Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 12
I won't be able to update this story as frequently as i would like once school starts so, I've decided to be nice and upload the next chapter. Enjoy!
Sakura would say that she has a pretty decent memory. I mean she wasn't like Naruto who forgets something ten minutes later, but she wouldn't say her memory is absolutely perfect. She could remember key events in her life, like all the missions she had been on or any other form of life changing event.
To most people, ninjas and civilian's alike this sand invasion was a pretty big event, some might even say life changing, but for the life of Sakura, she could not and do not remember much about it. That's why when the sound of kunai bombs going off, and screams from scared civilians resounded in the chaotic stadium, she remained frozen in her spot.
She watched as shinobi's tried their best to calm the villagers as they trampled over each other to escape, and medics desperately trying to save those that were injured. It wasn't this chaotic the first time...was it? Well it was nothing compared to the war or to the Pein invasion where Konoha was essentially wiped out, but still was it this chaotic the first time?
"What's happening?"
Sakura turned to Naruto who stood beside her with a shocked expression plastered on his normally cheery one. When did he get here?
"We're under attack." Sasuke replied as he glared at a passing villager who had rudely pushed him out of the way.
The sound of metal against metal came from all directions as elite Konoha shinobis faced off with elite Sand shinobis.
Sakura stared at the scene before her. There was something she was forgetting…something important.
Another loud explosion was heard, as a thick veil of smoke covered the village.
It was at this moment realization hit her like a bitch. 'Sand shinobis'
"Sasuke-kun, Naruto" The two boys turned to her. "The sand siblings...they're not here."
"Are you sure they're this way, teme?" Naruto asked as he sped after both his teammates, occasionally ducking or dodging branches as they leaped though the Konoha forest.
"Yes." Came his brisk reply as he focused his stare after the small purple snake he had summoned to track down the sand ninjas.
The whooshing sound of leaving blowing past them got louder as they proceeded deeper and deeper in the dense forest. The rays from the sun scattered as it hit the leaves of the trees, leaving certain sections of the forest darker than the rest.
"There." Sakura pointed as she caught sight of the giant fan hanging from the blond girl's back.
They picked up their speed.
When they were short of three meters away, Temari and Kankuro stopped. Finally turning around to face their enemies.
"Go after Gaara, Naruto." Sakura shouted to the blond as she and Sasuke prepared for battle.
Giving the girl a nod, Naruto leaped over the two sand ninja's and continued after the red head.
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"You think you can defeat us?" Kankuro sneered at the two shorter ninjas.
"Sasuke you take Temari." Said Sakura as she completely ignored the brunette. "I faced a puppet user like him before."
Sasuke gave the girl a confused look but nonetheless complied. 'When? And who?'
Back in Konoha, things were not getting better. The chaos from the stadium had now spread to the streets, as villagers ducked home and boarded up their doors.
Everywhere shinobis were clashing against each other. The sound of their kunai scraping against another's. Fire jutsus, and water jutsus exploded from every corner in the village.
Yet, away from all this, on the roof top of the Hokage tower stood a teacher and a student. A pained looked on one, and a maniacal look on the other.
"I don't want to do this." The older man, who looked roughly around seventy said. His tone laced with regret as he stared at his former student.
"Don't get sentimental on me now...Sensei." The younger male sneered tauntingly as his long raven hair blew in the wind behind him. His yellow snake like eyes glimmered with a hint of malice. "I've longed for this day...the day where I will stand over your cold dead body."
"What happened to you, Orochimaru?"
"POWER!" With this shout, Orochimaru charged towards his former sensei. Snakes protruded from his hands as they snapped attacks at their opponent.
Neatly avoiding being bitten, the third Hokage leaped backwards. The compassion leaving his grey eyes, as he took off the white hokage coat and the large straw hat. Letting both material fluttering off into the breeze, he slide his feet into an offensive stance.
Tying her long pink hair into a messy pony tail behind her, she reached for her black, leather fighting gloves. Slipping them on she briefly glanced at the already on going battle between Sasuke and Temari. She smirked. Seems like Sasuke had the upper hand in the battle, after all the wind from Temari's giant fan did nothing but strengthen Sasuke's katon.
