Part 13 – We are similar!

Watching Sakura cure the poison in Kankuro, who had been attacked by Sasori during the capture of Gaara, Uzu said to Naruto who was sitting next to her: “Was it a good idea to … tell Sakura and Temari about Kurama?”

Naruto turned towards her with a bewildered expression: “Kurama? Well, if you mean the fact that I hold the nine-tails, then I think it was okay to tell them. Gaara is just like me after all …”

Oh, he doesn’t know of his name yet, I forgot.

“Well … uhm … yeah, that’s the Kyuubi’s actual name. You do know about the story of the origin of chakra and ninshu, right?” Uzu said softly.

Seeing Naruto nod, she continued: “What do you think about Kurama?”

Naruto’s face seemed to hold a mixture of sadness and pity: “Sigh, honestly, I do not dislike him. Though he did destroy Konoha and is the reason for the villager’s hatred towards me, he is also a victim. We are similar … in a way. It would be a lie if I said I didn’t pity him one bit. The way that the villages cage not only him, but the other tailed beasts as well, is barbaric. I can totally understand his hatred for humans, but to protect those that are precious to me, I not only need his power, but I also need to make sure that he stays in his seal.”

Uzu held his hand, softly squeezing it.

Meeting his eyes, she gave him a gentle smile: “I’m sure you’ll find a way to help him too. I believe in you, Naruto. And just so you know, I also believe that you can become the Hokage. Tsunade told me about that dream of yours.”

She saw Naruto’s eyes widen before he gave her a wide smile showing off his teeth. She could feel a blush rise on her cheeks and returned the smile.

Maybe he will try erasing Kurama’s hatred earlier than in canon? If he can get his assistance, he’ll at least have an easier time fighting against all the enemies he needs to face.

Though, he won’t be alone anymore, facing all of those threats …

“Kurama, huh, how do you know of it-“, Naruto smiled and closed his eyes, “Nevermind. I’ll go annoy him a bit later. You need to know that that old fox has been trying to make me let him out for years. Sigh …”

…

Using a piece of Sasori’s clothing, Team Kakashi was able to track him, gradually getting closer to Gaara.

Temari, who they had met on their way to Suna, offered to follow them. However, an old woman called Chiyo went in her place.

Team 7 was well on their way towards Gaara when a figure in a black cloak covered in red clouds appeared in front of them.

Itachi, huh … and he’s already trying to put us under a genjutsu.

Instinctively disrupting the genjutsu she had been placed under, she looked at Naruto who had tensed up and started sweating.

Placing a hand on his arm, she sent a wave of chakra into his body and dispersed the foreign chakra clouding his mind.

Snapping back to reality, Naruto turned to thank her before creating several shadow clones and rushing at Itachi who had already started fighting with Kakashi.

Uzu watched Kakashi and Naruto coordinate their attacks against Itachi for a while before remembering that there were two other people behind her.

Looking back at Sakura and Chiyo, she noticed that they had already escaped the Genjutsu on their own.

What to do … the other villages don’t actually know about my existence yet, or so Mom thinks.

If I just blatantly use either the wood style or my chains, they’ll instantly know what kind of power I have. But then again … the daimyo and the council do want us to show our power, so maybe I should just go for it?

Remembering her mother’s words, reassuring her that it was okay to use whatever she could, she willed her black chains to shoot towards their enemy.

She felt Chiyo’s footsteps pause behind her, instinctively preparing another set of chains to protect her back in case of an attack.

Watching as Kakashi shot out of the ground to attack Itachi and holding him in place, her chains bound every single one of Itachi’s limbs, rapidly absorbing his chakra.

Though, admittedly, it might have been a bit overkill, Naruto slammed his slightly bigger Rasengan into the body of Itachi.

The five people watched as Itachi’s body fell to the ground and smoke obscured his figure.

“Why are you smiling?!” Naruto shouted.

Ah … right … this wasn’t the real Itachi … I remember. It shouldn’t have been this easy to kill him and his chakra reserves were also way too small …

Uzu sighed, having forgotten that vital piece of information.

Rinnegan, huh …

They gathered around the body and Chiyo’s face paled upon seeing who actually lied on the ground.

Explaining that it was a jonin of Suna, the rest, except for Uzu, cringed, noticing that this was merely a distraction. Akatsuki hadn’t really wanted to stop them here. Otherwise they would have sent the actual members.

Chiyo stored the body in a scroll and they continued tracking Gaara’s scent.

…

Sending out her chakra waves, Uzu noticed that there were four other presences facing a cave that was protected by seals, which she couldn’t see through.

