Historical Bonds

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 31

IN THE PAST

A small group of ninja's had gathered inside of the fire tower, in a new wing that would become ANBU's future HQ, none of them knew why they were all gathered together. Suddenly the door opened and Masaki stepped into the room "Masaki, what is this about?" One of them asked

"Everybody calm down, I know that you are all wondering why I gathered you here today" he began to speak, the group stopped talking as they listened "Over the past few weeks, each of you have encountered two unknown ninja's" Masaki told them, just then the door behind them opened up, one of them saw a masked ninja walk in

"ITS ONE OF THEM!!" He screamed out as all of them took out their weapons "He isn't getting away this time!" he said as he approached the ninja

"Everyone stop!" Masaki ordered

"But he could get away!" another one of the ninjas stated

"First of all, I am a girl!" Nami said as she removed her mask "Second of all, I could probably take the lot of you on and still come out on top" She said with a grin

"What is the meaning of this?!" some of the ninjas began to ask confused

Masaki took out his own mask "All of you have undergone a test, performed by myself and Nami, it was necessary to find out who were the best of the best, and you all made it onto the team" Masaki explained

"What? What team?" one of them asked

"The ANBU, an elite squadron within the leaf who work in secrecy, we answer to one person and one person only, and that is the Hokage himself, I am the director of the ANBU and Nami is my second in command, and as I explained, you have all been selected to join the ranks" Masaki said with a grin

"So… What would be required of us?"

"If you decide to join, you will undergo strict and rigorous training, you may be the best the leaf has to offer, but you need to become the ELITE, you will all be required to create a mask like mine or Nami's, you can customize it to your liking, as long as it covers your face, I don't care what it looks like, whenever you're on duty, you will wear that mask, you will also be given a code name, the code name can and will probably change from time to time to ensure security, now you need to understand that accepting this job means that you will be taking some of the hardest missions, where others fail, we will not, however the pay will also reflect that" Masaki told them

Some of them began talking among themselves; one of them stepped up "This sounds like it could be dangerous… However, if I wanted a safe job, I would have become salesmen, count me in" he was only the first as many of them stepped forward, before long, everyone had agreed to join up

"Very good, I want you all to go home now, rest up, because tomorrow the training will begin, and it will be harder than ANYTHING you have ever done before, you will also be constructing your masks as well, and remember, speak to no one about this, no one is to know that any of you are a part of the ANBU" Masaki told them as they left the room, Nami walked up to him

"Well mister director, seems like we have a team now" She said with a smile

"Indeed, Miss Secretary" he said with a grin

"WHY YOU!! I AM A CAPTAIN!!" She said as she was about to smack him, but to Masaki's surprise, he was able to dodge it with ease, it was as if she had slowed down, but that was impossible, Nami trained day and night and was among the strongest and fastest of all Konoha

"Nami… Are you alright?" He asked

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know... It's just that..." he began but was cut off right away

"YOU THINK I AM FAT DON'T YOU?! YOUR SUCH A JERK!! I TRAIN EVERY DAY AND IT JUST WON'T GO AWAY, IT GETS WORSTE!! I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT YOU DON'T NEED TO SAY I AM FAT!!" She said as she began to cry

"No no no, don't cry… I wasn't thinking that you were fat at all… I was just worried about your health, It's just I am worried that if you go on a mission and…" Masaki had to chose his next words wisely he thought "And got hurt…"

"Look, you don't need to worry alright? I am going to work extra hard to get back in the shape I use to be in" She said with a smile

Masaki couldn't believe how fast her moods were changing, one moment she was angry, the next she was crying, now she is smiling, all within two minutes "Well, could you do me a big favor?" he asked cautiously

Nami looked at him "Depends on what it is" she said with a slight frown

Masaki could already tell that her mood was about to change "I want you to go to the hospital for a full checkup alright? I know that you are probably in perfect health, but if you were to get a checkup it would make me feel a lot better, think of it as your mandatory check up as being part of the ANBU" He said with a smile trying not to set her off again

"You just made that rule up didn't you?... Oh alright fine whatever" she said letting out a sigh, Masaki was letting out a sigh of his own, happy that she didn't stab him or something "I will go after lunch, oh by the way, Danzo is waiting in your office as you requested" She added

"Oh great, thanks" Masaki said

Nami let out a large sigh again "What is wrong with me? Maybe he is right about the doctor… But I am sure as hell not going to admit that to him" She said as she left the ANBU wing of the tower

Masaki entered his office, Danzo got up and bowed to him "No need for such formalities, sit down, relax" He said as he sat down at his desk and opened up Danzo's file, Danzo sat down but was still feeling nervous, he had no idea why he had been summoned by one of the strongest and most famous ninja's in the village, had he done something wrong? Masaki looked at him "A few days ago, you were attacked by two unknown ninja's" Masaki began "You were able to hold them off and protect a group of genins while doing it"

"Yeah, but you had to save us, I don't know what would have happened had you not arrived" Danzo told him "Uh did you catch them?" Danzo asked curious

"Not exactly, what if I were to tell you that you were never in any real danger, that the attack on you was staged in order to test your abilities" Masaki told him interested in his reaction

"…" Danzo didn't know how to respond, he had never considered that

Masaki opened up a drawer in his desk and took out his mask, he placed it in front of his face without attaching it "What if I told you that I was one of the two ninjas who attacked you?" Masaki told him as he set the mask on the desk

"But… You were the one who jumped in to save us, how could you have been attacking us?" He asked confused

"That is simple" Masaki made a few hand signs "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Suddenly four extra Masaki's were standing behind him "And I know what you’re thinking, but these are not just simple clones, they are called Shadow clones, they have their own mass and chakra reserve, meaning that they can actually help me in a fight, it's one of these that helped you chase us off" Masaki said with a grin as he canceled the jutsu and the four clones disappeared "Myself and Nami have been testing a large number of candidates for a new team that has just been created, so far we have about fifty new recruits who actually passed the test and have just entered service" Masaki explained to him

"So, what about me? Are you saying that I have been selected?" He asked

"You have been…Noticed, you do not possess the skills right now to be a full member, but I see the potential in you to one day be a great ninja"

"So… What does that mean? That I should train harder?" Danzo asked unsure as to what Masaki was asking of him

"Yes, however, I have decided to personally take charge of your training, if you accept, then you will become my apprentice, and before you know it, you will be a full fledge member of the ANBU"

Danzo was in shock "Are you serious? To become the apprentice of the strongest ninja in the entire village?! Of course I accept!!" He said with a grin

"Great, training starts first thing in the morning, meet me by the lake at exactly six tomorrow morning" Masaki instructed him

"Yes sir!" Danzo answered with a grin

PRESENT TIME

Suzu was walking around town; she was conflicted about what had happened earlier, she knew that the night ninja were evil scum who had just tried to kidnap her, but she couldn’t help but want to protect him for some reason, it made no sense, why would she want to protect him? She let out a large sigh as she was getting tired, it would be dinner time soon.

As she was about to jump away Yokito spotted her and shouted her name "Suzu!!" He said happily as he ran up to her "There you are, I had been looking for you" He said with a smile

"You were?" She asked him

"Yeah, your dad gave me a scolding about putting you in danger, he even tried to kill me, I think…" Yokito said with a nervous laugh

"You think?..." Suzu asked confused

"Yeah, he kind of swung his sword at my head, but I was able to dodge it in time… So I don't know if he intended to kill me, or if he was just testing my reflexes, or just trying to scare me…" He explained

"Knowing him, probably all three" She said with a faint smile

"So, did it work?" Yokito asked her

"Did what work?" Suzu asked confused

"Well, our main goal, making your memory come back, did it work? You seem to be remembering more now"

"I don't know, I mean I feel like I am getting better, I am starting to remember things, but it also feels like I know things that I shouldn't, that ninja we captured for example…. I feel like I know him, not only that, I knew his name, and for some reason, I have a feeling that he doesn't want to harm me" Suzu said "I am just so confused about all this right now"

"Remember how you said that you were attacked by night ninja at the river, but I told you that it was impossible" Yokito asked her

"Yeah, you said it was impossible since we were deep within demon borders and that the night would never attempt to attack us directly" Suzu answered

"Well obviously, I was wrong about that, so it had been thinking, what if you were really attacked? What if they did something to you?" Yokito explained to her

"But you said it yourself, I lost my memory right in front of you guys, how could they have done something to me before that?" Suzu asked

"I don't know, but it can't be a coincidence how they attacked us the very next day, in the same location that you expressed concerns about being attacked in the past"

"Yeah but without my full memory, who knows how long ago that attack was? Or if it even ever happened in the first place, maybe it was just my intuition sensing the attack that was about to happen to us, who knows…" Suzu told him

"Yeah, but still, I would feel better if you had a checkup done, if they did anything to you, I want to know, because I will personally track them down, and kill them if they caused you harm" He said as he took Suzu's hand into his own and stared into her eyes "For you, I would fallow them into their capital city if I had too" He said with a slight blush

Suzu was also blushing slightly "There is no need… My memory is slowly returning, I am sure that in time I will remember everything. Do you know what they plan to do with the one we captured?" She asked him

"No, but I heard he wasn't the first one we captured today, two others were caught, some believe that the group we encountered were sent in to try and save those ones, but the council said that it was more likely just a coincidence since they have never sent in a rescue party this deep inside our borders before, and the last time they did send one they were decimated" Yokito told her

"I wonder what they plan to do with him and if they would allow me to speak with him…" Suzu suddenly said

"Who? The night ninja we captured?"

"Yeah"

"Well more than likely they will use him as a sacrifice to feed the hollows, I heard that he was extremely powerful, at first they thought he was on the same level as a captain, but they found out that he is actually more powerful then the last Kurokage we captured all those years ago, that means that he will be feeding the hallows for many, many years, everyone was excited about it, the two others are also great catches, one of them is a captain level, the other seems to be vice captain level, those three alone could provide the hallows with energy for the next ten years, some think even more" Yokito explained

"So they're going to be killed? That's horrible…" Suzu told him

"Suzu… It's what we do, you know that, well I mean once you regain your full memory, you would know that… My point is that we have been doing this for decades, that's why we are in a constant state of war with the night country, it's much better then when we sacrifice our own people, don't you think?" He said with a smile

But Suzu didn't agree with that for some reason "Why do we need to sacrifice anyone at all?..."

"Suzu, it’s the first thing we learn when we enter the academy, it's not a choice, if we don't the hallows will turn on us, many centuries ago we opened the vortex to the hallows world, not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, they began pouring out of the vortex killing everything in sight, until one of our people was able to make a deal with them, in exchange for sacrifices, they would fight for us, we had no choice, it was that or face destruction, in a way, it has saved the night country as well, because they would have just enveloped the entire world killing everything" Yokito explained to her

"I see… But still it doesn't feel right" Suzu told him

"I know how you feel… But there is nothing we can do"

"And the rape and murdering? Is that really necessary? Or can you explain that?" Suzu asked him

"… No I can't, I don't agree with it at all, but… I don't want to say I agree with it, but…. You wouldn't be here today had your birth mother not been… No I said something I shouldn't have, Suzu forgive me…..I am such an idiot…"

Suzu suddenly let go of his hand "So you're fine with rape just because I was born from it?" Suzu said slightly angry

"No… Suzu that is not what I meant, it's just… I can't imagine my life without you… Suzu…" But she turned her back on him causing his heart to break, he had screwed up majorly

Naruto's head was pounding as his eyes slowly opened, he could feel his legs dangling in the open he sat up and quickly realized that he was in a cage, he then realized that there was a dead skeleton inside with him causing him to let out a small scream "Naruto Sama!" Hiyori said happy to see him awake

"Hiyori?!" Naruto said surprised as he looked around and saw both Hiyori and Hamako who was still unconscious "Where are we?" He asked

"I don't know, we have only been captured recently, I tried to avoid capture for as long as I could… I promised Hamako that we would be alright, but I failed, I was too tired to fight, I can't believe that I was defeated by exhaustion, I literally passed out during a fight, leaving Hamako to fight on her own, next thing I knew, I woke up here, what about you?" she asked

"We were looking for you two, we sent Ino on a recon spy mission to find your location, but something happened, we don't know what, so we went to find her, and we got overwhelmed, I ordered a retreat, the last thing I remember was getting hit by something… And Sai…Sai that bastard left me behind, he had a chance to save me… How could Sai turn his back on me, I thought he was one of us… a fellow team seven member" Naruto said sadly "I trusted him…I trusted him with my life…"

"What do you think the rest of them will do now?" Hiyori asked him

"…I would like for them to abandon us and head back home before anyone else gets captured, those night captains were right… But I couldn’t just leave you two behind" he said with a sigh

"I am sorry Naruto Sama, Because of us, now you're stuck here to, more than likely they know how powerful you are by now and are going to sacrifice you along with us, it’s the only reason I can see why we are still alive right now…"

"So… Do you know anything about this sacrifice?" Naruto asked

"Only what Toshiro told me, and I am sure he explained it to you by now, what awaits us is a very long and painful death as our life force will be slowly sucked away, once the process begins, there is no stopping it, even if they were to rescue us after they have begun sucking on our life force, we will essentially be dead inside already… Again Hokage Sama, I am sorry for dragging you in this, I wish that you would have just continued on your mission, at least the trip wouldn't have been a complete waste"

"Hiyori, there was no way that I was going to just leave you or Hamako behind without trying to save you, the nightmares that my Zanpaktou give me would be the least of my worries, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I allowed two of my ninja's to be captured without trying to save them" He said with a smile to reassure her "And don't give up hope, we will get out of here… I just need to figure out a way"

"But…" but before she could even say another word Naruto cut her off

"I don’t want to hear any buts, I will only give up hope when I am drawing my last breath, and even then… So don't you give up either, do you hear me?" Naruto said with a forced smile to cheer her up

Hiyori smiled, she admired him so much, she use to look up to Ichigo as the Kurokage, but Naruto had surpassed him in so many ways, even though she had defected and joined the leaf, and now she faced her possible death because of that decision, she didn't regret a single thing "Alright Naruto Sama"

Meanwhile Toshiro had approached the demon village under the cover of night, so far he had remained undetected, there was a new moon tonight meaning that there would be no light from the moon, this worked both for and against Toshiro, it helped him since the darkness of the night would provide him with the cover he needed, however, without any moon, he couldn't draw any energy from it

He slowly made his way to the walls and began to climb them slowly and silently, once to the top he looked around, he felt someone tap his shoulder "Hey you"

Toshiro turned around and was horrified to see a demon ninja, how did they detect him so easily, he was about to take out his Zanpaktou, but before he could even reach its handle he heard a snap as the demon ninja collapse, behind him was Itachi who had snapped his neck "What are you doing here?! I thought I told you guys head back towards night controlled territory" Toshiro whispered

"I am sorry, however I outrank you... And I decided that I wanted to help" Itachi whispered back

"What?!" Toshiro asked confused

"I guess you don't know this, and perhaps lady Sakura forgot but… I am an ANBU Captain, actually before you came along I held the record for being the youngest ANBU captain in the history of Konoha, my point is, I have seniority, and I am coming with you" Itachi explained

"…Alright, well I guess I should thank you, now let's hurry before they figure out he is missing"

"Agreed" Itachi said as they jumped down from the walls and ran into the streets of the village

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 32

IN THE PAST

Danzo barely had the time to dodge a flaming Kunai as Masaki came at him with speed, he tried to deflect his blade with his own Kunai, Masaki used this opportunity to kick the young ninja in the gut sending him crashing to the ground, but Danzo didn’t give up, he continued to roll until he was back on his feet and used the opportunity to try and launch a counter attack, he took out his own blade trying to strike at Masaki, but he dodge each attack with little effort, Danzo left his backside open for a split second, Masaki choped him hard on the back sending him to the ground again, but this time he threw four kunais simultaneously, Danzo’s hands and feet were pinned down through his clothing by the kunais “Damn it!” Danzo said as he tried to struggle to get free

“I think we have done enough for now, let’s take a small brake” Masaki told him as he removed the kunais, freeing Danzo who got up

“I can continue fighting sensei, I don’t need to rest, please let us continue” Danzo told him while getting back into a fighting stance

“I know that you are eager, but you must learn when to stop, rest, and reflect on what you have learned so far, let’s get some ramen, my treat” Masaki said with a bright smile

Danzo looked annoyed, but it was only a front, inside he was excited about the free ramen, and Masaki was right, a rest would do him some good, perhaps he could think of a better strategy “Very well Sensei” Danzo answered

Meanwhile Nami was walking towards the hospital; she had made an appointment for a check up after her talk with Masaki. On her way she encountered Hashirama “Greetings Hokage Sama” She said bowing in respect

“Ah Nami, it is nice to see you, it’s a beautiful day isn’t it?” He commented with a smile

“Yes it is” She answered with a smile of her own

“How are things going with the ANBU project?” He asked her

“Great, we have finished testing our first batch of recruits, they are working on their masks right now” She explained to him

“Mask?” He asked curious

Nami took out her own mask from inside her vest “All ANBU members will be required to wear one of these, it will protect both their identity and their families as well, and whenever they are on active duty for the ANBU they MUST be wearing their masks”

“I see, well I have to admit, it’s a good idea” Hashirama told her

Nami finally noticed the little girl hiding behind Hashirama’s leg, peeking at her “Well hello there” Nami said with a warm smile “And who are you?” She asked

But the little girl hid behind Hashirama “Don’t be shy Tsunade” Hashirama said as he took her hand as she stood beside him “Nami, meet Tsunade, my granddaughter”

Nami bent down “Aww, she is so cute, hey Tsunade, I am Nami” she said to the little blonde

“H..Hi” Tsunade said in a shy voice

Hashirama let out a slight laugh “Nami, could you do me a favor? I have a meeting with the council coming up, and her parents are out on a mission, Tobirama is off somewhere, I could really use someone I trust to take care of her for me, it wouldn’t be for long, as soon as the meeting is done, I will come get her” Hashirama asked her

“Well… I would love to, but I have an appointment at the doctors for a check up, it would be really boring for a kid to just sit and wait around” Nami told him

“That’s no problem, Tsunade is a good girl, I would ask Masaki, but I couldn’t find him, I am really desperate, Nami please?” Hashirama asked again

“Masaki is training a young Ninja, he said that he has real potential, and well if you think it’s alright, then yeah, sure, I will take care of her” Nami finally answered

“Thank you so much, you have no idea how big a favor this is” Hashirama said expressing his gratitude “Now Tsunade, you’re going to go with the nice lady for now alright? I will come back for you in a few hours, alright sweetie?” he told her as he bent down to kiss her forehead, he then let go of her hand and allowed Nami to take it before he walked away

“Well then, let’s get my doctor’s appointment out of the way, and then we can think of something fun to do, alright?” Nami said with her usual smile

Tsunade was still being shy, but she nodded indicating she agreed with her

Far away from the land of Fire, Madara was studying an old scroll; he began to grin “Those fools will pay… They will ALL pay” he said as he continued to read the scroll, suddenly he heard a noise, a young women walked into the room “Who the hell are you?” He asked her

“It is polite to introduce yourself before asking someone else’s name” She told him

“Fine, I am Uchiha Madara, now who the hell are you?”

“My name is Ayumi, I am the sage of this temple, now why have you broken into this place” she asked him

“Sage huh? You look kind of young to be a sage” He commented

“I am older then you could imagine” She answered him

“Really now? So what, are you using some kind of illusion to hide your true age then?”

“I can assure you that what you see is my true appearance, and so I ask you again, why have you broken into this sacred place?”

“I heard that this place had powerful secrets, secrets that could help me take care of my enemies, once and for all” He answered her, not feeling threaten by what he had judged was a young girl trying to intimidate him

“I cannot permit you to leave with those scrolls, return what you have taken, and I shall allow you to leave with your life” She told him

“Look, I don’t have the time for this nonsense, I will take what I want and leave, if you want to try and stop me, then I will not be responsible for your death, you have been warned” He told her

“Foolish… You mock the powers of a sage? I will make you regret those words, Uchiha Madara, prepare yourself” she said as she released an enormous amount of chakra, a white aura began to form around her body as her eyes also changed, they went from dark blue to yellow with a shade of red under her eyes

Madara could feel the power radiating from her body, for the first time, he began thinking that perhaps she wasn’t lying about being a sage after all “Well then, I never fought a sage before, this should be interesting” He said with a grin

IN THE PRESENT

Itachi and Toshiro had infiltrated the demon village, so far they had been able to move around without being seen, they were able to break into what seemed to be an administration office of some sort, Toshiro began to look through some files while Itachi kept watch, suddenly his eyes stopped on a document “Spies and Runways aftermath report” he opened the file and began reading it

INSIDE THE FILE

Report 1 – The Escaped Night duo

Those idiots from Shadow village screwed up something as simple as capturing two little girls, granted that our analysis of the two have proven that they are indeed powerful, they should have been able to capture them without needing our help, for two days they evaded them, even once they were cornered inside the sacred caves, they couldn’t track them down, I swear, the only thing those guys from Shadow are good at is raping and pillaging, once we here at Wolf heard about these two girls, we sent out a squad to take care of them, within two hours, they were in custody. The guys from Shadow have been demanding we hand them over so that they can conduct the sacrifice, in reality, we all know they just want to rape them before they sacrifice them, typical Shadows Ninja, not a single one of them have any grain of civility in them, it’s a wonder they continue to survive living the way they do. Of course we denied their request, they shall be sacrificed by our own hands, and they shall be treated well until then. I had them checked out before locking them up, they are both young and healthy, the first one passed out from exhaustion, the second one was wounded, she had a concussion but should survive, after giving her basic medical treatment, she was locked up with the other one. They are both schedule to be sacrificed at the next full moon

Report 2 – Captured Spy

This is outrageous!! How could the night be so deep within our borders?! This is the Wolf village, those guys from Shadow village were so preoccupied with capturing those girls that they didn’t patrol the boarders properly, I swear all they care about is pillaging, raping and killing, that being said, a task force that we believe was sent in by the night to rescue those two girls was discovered. They encountered the team of Suzu, Yukito and Tamao, they were caught off guard, which is understandable, the night should have NEVER gotten that deep without our borders. Nozomi then arrived on the scene and was able to help them out a bit, however these night ninja’s were more experienced, the leader was extremely powerful, it is interesting to note that Tamao and Yukito both report that Suzu was able to unleash hidden powers inside of her, giving Daiki’s team enough time to arrive on the scene where they made quick work of the night ninjas forcing them to retreat, however we were able to capture one, his power level is incredible, he shall make an excellent sacrifice. He was placed along with the two other nigh ninja we captured earlier; we had to make sure to take special precaution with this one, so we placed chakra suppressors in the room, he won’t be able to use his power to break out of his cage

All and all, it was a good day for the demon country, now if only those incompetent fools from Shadow could become slightly more civilized, then perhaps these situations would have never happened in the first place, but then again, they do make excellent raiders I guess.

