Chapter 5

Sakura.

Sakura never imagined that this is what she would have become; a murderer of her own teammate and someone who aided and abetted a nin who betrayed the village. Ever since she was a little girl, Sakura had wanted to be a good Kunoichi; someone others would look up to as someone to strive towards. She wanted to have her own Genin team, she wanted to eventually marry a good man – in her mind that good man was supposed to be Sasuke.

And then, in the space of a night, things went to hell.

"And now Sasuke is in the wind, Haruno," Sakura closed her eyes as she sat on the cot set against the far edge of the cell. It was only a few minutes ago that Gai and two guards opened the heavy doors to one of the cells. The guards were looking stunned that someone as young as her was being locked up in the Hokage Cells as she and Gai walked past them and through the cell entrance. At least that is what Sakura thought, some of them were giving her strange looks as well. There were no windows along the walls of the cells – instead the walls were covered in invisible seals that, as told by Gai, would nullify the chakra of prisoners. The cell was only lit by a small bulb at the far corner, and the thick metallic door had a small window that allowed someone from the outside hallway to look into the room.

Sakura didn't even answer Gai's pained question of "why?" as she walked on trembling legs towards the cot.

What could she say? Sakura had no idea what to say other than she really did do the deed. She stopped just before reaching the edge of the cot, she could feel Gai's eyes boring through the back of her skull. Her shoulders were hunched over as if she was weighed down by her immense feelings of guilt. When Gai asked again, "why?" Sakura couldn't answer. After all, what else could she say that did not make her look and sound deranged.

"Because you are deranged, Haruno!" 'Naruto' was laughing out to her left as he slapped his knees with his hands.

Sakura didn't answer Gai. She had a pained expression on her face…. A true pained expression as her mind went back to the blood soaked sheets in Naruto's room while she slowly turned around and then sat down on the cot; her face staring at the grey coloured floor. Her eyes unable to look up at the Jonin sensei.

There was an uncomfortable quiet for a few seconds before she did glance up at Gai; and she wished she hadn't. There was a look of disappointment on his face that was mixed with anger. Anger… Sakura never thought that Gai would even have that emotion. But here he was… angry at her.

Sakura just shook her head before whispering, "I loved him." That was a stupid answer, Sakura thought to herself. But then again, it was the truth. It was the sad truth. And her heart ached.

"You killed me because you loved him, congrats Haruno!" 'Naruto' giggled while leaning against the wall to her right. Ata the same time, Gai shook his head, his face now showing pity before he turned around and walked out through the heavy doors. And then, the door was closed shut with a clang… followed by the unmistakable sound of the locks engaging. Alone in the cell, Sakura hugged her knees closer to her body and closed her eyes as her mental version of Naruto was pacing with his hands over his head – the word 'guilt' etched across his forehead in bright red blood. She could hear his footsteps walking about the room while her own Inner was quiet.

'Naruto's' footsteps stopped before he spoke again, "so Haruno, tell me how's the dream of marrying a traitor going? Making some headway?"

Sakura shook her head and, while her eyes were still closed, she lay her chin on her knees. She could feel tears falling down her cheeks as she recalled Kakashi's eye glaring back at her in her room when his arm was pressed against her neck.

"He was about to kill you," 'Naruto' crowed out before he laughed, "oh, that would have been so funny!"

Yes, Sakura could see it in Kakashi's uncovered eye that he would have no qualms about killing her. She could still feel the man's arm against her neck. She was aware that it would have taken the tiniest jerk for him to have broken it. She was certain that a team would be sent to retrieve Sasuke… but Sakura still didn't know what she wanted to happen to Sasuke; she didn't know if she wanted Sasuke caught, killed, or that he would escape the forces of Konoha. All she knew was that she was angry at him and herself; she was angry at him for leaving her behind, and angry at herself for following his order to kill Naruto without question.