Uzu chose to remain silent, knowing who it was that would soon enter their line of sight.

Meeting up with Team Guy, they inspected the seals.

“How many seals are there?” Kakashi asked.

“We’ve found 4!” Guy answered him, giving him a thumbs up.

“Hmm-“ Just as Kakashi was about to suggest something, Uzu decided to create four wood clones to do the work for them, having already realized what kind of seal it was and how to break it.

Soon enough, the entrance to the cave was open.

Team Guy had to rest, having suffered injuries in their fight against another ‘false’ Akatsuki, as they named it.

Team Kakashi, together with Chiyo, entered the cave carefully sensing their surroundings in case there was more in store in terms of delaying tactics.

However … when they reached a slightly bigger room and spotted three figures appear in front of a rather ugly statue, they knew that they were already far too late.

Seeing Gaara’s unmoving body being stepped on, Naruto started shouting and clawing at his head: “You too, Gaara?! Just like them …”

Uzu noticed that his eyes had turner red and his whisker marks grew more noticeable.

The nine-tails is influencing him …

Naruto growled, rushing at the two cloaked figures, rage clouding his mind.

They only laughed in response, one of them taking the body with him and leaving through a hidden path.

Naruto rushed after him, intending to at least regain the body of his dead friend.

Exchanging gazes with Kakashi, Uzu followed Naruto, intending to help him in his fight.

“Don’t worry Kakashi-san, girlie and I will handle my grandson here. You just go with the Uzumaki (because of chains) to make sure your Bijuu is safe.” Chiyo said, causing Uzu to frown.

Jumping out of the hidden exit, Uzu laid her eyes on a pair of tree roots connecting two sides of a cliff.

Their enemy had created a clay bird and had taken to the sky. She couldn’t see Gaara’s body though …

Also locating Naruto, she decided to try out a jutsu that she hadn’t had the chance of using yet.

Flashing through the hand signs and gathering a large amount of wood natured chakra in her hands, she slammed them onto the ground and shouted: “Wood Release: Giant Animal Creation jutsu!”, causing a very large structure to rise from the ground.

Soon enough, she stood upon the head of a wooden raven that was gradually getting more detailed by the second.

When its body was finally covered in black feathers, she commanded it to follow the several sizes smaller clay bird.

Flapping its wings, the raven took flight, creating gusts of wind that devastated the surrounding forest.

Flying in between the tree roots, she grabbed at Naruto’s jacket and pulled him onto the bird before having it reach the same altitude as the clay bird they were chasing.

She sensed Kakashi also finally reaching the tree roots, but decided to just leave him, proceeding to chase after Deidara instead.

She ordered the raven to keep up with the other bird but keep some distance to look at Naruto first.

She set Naruto down on the head of the raven and looked at him.

“Naruto … let’s work together, alright?” She asked.

She frowned when she received nothing but a deep growl in return.

Gradually she watched as red chakra started surrounding Naruto’s body.

His eyes taking on a blood red color and his fangs growing out of his mouth.

“Naruto-“ Getting interrupted by Naruto as he rushed at her and grabbed her throat, pushing her off the raven.

She gasped as she felt her back connect with the ground. If her bones weren’t naturally stronger … some of them would have cracked right now, that’s for sure.

She felt her body get weak as Naruto continued cutting off her airflow.

Though she did not want to hurt him, in an attempt to stop him, a few black chains shot out. Naruto, however, jumped back and dodged the chains that did not continue chasing him after he let go of Uzu.

Staring at each other, both stood still.

Uzu reached into her pouch, pulling out a seal that would reinforce the seal on a Jinchuuriki’s Bijuu.

She had created it for this exact moment. She knew that she might need it someday, but to think that that day would come so soon …

Retracting her chains, she watched as Naruto rushed at her again, like a wild animal thinking itself superior.

In a swift movement, she slammed her seal onto his stomach, watching as his eyes rolled back. The red chakra gradually settled back into the Kyuubi’s seal and his features returned to normal.

Seeing him fall towards her, she gently caught him and fell onto her butt.

Embracing him tightly, she laid down on the ground and turned him around, feeling his back press against her chest.

Sending out her chakra waves and closing her eyes to extend their range, she sensed the position of Kakashi.

Ordering her raven to pick him up, she ordered the raven to listen to Kakashi’s commands from now on until the fight was over.

The legendary Jonin would hopefully be enough to defeat the enemy and retrieve the body of Gaara, which the enemy probably hid inside of the bird as she sensed a lingering chakra presence inside of it.

Turning her attention back to Naruto, she decided to scan his body for injuries. She knew that the nine-tails would always passively heal his injuries, but it wouldn’t hurt to check anyway.

