Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Troika Parallel ❯ Bad News Bears ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

 

Sasuke stared inertly out the window of the Hokage tower wondering how it all went wrong. Orochimaru was supposed to be the strongest sannin; he was supposed to give him the power to defeat his brother no matter the cost. But here he was, back in Konoha, with Orochimaru dead and his revenge still dictating his life. And Naruto...where did the dead last get that kind of power? It looked as if he were taking down the Kyuubi itself. Sasuke didn't know what upset him more: the thought of Naruto being more powerful than him after all he sacrificed, or the fact that he'll never get to find out being that Naruto was...dead.

He looked back at the gathered assembly in the Hokage's office. The Hokage herself was sitting behind her desk with a bottle of sake resting shamelessly before her and a half-filled cup in her hand. Her assistant, Shizune, was standing loyally next to her, but her eyes were unseeing as she repeatedly ran a hand over her pig's head. There were clear tear tracks glistening on both her cheeks. His eyes roamed to the other side of the room where the other sannin, Jiraiya, was seated on a chair against the wall, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his forehead balancing on the heels of his palms. Then there was Kakashi. His old sensei kept sending him looks which varied between disappointment and condemnation. His porn book was no where to be seen for once; he just kept his hands in his pockets and waited patiently for the rest of the rookie nine and Team Gai to arrive as called.

The last person in the room, standing right next to him but a good five feet away, was Sakura. The girl hadn't said a word to him since the tragedy he witnessed nor did she look at him, making it very hard to discern what her feelings were at this time. He knew she was quite smitten with him three years ago, but the girl had obviously grown since then; in power and in mind. Therefore, seeing her fall apart as she did when Naruto disappeared into Hell left him with the uncomfortable feeling that the two had moved on without him. The last he remembered was that Sakura couldn't stand the dead last, let alone cry for him.

The door was opened without consent.

“Alright! We're here, so what's the...” Kiba's voice trailed off from his boorish entrance and could literally feel his jaw unhinge. There was a missing-nin in the middle of the Hokage's office. One he was quite familiar with.

“Sasuke-kun!” Ino gasped, seeing her former crush. Of course she had gotten over him after he betrayed the village...but maybe he came back on his own to make amends. Everyone present was frozen, staring at the famed Uchiha with mixed reactions of awe, happiness and disturbance. Gai turned his gaze to his rival, expecting to see some joy or satisfaction at retrieving his rogue student, and was surprised to meet a cold and sorrowful stare.

“As you can see, we have managed to retrieve Sasuke at the hands of Orochimaru,” excited whispering broke out among the younger ones and Tsunade's hand clenched around the wooden cup, causing a crack to run through it, “However...it was not without casualties...” Tsunade wanted to say more but her throat constricted painfully and she was forced to put a hand over her eyes.

“Where is Naruto?” Neji asked slowly, his pale eyes searching in vain through the gathered people. He took in Kakashi's broken state, Jiraiya-sama's uncharacteristically quiet form and Sakura, whose bangs were now shadowing her face, her fists clenched and shoulders shaking.

“Sakura...” Ino whispered, taking a step towards her friend. She didn't understand what was going on. It's not like Naruto was a casualty right? He was always so...indestructible.

It was clear that Tsunade would not, or could not, say anymore on the matter.

“He...” the pink-haired medic began in a raspy voice, “They took him. The Akatsuki...”

This was met with a multitude of gasps and angry cries; the nine others were informed of the Akatsuki, but not of what they wanted with Naruto.

“Akatsuki,” Shikamaru hissed. If there was anything that could get the normally laid-back Chuunin riled up it was the group of terrorists that killed Asuma. He may have gotten his revenge on Hidan, but the simple mention of them still managed to spike his fury.

“W-what...you're saying that N-Naruto-Kun is d-dead...” Hinata whimpered, her knees giving out a little and falling back into Shino.

“We didn't get there in time,” Sakura continued, ignoring everything around her. Her head had lifted, revealing the tears running silently down her face as her veil of hair parted. “They...he...he was dying, but he was still fighting. He wouldn't let them have the demon...his stomach was torn open and there was so, so much blood...”

`...so much blood...'

Tsunade stiffened, hearing the familiar words that she uttered so many years ago. She did not want her student following down the same path as she did; making the same mistakes. Standing from her seat and walking around her desk, she stepped in front of Sakura and held her shoulders.

“Sakura, look at me,” she commanded but Sakura closed her eyes and began shaking her head.

“No...he's dead...after all he said...he was supposed to be Hokage someday...”