'This was never supposed to happen,' Sakura thought to herself as 'Naruto' started to laugh into her ear, 'this was never how it was supposed to be.' It was then that she felt something on her neck… it was slimy and warm. Her bottom lip quivered as she tentatively brought her left hand to her neck... her heart racing as she touched the wetness on her neck. She then brough her hand to in front of her face. Her fingers were covered in blood, 'when Kakashi-sensei nearly strangled me. This is…' It was Naruto's blood.

Naruto's blood. That was what Sakura was thinking as she dropped the bloody hand on the bed. All she could do now was scream in anguish before sobbing.

Naruto

"Uzumaki Kushina, 'ttebayo?" Naruto exclaimed while he stepped back in surprise as the girl glared at the class. Naruto could see that she was scanning the seats behind him before the unknown Sensei patted her left shoulder and told her to take a seat. Kushina then nodded her head before she walked right through Naruto's body… the blonde Genin found it a bit weird to have someone literally walk right through him… but he turned around as she walked up the stairs to the empty space at the back. The girl passed by a blonde boy who Naruto found to be very familiar but he could not put a finger on his identity… instead he his eyes were refocused on the Uzumaki girl.

'How can there be another Uzumaki here and I not know about it,' Naruto thought to himself as he walked up to the steps of the stairs that led to the seat and table where the girl calling herself Kushina sat down. 'Jiji would have told me..' he thought to himself as his mind went back to the Sandaime who told him that his parents died during the war and that he had no other family, 'but here is an Uzumaki, 'ttebayo.' Naruto was confused as his mind went to thinking, 'wait a minute, how am I even seeing this? How am I seeing this girl? This room? All these people.'

"Tomato! Tomato!"

Naruto was pulled out if his thoughts when the yells from a boy… actually a group of boys and girls… around Kushina where pointing at her and calling her names. Naruto looked back to the Sensei not being in the class before there was the sound of a thud. Naruto spun his head back towards Kushina who was on the floor after being pulled by her hair. A boy… someone he didn't know… was pulling her hair as she lay struggling on the wooden floor while some others were laughing and yelling out, "tomato! She looks like a tomato!"

"Hey!" Naruto yelled out before he rushed up the first few steps when he suddenly felt a chill in the air. He stopped… a chill running up and down his spine when he noticed the girl glaring at the boy who was pulling her hair. He watched as the girl, Kushina, grasped his hand, flipped him onto the floor – an action that forced him to let go of his hair – before standing over and pummelling him with her fists. Naruto was terrified as Kushina's hair was jumping in all directions while she beat the student who was once pulling her hair while the others around them were panicking at the sight.

"I hate tomatoes too!" Kushina spat before she stepped back from the boy who was cowering on the floor of the classroom; her hands were slightly bloody and rolled into fists. The girl then started to look around at the other students who were still seated before she fixed her gaze to the blonde boy from earlier – the one who looked so familiar to Naruto.

'Who is he?' Naruto thought.

She then growled while raising her fist at the spiky haired blonde boy looking at her with a mixture of awe and fear, "you have something you want to say!?" Naruto watched the boy shake his head sheepishly before turning around and then taking a seat. Kushina looked away from him before taking her own seat, but not before Naruto noticed the blonde boy looking over his shoulder with awe at Kushina when the latter was looking away.

There was a look on his face that Naruto couldn't not put his finger on before everything seemed to melt around him. Covered in darkness for a few seconds, Naruto had a look of concern on his face as the darkness gave way to a bright sunny day under flowering trees. He saw Kushina walking along the pavement with her hands in her trousers. He was fascinated by this girl; Naruto couldn't understand why, but they was something about her that he felt was pulling him towards her.

'She is pretty, 'ttebayo,' Naruto scratched the back of his head as Kushina walked past, 'she is as scary as Sakura-chan too.' And that was true, watching Kushina beat up that boy who pulled her hair was frightening, 'maybe she left Konoha? Maybe she doesn't know there's another Uzumaki who's alive?' Naruto walked alongside her, his gaze on her profile while asking, "who are you, ttebayo? I mean who are you to me? Why am I dreaming… is this a dream? Then why are you in my dream, and… why are you so detailed, 'ttebayo?"