END REPORT

“There are two factions within the demon country?” Toshiro said surprised

“Who cares about that right now, does it say where they are?” Itachi asked

“Well it says they are locked up, but the location isn’t revealed, however, it has to be in this village, let me see if I can’t find a map” he said as he continued to look through the files “Found one, this is a map of the village, we seem to be here, it looks like the main administrative building for the village”

“And the holding cells?” Itachi asked

“here found them, they are in an underground passage, the passage itself is in this building’s basement. It’s going to be hard sneaking in without being seen” Toshiro told him

“You said this is the main administrative building correct?” Itachi asked

“Yeah…” Toshiro answered him

“Then, I have a plan” Itachi told him

Meanwhile Hiyori and Naruto were still trying to figure out how to escape, Naruto had noticed that he wasn’t recovering his chakra “Naruto Sama…” Hiyori said while staring at her feet

“Yeah?” He asked

“I want to thank you... Not only for trying to save us, but you know, for everything” She told him

“What?” He asked confused

“You took a chance with both me and Toshiro, you could have just sent us back with the rest of the night ninjas, but you trusted us, you gave us a home, you allowed us to fight for Konoha. And although I love my native country, I can’t say that I miss it… Being a part of Konoha and the Fire country has opened my eyes, yeah, at first I guess I did it just to be with Toshiro… But now I couldn’t be prouder to wear my leaf headband… I just wish that I could wear it one more time” she said as a tear was forming

“Hey, hey, I thought I told you that I would find a way of getting us out of here, so don’t cry alright?” Naruto said with a smile

Suddenly a noise caught both their attention, it was moaning, and it was coming from Hamako’s cage “Owe.. My head hurts...” She said as she slowly sat up, she looked around, and she slowly began to realize that she was in a cage “Where am I? Where is this?! Oh no, we are captured… Oh no… oh no” she began to cry

“Hamako, hey Hamako, calm down, everything is going to be alright” Hiyori told her to try and calm her down

“Hiyori Sensei? They got you to?... Of course they got you… I was the one protecting you… I failed, please forgive me Sensei” Hamako said with tears now freely flowing from her eyes

“Hamako, you didn’t fail me, you did a great job, you fought them as hard as you could, they were just too much for you to take on alone, I am proud of you Hamako” Hiyori said with a smile

Hamako slowly began to calm down, that is until she saw the third captive “…HOKAGE SAMA?! THEY GOT YOU TOO?? If they were able to capture him, there is no hope… No hope at all…” she began to cry and rocking herself back and forth

“Hey, Hamako, Look, I know things look bleak right now, but I promise you that I will get us all out of here safely, do you hear me Hamako? You should know that I have NEVER broken any promises that I have made, and I will be dammed if I break this one” Naruto said giving her a thumbs up and his trademark grin, but just like Hiyori before him, he had no way of backing up that promise, but he wanted to make her feel better, it was the only thing he could do at the moment “If we don’t get out of this… I pray that Sakura gets home safely… I would hate for my baby girl Naoto to grow up as an orphan like I did… Not to mention about our unborn child…” He thought to himself

He heard some voices “Hey, you know you’re not supposed to be down here”

“I know, but I please, allow me to talk to him” the voice asked

“Alright, but don’t tell your father, he will have my head if he finds out”

A young girl entered the chamber where the cages were suspended “Suzu?” Naruto asked

“Who is Suzu?” Hiyori asked in turn

“Long story… But what are you doing here?” Naruto asked her

“I just wanted to come see you… Before the sacrifice” She answered him “I feel responsible”

“Look Suzu, you didn’t do anything wrong, if anything, we did, by attacking you, and trying to use you, I am the one who should apologies, so… I am sorry Suzu”

“But your actions didn’t cause me any harm, now you’re going to die” She said sadly

“I seem to remember you stopping your father from killing me on the spot, you saved my life” He told her

“No… The sacrifice is far worst, you would have been better off dying, now you’re going to suffer” She said with a tear forming

“Look, I don’t want to seem rude, or unsympathetic, but you’re a demon ninja, why do you care about what happens to us?” Hiyori asked

“I don’t even know who you two are… And I also don’t want to be rude by saying that I don’t care what happens to you, but… For him, I feel like I should try everything in my power to save him, I don’t know why” Suzu said, she was beginning to feel more and more confused, why did she feel such loyalty towards this total stranger, this enemy ninja, why did she feel that she could risk her life for him?

“It has to be Ino… she is still in there somewhere, but what happened to her? Why wasn’t she in control? And would it be right to use this girl once again to his advantage? It could be their only way out, however he felt horrible, they had already used her and caused her so many problems, but he made a promise to Hamako, he also wanted to see Sakura again, if he allowed this chance to slip, they could very well be doomed to be sacrificed

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 33

IN THE PAST

Madara launched an attack on Ayumi, he attempted to kick her side but she easily blocked it with her arm, he continued with a number of attacks that she all blocked with ease, one by one, every punch, every kick had been blocked or countered, her speed and skill were incredible, she fought like an experienced ninja, yet she didn’t look any older then a teenager. He activated his sharingan, thinking that it would give him the edge he needed, but to his surprised, Ayumi smiled “What are you smiling about?” He asked

“Oh nothing… Just that you think the sharingan is going to make a difference, I find it funny” Ayumi told him with a grin

Madara was not amused, how dare this girl mock the sharingan? ”Wait a minute, how does she even know about the sharingan? We are far away from the fire country…” Madara thought to himself

Ayumi let out a small laugh “Oh you foolish Uchiha, if only you knew” she told him

“What the? Can she read my mind? Or is she just trying to make me think she can… Yes of course, what a dirty tactic, sage my ass…” Madara thought once more

“Believe what you want… But I am a sage” She told him

Madara was getting frustrated, but it made perfect sense now “She is guessing what I am thinking, making me think that she can read my thoughts, making me doubt myself, well that ends now!” he thought to himself as he launched a new attack

His strikes were much faster than before, however, Ayumi was still able to block every one of them without much effort, Madara was getting frustrated as he backed off once more “Now do you understand that this is pointless? I will give you one final chance, return what belongs to me, and you can leave here alive” She told him

“I will admit, you are much stronger then I first thought, your taijutsu skills are… Much stronger than any I have ever faced before, however I am not finished just yet… Mangekyo Sharingan!” Madara’s sharingan had changed to his Mangekyo Sharingan, his eyes connected with those of Ayumi and suddenly they found themselves surrounded by fire as Madara grinned

Ayumi found herself tied to some sort of cross as the fires raged around her. Madara slowly walked towards her, he was going to enjoy torturing her

Ayumi wasn’t struggling to get herself free, this intrigued Madara since most people would try to free themselves, even though it was pointless. Ayumi on the other hand was calm, it angered Madara as he wanted to see her cower in fear, he wanted to swipe away that confident look in her eyes “You are in my domain now, this fight is over, you have lost” He said with a grin

“Really? I just thought that you were cold and wanted to heat things up, this heat feels nice” She answered him

Madara was grinding his teeth in anger “Nice? NICE? She think it’s NICE?” he thought to himself “We will see how nice you think it is once I am done with you, here I control everything, including time, I could torture you for days, weeks, months, and yet only a few seconds would pass in the real world” Madara explained to her, hoping that she would finally realize her dire situation and how he had won

But to his surprise, she yawned “Although the heat is nice, it does kind of make me feel sleepy, well that and your boring speech” She told him

That was it, Madara snapped as he took out his sword “Let’s see how this bitch feels once I am done with her!!” He thought as he was going to stab Ayumi with his blade, but to his surprise, it curved away from her, when he pulled back, he regained its original shape, but if he tried to stab her, it would curve away again “What the hell?” he said in frustration

“Problems?” She said with a grin “Perhaps I should give it a try” suddenly Madara and Ayumi had switched places, he was now tied to the cross and she was holding the blade

“What the hell!?” Madara screamed out “How is this possible?” he thought to himself, that’s when he noticed her eyes, they had changed, they looked like a modified version of a sharingan, a mangekyo sharingan even, with the exception that her eyes were yellow rather than red. Ayumi was about to stab him with his own blade, he shut his eyes quickly and the field of flames disappeared as they had return to reality

“What’s wrong? Couldn’t take your own heat?” She said with a grin

“How the hell do you have the sharingan?” He demanded from her

“Do I need to explain again? I told you I am a sage…”

“Is that your answer to EVERYTHING? You are a sage? How does that explain you having the sharingan?”

“Well, tell me, how did the Uchiha’s get it?” She asked him in return “Well? Can’t answer? Well as a sage, I know many things since I have been alive for a very long time… Let me tell you about the origins of your Sharingan. Generations ago a band of Uchihas made a pact with a very powerful beast, it had just fought a huge battle with another beast and it was badly hurt. Your ancestors took pity on it and decided to help it. However the beast was a very proud creature and did not like to be indebted to anyone, so in return, he granted them the sharingan, and it was passed down from generation to generation ever since” She told him

“…And that explains how you have it how? Are you saying that you are an Uchiha? You never did give me your clan name…” Madara asked

“No, I am not an Uchiha, and I didn’t give you my clan name because I don’t belong to any clan”

“Then how the hell does that explain you how have the sharingan?!” He screamed in frustration

“Oh I never said that I would explain how I got the sharingan…” She said with a grin as Madara’s frustration was growing

“I have had enough of these childish games” He said as he began making multiple hand signs, he began running towards her, he launched multiple attacks. He spat out flames from his mouth, but Ayumi just copied him causing small explosions as the fire balls collided together, rocks began flying towards her, she easily dodge them all, Madara was now using a combination of taijutsu and ninjutsu to try and hit her, if only once, but she was just too powerful, every hit was either countered or blocked, every jutsu was either copied or dodged. Madara had had enough; he bit his thumb making a few hand signs and slammed the ground, a huge poof a smoke appeared next to Madara, revealing the Kyuubi in a regular fox size form

“What do you want Madara?” he asked in an annoyed tone

“Kill that damn bitch!” He ordered him

The Kyuubi looked at his target and to Madara’s surprise, he bowed at her, Madara couldn’t believe it, the Kyuubi was showing her respect when he could barely keep himself from tearing Madara to shreds “I am sorry but I will not lay a single paw on my lady” he said before disappearing in a poof of smoke

“WHAT?! GET BACK HERE YOU TRAITOR!!”

“He isn’t a traitor, he just won’t attack his master, you should know, it’s in the contract” She told him with a grin

“What? But I am its master, not you!!” He said in anger

“Take a look at the contract…” She told him

Madara took it out and read it, it only had two names written on it, his own and… The very first name at the top was Ayumi “How is this possible?”
“I am the master of all nine tailed beasts, as well as every other magical creature, after all, I created them all” She said with a grin

Madara couldn’t believe it, could what she was saying be true? If that was the case, she could summon anything at any time, she had to be the most powerful being that he had ever encountered, or would even ever encounter… And he wanted that power!

Madara jumped away panting heavily, while Ayumi didn’t seem tired, however Madara had noticed something, during this entire fight, she had never once tried to attack him, the closes she ever came to doing any harm was when she traded places with him during his genjutsu, perhaps he could use that to his advantage “You seem to know a lot of jutsus” Madara commented

“I know just about every jutsu that was ever created in these lands” She answered him

“These lands huh? What about across the ocean? Do you know anything about those people and their powers?” He asked her

“I have never left this continent, so no, if there are other civilizations out there, I don’t know about them yet” She told him

Madara grinned “Really? Well finally something I know that you don’t” He said with a grin “Aren’t you curious how I would know this?” He asked her

“Curious yes, but I am in no rush, if what you say is true, I will learn about it eventually” Ayumi answered

“Well, you see, there is this one jutsu I learned from one of them” He said with a grin

Suddenly Ayumi felt a blade pierce her body, blood began spill from the wound, and she began coughing out blood as it started to drip from her mouth “So… This is pain… Can’t say that I like this feeling very much” She said as she dropped down to one knee while turning her head to see who had stabbed her from behind, to her surprise, it was Madara “How is that possible, if this is a clone, then it shouldn’t have a mass, and thus shouldn’t be able to hurt me, and I know this isn’t genjutsu…”

Madara was grinning, for the first time in this battle, he had the upper hand “Just a little trick I learned from a… Friend, he calls it a shadow clone, it is a clone, however it has a mass, there is also a water version of this created by the people on the far away islands, but I didn’t know if you knew about them, so I decided to pick the one I knew for sure that you would have never encountered before” Madara said as the clone pushed and jabbed his blade causing intolerable pain to Ayumi”

“And the betrayal only continues…” She said as the warm blood continued to pour out of her body, her eyes suddenly returned to normal as the white aura around her body also vanished

“And what do you mean by that?” Madara asked

“Heh, you don’t know much about your own history do you? Do you even know how the Uchiha clan started? I bet you don’t, it’s something that was probably never passed down, well let me tell you, centuries ago, there were two brothers chosen by the sage to be his apprentices, the sage wanted to bring peace to the world. The elder of the brothers thought that bringing peace through might was the best way, while the younger brother wanted to bring peace to the world by uniting everyone in harmony, the sage chose the younger brother to succeed him as he thought he would be best suited to bring peace to the world, this angered the elder brother causing him to be vengeful and the two brothers parted ways, one became the Uchiha clan, the other the Senju clan, guess which one of the brothers was the founder of the Uchiha clan? That’s right, the elder”

“So where do you come into this nice little story of yours? Are you saying you are that sage?”

“Heh, no, I am his daughter, well adopted daughter. My real parents were killed in a war, I was left alone, he was passing by and took pity on me, he then decided to take me on as his new apprentice and adopted me as his daughter… My father couldn’t bear seeing his original apprentices fight among themselves, he decided to leave this world behind, and so I became the new sage once he finished training me”

“Well then, with you dead, and all these books at my disposal, I will become the new sage” He said with an evil grin

But to his surprise, Ayumi also grinned “Foolish Uchiha, a mere mortal cannot just become a sage by reading scrolls and old scriptures, the way of the sage is passed down from sage to sage, I cannot die until I pass on the teaching, this body will stop functioning, however I will not die, thus is the power, and the curse of the sage…. As for these books, you won’t have the time to enjoy them” She said as she faded away, the temple suddenly began to rumble

“No…..NOOO!! She is going to destroy the temple” everything began to fall down, Madara didn’t have any time to spare, he quickly made it out of the temple just in time as it crumbled, boulders began slamming into it, destroying any hope of trying to salvage anything from the ruins. Madara sat down as he was tired from his fight with Ayumi; he opened his vest pocket and took out two scrolls “This is all that I was able to get from that temple…” He read the titles on each scroll. On the first scroll, Life Extension, on the second scroll, The Ten tailed beast. “Bringing peace to the world through might huh?... I like the sound of that” he said with a grin

Meanwhile back at the Konoha hospital Nami was waiting for her check up while Tsunade played with the toys provided by the hospital, Nami looked at her and smiled “She is so cute… I wish I had a little girl like her, or a little boy” she thought with a warm smile

“Miss Yamashiro, the doctor will see you now” a nurse informed her

Nami got up “Come Tsunade” She told her

“Aww, but I was having fun” She said in a small pouting voice as she got up

Nami’s smile grew “How about we go out for ice cream as soon as we are done with the doctor?” Nami said trying to bribe her

“Yay ice cream!” Tsunade answered in a cheerful tone as her smile returned

The nurse lead them to a room and instructed Nami to sit on the bed and to wait for the doctor, it didn’t take long for him to enter the room, he picked up Nami’s file and sat down next to her “Ah, and who do we have here? Little Tsunade, you sure are growing fast aren’t you” The doctor said with a warm smile “How old are you now?” he asked

“I am five!” She answered with a playful grin

“Such a big girl you are now” He told her “Are you too big for a lollypop?” he asked her as he took out a large lollypop from his coat, Tsunade simply shook her head indicating that she was in no way too old for a lollypop, the doctor let out a small laugh and gave it to her as she began to happily suck on it “Now then, what can I do for you miss Yamashiro?” The doctor asked her

“Please, call me Nami… I don’t really hold any ties to the Yamashiro clan anymore…” Nami said in a slightly sad tone of voice

“Ah yes, I had heard something about that, well then Nami, how may I help you?” He asked again

“Well doctor, I am not really sure; there are a few things I guess…” She told him

“Well, let’s start with them one at a time, don’t worry, anything you tell me will stay between you and me, nothing will leave this office” He told her to try to assure her that it was safe to talk to him

“Well, I am not really sure that there is anything wrong with me, but it’s just Masaki was worried so I told him I would go to the hospital, it’s silly really… It’s just lately I have been gaining weight, no matter what I do to try and lose it, I just keep gaining, I train hard every day, I go on missions, I exercise, and nothing is working, and it’s frustrating me, I guess it’s causing me to take it out on him because I get mad at him easily when I know he has done nothing wrong…” she told him

“I see” he said nodding “Well, getting a check up can’t hurt now can it? Just take off your clothes and lay down on the bed” He said as he got a few instruments ready. Nami was unsure about taking all her clothes off in front of someone she really didn’t know, the doctor looked at her “Is this your first check up?” he asked

“Well before the village… We didn’t really have a hospital in my old clan so, this would be my first check up by a doctor in a hospital yes…” she admitted to him

The doctor smiled warmly at her “Don’t worry, I am a doctor, not a pervert, I am not going to hurt you or take advantage of you in any way” He told her, trying to reassure her of his intentions, Nami finally began to unzip her top and took it off and then took off her shirt before taking off her pants, leaving her only in her underwear, she then laid down on the bed, the doctor put his hand just above her left breast on her chest “Take a deep breath” He told her” she did as she was asked “Now let it out” once again obeying his commands, he then used a stethoscope and placed it where his hand was “Again please, breath in….And out, in and…. And out, good, you’re doing fine” he told her to comfort her, he then told her to sit up and he did the same thing but this time with the stethoscope on her back, he then continued doing the regular things a check up required before he was done “Well your lungs are very strong and healthy, however, your heart is beating at erratic speeds, it has me concerned”

“What? So there is something wrong with me?!” She asked him

“I don’t know yet, there is one thing that could account for what I am hearing, but I want to be sure before I say anything, please, lay back down” he asked her, he could tell that she was very nervous and worried “Look, if it’s what I think it is, it’s easily treatable and you have nothing to worry about alright?” He told her with his warm smile to once again reassure her, he used his stethoscope on her stomach and seemed to be listening very carefully, he was also using his other hand to feel her stomach as he pressed on different areas. Once he was done he sat back up and looked at her “Nami, there is nothing wrong with you physically, you are a very strong and healthy young women” He told her

“Then… What about my heart?” She asked him

“Your heart is also healthy and strong, there are no problems with it; however I can now explain why you are gaining weight and even your mood swings” He informed her

“Really?! What is it?” she asked wanting to know the answer

“Nami my dear, you are pregnant, I estimate just over two months”

“What does pregnant mean?” Tsunade asked.

The doctor smiled at her “It means that Nami is going to become a mommy” he explained to the little girl

“Really? Wow, just like when my mommy was with my little brother?” Tsunade asked again.

The doctor let out a small laugh “Yes, just like that”

“Can I be pregnant too? I want to be a mommy!! How do I become pregnant?” she asked.

Both the doctor and Nami looked at each other, not really sure how to answer that one “Uh, you’re too young for that my dear, you will learn in time” The doctor finally answered

“I am always too young for everything!! I want to be pregnant now!!” Tsunade said pouting

“How about ice cream?” Nami said reminding her of the promised she had made to her

“YAY ice cream!! I want chocolate!!” both the doctor and Nami let out a sigh of relief

“I suggest you begin taking it easy and eating healthy, I know it’s hard for you kunoichi to just take it easy, but it’s in the best interest of both you and your child” He explained to her

Just like the doctor had said, Nami didn’t like the idea of just sitting around the village doing nothing “Yeah, you’re right, I don’t like the idea just taking it easy and doing nothing… But I guess the ANBU does need a lot of paperwork done, and it would help out Masaki if I help him with most of it…”

“Yes, that would be fine, now I am going to schedule you for regular checkups to make sure that everything is going alright, both with you and the baby alright?” he said as he handed her a sheet of paper with dates he wanted her in for her appointments, Nami got dressed and took the paper

“Thank you doctor” She said feeling much better about having nothing wrong with her “But I have a question” she told him “If I am pregnant, why don’t I have any of the morning sickness?” He asked him

“Well my dear, every baby is different, I have some girls come in here like you who are perfectly fine, then I have other girls come in here who can’t keep their breakfast down, however that differs with each pregnancy, your next one may cause you to have the worst morning sickness ever or it could just be like this one” he explained to her

“I see, well thanks doctor, for everything” she said as the doctor led her outside of the office

“Think nothing of it, I am just doing my job, now remember, I want to see you back here in two weeks alright?”

“Don’t worry doctor, I will be here!” She said as she exited the hospital with Tsunade

“When I grow up, I am going to be a doctor to, and I will find out how to get pregnant and then I will be a mommy too!!” Tsunade said with a large grin

“Yes well… Let’s go get you that ice cream!” Nami quickly said to change the subject

PRESENT TIME

Suzu was still standing in front of the cages, she was fighting with herself, part of her wanted to open the cage and let them out, another part of her wanted to just leave now, she was a demon ninja, if she opened the cages, she would be committing treason, Naruto could tell that she was fighting herself, he felt horrible, this was more than likely the only chance they would ever have of escaping, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, he couldn’t bring himself to manipulate her in order to get her to open the cages “Suzu… Go home” He simply told her

“What?” She asked even more confused

“I don’t want you to release us, doing so would make you an outcast, a traitor, and you would no longer be welcomed among your own people… And I would be responsible for that, you had nothing to do with this mess until we dragged you in, we have already caused you enough pain as it is, return to your family, just forget about us” Naruto told her

“But Hokage Sama, how can you say that? She could be our only and last chance out of here!!” Hiyori asked him confused

“No Hiyori, even if she opened the cage, I would refuse to leave, not if it meant getting her into more trouble, look at this girl, she is so young, we would ruin the rest of her life, just to save ours, could you honestly live with yourself knowing this Hiyori? Or is the fact that she is a demon ninja make it that you don’t care”

Hiyori stared downwards; she was partly ashamed of herself and conflicted “… I am sorry Hokage Sama…” She said sadly

“It’s alright Hiyori, I know that you have a good heart, and that you just want to get Hamako out of here and to safety, but this isn’t the right way, your conscious would eat at you at night, knowing that you ruined an innocent girls life, just so that you could live, I already have nightmares that I am trying to get rid of, I don’t want to replace them with these ones” Naruto told her with a warm smile

Suzu admired greatly the man that is supposed to be a sworn enemy of the demon country, he did not live up to her expectations of a Night country ninja, his smile was warm, his eyes were filled with kindness, she didn’t want him to die, but he said it himself, even if she opened the cage door, he wouldn’t come out, that’s when she heard some noise coming from just outside the chamber “Hey, who are you? I have never seen those masks before” a voice came from outside

“We were sent by Daiki himself to get the prisoners ready to move out for the sacrifice, the shadow’s demands are getting on our nerves, we would rather just get it over with so that they have nothing to complain about anymore” one of the voices stated

“Those damn shadow bastards, haven’t they gotten over it yet? Can’t they go find something else to go and rape? But still this is unusual, where are the transfer papers?” another voice asked

“Uh transfer papers just one moment” a third voice asked

She then heard something that sounded like two bodies falling down “Intruders?!” she immediately opened her pouch and took out her mask, putting it on as fast as she could, she then extended her arms outwards as two hidden sais slid into her hands, just as she got into a defensive position, two unknown demon ninjas walked in

“Ah crap, there was one in here too, well I guess she heard what just happened, so much for our disguises” The one with white hair stated while removing his mask, revealing Toshiro’s face

“Well they got us this far, not my fault that the last guards weren’t as stupid as the others…” The other one said while removing his mask revealing Itachi

“What am I going to do? Should I fight them? Or should I… Allow them to win and rescue their friends, but what would they do with me afterwards?!” she thought to herself, again conflicted as to what to do

“Toshiro, Itachi, stand down now! You shall not harm her, I will not allow it!!” Naruto ordered them

“But… Hokage Sama” Itachi began to say, however he could see from Naruto’s stare that he wasn’t kidding “As you wish my lord” He said as he put away his weapons, Toshiro did the same “…What now?” Itachi asked confused as to what was going on and what to do next

“Suzu, I know that you’re conflicted, I know that everything that you were ever thought is telling you to attack them, however I know that deep down inside you don’t want to... I am going to tell you everything, the entire truth as to who we really are, and why we are here, if you would just hear me out…” Naruto told her

“Hokage Sama… That could take time, the longer we stay here, the greater the chance of them finding us become…” Toshiro pointed out

“I don’t care about that right now, Suzu, will you hear me out?” Naruto asked her once again

Suzu put away her weapons and lifted her mask, and just like everyone before them, both Itachi and Toshiro were stunned by how young and beautiful the girl was, this was Toshiro’s first time seeing the face of a true demon ninja from Wolf village “I will…” She simply said as she turned her attention away from Toshiro and Itachi and back to Naruto, trusting his words that they would not attack her while her back was turned

“First of all, we are not Night Ninjas… Well Toshiro and Hiyori here USE to be, but they aren’t anymore”

“Then who are you?” Suzu asked confused

Naruto explained everything, from how his ancestor came to his side of the world, to how the night attacked forcing him to use the dormant power of his Zanpakuto and thus angering it, forcing them to come here to fix it, and how they were dragged into a battle with the demon country that caused Hiyori and Hamako to go missing. He explained to her how he refused to let them go and how he decided to take his team into demon country controlled territory, and how in an act of desperation they took control of her in order to gain intelligence on the whereabouts of their missing team members

Suzu was shocked, about the entire story, but mostly about the part where they took control of her “So your saying you took over my mind and body?!” Suzu asked still in shock

“Yes, BUT something went wrong, we were just going to use you to get the info and then release you while blocking the memories of the event ever had happened… We don’t know what happened once Ino left us in your body, however she could still be in there, evidence of this is how you know things about us that you shouldn’t, my name for example… Or how you feel that you should be protecting me, those are Ino’s thoughts and feelings, as a Konoha Ninja, it’s her duty to protect the Hokage, believe me when I say, we meant you no harm… We just wanted to rescue Hamako and Hiyori, that’s all”

Suzu seemed to be deep in thought, she knew that he wasn’t lying, for many reasons, first one being that she could feel that some of these memories she had were not her own, and that she could feel no deceit, all she could feel was honesty and kindness, This man before her was ready to sacrifice himself to save her from being an outcast… “I believe you” She told him

“Look, there is still a chance that Ino is in there, there is still a chance that we can get her out of your mind, but we are going to need you to cooperate with us, I swear to you that we will not harm you, if anything were to happen to you while in my care, I would personally return with you and give myself up to your father to do with as he wished for breaking my promise to you”

Suzu looked into his eyes, she knew that he was being serious, so she nodded “Alright, I trust you…” she said as she opened his cell. Toshiro and Itachi opened the two others, Hiyori jumped into Toshiro’s arms crying “I thought I would never see you again” she said as she held him tightly

“Don’t worry, you are safe now, I won’t allow anything else to happen to you” He said as he held her tightly

“Itachi, can you use your sharingan to enter her mind? Perhaps find out if Ino is still in there somewhere?”

