Author's Note: Ah crap it's been so long since I updated….Well ya see….I guess I kinda got lost through the path of life? Ahaha, Kakashi's old line~
Chapter 17: Homecoming
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Kakashi frowned as he jumped away from the snakes that set their jaws into the ground and whirled around to meet weapons with the young purple haired teen. The girl had decided to move back to her real form while Sakura still stayed in her beast form. Miu smiled back at him sweetly before swiping her blade off his knife, twirling into the air to land a kick on his chest. Stumbling back slightly, the silver haired Jounin summoned chakra to his feet and disappeared
from Miu's sight.
"Come out come out Kakashi," She sung as she looked all around her, a hateful look in her eyes. Tenten took this opportunity to use her Twin Rising Dragons on her, trying to immobilize her as much as possible. Miu however saw this coming and glared up at the weapons that were coming down at her.
She put her hands together for a second before tilting her weapon up quickly. In a second she was blocking off every single one of Tenten's attacks, her arm moving at high speed. The Chinese teen gaped at the Akatuski member's ability and gritted her teeth as she leaned forward with her hands outstretched.
"I'm not done!" She yelled as she pulled her hands back, the wires wrapping around her hands more tightly. The weapons pulled out from the ground and floated above her as she met eyes with Miu. Throwing her arms in front of her, she threw all of the ninja weapons down at her with an exact precision. And yet, she flipped in the air at the exact moment and bounced on top of the kunai's and scythe's hilts, escaping all of the others.
Tenten 'tched' and lowered herself on to the ground, her head lowered. I still I have this one! She placed her hands on the ground, her bangs covering her face, and started conducting hand seals at an impossible speed. Suddenly Neji flew past her, knowing exactly what she was planning. They both just hoped that Miu didn't. While Neji and Miu fought, Tenten increased her speed in hand seals just as Lee landed next to her.
"I am ready when you are Tenten," He stated as he waited for her signal. She nodded in acknowledgement and stopped at the last seal, meeting her teammate's eyes. Instantly, Rock Lee burst off the ground and disappeared high into the sky.
Neji, trying to act unpredictable-which was a bit challenging, managed to get some of Miu's chakra points, making her stumble a bit. He finished his turn off with a Gentle Fist and jumped into the air, knowing what was coming.
"Summoning Art: Dragon Chains!" Tenten yelled as she smacked her hands down on the ground. The black seals appeared from under her palms and smoke rose from her hands. Two figures moved and buried themselves into the ground. Immediately, they popped out of the ground at both sides of Miu, taking the form of two silver dragons.
All of this moving at an amazing speed; the two dragons wrapped themselves around Miu's body, curling higher and higher. As their tails moved up as they coiled, chains appeared on the spot their tails slithered over. The two dragons roared as they soared up into the sky and flew back next to Tenten. Miu stood in front of her wrapped in chains, an enraged look on her face.
"Lee! Now!" The weapon's specialist called out as her dragons planted themselves on the ground, growls escaping their throats.
"Got it!" Lee replied as he came down from the sky, landing an earth crushing kick to the Akatsuki member's head. A crater formed where the both of them stood and as Lee jumped a good distance away from her, blood dripped from the side of her head as she took a step back.
"You've got skill," She whispered with a cold smile. She lifted her head slowly to meet Lee's glare. What? That should've killed her! Tenten thought angrily to herself as she clenched her fists.
"But, it isn't enough to kill me." Miu added as she stood up to her full height, blood covering one eye and making it red. Suddenly, she was about to break through the chains when she froze. She looked down at her feet and scowled. A shadow stretched from her feet all the way to where Tenten was standing. Shikamaru stood in that stance of his, his Shadow Possession Jutsu a success.
"You!" Shikamaru smirked as he fixed his position slightly.
"Hinata, Kiba, Shino!" He called out as the team dashed out from the shelter, making their way into the battle. Just as the three of them were about to pounce on her, Shino took out his insects and put them on Miu just as Shikamaru released his jutsu. Miu screamed as the bugs covered her body, b ut she put her hands together and cast a seal, making the bugs explode off of her. Almost instantly, Hinata rushed in and blocked the rest of her chakra points, finishing it off with a rotation. Kiba and Akamaru immediately followed in and used Fang over Fang, battering their opponent.
Miu growled as she wiped the blood off of her chin and glanced over at the tiger that fought against two of the Konoha Thirteen. They were torn and scratched so much they looked so close to death. She smirked and for a second she was unaware of her surroundings. That was all the time that Kakashi needed to reappeared behind her and plunge his Raikiri into her chest.
She widened her eyes in slow motion as she gazed upward towards the night sky, blood spurting out on to the ground. Her eyes moved to her successful experiment and watched as the two ninjas' strongest attacks collided with the tiger's body.
