CHAPTER 48: REVELATIONS

Chapter 48: Revelations

~~~

"I seek the future," Naruto said, jumping right towards Gaara in quick speed. Eyeing Satsuki for just a quick second, she quickly got the memo and followed his lead.

"Mother. . ." Gaara's voice quickly lowered as he dragged that word with pure insanity oozing from his body. Predicting that Gaara would jump again, Naruto barely titled his body to dodge one of Gaara's attack.

Naruto then kicked Gaara away, aiming him right towards Satsuki in quick speed.

Knowing what to do, Satsuki copied what Naruto had just done and kicked Gaara away to the nearest tree. Without much decision making, Naruto and Satsuki jumped from tree to tree.

Each jump — each step that they made got them closer to Gaara. Grunting from pain, they now had another opening for an attack. Spasming out, Gaara shot sand from all sides of his body.

With the intention to dodge the attack from Gaara, Naruto swooped down and twirled around a tree to dodge the numerous amounts of sand that was quickly covering the area around them.

Once Naruto had fully twirled all around the branch of the tree, he launched himself right toward Gaara in quick speed. Satsuki was staying back just bit for a potential follow up attack.

Naruto was enduring much of the overwhelming and stacking pain all over his body. He then pulled out multiple/numerous amounts of kunai out of his holster and threw it at Gaara at insane speeds.

This made Gaara prioritize his defense over his priority over offensive techniques.

Giving out a small signal that was aimed at Satsuki to ready up quickly for a back to back combo. Naruto did not want to give any room for Gaara to retaliate and counter their attacks.

Continuing his rush towards Gaara as quickly as possible, Naruto took one final jump toward Gaara. Reaching out, Naruto managed to get hold of one of the kunai knives that was embedded in the arm-sand-shield that Gaara used to protect himself.

Propelling himself into the air, Naruto dived down soon after.

Appearing right behind Gaara upside-down, Naruto slickly and smoothly created a large gash that spread from one side of Gaara's back to the other.

Yelling out in pain, Gaara reacted with a spasmed punch that was made by turning back and throwing a punch. Though Naruto quickly dodged it without much trouble.

"Satsuki, now." It didn't matter what Satsuki did, all that mattered was that she deals damage to Gaara — the current obstacle that was in their way.

A large fireball made its way toward Gaara at high speeds. Covering a bit of his sight, Naruto saw a bright flash that was due to the fireball and Gaara colliding with one another.

As Naruto quickly descended down on a tree branch, Naruto noticed a bit of blood that was on his cheek. An amused look appeared on Naruto's face as he wiped the blood off of his face.

"Final stage, maybe?" Naruto questioned himself, seeing the smoke clear at a quick pace. He readied himself, entering a stance that had his guard fully up.

"You. . . You. . . You. . . YOUYOUYOUYOUYOU!" Gaara yelled out, letting out a malicious laugh as a large amount of smoke appeared and covered all the areas around them.

As the smoke cleared, Naruto looked up with a hint of amazement. From above, Gaara had transformed into a tailed beast — although indeed the weakest out of the 9, it still is a formidable foe.

Naruto could just barely see a Gaara right on top of the oh the tailed beast.

"One," Naruto whispered to himself as he breathed in and out. An amused but small smirk then plastered on his face as he looked up towards Gaara once more.

Naruto then looked over at Satsuki, whom was gaping her mouth open, fully surprised with the sight that was right in front of her eyes at this exact moment.

Naruto then appeared right next to Satsuki to formulate a quick plan to defeat such a frightening foe.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Questioned Satsuki, slightly gritting her teeth due to her feeling the intimidation from just staring at the current boss.

"It's simple," said Naruto, making Satsuki stare at him with much interest on their current plan of action.

"We keep moving forward and make him CRUMBLE."

Naruto then activated his Susano'o in quick succession and launched Satsuki toward the side of Gaara.

He then launched himself by jumping from a tree trunk. Landing right next to Satsuki, she sent him a slight glare.

"You're crazy," she told him, only responding to her statement with a simple nod before moving ahead of her.

Just as they were moving, the whole beast that they were running on jumped in the air.

"I'm FREEEEEEEEE!" A yell from above appeared before them. Naruto knew exactly what was currently happening.

He's now on the loose. Naruto thought to himself. He had been informed of this from Kurama and just tad bit of information about the Ichibi.

Once the Ichibi had landed back on the ground, Naruto and Satsuki both felt the aftereffects of the jump in a very thorough manner.

"Careful." Naruto moved up even further. Satsuki quickly following Naruto behind. A dangerous glint was appearing right behind the shadows of his eyes.

"Tsk," Naruto said in a monotone voice. His eyes perceived an incoming attack by the Ichibi. Looking right behind him, Satsuki nodded, knowing that she will also have to dodge the attack.

A tail came swinging by, readying to crush the two young shinobi in absolute pieces.

Though, that was everything but reality -- it was only truly a tasteful fantasy developed by a strong being.

Launching themselves in the air, Naruto twirled his body in the air to dodge the first initial attack by the Ichibi.

Tucking his hand deep into the holster of his, a long strand of wire strings within his grasp. Testing his luck with the wire strings, Naruto threw it and wrapped it around the tail of the Ichibi's.

As he swung back toward the body of the ichibi, Satsuki managed to latch on the wire string by a thread alongside Naruto.

