me he had a seizer and all this demon chakra came out of him. When it passed he was back to normal."
"The nine tailed healed him?" inquired Lady Tsunade as she walked into the room "Isn't that what you where hopping for Sakura?"
"Yes, but I didn't count on the Kyuubi dyeing." reported Sakura as Tsunade blinked at that news.
"The Kyuubi is dead?" inquired Tsunade
"Yes." confirmed Naruto "He died right in front of me."
"That shouldn't be possible, the Kyuubi is a demon he can live through the death of the jinchuuriki which contains them but the demon can't die while the container live." stated Kakashi
"And yet he is dead." said Naruto in a strangely sad voice, as Naruto lifted his shirt up. He channeled some chakra to his stomach but the seal did not appear it was a clear sign that it had broken.
"Why are you upset Naruto, I thought you hated the fox." Inquired Sakura
"I do, but this is just weird and then there is his warning," explained Naruto
"What warning?" inquired Tsunade
"That this plague was created and that the demons are coming." explained Naruto as everyone looked at him confused "I don't get it either."
"Is it possible that this plague was designed?" inquired Kakashi
"Yes, but who would gain from it? The entire world is infected and most of it is dyeing." countered Sakura "I mean maybe Orochimaru but he died."
"I don't think even Orochimaru would want to kill 4 out of 5 people on earth." added Tsunade "What would that gain him?"
"Nothing." confirmed Sakura
"These demons?" said Naruto as he pointed to where the seal used to be.
"But the only demons are the tailed beasts and forgive me if I am wrong but there are only two left." Explained Sakura "And the Kyuubi died from this, if I was designing a plague I would make sure I would be safe from it."
"I hate to say this but are we sure there are only 9 tailed beasts?" inquired Naruto
"Yes, the tailed beasts are well known and have been around for generations," countered Tsunade
"But there are other legends are there not?" inquired Naruto "I mean I remember stories about demons drowning children as they swim in rivers and things like Vampires."
"Those are just old legends and superstition, Naruto," explained Sakura as the door opened and Shizune walked in.
"Lady Tsunade we have a major problem." started Shizune as she noticed Naruto, for a moment, the two of them just looked at each other and then Naruto bolted across the room and grabbed Shizune by the neck and slammed her against the wall beside door.
"Naruto!" yelled Sakura surprised at both his speed and what he had just done.
"Put her down!" ordered Tsunade
"This isn't Shizune," snapped Naruto as he turned his head around, his eyes had changed they were still their normally blue but now they were silted like they became when the kyuubi's demon chakra entered his system. "This is a hedge of Shizune, I don't know what it is."
"Naruto that isn't possible an imposter wouldn't know then how could she know all Shizune's passwords and everything else about us?" inquired Sakura "This is a level 1 area she would have to know the key code and I joked about things that no spy would know about with her only yesterday."
"Let her go Naruto you have gone through a lot you aren't totally yourself." ordered Tsunade as Naruto's hand became covered with demon chakra. It traveled down his hand before hitting Shizune's skin. That is when her figure began to shimmer a little causing everyone's eyes to widen.
"What the hell?" inquired Sakura as Shizune changed; her skin was replaced with fur, which appeared to be a similar shade as her natural hair. Her face had changed it appeared more deer like with her nose become flat and black at the end, her ears shot out from under her hair. Around her hands and feet, the fur bulked up and became thicker. That is when they noticed that instead of feet she had hooves. Instantly Kakashi and Sakura pulled their weapons. Tsunade was too stunned for a moment to do anything but she too pulled a weapon out.
"Who…what are you?" inquired Tsunade as she looked at the creature "And what the hell have you done with Shizune?"
"I am Shizune," answered the creature in Shizune's voice as she struggled against Naruto's grip.
Well I hope you like this chapter, yes Shizune is one of them and I would like to note that Sokka the Man in his review got this right and I had Shizune as one of them in the first outline of this story. Now until next time. Thanks Wilkins75