Hello everyone I'm back once again to bring you another chapter of my story; if you are enjoying it please keep on supporting me and my other work. We are nearing the end now; probably 8 to 10 chapters left at the least. Now with nothing else to say lets begin
Sabaku no Kitsune: Chapter 56
Takigakure Outskirts: With Naruto, Gaara, Jiraya, Obito, Kurumi, Kakashi, Utakata, Bee and Yugito
Naruto, Gaara and the others were all sitting at a camp fire with Bee stirring a large pot of stew that was above the fire; over the past 3 weeks Naruto and the other jinchuriki have been training for the final assault on Konoha. Meanwhile Kurumi, Obito and Kakashi were all training with their sharingan for their inevitable fight with Itachi
All in all the spirits of the group was high as they could see the end of the war coming into view; Naruto however was still uncertain about everything and especially about one topic that haunted his every waking moment.
Temari was still missing and Naruto couldn't help but worry about her; so far over the past few months there hasn't been any sightings of her on any of the fronts. This worried Naruto as due to her being under Konoha's control he worried that a ninja might have killed her already; Naruto shook his head free of those thoughts, he knew eventually he'd find her.
Looking over to Bee still stirring the pot, Naruto spoke up "that smells really good Bee sensei" Naruto said to the eight tails jinchuriki "I can't wait to get a bowl full of that stew you're making".
Bee smiled at him as he spoke "thanks a lot little nine; this here is a Kumo delicacy, we eat it before a big battle" he said before putting the ladle on a hook and speaking "this is sheep stew, it has potatoes, carrots, celery and all the normal stuff in stew; but it also has variety of spices like various peppers, herbs and even ground bones". "But the secret is in the meat; this stew uses every part of the sheep" Bee continued "from nose to tail we use it; the neck, shank, ribs, brisket, liver, intestines, the dick, the balls and even the brain and eyes".
Naruto and the other men went wide eyed and Jiraya spoke "wait… the balls and the dick too?" Jiraya said and Bee nodded.
"Yep, but only the ladies will be eating those" Bee said looking to Kurumi and Yugito "according to legends its suppose to give a woman an increase in power and domination in battle; although it's just an olds wives tail".
Kurumi shrugged and spoke "hey, that's nothing new to me" Kurumi said "where I come from we eat cow balls as a delicacy". "We fry them, boil them, barbecue them, sauté them, kabab them, use them for soups and stews" Kurumi said counting them off on her fingers "they're really good, that's why we call them cowboy caviar".
Yugito looked at her and smiled "oh trust me; this'll taste good" she said "this is the second time in my life I'm having it".
"And what's more; we cook the rice inside the sheep's heart, stomach and lungs" Bee said as he went over to a smaller pot and opened it up showing the heart, lungs and stomach all sewed up and sitting in boiling water.
All the men grabbed their man parts and shivered in fright; Obito especially shivered as he remembered the time he ate 'cowboy caviar' at a fair with Kurumi and Sango.
'Oh god I can feel the phantom pains' Obito thought 'poor sheep… first dying then having it's man parts eaten'.
Naruto was about to speak when suddenly a puff of smoke erupted from Jiraya and a from the smoke appeared a small slug.
"Lord Jiraya, Lord Naruto, Lord Gaara; Lady Tsunade sent me to get you three" the small slug said and all 3 men got on alert "we have found Lady Temari and she's in a medical facility; you must come quickly!"
Hearing this Naruto, Jiraya and Gaara all went wide eyed and stood up "Naruto, Gaara, get over here so she can reverse summon us" Jiraya shouted and both of them ran over and put a hand on his shoulder "take us to Tsunade".
The slug did not say a word as a puff of smoke erupted and the 3 men were gone leaving Obito, Kurumi, Kakashi, Utakata, Bee and Yugito in the camp speechless.
"Well…" Bee said trying to break the silence "I guess that leaves more food for us?"
Amegakure hospital: with Tsunade, Sakura and Karin
Tsunade was in a doctors office talking to Sakura and Karin who were both wearing hospital scrubs as their cloths were torn; so far it has been five minutes since she sent a slug to deliver the message to Naruto, Jiraya and Gaara.
