Here is chapter 42! yay :)
now for my reviewers
Chi-Neko - Thanks for the review, yeah, Toshiro is faced with a tough decision, and he will have to make it very soon
RairyuuBlade - thanks for the review, yes indeed i am really fast :P and thanks for the compliment, i hope you continue to enjoy the story :D
Bombat1994 - thanks for the review, and indeed :P
Sintar07 - thanks for the review, yes, indeed, though choice, also this chapter has more of Ichigo in it :P
stinkyhead - wow, that's all i have to say to that, i can normally take criticism, but this made no sense at all to me, are you the type who will judge a book by its cover? i can't believe you judge an entire story on the first paragraph that you got wrong by the way, it was NEVER implied that Sasuke had killed Itachi, what was implied was that Orochimaru tried to take over Sasuke's body before Sasuke could kill him, had i implied that Itachi would have been killed by Sasuke, it would have been said like this, Sasuke killed Orochimaru before he KILLED Itachi, well since you decided to judge my entire story on that one paragraph, you will probably never get to read this, but oh well, thanks for coming, at least lots of other people love my story :P
Gravenimage - thanks for the review, update is here :P
RSfan - thanks for the review, as i said again and again to the others here, yes he has a though choice ahead of him, what choice will he make? time will tell :P
xzavx - x2 - thanks for the review, uh chapter 41 was already up :P i think you meant chapter 42 ;) and now its here :D
naru-ca-titan - thanks for the review, yes indeed, 205 now! yay :D i would be sooo happy if i were to hit the big 1000, but i doubt i will :P oh well, as always your crazy yet funny reviews make my smile, so please keep on reading and reviewing :D, oh by the way, i loved the picture of Naruto you made, its great, i want to have some art talent too :(
well that's everyone, now then, without further delay, i give you chapter 42!
This chapter was revised on June 1st 2017. Most grammar errors should have been addressed (Hopefully :P) I did a few enhancements and changed a few things around but the story remained unchanged
Saving old bonds
Chapter 42 (Revised)
Naoto, Toshiro and Ichigo were hanging out at a bar having a good time after eating the pizza together. Although Ichigo didn't eat much since he had just eaten before they arrived however he took a few slices anyway. Ichigo was happy to be spending some time with Toshiro "Man, when was the last time that we just hanged out together like this?"
"Two years ago I believe" Toshiro responded
"Well, we need to do it more often! And I want you to bring Naoto along from now on. She is a great apprentice Toshiro, you really did pick a good one" he said with a smile, Naoto could only blush at the comment while Toshiro was feeling worst by the second. Something that Ichigo had noticed "What's bothering you? You have been acting like something is on your mind the entire night" he asked him
"Nothing is wrong; I just have a lot on my mind that's all"
"Does it have anything to do with Naoto's mother?" he asked him
"What?" Toshiro responded
"Look, I know about her. I received the report and I am sure that it must be bothering you both"
"Uh..Yeah that's what I have been thinking about, we were very close friends"
"I know, that's why I am willing to forgive her. Just try to talk to her, also I am willing to forgive the entire resistance. I believe it's time that we let go of the past"
"Really?" Naoto asked
"Yes, nothing will be gained by hunting them down. I am even prepared to talk to their leader myself, this twenty years of bloodshed must end"
"What about the war with the sand?" Naoto asked
"They declared war on us first and I will not back down. I admit that we are currently at a standstill but I am content with leaving things as they are for now. If they want peace then they will have to be the ones who come to us, not me to them" Ichigo answered her "But enough about the war, we are here to have some fun! The night is still young" He said as he drank some sake
Naoto stared at her own cup, she was of age to drink now but she had never tried any before. She smelled it a bit and she took a sip. Her eyes opened wide as she forced it down her throat. She immediately stuck her tongue out obviously not impressed by the taste
Ichigo was very amused at the scene "Is this your first time drinking Naoto?" he asked her
"She is only eighteen after all" Toshiro commented
Ichigo continued to laugh as Naoto didn't find any of it to be funny "The look on your face is priceless" he said teasingly "Sake is an acquired taste, the more you drink it the more you will get used to it. Trust me, you should have seen Toshiro the first time he drank. He made the exact same face you did!" Ichigo said with a smile "But he kept on drinking, and did he ever drink. He was so drunk that…"
