I'm Sorry Kurama

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Kakumei – Arc 4: Might Makes Right

.

Chapter 92 – I'm Sorry Kurama

.

In the evening, Naruto Uzumaki is sitting in his office, waiting for the update he requested from Sai and Boruto. Waiting here, thinking about his current inability to locate Sasuke, he's interrupted by more worries coming from the window. From there, an ink bird comes in and lands right into a paper scroll that the Hokage had left open on his desk. The ink forms a simple written message: "No update in time. Sorry.".

It is a message from Sai, that he sent with Boruto to find the wanderer. At this news, Naruto takes a moment to think. Could something have happened to Sasuke? Or did he just disappear again when he learned of Izuna's mission? Anyways, he won't be able to rely on him for interrogating the deserter of Kakumei.

In need to take action, he hides the scroll on his table away, and looks at his assistant, Moegi Kazamatsuri, who stands by his side as usual.

"Moegi, can you get a message through for me?" he asks.

"Of course. What will it be?" she answers, already knowing the topic since she also read Sai's note.

"Get in touch with Ino. She'll make it faster." the Hokage orders. "I need everyone to be informed that I'll meet and interrogate Seiki Tomoe myself about the Otsutsuki's implications with Kakumei."

.

On the border of the river that flows across the village, Izuna Uchiha is sitting on a bench, facing the safety hedge that lays along the river. He is there alone to think about everything he's learned and lost these last few days. As he thinks about his regrets of not having unlocked his Byakugo seal soon enough, he tries to think of ways to make it faster now.

Tsunade did mention that his use of the Sharingan was the biggest obstacle because of how demanding it is. She even jokingly suggested he takes them off for a while. The problem is that, lately, he's way too subject to his emotions and this makes his eyes work involuntarily.

Drowning in his grief and guilt, he's saved by a friendly voice calling his name. Before he can turn around, two hands abruptly land on his shoulders and gently rub against him. By looking up, he sees Seiki Tomoe staring back with a smile. He just keeps staring at her this way, while trying not to be distracted by her chest in the way, and thinks of what he asked her last time they met.

"Do you think they'd let me have the white receiver if I ask?" he questions, before any greeting.

"How would I know?" Seiki grumpily answers before stepping away, a bit upset by this lack of concern. "How about 'Hello, how was your day?' instead?"

"My day was bad. It's obvious." he frankly answers. "And I know yours was too. You're an intruder in a foreign village without any friends."

"I'm not without any friends!" she exclaims as she leaps over the bench back to get a seat next to him. "I have you. Don't you agree?"

"Do you really want to be my friend?" he asks mistrustfully. "I'm an Uchiha, and the brother of the ruler you're running from. Don't I remind you of him?"

"You're kind of right… I wouldn't want to be your friend." she begins to vaguely say. "You know I'm almost 18. So I'm old enough to have a baby."

"And?"

"And you told me you'll soon be 16." she adds. "You're technically in age for this too. So what do you think of this?"

Izuna keeps a bored face, unbothered by her speech, but his face slowly morphs to show disgust as he understands her point.

"16 isn't old enough at all! Not for a ninja!" he yells. "I already told you no for this. Why do you insist? I told you I'm the half-brother of Oshio Uchiha. Why do you want anything to do with me?"

"… Maybe that's the thing actually. You remind me of him." she calmly answers.

Izuna widely opens his eyes, intrigued by what this might mean. Timidly, he looks away, feeling like this older woman is getting a bit too comfortable. And she does. Before she explains herself, she lets her head fall on Izuna's shoulder, who just lets it be, curious to hear what she has to say.

"In my village, most of us develop feelings for other women, but I never did." she starts. "And maybe it comes from how I was taught to praise the powerful, but Lord Oshio is the first person for whom I really have this kind of feeling. I know I betrayed him, and I don't agree with his plans, but I can't deny this."

Izuna doesn't comment, he just hides his embarrassment, surprised to find once another thing that Oshio has in common with their father and him. He keeps listening.

"Now that I think of it. I couldn't even explain it." she completes. "I feel kind of sad for leaving his side, but… I don't know. He never acknowledged me much. It's really just a crush, but it's my first. I can't even say why I decided to turn against him. It's just that my will for betrayal is stronger than my affection for him…"

Izuna squints his eyes, finding this statement quite suspicious. The Intel division already made clear that she wasn't under control of a Genjutsu or lying about her intentions. How can someone make such a decision but not be able to justify it? Before he can question her about it, she gets a bit too intimate and changes the topic.

"Did I tell you that these pink hair strands are absolutely cute?" she comments, while raising her hand to gently rub the boy's hair.