"This is the girl, brother!" Naruto and Kushina stopped as two boys – the younger bruised one was the boy who Kushina beat up in the classroom only hours ago, and the older one had a Konoha forehead protector; the latter glaring at Kushina as he walked out from behind a tree, "this is the girl who beat me up!"

"Get away from her, 'ttebayo!" Naruto said as he took several steps in front of Kushina and raised his fist at them.

"So you're the one who made my little brother cry," the older boy said with a smirk on his face as he walked through Naruto. The latter stumbled sideways before he turned around to watch as Kushina glowered while stepping back.

"That's cause he made fun of my hair, 'ttebane!"

"'ttebane?" Naruto whispered as he stared at Kushina. Now that he thought about it, this wasn't the first time she had said "'ttebane"… she said it back in the classroom. It's just that he was so surprised at there being another Uzumaki that he didn't think much about it. But she said it… it was so clear… "'ttebane? Dattebane? It's like when I say 'ttebayo… are… are you my sister or a cousin…" Naruto shook his head as the older boy said that he had to teach bullies who hurt his brother a lesson.

'Jiji would have told me if I had a sister so… are you a cousin? Or… or anyone close to my mother and father?'

Suddenly, the older boy attacked Kushina. Naruto growled before he leapt towards the older boy while Kushina leapt towards a tree. He was going on instinct… his thought was to distract the boy from Kushina… he was going to be the target instead. However, Naruto went through the boy, much to his anger, before landing on his feet. He spun around to watch the boy throw a kunai at Kushina.

As the kunai darted past Kushina and stuck itself into the trunk of a tree with a "thuck" sound, both Kushina and Naruto thought to themselves, 'That's a real kunai!' The latter leapt after the older boy while the younger one followed close by just before Kushina landed on a trunk and then kicked herself off it towards the older boy who was already jumping in mid-air before slamming her arm into his throat.

"Yessssss!" Naruto yelled before landing onto the ground while the younger boy called out toward his groaning brother rolling on the leaf strewn ground. However the older boy's body vanished in a puff of smoke.

'A Kage bushin!' Naruto thought before the older boy attacked Kushina behind.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled despite knowing by now that no one could heard him. He stood helplessly as the older boy attacked Kushina viciously while grabbing onto her red hair and pulling her panting body up from the ground. "Get away from her!" Naruto yelled before Kushina yelled out that she hated her red hair. She then jerked forward… tufts of her hair remained in the hand of the surprised older boy. He was so caught up in the strands of hair in his hands that he never saw Kushina, in her anger, turning around and then punching him. As he stumbled back from the impact, he dropped the strands of hair to the ground just before Kushina hammered the side of his head with the back of her foot. The older boy fell to the ground in pain… with Kushina continuing to beat the older boy… while the younger boy ran away screaming about the Red Hot Habanero who was beating up his older brother.

Naruto saw him run away into the distance before he turned to the sound of panting as Kushina stood over the bruised older boy.

"Outsider!" the older boy yelled out as Kushina stepped back, her hands rolled into fists, before getting up to his trembling legs. The older boy glared a Kushina before he turned and ran away.

Naruto waved his fist at the retreating back of the older boy before he yelled out, "yea run! Never mess with Uzumaki's, 'ttebayo!"

"So you won't help me because I'm an outsider?!"

Naruto heard the anger and hurt in her voice before he turned. He was about to say that he did try to help her but nothing he did seemed to help in any way, 'and how could you see me now!' By the time he turned, and before he could say anything, Naruto saw that Kushina wasn't talking to him; she was staring at the same blonde boy from the classroom. He was now standing on top on a tree branch with a small shy smile on his face.

"He looks so familiar," Naruto said scratching the back of his head, "I know I should know him… but how? Who is he?"