“Yes I could my lord” Itachi simply responded

“Can you do it without causing any harm to her, both physically and psychologically?” Naruto asked him again

“Yes, although it will be harder that way, but I can do it”

“Then do it!” Naruto told him

“Right now my lord?” Itachi asked him

“Yes, I will not needlessly drag the poor girl across the country if there is no point to it, now please, do it” Naruto once again asked him

“Yes my lord….” Itachi’s eyes suddenly changed to his sharingan, and then to his mangekyou sharingan, his eyes began to spin as he stared into Suzu’s yellow eyes

Suddenly he found himself in a field of flowers, a younger version of Suzu was standing in front of him with a large smile “Hey mister!” she said greeting him “Have you come to play with me?” she asked him

Itachi smiled for the young girl and ruffled her hair “Yes I have” he answered her “But do you think you could show me around first?” He asked her

“Sure thing! I am just finding out about this place myself, so we can look around together, hey I know!! We can play explorers!! Yeah that would be fun wouldn’t it? Oh we are going to have such a great time” She said as she laughed playfully

“This must be her inner child… odd that it would be the first thing I encounter…” he thought to himself “Tell me, what do you mean by just finding out about this place?” Itachi asked her

“Well you see, this place is new, it wasn’t here a while ago, no one knows where it came from, or why it’s slowly changing” She answered him

“Slowly changing?!” Itachi asked quickly

“Yeah, see, over there, the flowers and trees are changing, it’s still pretty, but I don’t know why it’s happening” She answered him

Itachi looked around, the flowers and trees all looked like they were from Konoha, he then looked at where the girl had pointed where things were changing, it was as if slowly everything was changing into flowers and trees found in the demon country “Oh no… Ino’s mind must slowly be merging with Suzu’s mind… But what would happen to Ino? More than likely her consciousness would fade away since this is Suzu’s body

Suddenly someone kicked him from behind sending him crashing to the ground, Itachi rolled right back onto his feet to face his attacker “Stay away from her!” The new arrival told him, it was Suzu, but she was fully grown and dressed in her ninja attire “Suzu, get out of here, I told you not to talk to strangers!” She told the young one

“But he is nice… We were going to play explorer together!” She said with a smile

“I told you to get out of here, NOW!” She commanded

The young Suzu looked sad, but she obeyed “Yes Nee-Chan…” she said as she simply faded away

“This must be her sense of security and courage… how can I fight her, if I defeat her, I could cause damage to her psyche, if I allow her to defeat me… Who knows what that will do to me, I have to find a way of convincing her that I am not the enemy” Itachi thought to himself “I am not here to fight or cause any harm, please believe me…” Itachi tried to explain

“I don’t care, all I know is that you shouldn’t be here, just like that other one, you must be dealt with” She said as she launched an attack, Itachi could only block it, but his sword suddenly disappeared, he used his arm to deflect her hand, he then jumped back to get some distance between them

“Other one? Could it be Ino?” Itachi wondered “I am not here to cause harm, I am actually here to help, the other one of who you speak of, I know who she is, I can help remove her, but you have to trust me! I am not here to harm you, please show me where she is!” Itachi pleaded

“See, he is a nice man Nee-Chan, can’t you just try to trust him?” The young one said as she faded in

“I told you to get out of here Suzu…”

“Look, our minds are connected, you can read my thoughts, and you should know that I mean you no harm!” Itachi told her “I am not trying to invade your mind; I am here to help you liberate it!”

“See Nee-Chan, he is here to help, not harm us” She said with a playful smile

“You are too trusting Suzu…” she said while not taking her eyes off of Itachi

Itachi knew that she wasn’t going to trust him easily; after all, it seems that she was also her sense of danger, doubt and fear in addition to security, and that the small one was also her sense of trust and compassion. Itachi threw away all of his weapons, he even removed his vest and threw it all to the ground, he put his arms up to his side “I am not here to fight, I have removed all of my weapons and armor, if you wish to kill me, then so bit it, but I cannot leave here until my mission is completed

“Fine by me, makes it easier to kill you!” She said as she began running towards him, but Itachi refused to move, he promised Naruto that he wouldn’t harm Suzu’s psyche, and he would keep his promise, even if it meant losing his own mind in the process, although he wasn’t really sure what would happen if he died here

Suzu was just about to kill him with her sais when the young one screamed “NO STOP!!!” she began to cry causing Suzu to stop only inches from Itachi’s chest

“You’re lucky that she likes you, but if you dare harm her in anyway, I will personally ensure that you die the slowest and most painful death that I can think of, and as a demon ninja, trust me, I know plenty of ways” she threaten him before she faded away leaving him alone with the child version of Suzu

“…Thank you” Itachi told her with a smile, realizing that she had perhaps just saved his life

“It’s alright, I know you’re not a bad man, but Nee-Chan is kind of overprotective, but she is a good person, really she is” the small Suzu said trying to defend her older self

Itachi smiled “I know she is” he said as he walked over to her “But this is very important, she mentioned someone else being here, someone who doesn’t belong?” He asked her

“Yeah, Nee-Chan chased her away, she is hiding somewhere, Nee-Chan said not to worry about her, that she would be gone soon anyway, but that I had to stay away from her, I don’t know where she is thought” Suzu told him

“We have to find her quickly” Itachi told her

“Alright, I will help you look!” She said cheerfully as she grabbed his hand and began the search for Ino

Staring at them from afar was the older Suzu “One false step out of you… And I swear…” she said as she faded away once more

Itachi and the young Suzu searched together when Itachi tried to search outside of the Konoha field of flowers Suzu stopped him “No, she’s not there” she told him

“Why?” Itachi asked

“Because, she isn’t allowed, you’re not either, only I and Nee-Chan are allowed there”

“So is it possible that Ino’s consciousness accidentally went over to that side?”

“No, it would cause her a great deal of pain; she would have to return to this side, you can try if you don’t believe me…”

“No, that’s alright, I do believe you, I don’t think that you are capable of lying or deceiving” Itachi said with a smile. Suddenly they heard someone crying “What’s that?”

“I don’t know, it’s not any of my Nee-Chans”

“…How many more of you are there?” He asked

“A few” she said with a child like smile

“Well if it’s none of them, it could be Ino…” he said as he began running towards where the crying was coming from, They found a little blonde girl, Itachi didn’t recognize her, at least not right away, but then he saw her face, her bright blue eyes “Ino?!”

“ITACHI!” She said as she ran over to hug him, but at her height, all she could reach was his legs “Itachi, I am so scared…” she said as she cried

“There there Ino, we are going to get you out of here, but first you have to tell me what happened and how to get you safely out of here”

“I don’t know, one moment I was in control, then everything went dark, when I woke up, this entire place was in chaos, complete anarchy… Things slowly began to calm down, but I was never able to regain control, I thought I was going to die here alone…”

“Why do you look like your child version of yourself?” Itachi asked

“I don’t know… I just woke up this way” She answered him

“It’s because Nee-Chan figured it would be the form of her that would cause the least amount of trouble, so she and the others forced her into that form” the young Suzu explained

“I see… Ino, how can we get you out of here?” Itachi asked

“If you brought this body near mine, I may be able to get back, however I can’t just leave by detaching myself like I normally do, she would need to be in direct physical contact with my body since my consciousness is not free to just leave like I normally would be able to do” Ino explained

“Then we have to get you back, because I don’t believe that there is much time before your consciousness is completely overrun by hers”

“Yeah… Hey Itachi, if you’re unable to get me back, tell Shikamaru that… Even thought he is a lazy good for nothing bastard… That I love him anyway” Ino told him

“Don’t worry Ino, we will make it back, and you can tell him yourself” Itachi told her, he then slowly began to fade away, he had returned to reality “We have to get her back to her body as soon as possible” Itachi told them

“Wait a minute, what are you going to do with me!?” Suzu asked

“I found Ino, she is still alive, but not for long, your mind is slowly taking over her mind, and soon she will be completely merged with you and she will be gone, she said that if we can get you to her body and that you physically touch her, her consciousness could get back into her own body” Itachi explained to her

“Look Suzu, you trusted us this much so far, please just continue to trust us a little bit more, I promise you that once we have Ino back, we will let you come back home, unharmed, just like I promised”

“…Alright” Suzu answered

“Itachi, Tie her hands up” Naruto ordered, an order that confused both Suzu and Itachi

“Uh Hokage Sama?”

“Look, what would it look like if we are caught and she is willingly fallowing us? It will look like she helped us get away and that she is trying to escape with us, I will have none of that, if they catch us and she looks like she is our captive, they will think that we captured her and forced her to come with us, and she will be able to return home without being branded a traitor” Naruto explain

“Understood” Itachi answered “May I?” Itachi asked while holding a rope in front of Suzu, she was still debating whether or not it was the right thing to do, but she trusted Naruto, so she held her hands together in front of her and Itachi tied them up. They then began making their escape from the sleeping village....

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 34

IN THE PAST

The sun was beginning to set, Danzo was panting heavily as he was on his back with Masaki’s blade only inches from his forehead “You did better this time, you are learning quickly” Masaki said with a bright smile as he put away his blade and offered his hand to Danzo to help him up

“Thank you Sensei, but you are so fast, I don’t believe that I will ever be able to defeat you” Danzo answered as he dusted himself off

“Danzo, your goal is not to defeat me, it’s to become stronger so that you may one day be able to defend your home, your friends and loved ones, power is nothing if you do not know how to use it, or have anyone to protect” Masaki explained “That is probably the most important part of all”

“I think I understand Sensei” Danzo answered causing Masaki to smile

“Well I think we’re done for today, we can pick it up tomorrow”

Danzo nodded and bowed in respect of his master, suddenly they heard someone calling out to them

“Masaki! Hey Masaki! You’re still here?” The voice asked

Masaki turned to see his beautiful Nami walk towards them, accompanied by a little girl that he had never seen before “Nami!” He responded as he held her “So who is this?” He asked motioning at Tsunade

“I am Tsunade, I am five years old and I like ice cream!” She answered gleefully causing Masaki to let out a chuckle

“She is the Hokage’s granddaughter, he asked me to take care of her for a while, but that was this morning, he was suppose to have picked her up by now, but I can’t find him” Nami explained to him

“We went to the doctor today, I asked him how babies are made, but he said I was too young, everyone always say I am too young to do anything, you look like a nice person, can you teach me how to become a mommy just like Na….” But before she could finish her sentence Nami covers her mouth

“He doesn’t know either Tsunade, so he wouldn’t be able to answer you” Nami said quickly, both Danzo and Masaki just looked at each other


“Don’t worry, I am sure you will learn soon” Masaki said with a smile

“Not from us she’s not… And she almost spoiled my surprise for Masaki, that was a close one” Nami thought to herself “So are you boys done yet?” She asked to change the subject quickly

“Yeah, we were just about to head out actually” Masaki answered

“Good, because there are some things we need to talk about…” Nami told him nervously

“Alright then, so Danzo, I want to see you here at the same time right here tomorrow morning, understood?” Masaki told him

“Yes Sensei, I will be here!” He answered quickly

“Oh and one last thing, I would love to meet your parents”

“uh…” Danzo looked uneasy

“Masaki! Don’t you remember, I read you his file right before we tested him, he lost his parents” Nami told him

Masaki felt horrible “I am sorry Danzo, I didn’t mean to bring up a subject that must be hard for you, I completely forgot…” Masaki said remorsefully

“It’s alright… I have been on my own for a long time, and Konoha takes good care of me, it’s given me a home and food, I am fine” He said with a forced smile

Masaki could tell that he was lying about being fine, he could sense that the boy was lonely “Well… How would you like to come back home with us? Nami always make too much food for the both of us and I hate wasting food, so you would be more then welcome to have dinner with us, right Nami?” Masaki asked, hoping that Nami would be fine with the idea

Nami smiled, Masaki really had a big heart, even thought that they had never actually thrown anything out “Of course I don’t mind” She answered “And since Hashirama is nowhere to be seen, I guess Tsunade is going to be joining us to” Nami added

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be an inconvenience” Danzo said feeling embarrassed

“Nonsense, it is decided then, you will be coming home with us tonight” Masaki said with a large grin, the four of them began to walk towards Masaki’s house, to the average person; they looked like a happy family walking home together

PRESENT TIME

Naruto and his team had successfully escaped the village patrols and were moving at high speeds through the forest, they were not out of danger yet, they could still run into a demon ninja patrol, and with Suzu being tied up, it was hard for her to keep her balance while jumping from tree branch to tree branch at such high speeds. Suddenly Suzu lost her balance and slipped, she was on a freefall and she was unable to recover with her hands being bound.

Just as she was about to hit the ground, Naruto quickly caught her “Are you alright?” He asked as the others joined him on the ground

“Yeah, I am alright; I just lost my balance…” She answered him

“Hokage Sama, we have to continue moving, they must have found out that you are gone by now, they will be sending out search parties” Toshiro told him

“I am slowing you guys down, I am sorry” Suzu said feeling responsible about their slow pace

“Don’t worry about it” Naruto said with a warm smile

“Perhaps one of us should just carry her the rest of the way, we would be able to go faster” Itachi suggested “I volunteer for the task”

Suzu did not like the idea of being carried by Itachi, and somehow, Naruto had noticed it in her eyes “No, I will do it, I promised that I would protect her, that is if you don’t mind” Naruto asked with a smile

Suzu blushed a bit, she actually felt safe in his arms, she just nodded trying to hide her blush.

Meanwhile back in the village, Yukito was walking around the village, still trying to figure out how to apologize to Suzu for their last conversation, suddenly he heard the village alarm bell go off, he quickly began to run towards the town center to find out what was going on

“THE PRISINERS HAVE ESCAPED!!” screamed one of the guards that Toshiro and Itachi had knocked out

“The prisoners are gone?” Yukito thought to himself, suddenly he felt a presence behind him, he turned around “Daiki?!” He asked surprised

“WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!?” he screamed at him as he picked him up by the collar

Yukito was very confused “What are you talking about?!? What happened?!?” he asked him

“THEY TOOK MY LITTLE GIRL; THEY TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME!!” Daiki said with streams of tears coming down from his cheeks

This was the first time that Yukito had ever seen Daiki cry “They took Suzu?!” He asked, to be sure he didn’t misunderstand the situation

“YOU WERE SUPOSE TO BE PROTECTING HER!! WHERE WERE YOU?!?” He said as he punched Yukito hard enough to send him flying to the ground

Blood began to drip from his mouth as he got back up, his team member….No, his love, had been kidnapped by merciless night ninja’s who would more than likely abuse her and torture her, just the thought of any harm coming to Suzu because he wasn’t there to protect her caused him a great deal of pain “Daiki Sama… I swear to you on my life that I will NOT return to the village without her, I will rescue her, or die trying, this is a promise that I make to you” He said as he bowed his head before vanishing

“YOU BETTER BRING HER BACK!!” He said as he fell down to his knees crying “My little baby girl…..”

As Yukito exits the village, Tamao appeared beside him “Where do you think you’re going without me?” She asked

“Tamao, I don’t want you to come, these guys are really dangerous, this is my mission, I am going to bring Suzu back home”

“Hey, we are a team! You, I and Suzu, you two are my best friends, and I will be DAMMED if I just sit here and do nothing, I am coming with you, whether you like it or not”

Yukito smiled “Thanks…”

Tamao Nodded as both of them began the pursuit of the escaped night ninja’s

BACK IN THE PAST

Nami had begun cleaning up the table after they had eaten, Danzo suddenly got up “No please, allow me to help” He said with a smile as he took the plates

“Danzo, you are our guest, you don’t need to do that” Nami told him

“It’s alright, you have been so kind to me, I want to do it” He said as he took the plates to the sink and even began washing them

“He is a good boy” Masaki commented as Nami smiled

“Yeah, I really feel bad when I think that he has to go home to an empty house all alone” Nami told him

“Really? I kind of feel the same way… I was thinking, we have such a big house here with so many rooms… Maybe we could, you know, invite him to stay with us, what do you think?” Masaki asked her

She smiled at him “You really do care about others don’t you” She said as she held him tightly

“Yeah…. And it’s just I know how he feels, I lost my parents at a young age too, I had other family members there to take care of me of course, but he has no one… And I keep thinking, with the lives we live, if we were to ever have a child and god forbid something happened to us while he was still a kid, I would want someone to do the same for him or her” He admitted to her

Nami laid her head against his shoulder “Well I don’t mind if he is alright with staying here…. And Masaki there is something I have to tell you” But suddenly they are interrupted by a knock at the door

“I will get it” He said as he got up to open the door. He opened the door and it was Hashirama “Ah Hokage Sama, you must be here to pick little Tsunade up” Masaki said with a smile

Hashirama didn’t answer right away, Masaki could tell something was wrong

“…Masaki, I am sorry for this…” He said with a sad face “do it…”

Suddenly four men surrounded Masaki, they were wearing the Konoha police emblems “I am sorry sir but you are going to have to come with us… Please, do not resist” one of them stated as he bounded Masaki’s hands who was offering no resistance

“Hokage Sama?! What’s going on here?” Masaki asked

“… Namikaze Masaki, you are being charged with murdering foreign ninja’s and trying to instigate a war between the Fire Nation and the newly formed Lighting nation” Hashirama said in a sad tone

“WHAT?!” Nami screamed out hearing the accusation “How the hell can you accuse him of that?! And when did this take place?” She demanded to know

“early this morning, a group of ninja’s from the Lighting nation was patrolling their side of the borders, they were suddenly attacked by something they described as a yellow blur or flash, it instantly killed two of them, when the target stopped, they got a good look at him, he had blonde hair, blue eyes and a white coat with black flames, the target was wielding a blade described precisely like this one” Hashirama said pointing at Masaki’s blade that the Konohan officers had removed from Masaki’s possession “He then disappeared in a flash back into our side of the borders, their leader is demanding justice”

“But that’s impossible; Konoha is days away from any of our borders!!” Nami stated in disbelief

“Nami, you know as well as I do that Masaki has the speed required to pull this off… Thought I do not believe he would be the type to do something like this… I fought for him during the council meeting, that’s why it took so long, but the evidence is against him, I have no choice but to have him arrested, or risk a diplomatic incident that may drag us into war, I am sorry, but my hands are tied” He said sadly

“Hokage Sama, I apologize for listening in, but my master could not have done this crime, because Masaki sensei has spent the entire day training me, we have been up since before the sun even rose this morning up until it began to set this evening, there are also many witnesses who could testify to this as we went to eat ramen at the local restaurant” Danzo said as he joined them “Also, my master is not sloppy, if he would have done such an attack, he wouldn’t have left any survivors, it just wouldn’t make any sense, unless he wanted them to report back”

Hashirama looked at the young boy and smiled “Remove those restraints!” he ordered, the officers did as they were told “I will return to the council with this new information, Masaki, I am very sorry for this, I knew you were not the one responsible for those actions” Hashirama said feeling much better knowing that he had proof of Masaki’s innocence

“See, I told you it couldn’t be him!!” Nami said as she held onto Masaki’s arm tightly, afraid of losing him

“And I swear to you that it wasn’t me….. But that would mean someone is trying to frame me, but why?”

