Well, not what I quite planned originally, but I will have to re-write all the material I had already done as my flash drive containing all of that seems to have disappeared. Still, it gave me a chance to think through a couple things I'd done and, since I the writing I already did a sunk cost (ask an economics major) I was able to rewrite it to a form that, honestly, I am more satisfied with over all. It may be a blessing that I missed out on having my flash drive with me.
As promised, Naruto vs Gaara is in this chapter (duh) and Naruto FINALLY gets the full story. No one ever did give me the full correct answer, just half, so no additional characters will be showing up in this story. :( In any case, time for ya'll to finally see how the truth comes out. Enjoy!
disclaimer me-I DON'T own Naruto.
PLEASE REVIEW!
Sasuke had actually believed for an instant that the crazed gennin was going to kill his sister. Instead he threw her through the trees, back where they had come from. He wondered if she would be alright by the end of her little 'trip' she'd just taken. Of course, there was no time to think about that now. Since the throw Gaara had become even more covered in sand than before. Not only his arm, but also most of his face was now covered. To make matters worse, his arm was larger than his whole body, greatly extending his reach and power. And his defense, Sasuke thought in disgust as Gaara caught several kunai with the sand arm. At least having all that infront of his face will give me a chance to change position and think out a different strategy. What is he anyway?
"What's the matter," Gaara yelled out. "What's the matter Uchiha? Why are you hiding? Are you afraid? I've seen that you are; your eyes have changed since that first time." What is he talking about?
"Your eyes, yes, they were just like mine; from the first time I saw you, I knew there was someone you wanted to kill, someone you wanted to be stronger than. You were just like me, but then you changed. Where is that strength now, eh? Are you too afraid to die for your dream?"
"Idiot," Sasuke replied. "Didn't you know that people can change?"
"People don't change, Uchiha, just their power; now come out, show me your strength!" Sasuke shook his head.
"You don't get it, do you? I did change. I wanted to kill him...I wanted to kill him so much, and I still do, but then something happened.
"Eh? What? WHAT? WHAT MAKES YOU TOO AFRAID TO FIGHT ME?"
"Naruto happened, and she reminded that more than dying, some things are worth living for. I will still kill me brother, but Naruto is my precious person that I will protect above all other things."
"And so you are afraid to fight! Hah! Don't make me laugh."
"It doesn't make me afraid to fight," Sasuke said. "She's the reason I fight better and harder...and give myself time to think before I rush in."
"You've thought long enough; now come on!"
"...Fine," he replied, and he appeard, rushing towards Gaara, kunai in hand.
"Yes..yes...YES! Come at me! Let us prove our worth together! DIE!" Sand enveloped Sasuke like he wasn't even there, and just then was when Sasuke appeared from behind, slicing Gaara's sand arm in half.
"Take that! And stay away from Naruto-chan!" He jumped down onto another branch, preparing himself to follow up his last attack only to stop and stare. Gaara was looking at the sand that had fallen away and was...laughing!
"Haahaahaa! Yes, yes, that's better! It is a lie, but it is better! Now I know why I want to fight you so bad."
"Eh? And why is that?" Gaara turned his face towards him and grinned.
"Because...you can cause me pain...and yet I will destroy you utterly!" Sasuke's eyes widened as a second arm swooped around from behind Gaara, his severed one reforming even as he attacked. Sasuke tried to dodge, but he was still struck hard. He flew backwards until he impacted against a tree, falling to a branch below as he tried to ignore the pain.
"You...are weak," Gaara declared. "Too weak to stand against me, too weak to win. You're hated isn't nearly strong enough to face me, and because of that, you will die!" Sasuke stood up, clenching his arm as Gaara began to charge him.
"I-don't-think so," he said. Sorry sensei, but I need to use it...just one more time. It's the only jutsu that will work on him, and I have to protect Naruto!
"Diiiiieeeeee!"
"Chidoriiii!" The two clashed once again, a brilliant light showing around them as his jutsu impacted...and did next to nothing. He was swatted away like a fly, Gaara's sand repairing any injury to the psuedo limbs almost as quickly as they were made, and then he came around for the kill. Sasuke closed his eyes.
I'm sorry, Naruto. I tried to keep you free, but it looks like I failed...
"Die, die, di-uwah!" Sasuke opened his eyes, blinking as he took in the orange image before him.
"I told you before, but I guess you didn't hear so well; DON'T-TOUCH-MY-BOYFRIEND!"