Dammit, was this how it was always going to end? With the bad guys always losing? It was just one second! Just. One. Damn. Second! Miu thought to herself as she felt the curse mark's control fade away from her system. She no longer had control over Sakura. She….she-
She had failed.
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This was it. They were both at their limit. They just only hoped that this would work.
When Sasuke had seen Miu being held up by the others, he told Naruto about the plan. About how as soon as she was attacked by Kakashi's Raikiri, that they would use their use their strongest techniques on Sakura. This had to work. In order to bring her back. The three of them were a team. And they'd do everything they can for each other.
Sasuke tapped Naruto shoulder as soon as he saw Kakashi's Raikiri pierce through her chest. Naruto opened his eyes in Sage Mode and stood up, summoning two clones to begin the Rasen-Shuriken. Sasuke took out his Kusanagi sword and waited for Naruto's signal. They may have only seconds.
"Let's go, Sasuke." The blonde said as the two clones disappeared. The Uchiha nodded and the both of them started running at full speed towards the tiger that growled at them. Tenten had helped them out by using her Dragon Chains to hold down the tiger. The others grabbed the chains and kept it pinned down as Sasuke and Naruto approached it at an incredible speed.
"Rasen-Shuriken!"
"Chidori Sword!"
Naruto went straight into the tiger's chest while Sasuke lit his sword with Chidori and plunged it into the spot next to Naruto's. The blast was forced them back, but the two came next to each other and put their hand on their backs, pushing them on. Sasuke stared at the tiger's form and activated his Sharingan, seeing the other presence inside it.
Sakura! We're coming! As the two of them shoved their attacks in, the tiger roared painfully as its form started to crack. It was as if it were made of stone; the fur gaining small cracks, slowly getting larger. Suddenly, everything seemed to stop as the tiger's form shattered into white scales. The white scales floated in the breeze as Naruto and Sasuke stared straight ahead, looking at the pink haired girl who stood in front of them. She still had the curse mark on, but it looked like she was free of Miu's control. Sasuke smiled slightly as he spotted those emerald eyes he missed dearly. Then it seemed as though it were just the three of them, alone.
They approached her in a floating manner, their other teammates gone from the world they were in. As Naruto and Sasuke descended from the air, the Uchiha recognized the place they were in to be similar to the place where he and Naruto talked-when they were half dead of course. Sakura's room had a large blue sky and lots of trees swaying in the breeze. But there was a crescent moon high in the sky. It seemed as though everything was peaceful. A large gust of wind blew from behind the two, directing their attention back to their pink haired friend.
Sakura was lying against the tree with her eyes closed, her hands laced neatly together. She looked so peaceful sitting like that. The two teammates walked over to her, hoping that she would talk with them. Sasuke glanced over to his best friend and saw him smiling, his bright blue eyes shining.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto greeted as he took a seat in front of her, his legs crossed under him. Sasuke sat next to him quietly, watching as the kunoichi opened her eyes. She raised her head and met Sasuke and Naruto's gazes.
"You're here." She softly greeted with a smile on her face. She leaned forward and grabbed both of their hands, holding them. "I'm glad."
"We're here to bring you back Sakura-chan." The blonde said with a grin. Sasuke could only stare at the girl he liked, seeing her smile.
"I know. I'm sorry I've given you a hard time." She quietly replied, giving both of them a sad glance. Naruto nudged Sasuke in the elbow, telling him to say something.
"Its-we're alright. Everyone's fighting right now, but it's to bring you back. They all want you to return to the village." He interrupted, his voice soft. Sakura met his gaze before nodding with a smile.
"I see. They're all waiting then. As much as I'd like to go back," Naruto and Sasuke instantly looked at her, eyes wide. What was she saying? "I can't." Naruto was the first to react. He stood up with a shocked look on his face.
"What do you mean you can't? Don't you want to go back? Don't you want to see Tsunade-baa-chan again?" He demanded, his arm gesturing behind him, to where everyone was waiting. Sakura lowered her head, her hair covering her eyes as she replied.
"Of course I want to. I want to so much. But…" She lifted her head to meet Naruto's gaze, a sad look in those beautiful emerald eyes of hers. Sasuke didn't know how to react with what she said next.
"My mind has been taken over by the curse mark. It's already too late. I'm afraid there isn't anything you can do. This Sakura you're talking to is just the last part of the rest of her." She softly explained, her hair covering her eyes once more. Sasuke stood up slowly, his eyes widened at her words.
"That's not true! That can't be true Sakura-chan! We can bring you back!" Naruto exclaimed as he gave her an eager smile. He grabbed her hand and was about to pull her up when chains shot out from the old oak tree, wrapping around her torso and arm, pulling her back. Naruto gaped at this, his hand slipping from hers.
"You see? As much as I want to leave, I can't." Sakura whispered, clenching her fists. Sasuke blinked as the chains receded back into the tree, letting Sakura lean back against it dejectedly. He realized that if he liked her this much he'd have to go to extents.
"You have to keep fighting Sakura," Sasuke quietly said, taking her hand and pulling her forth again.
"What're you-"
Once more, the chains shot out and wrapped around her body, forcing her back. However this time, Sasuke tightened his grip around her hand and pulled against the chain's force. Sakura widened her eyes at what he was doing and watched as Naruto joined him, pulling against Sasuke's other arm. Naruto summoned a mass of his clones and all together, they started pulling against the strong chains.
"What you're doing is impossible!" Sakura exclaimed as the chains pulled against her, causing her to wince.
"Don't you give us that crap Sakura," Sasuke replied in low voice as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. His pink haired friend looked at him in astonishment as he kept going. "We've pretty much already done the impossible,"
"So this should be a piece of cake!" Naruto added on as his clones yelled in agreement. "Let's go everyone!" Sakura lowered her head, a small smile forming on her lips.
"You guys…would go to this much for me?" She whispered as she tightened her grip around Sasuke's hand. He noticed this and looked at her for a second, his eyes softening.
"Of course, you did the same for me." Sasuke replied as Sakura began pushing against the chains, the oak tree behind her creaking. Sakura stayed quiet for a moment before lifting her head to meet her teammates' gazes. She grinned and nodded to the both of them, making a hand seal.
"Alright, let's get out of here!" She exclaimed as she summoned chakra to the bottom of her feet, stepping forward slowly. The earth under her sunk from the amount of pressure she applied to her feet as she pushed herself.
In that instant, the three of them were all fighting for one thing; to bring themselves back and to escape this place. Sakura gritted her teeth as the chains dug into her skin but kept walking forward, the creaking of the tree getting louder. Sasuke glanced down when he saw a dot of blood hit the ground and looked back at Sakura's torso, seeing the chains deep in it. Apparently, Naruto saw this as well and widened his eyes.
"Sakura-chan," Their pink haired friend looked up at them with a determined look and nodded.
"I know Naruto, but I want to go back. If it means doing this…" She trailed off as she grabbed the chains around her torso with one hand, tugging on it. That resulted in the chains pulling so hard, she slipped out of Sasuke's grip, sent back into the tree's trunk so hard that it made an outline of her body. Panting, Sakura slumped against the chains as Sasuke and Naruto came running over. Blood dripped from her forehead and into her eye but she forced herself to stand up without the other's help.
"I have an idea. I'll pull on the chains again, but you two attack the tree. That might work." She suggested as she shifted forward, the chains catching her wrists. Immediately, she trudged forward, straining.
"Are you sure, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he gave her a hesitant look.
"Yes," Sasuke exchanged glances with his best friend and nodded, jumping off in the direction of the tree. Sakura could hear their yells as the chains attacked them but pushed it aside, focusing on herself.
Alright, all this takes, is to summon as much chakra as I can. She thought to herself as she walked back over to the tree, sitting down to gather chakra. She breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, calming herself as she felt her chakra building up.
"Sakura, ready?" She heard Sasuke call from above. Taking another moment, she opened her eyes and stood up.
"Yes! Give it everything you've got!" She yelled as she rushed forward, anticipating the chains instantly. As they wrapped around her wrists, she clenched her teeth and grabbed on to them, turning around to whip them over her head. In an all out tug of war, she dug her feet into the ground and summoned all of her chakra into her hands.
"Take this!" Pulling her hands over her head, she heard the chains ripping out of the tree as she grunted, letting them fly out of her hands. As soon as they were out, Sasuke and Naruto thrust their jutsu's into the tree, exploding on contact.
Falling on her side, she was joined with her two teammates, who fell beside her on their backs. As the oak tree went back into the earth, it seemed as though the world they were in was much more at peace. Sakura gazed up at the sky with a relaxed look on her face and glanced over at Naruto and Sasuke. They also held those carefree looks on their faces as well. Reaching out to both of them, she grabbed their hands and smiled at both of them before bursting into laughter. The two best friends joined in, relieved that they finally reached her. They all stood up, grins on their lips as they looked at one another.
"Thank you," She softly said as her form began to shimmer, tears in her eyes. Naruto and Sasuke nodded as their pink haired friend started to disappear. Their time in this world was about to end.
Almost immediately, it was as if a switch was turned off and the two friends were back in the present world, crashing straight into a wide eyed Sakura. In a messy heap on the ground, Sakura groaned as the other two quickly got off of her, helping her up. She rubbed the back of her head as she looked at all of her friends who came to meet her.
"Sakura!" A body crashed into hers and pulled her into a tight hug. The pink haired girl saw the blonde long hair and smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Ino," She whispered, burying her face in her best friend's shoulder.
