Chapter 50 Black White Gray
"You ok Naruto-kun." said Sakura as she sat down beside him in the dining area, a sense of glum had fallen over most of the people down in the base. Word had gotten around about the death of Lee earlier in the morning and his friends where coming to grips with that news.
"I have been better, but I should ask you the same question." Countered Naruto as he took a drink of water. "In some ways, you actually knew Lee better than I did, I spent all those years away training with Jiriaya-sensei. He was in the Leaf with you all."
"Yes." admitted Sakura before taking a deep breath. "I already kind of said my goodbyes to Lee a long time ago."
Naruto tilted his head slightly like he tended to do whenever he was slightly confused about something, she was about to explain when he answered the question for himself.
"When he was sick?" inquired Naruto as Sakura nodded her head slowly.
"Yes, we all thought, even Lady Tsunade and Shizune that Lee was going to die when he got sick. I said my goodbyes then and prepared to pronounce him dead myself." explained Sakura with a resigned sigh. "We, Lady Tsunade, Shizune and myself even considered ending his life for him before it got too painful however Guy wouldn't allow it. He was basically Lee's family so we allowed him to make the choice and we held back. He kept saying Lee's youthfulness with push him through the sickness and he was right, somewhat."
"Didn't help him here." answered Naruto "Not when he came into combat against my dad."
Naruto turned his gaze toward where Tenten, Neji and Guy where all gathered together sharing in each other's grief and helping each other through it. Guy was opening weeping with tears flowing down his face, Tenten had tear marks across his face but the tears had stopped for the moment. Even normally reserved Neji had clear signs of emotional pain across his face.
"Sakura-chan, how can I do it? How can I kill my own father if I have too? How can I do it?" inquired Naruto "He killed Lee, He has sided with the demons and who knows what else he has done. He is still my father, my family the one thing I always wanted was to have a family and now…now I may have to kill him because of everything he has done."
Sakura lowered her own head thinking about the issue the man she loves had put before her wanting her advice on. She had no real answers, Minato had done horrible unforgiveable things for sure but even she watching the video had seen he had done it to save the life of Rin, Kakashi and possibly others. Lee wasn't going to give up that was also clear from the video, on the other hand Minato was working with the demons. He was siding against humanity and with the force behind the deaths of millions but he was only trying to get his family back together had had no role in the demons spreading the flu.
"Naruto-kun, I don't know." admitted Sakura "We have all done horrible things because of this flu, I know I have."
"So have I." admitted Naruto as he tried not to think about the screams of the sick children he ripped away from parents to prevent them from coming into the green flu free areas. Most of those childern would end up either in mass graves or tossed onto the fire like logs. It was easier when it was the parents who were sick, they wanted their children to live so they would generally let go easier. Then he had to look into the eyes of the children when their parents disappeared behind the wall. "I will never forgive myself for doing some of the things I did because of the flu, but the things I did…I did it to save lives, to prevent the flu from spreading as best I could."
"And I will never forgive myself for the lives I ended with a large amount of pain killers because the flu had spread to much in their systems." admitted Sakura "As a doctor, I was duty bound to save lives not hurt them, and I ended their lives. Just like so many other doctors and nurses did."
"You did that to give the person some peace as they died." Answered Naruto as Sakura shook her head.
"No, not fully at least." answered Sakura as a haunted look crossed over her face, her green eyes something he loved about her seamed distance as she remembered. "In the end…you can't stand the screaming anymore, it drives you up the wall, it haunts you wherever you go. Going into a ward and hearing nothing but screams and knowing that everyone in the overflowing rooms are going to die and hearing them screaming in pain. Calling out for help, for their mothers or to God is just too much. We knew of nurses would kill everyone in entire wards before taking their own life."
"My God, I hadn't heard that, where did that happen? The Mist or Earth Country" inquired Naruto thinking it had to be far away from the Leaf.
"Everywhere but in the Leaf, 45 babies and children under the age of 3 all died in a single hour in the hospital wing." confirmed Sakura as Naruto's eyes widened at the news. "Lady Tsunade tried to keep it secret and with so many people dying she got what she wanted. It was the head pediatric nurse, she killed all the sick babies and then killed herself. I used to have tea with her every Tuesday, nice old woman a grandmother, she cut her own wrists, no pain killers at all going out in as painful way as she could. Punishing herself worse thing was two of the children where her own granddaughters."
For a moment neither of them spoke.