...Naruto...
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A/N-Sorry, but earlier I accidently posted two versions of this, one that preceded the above section, and one that was right here from the start. Himeflye clued me in to this in her review. You see? Reviews make a difference! Anyway, this is now a combination of the two scenes, containing this bits that I liked best from them both, edited so that they fit. However, I'm not perfect (obviously, since I missed this in the first place) so please let me know if I made any other mistakes. Thank-you, and enjoy the read! ~CaptainFlye
"I still don't see how we can trust you," Sakura said as they supported Kankuro. "I mean, it is your village that's attacking ours. This is probably just a trap." Kankuro wheezed out an answer as he tried to rely on the two girls as little as possible.
"For one, I said you should leave me behind, in an area that would have made it difficult for me to protect myself. Second, I already told you how to keep the shinobi following you from realizing you aren't allies. They'll see those marks and think you're sand nin. Third…well, you guys don't like the third reason, but I still say it's true, and it's the reason we've done all we could to lessen the impact of the invasion. Naruto, you are our sister, so-"
"Why are you still going on about that? I talked to Kakashi sensei, and your wrong." She sighed. "You are a little right, though; your mother was here." Kankuro brightened a little, though a scowl for Naruto's disbelief still colored his features. "Sensei found your mom running away from Sand village, and he took her here where dad kept her a secret. She lived with them till she gave birth…and died." She gave him an apologetic look. "Her baby didn't survive ; I'm sorry, but I'm not your sister." Kankuro looked at her incredulously.
"What? That's not right. I know it was you! Mom called you 'Naruto!'" He shook his head. "Something's not right; something's just not right!" Naruto sighed as they continued jumping through the trees, Sakura deciding to hold on to her questions for Naruto till later. Pakkun, meanwhile, had to wonder, if they weren't siblings like Kakashi said, why did they smell so similar?
"We're almost there," Pakkun said. "It seems that Sasuke has caught up as well."
"Nononono, this is bad, this is really bad."
"Chill out, it'll be fine; Sasuke is strong enough to handle himself-"
"Naruto, knowing what you do about Gaara, how little control he has, what do you think will happen when Sasuke reaches him and he's ready to fight again?" Naruto gulped.
"Well, it, it can't be that bad, right," asked Sakura. "After all, even Gaara is still just a genin."
"No," the boy muttered. "No, he's so much more."
"Huh? But, but if he's already a chuunin he shouldn't have been able to enter the exams, and-" Kankuro waved her comments away.
"No, he is only gennin rank, but he is stronger than most jounin; he's definitely stronger than any jounin I've ever met."
"What? But, but how?" Kankuro looked over at Naruto, who looked down, avoiding his gaze.
"Naruto? What's wrong?" Naruto shook her head at her teammate.
"Kankuro's right; Sasuke doesn't stand a chance," she said. Sakura's eyes widened.
"No way-uuf!" She was cut off as she was thrown back. Everyone blinked in surprise as they took in the large object that had flown into the Konoha gennin.
"T, Temari? Temari! Are you okay!" Kankuro pushed way Naruto's support as he rushed to his sister's side.
"Ughh...what, where?" She looked around widely as she tried to pull herself up off her back where she'd fallen. "Gaara, no! Sasuke! Kankuro? Where's...Naruto!" Naruto had jumped down and was inspecting Sakura. Both the girls had hit their heads, but Temari was certainly the worst off. She'd been flying an an incredible velocity when she'd run into Sakura. The younger girl had softened the eventual impact, but there was still blood pouring from a wound over her brow, and there was a small, but distinct, red stain growing slowly in her hair. Sakura was only dazed, however, and had a bump on her head and several bruises.
"Eh? What is it? What happened to you? Crap, hold still; I've got some bandages right here-" Temari grabbed her hand.
"No, don't worry about me. Sasuke, he's caught up, and Gaara is-" She broke off as she began crying. "Naruto, he's loosing it! His blood lust is taking over and Shukaku is taking control. Please, you're the only one who, who can help him. You, you've been through the same things; you have the same power. You can stop him! Please, save out brother, or Sasuke won't be the only one dying today." She gripped Naruto's hand. "Please, get Sasuke away from him; make him stop! You're the only one that can now, and the only one he can't kill…please…" Naruto looked deep into her eyes, then gripped Temari's hand back and sighed.