“Someone who wants to see Konoha at war, and a good man put away, we will get to the bottom of this Masaki” Hashirama answered him

A little figure walked into the background, she was yawning and rubbing her eyes “Grandpa? GRANDPA!” she said as she ran into his arms

“Oh my little girl, have you been good for Nami?” He asked her as he held her tightly

“Yeah, we went to the doctor, and he gave me a lollypop, then Nami took me out for ice cream, then we played together, then went to find Masaki, he was really dirty, so was that boy, I guess they must have played all day long, then we came here and washed up, and Nami served us a great meal, it was really good, she is really nice, I like her” She said all within a few seconds as she smiled happily

“Well, it sounds like you had a good day” He said se he nudged her nose with his own “Nami, I hate to ask this of you but, could you take care of her just a while longer? Her parents are not yet back and I need to get back to the council to clear Masaki’s name” He told her

“Yeah of course, she can even spend the night, would you like that?” Nami said with a smile

“YEAH!!” Tsunade answered with a bright smile

“Then its settled, you stay here with Nami and I will come pick you up tomorrow” Hashirama said as he set her down “And Masaki, I want to apologize again, never did I ever think it was you” Hashirama said feeling horrible about almost arresting Masaki

“It’s alright, you had no choice, let’s just find the real culprit and clear my name once and for all”

“Indeed my friend, indeed” Hashirama said as he left with the police force members

Hashirama shut the door, he was still in shock about almost being falsely arrested, and that someone would actually frame him, he smiled at Danzo “Thanks for standing up for me” He told him

“I only told them the truth Sensei, I wasn’t going to just stand by and let them take you away” He said with a smile

“Still, thanks, look, me and Nami were talking about it right before all this happened and, well, We would like for you to stay here with us, we know we aren’t your real parents, but I would still like to give you a home, we have plenty of room here, so it wouldn’t be a bother, and Nami could use the company whenever I go off on long missions… Well that is, only if you want to” Masaki told him

Danzo was almost speechless, he never thought that anyone would ever offer him a place to stay, he had just accepted the fact that he was an orphan, an outsider “I don’t know what to say…”

“Say yes” Nami said with a smile

“Then, yes!” Danzo answered with a smile of his own

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 35

IN THE PAST

Everything was quiet in the Namikaze estate, Tsunade and Danzo were sleeping soundly in their beds, Nami was checking up on them, she stared at them from the door as they slept “They look so peaceful” she thought to herself as she closed the door “And very soon, we will have a family of our own” Nami thought happily as she returned to their room, she opened the door and turned on the light, the bed was still empty, she let out a small sigh thinking about Masaki, the news Hashirama had given him had really hurt him.

Masaki was sitting on a tree branch and staring at the stars in the night sky behind the Namikaze mansion, he was deep in thought, who could have framed him and why? Although one name came to mind

Nami was staring at him from bellow; she knew that he was hurting inside, and it was breaking her heart. She jumped from tree branch to tree branch until she had reached him, she sat on the tree branch next to him, and it was enough to get his attention “Are you alright?” she asked

He put on a smile for her “Yeah… I am just still shocked at the news…” he told her. Nami could tell that he was forcing himself to smile, she took his hand into her own and held on, Masaki turned his head to look at her, she was a true vision of beauty, he smiled at her, but this time for real “Thanks Nami, I don’t know what I would do without you” He told her as he stared into her emerald green eyes

She smiled back at him “And I don’t know what I would do without you” she answered back as she stared into his deep blue eyes “Masaki… I have something to tell you” she said in a serious tone as she looked up at the moon shining brightly

Masaki suddenly became concerned at Nami’s sudden change in expression “What is it?” he asked her. Nami didn’t answer right away, she was actually debating if now was really the best time to tell him, with everything that’s happened to him tonight, they had never really seriously talked about having children, although she knew that they both did want them “Nami?” Masaki asked as he was getting scared at the pause

“Today… At the hospital the doctor told me…” She once again paused

Nami now had Masaki’s full attention, he was beginning to fear that it could be bad news; why else would she be pausing? “Nami?...” he once again asked as she looked like she was lost in her own thoughts

She began to stare at her stomach and used her other hand to caress it “Masaki, I am…. Pregnant” She was finally able to say it

Masaki was speechless; his earlier troubles didn’t seem as pressing anymore. He held her hand even tighter as he pulled her to his branch; she was now sitting in front of him “That is great news!!” He said as he hugged her tightly

Nami wrapped her own arms around him as she hugged back, Masaki then began to kiss her passionately, when they finally parted their lips he put his hand on top of Nami’s hand as they felt her stomach together “Masaki… I love you” she told him

“And I love you too” He answered her almost instantly

The next morning Nami woke up, she felt around to try and find Masaki, but his side of the bed was empty, she sat up and looked around the room, the sun had risen outside, she looked at the time and noticed that it was just past eight, she normally would wake up before six “Masaki must be gone to train Danzo by now…” she thought sadly to herself, she let out a small sigh as she got out of bed and decided to take a shower, today was going to be a big day, Masaki would be facing the very council that he was a part of himself, although she knew that he was innocent, they are still going to want to ask him questions, and she would be there to support him

She exited the shower and got dressed, she realized that her clothes were starting to feel tight on her, she would need to get herself some maternity clothing because she wasn’t going to be fitting in her old clothes for very much longer, suddenly she began to smell something, it almost smelled like “…Banana Pancakes?!?” she said as she quickly exited the room and made her way to the kitchen

Masaki was flipping a pancake while keeping an eye on the bacon, it wasn’t a traditional Konoha breakfast, actually, it was a night country traditional breakfast, however it became Nami’s favorite when he cooked it for her once, he heard someone enter the kitchen and knew that it could only be her “Good morning sleepy head” he said with a bright smile

“Masaki?!” She asked confused as to why he was still here “Aren’t you suppose to be training Danzo?”

“I decided that we were going to take a break, for many reasons….” He answered her

“I could tell that Sensei was not in the mind set for training today, with everything that’s happened last night, and then he informed me about you, so I suggested that we take today off” Danzo said with a bright smile as he got the toasts ready

“And I helped set up the table!!” Tsunade said cheerfully happy to also be helping “I don’t know what they are making, but it smells yummy!”

Nami couldn’t believe the trouble they all went through just for her “Thanks guys…” She said feeling embarrassed

Both Masaki and Danzo smiled as everyone sat down to eat

Meanwhile at the fire tower, the council had already convened for their meeting, although Masaki was also a part of the council as a founding member of Konoha, he would normally be too busy with other matters to attend, such as being on a mission or dealing with the ANBU, unless it was very important, and had the issue not been about him, then he would have been asked to attend

“Why wasn’t Masaki arrested as we agreed!” one of the council members asked

“Because he did not commit the crimes that he is being accused of!” Hashirama answered

“With all due respect Hokage Sama, but that is something for the police force to determine” the man responded

“Perhaps your friendship with him is clouding your judgment my lord” Another stated

Tobirama got up instantly “HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE MY BROTHER OF ALLOWING PERSONAL FEELINGS AFFECT HIS DECISIONS REGARDING KONOHA!” he said in anger

“Calm down Tobi” Hashirama told his younger brother “There was immediate evidence that he was not the one to have committed the crime” Hashirama responded calmly

“What kind of evidence?” another asked

“Multiple witnesses and statements all placing Masaki here during the crime, making it impossible for him to be the one”

“And you conducted the investigation yourself? Do you not think that because of your friendship with the suspect that…”

But before he could even finish “No, the head of the Konoha Police force conducted the investigation” Hashirama answered

“How is that possible? How could there have been enough time to conduct a full and thorough investigation?”

“You can ask him yourself, please allow the captain in” Hashirama told the guards

They opened the doors as the head of the Konoha Police force walked in; he had raven black hair and eyes just as black, as was common for Uchiha’s. He bowed in respect of the council “Thank you for allowing me to speak directly to the council my lord” The young man stated “I was with the Hokage last night when we went to arrest the suspect, and I assure you that we went there with the intentions of arresting him, however there was a young boy there that testified being with Masaki the entire day training together, that alone gave Masaki a good alibi, and I agreed with the Hokage’s decision to hold off on arresting Masaki right away” the man stated

“But you cannot declare someone innocent from just the one witness!” One of the council members stated

“No of course not, I wouldn’t be a good officer if I would conduct such a sloppy investigation, since Masaki is a council member, and a founding member of Konoha, I made it my priority to solve this case as fast as possible, with the Hokage’s blessing, I used every free officer at my disposal to conduct the investigation, we spent the past fourteen hours questioning multiple Konoha citizens, we retrace the places that the boy said they had been during the day, everything checked out, every story connected and fell into place, I am very confident in my findings, Namikaze Masaki is innocent” The man told them all

“I still believe that this investigation seemed rushed” The councilman stated

Akito got up “ENOUGH! Why are you trying so hard to have the boy found guilty? From everything I have heard here, I agree that he is innocent!”

“The man saved your son’s life Sarutobi, you are hardly impartial in the matter” the councilman stated

“And doesn’t that say something about who the boy really is?! He risked his life to save both Hiruzen and Kayoko, he didn’t think twice!” Akito responded, having a hard time at keeping from killing the man

“He is a founding member of this village and a fellow council member, out of all of us, he may have worked the hardest to build this village, he has shown nothing but loyalty towards us, he risks his life on a daily basis for us, he almost died on his last mission! Yet some other nation comes to us and accuses him of killing one of their own and we are ready to throw him to the wolves?!” Tobirama said joining Akito in defying the councilman “What if they accuse you next? Would you wish for us to just hand you over to them?” He added

The councilman felt ashamed “It is not that I want him to be guilty… But if he isn’t and we do nothing, then it could mean war, are we ready for that?” The councilman stated

Hashirama got up “We cannot fold every time another nation demands something from us, I agree that if there is a peaceful solution to resolve the issue, we should pursue it, but we will not be handing over Masaki to them, and if that is unacceptable, then we will defend ourselves”

“Agreed!” Tobirama said alongside his brother

“Agreed!” Akito said standing by his Hokage

One by one the other council members agreed

IN THE PRESENT

The sun was rising in the sky as Sakura was staring in the direction of the demon country; it had been a few days since Naruto had been captured and Toshiro and Itachi went in to rescue him, but in only two days they would be leaving as instructed by Toshiro, a tear was slowly dripping down her cheek at the thought of having to abandon her soul mate

Konohamaru walked up to her, it was breaking his heart to see his big sister in such a state “Sakura Nee-Chan… You should eat, it’s not good for you, or the baby if you skip your meals” He told her

Sakura continued to stare in the distance “Don’t worry, I will eat something, I just wanted some fresh air first” She said as she turned around to face him with a fake smile

But Konohamaru knew that she was lying “Nee-Chan, you know that if you give me the order, I will go get him… Team Naruto is ready to leave at any time!” Konohamaru told her

Sakura gave him a faint smile, but it was a genuine smile “No, I cannot ask for more people to risk their lives, if Toshiro and Itachi can’t do it...” but she didn’t finish her sentence, she didn’t even want to think about them failing, and perhaps even fall into enemy hands themselves, no, she had to be optimist, they were going to make it

“Yes Nee-Chan… But please go eat breakfast; I will stay here in your place”

Without warning Sakura hugged him tightly “Thanks Konohamaru, for being there for me” She said as she cried in his arms, knowing that she could trust Konohamaru

He wrapped his own arms around her to comfort her “You and Nii-San have always been there for me… So it’s only natural that I be there for you, now go, go eat something, please!” Konohamaru once again requested

Sakura wiped away her tears with her hand “Alright, I am going” She answered him

Sakura began to walk away as Konohamaru took her place to keep an eye out for Naruto; suddenly he thought he saw something move in the distance “Sakura Nee-Chan, wait!” he told her

Sakura immediately stopped and turned around “What is it?” She asked

“Something is coming this way… I can’t make it out yet but… Wait, yes, it’s them!” Konohamaru finally said

Sakura ran to his side to see it for herself, her eyes lit up when she saw Naruto leading the group, she began to run out to meet him “NARUTO!!” She screamed out as tears of happiness were streaming down her face, it was him, he was alive and he was back. As he got closer she noticed that he was carrying someone who seemed unconscious, a young girl, as she reached him, he shockingly continued running past her along with Itachi, Hamako and Hiyori

Toshiro stopped; he looked exhausted “Lady Sakura… Naruto told me to apologies for him, but time is of the essence, Ino’s life is hanging in the balance, and possibly Suzu’s as well” He said as he allowed himself to fall down to rest

“What happened??” Sakura asked

“Ino’s mind is slowly being integrated into Suzu’s mind, it must be affecting Suzu as well because she lost consciousness yesterday, and before that she began acting strange, for some reason, the only person she would allow to even touch her was Naruto, she never left his side even when we stopped to rest”

“But Ino is still in there right??” Sakura asked concerned for her best friend

“Yes, Itachi was able to talk to her using his abilities to connect to her mind, Ino said that she would need to be in physical contact with her body in order to return, that is why they must get her to Ino right away” Toshiro explained

Sakura was in shock, she turned around and began running towards where they had been keeping Ino, Toshiro forced his body back up and fallowed her

She arrived and saw that Naruto had laid Suzu down next to Ino “Did it work!?” Naruto asked Itachi

“I don’t know, nothing seems to have changed”

“Could we have arrived too late?” Hiyori asked

“No, I refuse to accept that possibility, Itachi, isn’t there anything you can do?” Naruto asked him

“The only way to get any answers is by going inside her mind again” He answered him

“But won’t that be dangerous?”

“It could indeed, but it is a risk I am willing to take my lord” Itachi told him

“… I will not force you to do this, but if you wish it, then please, do what you can” Naruto answered

“Very well, open her eyes, my sharingan needs to be in direct contact with her eyes for my power to work” He instructed him

Naruto gently opened Suzu’s eyes as Itachi activated his Sharingan, he found himself inside Suzu’s mind once again, he looked around, there seemed to be storm clouds as it rained heavily along with bolts of lighting, it seemed like Suzu’s mind was in complete chaos “I have to find Ino…” He said as he began searching, he saw a body laying on the ground, he quickly ran towards it. It seemed to be Suzu’s inner child, the form that he had first made contact with before, however something was wrong, her hair was no longer completely pink; it was a mix of pink and blond hair “Suzu!! Wake up, please Suzu!” Itachi said as he held her up on his knee

Her eyes slowly opened, Itachi noticed that they were no longer yellow, but green, it would appear that Ino’s memory was not only merging with Suzu’s, it was rewriting her entire DNA coding, something that he could have never thought possible, at least not without DNA manipulating, which was forbidden by all five major shinobi nations back home “Itachi… You came back” she said with a faint smile “I always knew you were a nice man” She said in a weak voice

“Suzu, where is Ino?! We have brought you to her body, she can leave now!” Itachi told her, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck nearby causing a fire to start in the nearby forest

“She… I think she is gone” Suzu answered

“What do you mean?!” Itachi asked her

Suzu pointed towards another body that wasn’t far from them, Itachi took Suzu into his arms and brought her with him, when he arrived he could tell that it was Ino’s body, but it seemed like it was phased out, almost transparent, he laid Suzu down next to her “Ino!” He said as he tried to wake her, but she didn’t move “Come on Ino, your body is right there, come on” then it hit him, if Ino’s mind was almost completely absorbed, then perhaps her consciousness was no longer in that body, and that’s why it was fading away, he took Suzu’s hand and placed it into Ino’s hand “Come on Ino, if you’re in there, respond!!” suddenly a bolt of lightning struck Itachi, everything went black as his consciousness faded away

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 36

IN THE PRESENT

Itachi slowly began to open his eyes, he was now laying next to Suzu who was still next to Ino "What happened!?" Naruto asked immediately

Itachi was still trying to understand it himself "I am not sure… I honestly thought I was never going to wake up… Last thing I remember was being hit by a bolt of lightning and blacking out" He said as he slowly sat up

"You just passed out suddenly, we were worried that something had gone wrong" Sakura said as she was giving him a check up to make sure he was alright

"Everything was in chaos when I entered her mind; we may have been to late… When I found Suzu, she had begun to change" Itachi explained

"Change?" Naruto asked

"Yeah, it seemed like her mind was not only absorbing Ino's mind, but it was rewriting her DNA, her hair color were both blonde and pink, her eyes were green, as if the yellow and blue had merged together… Hokage Sama, I am ready to go back in" Itachi told him as he tried getting up, but was pushed back by Sakura

"You are in no condition to be moving right now" She told him

"No Itachi, you did more than I could have asked for… I cannot risk losing you, you did everything you could…" Naruto said sadly "If we were to late, then I take full responsibility and I will keep my promise made to her"

"Promise? What promise?" Sakura asked

"I promised her that no harm would come to her and that if anything happened that I would bring her back myself and face her father's judgment"

"WHAT?!" Sakura said in shock "Oh no you're not!!" She told him

"Sakura Chan… This is something that I promised her, I may not have been a father for a long time, but I can only imagine what I would do if anything happened to Naoto… Sakura Chan I am sorry" he told her with sad eyes

"NO! This isn't your fault!! It would have happened regardless of you bringing her or not!!" Sakura answered

"Yes but, I gave the order that started all of it, so any way you look at it, I am responsible"

"How about we don't write them off so soon?" Shikamaru said as he held onto Ino's other hand that wasn't touching Suzu. Suddenly he felt her hand moved slightly as it began to hold onto his hand "Ino?!"

Her blue eyes slowly opened up as she began to smile at him "Shikamaru… I was afraid of never seeing you again" Shikamaru wrapped his arms tightly around her as tears of joy were streaming down his cheeks "Why Shikamaru, I didn't know you cared so much" she said with a small smirk

Shikamaru kissed her instantly, surprising Ino, however she didn't resist, when they finally parted, he was still teary eyed "You are so troublesome, you always find a way to get into trouble, you sometimes make our missions harder, you are very emotional at times, yet I could not see my life continue without you" he said as he was refusing to let her go

Ino was blushing, she had always had feelings for Shikamaru, even back when she thought she loved Sasuke, she didn't know what those feelings meant at the time, but as she grew up and became more mature, she, just like Sakura, realized that Sasuke was just a crush while her true feelings had always been for Shikamaru, she just had no idea that he shared her feelings

Both Naruto and Sakura smiled as they held hands remembering that only a year ago, they were going through the same thing.

Suddenly Suzu began to move as she opened her eyes, Naruto instantly went by her side "Suzu?!" He asked her waiting for a response

"My head hurts…" She said as she slowly sat up

"Suzu, are you alright?... Are you still Suzu??" Naruto asked as he was concerned about her state of mind

"Yeah I think…" She said as she was sitting up and looking around

"So, with Ino back in her own mind, does that mean that she doesn't know who we are anymore?" Toshiro asked wondering if they would have to sedate her before returning her

"No… I seem to remember everything that's happened to me" She answered

Naruto had noticed that she now had a blonde strand of hair hiding among her pink hair "It looks like we were able to get here just in time, your body had begun to change" he told her as he held a small mirror in front of her

She immediately grabbed the mirror to see the hair strand closer, she seemed shocked at first, but then began to smile "I kind of like it" finally answered

Naruto also smiled "It reminds me a lot of my own little girl's hair…" He said as he had a tear rolling down his cheek, he was missing Naoto a great deal, he was wondering what she was doing right now, had she begun to take her first steps yet? Had he missed her first words?... Would she even recognize her own parents after being gone for so long?

It was almost like Sakura knew what Naruto was thinking of as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and laid her head on his shoulder "We will be back home soon" she said as she too thought about their little girl and about how many things they were missing

Suzu looked at Sakura, the first thing she noticed was the pink hair, and how beautiful she was, she could also tell that she loved Naruto a great deal, she then began to think about Yukito and how she had a big fight with him the last time they spoke

Suddenly they heard something outside, Naruto got up "Sakura Chan, make sure that these three are alright while I go see what's going on outside" Naruto told her as he left the house

Sakura nodded as Toshiro, Hiyori and Hamako fallowed Naruto outside while Shikamaru didn't want to let go of Ino, Itachi tried to get up again but was pushed down by Sakura "I told you to stay put, you may outrank me in the ninja world, but as a doctor, I outrank even Naruto, and I say you are not well enough to be moving around, we still don't know if you have been affected by having your mind connected as you took that lighting shot as you explained"

Itachi smirked "Yes doctor" he said as he laid back down.

Naruto exited the small house and looked around; he was in too much of a rush to do it when he first arrived, it looked like a small abandoned village, he then noticed that Konohamaru, Yuki, Hanabi, Shizune, Jun, Kanji, Sai and Yoruichi had surrounded what seemed to be 2 demon ninja's, Naruto quickly recognize them as the same ninja's that were with Suzu when they first attacked them "STOP DON'T HURT THEM!" he screamed out to his team

"I would love to obey Naruto Nii-San, but they don't seem to want to back down" Konohamaru said as he was in a defensive stance

Yukito and Tamao looked around, Yukito couldn't believe it, they were surrounded by some of the most powerful ninja's in the Night country, thought a few of them were unknowns, he recognized the second division Captain, he had seen Sai in action and knew he was powerful, the seventh division Captain was approaching them, along with the one that was believed to be on the same power level as one of their Kurokages and he had read the reports about Hiyori having the powers of a captain and that the other one Hamako showed the potential of a vice captain, the rest of them were probably powerful as well

Sweat was dripping down his forehead "Why would such a group take Suzu?" He thought to himself, but he didn't care, he gave his word that he would not return without Suzu, even if it meant his death "Even if you kill us, there are more coming, and we won't stop until you return to us the one you took, even if it means attacking your capital city" He told them as he and Tamao were standing back to back ready for an attack from any sides

"There shall be no fighting! We did not take Suzu away to harm her, actually, once we know that she is alright, we will gladly return her to you" Naruto told them, however he could tell that they weren't buying it "Everyone, lower your weapons, that's an order" Everyone lowered their weapons, that is except for Yoruichi

"I don't take orders from you" She said as she kept her blade pointed at the two demon ninja's

"Yoruichi, please do as he says" Toshiro asked her

Yoruichi looked back and saw that Rukia had not taken her blade out, she was the only one who still had her weapon out, she gritted her teeth, and how could she trust a demon ninja? She slowly began to put her blade away, staying vigilant at any signs of an attack; she would take it out and kill them in one shot

"Now you see that our intensions are not hostile, please lower your weapons" Naruto asked Yukito

"I will follow your lead Yukito….." Tamao told him, telling him that she would follow him, whether it be lowering her weapons or attacking

"Why is he acting this way? He isn't acting like your typical night ninja, and why are captains answering to him? Could he be? Could he actually be the new Kurokage? That would explain his power level and why they tried so hard to rescue him, yes it made perfect sense, however he still didn't understand why they took Suzu, or why they lowered their weapons. He slowly lowered his weapon as Tamao fallowed him "Now what?" Yukito asked as he stared at Naruto

"If you promise to not attack us, you may come with me and I will lead you to Suzu, she is just resting right now, once our doctor is done examining her and is sure she is alright, you may return with her" He answered him

"Well, it's not like we have a choice, I accept" he told him, he began to walk towards Naruto, but Yuki caught his arm as he walked by

"A word of warning, if you dare attack Naruto Sama while his guard is down, I will make sure all of you pay, including that girl you came for" She whispered in his ear before letting go of his arm

Yukito was shocked; however it only confirmed his prior beliefs that he was the new Kurokage

"Toshiro, please show them to Suzu… I have some unfinished business I need to take care of" Naruto told him while keeping an eye on Sai. Toshiro nodded as he motioned for Yukito and Tamao to fallow him "Everyone, take up position around the village and keep a look out for any other demon reinforcements" everyone nodded as they began to return to their posts "Not you Sai… I want to speak to you in private" he told him

"Yes my lord" Sai answered in his usual tone

Naruto lead him to another house of the abandoned village. Once he shut the door, the first thing he did was punch Sai as hard as he could, sending him crashing right through a wall "How could you abandon me!! I trusted you with my life!" He said as he picked Sai up by the collar and punched him again causing blood to start dripping from his mouth "You are a part of team seven! You, me, Sakura and Sasuke! You were among my most trusted friends!" He said as he punched him again still holding onto his collar "You had a chance to save me, yet you just ran off!!" He said as he punched Sai once more this time letting go of his collar as the force was enough to once again send him through another wall

Naruto was panting heavily, but not because he was tired, his emotions were beginning to get the best of him, Sai slowly forced his aching body to get back up, there was blood dripping from both his nose and mouth as well as a black eye, his face had begun to swollen a bit, however he did not attempt to attack Naruto, he seemed content with taking the punishment that he was receiving "…Hokage Sama, I am sorry…"

"You're sorry?! You're sorry? You think that that's going to make everything alright? You betrayed me Sai! And I want to… No I DEMAND to know why! You owe that to me, both as your friend, and your Hokage" He told him as the blood from Sai was dripping from his hand

"I am sorry… I want to tell you, I really do, but I cannot" Sai answered

Naruto punched him without warning sending him crashing to the ground "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" he said in anger as he moved towards Sai

Sai quickly put his arm up to defend himself "Hokage Sama, I swear to you that it's not by choice!! You have to believe me that if I could tell you, I would, I swear, please you have to believe me!!" He said as he shut his eyes fearing another hit, yet he was refusing to retaliate

Naruto stopped and grabbed a chair that had been left behind by its previous owners and set it up backwards in front of Sai, he sat on it with his arms resting on top of the back rest while staring at Sai, his hand still dripping with his blood. "Then start by telling me what you CAN tell me"

"I am unable to tell you anything in regards to my mission… Or who gave me the mission; however you should know who it is…" Sai answered him

"So Danzo is behind all of this? Is he still trying to get rid of me so he can take power?... Right you wouldn't be able to answer that" Naruto said as he was wondering what to do with Sai

"I may not be able to give you any details about my mission… But I can show you why I cannot" He said as he opened his mouth to reveal some sort of seal on his tongue "If I disobey my orders or reveal anything, this seal will activate, causing large amounts of pain, it was designed so ROOTS operatives could not reveal secrets about Konoha if they were ever captured…" Sai explained

"And Danzo is using it for his own personal use I see… Sai, I need to know, can I trust you? How much of a risk are you if I allow you to continue with us?" Naruto asked him

"For as long as I do not have the opportunity to carry out my orders" He answered

"So when I brought you along with us and we were outnumbered, you saw an opportunity to carry out your mission, which was to get rid of me… Sai, do you have any orders regarding Sakura?" Naruto asked, knowing that if he could not answer, it would mean he did

"No my lord" Sai quickly Answered

"Then here are my orders, for the remainder of this mission, you are to stay by her side at all times, protect her with your life, understood?"