Izuna turns his head, looks at her, then at her naked belly with the scar of the wound she made herself still visible. Is her will, as strong as it may be, really questionable? He's confused about how to feel about her. Looking up again, he crosses her gaze and gets lost in her blue eyes for a short moment. It is totally irrelevant, but they remind him of the eyes of his best friend, Takeshi Minamoto, even though their color is closer to those of his master, the 7th Hokage.

While these two are silently staring at each other, Inoue Yamanaka walks by and sees this scene that she finds oddly intimate. She takes a quick look at Seiki and can't stop herself from comparing her to herself. She sees her more mature face, more adult body, more revealing outfit… Frustrated by her own thoughts, she barges in to interrupt her discussion with Izuna, out of jealousy.

"Umm, you can't be here!" she hurries to say, just eager to see Seiki gone.

The Tomoe girl looks aside, confused, and sees Inoue. Izuna looks the same way and slides away from Seiki, startled by Inoue's voice, and embarrassed by what posture she saw him in.

"What do you mean I can't be here?" Seiki answers, laughing at how empty and angry this statement sounded. "Where should I be then?"

"Um… The Hokage is requesting to meet you." Inoue remembers and tells. "You didn't earn our trust yet. Don't get too comfortable."

Bothered by Inoue's hostility, Seiki quickly gazes at Izuna to see how he understands this tone. The boy, not knowing what she expects, just shrugs and lets her go. Seiki, getting the message, stands up to go meet the Hokage.

Behind Inoue arrives Hanabi Hyuga ready to guide Seiki to Naruto's location. Seiki goes to her, ready to follow, but stops a moment on the way to stand in front of Inoue. By doing so, she just makes their difference in size and age evident to the young Yamanaka, which hits her nerves even more. Satisfied, she leaves and follows Hanabi.

Izuna looks at them leaving and takes a moment to notice that Inoue stays here, standing in the way, angrily looking at him. He stares at her, not knowing what bothers her, and waits for her to speak.

"Why do you get so comfortable with her?" she complains.

"Uh? Does it look like I do?" Izuna exclaims. "Because I don't. It's just her who sticks to me."

"But… But… Why are you so bitchy lately?" she suddenly says. Already angry and still here, she decides that it's the right time to call him out for how he makes her feel.

"What? What do you mean?" Izuna asks, confused.

"You've been mean or cold to everyone since Kakumei started!" she yells at him. "I'm sure you don't even feel bad for what you told Misora the other day! I'm sure you don't even feel bad for blindly engaging in battle against Crow when he clearly wasn't wanting it and while Konohamaru-sensei needed medical help! About what we learned on that mission, you're acting as if you're the only one it hurts. You don't even care about what your mother and sister think of it! Even about Lady 5th's passing, you act as if you were the only one sad about it!"

Izuna stays agape, listening to what she says, and feeling guilt overtake him as he can clearly hear the tears coming and sorrow growing in her voice.

"I miss You from the Chunin Exam. The you who almost got himself disqualified to help others in the first step. You who put your team's safety before your own. The you who didn't make his fights about revenge or rivalry. You who had the courage to forfeit and put progress before success… I miss… You. I miss your altruism, your calm, your comprehensiveness. All this disappeared when you met Oshio."

She stops there, breathes in and out loudly, and looks down, not even waiting for an answer. Izuna, at a loss of words, just has his lips trembling. He stares at her and, due to his current hostility, instinctively tries to think of what to call her out for in response. But he doesn't find anything.

He thinks of how she's been regarding him lately and realizes that she, unlike most people, tried to stay the same with him until now. He feels like something changed in the way they see each other this last year, but not for him. And so he admits that he's the only one at fault.

Still, it's odd that she chooses this moment to speak. After thinking about it for a short second, he looks up to her, and uncontrollably smiles. He realizes that, after a whole year, what got her this angry is just seeing him talking with another girl. Unable to hold back, he bursts into laughter, which upsets her.

She's always been so care-giving toward him. She was always so patient and attentive, and her being angry now is just her finally expecting something in return. Her anger is justified and he really feels like an asshole for it. Her callout reminded him of all the reasons why he fell in love with her in the first place.

Inoue first feels offended by Izuna's response which looks like he's simply laughing at her face. But then she realizes how long it's been since she saw him like that. She stays silent and starts to feel bad for what she just yelled at him. She swallows her saliva, and gently smiles, waiting for him to stop laughing and explain himself. He slowly calms down, but before he can speak to her, she gets distracted by something she sees on the other side of the river.