"Alright, fine, I'll do what I can, but if he's lost it like you said...I'm not the same. I can try, but I don't know if I can pull out the power like he can. My...tenant...isn't as connected as his is."
"...I, I understand," Temari said, gripping the other girl even more tightly. "Do, do what you have to, but please try not to kill him." Naruto nodded. "Thank-you."
"No problem," she said before turning to Sakura and Pakkun. "I think I can find Sasuke and Gaara from here. Just take care of them, okay?"
"What? Naruto how can you say that? You've seen how Gaara is; what makes you think you can take him on? He's crazy!" Naruto clasped her teammate by the shoulders.
"Sakura, the reason I can take him on is the same reason everyone has always hated me. I…we both have…" She sighed. "We both have a demon inside us. In my case it's isolated and has no control over me, but in Gaara's case…his demon has a lot of influence over him. Sasuke was doing alright, but once Gaara's demon comes out he won't stand a chance. I'm not even sure I will, but I think, being like Gaara is, I can at least help him get control again." Sakura embraced Naruto as she cried into her.
"Naruto I, I don't know what you're talking about about demons, but you're my friend, no matter what, I promise. I just, I don't want you to die facing him, okay?" Naruto nodded, hugging her back quickly before turning to Temari again.
"Deal. I may not be your sister, but I am your friend, and I'll do all I can to stop him. I'll make him treat you like a sister again," she said, and with that she turned and jumped into the trees, following the path Temari had left through the trees. It wouldn't be hard to find Gaara and Sasuke now, especially with shouts and flashes from their fighting.
"They'll be fine, Temari, I know it. Naruto, she'll stop them both and keep them alive." Temari sighed as she laid back.
"I hope so," she said tierdly. "I hope so."
"Ummm...so, can anyone tell me what just happened? What were you guys talking about?" The sand siblings looked back and forth at each other.
"Gaara and Naruto both carry a heavy burden, one that almost no one can understand, but they've handled it a lot differently. Still, if Naruto hasn't told you, we won't either. That's her job."
"But, but-" She sighed in frustration, wincing as he ran her fingers through her hair and hit her bump. "Fine, but I'm make sure she tells me later. For now, Temari, you're bleeding and we need to take care of the blood."
"But Naruto already took the bandages-"
"And she isn't the only one with med supplies. I thought you two were experianced. Don't you even carry a first aid kit?" They looked at each other and blushed.
"Well, we've never really needed one, not with Gaara around."
"Baki-sensei always carries his though," Temari pointed out. "SHe's right, we've been negligent. Another lesson for tomorrow. But enough talk, lets get my bleeding stopped before I loose too much blood." Kankuro nodded and he and the pinkette got to work.
Please, Naruto, Gaara...be careful...don't die...
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"I told you before, but I guess you didn't hear so well; DON'T-TOUCH-MY-BOYFRIEND!" The boys started at the girl as she took her stance over Sasuke's prone figure.
"Naruto...get, get out of here; he's, he's too much to handle. Run away!" Instead of listening to him she turned around to smile at him sadly.
"I'm sorry, Sauke, but I can't. Like Temari said, I'm the only one who can handle him now."
"But, but why? Why?"
"Because," she said, eyes brimming with tears, "I'm just like him."
"NO! You're nothing li-"
"He's a jinchuuriki," she interrupted. "That's what they said back in the forest, remember? That's why their mom ran away. And...and you didn't notice it then, or maybe you thought they were making it up, but what they said about me was true, too." Sasuke shook his head.
"No, Naruto, it's not! You're not their sister! I-"
"That's not what I mean," she sighed. "The other part, about the kyuubi." Sasuke jumped up and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"What do you mean by that? What about the kyuubi?" Naruto looked down avoiding his gaze.
"Oh, so he didn't know, did he? Hahaha! Go on; go one! Tell him! Let him know how you betray him! See how long he stands next to you! Trust only yourself; love only yourself." Gaara cackled madly as Naruto explained.
"I may not be their sister, but I am the jinchuuriki for the nine tailed fox." She wiped away a tear. "I, I'm sorry I never told you, but I, I knew I'd loose you, that you'd hate me just, just like everyone else in this village, and I-" Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as Sasuke pulled her fiercly into a kiss, not even noticing that Gaara's cackling faded away. When he pulled away she looked up at him wide-eyed.