"Yes Hokage Sama!" he answered

"And Sai, if I find out that you are lying to me, I will repeat this beating in my four tail form, and there won't be anything left of you once I am done" He told him as he got up and began walking towards the exit "Oh and, go clean yourself up… you have blood all over your face" He said as he left the house

A tear began to drip down Sai's cheek as he knew that he had let Naruto down, the one that he respected the most, the one who showed him how to feel emotions again… "Danzo…" He said as he gritted his teeth

BONUS LOOK AT WHAT'S GOING ON IN KONOHA!!

Danzo was staring outside of the window of the Hokage's office as he grinned, the village was now his to command, and that stupid brat Naruto was probably dead, and even if those fools that went with him returned, they would be too late. A knock came to the door "Come" Danzo said as he turned to see who it was

Sasuke entered, he got down on one knee and bowed his head "My lord, I have news of the rebellion"

"Very well, report" Danzo answered

Sasuke got back up "Our forces were not able to take the port city from the rebels my lord, and the capital city of fire has received re-enforcements from the wind, our advancements have halted on all fronts as the rebels loyal to Naruto continue to fight" he informed him

"Don't they understand that he is gone? Why do they continue to resist!" Danzo said as he slammed his fist on the desk

"Because you're a tyrant who lusts for power and no one respect you, were as Naruto is a hero of the people who proved time and time again that he deserves their respect and admiration" Sasuke thought in his mind "I don't know my lord…"

"And the Kyuubi refuses to obey?" Danzo asked

"Yes my lord, he continues to say that he will defend Konoha against threats as Naruto instructed him, but he refuses to fight in the civil war, he also called me a back stabbing Uchiha who he refuses to serve any longer…" Sasuke answered

"The only one who could control him now would be that dammed girl… What of our spies, any news on her retrieval?" Danzo asked

"We received a box this morning containing the head of one of our ROOTS operatives that was sent to retrieve her my lord" he informed him "And I hope we never do retrieve her… Naruto, Sakura… Will they ever forgive me?" Sasuke thought to himself as he didn't believe that Naruto was dead

Suddenly a ROOTS member ran into the room "Hokage Sama, please accept my apologies for intruding, but a delegation from Iwa have arrived" He informed Danzo

"Ah, good, please show them in" he told the ROOTS member who bowed and left "I am sorry Sasuke, but I must attend to this right away" He told him

"What are people from Iwa doing here?" Sasuke asked as he wasn't aware of any talks with the Earth Nation were taking place

"The reason why the rebellion is lasting this long is because they have the backing of the wind, I am just trying to level the playing field by getting the backing of the earth" He said with a grin

"What?! Aren't they going to want something in return!?" Sasuke said still shocked

"Well, that is what we are going to be discussing, I am sure that my proposal will be more than enough to make them happy" Danzo answered

"What are you going to promise them!?" Sasuke asked worried that Danzo was going to be giving away part of the fire country

"We will allow them to annex the bird country as well as most of the northern parts of the wind, while we annex the river country and the south of the wind, which includes Suna, I believe this to be a fair deal, now please Sasuke, I need you to leave my office" he said as he got ready to receive the Tsuchikage

Sasuke left Danzo's office "He plans to destabilize the entire Ninja world… The other nations are not going to stand by, he is mad with power, can't he see that he is going to create the next great ninja war… He must be stopped, Naruto, you must return before it is to late……"

IN THE PAST

Masaki had just exited the council chambers along with Hashirama, it had went better than he expected, Nami was waiting for him along with Danzo and Tsunade, she quickly ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him "What happened?" she asked wanting to know what the council had decided

"Thanks to Hashirama who had already defended me and proven my innocence, everything is going to be alright" He said as he held her

"We are going to be sending our response to them stating that we are not handing Masaki over" Hashirama told her

"That's great news!!" Nami said happy that Masaki's name had been cleared, at least in Konoha's eyes

"Hashirama, I request that I be a part of the forces going up to tell them" Masaki asked him

Both Nami and Hashirama were surprised "What?! Why?!" Nami asked

"Because, the one who framed me must be somewhere up there, and also I want to face my accusers directly and tell them it wasn't me. This is my honour we are talking about, and my honour means everything to me" Masaki explained

"But I don't want you to go!!" Nami said holding on tightly

Masaki smiled "I am sorry Nami, but this means a lot to me, don't worry, I will return as soon as I can" He said with a smile

"I don't like it, but if it's your wish, then I will allow you to go" Hashirama told him

"Thank you Hokage Sama" Masaki told him

"Master, I wish to go with you on this mission" Danzo said as he wanted to make sure his master would be indeed coming home

"Sorry Danzo, I need you to stay here and keep an eye on Nami for me alright? In her current condition I want someone I trust to stay with her" He said with a smile

"I thought I told you before, I DON'T NEED PEOPLE TO LOOK AFTER ME!!" Nami said annoyed at Masaki

"I know you don't… But in your current condition, you are not at your best, please Nami" Masaki said as he held her hand against her stomach

"Alright… Just make sure you come back, because I won't be able to save you this time" she said as a tear was streaming down her cheek

Masaki wiped it way with his thumb "Don't worry, I will" He said as he kissed her

"Yeah, don't worry, because I am going with him" A voice came from behind them, it was Tobirama "I will bring your lover boy back to you safely Nami" He said with a smile

"I hold you to that Tobi…" she said with a smile "And thanks….."

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 37

PRESENT TIME

Suzu was still resting when Yukito and Tamao walked in; he quickly ran to her side and held her in his arms as tightly as he could “Suzu!” He said as tears were streaming down his cheeks “Have they hurt you in any way?” He asked as he let go of her to inspect her for injuries that could have been caused by bad treatment at the hands of the night ninja’s

“No, I am fine Yukito, they promised me that they wouldn’t hurt me, and they kept their promise” she told him

That’s when Yukito noticed the blonde strand of hair hidden with her pink hair “What happened to your hair? Did they do this?!” he asked

“No, well its complicated…I will explain once we get home, all you need to know is that it wasn’t caused intentionally…” Suzu explained

“I think it’s cute” Tamao said with a bright smile while thinking to herself “As if she needed something else to make her cuter then she already was” she chuckled inwardly

Yukito smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly once more

Naruto walked in and smiled as he saw the pair reunited, Sakura walked to his side “It’s great that everything worked out” she said as she went to grabbed his hand, but he quickly pulled it away surprising Sakura

Naruto had quickly shoved his hands in his pockets as they were still drenched in blood “Yeah… I will be right back” Naruto said as he walked out of the room to try and find some water to wash his hands

Sakura fallowed him wanting to know what was wrong “Naruto? Are you alright?” Sakura asked concerned as he was acting strangely

Naruto turned around and put on a smile while keeping his hands hidden in his pockets “Nothing Sakura Chan, I just need a few minutes” He said trying to act cheerful

Sakura wasn’t buying it “Naruto… Did you forget who you’re talking to? It’s me Sakura; you may be able to fool everyone else, but not me. Now something is bothering you and I want to know what it is” She asked him directly

“I am sorry Sakura Chan… I can’t tell you, at least not right now; it would cause unnecessary problems, please Sakura Chan, don’t ask me to say more, because you know I cannot say no to anything you ask me…” Naruto asked her with almost pleading eyes

Sakura smiled at him “Alright” she answered him

Naruto began to smile as well as he gave her his trademark grin “Thanks Sakura Chan” he said as he disappeared in a poof of smoke

Sakura let out a small sigh “I only wish that you trusted me enough to tell me…“ She thought to herself sadly

A few hours later Suzu, Yukito and Tamao were standing just outside of the abandoned village along with Naruto’s group

“Suzu, I want to thank you for trusting me, and I ask that you forgive us for what we forced you to go through” Naruto told her

“It’s alright, I know that you had little choice, so I don’t blame you, I know that the outcome was not what you intended, and in the end everything worked out” Suzu said with a smile

“I honestly don’t know everything that’s happened, but I do know that Suzu is unharmed, and seems to respect you a great deal, so I thank you” Yukito told them

“If we don’t go now, the others will catch up to us” Tamao reminded them

“Yes, we must leave now, I doubt the others will be as understanding as us” Yukito said as he and Tamao jumped away to a nearby tree branch

Suzu stayed behind for a few more seconds staring at Naruto, and wondering if she would ever see him again, thought she doubted it very much, she bowed in respect before jumping away joining Yukito and Tamao as they disappeared into the distance

“We should get going to, after all, we still have our original mission to complete” Itachi commented

“So what are you two going to do now?” Toshiro asked Rukia and Yoruichi

“I still want to keep an eye on you people until you leave the country, so I will be sticking with you” Yoruichi answered

“And I want to spend some time with my favorite little brother for as long as he is with us, because who knows if I will ever see you again” Rukia said while pinching Toshiro’s cheek

Toshiro rolled his eyes as he was slightly annoyed, but it only made Rukia’s grin grow wider

“Then it’s off to the night temple we go” Naruto said as he lead the group back into night controlled territory

IN THE PAST

Masaki, Tobirama and a small group of the newly formed ANBU squad were approaching the boarders of the Fire and Lighting; they had traveled nonstop for the past few days. Masaki was wearing his ANBU Mask to conceal his identity for fear that they could be attacked without provocation due to his presence, he was trying to figure out how he was going to convince these people that he was innocent “Tobi, we are being watched” he whispered to his friend

“Yeah, I wonder how long until they finally stop us” Tobirama answered

Suddenly they found themselves surrounded by eighth Lighting ninjas; their weapons pointed at the group “Identify yourselves!” The group leader demanded

“I think that you know very well who we are, and why we are here” Tobirama answered back “But I will answer anyway, I am Senju Tobirama of the Fire nation’s Leaf village, we are responding to an accusation made by your people against one of our own” He explained calmly

“We shall escort you the rest of the way, if you try anything, your lives are forfeit” The Lighting commander told them

Tobirama just nodded as the Lighting ninja put away their weapons and began to escort the Konoha group

Tobirama’s group arrived at what appeared to be a village still under construction, although it wasn’t as big as Konoha. They were lead to the central building that Masaki figured to be their main government building, much like their fire tower back home

As they entered, a man was being measured for what seemed to be a robe of some sort; he was also wearing a white and yellow conical hat that had the symbol of Lighting on it “Raikage Sama” The leader of the group that lead Tobirama and Masaki’s group into the village said as he bowed

“What is it? Can’t you see that I am busy” The young man answered back

“I am sorry my lord, but these people are from the Fire nation, they claim that they come to answer for their crimes” The man explained

“Hey, we never said that! We said that we came to answer to the accusation!!” Tobirama answered almost instantly

“Do you honestly think that we will believe anything that you have to say?” The man said as he pushed away the people that were taking his measurements “My people’s blood has been spilled, one of yours is responsible, we demand retribution, if you won’t give us the one who slaughtered my people in cold blood while they were simply patrolling our own boarders, then you and your escorts blood will have to be spilled” As he said those words, the room began to fill with ninjas and surround them

Masaki instinctually had his hand on his blade “I wouldn’t do that if I were you” He said as he lifted his mask, knowing that it could cause them to instantly attack them, but they were going to attack eventually, he figured that revealing himself now would at least give them some extra time

“YOU!!” One of the ninjas shouted out “It was him!!” He said in anger “He is the one who murdered my team in cold blood and left me for dead!!”

“So you did bring us the accused after all, I guess your lives can be spared, but he will be executed, after a long interrogation session” He said as he with a grin

“We did not come here to deliver him to you!” Tobirama quickly answered “He came here of his own accord to defend himself” Tobirama explained

“Do you believe that we care at what he has to say? He is guilty!” The Raikage answered in rage

“That would be one of the biggest mistakes you could make, by killing us, you would be declaring war on the Fire nation, are you prepared to take us on? Your village is still under construction and its defenses wide open, Konoha is a fully completed fortress capable of withstanding even the biggest sieges, tell me, are you ready to take on such a force?” Masaki asked them hoping that he would listen to reason

The Raikage gritted his teeth, as much as he wanted to kill them right here and now, he knew that Masaki was right “Very well….. I will allow you to speak”

“Thank you” Masaki said as he bowed to show his respect “I swear that I am not the one who attacked your people, I was in Konoha the entire day training my pupil, a fact that I had to prove to my own people who almost arrested me instantly” Masaki told them “Even now, some of them remain skeptical, that is why that I chose to come here myself, because my honor has been tarnished and I vow to find the real person who did this, please give us … Give me a chance to restore my name and honor” Masaki said pleadingly

The Raikage just wanted to kill them and get it over with, but he had to think about his people, he knew that a war with Konoha would ruin them right now, however he couldn’t look weak in front of both his people and Konoha, and for some reason, this man seemed sincere “Alright, I will allow you to attempt to find the real person who did this, if that is indeed the truth, but you shall do so under the supervision of my men, if anything happens to them, or they report foul play, it will be war” He finally answered

“That is acceptable” Masaki answered, happy that he was given a chance to defend himself

“Thank you Raikage” Tobirama said in respect

Meanwhile back home Danzo was meditating in the field near the stream inside Konoha, he had just spent most of the morning training his body, and now he was training his mind, as he was instructed by Masaki to do while he was away, suddenly he sensed a presence nearby, it was watching him, with speed and accuracy, he threw a kunai at a nearby bush, he then quickly ran to the bush and found Hiruzen who was trying to get the Kunai that had stapled him to the tree behind him out of his clothing “Oh, it’s just you” He said with a slight grin

“Are you CRAZY? You could have killed me!” He said as he finally took out the Kunai that had somehow missed hitting him, but left a hole in his shirt

“Well, you were spying on me, my elite instincts took over” He said with a smile as he helped Hiruzen up from the ground

“Elite? More like lucky….” Hiruzen answered in an annoyed tone

“Why were you spying on me anyway?” Danzo asked

“I wasn’t spying… I was just passing by and saw you, and wanted to know what you were up to” Hiruzen answered, but he was lying, in reality he was jealous of Danzo, although he was proud of being on team Tobirama, he really wanted to be mentored by his hero Masaki

“I was meditating” Danzo simply answered “Since Masaki Sensei is away on an important mission, maybe you wouldn’t mind doing some sparing? Training alone only does so much” Danzo asked with a grin

Hiruzen hated to hear him say Masaki Sensei, but if he could beat Danzo, perhaps Masaki would recognize him as a better pupil “Yeah sure, your on” Hiruzen said with a grin

Both of them got into a fighting stance, Hiruzen was the first to strike, wanting to end the battle as fast as possible, Danzo was able to block the attacks easily, Hiruzen was a good fighter, but he was younger then he was and more rash, Danzo was calm and collected, after all, he was Chunin and Hiruzen a Genin

The fight continued as Hiruzen tried his hardest to hit Danzo, but could not get past his defense, and he was beginning to get annoyed at the fact that Danzo didn’t seem to be taking the fight seriously as he had yet to even attempt an attack on him, Hiruzen took a few steps back and began to concentrate his chakra into his right hand and his legs, with speed that surprised Danzo, Hiruzen was able to outmaneuver him and strike him on the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground, causing Hiruzen to grin as he panted slightly, since it had used up a bit of chakra

Danzo was still laying on his back as blood began to drip from the corner of his mouth, he had underestimated Hiruzen, he thought to himself as he got up with a grin "Alright, you have proven to be a good fighter, now it's my turn!" He said as he was about to launch his attack, Hiruzen got into a defensive position, but they both heard someone calling out Danzo's name

“Danzo! Here you are” Nami said as she walked up to both boys

“Nami Chan… What is it?” He asked her

“I have been looking all over for you, you skipped breakfast this morning, you know how I feel about that” Nami told him

“But Nami Chan… I was training, just like Masaki Sensei told me” Danzo answered

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, even Masaki always eats something before he leave in the morning, so come on, I made your favorite” She said with a smile

“You mean…” Danzo said quickly changing his mind about eating

“Yes, Masaki’s specialty, toast, bacon and pancakes” Nami answered with a grin, knowing that the boy would cave in hearing that “And Hiruzen, you are more than welcome to join us”

“Ah, no, I wouldn’t want to intrude” Hiruzen answered

“Nonsense, I made enough for all of us, come, I bet that just like most boys, you went out to train without eating anything, so come on” Nami insisted

“No, I am fine, really…”

Nami’s face suddenly changed from smiling to slightly angry “I SAID THAT YOUR COMING WITH US!!”

“Look man, she is pregnant and moody, if you want to survive the morning, I suggest you do as she says…” Danzo whispered into his ear

“Uhh Alright, I guess I will join you after all” Hiruzen said fearing answering no again

Nami’s face suddenly returned to her happy self “Good, now come along boys” She said as she began walking back home

“She is scary…” Hiruzen whispered back to Danzo

“You don’t know the half of it…” Danzo answered back as they fallowed Nami back home

Thanks for being patient with me, so I give you yet another bonus
PRESENT TIME, BONUS OF WHAT’S GOING ON BACK HOME PART II

Back in Suna Rei was playing with Naoto, Kakashi had entrusted her care to her, and Naoto had warmed up to Rei “You’re so cute, I bet that you’re going to be beautiful when you grow up, you are going to break a lot of boys hearts aren’t you” she said with a smile. Akio walked into the room and sat down, he seemed tired and bruised, Rei quickly walked over to him “What happened?!” She asked concerned as she examined his wounds, none of them were severe, but it still worried her

“We were ambushed by the boarder, we were going to reinforce a village that was under attack and had requested our help, Danzo’s forces were waiting for us and ambushed us, we were able to drive them off, but it was too late, the village had fallen by the time we arrived, we tried to liberate it, but we failed” Akio told her sadly

“Why haven’t you been checked out at the hospital??” Rei asked as she quickly got a cloth and some water to clean his wounds

“Because the hospital is full, I knew that I didn’t have anything severe, they don’t need me taking up space that could be used to help a critically wounded ninja, that and I have my own cute personal nurse at home” he said as he forced himself to grin

“What’s going to happen Akio?... What’s going to happen if we fall?” Rei said sadly as she began to clean his wounds

“It’s not going to happen Rei, the war in the west may be going badly, but we have reports that the war to the east is going well, Danzo’s forces are unable to capture the port city or the Fire city fortress, we just need to hold them back long enough for them to force Danzo to retreat from our area” Akio reassured her

“What about the rumors…” Rei asked him

“They are unfounded, there is no evidence that the earth is going to join forces with Danzo, only a mad man would agree to that, it would force the hand of the other nations, it’s the last thing that Danzo should want right now” Akio told her

“I hope that you’re right” she said as she continued to clean up his wounds and apply bandages

“Hey Rei, check Naoto out!” He said as they both looked at the little pinked hair girl, she was standing on her feet, without the help of anything, her legs were unstable and looked like she could fall down at any moment, but she slowly began to take a step, and then another, Rei began to smile brightly again

“That’s great Naoto!! You’re so cute!!” she said restraining herself from picking up the little girl, but suddenly she fell down on her behind as she stared at the door “She still misses her parents a great deal” Rei said sadly

“And I am sure they miss her just as much, but don’t worry, they will be back soon, and when Hokage Sama returns, this war is going to be over, just you see” Akio said with admiration for his missing leader

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 38

PRESENT TIME

Naruto and his group were still walking towards the night capital city “I can’t believe that we are finally almost done, I can’t wait to return home and relax” Konohamaru told Yuki

“The mission is far from over, who knows what could happen from here to the city, and then not only do we have to wait for Naruto Sensei to finish mastering whatever it is that he is suppose to master, but we have to make it back to the ship and exit night controlled waters, even then, I won’t be able to relax until I am back on home soil” She answered back

“Hey, there it is” Toshiro suddenly announced from the front of the group

Naruto looked at the horizon and could see one of the largest cities that he had ever set his eyes on, it was much larger than the first city they saw when they first arrived “How can so many people live in the same place…” Naruto thought to himself

“This is the capital city of the night country, Hidden Moon village” Rukia said with a sense of pride

“You call that a village?... I beg to differ!” Konohamaru exclaimed

“At the center lies the sacred night temple, let’s hurry, we’re almost there!” Toshiro said as he led the group

They reached the gates of the city as a guard came to greet them “Captains Kuchiki and Shihoin, welcome back” He said in a bow

“Anything new happened while we were out” Yoruichi asked

“No ma’am, the council is still bickering about who will be the next Kurokage, they should just pick one of the captains and be done with it” The man said in an annoyed tone

“They are going to have to make up their minds sooner or later; it’s already been a year since Kurosaki Sama was captured by the leaf, I wonder what is taking them so long to pick someone” Rukia responded

“I completely agree ma’am, oh Captain Shihoin I almost forgot but the council did want to talk to you about your last mission” The man told them

“Well I guess I should get that out of the way, Rukia, are you going to be alright?” Yoruichi asked

“Of course” Rukia quickly answered

Yoruichi nodded as she walked away from the group

“So, how do we get to the temple from here?” Sakura asked

“Not yet, first we have to drop by my division’s headquarters” she informed them

“Headquarters? I thought that each division had their headquarters in separate cities around the country” Naruto commented

“Each division has its own city to protect that is their headquarters yes, however inside each city also has a headquarters for every division, a place for them to rest or plan their own things since they tend to travel a lot around the country” Toshiro explained

“Alright… Then why do we need to stop by your headquarters first then?” Naruto asked

“I have been thinking about this during most of our trip here, your story isn’t going to hold up with the master of the temple, so I thought of something more plausible” Rukia told them as she led them down the busy streets of the city

