Its Sunday once more, I love Sundays, don't you guys love Sundays? ... SUNDAY! Its both the name of the first day of the week AND a delicious dessert! mmmm Sunday with hot fudge... uh anyway
REVIEWS! REVIEWS! REVIEWS! :D
RairyuuBlade - Thanks for the review, i am actually all caught up with the manga now, i normally allow a few chapters to go by so i have a few to read, i must say i was REALLY happy to see Kushina! also the way she met and fell in love with Minato reminds me of another couple that has had the same kind of relationship...NaruxSaku anyone? :D although my friend says the author could be misleading us...if he is, i am going to japan and kill him...kill him until he is dead...then kill him some more...then i will re-wright the manga :D
Akenshi - Thanks for the review, the long voyage has uh...umm... something had to happen during the voyage, i will explain at the end as to not spoil it :) but rest assured most of it was skipped :)
Azazel Kingetsu A.K.A Aza-chan - Thanks for the review, hurm time machine... according to Stephan Hawking, its impossible, but he talks using a computer, what does he know? :P Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Slop Doggy - Thanks for the review, ducks can write? Wow, you much show me your talented writing duck! I want its autograph!
Delran - Thanks for the review, every story needs a soft moment from time to time, its the kind of writer i am, especially when when the up coming chapters are going to be of Naruto coming back home and the time for the lovydovy stuff will be gone :) so look forward to that part :D
xzavx - Thanks for the review, i think is awesome, he just doesn't need that THING running around him... FFS she had him wearing nothing but tight shorts and a tool belt last week...not something i want to see! Mr Ziggles needs to fight back and KO her, everyone who has gone out with her has screwed her over in the end, she is as stupid as she looks :P
quintupledots915 - Thanks for the review, Yeah i have been getting a lot of good feedback on my self review from my friends and even from some of the other reviewers :) Anyway i hope you enjoy the new chapter
Now then, I GIVE YOU CHAPTER 45! RETURN OF ...err i mean HB 45!
Historical Bonds
Chapter 45
It had almost been two weeks since they had left the night country, although they were safely out of night country waters they continued to fly the night country flag and wear their uniforms in the off chance they met one of their ships out at sea
Naruto was walking along the deck, he stopped to rest his arms on the railing as he gazed out into the distance, something was bothering him but he couldn't figure it out. Sakura came out to join him as it was a beautiful day "So this is where you're hiding" She said as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and hugged him tightly as she rested her head on his shoulder
But Naruto didn't respond, that feeling that something wasn't right continued to maw at him "I am sorry Sakura Chan, I think I need to relax a bit, I am going to meditate for a while" He told her
Sakura was sad, she felt that Naruto had distanced himself from her for some reason; it was as if she was a bother to him and that hurts her more than a dagger through her heart "Alright…" She answered sadly as she let go of him letting out a small sigh
Naruto then made his way to his favorite spot on the ship, it was just on the top of the bridge the highest point on the ship other then climbing up the ships masses. He sat down and closed his eyes, he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned around and saw Kami standing beside him however she didn't have her usual smile "This isn't good, and I can tell that you felt it too. I guess it's only natural you are a Namikaze after all" She told him
Naruto looked around, they were still on the ship, this was the first time that Kami had appeared to him anywhere else other then Konoha or the field. There was also the fact that his blade was in his room "Kami? How is this possible, you are nowhere near me… Well I mean the blade… You know what I mean, and how are you appearing on the ship?"