"Finish?" Turning her eyes back to her opponent, she was slightly amused. He had the decency to wait for her to get ready before engaging her in battle.
"Yeah."
Swiftly taking the bandaged up puppet from behind him, he slammed it down onto the earth. The white bandage wrapped securely around it unraveled and fluttered to the ground.
Sakura lightly mused. This was the first time she saw his puppet from up close, and to be honest it looked pretty weak compared to Sasori's third kazekage puppet, but then again he was an Akatsuki.
"Karasu." Kankuro spoke as he extended chakra threads to the wooden doll. "My puppet, remember his name when you lose."
With a flick of his finger, the puppet flew towards her. Large blades protruded out from the joints of it's six arms.
'Puppeteers, they're long distance fighters so they're not that well verse in close up fights. Remember Sakura destroy the puppet and get close to the user, that's the only way to win.' Mentally replaying what Chiyo baa-sama had told her before their battle against Sasori, Sakura dodged the swinging large blades. Her eyes focused on the tiny movement of Kankuro's fingers.
Stepping to the side, a large blade grazed past her cheek. Before Kankuro could retrieve the puppet, Sakura grabbed one of Karasu's arms she pulled the main body of the puppet towards her. With one hand cocked behind her she waited till the puppet was close enough so she could destroy it.
Seeing this movement, Kankuro flicked another one of his fingers and the torso of the wooden puppet opened and numerous knives shot out. Shocked by this hidden compartment, Sakura immediately dropped her hold of the arm and did her best to evade the blades. A couple however did embed themselves into Sakura's arms.
Wincing she pulled the offending metal out of her bleeding arm. With her other hand, she gathered the green medical chakra and began patching up the wound.
Okay, so she may have underestimated him
Dodging another blast of air, he sent a giant fire ball towards the agitate blond. Not to long ago, she learnt the hard way that her wind attack did nothing but enhance the size of his katon. He watched with a bored expression as the blond barely leaped out of the way.
He has been in lots of battles. Now in all those fights, only a selective few stumped him. Itachi, Naruto and Obito being obvious ones, and as much as he wants to deny it Deidara, Danzo, Killer Bee, and the Raikage was a challenge. But these people were the only exceptions. Everyone else proved to be a complete waste of time for him, and this current battle was certainly one of those times. The blond was barely proving to be any sort of challenge. Hell, she wasn't even strong enough for him to activate his sharingan.
Sending more fiery attacks towards the blond, he scoffed as she did her best to dodge them. He had her completely cornered. There was no way she was going to swing that fan at him. If she did he'll just send a katon at her.
Sliding his gaze over at his female teammate, he watched as she continuously evaded the puppet users attacks. He was slightly confused when he saw how she made no motion of attacking. Maybe she needed help? Turning his gaze back to the panting blond girl, and closed in for the final attack. If Sakura needed his help, he wasn't going to waste time on this pathetic girl.
Taking out his kusanagi, he watched with satisfaction as the humming of the lightening current ran throughout the blade.
He was ending this pathetic battle.
"GAARA!" Naruto shouted as he dodge one of large sand arm that encased the red head's own arm. "STOP!"
Gaara who's face had already half morphed into the one tailed beast, Shukaku gave an inhuman growl. The sand from the large gourd on his back slowly leaked around him. With one swift hand motion the mass of sand slammed into Naruto.
Rolling back a couple of feet, Naruto pushed himself up from the ground, but was only slammed back down when the sand hurled down on top of him from above. Spitting out mouthfuls of the grainy substance, Naruto forced his body out from the sand.
"Sabaku kyu"
The sand around Naruto swirled around him, before completely snapping closed similar to that of a coffin, trapping Naruto within.
"You're finished." The low baritone of the Shukaku rang out from Gaara's mouth. Lifting his hand he slowly closed his fingers, preparing to suffocate Naruto within the hardening sand. However before his hand could fully close into a fist, a loud poof-ing sound came from the sand coffin. His green eyes widened a fraction when he saw his sand disperse.
