Authors Note: What is this bull shit?! I find out that Gmail is sending my fanfic emails to spam! The hell? Any who, this chapter is dedicated to the newest episode in the anime that inspired me to write! The whole Naruto family moment really got to me. So this chapter will include our dear family moments, even though I originally had them in this :3
Thank you to the following who favorited or started following my story or me: mapleroxy, Nenozjarr, twwistedimagination, canonOTP, Psychfreak66, Archangel0, Adricris, Dark Insomniacs, afirachan, edochan68, , Darthjontan, DemonFox She is the Sun, Kohaku Sakurano, m02d03y86, 25BAM50, Riu Tanaka, RUHLSAR000, ImmortalOokami, SIMO9D, tiggernator91, hellblade117, jonasgrl9, OnlyOneJ, Rainpath-Lizzie, substitutingrealitywithmyown, ZeroZangetsu, RagnaBloodedge3, jordan00, SMMA, angeljoonesxx, doom693, Hauzi, gohan108, Kingof252, HuntTheWill, Vertigo-in-Reverse, PathKeeper, moneygreen932, Ruler Of The Void, primary colours123, lightupturtle, t0nyblu, UhhIdontknow, TREX19990, Jakespeed207, SuomiTytt, DogKnight, Rainee 1211, Dragonblaze66, Ezra Scarlet, Oruno, Bravo Mike Sierra, Toshiro29, Nirmo0195, Looh99, nico2883, BlackSpike91, Lobasola, , ThemsAlbert, cmshilly, lucasvelaguk, MrRayney, Eryn Michaels, Jamalymal, narbig100, xSmoothie, Phoenixfirewolf, The Great Unknown89, zhuriken05, Jihad1124, Shippobi, Lailarene, onepieceloverforever, & Dylzto
Reviews:
The Keep of Worlds: Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review ;)
DemonFox She is the Sun: XD I loved your review it was classy! Sorry for the delay. Thanks for the review :)
Edochan68: I always enjoy a good story where Naruto is the victim for a change as well. I'm extremely over joyed if you liked this story that much. I promise to keep at it. Thanks for the review! ^_^
Tahkz01: You liked the blood vomiting :D GEWD! Thanks for the review dear!
CanonOTP: I'm sorry for making you check your email so much then! Forgive my slowness in updating. Thank you for the review! :D
Doom693: Good questions ;) Thanks for the review!
Gohan108: Glad you like it! Heres your update! Thanks for the review. :3
T0nyblu: Glad to hear it's a tad scary. Thanks for the review! :)
Moneygreen932: A woman has to keep her man in check, no matter who he is. ;) At least that's what I've been told. Happy to hear that my story is pretty accurate on characters to a degree. Thanks for the review!
SuomiTytt: Hooked instantly… DAMN! XD Glad if you like it that much! Here's your update. Thanks for the review. X)
Madara2: Ummm ok…
Shippobi: Thank you! I'm glad that you like it. :)
Chapter Six: What Matters
It was silent, almost as if no one was truly there. The boy silently trotted around the corners of the empty village. He failed to care about the fact that the streets were empty. All he cared about was the small kitten that was racing ahead of him.
Naruto screamed out to her but got no response. She was too far ahead, nearing the corner of the block. He was determined however to catch her. It was almost nostalgic he thought as he raced after her with his hands reaching out in a pointless effort. "SAKURA-CHAN" he yelled to the top of his lungs.
As the cat turned the corner and out of his sight a loud yelp could be heard, followed by a bone crunching screech. Naruto's world came to a halt as he too stopped, frozen almost in time. It was in these moments that he realized just how alone he really was.
Forcefully he clenched his eyes shut and began to mutter to himself that something was very much wrong. Just like that though he was thrown back into reality and was stunned to find himself back in bed with his small kitten passed out next to him.
"It was all a…. dream.." he whispered out.
Naruto pulled his legs into his body from out of the covers. His chin gently resting on his kneecaps as the world laid silent around him.
"A dream…"
xXx
Sakura threw the door open, her eyes fierce and full of fire. From ahead turned seat at the Hokage's desk a figure nearly flew out of the chair.
"Where is she?" the rosette asked as she stood in the door way impatiently.
Standing from the chair the man came to face Sakura with an emotionless face.
"I was just about to ask you the same.." He stated.
It was naturally none other than Shikamaru, who as usual seemed extremely bored with the world around him.
Sakura snorted at his remark and began to turn on her heel to search for the Hokage.
"Why the hurry?"