Kami gave him a smirk "You're cute when your clueless, you and I are partners, I am a part of you now until the day you die" She said with her usual smile "And I am not physically on the ship, your mind is projecting me. In other words no one else can see me other then you, it's not something I do often, but this is an emergency" She added
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked concerned
"The winds… They are changing, you noticed it too didn't you, that's why you're feeling uneasy right now"
"I do feel that something is wrong, I just didn't know what it was" He admitted
"The Namikazes have a very strong affinity to the wind, it's one of the reasons that I only partner with them… And what you are feeling now is the same thing that Masaki felt on the day that changed his entire life sixty years ago… Naruto there is a storm coming, and it's a big one" She finally told him
Naruto suddenly became pale, unlike Masaki they were nowhere near any land, if their ship went down at sea they would all drown, including his beloved Sakura "Is there anything we can do? Perhaps we can turn away from it and try to go around?" He asked her
"The storm is too large to try and outmaneuver, turning back would do you no good as it would just catch up, Naruto you have to prepare the ship for the storm, it's your best chance. If anything where to happen to you… I don't think that I could handle it" She said as she looked out at sea
"I am more worried about you" He said as he got up and stood beside her
Kami was slightly surprised "Why? Nothing is going to happen to me, I can't drown, I will just sink to the bottom of the ocean" she told him
"That's what worries me… If anything happens to us, we die and that's the end of it, not saying that I am less concern for our lives but what I am trying to say is that our suffering will come to an end., but what about you? You just said that you can't drown, that you will sink to the bottom of the ocean and the odds of anyone ever finding you down there are slim to none. You could go years, centuries, perhaps the rest of eternity down there all alone" He explained to her
Kami blushed a bit, no one, not even Masaki had cared about her in that way. Sure they viewed her as their partner and some like Masaki even became her friends, but Naruto genuinely cared about her and her well being. She kissed him on the cheek "Then let's try to make sure that it doesn't happen" She said with a bright smile as she disappeared
Naruto was blushing a bit, although it was apparently all in his head he could still feel the kiss on his cheek. He quickly came back to his senses "I have to warn the others" he jumped down onto the bridge, almost scaring Toshiro who was at the helm "Toshiro, we have to prepare the ship for a storm" He told him
Toshiro's shock from seeing Naruto jump in out of nowhere was replaced with confusion, he looked out at the sea. All he could see was clear blue skies and a calm sea "…Uh Naruto, why do you think that there is a storm coming?" He asked
"Look Toshiro, I know this is hard to believe, but there is a storm coming… I have been feeling uneasy all morning and I just had a talk with my Kami... I mean my Zanpakuto, she explained that as a Namikaze I have a strong affinity to the winds. That is why my entire family is strong with wind nature abilities, but it appears that I can also feel the changes in the atmosphere. Toshiro there is a storm coming, we can't outrun it and we can't avoid it. Our only option is to prepare for it" Naruto could tell that Toshiro was having a hard time believing him "TOSHIRO Listen to me! My Zanpakuto told me that this is the exact same feeling Masaki had on the day when the storm hit his fleet! She also told me that none of the other captains believed him back then either, and IF I am wrong then we will just arrive a few hours later than expected"
Toshiro nodded, it's not that he didn't believe him, it's just that when he looked out at sea he just couldn't figure out how it could become a storm, but he knew that the Namikazes do indeed all have a strong relationship with the wind and it's better to be safe then sorry "Very well I believe you, let's get the ship ready" He suddenly told him
The entire crew was informed and instantly began to prepare the ship for the possible storm, the sails were secured and everything on the deck that could cause damage was taken down bellow and secured. They also secured the large cannons, if just one of them somehow got loose it could cause major damage
Naruto was looking at the horizon, the weather had begun to change at a rapid paste. The winds had picked up and there were large clouds coming their way, the ocean had also begun hitting their ship with increasing waves. Toshiro walked up beside him "It looks like you were right, that storm looks like a big one even from here…" Toshiro told him, feeling bad for even doubting him a little
"How is the ship?" Naruto asked
"We have secured everything that we could, I am going to lock the rudder in place hoping that it will hold. If anything happens to it we would be in trouble" Toshiro explained
"I guess there is nothing left to do other then wait"
"Yeah, and hope that we don't get too damaged" Toshiro added
Less than an hour later the storm had hit the ship, waves were crashing into hull and the winds were pushing the ship on the waves. Inside everyone was tense and worried, they had done everything they could to prepare and it was now out of their hands. Minutes felts like hours "Do you think that the ship will be alright?" Sakura asked Naruto worried, but he didn't answer, he seemed to be deep into thought
Yuki could see the worry in Sakura's eyes, perhaps it wasn't worry for herself but more for her unborn child. She was now almost five months pregnant, she was already one month pregnant at the beginning of the mission, it took 1 month of traveling by sea to make it to the night country and their mission had lasted much longer then they had anticipated with the demon country side trip that they ended up taking "I am sure that we will be alright, isn't that right Naruto Sensei" She said nudging him to get his attention
Naruto was brought back to reality "Huh? Oh… Yeah, we will be fine I am sure" Although he said those words, he didn't sound confident
Suddenly they felt a huge wave hit the ship, they began leaning heavily to the right, and then suddenly the ship went back upright "We almost capsized…" Itachi commented, even he was feeling powerless. He wasn't use to not being in control
They then heard a large crack, followed by a large crash "What was that?" Konohamaru asked
"I am going to go check" Yuki said as she got up, but she was stopped by Konohamaru as he grabbed her arm
"No, it's too dangerous out there, I don't want you to get hurt" He said as he pulled her to him
"He is right, we have to wait until the storm passes" Ino said as she stayed close to Shikamaru
"I am not going to let something like a little bit of wind scare me!" Yuki was feeling that Konohamaru was being overprotective, but he wouldn't let go of her and she didn't feel like fighting him so she gave up "…Enjoy this while you can… Because I won't allow you to win often" She whispered softly in his ear so no one else could hear causing Konohamaru to grin
Another hour had passed and the storm was still going strong, Sakura looked around the room. Yuki was cuddled up against Konohamaru as he stroked her hair, Ino had fallen asleep in Shikamaru's arms, Hiyori and Toshiro were talking together, She was jealous of them all. She wanted to be held by Naruto, she didn't feel any safer than she did when she was in his arms. But he wasn't acting like himself, or perhaps she had done something to him without realizing it? Or was it something she said? Could she possibly be the one at fault for the way he was acting towards her? She stared at him as he cleaned his blade, it irritated her. He was spending more time with that stupid blade then with her. Suddenly Sakura felt horrible about herself, was she jealous of a blade? "Get a grip Sakura… He must just be under a lot of stress, that's all… He still loves you… Right?" she told herself as she sighed "Look at yourself, you're a wreck" a familiar voice from within herself made itself known, it was Inner-Sakura "I leave you alone for a while and this is what happens? You allow yourself to get replaced by an object? What the hell happened?"