The place where Naruto stood was now completely taken over by a ginormous toad, with pipe hanging loosing from his lips.
Knowing fully well that there was no way to defeat Naruto in his current form, he closed his eyes and let the one tailed racoon within him completely take over. The tide of the ichibi's chakra whirl around him, he felt himself drifting in unconsciousness.
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"What is that?" Naruto asked as he stared wide eyed at the large sand raccoon that was exactly the same size of his toad Gamabunta.
Gamabunta who now accepted the fact that he was going to be this brat's summon muttered a small curse when he saw the beast. "Ichibi...the one tailed demon."
With another leap, Orochimaru dodge the flames that his former teacher sent towards him. His sneer grew larger when he saw his sensei slighting panting. Guess old age is really starting to catch up to him.
Taking this chance, he sent his snake into the roof and watch as they reemerge from beneath the Hokage's feet. One of his lucky snake's ensnarled itself around the hokage's foot. With a flick of a wrist, he slammed the old man into the hard concrete watching with satisfaction as blood spurted out from his mouth.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu: Enma." the Hokage yelled as he slapped his hand on the ground. A large monkey appeared from within the white smoke.
"You're not looking so good." The large monkey said as he helped the hokage to his feet.
"I'll manage." Sarutobi replied as he stuck out his hand. "Transform."
Needing no more orders, the monkey turned into a giant staff. Grabbing the black and yellow staff, he ran towards Orochimaru. Swinging the staff he engaged the snake man in an all out taijutsu match. His face remained impassive even as some of his attacks landed on Orochimaru, for he did not wish to engage in this battle with his former student. For him, no matter how off the reservoir Orochimaru may have gone, he would always be his student.
Getting more and more annoyed at the constantly hits landed by Sarutobi, Orochimaru created a clone of himself as he escaped the close range Taijutsu.
Performing a series of hand signs, he placed his hand on the ground. "Edo Tensei." Smirking when he saw the shocked expression cross Sarutobi's face.
Two large coffins emerged from the roof. The creaking sound filled the clearing as the lids of the wooden coffins fell to the ground with dull thud. The corpses of the first and second hokage stepped out. Regret immediately on their face when they saw their opponent.
"Hashirama, Tobirama…" The sandaime breathed out, as he watched his predecessors advance towards him. Twisting his body as he dodged the incoming attacks of the former first and second hokage.
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"Hiruzen, we do not wish to fight you." Hashirama said as he threw another punch. " But we have no choice."
A large canon of water shot out from Tobirama's mouth and towards the sandaime who countered it with his own mud wall.
He had to immobilize these two first become he could make his move for Orochimaru. Using the jutsu passed down by the Senju clan, he watched as tree roots sprouted out from every inch of the rooftop and ensnarled itself around the two former Kages. He knew fully well that this attack would not be able to keep them trapped for long, but he prayed to the gods that it could delay them at least for a bit.
Running towards Orochimaru he let the staff turn back to the monkey. "If they become free, please try to hold them off as much as you can."
The monkey gave a nod, as he stood facing the two kages ready to engage in battle if it came down to it.
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"What are you going to do geezer? I can always bring back more from the dead." Orochimaru laughed.
"I'm sorry for not guiding you properly." The hokage gave a sad apology as he gathered his hands into seals.
"Shiki Fuujin"
Orochimaru's eye's widened. A large ghostly death god appeared behind Sarutobi, brandishing a large blade.
"Sarutobi, are you sure?" The shinigami's voice was loud yet it carried an eerie tone to it.
"Yes, it's my duty as hokage to protect my village."
Giving a nod in understanding, the large death god stuck one of his hand through Sarutobi's body and entered into Orochimaru's grabbing onto his soul. Sarutobi coughed up blood as he felt his own body being ripped apart from the inside. This jutsu was a last resort. He couldn't have Orochimaru running around causing havoc. So even if it meant sacrificing himself for a greater good, he would it do.
Loud cries of agony was heard from the snake man as he felt his own soul being slowly eradicated from his body. He watched his the ghostly shape of his arms being dragged out in front of him. This can't be happening, not to him.