Before the boy could answer, Kushina turned and ran away. She ran through Naruto's body who turned around and stared at her. A scowl on his face, Naruto turned around and stared at the blonde boy standing on the branch staring at Kushina.

"Hey! Why didn't you do anything, 'ttebayo!" Naruto yelled out.

"You looked like you had things under control," the blond boy whispered at Kushina before he shunshined away, leaving a surprised Naruto standing alone on the pathway.

Just as, in the real world, Tsunade started operating on Naruto by infusing more chakra into his body through tags, images of the lives of both Kushina and the unknown blonde boy flowed past Naruto's eyes. Not that Naruto knew what was going on in the real world, he still thought this was a strange dream. It was a dream about Kushina as she went about her daily life and a dream about the boy, Namikaze Minato – he swore he heard the name somewhere before – as he went through his day.

'Why these two people?' Naruto thought as he watched Kushina and Minato walk past each other with only nods. However, it was Minato who turned after she passed him… Naruto watched the shy boy form a smile on his lips before he turned and walked away.

More images rushed past Naruto before he found himself standing beneath the night sky next to the blonde boy from earlier. They were standing among several other shinobi and kunoichi before the Sandaime himself appeared on a dais.

"Jiji," Naruto whispered in awe at seeing once again one of the first people who saw him as a person – the Sandaime. Before Naruto could say anything, the Sandaime spoke with his usual voice of authority. And Naruto listened as the others around him stiffened.

"A group of shinobi from Kumogakure infiltrated the village and kidnapped Uzumaki Kushina!" Naruto stiffened at hearing this, as did the blonde boy standing next to him, "from what T&I have been able to gather from their collaborators within the village, they targeted the girl because of her lineage… she is a great-niece to the wife of Konoha's founder, Uzumaki Mito."

"What?" Naruto whispered before thinking to himself, 'the Shodai's wife was an Uzumaki?' Naruto stared down at the ground while thinking to himself how it was that he did not know about Uzumaki Mito. Looking back up with a questioning look at the Sandaime, 'why didn't you tell me, Jiji?' Naruto listened as the Sandaime continued.

"She is a citizen of this village," the Hokage said in a stern voice, "and we will not let another village take her away from us. Find her!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Disperse!"

Naruto stood alone after the entire group and the Sandaime rushed away. Naruto's mind was filled with so many questions now; there were two other Uzumaki in the village, he wasn't the only one. 'But why haven't I been told about Mito and Kushina-chan?' As he stood on the roof in silence, Naruto wondered if the other teachers had mentioned Mito's name but he wasn't paying attention.

'Possibly, 'ttebayo,' Naruto thought to himself before wondering if Mito had already passed away, 'and if she did, then where is Kushina-chan? Am I really the only Uzumaki left in Konoha?' Naruto thought to himself with a pained expression on his face, 'Are there any other Uzumaki?' Before anymore thoughts could form, Naruto found himself standing underneath the trees facing three nin with the forehead protectors of those from Kumogakure.

"You!" Naruto exclaimed while pointed at them as they walked towards him, "let her go!" They had an exhausted Kushina tied to a rope, the ones in front were pulling her along – Kushina was covered in sweat and grime as she trudged behind them while the other two Kumo nin where behind her. Naruto stood helplessly as one of the Kumo nin looked over his shoulders at Kushina and said that they were almost at the border and that she would belong to Kumo then. It was now that Naruto noticed something off about Kushina, 'she doesn't look like the Kushina I just saw...' Naruto leaned forward and narrowed his eyes as Kushina was dragged closer and closer, 'actually, she looks a bit older...' Naruto continued to stare at Kushina in confusion while wondering about the age descrepency. It was then he remembered that even the blonde boy from a second ago looked as if he was slightly older than the one who did not help Kushina on the pathway under the trees. While Naruto was thinking about why the two of them had gotten slightly older, he thought he heard a sigh and a soft chuckle in the distance. Naruto turned around... he thought he recognized the chuckle in the back of his mind but he couldn't hold onto any particular thought; it was as if a memory was in his grasp before slipping away.