"Get ready." And with that, Naruto and Satsuki were then thrown up into the air above. Reaching the limits of the sky, their hearts were beating quickly.

Especially Satsuki's.

As they were soaring through the air, Naruto created dozens of Shadow Clones that glided through the sky alongside the two.

"Interesting! Interesting! Interesting!" The Ichibi yelled out with much amusement. Naruto reactivated his Susano'o and launched Satsuki at Gaara once more.

As she closed in, Satsuki started to form a rapid amount of hand seals.

Monkey → Dragon → Rat → Bird → Ox → Snake → Dog → Tiger → Monkey

"Chidori" The power of lightning started to surge -- course through the very palm of her hand. The sound of a thousand birds rang throughout the air.

She extended her hand out towards the sleeping Gaara. But just as the Chidori was about to reach the very arm of Gaara, a veil of sand appeared and caught her arm.

Protecting his life from the very danger of the Chidori.

Grinding her teeth intensely, Satsuki slowly let the power of the Chidori drain before tucking her arm just a tiny bit to gain momentum.

With the very little amount of power that the Chidori on her hand had, she managed to created a large gash on his chest by changing the direction of her Chidori just slightly to the side to create the necessary contact.

The sand then retaliated by throwing Satsuki off the top of the Ichibi.

Seeing this, Naruto sent a few of his clones to catch her before she took any more damage. Though it seemed that they were only able to reduce just a tiny bit of damage.

Naruto turned his focus back to Gaara as some of his clones were tending Satsuki.

Him and many of his clones then landed on the top and began to quickly surround the boy who was slowly stirring awake.

Though it seems the Ichibi wasn't going down without a fight.

"You'll have to try even. . . MORE!" Naruto then saw the large amounts of sand stirring and craving for Naruto's blood.

"Try? More?" His clones dispersed into a cloud of smoke while he slowly walked towards the catalyst of this all.

His eyes darkened and showed a glint of superiority.

"Sorry," Naruto's Susano'o then evolved into the next stage with two large skeletal arms on both sides, and the skeletal body was complete.

"But the moment you challenged the grandson of a god -- you lost." His Mangekyou Sharingan spun wildly as he bursted towards Gaara.

His eyes saw the sand come from both sides hone right at him. In a blink of an eye, Naruto disappeared and appeared even closer to Gaara.

"Gaara," Naruto called, disappearing once more.

"Wake up," Naruto finished, commanding his Susano'o to punch Gaara one last time, making him stir awake.

And with that, the Ichibi dispersed and disappeared from the face of the planet.

Goodbye, Shukaku. Naruto thought to himself as the two were falling down from the sky above. Without a doubt very injured, Naruto and Gaara crashed right on two large tree branches.

The very tips of the branch of the tree were connected.

Breathing very heavily, Naruto was feeling the effects of overusing the Mangekyou Sharingan. Pain surged through his body as he felt the consequences.

Looking at the side Gaara was on, he didn't like any better than him.

It wasn't over just yet.

". . . Die." Gaara was trying to preserve as much chakra as possible. As blood dripped down from his face down to the tree branch, his sand followed his command.

Seeing the sand go his away, Naruto managed just barely dodge by rolling away and attaching himself right on the bottom of the tree branch.

He took another deep breath.

Naruto was barely keeping himself awake. He then resurfaced and jumped toward Gaara once more with clear intention of ending this quickly.

Gaara kept sending out its of sand to deter Naruto. But Naruto kept pushing with injuries getting created each moment -- each second.

Pulling his arm back, Naruto punched Gaara off of the branch that the two stood on.

Though Gaara managed to get his sand to wrap around Naruto's leg and drag him down alongside him.

A tired look crossed Naruto's face.

"I. . . win,"

Naruto said, declaring his victory once more as he kicked him to the ground below as the two were falling down.

With Gaara's impact creating a small crater, Naruto moved slightly to the side to avoid crushing Gaara with his own weight.

He created a small crater of his very own.

The two were breathing heavily as they laid on the ground, only barely keeping themselves from passing out on themselves.

"Why. . . why. . . why. . . why go. . . so far?" Gaara questioned Naruto in a weak manner. Naruto stayed silent for a few second before answering.

"Because. . . I may not. . . like to admit it. . . but this village. . . has grown on me. . . even if it's only slightly." Naruto breathed in.

"I was alone. . . maybe you can say I was saved. . . from the loneliness that is. Just maybe." Naruto continued to look up to the sky.

"I have talent -- talent that could be considered unnatural. I may not. . . like it. . . but I won't hesitate to use it."

"That's why. . . some cherish their. . . friends and family. . . because they can lose those. . . close to them any second. . . in their lives."

"Am I same? Who knows. But forward. . . is the only option." Gaara stayed quiet as Naruto continued.

"I've learned. . . from my time here. . . how truly flawed. . . I am. I'm a selfish human being that is full of contradictory. I am. . . imperfect. Everyone is."

Naruto looked over at Gaara.

"Do me a favor. . . don't tell anyone about. . . these eyes of mine. A request from a friend, that is." Gaara widened his eyes at those words.

Naruto turned his eyes back to the sky, thoughts swarming his mind.

Saddening, that my time here won't last forever. Everything has an end to it. Mine is nearing its end. Just a few more years.

As his eyes grew heavy, he was slowly succumbing to sleep. Just before he passed out, Naruto saw a feminine figure shadow over him in an injure form.

"Goodnight, Satsuki," said Naruto, gazing at a blurry figure just before succumbing to his tiredness and pass out completely.