"Maybe this isn't the time to be talking about that…" Toshiro quickly trying to stop Ichigo from finishing the story
"Oh but my dear friend, this is the BEST time to be talking about it" he said with an evil grin "Your apprentice needs to know what kind of man her sensei is when he is drunk"
"No… No she doesn't…" Toshiro said embarrassed
Naoto had never seen Toshiro like this before, she was now curious to know the story "Please Toshiro?" she asked him with a sad face
"ARG! That's dirty Naoto, you got that from your mother didn't you…" Toshiro said trying to resist, but she kept on staring at him with the same sad face. He could swear there were tears forming around her eyes "Fine, tell her" he finally said
Naoto suddenly began to smile again as she waited for the continuation of the story. Ichigo was trying to hold back a laugh "She is good" he simply said before he continued the story "As you know, Toshiro is very calm and collected. Well when he got drunk that pretty much went out the window. He danced with almost every girl that was in the bar, he then decided that he wanted a swim so he left the bar and jumped in the lake, without his cloths"
Naoto snapped, she began to laugh hysterically as she was trying to picture Toshiro not only dancing smiling and having a good time, but also jumping naked into the lake
"Some friend you were, you could have stopped me…" Toshiro said in a grumpy tone at Ichigo
Ichigo joined Naoto in laughing at his expense "Sorry Toshiro, but I was in shock at the time, and you were having such a good time, I didn't want to ruin it" he said with a grin
Naoto was finally able to get a hold of herself and stopped laughing. She stared at her cup of Sake for a second and decided to down it all in one shot. As she forced it down her throat once more, she stuck out her tongue again wanting to gag, wondering how long it takes to get use to the taste
The night continued to go by as the three had a good time together as the hours just passed. Naoto was now completely drunk. She had a hard time standing on her feet but she was having a good time and didn't really care as she danced to the music. Ichigo and Toshiro were sitting at one of the tables
"She is going to have a splitting headache tomorrow" Ichigo said with a grin "Ah, to be a teenager again" he added
"Yeah…" he simply said as he was lost in his own thoughts "I have been friends with Ichigo since I was born, we trained together, we grew up together, he was there for me when my family was killed…And I always supported his decisions as the Kurokage. How can I betray him like this? But I don't agree with this war, it was wrong to invade in the first place. But does that justify turning my back on him? But if I don't the entire resistance will be wiped out in the attack, and if I do… Then again, if Naruto does go back to his rightful place in time, I would never have betrayed him, right?" Toshiro continued to think to himself
Ichigo realized that he had lost track of Naoto "Uh Toshiro, did you see where Naoto went?"
Toshiro snapped back to reality "What? No…" he said as he got up and looked around the room, but he couldn't find her, he quickly ran outside and looked around. He found her armband on the ground. He looked at the foot prints on the ground and could see that there were three sets, including Naoto's
"Did you find her?" Ichigo asked joining him
Toshiro clenched the armband in his hand tightly "No, but I have a bad feeling!" he said as he took off in the direction of the foot prints fallowed by Ichigo. The prints led them to a large park with a forest in the middle. There were no lights in the park it was pitch black, but Toshiro didn't care. He ran into the forest wanting to reach Naoto before anything bad could happen to her. He knew that in any other situation Naoto could take care of herself but she was vulnerable in her current condition. Last time her saw her she could barely stand up, let alone put up a fight. He heard voices in the distance, he picked up the pace hoping he wasn't going to arrive too late
There was a large lake and he saw Naoto passed out on the grass at the edge of the lake, her clothing and hair were soaked. It was obvious that she had jumped in the water, Toshiro ran to her and checked her pulse. He was relieved to see that she was sleeping peacefully. He picked her up gently as Ichigo arrived
He saw her in Toshiro's arms and noticed how she was soaked; He then noticed the lake behind them and began to laugh "What's so funny!"