"But, but I just told you about-and you, and you, and you-"
"Still love you, Naruto-chan," he said, pulling a stray strand of hair from her face. "Now I just understand why people have treated you like they have, and it really ticks me off," he said. "That just gives me another reason to protect you," he said. "To protect you from the hate you don't deserve." The girl smiled, hugging him back tightly until her senses made her push hard away from him just in time to avoid the sand hand that was shooting at them.
"Stay away from my sister," yelled Gaara. "I won't let you use her like I was used," he declared, pulling back his sand arm to strike again as Sasuke pulled himself unsteadily to his feet.
"Get a grip, Gaara," the girl yelled. "He's not trying to use me, and if I have to beat you myself to prove it, then I will! I promised Temari I'd bring you back to your senses."
"Eh? So she survived, huh?" He flexed his arm. "Mother has cried for her blood for a long time...perhaps after we defeat you, we will finally let her taste it!"
"Not on your life! I'll squish you like a bug first; summoning jutsu!" Summoning? When did she learn that? And what is she going to...what? As the smoke cleared everyone stared at the being that emerged. Gaara was the first to react, laughing.
"Hahahahah! You think you will defeat me with this! That frog is smaller than my head! Hahahahah!"
"Hey, whats up? I'm Gamakichi!"
"Eeeeehhhhhh? What the heck? I was trying to get boss toad!"
"What's that? You wanted dad? Well, you're not a very good summoner if you messed up that bad."
"Huh? Your dad?" She stared. "How can you be so small when he's so big?" Gamakichi shrugged.
"Hey, I'm not too much more than a tadpole. I've got a lot of growing to do still."
"Watch out!" Naruto picked up the small toad and jumped as Gaara sent a blast at the toad. "Sorry I've gotten you into this now; I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you. Somehow I don't think boss Toad would be too happy if I let you get hurt."
"Hey, thanks!" She smiled, fighting down her impulse of disgust at having to hold the toad.
"No problem." Then she turned back to Gaara. "Alright, this is it. If you want to do anything else we're fighting here and now; you're not going to hurt Sasuke-kun, and you're not killing Temari-chan. Not if I have anything to say about it!"
"Then come! Come and fight! Prove your strength! Do it!"
"Fine!" With that she set the toad down and charged, pulling a kunai from her pouch along with an explosive tag. Guess I can't call sensei a pervert for this technique anymore, she thought, annoyed that she was actually going to use it. "Shadow clone jutsu!" With that she continued her charge even as Gaara destroyed every clone sent at him, all the while laughing that maniacal laugh, never showing mercy, and always enoying the 'deaths' of his 'opponents.'
"That's right, sister; come at me! Hit me with all you've got! Let me feel that I'm alive!"
"Stop calling me that! I know for sure now; you're NOT my brother!" Gaara laughed.
"And who told you, eh?" She smiled.
"Kakashi sensei told me; he was there when I was born, and while you're right that your mother was there, I am the child of the fourth hokage and his wife, so there!" Gaara laughed.
"Kakashi? The copy cot ninja? He lies! Hahah! He lies! He told me himself that you are our sister-"
"What? No!" Naruto gripped her ears and shook her head as she tried to focus on the attack.
"-but that no blood test would show we have the same father. You are not the child of the kazekage," he declared, "but you are the daughter of his wife!"
"Shut, up!" Naruto yelled as she continued to attack, finally reaching her target.
"One thousand years of death," she cried, jamming a kunai into the sand below his partly transformed body's tail. He blinked.
"Eh? That was your plan? Away, you gnat," he said, throwing her away with his sand. Naruto grinned as she flew through the air, chuckling.
"Boom," she whispered, right before hitting a tree. Sasuke tried to stop her from hitting too hard, but he was just a little too slow, having moved earlier to pick up the toad, understanding now why this was Naruto's fight. He had vowed to protect her before, and for this fight to do all he could to help her from the sidelines in this fight of jinchuuriki, but now he was too far away, and Naruto hit the tree at full force.
"Narutoooooooooooo!"
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"Oh, that's right, you were way. Well, I didn't train with Ebisu; I got trained by Jiriaya of the sannin." Kakashi's eye widened.
"Jiriaya? Wow…now that is a surprise."
"No more than you're being trained by my dad."
"… Ah…"
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He was hiding the truth, even then; he, he could have told me that he was trained by my dad, right?
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"…Ah."
"Ah? That's all you can say." Kakashi scratched his head.