"It's you? I thought that you were gone…" Sakura said still shocked that her inner-self had returned "I never left, I just felt that you no longer needed my protection, you were happy and you didn't need me butting in, but now look at yourself" Inner explained "There is nothing wrong… I am sure everything will return to normal once we return home" Sakura said in her defense "If you truly believed that, then you wouldn't be thinking of throwing that blade of his overboard, not that it would help mind you, need I remind you that I am you? So spare me the excuses. Have you tried telling him?" "No…I am to scared that he will say something like he no longer cares about me" Sakura admitted "YOU STUPID GIRL! This is the boy that has been crazy over us since day one, this is also the boy that is clueless about girls, I bet he doesn't even know that you're feeling this way, like I said before, the boy is sweet but is an idiot! Now stop mopping around and do something about it! Or have you become spineless while I was gone?" Sakura knew that her inner-self was right, but it didn't make it easier, however she was going to do it
Sakura got up and was making her way towards Naruto when suddenly the ship began turning violently sending her and anyone else standing to the ground "What's going on?" Naruto asked
"I think the rudder has become loose, someone has to go up to the bridge and lock it back in place, if the rudder is damaged we won't be able to steer the ship anymore!" Toshiro told him "I will go…" But Naruto cuts him off
"No, I will go, no offense but with those winds and your size, I am afraid that you will be thrown overboard"
"Are you calling me a kid?" Even thought Naruto never said anything about Toshiro being a kid, Toshiro didn't like his age or size limit him from doing anything
"No, I am just saying that I have a better chance of doing it safely, don't make me have to order you to stay here… I rather not" Naruto told him
Naruto had refrain from using his authority as Hokage the entire time they were in the Night country leaving things up to Toshiro most of the time, with the exception of rescuing Hiyori and Hamako, Toshiro let out a sigh "Alright, but be careful"
Naruto nodded as he made his way towards the upper decks, Sakura wanted to stop him, but she knew better. She watched him as he left the room
Naruto was standing in front of the door leading to the outside, he took a deep breath and opened the door. He was instantly met with a large wave of water that splashed in his face. He used all his strength to shut the door as the winds were raging all around him. The ship rocked from left to right. He immediately notices that the front mass was missing and that the main mass has been damaged but he didn't have time to worry about that. If the rudder was damaged then they would be in big trouble. he fought the winds and slowly made his way to the bridge. Toshiro was right it had gotten loose, he used his strength to attempted to center it before locking it back into in place again. The constant waves bashing the ship wasn't making It easy. He was finally able to lock the rudder back into place and began making his way back towards the door when a huge wave hit the ship throwing him over the the last second he grabbed the side of the ship and used his chakra to stick to it
Naruto was in a bad situation, if a wave were to hit him now he would surely fall into the ocean "I have to climb back onto the deck before it's too late" He focuses his chakra and forced his body to climb as the winds continued to blow around him. He was almost to the top when he notices a large rogue wave heading his way. There was no time to think, he quickly made a few hand signs and a shadow clone appeared on the deck. It quickly pulled him to safety as the wave crashed into the side of the ship "I got to get back inside before something else happens…"
Naruto finally made it back inside as he shut the door leaving the chaotic storm outside. He was breathing heavily as the adrenaline is still running through his system, he was also cold as he was now drenched in water
It would be another hour before the storm would finally blow over. Naruto and the rest of the crew were on the deck, the ship had taken a beating but it was still floating "This isn't good, the forward mass has been destroyed, I think it hit the main mass when it fell, It's taken some damage but we can repair it. The aft mast on the other hand is a lost cause, its suffered too much damage we will have to bring it down. We still have to examine the sail to see if its suffered any damage" Toshiro said reporting to Naruto
"Alright, do whatever you need to do to get us underway again, I want the rest of you to check every inch of this ship for any other damage" Naruto said to everyone
Sakura approached Naruto "Naruto…Can we talk?" She asked him
"Sakura Chan, can it wait? We have to make sure that this ship can still get us home" Naruto asked her
Sakura fought a tear from forming in her eye, but she didn't want to worry him "Yeah… I guess I can wait" She said as she walked away sadly and joined the others in search for possible damage
Naruto joined Toshiro who looked at him "What's wrong with Sakura?" He asked
"Huh? What do you mean?" Naruto asked in turn confused
"She looked kind of sad, you didn't notice?"