"Hello?" he cried out, "who are you, 'ttebayo? This is my dream so how are you... whoever you are... here, in my dream?!" As he concentrated so as to hear that sigh and chuckle again, Naruto missed the shadow behind him that was zipping from one tree to the next.

It would be a moment later, a few seconds after the Kumo nin looked back towards the front with a grin on his face that a shadow darted from behind and took down one shinobi with a thud. At the sound of the thus, Naruto turned and stared in surprise as the shadow took down another shinobi, and then another one, and then another one. Kushina was looking at the ground the whole time, her face showing how exhausted she was, when the last Kumo nin fell at the hands of the familiar blonde who stood in front of Kushina. Once she sensed no one was around, Naruto saw her looking up with tired eyes.

"I'm here to save you," the blonde said as Naruto watched him rush towards Kushina just as she started to fall forward towards the ground in exhaustion. "I got you," he whispered as Naruto looked on.

"I thought you didn't care about me…. You never showed that…"

"I didn't interfere in any of your fights..." Naruto listened, "because I know you're strong."

Naruto watched the blonde smile before picking up a surprised Kushina in his arms. Kushina then asked, "how did you find me?" Naruto saw the blond boy look one at one of his hands. Naruto and Kushina looked down as well and the two immediately saw the strands of red hair in the young blonde boy's hand. Naruto looked back to where Kushina was being dragged by the Kumo-nin and could barely see strands of red hair on the ground behind her. Naruto smiled, "you left anyone coming after you a clue to find you! Good work, 'ttebayo!" He then looked back towards Kushina who said that she pulled out her hair hoping that someone would find her.

"I recognized it as your hair when I saw the first strand," the blonde boy said as Kushina widened her eyes when he said that he liked her hair, "so I followed it and found you." Naruto saw Kushina blush before the blonde boy leapt away with the redhead in his arms.

"Hey wait!" Naruto yelled as at the blonde boy leapt up towards another tree, "who are you?" Before Naruto could leap to another branch after the two of them, he saw more images pass his eyes. He saw Kushina and the blonde boy become close, eventually the two of them would hold hands as then walked through the village. He watched as they grew a year older with each celebrating the other's birthday. Naruto learned from these visions that the boy was Namikaze Minato – that name was so familiar to him – and that he was an orphan. Naruto learned that Kushina was from Uzushiogakure, the home of the Uzumaki Clan – much to Naruto's amazement.

"There's an Uzumaki clan?" he asked, "what the hell, 'ttebayo!" Then more images passed his eyes and the more Naruto found out about the two of them; first, they were nearly inseparable now… even two years later; then Naruto discovered that Minato was trying to revive a jutsu that was used by the Niidaime Hokage – Naruto didn't think of anything of it at first, and that Kushina loved playing around with seals. Naruto saw how excited Minato was when Kushina mentioned that she was interested in seals.

"I'll help you," Kushina said with a blush on her face. Naruto couldn't help but smile as Minato nodded his head excitedly.

'Maybe I could get Sakura-chan excited about going for a date when I wake up,' Naruto thought to himself with hope etched on his face. Suddenly, Naruto found himself surrounded by darkness before there was a bright flash of light. Naruto had to blink his eyes several times to clear the spots in his vision due to the sudden flash while distant voices slowly started moving closer and closer to him. There were blurry shapes around him, and the more he blinked the more those shapes came into focus until Naruto could see that he was in the Sandaime's office with Kushina to his left.

"Kushina-chan," the Sandaime spoke with kind eyes looking at a fidgeting Kushina who had her hands clasped together while twiddling her thumbs. As Naruto stared at Kushina, he noticed that she was young... younger than how he had seen her when she was rescued by Minato. In fact, Kushina looked to be about the same age as when she was ambushed in the park and fought back the bullies under the row of trees. More and more questions formed in his head about the girl and the spattering of this dream he found himself trapped in as he listened to the Sandaime, "I heard what happened in the classroom and in the park." Naruto then looked over to the Sandaime who leaned forward on his chair and put down his pipe, "what do you have to say for yourself, Kushina-chan?"