Meanwhile she also checked out her back that had suffered from the impact with the ground.

Sensing no injuries in either Naruto or herself, she relaxed, gently raising Naruto’s head and sitting down on her calves, her most favorite sitting position. Just sitting like this calmed her down as it reminded her of her Fuuinjutsu practice.

Gently setting his head down on her thighs, she played with his hair as he ‘slept’.

It was then that she realized that she really liked being with him. Even though he had just tried to kill her, she was just happy that he was back to normal.

Talking about happiness and liking people was new, but she didn’t dislike it.

She took this time to properly check on the parts of his chakra pathway system that she hadn’t properly seen yet and committed them to memory.

…

Feeling two presences approach, Uzu opened her eyes to look at Chiyo and Sakura as they stepped out of the thicket.

They look battered and Chiyo seemed to have aged drastically compared to the last time she saw her.

Setting themselves down next to Uzu, who was still gently stroking Naruto’s head, they plopped against a tree, not saying a word.

Sakura’s gaze on her was no more filled with anger or hate, instead she could see a splinter of gratitude and relief in them.

Uzu mentally shrugged, no matter what changed about her, the fact that she is annoying probably won’t change. But Uzu decided that if Sakura changed her behavior and treated Naruto better, then she wouldn’t hold grudges.

Half an hour later, she felt the chakra presence of her raven enter her sensing range, upon it were five other presences and one that was very faint.

So Kakashi did manage to take out the enemy?

I really don’t remember how exactly this mission went in canon. Either way …

She watched as her raven created gusts of wind as it landed in a clearing a few meters away.

Jumping down from the raven, Kakashi and Team Guy walked towards the four people already resting on the soft grass.

Kakashi carried Gaara’s body and laid it down in front of Chiyo. As if Naruto could sense his dead friend’s corpse, his eyes shot open and he sat up, instantly focusing on Gaara’s lifeless body.

Uzu saw Naruto have trouble standing up, so she held up his arm, stabilizing him until he could stand on his own.

The group watched the lifeless body of the former Kazekage.

Uzu heard Naruto sob and sniffle as he said with a gradually more furious voice: “He was like me … I know what he suffered in his village … all the hate and all the pain … and just when he started changing his life and actually finding friends, becoming the Kazekage too, his life was ripped away because you of the sand decided to seal that thing in him! You sealed the monster in him and decided his fate even before he was born! Why-“ His voice cracked as he stared back the group of people standing next to the corpse of his friend.

Uzu watched as his eyes closed and he mumbled: “Well … this is nothing new …”

Emotions drained from his face until there was nothing left. She could even see his fake smile beginning to form …

Uzu winced watching him, judging from what he said, losing people was something that happened frequently in his life. She felt her heart constrict at that thought as she slowly walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his torso. Pressing her cheek against his chest, she felt him tense before gradually relaxing and moving his arms around her to hug her back.

The people present watched their interactions, everyone feeling differing amounts of guilt.

Chiyo unsteadily stumbled towards the body of her dead Kazekage.

Kakashi’s eyes widened, recognizing the technique she was using on the body of the child that she once sealed the beast into.

It was exactly her that created the weak seal that sealed Shukaku into Gaara and allowed Shukaku to influence Gaara so often.

With a sad but determined expression she continued her jutsu, infusing her life energy into Gaara’s core before falling to the ground, taking her last breath and thankfully still managing to see Gaara open his eyes, returning to life. She died believing to have repaid her sins, thus having a slight smile on her face.

Still hugging Uzu, Naruto realized what the old woman had just done and smiled at his fellow Jinchuuriki, or rather friend and ex-Jinchuuriki. His hatred for the woman had also lessened …

The way back to the sand was spent mostly in silence and after paying their respects to Chiyo in Sunagakure and bidding farewell to Gaara and his siblings, the shinobi from Konoha could finally start their journey towards home cutting through clouds as Uzu’s raven carried them back into the gentle embrace of familiar forests and a much more bearable climate.

…

A/N: Sigh … I’ve tried. Let me know what you think :3

Fight scenes are really hard to write … because I really need to fucking learn not to make my characters so damn OP … but in reality … if you go to a different world, you’d wanna be OP right? How else is a normal person gonna fight all those geniuses and monsters like Madara and shit?

Well, so, yeah … my characters are probably always gonna end up as OP. Though, in a few days I might start a more casual novel featuring a female Naruto, starting from birth this time and no reincarnation. So I might manage properly creating a story that has real struggles and stuff.

Suffering builds character -> there’s be lots of shit coming her way! :3