"-when Jiraya gets here we'll have him look at that seal on Temari's forehead" Tsunade said to Sakura and Karin "but as of right now we need to help her however we can". Sakura opened her mouth to speak when suddenly there was a puff of smoke off in the corner of the room startling all the women.
Naruto, Jiraya and Gaara were all standing there and Naruto walked forward "is Temari here, is she ok, is she alive, where was she, can I see her?" Naruto said bombarding Tsunade with questions.
"Naruto, Naruto, calm down; we have a delicate situation here" Tsunade said trying to calm Naruto down "Temari is here, she's alive but not well". "I can take you to see her; but you might not like what you see" Tsunade said; Gaara walked up next and spoke.
"I do not care what condition she is in; she is my sister and I need to see her" Gaara said in his monotone voice but his body language showed an eagerness to see Temari.
Tsunade looked at Naruto and Gaara and nodded "alright… but you're not going to like what your going to see" she said.
In the Hospital's mental health wing: With Naruto and the others
Naruto, Gaara and Jiraya all looked through a two way mirror in complete shock at what they saw.
Temari was tied to a bed her arms and legs restrained to the mattress; Temari was in a soft pad room and had only a hospital set of bra and panties on so Naruto and the others could see her body. Temari looked emaciated with her ribs and bones showing; her blonde hair was no longer in her iconic 4 pony tails, it looked more like straw that was stuck in her head.
Her eyes were wild and bloodshot, she had dried blood on the sides of her mouth and her face was contorted into that of feral rage. Jiraya looking on at the thrashing naked woman spoke up.
"What the hell… that is Temari?" Jiraya said and Tsunade nodded as she stood to the side of the room "is that her blood around her mouth?"
"No" Sakura said as she lifted her sleeves of her hospital scrubs; upon doing so it revealed multiple scratches and bites along her arms "it took me and six orderlies to get her in the room and to tie her down".
Gaara looked on at Temari in worry, he's never seen another human being in such a manner 'Temari' Gaara thought; Gaara turned towards Naruto worried about how he was taking it and he was surprised at what he saw.
Naruto had his hand on the glass looking at Temari through the glass; Naruto had a look of happiness on her face that nobody has seen in a while.
"It's her, it's really her" Naruto said in barely a whisper; Naruto felt his heart began to race as the woman he loved was only a few feet away from him behind a pane of glass. Naruto turned his head to Tsunade and spoke "can I go in there and talk to her?" Naruto asked and Tsunade shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Naruto; but with the way she is right now it's not safe" Tsunade said making Naruto feel disappointed "first thing we need to do is fix her mind, then her body". Tsunade turned to Karin and spoke "show Jiraya what you found" she said and Karin nodded.
Karin took out a scroll and opened it "this is the seal on Temari's forehead" Karin said showing Jiraya, Naruto and Gaara the sketch "I've crossed referenced it and even asked a Yamanaka loyal to us about it; it's a Yamanaka secret seal used for behavioral control".
"I see" Jiraya said taking the scroll and closely examining the picture "jeez… even as a seal master, I can tell you right now that this is going to be tricky".
"What do you mean Lord Jiraya?" Gaara asked and Jiraya pointed.
"This is not one seal, this is a culmination of nearly twenty interconnected and layered seals" Jiraya said making them all go wide eyed "if I am to do this I need to be very careful; I need to do them in a sequence, if not then Temari will be in trouble".
Naruto hearing this felt his heart sink "how bad?" Naruto asked not wanting to hear the answer.
"Worst case scenario, Temari will turn into a vegetable" Jiraya said "completely brain dead, not able to talk, walk, think or do anything other than breath and blink; so she'll basically be dead"; everyone hearing this began to worry even more. "Second best scenario; I do half them right, but mess up somewhere in between and Temari remains like that for the rest of her life" Jiraya said pointing at Temari thrashing around in the bed. "Third and this is me being optimistic" Jiraya said taking a breath "I completely undo the seals and free her; but she'll still probably have some mental trauma later down the line".
Naruto hearing this began to clench his fists and then he spoke "how sure are you that you can do this" Naruto asked and Jiraya looked at him with a stone cold expression.
"I say with my current skills and knowledge… twenty five percent" Jiraya said and Naruto nodded.
"What about Lady Chiyo from Suna?" Karin said speaking up "she's a seal master too, not on the level of Lord Jiraya but she still could be useful".