There, standing behind the hedge, is a young man with long black hair hiding the left side of his face, and light green eyes. Most importantly, she sees him holding his hands forward in a familiar manner? He's doing the hand sign to perform Shintenshin, the Yamanaka's mind body transmission jutsu, and he's aiming for Izuna, clueless.

Startled by this sudden attack she raises her hands and her voice to alert her friend, but is taken by surprise before she can do anything. From another direction, a place she can't see, another person uses the same jutsu to take her body over. Being familiar with the effect of it, she senses it happening and does her best to resist, but finds this person's skill disturbingly superior to hers.

"No way!" she complains in her mind. "I am the student of the 7th Hokage, daughter of Ino Yamanaka, and one of the best of my clan. I can't lose at this game!"

"I'm from that clan too, sweetie!" says someone who now appears to her in her mind, someone who looks the same as who she saw across the river but more girly. "And I'm just better at it."

"You're… The Yamanaka of Kakumei!" she exclaims in shock, surprised that there are seemingly two of them. Unable to hold, she submits to her opponent's superior mind.

She's put to sleep and her body is left to Akiko's control. Izuna, seeing her move in a weird manner for a moment, just raises an eyebrow before his own body is taken over in turn by Fuyuko. Taken off guard, and not as resistant as Inoue, he only has time to realize what is happening before fainting. He can only tell himself that the village is under attack, and get worried about where and when he may wake up.

.

On the main square of the village, Naruto Uzumaki walks calmly, followed by Shino Aburame, Moegi Kazamatsuri and Kakashi Hatake.

"Anko Mitarashi and Ino Yamanaka are on their way as well." Moegi precises.

"… Just an odd thought I just had but, Moegi, you know that I was friends or colleagues with everyone in the village even before I became Hokage." Naruto comments. "So you don't have to be so formal when you call their names. Just say Anko and Ino. I'll understand."

"Uh? Sure." Moegi replies, a bit intrigued by this remark.

"And of course, you can call me Naruto if you want. We know each other. You don't have to be so professional… Same goes for you Shino. Kakashi-sensei, I know you already got this message."

Kakashi just lightly smiles under his mask, amused by the Hokage's friendliness. Shino and Moegi look at each other, and smile as well, feeling safe and comfortable thanks to Naruto's relaxed behavior. On their way, they run into Hanabi guiding Seiki to the Hokage's mansion. The Hyuga clan leader quickly notices them and comes to meet them.

Naruto looks around the place, then at all the people present with him. He takes a good look at the scene, time, setting, people. He squints his eyes, sighs, and smiles.

"Kurama…" he says to the fox inside him. "It wasn't even on purpose, but this scene looks oddly familiar."

The Kyubi analyzes what his host sees and takes a while to understand what he means. He starts to panic, after recognizing the setting and mistrustfully looks at Seiki Tomoe, the one they came to interrogate.

"We have to stop it!" he exclaims. "It will come from her. It's certain. We should kill her now!"

"Don't say that." Naruto calmly replies. "We're here to interrogate her, so that's what we'll do. Besides, if Sojobo didn't show the future to me, I'd have no way to figure out if something might happen here. So I'll just act as I would have in any circumstance."

"You can't let it happen!" Kurama yells.

"We're prepared for it. You know that. We spent a lot of time on this with Shikamaru." Naruto explains. "Also, for now, we have no reason to act suspicious. We can't sense any negative emotion from her. She's just nervous but happy to be here."

He steps forward, not listening to his Biju's complaints and worries, and comes face to face with Seiki Tomoe.

"Seiki Tomoe, are you? My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I'm the 7th Hokage of Konoha." he introduces himself.

"I know who you are of course." she answers. "I'm kind of nervous right now. To meet you in person is certainly something."

"I like that you're being honest." he comments. "Anyways, we're here for a reason. I believe you have intel about something that happened in Hikari. Something involving the Otsutsuki clan."

"Oh, this? I don't know much." she sadly replies. "I really just saw Lord Oshio fight a flying person above the village. From what I understood, they came to an agreement at the end. Lady Meinu said that this agreement was a plan to take over the world."

"What does taking over the world mean?"

"It means becoming the mightiest. But don't worry, I don't think it has anything to do with an alien invasion. The person who came to Hikari was a loner according to Meinu."

Naruto thinks about it for a moment. This Otsutsuki must have approached Oshio as an inheritor of Momoshiki, or was someone like Momoshiki trying a different approach. In all cases, it is very likely that, if he is involved with Oshio, Sasuke will very soon come to meet this being, if he didn't already.

"Maybe we should get to a safer and quieter place to discuss this?" Naruto suggests.

Next to him, Shino lightly nods on the Hokage's shoulder to get his attention and quietly speaks in his ear.