Sakura froze in her steps. Her eyes diverted to the man behind her.
"Hold that thought… It is about Naruto isn't it?" Shikamaru added with a calm voice.
Turning to look over her shoulder, Sakura shrugged and bit her lip.
"Shikamaru I…"
"Sakura relax… I'm not here to cause you problems. If you don't want to answer my question then don't."
Her emerald eyes glimmered as she turned to finally face him face to face. "I think I know how to save him." She finally muttered out.
"Save him? He's in a coma… What does he need saving for?"
Sakura swallowed hard. "I don't think this is a coma."
Going back to the chair Shikamaru fell back into it and sighed. "Go ahead…"
The girl grinned and thus began the long explanation…
xXx
Sasuke stared at the dark walls of his cell. He would occasionally change his glance to the man known as Sai, who all the same was also looking at the walls.
Sai from what Sasuke could tell was supposedly part of a new team seven. Now Sasuke was never the jealous type, but something did not sit right with him when hearing about this.
His eyes now calmly switched to the guard and new team mate. His lips went up in a curl as he came to think.
"Sai was it." The Uchiha whispered out into a chilling voice.
Sai lifted a brow and turned his head. "And you are Sasuke." Sai responded in a bland and somewhat cheerful voice.
Sasuke only snorted at the response and began to sit up from his bed.
"You are close with Sakura and Naruto right?" Sasuke asked
For a second Sai had to think on that, as to what context could one really be close with someone.
"In a sense yes?"
"Then tell me how Sakura got that bracelet."
Sai's eyes narrowed and as he went to finally face the Uchiha face to face, he began to grin a most fake smile.
"I have no idea, and I would never tell you how even if I knew."
The prisoned man smiled as he shook a shackle, "Even if it could save Naruto."
In that moment Sai froze. His eyes began to widen only to soften.
"That would be a different situation."
"Indeed it would, and in that situation we are. So you better quit it with your dumb attitude and start talking." Sasuke hissed before turning once more away from the guard.
Sai looked down and then to the left where the exit was. His heart beat quickened and small beads of sweat began to come forth from his pasty skin. Perhaps this was fear or anxiety, the man thought as he glanced to his hand.
"If I tell you…. Naruto will be saved?"
Sasuke lifted one brow and frowned. "I can't guarantee anything, but I have a theory."
"The bracelet is a gift from Naruto. He made it sometime during Konoha's rebuilding stage. I don't know much about it other than he made is specifically for Sakura and decided of all times to give it to her when we came close to defeating the masked man."
His mind wandered as he began to think more and more on what had been said. Naruto making anything was complete crap to the Uchiha. Sasuke knew Naruto did not have the talent or patience to really make anything unless it had a real purpose, and that bracelet was no mere 'I love you token' that Sakura or the others may have thought it out to be.
"When you say made, what does that mean exactly?"
xXx
Shikamaru stared at Sakura as she finally finished her story. He leaned into his hand as he looked up at the rosette.
"So this red feathers jutsu thing, is a genjutsu that has no release but to simply find something important enough that is missing. Yet you have no idea what is missing, so it's a guessing game.
"Yes." Sakura murmured as she looked down.
The man began to stretch his back out and sigh. "Wouldn't that mean that what is missing is you?"
Sakura froze in her steps and began to lift a brow. "Me?"
Shikamaru sighed, "Well Love to be more exact…"
"I'm lost, care to explain?"
Silently he rose and began to look out the office windows. "You said that there is something missing, something so important and yet so not important to a common go passer. To me that would be love. Ramen was my first guess, but it is something that would destroy this jutsu because his parents are alive and they are bound to like it, so that would be ruining the basic foreground of knowledge that the caster has since he is Obito.. But love is something Naruto never had but wanted. Now that he has love in this fake world he is lost and does not know what to do. So I would assume a real emotion such as love would be the key"
The rosette just shook her head and sighed. "That sounds too good to be true." She muttered…
"It probably is. But you won't know what the problem is until both you and Ino go back into his mind"
Before Sakura could responsed Ino came running into the room with tears rolling down her face.
"SAKURA, IT'S NARUTO!"
Sakura froze as she turned on her heel.
xX At the hospital Xx
Tsunade sat on the side of the blond man's bed. His body shook violently but the blood had stopped coming from his mouth finally. Her eyes looked at him as a nurse stood on the opposite side and gently wiped the blood off the corners of the man's mouth.
Shizune slowly came forth from the door way. She looked lost and afraid, but at the moment tried to act tough for her friend and teacher.