"With her help; maybe thirty five percent" Jiraya said "and that's pushing it".
Naruto felt the weight of the situation begin to weigh on his shoulders 'damn it, what the hell' Naruto thought in anger 'I just got Temari back and now she's still in trouble'. 'And pervy sage is saying that he can't do it; and he's the best seal master alive-' Naruto paused mid thought as he looked at Jiraya talking to Tsunade. "Hey, I have an idea" Naruto said making them stop "we just need an even better seal master than pervy sage to help us".
Jiraya looked at Naruto like he was an idiot "kid, I'm the best seal master alive right now" Jiraya said "there is no one better than me that I know of".
"That's right pervy sage" Naruto said "you're the best seal master alive; but how about a dead one"; Naruto reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out one of Minato's 3 pronged kunai that he keeps as a reminder and a lucky charm.
Jiraya and Tsunade went wide eyed at this realizing what Naruto was getting at and Tsunade spoke up "Naruto… i understand you want to save Temari" she said "but using the Edo Tensei is forbidden and unethical; we can't use it to bring back Minato".
"Why the hell not" Jiraya said and Tsunade looked at him "the kid is right, Minato could probably figure this out sooner than we can; it's the easiest route to success".
"But what about the Edo Tensei" Sakura said speaking up "we need a sacrifice to perform it; we can't just use someone to do it".
"What about a prisoner?" Gaara said speaking up "we do not have to pick a random person off the streets".
"That is still unethical Gaara" Karin said looking at him "we are fighting a war to end this kind of cruelty; if we use a prisoner to do that, then we are no better than Konoha doing what they did to Temari".
Naruto felt his temper rising as he argued with Tsunade, Sakura and Karin; the 3 women were worried about the ethics of using the Edo Tensei to bring back someone who can help. Meanwhile Jiraya and Gaara both agreed with Naruto due to how effective the plan was; admittedly Naruto and Gaara's reasoning for doing it was selfish but they did not seem to care.
Naruto decided it was time to play hard ball and he looked at Tsunade "what if it was Kawaki or Dan, Tsunade?" he said making everyone stop in their tracks "what is using the Edo Tensei to bring back Lord First could've prevented their deaths; would you do it?"
Tsunade looked at Naruto shocked and pointed her finger at him "Naruto" Tsunade said barely able to contain her anger "you are treading… on some mighty thin ice here". Naruto ignored her and turned to Karin.
"What if we knew about this when we sent Kankuro off on that mission; don't you agree if we had someone to break the seal the results would be different?" Naruto said to Karin who clenched her mouth shut trying to not scream at him. "What about you Sakura" Naruto said looking to his former teammate "if you guys used Edo Tensei to bring back the former Hokage when Danzo started the rebellion; the fight would've been over in a day".
"That was never and option Naruto" Sakura said to him.
"What if it was?" Naruto said looking at all three women before pointing at Temari through the glass "the woman I love more than life itself is trapped in her own head… and goddamn it I'm going to save her". "We are at war, ethics and morals went down the shitter when the first shuriken was thrown" Naruto shouted "now either help us or get the fuck out of our way!"
Tsunade, Sakura and Karin were frowning at this; not only because they were mad, but also because Naruto had a point.
Jiraya hearing this spoke up "I'm with Naruto" he said.
"As am I" Gaara said.
Tsunade, Sakura and Karin hearing stood there letting what they just heard sink in as they weighed their options.
After a few minutes they reluctantly agreed "Fine" Tsunade said with a groan "we'll use the Edo Tensei; but this is a one time thing, we will not be using it again".
Naruto let out a sigh of relief "thank you" Naruto said before looking behind Tsunade "now we can finally get- HOLY SHIT"; everyone spun around to see what Naruto was looking at.
Temari had broken free of the bed and was running straight towards the window; she cocked back her fist and sent a punch to the glass and the punch cracked the glass slightly. Everyone jumped back and Temari began beating the glass with all the strength she could muster.
Naruto swallowed hard and spoke "umm… we should probably do it soon" he said looking at his rampaging girlfriend.