"SARUTOBI!" The said man turned as he watched Enma being tossed aside and the two former kages were rushing towards him.
He didn't have the time to completely drag Orochimaru's whole soul out, but he was not going to leave Orochimaru completely unscathed.
"JUST CUT THE ARMS!" He shouted at the death god.
Bring up the large blade, the white demonic looking death god cut through the ghostly shape of Orochimaru's arms. Pulling the arms through Sarutobi, he swallowed it.
"NOOOOOO!" Orochimaru shouted as he arms blackened and fell slack by his sides. The edo tensei canceling itself as the bodies of the former kages fell down unmoving. His arms were useless...he could no longer perform jutsus.
The large shinigami gave Sarutobi a small bow before disappearing. Sarutobi fell to his knees, as blood poured out from his mouth and the hole in his chest where the death god's hand had just been.
"YOU OLD FOOL!" Orochimaru yelled, enraged. Running towards his former teacher he roundhouse kicked him in the face. Sarutobi completely fell to the ground. Stomping his foot down repeated against the back of Sarutobi, he cursed the man. How dare he take away his arms. More blood spilled out from Sarutobi's mouth. Mercilessly, he kicked the body aside watching as it rolled a few feet away.
"Even if I couldn't kill you, I took away your arms...your jutsu...your ability to be a ninja. For that I can die in peace." The sandaime weakly mumbled blood gargled in his mouth. "I'm sorry for failing to stop you from going down that dark path... I failed you as a teacher." With one last gasp of air, he closed his eyes and let the welcoming darkness engulf him.
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The great legacy of Hiruzen Sarutobi ended.
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Konoha was for the first time in history without a hokage.
"Baki-sama, over here!" An urgent voice called out.
A stern looking man with two red marks under his right eye, a cloth covering his left eye and the sand hitai-ate securely around his forehead, approached the shocked sand shinobi.
Peering his head he stared down into the small canyon. Fury burned in his visible eye as he stared down at the body of the third kazekage. Orochimaru had tricked the sunagakure into a pointless war with Konoha. He played them for a fool.
"SEND AN URGENT MISSION TO CEASE ALL ATTACKS." He pointed at one of the scared looking chuunin's. The man gave a nod before disappearing. "AND YOU EXPLAIN OUR SITUATION TO KONOHA...WE CAN ONLY PRAY FOR THEIR FORGIVENESS." He barked out the orders to another jounin.
Rubbing his temples he stared down at their dead kazekage. Today was not a good day.
Evading the slices of air attacks send out by the blond girl, Sasuke quickly approached her. With chidori in one hand he easily stopped the swing of the large fan that the girl had just swung at him. Sending more electric current into his hand, he felt the large metallic fan crack. With his kusanagi, he stabbed it through the shoulder of the girl sending waves of electric current through her completely immobilizing her. The girl spasmed violently before crumpling to the floor.
Pulling his sword out he wiped the blade against the grass to get rid of the blood before re sheathing it.
This battle didn't even break a sweat for him.
How pathetic.
Turning his feet, he headed off to assist Sakura in her battle
As Sakura dodged another string of senbons, she felt Sasuke's chakra grow nearer.
"Don't interfere, this is my battle." Sakura told the approaching Sasuke, as she blocked against another attack by the puppet.
This was starting to get annoying.
Jumping back a safe distance from the puppet, she formulated another plan. She waited as the karasu drew closer and closer to her. As it sent out a strike towards her, Sakura twisted her body off to the side and delivered a solid punch to the back of the puppet. The doll shattered into pieces. Knowing fully well that puppet user can still control parts of their puppet's even if it's destroyed, she wasted no time as she pumped chakra to the soles of her feet and ran towards Kankuro.
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Sasuke watched with a hint of nostalgia. The once weak girl who had depended on him for everything, could now handle her own battles. It was like when he first saw her on the battle field against the Juubi, and how surprised he was when he saw her single handedly destroy half the battle area with one punch. He felt a twinge of proudness for the girl.