"No… I just figured that she was tired, I mean with the pregnancy and all"
"Well maybe you should talk with her, it's best not to let things like that go for too long" Toshiro suggested
"Yeah.. I guess that with all this stuff going on that I haven't really been giving her the attention that she deserves, I just always told myself that I would make it up to her once we were back home… But that is still weeks away, I need to deal with this as soon as possible"
The crew inspected every deck, every room. Sai was in the lower decks when he heard something that sounded like water dripping, he entered a room and found that it was slowly filling with water "We must have some hull damage" He thought to himself, he looked for the hole but couldn't find it, that's when he realized that he was in the storage room with the secret compartment where their Konoha belongings had been stored "You don't think that…" he opened the secret compartment and just as he feared, the was a hole where water was pouring in, and he couldn't find any of their cloths. Could they have been sucked into the hole and out to sea? "I have to warn the others…" that's when he suddenly stopped "But this is a chance to carry out our mission… Make the hole bigger, sink the ship and kill Naruto" "No… I can't, Naruto is my friend. I already betrayed him once, I can't do it again" Sai fought with himself "But its your mission Sai, you know what happens if you disobey Danzo's orders" "I…I…Know what will happened… But I don't care!" "Pff You are pathetic, don't you realize that you will be a traitor?" "Either way, I end up betraying someone… And I chose Naruto Sama over Danzo" "So be it SUFFER YOU DOG" suddenly Sai felt a surge of pain rage throughout his body, the seal had activated
The screams attracted the attention of Sakura and Ino who were searching a few rooms away, they both ran into the room, the first thing that Ino notices is the large amount of water and the hole near Sai, Sakura quickly ran to Sai and attempted to find out what's wrong while Ino examined the hole "Sakura, this is bad, we need to patch this up right away or we will sink" Ino explained
"I need to get him out of here, Ino take care of this. I will send others to help you while I will take him to the infirmary" She said as she lifted Sai up wrapping his arm around her neck for support as she held him up
In the corridor she met with Yuki and Itachi who had heard Sai's screams "What happened?" Yuki asked
"I don't know, Yuki give me a hand, Itachi, Ino is trying to patch up a large hole in the hull, give her a hand" Both of them nodded as Yuki grabbed Sai from the other side as they both dragged him to the infirmary
With Yuki's help they made it to the infirmary quickly. They laid him down on the bed as he continued to scream in pain, Sakura attempted to find the source of his pain but is unable to figure it out "I don't get it, he has no wounds and my examination shows nothing wrong with him physically" she said frustrated and concerned for her friend. She injected him with some pain killers and medication to make him sleep, it wasn't much but at that point it's all she could do
Naruto who had heard about Sai's condition walked into the room "How is he?" He asked
"He is in pain, but I can't figure out why, I gave him something for the pain" Sakura answered him
"Hurm… Yuki, could you leave us please?" Naruto asked
Yuki was kind of surprised "Uh…Of course Sensei" She said as she left the room, Naruto closed the door behind her leaving him alone with Sakura and a sleeping Sai
"What's going on Naruto?" She asked
Naruto ignored the question and walked over to Sai, he opened his mouth and examined his tongue. He could see a very faint red glow "It's the seal… Its activated, but why… Its only suppose to activate if he betrays Danzo or his mission, so why did it activate?" Naruto talked to himself
Sakura was annoyed; she was at the end of her patience. Not only with how he was ignoring her now, but with everything "That's it! I am done with being silent about this, Naruto you are going to face me and you're going to do it now, not latter, not tomorrow NOW" Sakura was breathing heavily, Naruto was slightly surprised "You have been treating me coldly for the past few weeks. At first I put up with it because I figured that you were under a lot of stress and that you had a lot on your mind, I continued to put up with it day after day but I just can't do it anymore Naruto, why are you acting this way towards me?" She asked him
Naruto did want to talk to her but with Sai in his condition he didn't want to do it here"…Sakura Chan, this isn't the best place or time for this" But he is quickly cut off
"Oh no you don't you have been avoiding this for a while, every time I wanted to talk to you, you brush me off and say latter Sakura Chan. Well SAKURA CHAN IS SICK AND TIRED OF IT! Tell me this Naruto, Do you still love me? Or have you fallen for someone else?" She asked him directly
Naruto couldn't believe his ears, what kind of question was that? She is the mother of his children, the love of his life, his soul mate. She was his Sakura Chan, yet the image of Kami flashed in his mind "No She is just a friend…" He spat out without really realizing that Sakura had no idea who he was talking about
"Who is SHE exactly?" Sakura demanded to know
Although Naruto wanted to explain everything to her, he didn't want a shouting scene "Sakura Chan, I will talk, I will sit down and talk with you but I will not scream or be screamed at. So please calm down or I will walk out of that door while you cool down" Naruto knew that it was risky to talk to her when she was like this, but he felt that if they just screamed at each other things would only go downhill