2 hours later: With Naruto, Jiraya, Tsunade, Gaara and Sakura
Naruto, Tsunade, Gaara and Sakura were all standing in a empty hospital room looking at Jiraya; Jiraya was standing above a hospital bed with a near dead Suna ninja on it. The ninja had 3rd degree burns over his body and was missing all his limbs and was barely even human anymore.
"Son I just want to say thank you for volunteering for this" Jiraya said to the ninja who slowly nodded "I just want to make sure you're ok with this?"
"Look at me" the Suna ninja said softly "I don't want to live like this; please kill me"; Jiraya nodded sadly and the ninja continued. "If there is any consultation… it'll be that I helped save Lady Temari" the ninja said "there is no greater honor than dying to save a fellow ninja".
Gaara hearing this walked over and spoke "what's your name?" Gaara asked.
"Dopo" the ninja said.
"Dopo" Gaara said softly "I'll ensure you get a heroes funeral when the war is over".
"Thank you Lord Kazekage" Dopo said before looking at Jiraya "do it"; Jiraya nodded and placed a vial with Minato's DNA on Dopo's chest. Jiraya found the DNA after the battle against Kabuto when he used the previous Hokage to fight; he never thought he'd have to use it, but beggars can't be choosers.
Jiraya began to go through hand signs before stopping "EDO TENSEI" Jiraya shouted as dust began to gather around Dopo covering him before morphing; after a few minutes color, body structure and height began to appear.
After 30 seconds Minato Namikaze laid on the bed and opened his eyes "huh… where am I?" Minato said as he looked around; Minato looked to the side and saw Jiraya "sensei, where am I; am I back in the land of the living again?"
Jiraya nodded and spoke "yeah Minato, sorry about this; but we have a problem" Jiraya said as Minato sat up; Minato looked ahead and saw Naruto, Tsunade and Sakura standing there.
"Hey dad, good to see you again" Naruto said with a smile and Minato smiled again.
"Naruto, my boy" Minato said as he hopped out of bed and jogged over; Minato wrapped his arms around him and gave him a huge hug "it feels like minutes since I've seen you but also like an eternity".
"Missed you too dad; it's been a few months since I last seen you… for the first time" Naruto said with a chuckle; Minato let go of Naruto before looking at Tsunade.
"Tsunade Sensei" Minato said with a smile "how are you doing; I hope you are doing well?"; Tsunade smiled and spoke.
"I was kicked out of my village, I'm fighting in my third war and one of my beloved apprentices was murdered; how do you think I'm doing Minato?" Tsunade said and Minato winced.
"Oh, yeah… poor choice of words" Minato said and everyone else sweat dropped; Minato cleared his throat and spoke "so why am I here; last thing I remembered was being released back to the afterlife?"
"Well here's the thing dad" Naruto said rubbing the back of his head "you remember Temari right?"; Minato nodded as he remembered the blonde haired Suna Kunoichi that his son was dating.
"Oh yeah I do; how's she doing?" Minato asked.
5 minutes later
"Get her back on the goddamn bed" an Ame orderly shouted as he and 5 others were grabbing Temari to tie her back down to her mattress; Temari launched out and bit the man in the arm "gaaah, damn it". The man pulled out a syringe and jabbed it into Temari's neck; he injected the serum inside of it into her body and a few seconds later she was knocked out "fuck" the man shouted.
Outside the room looking in Minato with the others behind him looked on wide eyed "oh wow… that's Temari?" Minato asked pointing at her and Naruto nodded "what the hell happened to her?"
"She was captured by Konoha and brainwashed to fight for them" Naruto said "she escaped but went psycho".
"It's all because of that seal that's on her forehead" Jiraya said pointing at Temari; Minato looked closely and saw the black seal on her "it's not one seal but a series of multiple smaller seals; we need to remove them, but if we mess up then we might kill or make her brain dead".
"So let me get this straight" Minato said turning around to face them "you brought me back to life, using a forbidden jutsu, to break a seal on my son's girlfriend without killing her".
"You're the best shot we have dad" Naruto said "all other options are not as good as you doing it; I know this is a tall order and probably mad… but I need you".
Minato shook his head with a smile and spoke "oh no, I'm not mad; I'm delighted" Minato said looking at Naruto "I finally get to do something for my son; I'd be honored to help you".
'Oh thank Kami' Jiraya said as he felt relief flow over him.