“And what would that be?” Toshiro asked

“I will explain once we arrive” She answered

It didn’t take them long to reach the headquarters, Rukia was surprised to be greeted by her vice captain “Captain! What a surprise to see you here” She said with a bright smile “Wait… Those people, they are some of the ones who helped during the demonic attack on one of our villages!” She said surprise to see them all together with her captain

“What are you doing here?” Rukia asked still surprised

“Well, I had to hand in the report about the attack to the council ma’am, and I was just planning on visiting my father before returning home” she explained “What about you ma’am?” she asked

“Well, I encountered these people during my patrol of the border, they helped repel an attack, one of them impressed me so much that I decided to take him on as my apprentice” She told her, shocking not only the vice captain, but Naruto’s group as well

The vice captain looked at the group trying to figure out which one it could be “Well that is great news, you haven’t had an apprentice since the leaf invasion where he was killed, it’s good to see you taking on a new apprentice, it will be great to have a new face around the division, if I may ask, who is it?” She asked

“This one” she said pulling Naruto to her side “His name is Uzumaki Naruto”

“Well then Uzumaki, welcome to the seventh division, I look forward to getting to know you better” She said “I am Yano Ayumi, your new vice captain” She said with a smile as she shook his hand

Naruto smiled back “Thank you for the warm welcome” Naruto responded

“Don’t thank me so fast, as the vice captain, it’s my job to… properly welcome you to the division once you return to our main headquarters back home” she said with a slightly more evil smile and grin “Well, it was great meeting you, but I really must be going, my father is waiting for me, and I have a homecoming to plan for you now” she said as she ran off

“What did she mean by that?!” Naruto asked slightly concerned

“Something you don’t need to worry about since you’re not going to be actually joining us” Rukia said as she led the group inside the building

“Just be grateful, I heard that Rukia’s vice captain took her job seriously about initiating new members of the division” Toshiro whispered in his ear

"She is NOT that bad…" Rukia told them, obviously overhearing what Toshiro had told Naruto "She is just….. Spirited, that's all" She said as she opened a cupboard that held some uniforms, headbands, and various other things, she took out what seemed to be a piece of cloth with the number seven on it and handed it to Naruto

"What is this?" Naruto asked

"it's an armband, put it around your right arm" Rukia told him "That armband means that you are my apprentice" She explained

"Is this part of your plan?" Toshiro asked

"Yes, I will explain the rest in private" she said as she looked around, there were a few seventh division members in the lounge, a few more walking around in various rooms, she lead them to a room with a large table, she closed the door once everyone was inside. She sat down with everyone else "This is one of our situation rooms where we plan missions or have meetings, no one will bother us in here" she explained

"So, how is making Naruto your apprentice going to help us?" Sakura asked

"There are too many holes in your plan, how will you explain the fact that he has a Zanpakuto and yet has never graduated from the academy, the ceremony is held at the temple where you are chosen by your Zanpakuto, so how are you going to get past that fact when the master would have never seen him? No it just wouldn't have worked" Rukia told them

"And your plan is better?" Sakura asked confused as to how her plan could work

"An apprentice does not have to be a graduate, look, I will just explain my entire plan, you will understand" she told them as she got ready to reveal her entire plan "I will go with Naruto personally to the temple"

But before she could continue she was interrupted "No, we are not going to allow him out of our sight, his safety is our responsibility" Konohamaru told her

“Look, none of you are a part of this country, well except for Toshiro and Hiyori, but sending you two in would be an even bigger mistake, Toshiro, I don’t care what color you dye your hair, he will recognize you, just like I did, as former captain and vice captain, the master will be able to see right through any disguise either of you try to use, my plan is the best shot you people have of making this work” Rukia explained

Konohamaru slammed his fist on the table, obviously frustrated with having to trust someone else with Naruto’s safety; Yuki took his hand into her own trying to calm him down, although she felt the same way about not being able to personally escort Naruto

"Guys, I know it's hard to admit, but she is right, I wasn't expecting anyone to recognize me, but if she could do it, the master will be able to do it easily" Toshiro explained "And we can trust Rukia, I know I would still trust her with my life" Toshiro added

Rukia blushed a bit “Thanks Toshiro, and I would trust you with my own life, even though most of the country views you as a traitor, I do not”

“Alright, so you and Naruto go to the temple together, then what?” Hiyori said with a slightly jealous tone towards Rukia

“Yes, once we reach the temple, I will introduce Naruto as my apprentice to the master, telling him that he is a very promising academy student that has caught my eye” but once again she is interrupted

“Wait, how is that going to work? Isn’t he kind of old to be an academy student?” Sakura asked

“The academy has students of all ages, the ones who join latter then others normally join because something recent happened in their life such as their families being killed by the demon country, or their skills being discovered by someone, or simply just deciding late in life to join the academy, I am sure not all your own academy students are young?” Rukia explained

“No… It’s just we always heard that the night academy students were normally young children, some graduate as young as the age of 8” Sakura stated

“Yes, such as myself and Toshiro, but not all do, so that won’t cause any suspicion” Rukia told them “Yes, well as I was saying, I will introduce him as my apprentice, now the way I plan to explain the Zanpakuto is by saying that he was given a blade to train and defend himself during missions, because as my apprentice, he would be accompanying me on all my missions, however, somehow the blade turned out to be a Zanpakuto, and during a recent missions patrolling the borders with me we were attacked and he was forced to use his blade, and accidently activated its power and awaking the spirit inside creating the situation that he is currently in, we will then ask the master help to out, it may take several days maybe even weeks before he completes the training, during this time, the rest of you will be welcome to stay here, you will be safe here” Rukia finished and waited for their reaction to the plan

“It seems that we have little choice but to trust you…” Konohamaru said still unhappy about trusting Naruto’s safety to someone else

“It’s a good plan, if you truly intend on going through with it without backstabbing us” Itachi commented

“Toshiro trusts her, that is enough for me to trust her too, Ru… I mean Captain Kuchiki, we should get going” Naruto said with a smile as he got up

Rukia smiled back as she got up, but was stopped “Uh, so what are we suppose to do during all this time?” Sakura asked

“I will inform the one in charge of my division here about your stay, and well, you all wear the uniform, so it’s safe for you to roam the streets, just stay out of trouble and you will be fine” She said as she left the room with Naruto

IN THE PAST

Masaki and his group were investigating the scene where he had supposedly attacked the lighting ninja’s “Did you find anything?” Tobirama asked as he approached his friend

“No, I can see that indeed a battle was fought here, there is a lot of blood, but nothing that proves my innocence, however I think I may have figured out where he went from here” Masaki explained

“He went back towards your village!!” One of the lightning men told them

“No, well perhaps he made it look that way, but see here, these marks in the branches were made recently, and they lead that way. Did any of your men head in that direction after the fight?” Masaki asked

“The only survivor was badly hurt, he headed straight for the village, he would have been to injured to travel using tree branches, he walked” He answered

“So, these tracks were made by someone other than the lighting group” Masaki concluded

“So we fallow them?” Tobirama asked

“Of course” Masaki quickly answered

The group began to fallow the trail, Masaki stopped continuously to make sure they were still on the right track

They finally arrived at what looked to be a pile of rubble from some sort of structure “What is this? What did this place use to be?” Masaki asked one of the Lightning ninja’s

“I… I don’t know, we have no records of anything being built here” He said puzzled

“Perhaps you didn’t know it was here?” Tobirama commented

“No, I have personally been in this sector before, never have I seen any signs of anyone presently or ever having lived here” He said as he examined the rubble

“Well obviously something did” Masaki commented as he looked around “And from the looks of things, a battle was fought here” He said as he examined the ground “And it’s recent”

“How can you tell?” Tobirama asked

“Look, here is blood not yet washed away by the rain, there are burnt marks all over the place, I suspect whoever attacked your people caused this” Masaki finished

“And yet he is nowhere to be seen, yet you are able to track his tracks quite easily, perhaps this is all a charade to try and make us believe that you are innocent!!” One of the Lightning ninja’s said as he faced Masaki

“I am an expert tracker, as long as it is recent, I can track anyone, anywhere” Masaki said as he faced the accuser “Look, this has been a long day, the sun is setting and we are all tired, perhaps we should setup camp here for tonight”

“Sounds like a good idea” Tobirama said trying to help defuse the situation

“Whatever” The Lightning ninja said as he turned around to rejoin the others

“Do you think that they will ever believe that it wasn’t you?” Tobirama asked in a low tone of voice

“I don’t know….. But I want to catch whoever is responsible for this” Masaki answered

An hour later, the campsite had been set up, some of the men had already went to sleep “You guys get some sleep, I will take first watch” Masaki told the group

“You think that I will trust my life to the likes of you and your people? I think not” One of the lightning ninjas responded

“Fine, one from each side will take watch during the night, you can keep each other company or something” Tobirama said as he made his way to his tent to get some sleep

Masaki jumped up into one of the trees and got comfortable on top of one of the tree branches, he could see the entire camp site and its surroundings while the Lightning Ninja decided to patrol around

A few hours had past, Masaki heard a noise, he looked around but couldn’t see anything, he tried to look for the Lightning ninja in case he had heard something, but he couldn’t find him either, Masaki jumped down from the tree and began looking around, he couldn’t believe it, the pile of rubble that they had found earlier was gone, and in its place was a grand temple, he quickly turned around and began screaming “TOBI! TOBI!!” but the campsite had vanished “Hello?! Anyone? Tobi?” But no one answered, not the Lightning ninja’s, or his own ANBU squad “Where are they?!” He began to panic as he continued to look for them, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find a single person, nor could he even find any trace of the campsite, it’s as if it had never existed “But that’s impossible…” Masaki thought to himself “That temple, maybe it had something to do with this…” He thought as he made his way back towards the temple

He once again admired its beauty from the outside as he slowly climbed the stairs up to the massive doors, he pushed them open and slowly walked in with his hand constantly on his blade “Hello?” but no one answered, he cautiously continued to walk through the temple, he found a chamber full of books and scroll, but what intrigued him the most was in the middle of the chamber seemed to be a young teenage girl, she was sitting down and seemed to be slightly levitating a few inches above the ground, it looked like she was meditating, he slowly approached her, his hand always on his blade, suddenly the doors slammed shut behind him and the girl opened her eyes, causing Masaki to take a few steps back

The girl slowly got to her feet and seemed to stretch herself, she seemed relaxed, Masaki took a good look at the young girl, her beauty was unremarkable, she looked to be around fifteen, no older then sixteen, she had dark pink hair and yellow eyes “Who are you, and why have you broken into my temple” She asked him

“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to break into the temple, but there was no one at the entrance… My name is Namikazi Masaki, I came in because my friends have disappeared suddenly, and I thought perhaps I could find some answers in here…” Masaki tried to explain

“So… You didn’t come in to steal my secrets? Or to challenge my powers?” The girl asked

“No, until now, I had no idea this place even existed, the last time I was here, there was only rubble” Masaki explained

“Yes, that was caused by a very unpleasant man, oh my, look at myself, being rude to you and not even introducing myself, my apologies, my name is Ayumi, I am the current sage” She said with a smile

“Sage?...” Masaki asked confused

“I just explained all this to that other bastard… Well at least your nothing like him, so I will gladly explain it to you” She said with a growing smile, Ayumi began to explain everything to him, from the first sage and his first apprentice brothers, to how they became the Uchiha and Senju and her own story and how she became the sage “And that’s that” She said

“Wow… That is incredible, you must be extremely powerful

“Powerful yes… And up until recently, I thought I was pretty smart too, but I was killed by a simple Uchiha, how humiliating that was…” She said in an upset tone

“Wait, an Uchiha? When was this??” Masaki asked

“A few days ago, if my master found out, he would be disappointed in me, and he took some of my scrolls too” She added

“This Uchiha, was his name Madara by any chance?” He asked

“Why yes, do you know him?” She asked

“Yes… We have been chasing him, he turned his back on his old village, although he had good reasons for doing so… Now he is taking his vengeance to far…”

“You seem to have a pure heart… I like you” She said with a bright smile

“Uh… Thanks?” Masaki said unsure as to what that meant

“Look, I can tell you that the Uchiha will cause a lot of trouble for your village, more then you could possibly imagine, thanks to the scrolls he has stolen, he will be able to slow down his aging considerably, there is no limit to how much knowledge he could accumulate or the power he can attain with that kind of time, and if what you say is true about wanting vengeance on your village, it will only be a matter of time before he is able to destroy it, plus he may continue the sick tradition of the Uchiha way of thinking and bring peace to the world, thought war, someone has to stop him” She told him

“Couldn’t you do that?” Masaki asked

“Although I cannot die entirely, my physical body was killed by him; I exist now only in this temple, I cannot chase him down, no matter how much I would want to, but you… You could do it, but not as you are now, you would only suffer the same fate as I, well worst, since you would permanently die…” She told him

“What? Then what are you suggesting then?” Masaki asked

“Become my apprentice, I could train you to be a Sage like me, you could then face him, I already sense that you are powerful and have a pure heart, you could be your village… No, the world’s only hope”

“No, there must be someone else who can take your teachings, I cannot abandon my life, Nami… My future child, no I cannot just leave all of that behind, I am sorry…”

“No, it is me who is sorry, because you don’t seem to understand, those very people you love will die if you chose to decline this offer…” Ayumi told him again

“I cannot, I am sorry but I refuse” Masaki said as he turned his back on her

“Very well, I cannot force this upon you, however if you ever change your mind, return here, the temple will be visible only to you, and you alone, the others will see the rubble of the old temple… Good luck Masaki” Ayumi said in a sad tone as she got back down to begin meditating again

“Wait… What about my people? What did you do to them?” Masaki asked

“Do to them? Why nothing… you never physically left that tree” She said with a smile

Suddenly Masaki wakes up and finds himself in a freefall from his tree branch, with speed he grabs onto one of the branches but it slips from his grip, he tries to grab another, it helps slow his decent but it once again slips, he quickly does a few hand signs and four Masaki appear at the bottom of the tree, they try to catch him but they were too late and instead he falls on top of them causing them to disappear in a poof of smoke, however they had still broken his fall and he remained unhurt

“Well good morning sunshine” Tobirama said as he stood above him with a bright smile “finally woke up now did we?”

“Its morning already?... I must have fallen asleep” Masaki said as he got back on his feet with a slight sore back, either from sleeping on the branch all night, or the fall, he wasn’t sure witch

“Don’t worry, I took over for you during the night, you must have been exhausted, so I allowed you to sleep” He told him “And now breakfast is ready”

“Tobi, it was Madara!” Masaki told his friend

“It was Madara who what?” Tobirama asked

“He is behind it all, he is the one who attacked the Lightning and framed me, he is the one who attacked this temple and killed a Sage, he now has powers that make him very dangerous, we have to report back to Konoha and begin searching for him before he destroys it!!” Masaki explained

“Whoe whoe whoe there, back up, you lost me as he is behind it all…”

“Look, I know this is going to sound crazy, but during the night something happened, I met up with this young girl who was actually a sage, she explained everything to me, you have to believe me!” Masaki pleaded with him

“Masaki, you were in that tree the entire night, you didn’t move until you fell out of the tree, it must have been a dream”

“No, it couldn’t have been, it was real, it felt real, I can remember every single detail”

“That temple you’re talking about is still in rubble, if it was in fact a temple to begin with, look your tired, we all are, we all want to go home and put this behind us, but we simply can’t abandon our investigation

Suddenly the Lightning ninja’s came up to them “We are sorry we ever doubted you, we will return to the Raikage and explain to him that you were framed, please accept our apologies” He said holding out his hand

Masaki awkwardly took it as they shook hands, yet he was puzzled, as were the rest of the Konoha group, they bowed in respect and suddenly jumped away, leaving Masaki and Tobirama in shock

“What just happened?” Tobirama asked

“… I don’t know, but I believe that my name was just somehow cleared…”

“Well, I guess there is nothing left for us to do then to just head back home and report back…. Although I have to say I am not really sure how to report this” Tobirama said scratching his head

As the group began to leave the area, Masaki stayed behind for a few seconds and looked back; he could see Ayumi waving at him in the distance “Good luck…” she said before disappearing

“…Thank you” He said before rejoining the others

IN THE PRESENT

Naruto and Rukia had made it to the temple, the structure was grand and marvelous, leaving Naruto in awe “This is the holiest of holy places in the night country, every single ninja and even civilian would give their lives to safeguard this place” Rukia told him as they entered

The inside was just as grandiose as the outside as they walk through the halls, a man was waiting for them “Master Aida, it is good to see you again” She said as the man hugged her

“Rukia my dear, you are lovelier every time I see you, so what brings you to see me today?” The man asked

“Master, this is my new apprentice, Uzumaki Naruto, he is an academy student with a lot of promise”

The man took Naruto’s hand and shook it “Nice to meet you my boy, you are a lucky lad indeed to have such a good sensei, you will learn much more with her then you would at the academy, I can assure you of that” He said with a smile

“Thank you master, I am sure that Kuchiki Sensei will be a great teacher, I can only hope to live up to her expectations” Naruto answered

“I can tell simply by looking at you that you will be a fine young lad, I sense a future captain in you, this must be why Rukia took you under her wing, she can sense it too” The man said with a smile

“Yes indeed” Rukia said with a smile of her own

Naruto was a bit surprise by all this, the man was much nicer and younger then he had anticipated, for some reason, he expected to see some old man in long robes and with a stern attitude, not this young man with a warm smile

“And what brings you to me today my dear? I hardly think that you simply wanted to introduce this young lad to me, or perhaps did you just want to have a cup of tea with me again” He asked her

“No master, we are here on business, serious business in fact” Rukia told him

“That serious huh? Well then, please tell me all about it” He said as he sat down at a nearby table where fresh tea had just been brought by one of the temple servants

They sat down as the man began serving them the tea “You see master, I gave my apprentice a blade to defend himself during our missions and to use for training purposes, and during our last mission, he was forced to use it to defend not only himself, but possibly saved me from a surprise demon attack while we were patrolling the borders, he was able to kill the ninja’s however, his chakra leaked into the blade and unleashed its powers… We were all shocked and surprise, including my apprentice, upon examining the blade closer, we found out that it was in fact a Zanpakuto” Rukia explained

“I see, and of course, since he not only forced himself upon the blade without allowing it to chose him, as well as awakening the spirit within, he has angered it and it is now tormenting his very soul”

“That is correct master” Rukia confirmed “Only you can help us now, we had no idea it was a Zanpakuto, my apprentice is suffering for a stupid mistake I made” She told him

The man smiled “My dear Rukia, you always did have a soft spot for your subordinates; it’s what makes a great captain and leader” He said with a soft smile “Could I please see the blade in question?” The man asked

“Of course, Naruto, show him” Rukia asked

“Yes Sensei” Naruto responded as he took out the blade and handed to the man handle first as to not cut him

The man examined it carefully, his eyes widen “This cannot be… wait here” He suddenly said as he ran off with the blade causing both Naruto and Rukia to be surprised, a few minutes later he returned with both the blade and a large book “Sorry, I had to be sure” he told them

“What’s wrong master?” Rukia asked

“Where did you get this blade?” He asked Rukia in a serious tone

Rukia didn’t know what to answer, she felt cornered, as if they had been discovered, suddenly Naruto answered “From what I am told, it was a blade that they had brought back from the failed invasion of Konoha” he told them

“Yes, spoils of war, and since it came from Konoha, no one could have imagined that it was a Zanpakuto, why do you ask master?” Rukia said with a sign of relief “good thinking Naruto” she thought to herself

“It all makes sense now, yes, there can be no doubt... Rukia, do you know what this is?... This is one of the four legendary elemental blades, this is the wind blade!” He said with joy in his voice

“Really?!” Rukia said genuinely surprised

“Yes, the wind blade’s last owner was Namikaze Masaki, who was lost to us over sixty years ago during that failed expedition that was believed to have wrecked near the fire nation, this is a miracle for this blade to have made its way back home!” He said in an existing tone

“That is great news!” Rukia said in an equally exited tone, even thought she knew that the blade would be lost to them again soon…

“There is only one thing that bothers me… Two of the legendary four blades can only be wielded by two specific families, the earth blade by the Talhos, the wind blade by the Namikazes, the water blade and the fire blade can be wielded by those they view as pure hearted, so if You are an Uzumaki, how are you able to wield the wind blade?” He said confused

“I have a confession to make… My father was a Namikaze, but he died before I was even born, my mom was an Uzumaki and since he died before he could reveal their relationship…” but he was cut off by Aida

“Of course, it would have been viewed as an attempted to gain access to the noble family of the Namikazes, but now you have proof of your true lineage, you can proudly call yourself a Namikaze and claim what is rightfully yours, as the wielder of the wind blade, you should be the leader of the family” The man explained to him

“Oh no, I do not wish it, I am happy with the way things are now, my mother died recently and I would feel like abandoning her name would be like abandoning her and everything she ever did for me, I beg of you master Aida, keep this secret from being public knowledge” Naruto requested

“I see, I really respect someone who would rather sacrifice power and wealth then sacrificing who he is, I really like you boy” The man said with a warm smile “Now then, rest up because tomorrow your training will begin” he said as he got up

“Could we not begin today?” Naruto asked

“I had things planned for today, so I cannot begin, feel free to explore the temple, Rukia, do you also wish to stay here with him?” He asked her

“Yes master, I will be staying with my apprentice during the entire training” Rukia informed him

“Aright, I will have two rooms prepared then, I shall see you both tonight at dinner then, now if you excuse me, I must get going” He said as he returned Naruto’s blade and began walking away

“Of course master” Rukia said as she bowed, Naruto fallowed the example, once they were alone she let out a large sign “That was quick thinking… I thought for sure that he had figured us out” She said with a smile

“I don’t even know how those things came to me….. They just did” Naruto answered

“But still… I am shocked that you hold the legendary wind blade, and that your ancestor is none other than the great Namikaze Masaki Sama, it’s a shame that you will be leaving us… You would have made a great night captain, who knows, you could have become the Kurokage” She said with a grin

“I am already a Hokage, my country may not be as grand as the night, but I love them and will protect them with my life, I must return to them” He told her

“Yeah… And I respect that” She told him

“Tell me, where are the other three blades?” Naruto asked

“Well, the earth blade is right here in this temple, the Talhos no longer exist today, so no one is able to wield it, the fire blade was lost a long time ago, no one knows what happened to it, and the water blade is actually wielded by none other than Toshiro” Rukia told him

Naruto was both shocked and puzzled at the same time “What? How can that be, I mean his attacks are ice based, not water based” Naruto commented

“It takes water to create ice, both he and the spirit prefer to use ice then just water as they think it’s a more effective weapon, but if he desired, he could use water based attacks, it’s sad to think that Konoha has two of our legendary blades… You know, I should be reporting you people instead of helping” She told him

“Why don’t you?” Naruto asked

“Because, Toshiro is like a little brother to me, sometimes more… And he has such respect and admiration for you, and I myself have seen why he does, so I cannot bring myself to do it, even if it means allowing two of our legendary blades to leave us” She said with a bright smile

“Thanks…” Naruto said as they both walked around the temple

Meanwhile back in the city Yuki and Konohamaru were walking around, they were both still in awe at the sheer size of the city, but Yuki was enjoying herself as she looked in the shops “Oh Konohamaru, how much I wish we had some of these shops back home!” She said with wide eyes “Oh, this dress is so beautiful… But we don’t have any night country currency” she said with sad eyes

“It’s getting late, we should be heading back” Konohamaru said as he was tired of all the walking they had done

“Aww, just a little more, please Konohamaru, please!” she said with pleading and teary eyes