"Take the offer, you need to calm down if you're going to get any kind of information from him" Inner-Sakura commented "SHUT UP" Sakura screamed out not realizing she said it out loud
Now it was Naruto who was slightly annoyed "If you won't even listen to me then this is pointless. Sakura chan, i am not going to fight with you, I will come back when you have had time to calm down" Naruto was about to get up and walk out of the room
"Wait… I didn't mean you… Naruto I am sorry look I am calm now" Sakura said trying to stop him from walking out "And don't you tell me to shut up again…" Inner added "I am sorry" those words were meant for both Naruto and Inner "Please don't go… I am afraid of being alone..." She added
Naruto felt horrible, he knew that she was hurting inside and he was responsible. He went to her side and held her tightly "Don't cry Sakura Chan, I am not going anywhere" he kissed her forehead softly "And I am the one who is sorry, I have been a horrible husband lately, and I am going to make it up to you I swear but I want you to get this idea out of your head that I don't love you, Sakura Chan nothing will tear me away from you" He said with watery eyes
"Who is she?" Sakura asked
"My partner… She is the spirit of my blade and her name is Kami, I wish that I could introduce you to her. She is great, always bubbly and smiling, although she enjoys teasing me… A bit too much" Naruto explained
"Sounds like you like her a lot" Sakura commented
"Well she is beautiful that much is true, but she is a spirit. And even if she was able to exists physically in this world there would be no competition, there is only one beautiful girl that I truly care about in my life right now, and I wouldn't trade her for anything, not even when we are older" He said as he caressed her hair "Do you forgive me?" He asked
Sakura smile "Yeah… I guess I did overreact; it's just that I am always afraid of losing you…" "See, told you that if you just talked to him that you could work things out, don't you feel better now?" Inner asked "I should have known better, after what happened between Yuki and Konohamaru…"
"Yes, both of you should know better, I thought Konohamaru everything he knows so he is just like me, he will love Yuki until the end of time, just like I will love you" He said as he held her tightly
"…I should warn Yuki about a few things then" Sakura said teasingly
"What's that suppose to mean?" Naruto asked pouting slightly
Sakura giggled a bit "You're so cute when your upset" She said as she kissed him softly "Well my job here is done, I think you're going to be alright from now on" Inner announced "Wait, where are you going?" Sakura asked concerned "Sakura, you don't need me anymore, I am proud of you" Inner answered back "Wait, what do you mean I don't need you anymore? You are a part of me!" Sakura said almost crying "Sakura, you created me all those years ago to protect you, to act as your shield when the children made fun of you, to give you confidence. But now you have Naruto, I am no longer needed" Inner said with a rare smile "And there is someone who is going to be needing me more then you soon, so I have to prepare for her" She added "But I am going to miss you… And who are you talking about?" "You will get over it, soon you will be so busy being a mother. Having three children is a tough job, and I know you're not going to give up your job at the hospital. And don't worry about Naoto" she said with a wink "Wait, what do you mean three children?..." "Good bye Sakura" She added with a grinning face as she slowly faded away, Sakura had a tear in her eye but she washed it away with her sleeve
Naruto paid little attention to it as he figured she was just happy "Now that that is out of the way… We need to talk about Sai" Sakura's attention came back instantly, she had almost forgotten about him "Sakura, what I am about to tell you must remain between the two of us AND you are not allowed to be mad at him…" Naruto told her, Sakura was confused but she nodded. He explained to her how ROOTS operate and about the seal that Danzo uses to control them
"That's horrible… But why would the seal activate?... Wait did Danzo give him as mission?" Sakura asked
"Sakura, before I tell you, I want to ask you to once again to promise me, you will not get angry at Sai, he has already suffered enough…" Naruto thought back to when he literally beat the information out of him
"I promise" Sakura answered, although she was very curious to know what the mission was that had Naruto so worried about her reaction
"Sai's mission was to make sure I never return from the night country alive… When I was left behind and captured by the demon country, he had a chance to save me but didn't, the reason was due to his mission" Naruto told her
"WHAT?" Sakura reacted pretty much the way Naruto had expected
"Calm down… Sai did not want to carry out the mission but if he allowed an opportunity to carry out his mission pass by, the seal would have activated, when you think about it, if he had tried to save me the seal could have activated right then and there and I still would have been captured… Plus I also vented some anger out on him…"
Sakura remembered how Sai's face was injured and Naruto's knuckles being stained in blood back in the abandoned village "So that's what really happened…" She thought to herself