"My point is this world isn't black and white anymore, it never was." stated Sakura "We only saw it that way because we were children ourselves, good guys win bad guys lose but it isn't like that in the real world. Would you or I have killed someone to save Kakashi-sensei or another person we knew. Would Kakashi have done the same for us? I think it is yes in both ways."
"But it is Lee." countered Naruto
"I know, and that makes it so hard but we have to think. Everyone's hands are dirty and covered with blood." stated Sakura as she looked at her own hands. "I know mine are dirty."
"So are mine." sighed Naruto before laughing sadly. "I still have no answers about what I am going to do about my dad? Even when you find a way to turn everyone back to a human, he still killed Lee? How am I suppose to deal with that?"
"Have you watched the video yet?" inquired Sakura as Naruto nodded his head. "All of it? Including the video inside the hospital?"
"Yes." Confirmed Naruto with a sigh, "He tried to kill my mom, he tried to kill Rin and would have had a clear shot at Kakashi-sensie, I can't say he wouldn't have done it either. Which raises an issue, what if he had killed my mom or if he had killed Kakashi or this Rin? Was my dad supposed to wait until he did kill either my mom, your parents or anyone else up there. I mean they all by loved by someone down here."
"Well I am not sure Hana or Kiba loves either of their parents right now considering those two actively worked against humanity." added Sakura somberly as she lowered her head a bit. "Even so you have a point, they are their parents and I still think they love them just like you love your parents and I love mine."
"Yes, we just don't know what the fuck to do about them." added Naruto
Up on the surface Naruto's father Minato sat on a bench looking out over the lake front beach, in the distance he could see the island where the world famous hot springs and spa which was one of the main reasons why this town had become a tourist center was located. He sat there just looking out over the water, all around the beach where clear signs of what had once been a tourist spot. Beach umbrellas, life guard stations and public changing rooms could be seen. The water crashed against the beach as Kushina sat down beside him for a moment she didn't say anything.
"You know you have nothing to be ashamed of." Said his wife "You where saving Rin's life and likely Kakashi's life as well."
"I know." admitted Minato "However how will our son react to me killing one of his best friends? Naruto is having a lot of trouble trusting us in any real way, this isn't going to help in any way."
"True." admitted Kushina with a sigh "It would have been so much easier if we had found him in his apartment when we returned to the Leaf. We would be back home, finally after so many years of being forced apart we would be a family."
"That is the thing, I would bet that to Naruto Lee is his family." countered Minato as he tried to figure out his next move. "There was nothing I could have done, with his chakra gates open I couldn't knock him out before he killed Rin."
"No there wasn't a way and knowing Lee he would have forced the 8th gate open and take his own life." said Kakashi as he and Rin moved up to the two Namikazes.
"The others are checking the hospital out, so far nothing." said Rin before taking a breath. "I did find a body bag for Lee."
"He deserves to be buried in the Leaf village." confirmed Kakashi as he looked at his sensei. "Thank you, thank you for saving Rin-chan. I lost her once I don't think I could lose her again."
"No problem, any idea on how this will affect getting through to my son?" inquired Minato
"It will…make it more difficult to say the least." admitted Kakashi in possible the largest understatement of his life. "Maybe the best way isn't to get him to believe you but to get Sakura to believe you? He would trust her and she isn't as let's say emotional fueled as he is. She will hate you for sure what you did to Lee, but her rage will mix with logic she is a doctor after all."
"She would know that there are some things that are just outside her or someone's control. Doctors can't save everyone." Said Rin, who was a medical ninja herself. "Sometimes no matter what you do there is just no good answers and you are in a no win situation."
"And she knows…knew Lee, she would know that Lee would never have surrendered and that he would have killed Rin." said Kakashi
"All well and good but she wasn't there how would we prove it to her?" inquired Rin
"Her friend Ino is from the Yamanaka clan she can enter one of our memories and confirm we are telling the truth." added Kakashi before putting a hand under his chin. "The only issue is that we can't really get her to do that until they are all turned into demons and I would rather not try to convince them of anything if we have to force them all to become demons. They will not be in a happy mode to say the least and none of them will want to listen to anything we have to say."
"They will not be in much of a position to do much of anything besides complain verbally." countered Rin "After the change you are tired for at least a day, remember how you where Kakashi? Do you think you could have done a lot of fighting after the change."