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Not giving Kankuro the chance to evade her attack, with one hand she made a grab for his arm and with the other she thrusted it into his chest. "Chakra kyuuin Jutsu." The boy in front of her slowly fell to the ground as he chakra slowly left his body.
Releasing her hold on the boy, she let him fall to the ground. Brushing off the dust on her hands, she ran back towards Sasuke, who had a small smirk on his face.
"See I didn't need your help." Sakura chirped cheerfully as she landed beside the boy.
"Good job"
Sakura beamed at his compliment. She knew he wasn't one to ever give anyone compliments so it filled her with giddy when she knew she was the first one to ever receive one from him.
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"Sakura" The said girl turned towards the boy beside her as they ran through the forest in search of their third teammate. "You said you face a puppet user before, who?"
"Sasori, an Akatsuki, when we were trying to get information on Orochimaru's hideout so we could find you." She replied.
Sasuke's emotionless face did well to conceal the shock he felt at that moment. It occurred to him during the war that Sakura had gotten stronger, but he never expected her to be able to take on an Akatsuki member. Seems like he's still been underestimating this girl.
"We're pulling out." Gamabunta shouted to Naruto as he jumped out of the way of another blast of sand from the ichibi.
"NO" Naruto shouted back, as he held on tightly to the top of Gamabunta's head. "He's just like me...outcasted...You can go but I'm not leaving him."
Dodging another attack from the Ichibi, the toad king slide back across the forest trampling over several tree along the way. There was seriously no rationing with this kid. Sighing in defeat, he pulled out the large chokuto from his waist and held it out in front of him.
"Don't get me killed, brat."
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Slashing and dodging various attacks thrown by the Ichibi, Naruto tried his best to stay rooted on the head of Gamabunta.
"GET ME CLOSE TO HIM!" Naruto shouted over the deafening roar of the raccoon.
Jumping off from the ground, Gamabunta slashed his way towards the beast. Another blast of sand stopped him in his path.
"We have to distract him." The toad said as he sent a flurry of senbon's toward the Ichibi's direction.
"How?"
"Fire." Gamabunta stared down at pipe in his mouth.
"I don't know Katon." Naruto shouted as he tightened his grip on Gamabunta, his body slamming against the slippery skin of the toad's head.
Leaping up from a blast of sand aimed at his feet, Gamabunta landed to the left of the Ichibi. "Here." He tossed up a small match box to Naruto. "When I blow oil out, you light a match and toss it in."
Fumbling to catch the small box, Naruto managed to keep a steady balance on top of the toad's head. "Alright."
Taking out the large pipe from his mouth, he rolled out his large purple tongue. Slapping his two hands together, a large wave of dark, brown oil spewed out towards the Ichibi. "NOW NARUTO!"
"R-right." Sliding the match container out from the box, he pulled out a small wooden match. Swiping it across the side of the match box, a small flame appeared. "Got it!" He shouted to Gamabunta, as he ran down the head of the toad, and tossed the small match into the oil. Falling back he watched as the brown liquid ignite into a ginormous flaming ball of fire.
The giant raccoon shrieked as the fire licked at his feet. Taking this opportunity, Gamabunta launched himself towards the Ichibi. Grabbing hold around the Ichibi's shoulder, he looked up at Naruto. "GO."
Upon hearing the command, he pushed himself up and jumped off Gamabunta's head and onto the head of the raccoon. Looking around the head his blue eyes caught sight of the a dash of red. 'Gaara' He ran towards the unconscious red head, who's body was half emerged with the sandy head of the raccoon.
"GAARA!" Naruto shouted into the unconscious boy's ear as he violently shook his shoulders. "WAKE UP!"
No response from the boy.
Releasing the boy's shoulders, he threw a punch at the red head's face. He watched as his face slightly cracked, and green eyes snapped at him.
"You have to stop this. You're hurting people."
Narrowing his eyes in anger, he glared at the blond. "They all deserve it. FOR OUTCASTING ME THEY ALL DESERVE IT."
