Well hello! Here is a new chapter of Naruko's secret-fanfiction. See you in the next chapter.
When Sasuke opened his eyes, then he saw that he was sitting in shallow water, which reached down to his ankles. He felt a headache, so he held his head in his hands.
Looking around he saw darkness, and the corridor, where there were pipelines, and wires all around. It was dark everywhere, and humid, and it caused a feeling of hollowness. After looking around for a while Sasuke finally recognized the place, as the same place he had been once before, when Naruko, and Sakura had come to get Sasuke from one of Orochimaru's hideouts, when Naruko, and Sakura had been with Sai, and Yamato at that time.
Sakura was also sitting in the water, and held her head in her hands, and shivered a little because of the coldness of the water.
"Headache?" Sasuke asked.
"More like a killer migraine! I don't think I'll ever get used to entering another person's mind, or even that, that a person moving into another person's mind is literally being pulled into another person's mind!" Sakura yelled.
"You're still loud. I've been here once before then, when you look for me I found, and with Yamato from one of Orochimaru's hiding places," Sasuke said standing up like Sakura on the floor of the room. "It was thanks to my Sharingan. Is this really Naruko's mind?"
"This is just part of my old prison," Kurama said to Sasuke, and behind Sakura, as Kurama lay on the floor of the room.
"Kyubi", Sasuke said.
"My name is Kurama. Rikkudou Sennin gave names to all the Biju. Our names are Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei, Gyuki, and Kurama," Kurama said.
"Kurama then," Sasuke looked at those around them, many corridors. "Is Naruko really hiding somewhere here?"
Kurama shook his head:
"No. Naruko has gone much deeper into her own mind. This is just the bottom part, where I could bring you."
Sasuke looked at Kurama.
"I'll give you something, with which you will find the entrance to, where is Naruko hiding," Kurama said at the same time, when a red glow appeared in front of Kurama, forward chakra-path. "By following that, you will find the entrance to Naruko's inner world".
"Wasn't there a cage here then, when was the last time I was here?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes it was. But when Naruko took control of my powers, so that cage was replaced with another kind of cage, and that cage then completely disappeared during the last war after I befriended Naruko," Kurama said.
Everything looked the same, from the same, and endlessly. There was a sick man on the cement wall, green shade, and the water on the floor was cold.
"Is this really Naruko's mind?" Sakura asked after noticing the loneliness of the place.
"This is more than an addition to the oldest parts of his soul. The oldest part of his soul...was my prison, where I was kept for so long. These corridors were built around my prison as Naruko grew. They represent their early childhood. Cold, dark, and empty. It's a kind of endless labyrinth, that are full of tears, which never dry out. Tears, which are locked, and hidden here forever, so that no one would find them," Kurama said.
Sasuke's, and Sakura's expression was grim. They knew, that Naruko's childhood had been lonely, and difficult, and that he didn't like to talk about her loneliness, but this was something...that was hard to imagine.
Looking around, Sakura felt a heavy weight on her chest. It was a feeling, which could not possibly be compared to it, what the 7-Mei members had just shown Sasuke, and for Sakura. All this time, that Sakura had been Naruko's friend Sakura hadn't even imagined, that how Naruko had really felt. Sakura felt tears welling up in her eyes, but wipe them off. Her wasn't going to cry now.
Although Sasuke looked calm, so he inwardly raged at himself. Sasuke was the one, who above all knew from personal experience that, that how lonely Naruko's childhood had been. Like Naruko, Sasuke himself had sadness, that might never be completely erased, but...it had become tolerable Naruko, and thanks to Sakura.
Yet now they were in a place, which showed that, that how much Naruko was still suffering. Sasuke now hated his own weakness, which had been caused by, that he hadn't helped Naruko before.
"Kurama, am I right about my suspicions about Naruko?" Sakura asked.