~~~

Naruto saw the reflection of his face as he stood on the rippling water that was below him. There was a sad look on him.

"Is this. . . how it feels like to be human?" Naruto thought to himself. Though he quickly shook that thought back down the drain.

Naruto turned around and saw Kurama staring at him with an observing gaze.

"I've noticed from my time watching you from an early age. You have a wall around you. Metaphorically, of course." Naruto gazed back at him.

He frowned.

"And?" Naruto narrowed his eyes even though he knew where the direction of the conversation was going.

He knew it too.

"You surround yourself with a wall -- similar to that of that Uchiha girl. Though hers is already on the brink of completely shattering."

Naruto continued to look at Kurama with an observing gaze.

"Yours on the other hand -- It was being reinforced by your twisted, but strong mentality. You may be holding this mentality, but it's slowly slipping away from the said wall and it's just becoming an independent variable."

Naruto clenched his jaw slightly. He could almost laugh at being pathetic.

"I've noticed this, you don't need to remind me." There was somewhat of an angered tone behind his usual monotone voice.

"I know most of your plans for the future. But at this rate, you'll be sucked in by this village and lose sight of your goal." Kurama was certainly hitting sore spots.

He knows.

He knows.

He. . .

Knows. . .

"I know. . . I know. . .I know. . . I know." Naruto may have unwavering talent beyond the norm, but in the end of the day-

He was a shattered human being.

One that was already beyond broken and repair the moment he was born into this world. Kurama stayed silent as it seemed like Naruto was breaking down internally.

"I just. . . have to complete one more thing before I initiate my plans." Naruto had his face look down on the water below him. His gaze looking deep into his azure eyes.

Naruto quickly exited out of his own mindscape.

Kurama scoffed once Naruto left the area.