"Well, Sasuke told me about what they told you. I wasn't sure you were actually taking it seriously."
"I told you why."
"Yes, of course. Still seems to me you already know who your parents are, so why talk to me?"
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Every second he was hiding. Why talk to him? He should have known; he did know I would talk to him.
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"All my life, sensei, all my life I've been treated like trash because of this stupid thing that's in me, and I've never been sure who I was because of that. I've never known who my real parents were, or why they died. This answer is more to me than just knowing who my parents are; I need to know who I am! Please! Stop dancing around and tell me!"
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I told him! I told him what it meant to me! What did he say?
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"So…even with all that…even though she ran…her child still…"
"Naruto, she got what she wanted in the end, trust me. Her child was safe from her husband." Naruto nodded.
"So I, I really am…the daughter of the…"
"…Yes, Minato-sensei, the yondaime, was your true father." Naruto's grin split wide across her face.
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He, he told me that their mother died, that I was the child of the fourth hokage. He didn't actually say that the other child died, though...
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"Still, the point it, there is always more going on than we realize sometimes, and other times…people may not see what they think they see…"
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The girl clutched her knees, crying. He, he never said it; he never said that her child didn't die, and that I was the daughter of the hokage's wife. He never said i wasn't the daughter of the Temari's mother. She gripped her head as she kept it tucked between her knees.
"It's not fair! Why can't it make sense! What would he lie to me!" She continued to sob until a gentle voice spoke up.
"Are you alright?" She looked up in shock to see a woman in dusty colored robes standing before her with a look of concern on her face. She looked a little familiar...
"Are you alright," she asked again. Naruto nodded dumbly. The woman seemed to accept it in the way adults did when they knew children didn't want to share. "Okay...I don't suppose you can tell me where I am? That is, where we are?" Naruto looked around, realizing that she had no recollection of this place.
It was vast, wide and open, and she couldn't tell where the little light that was there came from. It seemed to be an even grade that came from everywhere, only a slight tint darker to distinguish air from ground.
"Hmmm, that could be a problem. I guess we should start trying to figure that out, yes?"
"She won't know the answer, Karura," another voice came, and Naruto's jaw dropped when she saw who it was.
"Minato-san! What are you doing here? What's going on? Aren't I..."
"Dead? Oh yes, quite so. And so am I." Karura covered her mouth.
"Oh no; what happened? Are Kushina and Naruto alright? Tell me my daughter is alright!" Minato chuckled as he held up a hand to calm her down.
"Not so fast, not so fast. Naruto's right there." Karura looked back at the child in shock. The girl was looking back up at them in even more surprise than she was.
"Naruto?" The name didn't register so she turned back to the hokage. "Minato, if what you're saying is true, then why is she so old? I, I don't remember anything between dying and now, and you look the same age as well...and why is my child dead!"
"She's not dead, she's not dead-"
"Then why is she here!" Minato looked at the pair of them sadly, then motioned with his arm.
"Come, I've got alot of explaining to do. We've got enough time for an explanation, and Naruto is safe." Karura looked back and forth between the two of them, Minato gesturing for her to come, and Naruto tucking her head between her knees again, muttering to herself. "You won't be able to help her understand just yet, and there are other things that will need to be done." Karura nodded, then quickly gave her child a hug.
"I'll be back with you soon," she whispered, trying not to cry at the shuddered than ran through her daugher's body at the touch before following Minato. "Alright," she said, "I want an explanation, and it had better be good!"
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"Everyone was dying, and there was nothing I could do to defeat such a beast. At least, not truely defeat it." Karura put a hand on his shoulder in comfort.
"I'm sorry. It, it must hurt, to have that many people die around you to such an unstoppable evil." Minato shook it off.
"Yes, it did hurt, and many of them were my friends...and then there was Kushina..." He shook himself. "Only Kushina's death compares to the true pain I felt at what I did that night, the way I stopped the kyuubi." Kushina looked at him.
"But, you seem fine-"
"Not to me; besides, this isn't my full soul." Karura paused.
"What?"
"This isn't my full soul, just the bit I left inside Naruto...along with the fox." As Minato's words sank in Karura's eyes widened until she raised a hand and slapped him...over and over as she cried.
"How could you? How could you! After all I did to stop that exact thing from happening!" Minato took every slap until Karura collapsed, sobbing from the revelation that all she'd done had been for naught; her daughter had become a jinchuuriki after all. The man she had trusted to save her, had betrayed her.
