Chapter 9: It's my duty

"Finally, they are here." Said Menma looking at Naruto "It's time to settle the score for the last time! Attack!" shouted the masked man, instructing most of his beasts to go after the blond and the pink-haired girl.

Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances, well aware of what each of the beasts was capable of after seeing the invasion of the other Konoha. They sprinted at maximum speed. Naruto created several shadow clones to fight Byakko and Kinja. He used two clones to form two large Rasengans in his hands and, as he got close to the tiger, he struck one of the spheres at the tiger's side after dodging its claws. Byakko couldn't withstand the force of the Odama Rasengan and it went flying, crashing into the mountain followed by a huge explosion. When the snake tried to surprise Naruto by attacking from his side, Naruto struck the remaining Odama Rasengan directly into its head.

Sakura saw that Genbu and Suzaku were in her way, hindering her from reaching Sai. Making a risky decision, she went after the turtle. Just before striking the beast, she jumped and used its shell as a platform to surprise the bird. Concentrating her chakra in her fist, she landed a powerful blow on the bird's center, creating a smoke explosion. However, her attack didn't end there. She remembered how resilient that summoning's shell was when they fought in the other dimension. Utilizing gravity, she increased the amount of chakra in her fist and struck the masked turtle with all her strength.

"SHANAROOOO!" Sakura shouted as the turtle disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi and the others were surprised how Naruto and Sakura easily defeated four of the masked beasts. It was as if they already knew each of the weaknesses of their opponents. What surprised the ninjas the most was that when the smoke cleared around the defeated beasts, small masked foxes with a single tail appeared in their place.

"Incredible, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, raising his thumb to compliment her.

"We can't celebrate yet. Five more to go. I'll take care of as many as I can. Go after Menma," Sakura said.

Naruto nodded and created more shadow clones, half of them providing support and protection to Sakura. Naruto searched for his counterpart and noticed that Menma was protected by two of his Masked Beasts, with a Sage on each of his sides, while they kept the barriers activates. Upon careful observation, he discovered that his sensei and Captain Yamato were trapped insides the barriers, just like the Hokage and his parents were trapped in the alternate world during the Menma's attack to the village.

Naruto devised a plan to rescue them. It was good, albeit risky. Naruto focused his chakra and activated Sage Mode. Once his blue eyes turned yellow with toad like pupils, and an orange pigmentation appeared around them, three clones emerged to help him create a large chakra sphere that caught Menma's attention. Naruto lifted it with one hand and wasted no time in throwing it at his counterpart.

"Wind Release, Rasen Shuriken!"

Naruto's technique flew straight towards Menma, who had to quickly move out of the way. Unfortunately for the Masked Man, both Hokuto Sage and Nanto Sage couldn't escape the Rasen Shuriken and remained within the impact area. The two Masked Beasts didn't last long as they were destroyed by the jutsu, and leaving behind two small foxes that quickly vanished.

Kakashi and Yamato breathed a sigh of relief as the barrier that imprisoned them dissipated after the explosion of the Rasen Shuriken, so they didn't suffer from the attack. Both jounin went to move away Sai and Kiba from the battlefield as they were injured, and regroup with Ino and Shikamaru. Meanwhile, Sakura dodged Tennyo's attacks, while Naruto fought against the Shinigami and the dragon Seiryu.

"How is everyine?" Kakashi asked the young ninjas once they were away from the fight.

"Battered with some bruises, but nothing serious," Shikamaru replied, watching as Sai and Kiba tried to get back on their feet.

"Naruto and Sakura are defeating them so easy, as if they've already faced them before," Kiba said, expressing what everyone was thinking at that moment.

"It seems that way from how they're fighting, but now is not the time for explanations," Kakashi said, observing Naruto struggling as the Shinigami tried to cut him like sushi, and a dragon breathed fire after toasting his clones.

"Sakura-chan, could you lend me a hand?"

"Naruto, I'm having my own problems."

"This can't get any worse, dattebayo."

Naruto immediately regret his words because Menma noticed Naruto's struggles and rushed towards him at full speed. Fortunately, thanks to the Sage Mode, Naruto was able to react in time and dodge the kunai that Menma threw, but the battle didn't end there. Menma initiated a hand-to-hand combat against his counterpart, where Naruto could feel Menma's fury growing with each punch and kick he threw.

"I still feel that disgusting sensation every time you're near. You don't have the Red Moon Scroll, and Akatsuki won't come to save you. Today is your end" Menma shouted.

"Snap out of it, Menma! Remember your parents and friends. Don't let Madara control you again" Naruto pleaded.