"Well no." admitted Kakashi
"So maybe if we change them we can convince them afterwards." said Rin
"I would rather not do that to Naruto, Sakura or this Ino." admitted Kushina before turning to look at her husband. "If we have too to save their lives yes, but that isn't how I want to get our son back."
"I wouldn't either but if you have too you may have too." added Rin
Down in the bunker, Meiko was walking down on of the hallways, she was beside herself trying to come to grips with what her brother had said. Her mind was racing as the idea of her brother, possibly killing their parents entered her mind. It was an idea that horrified her, it was something that when they started they never thought possible. She even thought about
"We were supposed to come together and finally be a family." complained Meiko to herself "After all those years sitting across from an empty chair at the dinner table, it would be filled."
"Maybe someday it will." Added a voice as Meiko spun around to see Ino Yamanaka leaning against a wall. "I wouldn't take Naruto's words too serious, he was just upset about losing a friend. From what I saw of the video this Lee wasn't going to surrender and your Dad was trying to save the other demons."
"My brother threatened to kill our parents and you want me act like it was nothing!" countered Meiko with anger in her voice before it suddenly became soft. "Maybe just maybe I should have tried to escape the base when I had the chance, before Hinata's and Samui's attempt I had known almost all the pass codes and could have escaped on my own. Now I know none of them because they had been changed after their attempt."
"If you wanted to make your break then that would have been your chance." admitted Ino with a shrug "But even if you did know enough codes to get out, you wouldn't. You know that would burn all bridges with your brother for the foreseeable future and if your anything like your brother you will do anything for your family."
"If that was true, then Naruto would have opened the doors and accepted that this was over." countered Meiko as Ino paused for a moment.
"What you fail to realize is that to Naruto most of the people down here, Sakura, Shikamaru, Sai, myself and others are just as much his family in his view as you and his parents are up there." explained Ino as Meiko tried to talk only to stop only have Ino stop by her by raising her hand. "You and your parents are Naruto's family by blood but blood isn't required to be a family. Do you consider Rin just your sensei or your family as well?"
"Family." admitted Meiko "And my brother considered Lee his family as well?"
"Hard to know for sure, he wasn't as close friends with Lee as he is Sakura." stated Ino
"I should hope not." laughed Meiko as Ino chuckled a bit at the little joke, it was a sad chuckle.
"True, but he was still his friend just like he was mine and he was basically a son to Guy and a brother to both Neji and Tenten." explained Ino
"You don't blame my parents for killing your friend?" inquired Meiko as Ino looked down at the floor for a moment.
"I can't blame someone for saving a member of their team even if they are on the enemy side and even if the person they killed was my friend." admitted Ino "I want too but I can't, your father didn't kill because he liked it, he did it because it was the only path open to him. If I was in his place and it was Shikamaru and Temari about to be killed by someone I didn't know I would kill the person to save them."
"Well at least…" started Meiko
"However." added Ino with her voice turning hard. "I can't forgive the demons, their leadership not the people turned into demons against their will for doing this too humanity, they aren't like your parents who were thrust into combat and had to make a quick choice in the field. They planned this out and they need to pay for it."
"They know they will." answered Meiko "They all expect to die for doing this, however they see it as them trading their lives for saving the species. That is what the leadership will do, the council members. The average citizen will just blend into the new fabric of the world."
"So the bulk of the demons will simply blend into whatever form the world takes after this is over." inquired Ino "It would be ease, with so many people dead and so much confusion no one will have records of anything major movements. Refugees have been moving around since this started trying to find a safe place. Keeping death records in the Leaf was impossible we ended up just using apartment numbers for the people we found in the dead in as IDs. No way to check the identity of everyone who died, we were dying too fast. Easy for a population as small as yours likely is blend in with the mass of refugees and make a new life add to that people have changed into demons so our looks will be different."
"That is the general plan." admitted Meiko "I just wish I understood my brother better."
Ino thought about it for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"I know your brother wouldn't want you to see this and I am sure your parents would never want you to see this, I know my parents wouldn't if they had a choice but…" said Ino before pausing a moment to consider if she should go on. "When we left the Leaf we took the hard drives which included some videos of the containment operations within the Leaf and there is a record of the outbreak here. You can see what your bother and all of us went through because of the demons. It may help you understand where we are coming from but I warn you none of the images are things I wanted to see in my entire life."
"But it is what like my brother had to deal with?" inquired Meiko
"It is what we all had to deal with, there is videos of both your brother and Sakura in the records." explained Ino "If you want to, I can take you to the computer and set it up for you to watch."