"Certainly an ambitious person," Kurama said, going back into his own slumber, glad that his container didn't get beat up by the weakest of the tails.

Shukaku.

~~~

I'm in the hospital. Naruto thought to himself as he saw the white ceiling from above. His body ached from all sides. It must've been from the overuse of the Susano'o.

I need to be more careful when using the Susano'o. One mistake could cost me the lost of even more eye sight than I would need to sacrifice. Naruto mused to himself as he continued to look at the white ceiling that was above him.

"You're awake," Naruto heard some say from the door. Unable to see the person due to his aching body, he resorted to just simply waiting for the person to arrive next to him.

"Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto in bit of a weak manner. Though he couldn't see him, Naruto could feel that Kakashi was doing his signature eye-smile.

"You've been out for 2 days or so. It was funny, Satsuki kept sleeping here for a day before I had to have her leave you so she could rest properly. She's stubborn. Please tame her." Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Two days? That's a long time. Though I find it strange, there's barely any noise coming from the outside — the village. Did something happen other than the invasion?" Naruto questioned Kakashi.

"Oh. . . that. . . well, you see. . . Hokage-sama was killed by the hands of Orochimaru," said Kakashi in a sad and sorrowful tone. Naruto internally winced. Maybe?

"His funeral will be held. . . hmm. . . a day or two from now? We've been busy fixing up the village while simultaneously preparing." Naruto barely nodded to that.

"What happened to Orochimaru? Did he die?" Kakashi shook his head as a response even though Naruto couldn't even turn his head towards him.

"No, though it seems as though Hokage-sama managed to incapacitate Orochimaru from wielding any jutsus." Naruto just simply nodded with pain behind it all.

He didn't bother to ask any deeper due to this already sensitive topic.

"Anyway, you should be out by the end of tomorrow. If you're lucky, you might be out by the morning of tomorrow." Naruto sighed at that information.

"Kurama. . . would you mind helping me?" Naruto swore he could practically hear a scoff get thrown at him by the tailed beast.

"Damn brat," Kurama responded to his request with much irritation, but he did help him heal anyway. It was already quite a sorrowful day.

"Anyway, I've been helping around the village and I still have to help around. See ya." Naruto nodded at those words.

He heard Kakashi slide the door open and leave the room that he was inhabiting in as of his current state of body.

Naruto sighed.

"All I need is an hour," Naruto told himself as he continued to look up at the ceiling with much boredom embedded within his mind.

And so Naruto waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And as he waited, he recovered the ability to move once again. Naruto thanked Kurama before getting off the hospital bed and started to stretch his limbs.

As he stretched, he saw a mirror right in front of him. Taking a good look at himself, Naruto saw that he was wearing something that just screamed that he was in the hospital.

But that was fine. He was going to be back at the hospital to stop any suspicion raising by the time he ends his needed errand.

Opening the window, Naruto jumped out to the streets of Konoha.

~~~

(A/N: I'll be honest, I do not know where Minato and Kushina were buried. So I decided to make this shit up.)

Naruto arrived at the place that he was heading at. Looking at the sight right in front of him, Naruto saw two graves that were side by side.

"Hello, father, mother." Naruto had spent much time trying to look for these graves over the last few years.

"This is my first time being here. And. . . If being honest, I don't know what to say." Naruto sighed to himself as he lifted his gaze to look at the horizon in front of him.

The sun was setting.

"I never got to meet you two, but it seems that this is the closest that I'll ever meet you, huh?" Naruto gulped down the lump on his throat.

His eyes had a dead look to them.

"If I was raised by you two, I don't think I would've ended like this. An empty shell of who I could've been if things were different from the start." Naruto sighed as he looked for more words to say.

"But even then, I'm glad this happened. It's an experience that I was willing to endure to the fullest end." His time here was quickly ending.

"I'm 13 now and I'm closing in on that 14. In a few years or so, I'll be leaving this village for good. And it'll be because of two reasons." His hands were in the pockets of the pants provided by the hospital.

"Because of my own free will. The second reason is because to do something that Hiruzen should've done from the beginning."

"To slaughter ROOT and the person who created the unseen ones who support the great tree of Konoha." His monotone eyes gazed at the colorful horizon.

"Shimura Danzo."

~~~