"To make sure that he wouldn't have any chance to carry out his mission I ordered him to stay with you at all times, that way I knew that you would always be safe, and he didn't have to worry about whether or not he was going to be force to turn his back on me… That being said the seal still activated, it's not suppose to activate if he fails his mission, only if he passes up an opportunity to carry it out… Or if he revealed any information about Danzo, assuming it's not the latter, he must have passed up an opportunity to kill me…"
"The hole… When we found him he was next to the hole, he had an opportunity to make the hole worst, maybe he refused to do it and it activated the seal" Sakura said
"There is a hole? Are we sinking?" Naruto asked
Sakura had forgotten that he probably didn't know about the hole yet "Ino and Itachi are taking care of it, we should be fine, but it could have been worst…Much worst" Sakura told him
"I see… Sakura, you have to find a way to nullify the seal" Naruto asked her
"I will try, I have about a week before we run out of medical supplies to keep him sedated… So I have no choice but to figure this out before then" She said as she examined Sai once more
"And you cannot tell anyone about this, if the others learned about Sai's mission they may view him as a traitor and never trust him again, I can't have that Sakura" Naruto asked her
"Don't worry… He is a fellow team seven member and a friend, I won't reveal anything" She said with a smile
Naruto kissed her softly once more "Thanks Sakura Chan… I am going to go get a situation update from the others" Naruto said as he kissed her once more
"Alright, I will begin working on Sai"
Naruto made his way back to the deck, Toshiro was working with the others "How are things up here?" He asked him
"Well we are in bad shape, but I guess it could have been worst. We had a hole in the hull, luckily it was found out and patched up. Itachi is going underwater to patch it on the outside for added security, I am sorry to say that most of our clothes somehow made it out of the hole and into the sea" Toshiro explained
"All of them?" Naruto asked concerned
"Well, all except for this" Ino said as she walked up holding a drenched black and orange cloak "And the Konoha flag, i guess they were too big to fit thought the hole"
Naruto grabbed it, this was the only thing he had left of his father and he valued it greatly "I am so happy this survived" He laid it out on one of the railings so it could dry in the sun as he turned his attention back to Toshiro
"As I already explained, we lost the forward mass, the aft mass is a lost cause so we took it down, luckily the main mass is in good shape, it was slightly damaged but we were able to make repairs to it. The bad news is the main sail is completely ruined"
"That's bad… What can we do?" Naruto asked
"We do not have the materials needed to fix it, however we were able to salvage the sail from the aft mass, its smaller then the main sail, but it will fit, however going from three sails to a single sail, the sail in question being the smallest of the three, our voyage home is going to take much longer then tree weeks… If I had to make an estimate, and this is a if all things go right estimate, five to six months"
Naruto was shocked "You can't be serious… Isn't there anything we can do to save the main sail?" Naruto asked
"The main sail isn't the problem, we only have one mass, even with the main sail it would only shave a few weeks off that estimate" Toshiro explained
Naruto let out a large sigh, five to six months if all went well, that's how long he had to wait to see his baby girl again "I guess all things considered, we are lucky to have survived the storm at all… What about supplies?" Naruto asked
"We have enough food to last two months, if we ration it four, maybe five"
"I have a solution to our food problems" Konohamaru said as he walked over "there is a large net in one of the cargo holds, I can modify it to catch fish, we should be able to add that to our supplies indefinitely"
"Good thinking Konohamaru, what about water?" Naruto asked
"That isn't a problem, Hiyori, get me a glass and my blade, it should be in the kitchen" Toshiro asked, Hiyori quickly got the items and handed them to Toshiro, he handed the glass to Naruto and lifted his blade and closed his eyes, he began to concentrate and slowly like magic water began to appear in the glass, and it was nice and cold, Toshiro opened his eyes and the glass was full "Go ahead, try it" He told him
Naruto took a sip, he then drank the entire glass "Wow, this is great, It tastes better then the water we currently drink" He said with a grin
"That's because it's pure, I am able to extract water from anywhere. The water you just drank for example was extracted from the air around us, I can also extract it from the sea taking out the salt and leaving only the pure water. So we won't be going thirsty" Toshiro explained proudly
"Great, so we have food and water, the only down side is how long it will take to get home… But it can't be helped"
Everyone did their best fixing up the ship, they still had a long way ahead of them, but they would never give up
As the days passed, Sakura was able to figure out a way to reset the seal, in essence it would be as if it never activated however she could not remove the seal. Sai was grateful either way
The days continued to go by, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, until one day…
"YOU'RE DEAD NARUTO! YOU'RE SOOOO DEAD!" Sakura screamed at him as Naruto hid in a corner of the infirmary. He remembered how she broke his arm last time this happened "STOP COWERING IN THE CORNER! AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!"