"Thank you when can you do that?" inquired Meiko
"Follow me." said Ino as she lead Meiko toward the medical area of the base however instead of entering the main research area she entered the room across from the room where Sakura, Karin, Hana and her their research into the virus. In the room was a handful of computers, Ino walked up to one and quickly found the file with the video from the Leaf and the outbreak in the city above them. "Here, but I warn you, you will see things you don't want to see."
"I understand." Said Meiko as she moved toward the computer.
"I'll be across the hall if you want to talk, Sakura will likely be down here shortly as well." Explained Ino as she walked out the door. Outside the door she let out a sigh and rubbed her bridge of her nose.
"You look like you have something on your mind." stated a new voice as Ino turned Sai standing there.
"I am letting Meiko see what happened back in the Leaf." Explained Ino as Sai tilted his head ever so slightly.
"You sure that is a good idea?" inquired Sai "No one really needs to that that."
"She needs to know what we all went through." Explained Ino "And no I didn't ask if it was ok with Naruto or Sakura."
"I see." Confirmed Sai
"Do you think I should go check with them?" inquired Ino unsure if she was doing the right thing.
"It is already too late for that." Stated Sai. "If she is anything like her brother she will not allow it to stop and it will only cause a fight as Naruto tries to protect her from the images. All we can do is what we think it is right in that moment and hope that we don't regrets the choice we made afterwards. No one goes through life without regrets. How are you yourself doing?"
"I have been better but today has been hell." stated Ino before correcting herself. "Every day has been hell since the first person came down with the red flu in the Leaf."
"Any progress toward finding a cure?" inquired Sai as Ino paused for a moment, it was only a moment but Sai noticed it. "You have found something haven't you?"
"No, we have not found anything that could help with a cure." explained Ino as Sai studied her for a moment.
"But you have found something haven't you." added Sai as Ino winced a bit. "You look slightly down at the ground when you try to lie."
"I have found something but it is a double edge sword." explained Ino "I haven't even told forehead or anyone else yet but I was looking at the leaf sample we took from that demon plant."
"And you found something?" inquired Sai
"I haven't confirmed it yet, however judging from the little I have looked at it the plant will be highly vulnerable to a type of fungus which is sometimes used as an organic herbicide." explained Ino "Basically if I am right, I know how to kill the plants that are turning people into demons on a massive scale and the herbicide is even none dangerous to humans and can linger on someone's hands for a couple of hours and with some modification we could make that days allowing it to spread like a cold. We get a handful of demons exploded to it and it should spread like wide fire likely killing all the plants within a few weeks."
"I see; you are wondering if that is a good idea?" inquired Sai as he put the pieces together. "It is a catch 22 isn't it, a no win situation you are in. If you kill the plants it will in fact doom all the sick humans because they will have no way to cure themselves of the flu apart from becoming a demon."
"Yes, however the only cure so far seems to be becoming a demon." stated Ino "Basically I could kill the plant but in doing so I would doom all humanity to a death from the red flu and that includes everyone down here who is still human. I just don't know what to do with this information."
"If you want my option then what is likely your best move is to first confirm your findings, then tell everyone of those findings." advised Sai "Afterwards turn all your attention back to finding a cure. If you find a cure to the flu you break the catch 22 you are in."
"And if we don't?" inquired Ino "What happens then?"
"We all have to make a choice." answered Sai "Do we die as humans or live as demons, it is as simple as that."
"It isn't that simple." Snapped Ino in anger before calming herself. "Sorry Sai, it is just I am stressed."
"I understand." Said Sai "This is a stressful time most of all for you, Sakura, Hana and Karin."
"And Hana and I don't have an outlet for stress like Sakura and Karin do." stated Ino before she realized what she had said. She blushed a bit as Sai nodded his head in agreement.
"Yes, I have read that being with someone you love can help with stress management and physical intercourse helps with that as well." added Sai before giving her a slight somewhat worried smile. "That problem can easy be solved if you are interested."
Ino blinked for a moment before laughing to herself.
"I never thought I would be asked to bed like that." laughed Ino "Maybe dinner and a movie first but not a straight out let's go sleep together line."
"I did say being with someone you love helps with stress management before I said anything of physical intercourse." Countered Sai "We don't really have a place to watch a movie down here but I would like to have dinner with you."