"They... they were making fun of my hair and...," Kushina said as she stared at the old man, "and... and..." She then shook her head before leaning forward and saying, "I admit I lost my temper in the class, Hokage-sama... I mean I just arrived today and then... and then they started calling me a tomato and so I beat the idiot a little bit." The Hokage sighed, the smile turning to a small frown after Kushina said that, "I have a short temper, but it's only for those who make fun of me and..." Kushina sighed again before looking away, "I'll try to be better, Hokage-sama."

"And the incident at the park?"

"I was ambused by that boy and his brother," the girl exclaimed as she turned her head back towards the Hokage with her eyes narrowed. Naruto could see the girl pout slightly before saying, "I was defending myself when the two of them attacked me."

"The brother claims that you were the one who attacked first."

"That's not true, Jiji!" Naruto yelled out at the same time as Kushina who cried out, "they lied, Hokage-sama!"

Kushina then told the Hokage what happened and the latter's eyes went wide in surprise when she said that the older brother had used real kunai to attack her. By the time she was done, Naruto was staring at Kushina proudly while the latter was panting. As for the Hokage, he listened very closely while his amrs rested on his desk. It was here that Naruto felt as if there was someone watching him. He spun around and yelled out, "HEY! WHO'S THERE?" Naruto looked around, but there was no other person he could see other than the Sandaime and Kushina... however, he did feel a sense of warmth going through his body as if he was being held tight by someone invisible. It was an odd sensation, but he didn't sense any danger. And just as quicly as it appeared, teh feeling was soon gone and NAruto felt as if he was missing something from the depts of his heart. He simply could not explain it.. nor could he explain this dream he found himself in. Turning back towards the Sandaime and Kushina, Naruto heard the former agreeing with Kushina before saying that the two of them would be punished.

"But you must keep yourself in check, Kushina," the Hokage said, his face suddenly losing the smile. Instead, Naruto noticed a look that he had seen before... a look of sorrow. A look of pity. A look of guilt. Profound guilt. yes, Naruto was certain he had seen that look before on the Sandaime's face. And Naruto's heart raced as the Sandaime began speaking once again.

"Kushina-chan," the Sandaime said as Kushina nodded her head. She and Naruto saw the old man look away for a second before turning back towards Kushina once again, "do you know why you were sent to Konoha?"

"I… I know I have an unique chakra, unique even among the Uzumaki," Kushina said shyly to Naruto's surprise, "that's what the Head told me."

"Adamantine chakra chains," the Sandaime said nodding his head, "only a handful of Uzumaki have this ability."

"Chakra Chains? What's that?" Naruto asked. But there was no answer forthcoming from the two. So Naruto shrugged his shoulders before saying, "I'll ask Tsunade-baachan or Kakashi-sensei."

"It's because of that ability that you were selected to bear a great burden," the Sandaime said as Kushina looked on confused and Narutos's eyes went wide open in shock. 'No,' NAruto thought, 'Jiji, you can't mean...' He had a bad feeling of what was about to happen. And that was because Naruto continued to recall seeing that look in the Sandaime's face before… whenever the latter would come by his small apartment to give him money or gifts at random times.

'Jiji knew I have the Kyuubi locked inside me,' Naruto thought as the Sandaime continued to speak to Kushina.

"You will be the successor to Uzumaki Mito," the Sandaime said with a voice full of regret and pity while Naruto shook his head, "Uzumaki Kushina, you were selected to be the Kyuubi's next Jinchuriki."

"No!" Naruto yelled out with his eyes open in shock. He then looked at Kushina whose eyes were wide open with fear etched on her face. Naruto then turned back to the Sandaime once again, "no, Jiji! You can't do this, 'ttebayo! NO!"

TBC