Sinking

"S-Sensei?"

Kakashi almost mistook the girl in the blinding cloak of chakra for her late father. Naruko turned her head to him and threw him a smirk.

"I made a promise to Ruka-née to bring you home in one piece, Kakashi-sensei. So please stop hogging all the spotlight." The blonde threw a joke at the silver-haired jounin.

Kakashi watched with wide eyes as the petite blonde, who once upon a time lacked in so many areas, stand toe to toe in an all-out monster brawl between her and the rest of the bijuu Madara had released.

"Alright, ladies, let's set them free!" Naruko commanded her clones when her consciousness was transported. Before them were the bijuu and their jailers, speaking of their own free will as they expressed their thanks.

Though, everyone had to sweatdrop when the sobbing blonde swept the Fourth Mizukage off his feet, cuddling his blushing red face in her very enlarged breasts, patting his head.

"He's nothing but a child, Ku-chan! Look at this adorable face! How could you have died so young? You poor thing!"

Yagura would've snapped if this were anyone else, but Naruko was warm and very soft.

"You poor thing, you never even got the chance to have a delicious bowl of ramen! Née-chan weeps for you!" Naruko continued sobbing as she pulled back and cupped his cheeks.

The young Mizukage stared at the cute blonde's face, big blue eyes, and golden blonde hair and felt his heart flutter, opening his mouth to say,

"Marry me!"

"Oi, Isobu, get your damn jailor! My kit already has enough admirers on her plate, including an emo Uchiha," snapped Kurama. When things finally calmed down, the bijuu remembered the words Son had said to them about how Naruko may be the one their 'mother' once mentioned to them.

One by one, each of the bijuu departed a piece of their power onto Naruko. The Young Sun, who their mother once talked about and who the Son told them to place their trust in. Bumping her fist with theirs, Naruko felt extremely grateful.

"Thank you, everyone! I wish our lives could've been different. I would like to have gotten to know each of you. Let us meet again in the next life, and please rest in peace."

'Those eyes, they really do remind me of okaa-san.' The mighty and proud Kurama felt his eyes water a tiny bit as the image of their beloved mother overshadowed Naruko. She, too, once said similar words as their smiles and expression of love were so identical that it was as if they were staring at the deceased woman.

'You and her share a deep connection, Uzumaki Naruko.'

—

In the consciousness of his mind, Sasuke could still hear her voice.

'Oi, Sasuke!' A pre-teen Naruko, in her bright orange glory, waved her hand out to him.

'Teme!' Naruko would curse, face scrunched in fury, shaking her fist.

'Sasuke, get your ass in here before the food gets cold,' she would scold him despite the fact that it was she who invaded his home.

Sasuke thought that after their battle at the Valley of the End that he had buried all those memories deep, finding them a nuisance to his plan of vengeance. Yet after his last encounter with her, those memories were starting to spring up again and he hated it.

"I'll continue fighting for you!"

Sasuke clenched his fist.

'Shut up.'

"Because you're special to me!"

Her smile made him bite down on his lip, wanting to erase the image.

'Shut up.'

"Please… Please come back home, Sasuke."

Her hand stretched out to him, but he slapped it away. There were knots in his stomach and fire in his lungs.

"What home, Naruko?! The village took everything I once had away from me! Why should I return to a place that is the cause of who I am? My hatred isn't something you can easily wipe away with a few words!"

The illusion of Naruko that stood before his eyes became downcast as hatred surged through him. He hated Naruko and her selfless nature. Of how she fought, thinking she could save everyone from their hatred. She looked at him with those eyes of pity as if she could peer inside his soul.

"Because she is the only one who will understand you." Sasuke heard that voice again. He didn't know why he could hear it or why it even existed, popping up every time his thoughts swam toward Naruko.

"Get out of my head!"

"Fight all you want, but you'll never break this bond. I won't allow it. We have already hurt 'her' enough. Extinguish the flame of your hatred, Uchiha, before you once again cause another tragedy."

Sasuke clutched his chest as shooting pain shot through it, rendering his knees weak. The voice sounded sad, as if this wasn't his first time having this conversation.

Glaring through the veil of his ebony bangs, Sasuke asked, "Who are you?"

There was a moment of silence before the voice spoke again.

"You and I are one in the same. We have existed for a very long time, stuck with this tragic curse. Many before you walked down the very same path, and look what it has gotten them. Broken bones and a broken heart. If you truly want change, walk a different path or lose the last person you have left that actually gives a damn about you."

—

"You may be her granddaughter, but you're nothing like her. You may have her strength, but it's nowhere near her level. If she was here today—" Madara stopped himself from talking as he recalled a memory of a young girl who toppled over a tree with her bare fist in a fit of anger.

"She was quite the firecracker." The kages, especially Tsunade, as it was her grandmother he was talking about, became shocked when a barely noticeable smile briefly appeared on the feared god of shinobi's face. It vanished so quickly that they thought it to be a genjutsu.