"There is a greater evil coming, and Naruto...is my child as well. I, I could not ask anyone else to take that burden, and I knew she would be okay...because she was your daughter."
"How? How could she be okay? People must see her as a monster, just like me Gaara! They will hate her!"
"Some," he said, kneeling down, "but only some. Many see her for what she is: Naruto, the girl, the jailor for the nine-tailed fox, and the defender of Konoha."
"Exactly! She is a weapon! She-"
"Is NOT a weapon."
"But you said it yourself! 'Defender' of the leaf-"
"But to defend is not being a weapon." Karura paused before looking up at him.
"Explain."
"Karura, I saw in her, even at less than a day old, that she was like you, that she possessed the spirit of a defender. Think about it, what you did with the last bit of your life. You did all you could to protect a child who was not even born yet from suffering what, if she had been born in Suna, would have been one of the worst fates imaginable. You defended her from that fate with your life, and she has that same spirit. She was never tricked or coerced into becoming a shinobi. In fact, she failed the graduation exam three times." Karura's eyes widened, but she did not stop his explanation.
"Everything she's done, she's done because it's who she is. She loves people, and protects them. It's part of who she is, and they will protect her the same, because they love her, too."
"Still, if you knew this, knew that she would make these choices..." He waved a hand away.
"I may be smart, but I did not know that she would make the choices she did. It was all up to her, and I would be proud of my daughter even if she became a...a...dango chef," he managed to say, acting as though there were a nasty taste in his mouth. Karura sat in quiet for a moment.
"So, what is this danger that is coming?"
"There was someone who tipped your husband off on the attack that was coming, someone who somehow knew another's plans. The first person is not important now. The important one is the one who planned the attack, who had the power to even put the kyuubi under his control. It won't be the last time, I just know, and I believe that Naruto will be the one to stop him...that she is the only one who can stop him. That is why I gave her this power."
"Okay, I suppose that's better than world domination," she said wryly. "Still, if we are dead, if you aren't really here, and Naruto is not dead, where are we?"
"Ah, that," he said, with a little twinkle in his eye, "is the result of mine and Kushina's studies in sealing techniques, and your own jutsu you used to save our Naruto."
"...come again?"
"I used a sealing technique that calls forth the shinigami itself. With this I was able to put the kyuubi's soul in Naruto...and a piece of my own and Kushina's. There was enough of her life force left for me to do this...and you inadvertently moved of a piece of yourself into Naruto when you used your own 'resurrection' jutsu. With your soul already there, and the shinigami present, I was able to to latch onto that piece of soul and separate it like I did Kushina's and mine. I knew you'd like the chance to talk to your daughter, and I knew that eventually she'd meet her siblings. I thought it'd be best if you explained the situation to her on that point."
"So...we're inside Naruto's mind?"
"Yes."
"And what triggered this?" Minato cringed.
"Gaara; she is fighting Gaara, both to protect the leaf village, and because Temari asked her to, so that he could be saved from himself. This is the proper time for you to appear, just like I will again if the seal holding in the kyuubi ever weakens." Karura nodded.
"So...she doesn't know the truth?" Minato shook his head.
"Kakashi has told her part of it, but she's very confused right now, and she needs her mother to help her understand."
"...and Kushina?"
"Her time will come. She may be able to help Naruto out in a different way, but once this is over, what you experiance here should transfer over to wherever your full soul is now, and you'll know what happened." Karura nodded.
"Well, I suppose that even here time isn't unlimited. I should talk to her now, shouldn't I."
"Yes, you should."
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It's just a dream, just a dream, none of this is real, it can't be, it's too weird, just a dream... Naruto had been mumbling to herself for several minutes now, trying to make sense of what was happening.
"Naruto..." She looked up again to see the two people from the before, the woman standing just behind...her father? She still wasn't sure, but she dared not move now as he leaned towards her. "I'm sorry things have been so hard," he said, reaching around her, "but I promise, your parents will always be there to help you. I love you...and I'll see you again soon." Naruto gasped as he gripped her tightly in a hug before slowly dissappearing.
"No! Don't go! Please," she whispered. Then the other woman knelt down beside her, care and love filling her eyes. As Naruto looked at her again, she spoke.
"Walk with me..."
"...okay..."
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.
