Chapter 20: Royal Consort, Part V: Scarlet Tears

Streaks of red followed Naruto's body as he charged towards Sakura; his movements blurred her vision as she looked on. Snapping back into reality, she realized what was happening before her eyes. Before she realized it, Naruto's extended hand was reaching towards her face.

She quickly leaned back, dodging his newly-formed claws. She began to mold chakra into her hands and feet; planting her feet deep into the concrete; she reached over and tightly grasped his arm with her chakra-assisted grip. She planted her feet deeper into the ground, which sunk her even further into the concrete, as she threw him towards one of the monumental posts that held up the great palace.

Naruto…what's wrong? You really don't recognize anyone in your current state of mind, do you? She thought as she saw him flip and soar through the air. His feet landed on the pillar, he caught himself and slid down the pillar, his claws grinding away at the wood, creating slivers as he soared to the ground below.

Sakura's eyes were filled with worry as she saw his hand, the claws had dug themselves nearly all the way through the pillar, the tips of is fingers began to bleed. Naruto landed and crouched down lower, his appearance and actions become even more animalistic.

She glanced at his face and saw his whiskers become more pronounced, his eyes became darker, and more sinister. She listened again and saw another tail form next to the first one. He charged again, with even more speed this time.

…

"Shikamaru, what's happening to Naruto?" Ino asked in a panic.

"He's entered his Nine-Tails state. He should still be able to distinguish between who he's fighting, but it seems that he's been pushed over the edge this time."

"Could it have been because…"

"Most likely, anyway, now's not the time to try and analyze everything we're seeing before us. We need to help Sakura as soon as we can."

"Right. How do we go about that."

"We'll do it the way we usually do it." Shikamaru brought his hands together just as Naruto began his charge towards Sakura.

"SAKURA, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" Shikamaru shouted. Sakura molded her chakra into her feet once again. She leaned back and fell onto her hands. Naruto launched himself and landed behind her.

"Kagemane no Jutsu!" A shadow shot forth and and held Naruto in place.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"(Mind Body Switch Technique) Ino cried out as she held her hands out and fell to the ground.

She entered his mind, which was swirled in a vortex of a deep scarlet. She desperately tried to enter his mind, to resurface some of his memories that could possibly bring him back to reality. She searched through his memories and recalled all of the memories that he had with Sakura, from when Team 7 was first announced to the first time she gave him her genuine confession.

She reached deeper into his mind and began to pull his memories to his preconscious.

Remember, Naruto, bring yourself back! She repeated in her own mind.

She managed to pull the memory closer, before the scarlet torn her away from his mind, and tossed her out of his consciousness. Her eyes opened, she looked up and saw Shikamaru holding Naruto with his shadow.

"Ino, were you able to do anything?" Shikamaru desperately asked.

"A little, I think it worked." They observed Naruto as he flinched. His expression softened for a moment.

"Let's hope it's enough…" He slurred. "I'm out of chakra."

His shadow slipped back towards him. Naruto shook his head, his face returned to its sinister state. He jumped and raised his hand up, ready to strike. Shikamaru and Ino braced for an impact.

Sakura molded more chakra into her feet and planted them deeper into the ground, a loud crash emanated from her location, she flew with great speed and tackled Naruto, only inches from Shikamaru and Ino. As she embraced him from the impact, she felt as if her skin was engulfed in flames. She landed on her back and tossed him further.

She landed on her back, dragging across the hard ground. She stood up slowly as she stared him down. She held her left arm across her ribs, panting as she felt the burning in her midsection.

Her right arm hung at her side. She forced herself to bring it back up, outstretched it and charged forward. She charged the gauntlet in her arm with chakra, which began to glow a great sapphire hue. Naruto charged to her at the same moment.

They clashed in a impact that that let out a giant explosion of pure, blinding violet. She molded her chakra through the gauntlet; the bloody red aura that surrounded Naruto began to dissipate. She pushed her arm against his chest and felt a sharp pain under her eyes. She could feel a streak of blood flowing down her cheek as Naruto's aura began to shrink around him. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer; wrapping her arms around him, she brought his chest to hers. The burning that she felt began to disappear.

"Come back to me, Naruto." She whispered into his ear.

His eyes shut as Sakura let him down onto his back. Droplets of red fell from her face onto Naruto's. She laid him down on the ground and brought her hand to wipe her face. Her hand was covered in blood, as if she was shedding tears of blood.

"I think we've been at this enough, Naruto." She said to the unconscious shinobi that she loved.

"Let's go home."