"What about the sealed object?" asks the Aburame.

Naruto gasps in surprise, being just reminded of the scroll that was reportedly hidden inside Seiki's body but that the Intel division had no way of retrieving.

"Right! We can do this now." he says to Shino, and then addresses Seiki again. "Inspection of your memories showed that you should have a scroll sealed somewhere inside your body. I will retrieve it and identify it. Do you have any objections?"

"Um? No of course!" she answers. "I was told that this object is what I'll have to give to Crow to accomplish my original mission, but I have no idea how to unseal it or what it is."

"It is in her chest." says Hanabi, using the Byakugan. "It is merged in her body. No medical intervention could get this out."

"Yeah, that's Lady Meinu's jutsu." Seiki comments. "She can hide object in a body without actually disturbing it."

"It is a forbidden jutsu of the land of Wind, I believe." Shino whispers to Naruto, who doesn't care much.

"No problem. I know exactly how to get it released." Naruto says before raising his hand coated in his bright yellow chakra towards the girl's chest.

"Um, Hokage, you should ask for permission before touching a woman in such places." Seiki mocks, to most people's annoyance, but Naruto calmly responds.

"Of course. May I?" he says. "My hand won't even make contact with your skin. It will go straight through and you won't feel anything."

"I guess you know what you're doing." she replies. "Knowing that some object is hidden in me is pretty disturbing. So it would be nice if you could get it outta here, yes."

The Hokage nods and proceeds. Using his Yang release, he makes his hand phase through the girl's chest and calmly retrieves the object hidden inside. It is a simple scroll that he opens to reveal a sealing formula inside. It looks like a space-time seal. A connection to another place in this dimension or somewhere else.

"I guess what we are to expect is that this contains money that would have been used to pay the mercenary?" Naruto suggests.

Seiki doesn't answer and just nods, unsure. Naruto still can't sense any hostility from here, which amuses him. He looks at the objects, and at the ninjas around.

"Everybody, step back please." he asks his ninjas who all comply. Seiki does as well.

Naruto quickly looks at her acting all naturally, and all naively. He speaks with the fox inside him.

"She's really clueless. It's impressive."

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Kurama says.

Naruto stares at the scroll in his hand for a moment, breathes in and takes his abrupt decision. Almost certain of what might occur, he takes action and instantly, without any hand sign, summons two clones at two different places. One at his family's home, to see Hinata and Himawari waiting for his return. And another at the Hokage mansion, next to Shikamaru. Both clones ask to be carefully listened to and explain themselves.

Naruto waits a few seconds after summoning the clones, and tells one last thing to his Biju.

"This will be a trial. A trial for the ninja world and its younger generation. And I have to trust Shikamaru. I have to trust Boruto, Inoue,… and Izuna with this. If it's not Sasuke or me, it's up to him to stop his brother. I'm sorry, Kurama, but we have to go through this." he apologizes to his inner friend before promptly unsealing the scroll.

To everyone's surprise, a cloud of mist appears and hides the Hokage. Moegi, Kakashi and Shino get ready to react. Hanabi, not as patient as the others, activates her Byakugan to see through the mist and discovers a horrific scene.

A young man with a brown scarf, a sleeveless mantle, and a mohawk-like haircut is holding an all-black sword that is stabbing through the 7th Hokage's abdomen, through the seal on his belly. Naruto slightly gazes through the mist and sees the face of who he was expecting, Kawaki. He notices him having grown older than what he expected.

Kawaki, unsure of what he is doing, looks forward and catches a glimpse of his victim. Shockingly, he notices a gentle smile on Naruto's face. A smile that confuses him and makes him remember the words the Hokage said when they first met. "Keep it up! Don't ever hold back on your choices, as long as you think it's the right thing to do."

Is he doing the right thing? He doesn't know, but one thing is sure. It is too late to hold back. He has to keep it up. The black sword he holds, Futsu no Mitama, makes use of the power of its creator, Oshio Uchiha, and pulls out the entirety of the nine-tailed beast from Naruto Uzumaki's body.

Hanabi Hyuga witnesses this scene and therefore is first to react. She screams, out of dread and anger, and rushes in the cloud to attack the invader who's too distracted to sense her coming and takes a first hit that pushes him away and forces the sword out of the Hokage's body, along with his Biju.

All the others wait for the mist to settle. Anko Mitarashi arrives at the scene, down from a roof, with Ino Yamanaka and her student, Rebekka Tabiki. Like Shino and others, they stay in anguish, afraid to discover what occurred in the mist. Suddenly, all around, all the clones of the 7th Hokage disappear and abandon those they were assisting across the village.