"Tsunade-sama…"
Tsunade gently looked up and frowned. "He's lost a lot of blood."
"I know."
"His pulse is weak."
"I know"
"He is still in a coma"
"I know" Shizune muttered again.
"I still don't know what's wrong and at this rate he won't make it ano-"
"TSUNADE-SAMA" a voice came forth as the rosette raced into the room with dramatic eyes.
Tsunade gently tossed a glance to the panicking girl and took a deep breath. Sakura all the while stood still almost in time with Ino by her side. The rosette's stare was all directed to the shaking figure that lied in the bed.
The nurse in the room quickly got the gist and headed for the door so that the four of the women could talk out the mess that had just occurred.
"Tsunade-sama I know what this is." Sakura murmured out
The blond older woman nodded and reached out to brush a hair from the man's pained face.
"He won't make it much longer…" The hokage whispered causing the room to go silent. But the woman sighed and turned to her apprentice and frowned. "What did you find in the prison?"
Sakura froze with shock as she could not believe that the older woman had just said that and then expected to change the subject. The room seemed to almost spin at the nerve that had just been played and yet the rosette dared not to give up.
"It is a genjutsu."
xX Somewhere Xx
Naruto sat quietly in his kitchen munching on some weird creation his mother had made. While his father seemed to think the world of his mother's cooking, he did not. Now that was not to say his mother was a bad cook, she just wasn't the best at times. This being one of those times. Still Naruto smiled as his mother sat next to him watching him eat.
Minato all the while was just walking in with some scrolls in hand. The older man was stuck in a deep study as he was somehow in a conflict with the council or at least that's what Naruto could really get from all the complaining his father did.
"Minato, when are you going to stop looking at those dusty old fossils…." Kushina muttered out while turning her attention away from him.
Peering up from the paper for only a second the man grinned. "And when will you stop pestering me about it?" he retorted, sending the red head neon red with fury.
"Fine, if you wanna play hard to get then so be it." she spat out while getting up from her chair. The red head calmly walked over to her munching son and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before rustling his hair.
"Ignore your father, he isn't worth any attention…"she growled out before departing into the kitchen.
Minato all the while rolled his eyes and came to sit at the table with Naruto. "So son, how is school going? Meet any girls that you like?" Naruto's father joked while at the same time being half serious.
Naruto all the while stuck out his tongue in disgust, "NO" he responded quickly.
"Girls are weird and none of them come near me, they are too shy since you're my dad and all apparently. Being the Hokage's son sucks sometimes."
"Oh?" Minato responded as he put down his scroll and looked to his son with worrying eyes.
"Is something wrong? You've never said anything bad about being my son before…."
Naruto could tell his father was a tad sad at the remark which made Naruto feel all the more mad at himself. Yet he quickly pulled himself back together and smiled. "No it isn't bad, it's just people get all nervous around me like I'm special and I'm not. I'm just me… I love being your kid though, you're the coolest dad ever. "
His father gently smiled and leaned into his hand. "Yeah I'm pretty cool." He joked out.
From out of the kitchen Kushina emerged with a pot in hand and a nasty grin. "Cool my ass!"
With no time to react a pot came flying across the room aimed at the older man.
Naruto quietly laughed and watched as his two parents pretended to be mad while he knew they were secretly just playing around
xX Unknown Time Xx
Sakura sat in the room. Her eyes cast on her toes as she gently hummed a tune while watched the paint chip away from her nails. The day had been long and things were still a tad crazy. Looking up she saw her small journal on the window ceil of the blank hospital room.
Her hands reached to grasp it. Quickly she flung the pages open and began to glance through all of her writings.
'Day 129,
Naruto has started to-' she wrote but quickly stopped as a knock came from the door.
He stood there in the door way with a blank face.
Sakura gently grinned as she took him in. He was still tall, pale, and collected. The Uchiha man just leaned in the door way with his arms crossed and his eyes diverted from the rosette and the occupied bed in the room.
Before Sakura could murmur his name someone else did.
"S-Sasuke?" the voice weakly broke through
Her eyes turned to the sound of the voice and a smile gently broke through her face with tears now slowly beginning to break through.
Eventually one broke through and so began the stream that poured down her pale face. Sakura bit down on her lip hard in hopes of controlling her free filled emotion.
This was not how she wanted things.
This was not how she wanted him back.
This was no longer her Naruto….
Was it really worth the price paid?
Chapter end.
HA…The ending is a future scene. Enjoy the cliffhanger. I'm gonna try to finish this soon, since I need to. :/