"Push Sakura!" Shizune told her
"I AM PUSHING, WHAT DO YOU THINK I HAVE BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST FIVE MINUTES? BAKING COOKIES?"
"Sweetie, please calm down, just do as she says, push…"
"IF YOUR NOT MAN ENOUGH TO COME HERE THEN YOUR NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK!"
Suddenly they both heard the crying of a baby "It's a beautiful baby girl, congrats" Shizune announces
"It's another girl… Sakura, it's another beautiful girl!" Naruto said proudly as he took it from Shizune to show it to Sakura. Unlike Naoto, she had blonde hair
"Wait a minute… We're not done here, Sakura you have to push again" Shizune told her
"What?" Sakura said shocked, but she did as Shizune asked
A minute later they heard another cry "It's a boy! You have a twin boy and girl, that's very rare!" Shizune said as she handed the boy to Sakura who looked tired from the delivery
"Did you hear that Sakura Chan, we now have two daughters and a son!" Naruto said exited
"…I am tired not deaf" She said with a smile "What are we going to name them?" She asked
"I want to name her Sakura, it's a beautiful name… and we can give her the nickname of Saku" He said as he still couldn't believe it
"Absolutely not… We are not naming her Sakura… Not if I have anything to say about it" Sakura told him outright
"Fine… Then her name shall be Saku!" He said with a bright grin
"… Idiot… But you're so cute, why Sakura?" She asked
"I just love the name… Don't you like your name?" Naruto asked
"It's not that I don't like it… It's just so cliché… Being named after a flower" She explained
"A beautiful flower" Naruto added
Sakura let out a small sigh "…Alright, you win, I am too weak to fight back... If you really want to call her Sakura, then her name shall be Sakura, but I am calling her Saku… What about him then?" She said as she held their son who had fallen asleep in her arms
"Well, his sister's name starts with S, and they are twins.. Sakio, his nickname can be Saki! Saku and Saki!" Naruto was enjoying himself
Sakura could tell that he was happy and really liked the idea of having twins "This is what she meant when she said three kids… I just assumed that she was joking that Naruto was just a big kid himself, I think I like this..." she thought to herself "so, Sakura and Sakio Namikaze huh? I think I can live with that, but you owe me" she said teasingly "Saku, Saki, welcome to the world" She thought to herself
Konohamaru and Yuki walked into the room "Can we come in?" He asked
"Yes, of course!" Naruto said proudly showing off Saku in his arms
"Sooo cute!" Yuki said as she stared at the sleeping twins
"Want to hold her?" Naruto asked
"Are you sure?" Yuki asked back
"Yeah, after all, she needs to get to know her godmother, her name is Sakura, however we are probably going to end up just calling her Saku most of the time as to not to drive her mother crazy" He said as he handed her Saku and winked at Sakura
"Wait… Me the godmother? Are you sure about that? I Mean there must be others who…" But Naruto cut her off
"It's already been decided by me and Sakura, although we had no idea at the time that we were having twins… So uh… I guess your godmother to both" He said with a grin
"Konohamaru, you of course we chose as the godfather, here" She said as she handed him Saki "His name is Sakio, but I have a feeling that because Saku is going to be Sakura's nickname, that he is going to end up with the nickname of Saki" She said with a smile
"Nii-San…Nee-Chan… Thank you so much" He said as he had a tear rolling down his cheek, Sakura and Naruto could tell that they were both overjoyed at being chosen to be their god parents
"Now we expect you to babysit, so if you don't know how to change diapers yet, you're going to have to learn" Naruto said with a grin
Sakura held onto Naruto's arm, she was truly happy to be with him. Their family was growing, Naoto, Saku, Saki, Herself, Naruto and Konohamaru and Yuki, well Yuki wasn't official yet, but she would be some day
The weeks continued to go by, Sakura had begun training. Her body had become sluggish from the pregnancy, and she wanted to regain her former body, having twins didn't help her in that regard but she wouldn't trade them for anything. She was on the deck of the ship when she thought she saw something on the horizon, she quickly jumped her way to the top of the main mass to get a better view "Is that land? I think its land…LAND! I SEE LAND!" She began screaming
Everyone ran out onto the deck, there it was land "We finally made it back home" Yuki said with a bright smile