"Like Sensei like apprentice! At least she kept her clothing on!" but he stopped laughing when he sensed another presence, but he was surprise to see that he was night shinobi "Who are you and why were you trailing her!"
"My apologies my lord, but I saw the girl exit the bar and knew she was the captain's apprentice. I noticed that she was drunk and heading towards the park so I was worried that she could get hurt or something else. So I decided to follow her and make sure she would be alright. I was thinking about coming and tell you where she was but I was afraid that if I left her alone someone would try to take advantage of her. And I knew you would eventually get here" he said bowing his head
Toshiro let out a sigh of relief knowing that Naoto was not in danger "I thank you for keeping an eye on her, you have my personal thanks and gratitude" Toshiro told the man
"Indeed, come see me tomorrow, I will reward you for your vigilance" Ichigo added
"I need no reward my lord, she is young and innocent. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her, that is all. I do not require to be rewarded for doing my duty"
"That is very commendable, but I insist, come see me tomorrow afternoon"
"If you insist my lord" the man said as he bowed his head before disappearing in a poof of smoke
Toshiro held Naoto tightly against him, feeling once again like he had failed her "What if it would have been someone else who had seen her leave?" he thought to himself
"Toshiro, I know you well enough to know that you're already blaming yourself for this. But it wasn't, I was keeping an eye on her and got distracted with something else. So blame me if you must blame someone" Ichigo said trying to make Toshiro feel better
"I will take her to bed, she needs to rest. I will see you tomorrow Ichigo" Toshiro said as he walked away with Naoto in his arms, still sleeping soundly
"Good night Toshiro" Ichigo said as he watched the two of them disappear in the darkness of the forest
At the same time the resistance had begun surrounding the city by hiding out of sight in the forest. Sasuke was staring at the moon "It's going to be dawn soon; are you guys ready?"
"Yes, my medical supplies are all packed" Sakura said
"I am ready, I am ready to reclaim my life. I am ready to make things right again, I am ready to restore Konoha and the fire nation. This is my second chance and I am not going to blow it" Naruto said with a burning fire in his eyes. He wasn't going to screw this chance up
"Good, now I just hope that Toshiro and Naoto are ready…"
Back in the city, Toshiro had arrived at their room. He laid Naoto down in her bed and removed her wet clothing as she was shivering from the cold. He was embarrassed about doing it but he knew that she would sleep better in her warm and dry nightgown rather than her wet night uniform "She is probably going to be out for hours. She is going to miss the battle but I think it's better this way… She won't be forced to choose a side. After all she is still a night ninja. At least this way she can just sleep. If the plan works then there won't be a need for her to wake up… If it fails, then at least she will be safe here and not branded a traitor with me..." He stared at her sleeping form, she was so peaceful. He ran his fingers in her hair and kissed her forehead "I only wish that… I wasn't losing my god daughter" he said as a tear formed in his eye as he knew once Naruto went back into time, his own relationship with Naoto would be nonexistent. He would either be executed or banished from the fire nation since back then he was an enemy after all
He got up and walked out of the room, dawn was approaching and soon he would be faced with the ultimate decision. To betray his country, his people, his leader…His best friend. Or does he allow hundreds of lives to be slaughtered, including Sakura, and perhaps possibly be hated by Naoto for allowing both her parents to be killed "How can I make such a decision"
End Chapter 42
I though about having something bad happen to Naoto, but i decided against it, this made me happier, plus i bet you were all expecting something bad to happen to her right ;) anyway, next chapter should be the begining of the battle, i believe i have dragged this out as long as i could :P look forward to 43! :D