Naruto glared right back. "NO THEY DON'T!"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"
Naruto's glare hardened, as he rammed his forehead against the red head's forehead. He could feel blood trickle down his face. "I understand...I was outcasted too, but hurting them is not the answer, further isolating yourself isn't the answer."
Green eyes widened.
"Please, stop this. Don't let the demon inside take you over. It's not worth it."
Blue eyes stared pleadingly in mellow green ones. He felt the head of the raccoon softened as the drizzling of sand could be heard. Soon after that, a large sand storm whirled around them as they fell to the forest ground. The body of the Ichibi melted away into millions of particles of sand.
With a thud both boys body slammed into the rocky earth. Weakly Gaara stared at Naruto. "Why do you care so much?"
"Because I know how you feel." He replied as used the last ounce of his strength to crawl towards the red head. "That anger and hurt when they look at you like some sort of monster."
"THAN WHY DID YOU STOP ME!"
"BECAUSE...because I also know the feeling of love from those that care for you." Naruto's gaze softened as he continued to inch towards the red head. "I have people who care for me, but so do you." Weakly he reached out a hand towards the red head, and made his best attempt to give him a thumbs up. "You have your two teammates...and you also have me as a friend, Uzumaki Naruto future Hokage." Giving him a grin, Naruto passed out.
Gaara watched with interest as the blond's teammates scurried around him. It wasn't long after he had passed out that his teammates bustled out of the densely packed trees. He saw the pink haired girl immediately by his side, healing him. Worry so clearly displayed on her features. Turning his head, he directed his attention towards the stoic raven haired male. Despite the emotionless facade he held on his face, Gaara could very well note the worry in his eyes. They reminded him of Temari and Kankuro.
"Gaara-san how are you feeling?" His green eyes turned back and stared at the approaching girl. Why wasn't she scared of him like all those other people?
"I'm fine."
Kneeling down beside him, he felt her gently rolled him onto his back. "You're like Naruto aren't you?" She asked as she placed a hand over his chest and began pumping medical chakra into him.
"You're not scared." It wasn't state as a question. His eyes stared at the girl. A hint of amusement on her face.
"Of course not. You're like Naruto so there's no reason for me to be afraid." He felt the soothing nature of her chakra wash through him.
"Thank you."
He watched as the girl turn her head and smile at him. It wasn't a forced one or a fake one. It was genuine. "You're very welcome.
It was a few days after the invasion did everything settle down again in Konoha. During these few days the lower ranking Sand shinobi's remained in the village helping locals rebuild parts of the village that were destroyed. While the higher officials of Sand were in an extensive meeting with the officials of Konoha regarding their role in the invasion and what the future held for the relationship between the two villages.
After these few days when the skeleton of buildings were finally set up and the routine of the villagers fell back to normal, the funeral for the Sandaime was finally held. All the villagers and shinobis of Konoha and some fellow Sand shinobis attended the ceremony.
The sky an ashen color as people filed around the casket of their esteemed leader. Quiet sobs were heard from some while others kept a sullen face.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen died for this village. He gave his life for this village and we do him honor by being here today." Jiraiya spoke. His normally happy face replaced by one of sorrow and regret. "He was a brave man, a strong shinobi, and a loving person. That is why I, Jiraiya, one of the three legendary sannins, am proud to have had this great man as my mentor." Clearing his throat, his gaze stared at the picture of smiling Hokage that sat on top of the of closed casket. "He may be dead but he will forever live on in our hearts."
Wiping his wet eyes, he left the podium with a small bow. One by one the shinobis and villagers filed up to the casket and placed a small white flower down beside it.
Naruto walked up to the podium and stared at the smiling picture of the old man. His blue eyes filled with anger mixed with sadness. When everyone outcasted him as a child, only jii-chan treated him like a normal little boy. Naruto gritted his teeth, he was going to get Orochimaru, he was going to get revenge for him.
Placing down his flower, he walked over to his two teammates who stood by the side waiting for him.
His death will not be in vain...it will be avenged.
Done another chapter!
Note: a time skip will come soon...like in a few chapters? and tis means that more sasusaku moments will come up, and after the time skip there will also be more naruhina moments
as always please leave a review