"Let's go see what we're working with" Minato said as he, Naruto, Jiraya, Gaara and Tsunade began to walk to the door of the room; Minato opened the door and walked past the Ame orderlies and the head one who got bit looked at him.
"Crazy chick is all yours" the man said holding his arm as a large chunk of flesh was missing "fuck this hurts".
Tsunade turned around and spoke to Sakura "Sakura, one bite victim; help him out please" she said.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade" Sakura said as she walked over and grabbed the mans hand and began to lead him "come on, let me clean that for you".
Minato and the others walked up to Temari as she laid out on the mattress unconscious; Minato leaned down and looked at the seal "uh-huh?" Minato said studying the seal "mmm-hmmm?"
Naruto, Jiraya, Tsunade and Gaara all looked on in anticipation on Minato's prognosis; Minato studied the seal for about 5 minutes and stood up straight.
"So how hard is it going to be to remove it?" Naruto asked hoping for good news.
Minato let out a sigh and looked to Naruto with a serious look "I'm not going to lie to you Naruto" Minato said in a cold tone "this is going to take some effort, but I'm sure I can do it".
Naruto feeling his heart begin to race nodded and spoke "ok dad; when are you going to start?" Naruto asked.
"Right now" Minato said as he turned to Temari and made a hand sign and focused his chakra into his right index finger; Minato then used his index finger to poke Temari in the forehead and an array of seals appeared. Temari's seal began to burn off and after a few seconds it was gone; Minato let out a sigh of relief and turned around "oh man that was rough; I had to use a hand sign and everything" he said jokingly.
Naruto, Jiraya and Tsunade face faulted while Gaara's eyes widened in bewilderment 'w-was that it?' Gaara thought; Minato began to laugh holding his stomach.
"Oh my god, you should've seen your faces; I totally got you guys" Minato laughed; Tsunade got back up and threw a punch at Minato. Tsunade's fist punched through Minato's stomach and out the other side cutting him in half; Tsunade wiped the dust off her knuckles and looked at Minato who was on the ground.
"You ass, you had us worried there for a second" Tsunade shouted with a tic mark; Naruto got back up and shouted as well.
"What the hell dad; I was about to shit a brick" Naruto shouted with a tic mark as well; Minato chuckled as his lower half reformed and he got back up.
"Sorry, sorry; I couldn't help myself" Minato said before clearing his throat "but with all seriousness that was an S-rank destruction seal; because there was a hidden seal on her".
"Wait there was a hidden seal?" Gaara asked and Minato nodded.
"Oh yeah, there was a suicide bomb seal hidden underneath the mind control seal" Minato said like it was the most obvious thing in the world "if I didn't use the seal I did then Temari's head would've exploded with the force of a stick of dynamite killing everyone in the room".
Naruto and Gaara both paled at this as they had no idea a simple touch was the difference between Temari being free and her head exploding.
"Oh shit" Jiraya said wide eyed as he didn't know about the other seal "oh wow… we could've died".
"Looks like bringing Minato back was the right decision after all" Tsunade said before Jiraya looked at her.
"Wait… say that again?" Jiraya said leaning in with his ear "I don't think I heard you properly".
Tsunade looked at Jiraya who had a smug look on his face and leaned into his ear "I SAID 'LOOKS LIKE BRINGING MINATO BACK WAS THE RIGHT DECISION AFTER ALL'; DID YOU HEAR THAT" Tsunade shouted into Jiraya's ear and making him jump back.
Naruto uncovered his ears and looked at Minato "so is Temari good now?" Naruto asked and Minato nodded.
"Yes she should make a full recovery" Minato said "but her mental health will be in question"; everyone looked at him and he continued. "One of the seals was a memory suppression seal that kept her from remembering things while she was under their control" Minato said continuing his explaination "her mind is scrambled and is going to have to be put back together; and she's going to remember everything ,and I mean everything she's done".
Naruto hearing this nodded "and when she does I'm gonna be there for her" he said; Tsunade smiled at this and spoke.
"Temari's going to be out for a few hours" Tsunade said as she looked at the sleeping Temari "Naruto, Minato, Jiraya; how about you three go and get something to eat while we wait".
"Well I'm dead but I'll watch them eat" Minato said with a smile.