“This is NOT FAIR… Naruto Nii-San warned me about this….must resist, must resist” he said as he looked away but he began to hear some sniffling he looked at her for a split second and saw a tear forming bellow her eye “…YOUR EVIL, YOU KNOW THAT RIGHT?!... FINE we can stay a while longer….” He said sighing as he had caved in

“Oh thank you so much!!” She said as she kissed his cheek causing him to blush

“Look, why don’t you go on and continue window shopping for a bit and meet me back here in like 3 hours” Konohamaru told her

“Sure, see you later” she said as she walked away humming to herself happily

“…And she left me alone just like that… Wow…” he said slightly shocked as he let out yet another sign, he began to stare at the dress that Yuki wanted “I don’t know why she wants to stay, I mean it’s not like we can buy anything without money… But I guess girls will be girls…”

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 39

PRESENT TIME

The next morning Naruto had begun his training with master Aida “The first thing you must do is completely clear your mind” He told Naruto as they were sitting Indian style face to face, Naruto’s Zanpakuto was resting on his legs “Just shut your eyes an and breath slowly, clear your mind of everything that may be bothering you or that you may be thinking of”

Naruto did as he was told, his eyes were closed and he was breathing in and out slowly

“Now that you are completely calm, I want you to think about somewhere peaceful where you can see yourself meditating inside your mind” he told him

“But isn’t this meditating?” Naruto said opening his eyes for a second

“You need to be in a deep state of meditation, in order to achieve this; you must be physically and mentally meditating, once you enter that state, only then will you be able to attempt communicating with the spirit within your Zanpakuto” Aida explained

Naruto took a deep breath as he tried to return to his previous state of meditation, he pictured the stream that runs through Konoha, it meant a lot to him, it was where he first met Sakura, it was where he first met Sasuke, and it was also where he became a Konoha Ninja and where team seven (Team Kakashi) was born. He sat down near the stream, the constant flow of the water was soothing and relaxing, he shut his eyes and began breathing slowly, just like he was doing physically in the real world. He began to feel the winds pick up around him, but he didn’t open his eyes, he was determine to enter the deep state of meditation he needed in order to finally communicate with the spirit of his Zanpakuto

Aida was smiling a bit, he could tell that Naruto was talented; normally it took days before anyone could communicate with their Zanpakuto, but Naruto seemed to be well on his way to a deep state of meditation as his breathing slowed down to a crawl

Meanwhile a young girl was standing at the entrance to the temple, she was fully dressed in the uniform of a night ninja. She was slowly making her way towards the massive doors, she pushed them opened and began walking through the great halls, one of the temple servants walked up to her “Welcome to the temple, is there anything I can help you with?” He asked, but she did not respond, she just continued to walk as if he wasn’t even there “Excuse me miss, but if you are here to see Master Aida, he isn’t available, perhaps I could make an appointment?” the servant asked again, but just like the first time, she ignored him. She was making her way towards the next room, the servant got in between her and the doors in an attempt to stop her “I am sorry miss but you cannot continue, you will have to wait here until Master Aida can…” But to his surprise, she threw him out of her way “HELP! INTRUDER!!” the servant screamed

Within seconds temple security appeared around her “Stand down, or we will be forced to arrest you!!” one of them said as he drew his weapon on her, she finally stopped and looked around, there were six security personnel around her, she did a few hand signs and six boulders erupted from the ground and took out the six security guards simultaneously. The servant couldn’t believe his eyes “SOUND THE ALARM!!” one of the guards said as he was barely conscious

The servant quickly ran for the alarm, he pressed the button that activated a bell that alerted all of the security in the temple as well as the nearby night police station

Rukia was resting in the lounge while Naruto was doing his training with Master Aida when she heard the alarm “What the hell? An alarm here? There hasn’t been an attack on the temple in decades…” She thought to herself as she quickly made her way out of the lounge and towards the temple entrance, she found nothing but unconscious bodies, she made her way to the closes one she could find and tried to revive him “Wake up, wake up!!” She said franticly needing answers

His eyes slowly opened “Captain…” she said in a weak voice

“What happened here? Where are the attackers?” She asked

“There was only one… A young girl” he said as he passed out again

“Only one intruder did all this? It must be a demon infiltrator, but why? They have never done this in the past…” She thought to herself as she laid the security guard back down and fallowed the trail of destruction left behind by the attacker, one thing puzzled her thought, none of the bodies she found were killed, just knocked unconscious

Master Aida and Naruto had heard the alarm, it had broken Naruto’s concentration “Damn it, I was so close… What is that sound?” He asked

“The temple alarm, someone has broken into the temple” Aida said calmly

“Shouldn’t we check it out?” Naruto asked

“No, the temple has ample security and Rukia is here as well, whoever it is will be dealt with swiftly enough” Aida said with a calm tone. Suddenly the temple shakes violently “What was that?!” He said out loud, not really expecting Naruto to know the answer

“I don’t know, but I can’t just sit here, I am going to find out what’s going on” Naruto said as he got up and left the room, Aida fallowed him as he was beginning to worry that perhaps it was a full scale attack on the temple

Naruto found some wounded security guards not far from where they were, he wasn’t critically wounded, but enough to stop him from pursuing the attacker “What happened? Aida asked him”

“Master, we must get you to a safe location… You, you must get him out of here” The guard told Naruto

“Who is doing this? Is it a demon attack?” Aida asked

“We don’t know, she wears the uniform of a night ninja, she has a strong command of the earth element and her own physical strength is just overwhelming, you must leave before she either kills you or captures you Master” He explained

“No, I will not abandon the temple” Aida responded

“Look this could get dangerous, if you won’t leave, then at least stay here with him, I will go see if I can help” Naruto told him

“Alright, good luck…” Aida said as he bent down to take a closer look at the guards wounds

Naruto nodded as he fallowed the path of destruction left behind by the unknown attacker

Before long he met up with Rukia “Naruto, what’s going on do you know?” She asked him

“All I know is that there is a girl dressed in night uniform attacking the temple and no one seems to be able to stop her, she is supposedly very strong and able to command the earth element” He informed her

“It could be a demon infiltrator, we have to stop her before she reaches her goal” Rukia told him as Naruto nodded. They continued to track the intruder when Rukia realized something “This path leads to the sacred vault…” she informed him

“The vault? What’s in the vault?” Naruto asked

“Many night treasures, including the earth Zanpakuto” she answered

“Why would anyone want the earth Zanpakuto, isn’t it useless now?” Naruto asked

“No one maybe able to wield it, but it is still a valued treasure of the night. Perhaps I was wrong, maybe it’s not a demon infiltrator, they would never do anything like this and the blade would be useless to them, it must be a thief. She will probably steal the blade and then demand a ransom for it. The blade is so valuable to my people that they won’t risk losing”

“Well then, I guess it’s up to us to make sure that blade doesn’t make it out of this temple” Naruto said with a grin as Rukia smiled at him and nodded

She knew that he had no reason to help them, after all the night had killed some of his people, including the previous Hokage and attempted to take over his country, and now he was helping them out “Thanks” She said as they picked up the pace and headed straight for the vault

When they arrived they found a blonde girl smashing the vault doors open with her first that she had encased in rock “Stop right there!” Naruto shouted out as he took out a Kunai while Rukia took out her blade, but when the girl turned around to face them, they were both shocked to see that it was in fact Yuki

IN THE PAST

Hiruzen and Danzo were both training together, the two young ninja’s had developed a rivalry friendship, Danzo wanted to prove that he was better than Hiruzen, and Hiruzen wanted to prove that he was more worthy then Danzo of being his pupil

Both of them were panting heavily as they had been at it for over two hours without rest, both of them had multiple scratches and bruises on the entire bodies, but neither one wanted to back down, Homura walked by and saw his fellow team member and decided to investigate “Hiruzen? What are you doing?” He asked as he approached them

“Homura, stay out of the way, I am sparing” He quickly answered

“Sparing? You both look like hell, this isn’t a sparring match, it looks more like your just beating each other up!” Homura commented

“I told you to stay out of it!” Hiruzen screamed out as he clenched onto his Kunai and launched another attack on Danzo who was able to deflect it and kicked Hiruzen to the ground, but he quickly bounced back to his feet and took a few steps back as he got into position again to either attack or defend

Suddenly they hear a large explosion coming from the front gates, followed by an alarm indicating an attack. The three young ninjas quickly began running towards the explosion to find out what was going on. They ran into Nami along the way “What’s going on?” She asked

“We don’t know, we just heard a large explosion and then the alarm, we were going to find out, but it sounds like an attack” Hiruzen informed her

Nami was shocked, who would attack them? And why? She quickly took her mask out of her pouch and slid it on “What are you doing Nami Chan?” Danzo asked

“As an ANBU captain, It’s my duty to defend the village” She answered him

“Nami Chan, you are pregnant, you cannot fight in your condition” Danzo told her

“Just because I am pregnant doesn’t mean that I am weak!!” Nami answered

“I never said that you were weak Nami Chan, but you have to think about your child, you could be putting it in danger, Nami Chan, I know that I have only known you for a short time, but I have come to know what kind of person you are, if you go now, you will fight with everything you have, you will risk your life without a second thought to defend the village. But things are different now; your body is no longer only yours…” Danzo said trying to reason with her

Nami lifted her mask and smiled at the young man “Alright, you win I will stay behind and help the citizens evacuate to the tunnels, but promise me that you boys will be careful alright?” She told them

“Don’t worry Nami Chan, I will be back for dinner before you know it” Danzo said with a grin, his face still bruised from his sparing with Hiruzen

“Alright, good luck guys” She said as she slipped her mask back on but instead of running towards the smoke, then began making her way towards the mountain to help the people evacuate

The three boys nodded at each other as they began making their own way towards the gates of Konoha where a large number of Konoha ninja’s had gathered to face the enemy

At the front of the enemy forces was Uchiha Madara, he had with him a large number of bandits, renegade ninja’s and other assorted men and women who were all jealous of the prosperity of the village. Madara took a few steps forward “People of Konoha, you all know who I am, I know your defenses inside out, after all I helped build them, and I am giving you a chance to surrender now before it is too late”

Hashirama made his way to the front of the Konoha forces “Really now? I can’t seem to remember you lifting a single finger in the construction of anything other than the Uchiha compound” He told him

“Hashirama, why do you try to anger me? We both know that you cannot defeat me, the only one who has even a remote chance is Masaki, however, I am assuming he is busy with other things at the moment right?” Madara said with a grin

“So it was YOU who framed Masaki, we should have known… Madara, you should know that we will not hand over the Uchiha just to save ourselves, they are a part of this village and I will defend them and everyone else here, even if it means my death” Hashirama told him

“Although my revenge is one of the reasons for my coming here, I now have a new mission, and I will not allow the Senju to get in my way” Madara told him as he took out his blade “But since it doesn’t look like you’re going to back down, you will be the first to go!” He as he launched his attack on Hashirama, while the rest of his men launched their own attack on the Konoha forces

Meanwhile Nami was directing everyone to get into the tunnels, a few other ninja’s were helping her out “It looks like a large scale attack…” one of them commented as they could see the battle from their location “I sure wish that Masaki Sama was here…”

“Yeah…” She said as she was worried, not only about the attack, but about Masaki as well “I want you to continue helping the people get into the tunnels and make sure they are safe” Nami said as she began walking away

“Wait, where are you going? You can’t be thinking of going down there in your condition!!” The man told her

“Don’t worry, I just want to know what’s going on, I will not join in the fight, you don’t need to worry” She said with a smile, and just like that, she jumped away

Hashirama and Madara were locked in a fierce battle as both of their forces were fighting around them, the Konoha ninja’s outnumbered and were far more skilled and trained then the bandits and thugs that Madara came with, Madara was beginning to see his forces dwindle, he couldn’t afford to have an extended battle with Hashirama “I am sorry old friend, but unlike last time, I cannot humor you with pretending to be on par with you, so I am going to end this quickly”

“We were NEVER old friends… perhaps at one point we understood each other, and that is why I believe you spared my life during our last battle, but you have fallen since then Madara, we have nothing in common anymore” He screamed as he launched an attack against Madara, using his wood element to assist him

Madara grinned “You are so predictable, don’t you ever learn new tricks?” He said as he began running at full speed to meet Hashirama, Hashirama quickly made some hand signs and erected a large wooden shield to protect himself, he used extra chakra to make it as strong as steel, suddenly he feels something pierce though his body, he looked down and saw that a flaming blade has somehow penetrated the wooden shield “Do you like my new blade? I believe it goes well with my burning personality’ don’t you?” he said with a grin as he forced it deeper inside Hashirama’s body, not only causing internal bleeding but it was still burning while inside his body, causing extreme amounts of pain

He fell down to his knees as his wooden defenses crumbled around him, blood began to drip from his mouth “You will never destroy this village… The fire that the people from this village carry within them will continue to burn brightly long after we are both dead” Hashirama said as he felt his body become weak

“I think you misunderstand my intentions, I will captured this village and force your people to see my point of view, anyone who doesn’t will die, you see, I want the same thing you want, to bring peace to everyone in the world, I just go about it differently” He said with a grin

Suddenly Madara is kicked in the back, sending him crashing to the ground; he quickly gets up in anger, who dared touch him! “YOU!” He said as he stared at the red haired Ninja

“Nami… What are you doing here? You should be with the others…” Hashirama told her

“I couldn’t just stand by and watch him kill you” She said as she got in between Hashirama and Madara

“I will make you pay for interfering, you little bitch!” Madara said as he picked up his blade

“Nami, get out of here, you have no chance against him, think of your child…” Hashirama said in as his voice was getting weaker

“I can’t just leave you behind…” Nami told him

Madara was about to launch his attack when he felt yet again someone kicking him in the back, sending him crashing to the ground, he then felt something pierce his skin causing pain, he quickly rolled back onto his feet to see who had attacked him from behind once again “Nami Chan, you told me that you would not get involved!!” Danzo told her as both her and Hiruzen were standing beside her, Hiruzen was holding a bloody Kunai, Madara guessed he was the one who wounded him

“I am beginning to become angry…” Madara said as he was beginning to get annoyed with the constant interruptions

“Nami Chan, get the Hokage out of here, we will hold him back” Hiruzen told her

“But you can’t hope to defeat him!!” Nami told them

“Oh? And you thought you could?” Danzo answered right away “We are not saying that we are going to defeat him… We are saying that we are going to hold him back long enough for you to get away, don’t worry about us, just get out of here!!” Danzo told her “Nami Chan, please!!” He added

Nami smiled a bit “Alright, but don’t get yourselves killed!!” She took Hashirama’s arm and put it around her neck so he could use her for support while she held onto him, before disappearing in a poof of smoke

Madara began to smile “so you little kids think that you can hold me back huh? How amusing, alright, let’s play!” He said as he attacked both Danzo and Hiruzen, to his surprise, both of them worked perfectly together, whenever Madara was going to strike at Hiruzen, but Danzo pulled him out of the way just in time while getting a kick in Madara’s ribs at the same time “Damn you little brats!” He said in anger, he began making some hand signs, he took in a deep breath and blasted a large ball of flame in their direction, both Hiruzen and Danzo jumped away just in time, but Madara was already behind them, he kicked Hiruzen as hard as he could, sending the boy crashing through a wall and knocking him out cold leaving Danzo to face Madara alone

“Damn it” Danzo thought to himself “At least Nami is getting the time she needs in order to get away” he continued to think

“I am finished playing with you kid, I found the girl…” he said with a grin

Danzo didn’t understand, and then suddenly Madara exploded in a poof of smoke “A clone! But how, only Masaki Sensei can use shadow clones… Oh no, Nami!!” He said as he quickly began to run in the direction that Nami had taken Hashirama

Nami was breathing heavily, she felt tired and weak, was she that out of shape?.. No of course not, it was due to her pregnancy “Everyone was right… I am of no use to anyone in a battle in this condition…” She told herself as she laid Hashirama down for a moment to check him out since she figured they were safe for now, it would also give her a chance to rest up at the same time. She looked at Hashirama’s wound, it looked severe, he had lost a lot of blood and the wound looked burnt up, she did her best to clean up the wound and disinfect, but she would have to get him to a doctor if he had any hope of surviving. Suddenly she had a cold shiver run through her entire spine, they weren’t alone, someone else was with them, she quickly applied a bandage to the wound and went to grab her weapon, but someone stepped on her hand hard, causing extreme amounts of pain

“Well, well, what do we have here? You thought that you could get away from me? Naughty little girl” He quickly grabbed Nami by her throat “You know, it’s a real shame that you gave me so much trouble, I would have been content with allowing you to live, but now, I am forced to kill you, such a shame, you are so beautiful” He told her

“If you’re going to kill me, then get it over with, you bastard!” She said in defiance as she was having a hard time breathing

Madara let out a chuckle “And that attitude is what I liked most about you, you are one of the few people out there who don’t fear me, even now as you are about to die by my hand, I shall do you a favor, it will be quick and painless” and without warning he stabbed her strait in her heart

Nami’s vision began to fade away as she took her last breaths, her only thoughts were for Masaki, and how she had failed him and their child, a small tear began to roll down her cheek before she died, he laid her down and was about to turn his attention to Hashirama when he heard a scream

“NAMI CHAN!!!” Danzo screamed out with tears freely streaming from his eyes, he charged at Madara who easily blocked his attack

“You are beginning to bore me child” He said as he kicked Danzo sending him crashing into a wall, but Danzo got back up, and attacked once again, Madara let out a sigh as he took his blade and stabbed him in the chest and kicked him in the head, sending him crashing once again into the wall. He was still conscious but his body wasn’t able to move anymore, he couldn’t take his eyes off of Nami’s lifeless body, just laying on the ground, no longer drawing breath

Suddenly a large number of Konoha ninja’s arrived on the scene and began to surround Madara “Give it up Madara, you can’t defeat us all!!” One of them told him

Madara let out a large sigh “Did you defeat all of my forces already? Damn it, these kids wasted to much of my time… Very well, he is as good as dead anyway, savor this victory Konoha, because I will be back” were his words before he slowly began to fade away

Masaki and his team were nearing the village when they saw the smoke coming from the village “What is that? Smoke? That can’t be good, we need to hurry!!” Tobirama said as they began to run towards the village

They arrive to see that the main gates had been blown wide open, there were bodies all over the ground, most of them were those of the bandits and thugs, but a few of them were Konohans who had fallen defending their village and loved ones “What happened here?” Masaki asked one of the guards who was very happy to see Masaki and his team arrive

“Masaki Sama, it was Madara, he attacked the village, we were able to push them back, the others went to help the Hokage” He informed them

“What about Nami?” Masaki asked concerned for his beloved

“I don’t know sir” He answered

Masaki quickly began to run towards the fire tower, Hashirama would know where Nami would be, along the way they find Hiruzen who was just beginning to regain consciousness, Masaki stops to check on him “Hiruzen, are you alright?” He asks

“Masaki Sama, its you, I am so happy that you are back” He said as he sat up “I seem to be alright, my body is just aching all over, It’s the Hokage and Nami that I am worried about” He told them

“What about Nami?” Masaki asked

“What about my brother?” Tobirama asked

“Hokage Sama was gravely injured during his fight with Madara, Nami stepped in and stopped him from killing him, then me and Danzo stepped in to give her enough time to get away with the Hokage, during the fight I must have taken a heavy hit, I don’t know what happened, or where they are, I don’t even know where Danzo is…” He explained

“You, take him to the hospital to be checked out” Masaki ordered one of his ANBU

“Right away sir!” The ANBU quickly answered as he picked up Hiruzen and disappeared in a poof

“We have to find Nami” Masaki said

“She is more than likely with my brother, we have to hurry” Tobirama told him “Knowing my brother, he is ignoring his injuries and is at the tower trying to restore peace to this chaos”

Both men nodded as they continued to run towards the fire tower, they stumble upon Danzo who was sitting down against a wall, his wound had been looked after, but his skin was pale and his eyes empty, Masaki stopped to check on the young boy “Danzo, are you alright? You look hurt, you should be at the hospital”

Danzo didn’t answer right away, it was as if his soul had been sucked out of him “My wound is not critical, I told them to patch me up and to take care of the patients that needed attention…” he said in an almost lifeless monotone voice

“Danzo, you don’t sound like your alright… Do you know where Nami is?” He asked him

A tear began to form in his eyes, it was the first emotional response he had given them “…I am sorry Masaki Sensei… I am so sorry” he said as the tears began to stream freely down his cheeks

“What is it?! Danzo you have to tell me!!” Masaki said getting nervous

“I was right there… She died right before my eyes, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it… I wanted to stop him, I really did” Danzo told them

Masaki fell down to his knees as tears began filling his own eyes “No… It can’t be, IT CAN’T BE!!” Suddenly anger began to fill Masaki as he picked up Danzo by the collar, all for of Danzo’s limbs were just dangling as he offered no resistance “HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!?! I LEFT HER IN YOUR CARE!! I TOLD YOU TO KEEP HER SAFE, HOW COULD YOU ALLOW HER TO DIE!!” He said as he punched Danzo as hard as he could, sending the poor boy flying into the streets

“MASAKI!! CALM DOWN!!” Tobirama screamed at him as he and the other ANBU members tried to stop him from picking up Danzo again who was just laying on the ground looking up at the sky, it was as if he had accepted the punishment he was receiving “You know full well that it wasn’t his fault, giving the circumstances, he did well beyond what you could have expected of him, this was Madara, not some petty bandit!”

Masaki brook down into tears again, Tobirama held him trying to comfort him, he knew that Nami meant everything to him

Another ninja came up to them “Tobirama Sama, I finally found you, Sir, your brother is in the hospital, he doesn’t have a lot of time left, he asked to see you and Masaki right away sir”

PRESENT TIME

“Yuki, what the hell are you doing?!” Naruto asked her, but something was odd, the look in her eyes was different “Yuki?!” He asked again, but she didn’t respond

“What are we going to do about this? I doubt that we can explain this to Master Aida…” Rukia told him

“I don’t know, but we have to find out why she is doing this first…” Naruto answered

Yuki began taking a few steps back, keeping her eyes on both Rukia and Naruto, she continued to take steps back until she was in the vault, Naruto and Rukia cautiously fallowed her “Yuki, answer me now!!” Naruto tried once again, but just like before, there was no response. Yuki quickly grabbed the earth blade and suddenly she just fell down, as if she had passed out for some reason “What happened? Is it some sort of security system?” Naruto asked Rukia

“No… But look at her, there is a stranger aura around her body” Rukia observed as she bent down to take a closer look

“What does it mean?” Naruto asked

Suddenly the room began to fill with security guards and re-enforcements from the Night police force

“Good work stopping her captain” One of the guards told Rukia

“It wasn’t me, she just suddenly passed out” Rukia answered

One of the guards tried to remove the blade from Yuki’s hand, only to find that Yuki’s hand was encased in rock, and the rock also encased part of the blade, binding them to each other. One of the guards tried to break the rock with a chisel, but it had little effect “How are we going to get the blade back?” One of them asked

“Since we can’t separate her hand from the blade, separate her hand from her body” one of them said with a grin, and he was about to cut Yuki’s hand clean off with Naruto stopped him

“STOP!! What do you think you’re doing?!” Naruto asked

“Captain, you have to teach your apprentice to respect his superiors” He told Rukia before turning to Naruto “This is none of your business boy, this girl’s life was forfeit the minute she attacked this temple, weather we execute her with one of both hands won’t matter”

“I won’t let you harm her!!” Naruto said not caring about his cover at the moment, Yuki’s life was more important

“Captain, control your apprentice!!” The man told Rukia

“Naruto, please calm down, let me handle this” Rukia told Naruto “And you would do well to listen to him, do you honestly want a bloody encased hand to hang onto the blade? Think a little bit before you act!” Rukia told the man “It should be up to Master Aida as to what we do next, bring her to one of the cells and keep an eye on her” Rukia ordered

“But what if she wakes up? She was able to take out the entire temple security force on her own” The man asked

“Do I have to think of everything? Cuff her with the chakra canceling handcuffs” Rukia said in an annoyed tone, after all she was still a captain and had to act like one

“Yes ma’am” the guard said as he ordered his men to pick Yuki up

“Oh and if you dare hurt her in anyway, I will see to it that you are the one who hangs from the gallows” Rukia added to make sure that Yuki’s safety would be assured

Once they were gone Naruto let out a large sigh “Thank you Rukia…” He told her with a genuine smile

“You’re welcome, however that doesn’t help us much, and why would she do this? Doesn’t she know what kind of position that puts us in now? I don’t know how I am going to be able to stop them from executing her” Rukia told him

“We must speak with Master Aida, if we can convince him to spare her life… Then perhaps we can save her”

“I agree, but she is still going to need to answer some serious questions when she wakes up… and she better be more talkative then she was back there”

[Naruto]

Historical Bonds
Chapter 40

PRESENT TIME

Yuki was still laying on the floor of the cell she had been placed in. She slowly began to open her eyes, she could feel the coldness of the ground underneath her. She slowly sat herself up and began to look around “Where am I?” She wondered, she realized that her hand was holding onto something. She looked at it and saw that it was a beautiful blade, she had no idea how she got it, and the last thing she remembered was kissing Konohamaru good night before going to her room.

She got up from the ground to look around; she quickly realized that she was in a prison cell of some sort and that there seemed to be some sort of band on both her wrists and ankles, she could feel them constantly draining her chakra “Hello? Is anyone here?” She asked

One of the guards came up to her cell door “Oh, the thief is awake, what do you want” He said in a cold tone of voice

“Thief? I didn’t steal anything…” She told him

“It’s kind of hard to believe you when you’re still holding onto the item you stole” he told her with the same cold voice

“What? This?” She said looking at the blade “I didn’t take this… It was in my hand when I woke up!” She tried to explain

“You think that I am going to believe that? I was there! You took out my entire squad, you’re just lucky that you didn’t kill anyone, because I would personally cut your throat and watch you die as your blood drained from your body” He said with hatred in his voice

“Look, I am being set up… I swear I didn’t do anything!!” She could see that he didn’t care, or even want to care about her situation “Look, you don’t have to believe me, I just need to talk to someone, I assume you know who Captain Kuchiki is right?” She asked

“Of course, she helped bring you in here” The man answered

“She did??... Yuki said confused “Wait, where am I?”

“As if you didn’t know, this is the sacred and holy night temple”

“The temple? Look, you have to get either Captain Kuchiki or her apprentice, Uzumaki Naruto”

“I don’t have to do ANYTHING” She said as he began walking away

“Please, you have to get one of them” She began to plead, she was beginning to fear the worst for herself

“Sir, I know that she is a thief, but the captain did seem to know her, and she could have killed many of us, but not a single one of our men was killed, most of them are back on duty” One of the guards told the man in charge

The man clenched his fist tightly “I will inform the captain that she is conscious, what she does after that is not my concern” He told Yuki before leaving

Yuki looked at the guard who had stood up for her “Thank you…” She told him

“Don’t thank me, it’s not like did it to help you, your still a thief” He said as he returned to his post

Yuki sat down in one of the corners of her cell, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her head on her knees, she still held the blade in her hands, and it puzzled her, how did she obtain it? And more importantly, why did she still have it? “Hey, one last question… Why hasn’t anyone taken this away from me?” She asked

“Other than the fact that at the time a layer of rock locked your hand to the blade… We were ordered not to touch you, it is the only reason that you’re still breathing. Anyone else would have been hanged by now”

Rukia was working on the paperwork involving the attack for the council, an incident inside the temple was no small matter, and the council would want, no demand answers. How was she going to explain this to them? She was beginning to second guess her decision to help Naruto and his group out

“Captain Kuchiki, I am sorry to disturb you, but the prisoner is awake and has requested to speak to either you or your apprentice ma’am” The man said as he bowed in her presence

“She is awake? And talking?” Rukia asked

“Yes ma’am” He quickly answered

“Good, it’s time we got some answers” Rukia said as she made her way towards the prison cells. Yuki had not noticed her yet, she was lost deep in thought as she was still in the same corner of the cell, and still holding onto the blade “I want everyone out of here” Rukia ordered the guards catching Yuki’s attention

“But ma’am…” He was quickly cut off by Rukia

“Are you questioning my orders? Or do you doubt that I can handle a little caged girl whose chakra wielding abilities have been nullified, well? Which is it?” Rukia asked

“I am sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean any disrespect” He answered

“Then get out and take your men with you!!” Rukia demanded

“Yes ma’am, as you wish” He said bowing his head as he quickly left the room along with the other guards

Rukia let out a minor sigh as Yuki had gotten back to her feet “Rukia, I am so happy to see you, you have to get me out of here!” Yuki told her

“Do you know how much trouble you’re in? Do you even know how much trouble you caused me and Naruto? You are going to start by telling me why you attacked the temple and attempted to steal that blade? And how do you even know about it in the first place?! Naruto didn’t even know about the four legendary blades until he began his training!” Rukia asked her

“Rukia, you have to believe me, I swear to you, I did not attack the temple, I have no idea what this blade is or how I acquired it, I went to bed last night and I woke up in this prison cell this morning… I am telling you the truth!!” Yuki said with pleading eyes

“Yuki, you attacked the temple and took the blade, I know, I was there, so was Naruto! So you’re going to have to come up with a better story then that” Rukia said crossing her arms

Tears began to form around Yuki’s eyes, how could she have done any of the things Rukia is accusing her of, she couldn’t remember a single thing! “Look, I don’t care about this blade, here take it!!” She said as she offered the blade to Rukia. Rukia was about to take the blade when a pulse of energy began to emanate from the blade, it intensified as Rukia’s hand got closer to the blade until finally it lashed out at her, sending her flying across the room slamming into the brick wall “Rukia!!” Yuki screamed in horror

Rukia slowly got back up, it was as if the wind had been knocked right out of her as she was trying to breathe regularly again, there was also a small sharp pain in her stomach, but she could endure it. One thing was for sure, she wasn’t going to try to take that blade from her again. However how was it possible?

“Rukia, are you alright?” Yuki asked with genuine concern in her voice

“Yeah… I will be fine, but how did you do that?” Rukia asked

“I didn’t do anything… I can’t even gather any chakra. Here I will put the blade down and you can take it” She said as she laid it down on the ground

“No, for now I believe that you should keep it. But Yuki, there is something I have to know, what is your full name?”

“My name? Why?” Yuki asked confused as to why it was important

“Please, just answer” Rukia asked again

“Alright… My full name is Talho Yuki, but I still don’t understand…” but she stops when she sees the surprise on Rukia’s face

“That’s impossible… Yet… I would have said the same about a Namikaze being from Konoha…”

“Rukia? What’s going on? Why is me being a Talho make any difference?” Yuki asked

“Tell me, did Naruto know about you being a Talho? And are there others?” Rukia asked ignoring Yuki’s question

“Well yeah, he should know my full name, thought he has never called me by it, and No, My father was the only Talho in Konoha, he died when I was young…” Yuki answered with a hint of sadness in her voice

“Look, I may have a way out of this, but I will need to speak with Yoruichi first, she isn’t going to like this… But it’s our only shot, at least our only shot of getting you out of this mess short of hanging from the gallows. Look, don’t speak to anyone else other then myself or Naruto alright? And do NOT tell anyone that you’re a Talho, if somehow you are forced to reveal your name, give them another name, your mother’s name if you must” Rukia told her

“Alright… I don’t understand what’s going on but I will do as you say. But how long will I have to stay here?” She asked

“I don’t know, but I will try to get you out of here as soon as possible” Rukia quickly ran out of the prison area. She ran into the guards waiting to go back on duty just outside

“Captain, are you finished with the prisoner?” One of them asked

“Yes, you may return to your post, I will be back later” She said as left to find Naruto

Naruto was taking a break from his meditation, he was getting close, he could feel it, however his stomach would always interfere. He was eating Ramen from the temples kitchen, it wasn’t as good as the one that Sakura made for him, but it was good enough for him

Rukia literally busted into the room and looked around, she shut the door and locked it behind her once she confirmed that Naruto was the only one there “How could you hide from me the fact that she is a Talho!!” Rukia immediately confronted Naruto

Naruto had no idea what she was talking about, he was completely puzzled “Who is a Talho?” He asked

“Don’t act stupid! Did you plan on stealing the blade with her? Tell me right now!!” Rukia demanded

Now Naruto was even more confused, and insulted “What blade? Who’s a Talho? And why am I being accused of aiding them?” Naruto demanded answers of his own

“Yuki’s full name is Talho Yuki! She is probably the last remaining Talho, in other words, she is the only person on this planet that can wield the earth blade! You can’t tell me that you didn’t know about all this!!” Rukia said in a slightly angry tone of voice, believing that Naruto was in on the entire thing

Naruto literally dropped his chop sticks as his eyes widen

*FLASHBACK*

let's start with getting to know each other, when it's your turn, I want you to state your name, likes and dislikes and your dream, now I know I already know you Konohamaru, but let's start with you"

"skipping to Yuki's turn"

"My name is Talho Yuki, I like to train so people don't think I am weak, I hate jerks who think girls are good for nothing as ninja's and finally, my dream is to find someone who can accept me for who I am!"
*END FLASHBACK*

“How could I have forgotten… I guess it’s because I have always called her Yuki, I kind of forgot about her last name… But now that you mention it, yes, I remember that her name is Talho Yuki” Naruto began to realize why Rukia was throwing those accusations at him now “But you have to believe me that I did not plan any of this, I swear to you that it had completely slipped my mind that she was a Talho, nor did I know about the blade before coming here, so I could have never planned some sort of attack with Yuki, hell I have been with either you or Master Aida most of my time here…” Naruto said in his defense

Rukia looked at Naruto “Then why did she attack? I asked her and she said she had no idea why! Is she covering for someone? If not you then… No I cannot believe that Toshiro would betray his country, but if he knew who Yuki was, and he knows about the blade” Rukia began doubting her trust in Toshiro

“Wait one moment here, Toshiro would never do something like that, and deep down you know it, his only agenda here is helping me get my nightmares under control and to get everyone home safe, he wouldn’t jeopardize the mission like this, plus, I don’t believe that he knows Yuki’s a Talho, the only ones who probably know are Yuki, Konohamaru and Sakura since she has a great memory, and now us two” Naruto told her

“Well, I have a plan that could save Yuki from being hanged; well not that she would ever be hanged if it gets out that she is a Talho… Look, I have to find Yoruichi” Rukia said as she was about to leave the room

“Wait, what are you going to do?” He asked her

“I am going to turn Yuki into an apprentice… Like I did with you, it’s the only way” Rukia said as she left the room

IN THE PAST

Masaki and Tobirama were standing next to Hashirama who was resting in one of the hospital beds “Little brother, Masaki, it is good to see that you are safe, I was worried that something had happened to you on your mission” Hashirama said with a weak voice

“No, Hashirama, we were able to clear Masaki’s name” Tobirama said reporting to his brother the success of their mission

“Good, that is really good, with Masaki’s name cleared, it will make my next task much easier” He said with a cough “Masaki, in all honesty, you should have won the elections the first time, you are the strongest person in Konoha, and although everyone is telling me I will be alright, I am not stupid. I can feel the life slowly draining away from my body” He said as he coughed again

“Don’t be silly brother, you are going to pull out of this, and you will be able to continue being the great leader that we know you are” Tobirama said with a faint smile

“Tobi, you were always a bad liar, mom and dad could always tell, and so could I” Hashirama said with a faint smile “I know that my time is almost up, and that is why that I must do this, Masaki, I entrust the safety of the village to you, as the next Hokage of Konoha” Hashirama proclaimed

There was no emotion on Masaki’s face, he simply looked at Hashirama “I am sorry, but I cannot accept it, Madara has stripped everything away from me, first he tried to soil my name, then he attacked the village and killed many of my friends, and most importantly, he took away my future when he killed Nami, No my friend, I am sorry but I will be hunting down Madara to the ends of the earth, and I will kill him and make him pay!” Masaki said as he fought tears from forming around his eyes, he didn’t want to listen to objections that he knew Hashirama would have, he exited the room immediately

“Tobi, you have to stop him…” Hashirama asked his brother

“I am sorry brother, but I have half a mind of going with him… Nami was a very close friend of mine, and soon you will be gone as well, I cannot forgive him for that, brother he has to pay, and I want to be by Masaki’s side” Tobirama said with anger in his eyes

“Tobi, you cannot allow anger to fill your life!” Hashirama tried to reason with him

Tobirama was about to argue with him when he heard the door creek open, they both looked and saw a little blonde peeking in, she shut the door when she realized that she had been found out. A warm smile came to Tobirama’s face as he got up and opened the door, and hiding behind it was Tsunade, he smiled at her and picked her up “Hey, what are you doing here little one” He asked her

But she didn’t answer, Tobirama brought her to Hashirama who was happy to see her “Hey Tsunade, you shouldn’t be here, where are mommy and daddy?” He asked

“Daddy was hurt, and I don’t know where mommy is, everyone is so busy, I was alone, I heard them say that you were going to die” She answered

“No, sweetheart, I am not going to die… I am just going to be leaving for a while, that’s all” He answered her, but he could tell that she wasn’t buying it

“She is smarter than you think brother… I don’t think that she is buying it” Tobirama told him

Tsunade began to cry as she held onto Hashirama tightly “I don’t want you to die!” She told them

Hashirama’s heart was breaking up inside “Sweetheart… Here, I have something for you” He said as he took a necklace off from around his neck and placed it around her neck “This necklace means a lot to me, it’s been in our family for generations, I had always planned on giving it to your daddy, but I am giving it to you” He said with a faint smile

“When I grow up, I am going to become a doctor, and I am going to stop people from suffering and save their lives!” She said as the tears continued to stream down from her cheeks

“Whatever happened to wanting to become a doctor to find out where babies come from and having your own?” Hashirama asked her

“I don’t care about that anymore” She answered seriously

Hashirama smiled at her, although he was slightly sad because he knew that some of her innocence had been stripped from her “I am so proud of you, you have no idea…” He told her “Sweetheart, there are some things I need to talk about with your uncle alright?” Hashirama told her

She wiped away some of her tears and sniffled a bit, but she nodded as she slowly left the room

“Tobi, I may not be able to talk Masaki out of his quest for vengeance, but you cannot join him, Tobi… I want you to keep an eye on my… no OUR family, keep them safe” Hashirama pleaded

Tobirama looked at his brother “Alright, I will make sure that nothing happens to our family, I promise to defend them with my life”

Hashirama smiled briefly, but it was short as he slowly shut his eyes, his breathing slowed down, and finally stopped altogether. Tobirama fought back the urge to cry “Good bye… Brother” He said as he left the room

Masaki had made it to another part of the hospital where they were keeping the dead. He stood by a body covered in a blanket, he slowly pulled it off the bodies head, revealing Nami’s face to him. Her hair was still beautiful and flawless, her skin still looked and felt as smooth as silk, even in death, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on, he dropped down to his knees and began to cry over her body “How could I have allowed this to happen… This is my fault, if I would have stayed here rather than to go off and defend my stupid name, I would have been here to prevent this!”

“Do you really think so?” A voice came from behind him

He quickly turned around to see who had dared intrude while he mourned his beloved “It’s you! But how, you said that you couldn’t leave the temple!” He said as he stood face to face with Ayumi

“I am not actually here, I am in your mind, no one else can see me other then you” she explained

“Oh, so I am going crazy on top of it all now? Come to think of it, no one else other than me saw you, for all I know, you could have been in my mind from the beginning” Masaki confronted her

Ayumi shook her head in disbelief “You can believe that you are crazy if you wish, or you could listen to what I have to say” Ayumi told him slightly annoyed

“I am not sure that I am in the mood to listen to you right now, can’t you see that I am in pain!” Masaki told her

“I am not heartless you know, I can help you… But I will require something from you”

“Help me how? Can you bring her back to life? Well? CAN YOU? Because short of that, I could not give a damn about you or ANYTHING you have to say!” Masaki told her in an angered voice

“Yes I can” She simply answered

“Yes you can what?” Masaki asked

“You asked me a question, and I answered” She told him with a smirk

“Wait, you don’t mean that it is within your powers to bring back the dead?!”

“Do I have your attention now?”

“Yes, you have my full attention, if you can bring Nami back, I beg you, please do it, I will do anything you ask, I will agree to any condition!” He said as he was on his knees begging in front of her

“Get up! Don’t you realize that if anyone see’s you, they will think that you have gone insane? After all they can’t see me!!” Ayumi reminded him

“I don’t care, they can think anything of me, as long as Nami is returned to me…”

“Listen to what I have to say before you agree…” Ayumi warned him

“Yes, of course” Masaki said as he got off from the ground

“I want you to return to the temple, I will train you as my apprentice to become the next sage, and once you are ready, you will take care of Madara for me, now before you agree, that means that you will never see Nami or your child, by the time your training is complete, she will have died, hopefully of old age… Look, you don’t have to decide right now, you have about 1 hour before Nami’s body is too far for me to revive”

Masaki’s heart was hurting, the idea of never seeing Nami ever again was a horrible thought; however the thought of her being dead before her time was even worst “I don’t need one hour to decide, I accept your conditions!” Masaki told her

“Are you sure? Once you agree, you cannot go back on your word, if you do, I can take her life away anytime I want” Ayumi informed him

“I never go back on my word, I will agree to become your apprentice, I just ask that I be allowed to say goodbye to her and my friends” Masaki asked her

“Of course, I will give you twenty four hours, oh and doing this will use up quite a bit of my powers, after this, I won’t be able to communicate with you, so just return to the temple where we first met” Ayumi warned him

“Yes, of course” Masaki quickly answered

Ayumi nodded and smiled. She began saying an incantation and doing hand signs, her eyes began to glow, suddenly a mass of energy came out of Ayumi and hit Nami’s motionless body, slowly the wounds that had caused her death were beginning to heal and fade away, her cheeks regained their color as the blood began to pump throughout her body once more, and finally she began breathing again

Masaki was crying of joy, Nami was alive; she was really alive, he held her tightly as she slowly began to wake up “Masaki?” She asked with a very weak voice “Why are you crying?”

Without warning he kissed her passionately, Nami didn’t fight it as she kissed him back

IN THE PRESENT

Yoruichi was at a local bar, the day had been long, the council had multiple questions about her recent missions, this was why she hated coming back to the capital city “I wish Kurosaki Sama was still with us, he hated reports just as much as we did and was content with just a small recap” she told herself as she took a sip from her sake

“I couldn’t agree more” a voice came from behind her

Yoruichi turned around to see who it was, she smiled “Vice captain Yano”

“You know, you can just call me Ayumi…” the young girl told her

“What are you doing here?” Yoruichi asked as she offered Ayumi a seat next to her

“Just wanted to unwind after a long day with my father, I love the man, but he really needs to stop praising me and showing me off to all his friends” She said with a smile “And yesterday I spent my entire morning with the council, so at least I understand how you’re feeling”

“I don’t understand why they have to be so thorough about every last detail”

“I know! They asked me the exact number of demon ninja’s that had attacked the village and the number of victims, do they seriously think that we count the number of enemy waves that come at us? And since they capture some of the people, we cannot give them an accurate number of victims”

“Let’s hope that the next Kurokage will have the same distaste for reports as we do” Yoruichi said lifting her glass

“Il drink to that!” Ayumi said with a bright smile as she lifted her own glass in agreement. Although they weren’t on the same squads, they had a mutual respect for each other, also the fact that Rukia and Yoruichi were together often meant that she would interact with Yoruichi and the second squad often as well

“So what are your plans for tonight?” Yoruichi asked

“Well I was thinking of just taking it easy, I am suppose to return home tomorrow, so I have a long trip ahead of me”

“Well then, if you have no plans, I could think of a few things we could do for some fun, I am sure we could both use the distraction” Yoruichi said with a grin

“And what kind of distractions were you thinking of?” Ayumi asked, Yoruichi had a reputation of being mischievous, and whatever she had planned would probably be fun, but could also get them into trouble

“Come on” Yoruichi said as she got up from her seat, followed by Ayumi

As they exit the bar, they run into Rukia “Yoruichi, there you are, I should have guessed that you were here… And Ayumi? Wait a second, the look on your faces, you were up to no good weren’t you… Come on, out with it, whenever you two get together, bad things tend to happen” Rukia demanded

“Hey, we just met up, we swear…” Yoruichi said trying to act innocent

“Alright, she caught us, might as well tell her the truth” Ayumi said with a grin, a grin that peeked Yoruichi’s curiosity

“Wait, wait, let me guess, you were going to get rid of me, and take over my office right?” Rukia giving her a grin of her own

“Damn, we can’t fool you now can we” Yoruichi answered

“Well you know, your chair is really comfortable, and your new apprentice is really cute, I will take him as well” Ayumi said as her grin grew

The three girls shared a laugh “I figured as much, anyway Yoruichi, I need to talk to you” Rukia said regaining her composure

“Sure thing” Yoruichi answered quickly

“Not here, we need to speak in private, and its urgent…” Rukia told her

“Alright, I get the hint, I will turn in early, see you back home captain” Ayumi said as she bowed in respect of her captain “And see you later Yoruichi” she then jumped away with speed, leaving the two captains alone

“Let me guess, this has to do with our little problem right?” Yoruichi asked

“Yes, I think it would be best if I bring you up to speed on everything that’s been going on since we separated” Rukia began to explain everything, she explained her plan about Naruto and how he was now her apprentice and how they explained to Master Aida the situation, and how the plan was going smoothly

“You know, you took a big risk by doing that… If anyone finds out about this Rukia, your days as a captain will be up; hell I would be surprised if you weren’t accused of treason” Yoruichi said sharing her concerns for her friend

“You haven’t heard the entire story yet… Something else has happened; it’s made things much more complicated…” She then continued to explain the situation with Yuki, how she attacked the temple and took the earth blade, and how she turned out to be a Talho

Yoruichi’s eyes had widen in shock “You are telling me that she is a Talho? Are you sure? I mean she could have made it all up…”

“No, trust me, she is a Talho, the blade responds to her, or more like its protecting her somehow, I don’t even think that she is aware of it yet” Rukia explained

“Alright, so… What do you need me to do then?” Yoruichi asked

“You are not going to like it…” Rukia warned her

“I already knew that I wasn’t going to like it, look just knowing about all this and not reporting it is just as bad as treason, the way I see it, we are in this together so just out with it”

Rukia smiled, Yoruichi was right “I need you to say that Yuki is your apprentice, we will say that she had no idea that she was a Talho and that she was visiting the capital city for the first time with you, and that somehow the blade drew her to it, in all honesty, I think that last part is the truth…” Rukia explained

Yoruichi let out a large sigh “Toshiro is going to owe us big time for this… It’s a rotten shame that we will never be able to cash in on this” she said with a grin “Alright then, let’s get this over with; I assume that we are going to be heading for the temple next?”

“Yeah… Yoruichi Thank you”

“Hey, what are friends for right?”