"You have found a partial truth," Kurama said. "Like Naruko, all of my jinchuriki, who have carried only me within them have been women, so I got to know them well, and at the same time I could feel their thoughts, and feeling good too. Although Naruko is my first jinchuriki, with only half of my chakra inside. When Minato made his daughter a my jinchuriki, so Minato divided my chakra into yin, and to yang, and sealed my yang-chakra inside Naruko, and my ying-chakra Minato sealed inside Minato himself".
"Will you tell us the whole truth about, that why Naruko left Konoha, or that why her hair is now black?" Sasuke asked.
"I'm not up for it. Naruko didn't want you to know that. That's why I won't say anything. Maybe she'll agree to talk to you after all, if you approach her the right way," Kurama said. "However, I cannot go deeper into her soul, and his hiding place. However, I do not recommend you to touch anything, for I do not know that, that how it would affect her. However, I hope you manage to reach her. Just look for her...Thanks".
Kurama's request surprised Sasuke, and Sakuran, as they set out to follow the chakra-path in front of them:
"Yes!"
After walking for a while Sasuke, and Sakura arrived at the large doorway, which was leading down, stone- steps. After walking down the stairs for a while, they noticed that it was a spiral staircase, like a castle tower.
The place felt empty, and endlessly, and the black walls of the place only added to the dark atmosphere of the place.
Sakura didn't dare touch the wall, because of Kurama's warning, and it felt like, that if her did that, her would only find more emptiness. Sakura looked at Sasuke, who just kept on walking forward following the chakra- path focusing on her task.
"Heh heh!" Sakura looked around after hearing a child's laughter from somewhere, but couldn't find the owner of the laughter anywhere:
"Did you hear that?"
"What?" Sasuke asked.
"I was just about to hear a child laugh," Sakura said.
"I didn't hear anyone laughing. Maybe Naruko once laughed like you just heard at someone, to the joke you told a long time ago," Sasuke said pausing, and turned round to see, that some kind of mirrors appeared on the walls of the corridor.
Sakura saw the same, as Sasuke, and that, what shocked her was, that what was seen in the mirrors. They were events from Naruko's life.
In one of the mirrors, Naruko was crying in the arms of the Sandaime Hokage. In another, her stood with her new group. At one point, her sat with her group in Ichiraku, and said something, which made Sakura yell at Naruko. Kakashi laughed, and Sasuke called Naruko a Dobe. In the second picture, Naruko was in the forest with Jiraiya, and ate a blue popsicle after Jiraiya first told some joke to Naruko. An image of Naruko appeared in the second mirror, who walked down the village street at the same time, when other people avoided her, talked about him behind his back, and walked away from her, as Naruko looked at the villagers.
"These must be," Sakura said, as more mirrors appeared on the walls.
"Her memories, which her has since, than he can remember," Sasuke said continuing to follow the chakra- path, until he saw a mirror, where Sasuke was.
The memory in question was Sasuke's, and the Shumatsu no Tanin battle between Naruko, where Naruko did everything to get Naruko to return to Konoha while Sasuke yelled at Naruko, that Naruko doesn't understand Sasuke's feelings, or Sasuke's loneliness. Finally came the Chidori vs Rasengan-scene.
Sasuke looked away, so as not to see the outcome of the battle...for he knew, how it would end. He balled his hands into fists.
Sakura walked next to Sasuke, and put her hand on Sasuke's shoulder, as Sakura had just seen the events shown in the same mirror, like Sasuke.
Sasuke looked at Sakura, who nodded at Sasuke making Sasuke look at the picture, though Sasuke didn't even want to look at it. Sasuke looked at the picture anyway, and that, what he saw, shocked him to the core. The image had turned completely white, and Naruko, and Sasuke stood there small. They smiled at each other. They slowly put their hands up, and joined their two fingers together...making a sign of friendship.
"Heh," Sasuke chuckled a bit. "That Dobe. He was still loyal to our friendship then, even though I tried to kill him then to get the Mangekyo Sharingan, to get revenge on Itachi".