"Wow, I, I never would have, would have expected that," Naruto said, stratched her head. "So, so they're right after all?" Karura smiled.
"Naruto, what your parents did for me was beyond imagining. They were unbelievably kind, and so saving their child was the only way I could think to repay them." She wrapped an arm around her daughter. "I used a technique I learned from an old lady in Suna that moves life energies from one being to another, and in this way I took out that which made you the daughter of the kazekage, and replaced them with the life energies of Kushina and Minato." Naruto scratched her head.
"That's weird."
"Hmmm...think of it like ramen. You have a shrimp and miso. You like the miso, but don't want the shrimp, so you take it out and replace it with more flavors to cover up the taste. Then, you have something new, made from one of the old flavors, and the two new ones."
"Okay, I think I get it, but it's still weird."
"Well, to us it just made you all the more special, and I couldn't love you more." Naruto gave sharp chuckle. "What is it?" Naruto gave her a powerful hug.
"All this time...I've always wanted to hear that my parentsloved me, just like all the other kids get to hear...and know I do." They stopped walking as she cuddled into her mothers clothes. "It feels...so warm. I never thought words could do that." Karura knelt down with her.
"I know what you mean," she said, gently holding her daughters face. "There is much we often take for granted that we, Minato, Kushina and I, never got to give you, and I'm sorry you've suffered like you have, but remember...you will always carry the love of your parents with you, even if you never see us, even though we are dead."
"I know," Naruto said grinning from ear to ear. "Now that I heard you say it, I can feel it in my heart, and that warmth...I can'r remember it, but I know I felt it before, from all of you before...before you died."
"Shhh, shh, it's alright. Don't pity us for dying. We lived as we wanted to, to give you a better future my sweet, sweet daughter, and now, its your turn to live for the future."
"Huh?"
"Your father told me about Gaara."
"...oh, yeah." She looked down. "I, I don't really know what to do," she said. "I, I really want to save him, and we're so much alike. How do I help him?"
"Well," Karura said, smirking, "what helped you out?"
"I suppose...it's because...I had friends, people that I knew were looking after me, that loved me."
"Exactly," she said. "You have to fill Gaara with love, and it will help him come back, I believe." She gasped. "Ah, it seems we've used up our time."
"What? No! I, I just barely met you! I finally know for sure who I am! I don't want this to end yet!"
"Naruto, have you forgotten already? I already told you this isn't the end."
"Yeah, but I, I don't want-"
"Shhh, shh, I know, it's hard, but if you want to see me, look in your heart, and you'll see my love there, just like I told you. I'm always with you." She wiped away her daugther's tears and held her tight.
"I, I...okay, but I'll miss you anyway...I love you...mom." Karura smiled as she closed her eyes.
"Thank-you. It means a lot to me to hear you...oh my." She jumped back a little, covering her mouth in surprise. "Oh my..."
"Huh? What? What's wrong?"
"Ah, sorry for scaring you. When I, when I embraced you that last time, I saw...I saw what's going on outside." A tear fell from her eye. "My poor Gaara." She held Naruto by the shoulders, even as she began to dissapear.
"Remember, Naruto, fill him with love. Bring back my child...stop the demon that possess him." With her trademark grin, Naruto replied.
"Believe it, mom!"
"...I do. Good-bye, for now. I love you."
.
.
.
"I love you, too," Naruto whispered.
"Huh? Naruto! Good, you're okay. I was...I was afraid you were..." Naruto laughed as she opened her eyes.
"I'm fine, Sasuke-kun, don't worry." He stared.
"Naruto...what's with the grin? You're looking a bit crazy." She shrugged him off as she stood.
"I'll tell you later, but for now," she said, raising her voice and turning to Gaara, "it's time to end this fight for good!"
Well, a couple of you ALMOST saw that coming, but not quite. I was impressed with those of you that guessed Karura. Too bad you didn't get the 'how' it was going to happen. Still, be great if everyone told me what you thought of the chapter.
And sorry, but some aspects of the original fights I feel are important, or just down right funny in the case of 'one thousand years of death'. :D I just had to keep that in, and it allowed me to write the story to the point where Naruto learns the truth. A failed summon was kinda needed to keep an emotionally attached Sasuke from stopping Naruto running into the tree and thus trigger her 'vision'.
So please, this was a nice long chapter, and I'm itching for more reviews. I've had less than 10 on each of the alst 3 chapters, so lets put it up over 10 again! ...Please? :3