The dust settles, and everyone sees Hanabi Hyuga being handled in her anger by Kawaki, second captain of Kakumei. Too confused to fully focus, he only barely has his attention on his opponent who's going all out.

Hakke Hazangeki

With a more violent version of the Hakke Kusho, Hanabi sends Kawaki flying back and bouncing against a wall. Kakashi, Shino and others just now see the unconscious body of Naruto slowly getting on his knees. Moegi and Rebekka scream in terror and run forward to help him. Shino, more vengeful, immediately unleashes his crowd of insects that he sends toward Kawaki. Getting in the urging mood for a fight, the Kakumei general unleashes his Shojo seal and frees his power.

Kosengan

With his left eye, he shoots a powerful light beam that completely annihilates the crowd of insects and bursts forth toward the present ninjas. Kakashi Hatake, who reacted early, took a measure to defend everyone.

Doton – Doryuheki

He summoned giant reinforced stone walls for everyone to take cover behind, but these aren't enough to handle the strength of the beam. The walls are broken and Shino, Kakashi, Moegi, Hanabi, and Seiki, who was just as confused as everyone else, are all struck by the pieces of wall.

Only Ino, still standing on a roof, Anko who leapt away in time, and Rebekka who was caught and saved by her sensei, remain. As soon as she lands, Anko slams her hands against the ground.

Kuchiyose – Jagei Jubaku

She summons two huge snakes that emerge from the ground and enroll themselves around Kawaki to bind him. To free himself, Kawaki concentrates the power of his Shojo in all his body and turns his skin into long and deadly spikes that tear apart the animals binding him. As soon as free, he steps back to a wall, looks in regret at the Hokage, and waits.

From above, on the roof of the building behind him, Ino sees Izuna and Inoue come running. First she thinks that they're arriving too late to help, but she then notices that they're both carrying the unconscious bodies of unknown people. By focusing a bit she can clearly sense that her daughter's body is occupied by a stranger's soul.

By bringing her hands together and aiming for Inoue, she counters the jutsu used to control her and undoes Akiko's Shintenshin. The Yamanaka of Kakumei, surprised by the superior skill of Ino, is quickly chased out of this body. Right before she's put to sleep, she tosses her own body forward to let it fall off the roof to Kawaki's side.

Fuyuko, in control of Izuna, manages to get down with no troubles and gets to stand next to Kawaki. Rebekka, standing next to Anko, wants to hurry and get to the Hokage's side, but she first needs to chase the invaders. So she carelessly tries to incinerate the place.

Katon – Goen

She breathes out a large cloud of fire toward the enemies and burns down the wall they were back to. When the flames dissipate, Ino, Anko and Rebekka only have time to see a black space rift close and transport the invaders away, with the sword in which Kurama is now imprisoned and with Izuna's unconscious body.

Not under attack anymore, Rebekka runs in panic to the Hokage who's now lying unconscious on the ground. She gets on her knees and grabs his shoulders, hopelessly trying to wake him up, as tears flow down her face. Anko just sits down, morally defeated. She looks at Shino and the others who are slowly coming back to their senses and sitting down just like her.

Ino, as crushed as the others, still looks forward, seeing her daughter safe on the roof where she was dropped. At the same time, in the Hokage's office, Shikamaru Nara looks by the window, shocked by what he guesses has just happened. He takes a deep breath in and thinks. It is now up to him to make the Hokage's plan go as expected.

In the hospital, Sakura Uchiha leaves her work and hurries to a window. She suddenly had a very disturbing intuition, as if something terrible happened. She is, for now, not aware of how personal these events are to her.

.

In the east side of the lands of Heart, in the devastated plain that was once Momoshiki's garden, Sai and Boruto are getting ready to leave, unsatisfied. Their mission is a failure. They got no results and have to return to the village and declare Sasuke Uchiha's disappearance.

While he's getting ready, just before jumping to the back of Sai's giant ink bird, Boruto Hyuga feels a unique sensation. For an instant, he can hear the voice of his father in his mind.

"Taking this training is like signing up for a defined future. You will have to follow the same path as Sasuke. Are you sure that you want this?" He hears what his father told him, to make sure that he was ready for the training he will go through with his master.

Boruto turns around and looks in the direction of Konoha, intrigued. Why is he remembering this now? Why is this question suddenly asked again? He thinks of its meaning. He thinks of who asked it first… Confused, he stands there in his doubts before being alerted by Sai.

"Boruto, are you okay?" Sai asks, getting the young man's attention.

"… I don't know. We should hurry back to Konoha." he answers, instinctively.

.

End of Chapter 92 – Next Chapter: Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan