Chapter 73 : Acceptance (1)

.

It's time for me to become my father. I wasn't fast enough for Hayate, for Yugao. I will never be too slow again. I need to become stronger. I need more. I'm… I'm not enough. I know that now.

Konoha needs more. And it starts with Uchiha Sasuke.

The Monsters of Konoha shall show the world why Heaven is indomitable. I will never be late again.

I was blind to think I could have them both. My own desires almost cost me my family. It's time I open my eyes again.

I'm a Monster. It is time I reminded the world this.

....

A scared Anko made her way through the Hospital, trying to find the room Naruto was in. After waking up in her bed, which she had no idea how she got there, she had received a message from the Hokage. The message read: "Uzumaki Naruto has been hospitalized".

She hadn't moved faster in all her life. How was that even possible? Her soldier boy was invincible, right?

Turning the corner of the hallway, she found the room she was looking for. It was kind of hard to miss with all the bodies guarding it. There were two ANBU operatives stationed at the door she needed to get through.

On the opposite side of the hall, Yugao and Hayate were sitting in waiting chairs. She decided to speak to them first. As she made her way to them, Hayate noticed her, getting up from his seat and meeting her halfway.

"What happened, Hayate?" Anko asked fearfully. The Tokubetsu Jonin looked terrified, like he had seen a ghost. She was half right, he felt like he was the ghost…

He shook his head. "I don't know how but…" He looked back at the door Naruto was behind. "I… I died last night, Anko…" He was shaking, and his face expressed nothing but confusion.

"What?" the snake user replied even more confused than Hayate. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I was killed last night and Naruto… he brought be back." Anko could tell that he was serious. "He reached into the pure world and brought me back."

He shook his head again. "How's that even possible? How can a twelve year old do that?" His hand rubbed the phantom wounds on his chest. "I was wounded badly, but when I… came back, they were gone, completely healed." He looked Anko in the eyes. "I haven't coughed since then either… It's like when he brought me back, I was even better than before…"

Anko just listened to Hayate's words. What the hell happened after the synching?

"I guess something happened between him and Yugao while I was… you know, because she cried herself to sleep muttering how terrible of a sister she is over and over again." He sighed.

She couldn't wait any longer. She needed to see him with her own eyes. She needed to hear what happened from his mouth, his voice. She didn't respond to Hayate, she just walked forward towards where she knew he was.

She could feel him, like he was right next to her the moment she woke up. She guessed this was the feeling he explained to her that he felt. She didn't even care that she could also feel Mei. She loved the feeling, and if Mei had to be in it, she'd put up with it.

As she got to the door, she tried to walk pass the very large Ushi and slender Uma. She didn't know or care who these ANBU were. She just wanted, needed to see him.

She tried to reach the handle to open the door, but was stopped by the larger of the two. Ushi grabbed her wrist to stop her, and she didn't take kindly to being stopped. She reached for the giant hand holding her wrist and swatted it away, reaching for the handle once again with an annoyed expression.

That's when Ushi vanished in an impossible burst of speed, grabbing the back of her neck- how did he get behind her so fast?- and throwing her against the opposite wall. She slammed into it with a thud, and before she could react, the giant had her by the collar of her mesh armor, his other large fist drawn back ready to strike.

Ushi grunted.

Uma poked her head out from behind the giant and spoke. "He wants your name." She said- her voice perfectly calm.

Anko gave an incredulous look. "What?" She said heatedly.

Ushi grunted.

Again, Uma translated. "He wants to know your name. And this is the last time he'll ask politely."

Politely?! He slammed her against a wall and threatened to smash her into said wall with his over-sized fist, and he calls that polite? Nevertheless, Anko just wanted to see Naruto, so she relented with a sigh.

"Jonin Mitarashi Anko. Ninja Registration 011226. I was informed that my… that Uzumaki Naruto was hospitalized by the Hokage. I…" She sighed again.

"I just want to see him."

Ushi grunted, letting go of the Dango loving woman.

"Ushi says you're on the list. You may enter, Jonin Mitarashi Anko." How the hell did the female ANBU operative know what the behemoth was saying?

What she didn't know was that Ro-Han didn't need words to communicate. They were the perfect, most effective ANBU team Konoha has ever seen, and it was due to Inu-taicho and Nezumi-taicho's incredible teamwork exercises.

Both Ushi and Uma let Anko enter the room with a nod of their heads. When she entered, Uchiha Sasuke stood from his chair, a kunai in his hands and his Sharingan activated. When he saw who it was, he calmed himself, sitting back down and deactivating his Dojutsu.

The ANBU operative in the corner didn't even react to her presence. Ookami knew that anyone entering that door had to be on the list of names given to them. If anyone who wasn't tried, half the village would know. Ushi was very destructive when it came to orders from Nezumi-taicho. He'd die before he failed a mission given to him from the blond, unless of course failing meant saving a comrade.

When Anko closed the door, Naruto's eyes opened, but they weren't Naruto's. "Oh. It's you. I was wondering when you were going to show up." Like his eyes, it was Naruto's lip's moving, but the voice was far too deep and rough to belong to her knight.

"What's going on?" She directed the question at Sasuke, knowing how close the Uchiha was to the blond.

Before Sasuke could answer, Naruto spoke. "They'll be here in a moment. Wait until they show up."

Anko was confused for a few minutes before the door opened again, and in came three figures she knew. The Sandaime Hokage, Godaime Mizukage, and Hatake Kakashi walked through the door, all of them with a worried look on their faces.

"Hokage-sama." Ookami bowed to his commander.

The Sandaime nodded, recognizing one of his most powerful operatives. "We're all here now," he began. "What has happened to my Shadow?"

All eyes found Naruto's form and were met with blood red, vertically slit ones. "That idiot did something stupid again, that's what."The deep voice said in an irritated tone. He sighed. "Let me begin with who I am." The blond smirked, his elongated canines greeting them.

"It's not every day mortals are graced with the privilege of speaking to the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune." The majority of the room froze. The Hokage and Kakashi knew of Naruto's… relationship with the powerful Bijuu, but most of the room, besides Sasuke, had never seen this before.

They Kyuubi roared with laughter, the vibrations sounding throughout the room. "Ah, the joy of terrifying humans," he chuckled once more, "I miss this."

Mei was the first to speak. "What have you done to Naruto, demon?" Was she the only one upset with him being possessed by the embodiment of hatred?

.