Naruto, Jiraya and Minato all walked out of the room leaving Temari and Gaara alone; Tsunade looked to Gaara and spoke "Gaara, can you help me get Temari into a regular hospital room; and after that can you watch her?" Tsunade asked and he nodded.
In Temari's mind
Temari was sitting in a large black void clutching her head in pain; Temari's mind was flashing through images and memories that were jumbled mess.
She could see death and destruction all around her, she could hear screams and cries of pain of people that she personally hurt; and for some reason she could see her brother Kankuro laying on muddy ground looking up at her.
"T-Temari" Kankuro said his voice echoing in her mind "I-I know you're in there somewhere; if you can hear me…I love you"; Kankuro's face and demeanor changed as he reached out like he was about to touch her. "Temari" Kankuro said his voice now clearer "wake up!"
Outside Temari's mind; in a hospital room: With Naruto
Naruto was sitting in the couch next to Temari, reading a manga as Temari slept soundly in the bed; it has been nearly 12 hours since Minato had removed Temari's seal and she hasn't woken up at all.
Both he and Jiraya decided to send Minato back to the afterlife about 2 hours ago and since then it's been dying down inside the hospital; Jiraya and Tsunade went out for drinks and Gaara along with Sakura and Karin went to go and get some sleep.
Leaving him alone Naruto had set up inside Temari's room with the couch acting as his bed; he was using a spare blanket and pillow to cover himself. Naruto paused reading his book and looked at Temari; for the past few hours there has been little to no movement from her.
There has been a twitch here and a cough there but nothing significant; Naruto let out a sigh and got up and walked over to the restroom opening the door and walking in. Naruto closed the door, walked to the toilet, unzipped his pants and began to pee into the toilet bowl.
Naruto finished, zipped up his pants, flushed the toilet and went to the sink to wash his hands; when he was done he dried them and opened the door to walk back to his couch.
Before he could even take a step outside the door Naruto was looking at Temari who was sitting up in the bed and looking at him; Naruto's eyes widened and he spoke.
"T-Temari…" Naruto said softly as he began to walk forward.
Temari who just woke up looked at Naruto as he walked up to her; she looked at his features like it was the first time she had ever seen him. She looked at his spiky blonde hair, his piercing blue eyes, his trademark whisker birthmarks and that orange jacket she bought him.
Naruto sat next to Temari on the bed and spoke softly as to not startle her "Temari… are you ok… can you speak?" Naruto asked as he reached out and touched her cheek; Naruto rubbed his thumb against her cheek "do you need me to get granny Tsunade or Sakura to-".
Naruto was cut off when Temari reached out and grabbed Naruto and pulled him down onto the bed; Temari was now on top of Naruto clutching his jacket with her face buried in his chest.
"Naruto" Temari said as she began to cry "is this real… am I really here; are you really here?"; Temari began to tremble and cry even harder and Naruto wrapped his arms around her.
"Yeah this is real Temari; I'm here" Naruto said reassuring her and rubbing her back; Naruto's fingers could feel her ribs through the hospital gown that hid her starved body "we're both in Ame; you're here and your safe".
"I-I-I-" Temari stuttered out as she cried into Naruto "I was so scared… I didn't think I'd ever see you again"; Naruto at this point reached under and grabbed Temari under the chin and tilted her head up.
Naruto looked into her tired, teary blood shot eyes, felt her sunken cheeks and brushed some of her tangled blonde hair out of her face; Temari looked completely different than her normal self. She was not the beautiful Suna Kunoichi who's beauty is known throughout the village; she was a broken, emaciated and scared woman.
Naruto leaned in and gave Temari a kiss on her cracked lips making her go wide eyed; Temari felt Naruto's soft lips on hers and leaned into it and wrapped her arms around his neck with one hand on his back and one hand grabbing the back of his head and her getting a handful of his hair.
Naruto broke the kiss and looked her in the eyes with a smile "I never lost hope in finding you" Naruto said wiping the tears from her eyes "I knew we'd find you eventually". Temari smiled for the first time in a long time and she leaned in and began to cuddle with Naruto who held her tight "welcome back Temari" Naruto said stroking her hair "you're home now".
Ok another chapter done; I hope you all enjoyed it. If you did please like, comment and share with your friends; and until next time bye.