"Alright, lets say 7." Said Ino with a smile
"7 it is." Confirmed Sai
Far outside the base Konohamaru was cursing to himself as the boat that would have gone out for a raid against the demons was now moving back toward the hidden base deep in the heart of the swamp. He looked around at the other disappointed mist ninjas as they looked between the shoreline full of trees and plant life and the ocean which showed no sign of anything being wrong.
"Calm down kid, this happens from time to time." said the Mist Chunin who was taking the role of an Jonnin. "We should be thankful that the engine started acting up before we reached our target, I wouldn't want to try to run away at this speed."
"I guess but the demons." Countered Konohamaru as the boat moved so slowly that a swimmer could have kept up with it with ease.
"Live to fight another day, we are luckily that we haven't been spotted by any flying demons." Said the mist ninja, none of them aware that they were now being followed by five different demons both water Kamis and water Rhyuus both of them had gills so they could stay underwater without being seen by the humans on the surface. One of the demons was even hanging onto the flat bottom of the boat as they lead them back to their base.
Just over the horizon six ships full of demons where shadowing the much slower and smaller human crewed ship. They were in constant communication with the demons shadowing the humans up close thanks to long range underwater communication which to the naked ear sounded like whale calls. Onboard the ships the demons where getting more and more stir crazy they wanted action.
"We can take the humans now, turn them and then we will know where the rest are." advised an aid as Dan stood on the bridge of the ship calmly drinking some tea.
"Maybe you have forgotten but when someone is turned they don't just pop up and start talking, it takes some time for all the new neurons to work fully." stated Dan "Up to 24 hours according to Shizune and I would rather not spend all that time waiting for them to come around and find their little base abounded because the humans had time to pull out. No, we will wait, judging from where their ship was first spotting by our sentry line they will likely reach their base by nightfall."
"That is hours away." complained the aid
"Patience." ordered Dan as he raised his hand. "We will have our vengeance for what they did to our home, besides striking at nightfall will only help us take them all."
Elsewhere Moegi was being led toward shore line where a ship which would take the demons who had called this island home for centuries back to the mainland. Moegi was going back as a demon not as a human. She now had wings on her back and one of her eyes was blind, all around her where other demons the survivors from the attack which she had played a part in.
"Are you ok?" inquired Sister Yue who had been taking care of her since the turn.
"Yes, it's just I never really flew and I am going to fly to the mainland?" inquired Moegi with a mix of fear and wonder in her voice.
"Don't worry, you will be fine." said Sister Yue as she pointed toward the skyline which was full of demons taking flight. Others would be swimming while still others had to go on ships. "If something goes wrong we can land on one the ships which will be flowing us. We may not like being on water because what we are now, but if we have too that will be our safety net."
"And what will happen when I get back to the Leaf?" inquired Moegi "Any word about my parents or any of my family members?"
Sister Yue got down on one knee which upset the mass of demons following her but they went around her.
"Listen, I was going to wait until we got back to the mainland but we have confirmed that both your parents are dead and none of your family members are alive." explained the religious Sister with real love in her voice. Tears began to form in Moegi's eyes as the elder Yosei pulled the new younger fairy like Yosei demon into her body holding her close to her chest and letting her cry. Naturally the elder Yosei wrapped her wings around the younger one protecting her. She ran her thin hands through Moegi's hair to give her more comfort. "Don't worry, we will find something. The world is going to be rebuilt and you are going to play an import part in that. You will be part of that future."
After a while Moegi was calm enough to head toward the beach, there she stretched her insect like wings. She held her breath for a moment and then nature took over and her wings began to beat and her thin legs lifted off the ground. She looked around in amazement, which was harder considering one of her eyes was blind because of the kunai that Konohamaru had thrown in her eye to kill her. All around her where hundreds of demons all taking flight. The demons had lost almost everything because of the attack but yet they had given her cloths and other items. The cloths where different then what she would have normally worn, with an open back but since that was where her wings where now it was understandable. Her entire body had stretched out a bit, her hair had taken on a neon orange color which was also visible in parts of her insect like wings. They had been so kind to her but these were also the demons which were behind the sickness which killed countless hundreds of thousands of people. Still they could have let her die and they didn't. Her heart was torn about how she should feel so instead of focusing on the conflict within it she focused on the pure joy that came from flight.
Maybe a few dozen feet ahead and below her where a group of demons about her aid, some of them where Yosei like she was, others where air kamis and others where rhyuus. She looked down at them laughing and joking and couldn't help but remember the times she had done it with her friends.
"Why don't you go down and say hello to them?" inquired Sister Yue "I will keep an eye on you if something goes wrong."
"Alright." Said Meogi as she moved toward the group of demons. It was a fellow Yosei who spotted her first.
"Hello, who are you?" he inquired "I haven't seen you before?"
"Meogi." Started Meogi
"Ah, you are the human we heard about that saved a group of people from being murdered." Said a Rhyuu as she moved over a bit. "Want to join us, maybe you can tell us about what is ahead of us. None of us have left the island before what is the world like off the island?"
Moegi smiled as she moved in and joined the flight of demons who only wanted to talk to her and act like normal kids.
In the bunker Mieko Namikaze sat there stunned as she watched the videos from the Leaf, it was horrible beyond belief. She watched humans die in the streets and being left for days until someone came around in full biohazard gear and toss them into a fire. Children fighting children for food, she watched as what appeared to be a six or seven-year-old kid stab another one in the neck for mold covered food from a trash can. Whole buildings where burning and she watched as people came out of the building with half of their bodies burned black before they fell over dead. People where beating people with anything ranging from pieces of lumber to pipes to just their fists over pieces of food she would have tossed in the trash. The ninjas seamed focus on keeping the sick within a walled area of the Leaf and getting the healthy people out of the area. There were some trying to treat the sick but not as many as she expected.
Then she saw her brother, he was in full biohazard gear so it was hard to see who it was at first but she noticed the name tag on the front of his uniform. He was standing in front of a gate leading into a safe green zone, a mother and a child moved toward him. She tapped a little box on the screen and saw that Naruto had been wearing a small body camera on his uniform, she now had a front row view of what her brother had done that day.
"Please we aren't sick, we need to get through." said the woman, she looked tired with dark bags under her eyes, her hair was a mess and her cloths where dirty.
"Don't worry we will help." Said Naruto in a reassuring voice as he lead the mother and child into the medical tent, where she saw Sakura behind a large biohazard mask, full body suit and with medical gloves on her hand. "Sakura-chan, we have another pair to be checked out."
"Alright." Said Sakura, she sounded tired as well. She had bags under her eyes as well and from what she could see through the mask she was just as tired as the woman. "Sit down here and I'll check you out."
Sakura began to check the mother first for signs of infection. The mother kept the child tight to her body switching the baby to the side away from Sakura. That was the first warning sign as Naruto moved slightly closer.
"Naruto, she is ok. Now I need to check out your baby" Said Sakura as the mother paused for a moment before handing the baby over to Sakura. Sakura took the baby into her arms and looked down, instantly she stop. She gave Naruto a look which caused him to tense up a bit, even Meiko noticed from the position in the camera that he was tensing up.
"Ma'am I am sorry but your child is dead." Said Sakura
"What, no…no…no that is impossible!" yelled the mother in rage as she moved over and grabbed her daughter and held her close.
"Ma'am, your daughter died from the flu a while ago." explained Sakura as the woman shook her head. "You have to let her go."
"NO! I HAVE LOST MY HUSBAND AND MY SON! I ISOLOTED OUR DAUGHTER SHE IS STILL ALIVE SEE!" yelled the woman as she held out the clearly dead baby.
"I am sorry but your daughter is dead, we have to take her." said Naruto as he moved forward only to have the woman violently turn away from him in a game of keep away. Then with some force he grabbed the dead baby by the arm and pulled the dead body which her mother believed to still be alive away from her. Naruto held the baby for a moment allowing Meiko to see the effects of the flu up close, it was horrible the baby looked more like a pin cushion with countless large white puss filled boils, blood was leaking from the unseeing eyes and from the nose and mouth.
"I am so sorry." said Naruto as he turned his back on the crying woman and began to take the body back toward where more dead bodies where located.
"BURN DEMON! KYUUBI SPAWN!" yelled the woman as she lunged toward Naruto from behind.
"NARUTO!" yelled Sakura as she jumped between Naruto and the crazed woman. All three were thrown back into a pile of dead bodies waiting to be taken away to be burned or buried.
"Your crazy woman!" yelled Sakura as the woman clawed at her and then right before Naruto's eyes the crazy mother ripped off Sakura's mask exposing her to the flu.