"No one controls me. This was my choice. Just like is my choice to delete your pink-haired friend from the face of the earth," Menma yelled back.

Immediately, Naruto turned around to see the three remaining beasts surrounding Sakura and launching an attack. She did her best to dodge, but the Shinigami appeared behind her, preparing his scythe to strike. Naruto yelled to alert her, but he couldn't do anything from his position.

Fortunately, giant wooden pillars protected Sakura, followed by the Fang Passing Fang jutsu connecting with the dragon and the princess.

"Captain Yamato, Kiba," Sakura said as she saw her friends approaching.

"I know you lied to us, but it doesn't matter now," Ino said, standing by Sakura's side with a kunai.

"We'll take care of these three monsters. You and Naruto deal with the Masked one," Sai told Sakura.

Naruto knew that perhaps the Akatsuki from the other world wasn't going to here to help him in the battle, but he wasn't alone. He had the best possible team: his friends and sensei. Menma continued his attack when he noticed a pair of red eyes behind Naruto. Behind his mask, a sinister smile formed.

The blond kept his focus on Menma, and the Sage Mode deactivated due to the effort of fighting against Menma and using the Rasen Shuriken, so he couldn't react when he heard a strange and familiar sound. The sound of thousand chirping birds.

"This can't be," Naruto thought as he turned around just to discover Sasuke behind him, holding a Chidori in hand, ready to pierce his chest.


In the other dimension, Kushina, Minato, and Kakashi were in a secluded area of the training fields. The Namikaze-Uzumaki family was helping Kakashi to master the Kamui, and fortunately, they were very close to achieving it. Kakashi was creating and maintaining the portal for a longer period thanks to Sakura's idea of using chakra scrolls. They only needed a couple more attempts to succeed.

"Kakashi, do you want to take a break?" Minato-sensei asked.

"I'm fine, Minato-sensei. I feel the power of youth burning even brighter within me with this challenge," Kakashi replied enthusiastically, trying to hide his fatigue.

"Minato, did you bring what we need in case the portal is ready?" Kushina asked, crossing her arms.

"Yes. Once Kakashi opens the portal to the dimension, I'll send one of my special kunai through. Once I ensure that it lands and can sense the kunai, I'll perform the Flying Thunder God technique to go there and explore the area. In case there are any problem, it would use the jutsu in reverse to return," Minato explained.

"Don't you dare get too confident, Minato Namikaze, dattebane!" Kushina scolded, but she stopped when she felt being watched and heard a branch snap.

Kushina turned around, searching in all directions and approaching the trees to find the source of the noise. Minato and Kakashi remained in their positions, unaware of Kushina's absence. Menma's mother circled the area until a flock of birds flew out of a tree behind her, startling her.

"That must have been it, dattebane," she said, catching her breath and returning to the group.

As Kushina moved away, Sakura took a deep breath from her hiding spot high up in a tree where she couldn't be seen. Her plan to throw a kunai at a tree to make the birds fly had worked.

"Fortunately, it wasn't Minato-san. Now I'll continue with my mission. I just hope Kakashi-sensei doesn't fail," Sakura thought as she approached.

After about 10 minutes of attempts, the long-awaited result finally came. Kakashi managed to keep the portal open and stable.

"It's time, hold on a little longer, Kakashi," Minato said, taking out one of his special kunai and throwing it through the portal.

Slowly, and to everyone's anticipation, the kunai was absorbed by the portal until it disappeared. Joy could be seen on the exhausted faces of Kakashi, Minato, and Kushina. Minato and Kushina knew that their son's rescue was getting closer. However, that calmness didn't last long.

Jumping down from a tree, the daughter of the Yondaime Hokage using the Hokage cloak ran towards the portal. Minato and Kushina tried to stop her, but she had already outpaced them and leaped with all her strength into the portal. Like the kunai, Sakura was absorbed by the portal, disappearing before it closed. Before she disappeared, Sakura had a few words to Minato and Kushina.

"It's my duty to bring him back. You know that he would do the same for me without doubts," Sakura said.

Minato and Kushina were speechless as they saw and heard Sakura. However, they didn't have time to react as Kakashi had fainted due to the extreme use of the technique.


Double chapter to compensate the delay of the last weeks. Apologies for the inconvenience, and I hope that Chapter 10 will be available tomorrow or on Tuesday. Hope you are enjoying the story and let me know what do you think or your predictions now that Sakura is going to the other dimension. Just in case, if both Sakuras are in the same scene together or talking to each other, the Sakura from the Menma's world will be called "other Sakura". If you have any suggestion, you can leave them in your review.