"It's like Naruko. Her never lets go of her friend, once her's got hold of her friend," Sakura said with a smile.
Sasuke frowned, and looked at the picture again, when it changed to replay the entire fight scene:
"I don't deserve her friendship. Really I envy her, even though her said her envied me before. The villagers treated her like air, because of her jinchuriki-status, which must have saddened Naruko, but her never showed it to the villagers. Instead, her always did his best to get the attention of the villagers, and finally managed to make friends while, I focused only on my revenge. Her even managed to make friends with me, even though, i said, and I did you know what. Now her's a famous hero, but her still suffers, and there's nothing I can do to help her."
Slap! Sakura slapped Sasuke on the shoulder:
"Stop that! Her forgave you like the rest of us. You finally managed to atone for your actions. You just lost your way. That's all".
Sasuke nodded.
They continued following the chakra path while looking at some of Naruko's memories. All the pictures were about their friend's past. Fighting Pain/Nagato, training under Kakashi, Sakura punches Naruko for some bad joke, Sasuke smiles at Naruko, and quarrels with her, the fight against Kiba in the Chunin Exams, dinner with Iruka at Ichiraku, Naruko, Sakura's, and Sai training against Yamato, Naruko, and her meeting her father during the battle against Pain, training under Killer Bee, Kakashi's arrival at the bridge, walking with Sakura, war, clock test. The memories continued, and continued as they walked down.
Then one mirror caught Sasuke's attention, for it looked different, and almost broken. It looked the same at first, like other pictures, but it had a crack in the upper left corner, which slowly moved to the center of the picture. Naruko spoke to some fortune teller, who read her future from Naruko's hand. The image in question was so distorted, that Sasuke, or Sakura could read the fortune teller's words from her lips. With the fortune teller's words, Naruko's expression changed from happy to indifferent, and her seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"Did Naruko ever tell you about her meeting, with that fortune teller?" Sasuke asked.
Sakura shook her head.
Naruko left the fortune teller, and went into a room in the inn, where Sakura slept in the other bed. Naruko laid down on the bed, and stared for a moment at the roof of the inn, until her started crying surprising both ninjas.
"What happened?" Sasuke almost screamed.
"I don't know. I don't remember that situation, or maybe Naruko just didn't tell me," Sakura looked at the picture trying to figure out, that when Naruko had met the fortune teller in question. "It, what that fortune teller said to Naruko, it was clearly not pleasant to hear".
Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hand, and literally dragged Sakura down the stairs following the chakra path starting to get frustrated:
"Enough. It seems, that we have to ask Naruko directly, that what the soothsayer said her".
Sakura did her best to keep up with Sasuke.
After walking for a while, they found an old looking wooden door. The door had cracks here and there. The door handle was rusty, and showed it, that the door had never been opened. They approached the door cautiously, and Sasuke pressed his ear against the door to hear something, but heard nothing.
Sasuke nodded at Sakura, who nodded to indicate that, that her was ready to look on the other side of the door.
Sasuke grabbed the door handle, and tried to open the door, which was not easy, for the door handle seemed to refuse to open the door. Sasuke pushed the handle more, until the door finally opened.
When the door opened, blindingly bright, a white light filled their field of vision, and they had to close their eyes, because of the brightness of the light. After the light disappeared, they looked around, finding something interesting, when they opened their eyes.
"Sasuke-kun, this is," Sakura said.
"Yeah. These places are," Sasuke said.
They were standing on the grass of the third practice field. It had three practice posts firmly in the ground. There were two other places. There was now a big, unfinished from, which was covered in thick fog. In the other direction was the Ninja-Academy.
As he walked past the posts he looked around, and stopped causing Sasuke to stop too, as they saw Naruko sitting on the grass, who hugged his knees, and leaned his forehead on his knees, sitting right next to the middle post.
"Naruko!" Both ninjas yelled.