"Sakura-chan!" yelled Naruto as he pulled a kunai and stabbed the woman, through the side of the head ending her life. He didn't even wait before putting the mask back on Sakura's face. "Sakura-chan are you alright."
"I…I don't know." answered Sakura "I…was likely exposed by the flu. I need to go to the hospital to make sure."
"I'll take you." said Naruto as he helped Sakura up and after a brief look at the dead woman, who wasn't as it turned out fully dead yet. She was still slightly moving and she had grabbed the dead body of her daughter and pulled her close before she too stopped moving.
That was when the video ended and Meiko let out a deep breath, she had just watched her brother kill a woman to save Sakura. She paused for a moment and then looked at more still photos of countless dead bodies, entire buildings where being destroyed by the Leaf village in attempts to remove buildings full of the dead without having to move them. The images where horrifying her in every way possible, and these where just images with some video. Her brother and all his friends had seen it with their own eyes, they had smelled the death and had to do the horrible actions with their own hands.
"Are there anyone on the good side?" inquired Meiko as she ran her hands through her hair, she had turned back into her demon form. She had grown up learning about all the horrors that humans had done to the demons in the ancient past, she had been taught that the humans would deserve this and in the end they be thankful. She had never thought about it, not really, she was more interested in getting her family together, to have a big brother. She had known the costs, she had seen the dead but seeing the dead was one thing watching them breath their last breaths on video was another thing. "The humans massacred the ancient demons and the modern demons use biological weapons on the modern humans and turn them. No one is in the right."
Up in the lunch room people where just breaking up to head into their afternoon duty, Sakura stood up and gave Naruto a kiss before she went to put things away. She had another day in the lab working on a cure while he would likely spend the rest of the day either training or studying the video of the battle Lee had with his parents. Before the two could part they noticed that Tenten was standing by the head of the table.
"Tenten, I am so sorry for what happened with Lee." said Naruto
"So am I." added Sakura, she expected Tenten to say something other then what she said.
"Neji and I are getting married tonight." Said Tenten as both Sakura's and Naruto's eyes widened a bit.
"What?" inquired Naruto
"Are you sure? This isn't the time I would want to have my wedding." Explained Sakura
"We all know Lee would have wanted us to celebrate and it beats standing around crying into our glasses." Explained Tenten before smiling "Besides I got my wedding dress the last time we were up on the surface and who really knows if we will be alive tomorrow."
"But don't you need a priest or a holy man or woman to oversee the ceremony?" inquired Naruto as Tenten shook her head.
"No, we need either one of those or the head of the village." Explained Tenten with a sad smile. "With Lady Tsunade dead and Shizune a traitor the highest-ranking ninja from the Leaf still alive and human is actually Shikaku Nara he can make it all official. We have all been so down for so long, we need to remember what it is like to be human and nothing is as human as too people who love each other joining together forever."
"I can't argue with that." agreed Sakura with a smile.
"Alright, I am going to go tell everyone else and then get ready." said Tenten before smiling. "I am going to get married in a few hours."
Elsewhere in the base Sasuke was coughing up blood as Karin was attempting to stabilize him. It was a failing task as even with the smallest touch the large boils full of blood and puss would burst. Small amount of blood was coming out of his nose and his ears, his eyes where blood shot.
"Don't worry Sasuke-kun, I'll save you." reassured Karin as the door opened and Suigetsu entered with a cocky smile on his face.
"Well I have some good news." announced Suigetsu as he closed the door before jumping onto a chair and putting his feet on the desk like a he owned the place.
"What do you want, we don't have time to waste of your foolishness." Snapped Karin
"Well, if you can hold it together Sasuke I know how we can make the demon taking the base all the easier." Said Suigetsu with a grin. "Turns out for some strange reason that weapons chick and her white eyed boyfriend are planning to get married tonight."
"And you want to drug the food or something to make them unable to fight?" inquired Karin "Not a bad idea. Kind of amazing it came from you of all things."
"Why try to drug them when they will drug themselves." answered Suigetsu "Most people are very bad fighters when they are drunk and people get drunk at weddings."
"When is the ceremony?" inquired Sasuke
"It isn't the ceremony it is when most people will be stone cold drunk and I would say likely 3 or 4 in the morning would be best." answered Suigetsu as Sasuke looked at the clock and then at Karin.
"With your help, I can make it that long." Said Sasuke "Let them party by tomorrow this will be all over."
Well I hope you liked this chapter, I would like to thank everyone who reads and I ask that you keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75.