"We did it!" Chouji punched his fist into the air as the others joined him, giving high fives to each other and joining Sakura in a group hug.
"Great job Naruto, Sasuke!" Lee energetically said with a thumbs up. Kiba grinned as Akamaru barked in with the others, his tail wagging happily. Hinata clasped her hands behind her back as she gave Naruto a shy glance. He grinned back at her with a thumbs up.
"Everyone," Kakashi appeared in front of all of them, a relieved look on his face when he saw a smiling Sakura.
"Kakashi-sensei! Did you get her?" Naruto asked, obviously about Miu. His former teacher tilted his head to the side but shook his head. Sai joined them all and nodded to all of them in greeting.
"When Kakashi hit Miu with his Raikiri, she was dazed for a moment before she escaped and ran away." He explained as he stood next to the silver haired Jounin.
"Well anyways, I think we should go back to the Hokage and tell her of this. C'mon." Kakashi said as he dashed into the air, the others following behind. Sakura stayed in the middle where everyone started chatting excitedly, glad that she was back. Ino was by her side every second, saying that she missed her so much. She knew that everyone was happy that she was back, but she knew that there were going to be hardships that she had to face soon. She didn't know what they were, but when they came, she promised herself that she'd be ready for it.
When they had all reached the Hokage Tower, Tsunade was there to greet her, a relieved smile on her face. Sakura met gazes with her Master and bowed her head in greeting as the rest of them stepped into the office. The Hokage sat down in her seat with a small smile on her face.
"So, what news of Miu?" She asked Kakashi as Asuma, Guy, and Kurenai appeared as well.
"She had escaped but she was heavily wounded so I have no doubt that she's going back to the Akatsuki's headquarters."
"We've checked the perimeter and saw no signs of the others who were with her. The village is secured, Hokage-sama." Asuma reported as he stood behind his team.
Tsunade nodded in response and took a breath, turning to the window. The sun was slowly rising at the edge of the horizon and as it came up, its rays lit up the entire village from the dark battle that had just happened. It was finally morning.
"You all are dismissed. You all get the day off tomorrow for a good hard work. Get those injuries treated before you rest though." She said in that commanding voice of hers.
"Hai!" They all replied in unison, soon stepping out. Sakura stayed behind, knowing what her Master wanted to do after they all left. As soon as the door shut, she walked over to Sakura and pulled her into a strong hug. Burying her face into her Master's shoulder, she smiled against it, tears falling.
"It's good to have you back Sakura," The Hokage softly said as she pulled away, looking at her student with pride. The pink haired kunoichi nodded as she wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Go get some rest; you'll get the day off tomorrow so go." She added as she gave her student a push of her shoulders. Sakura nodded and exited her office, coming down from the Hokage Tower. As soon as she was in the streets, her friends were there to greet her, grins on their faces. Enveloped in another group hug, she wanted to remember this feeling forever, of having people who cared for her so much. As they all went home, she was left alone with her two teammates who had smiles on their faces.
"We get the day off tomorrow, so what do you want to do?" She asked as she approached them, wrapping her arms around both of their shoulders, a grin on her face.
"First off, sleep. Why don't we just meet up tomorrow by our old training grounds?" Naruto suggested as he yawned, covering it with mouth. Sakura glanced over at Sasuke who nodded in agreement.
"Okay~!" Sakura happily replied before stopping. Her two teammates looked back at her curiously as she looked down at the ground.
"Listen, I just wanted to thank you. For…everything you've done for me. I know that I might've said some bad things but, I'm just glad that you still came." She quietly said, tears falling from her cheeks once more. Sasuke and Naruto looked at their teammate with softened eyes as they came up to her.
"I'm sorry, what am I doing crying like this?" She chuckled as she lifted her head to meet both of their gazes.
"It's alright to cry once in a while." Sasuke replied as he took her hand in his. Naruto took her other one as the three of them started walking together as one.
"I guess it is," She whispered as she smiled.
"Just remember this Sakura-chan. We'll always be there for you. After all we're a team!" Naruto exclaimed as he glanced over at her, a grin on his face.
"Right," She replied as she tightened her grip on their hands.
The son of the Fourth Hokage who went through so much to become acknowledged, the pink haired kunoichi who wanted to become something more, and an Uchiha who realized what was important to him.
That's what made up Team 7.
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Author's Note: I know it's been like a super long long three week update, and I'm sorry for that, but I do hope that this chapter somehow made up for it! With all the summer reading projects that are coming up, I don't think I'll be able to update as frequently now. But, I'll try to post when I'm finished!
So promise me that you'll wait for it! Thank you so much for reading! And do not worry, this story isn't finished! Sasuke's still gotta confess doesn't he? :)