"Are we sure its Konoha? I mean the storm could have knocked us off course" Ino commented
"It's the port city, I can tell, were home!" Naruto said happily
"Hey, is that a ship?" Sakura pointed out in the distance
"Yeah, I can see it too" Toshiro commented
On board the other ship the crew had just noticed Naruto's ship "Captain, its confirmed, they are flying the Konoha flag, they are from Danzo's camp, however it looks like their ship took a beating" The man said handing the captain a pair of binoculars
"Sound battle stations, a ship that size in this area can only mean one thing, they plan on trying to invade the port city. If the loyalists were to lose it we would be flanked and our major supply depot would be lost, sink that ship at any cost"
"Yes Captain Hyuga, for the loyalists!" the man ran towards a small bell and began ringing it loudly "BATTLE STATIONS, BATTLE STATIONS, ALL CREW TO BATTLE STATIONS"
Neji continued to look out at sea at the approaching enemy ship, a flag flew on the top of the ship, but it wasn't Konoha's, it was a black flag with a orange leaf with a slightly different design then Konoha's original "For the loyalists" Neji whispered to himself
End Chapter 45
Their back home! Well almost... Anyway i want to explain why i wrote the chapter the way i did, the Naruto/Sakura fight i had been building up during almost the entire time they were in the night country, Naruto really did ignore her a bit to much, i also wanted to bring back Inner-Sakura one last time and explain why she has been absent from Sakura's life, the storm was an idea that i had since the beginning, i figured since Masaki experienced a storm, i would have Naruto go through the same thing, with a different outcome of course :) the reason i gave the ship so much damage as to prolong their trip by months was because i wanted Sakura to be a part of the fight for Konoha, i couldn't do that while she was pregnant, because well that's self explanatory :P so i made sure they were out at sea long enough for her to have the babies AND regain her form, the twins is something that i decided at the last minute, i knew that i wanted a boy for sure, but i kind of liked the idea of twins, and i love picturing Naruto chasing away the boys who would try to date his daughters :P cause you know he is going to ;) The names i gave them well they have no meaning, i just really like the name Sakura just like i made Naruto explain it, plus Saku is a cute nickname :D and since their twins, i liked the idea of the names being similar, Saku, Saki, anyway i hope i didn't disappoint to many people with how this chapter went :)
Anyway, thanks for reading, Chapter 46 officially begins with our crew being back home :D
Naruto - ...What the hell? Do you have like a multiple personality disorder? Do you seriously have two people up there? "He poked Sakura's head a few times"
Sakura - Stop that, or your kids are going to grow up without ever knowing who their father was! And you have a spirit in your head, how is that different?
Naruto - I didn't create the spirit... You on and other hand
Ino - "whispers" This is just a suggestion, but I would chose my next words wisely if i were you...
Naruto - Are very beautiful, smart and brilliant, you are perfect in every way shape or form possible... I love you, please don't kill me... Think of the children!
Sakura launches herself on Naruto kissing him passionately
Konohamaru - Well that's new, a review where Naruto isn't killed and or injured
Yuki - The review isn't over yet... He could still say something stupid
Naruto - Sakura Chan, your kind of heavy...
Sakura - WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? DID YOU JUST SAY I WAS FAT? WELL EXCUSE ME BUT I JUST HAD YOUR FREAKEN TWINS! "Sakura punches Naruto into the ocean"
Yuki - Told you..
Konohamaru - Nii-San... You were doing so well too "sighs"
Sakura - IF YOU DROWN, I WILL TELL THE CHILDREN YOU LEFT US FOR ANOTHER WOMEN!
Naruto - BLARGS BLURG! "he is barely able to stay above water as not only is he fighting to stay above, but he is on the verge of uncontentious from Sakura's attack"
Sakura - DON'T YOU BLARGS ME!
Neji - ... So this is what you people have been doing all this time?
Konohamaru - Yeah... The the fun never stops when those two are together
Neji - Shouldn't someone i don't know... rescue him or something?
Yuki - I would, but the review is over, sorry Sensei! We will miss you!
Naruto - BLURPS? GURGLE!
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