Tenten was crying as well at this point, both from the news of Naruto's death and Sakura's heartbroken state. Not even Ino or any of team ten broke down this way when Asuma died. Then again, it was different for team seven; at least Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino always had each other for support. Team seven was so derelict, each of them off training with a sannin and separated by miles, so much so that they needed to cling whoever they could for support. With the Uchiha completely remote and Kakashi so distant and aloof, Naruto was all she had emotionally.

“Sakura,” Ino tried again, approaching once more but shivering slightly, the insinuations leaving her shaken. She had never seen Sakura hysterical like this before. Perhaps the loss of one more teammate was all it took to make her snap.

“I just had to make him make that promise...”

“Listen to yourself. You need to calm down, this isn't your fault.”

“Don't you get it?” Sakura screamed at her, wrenching free from Tsunade's grip. Half the rookies jumped at the directness. “I left him there! I LEFT HIM! I LEFT HIM LIKE EVERYONE ELSE HAS!”

A slap sounded and everything stilled; fourteen sets of eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets and even Jiraiya had lifted his head for the first time. Sakura raised a shaky hand to her stinging cheek, staring at her master in disbelief.

“Shishou...”

“Everyone is in part fault for this,” Tsunade replied sternly. It was true that all she really wanted to do was to curl up on her bed and mourn the loss of another loved one to that damnable necklace, but right now her apprentice needed her to be strong, “but do you really think Naruto would want you to mourn him like this?”

Sakura swallowed and her mind cleared a bit as she realized she was being rather selfish. She did need to think what Naruto would want rather than how she felt.

“Even if you were there, do you really think you could have stopped the Akatsuki from taking him? At full strength you wouldn't have stood a chance. There was nothing we could have done. Instead we should be thankful that Naruto managed to keep the Kyuubi from their grasp—it had to have made a significant dent in the Akatsuki's plans.”

“So it's true then? Naruto-kun is really gone?” Lee asked with large watery eyes. He admired Naruto—a fellow hard worker striving to beat the gifted through sheer strong will alone. It was truly tragic when such youth was wasted...especially a close friend.

“How...?” Shino muttered, still helping his emotionally distraught teammate stand.

“No,” Kiba said with false cheer, “That kid...he could never go down like that...I mean, he's Naruto…right?”

Jiraiya sighed, finally standing from his silent corner, “It's appreciated, the kind of faith you have in him. It would have made him very...happy. But I regret to inform you that Naruto is...he pulled himself into Hell, taking with him the Kyuubi no Kitsune.”

“What?”

“The Kyuubi's dead!”

“The hell? What are you talking about old man?”

“Jiraiya!” Tsunade hissed. The toad hermit waved a dismissive hand at the busty female.

“Its time someone told them.” He said. He saw Kurenai and Gai look at him apprehensively, both seeming unsure whether they wanted their students informed of this, “I believe we should have as much faith in them as they did in Naruto.”

“Very well,” Tsunade agreed, plopping back down in her seat and filling another cup of much needed sake.

“Tell us what?” Chouji asked, roughly rubbing an eye to make sure he wasn't crying. He hadn't even noticed his bag of chips on the floor; he had dropped them when he first saw Sasuke and his attention had been completely occupied since.

“The Kyuubi cannot be killed by mortals.” Jiraiya stated bluntly. “In fact, no bijuu can as far as we know, let alone the nine-tails. The fourth did not kill him. He did the best he could and sealed it away at the expense of his life. But all he did was bought us more time.”

“He sealed it into Naruto,” Shikamaru stated, having suspected something of that sort for years.

“Sealed in Naruto?” Ino repeated, exchanging an alarmed look with Chouji. She wasn't the only one. The other uninformed chuunin buzzed; confusion and disquiet mixed thickly with a regretful understanding; the jounin carefully gauged the reactions of their students.

“I remember when I first saw him at the Akatsuki's base...he had the red eyes and fangs...the lines on his face were thick,” Tenten muttered, thinking back to her encounter with him a couple months ago, “I thought it was just a jutsu or my mind playing tricks on me.”

“There was always something off about his scent...Akamaru noticed it too,” Kiba stated slowly. Shino shifted besides him.

“Hn...my bugs sensed it too...ever since I first met him in the academy.”

“The red chakra...” Neji muttered, everything clicking in his mind from the chuunin exams three years prior.

“You could never understand what its like to be burdened with a symbol you could never rid yourself of!!!”

`I'm so sorry Naruto...for not understanding,' Neji thought, closing his eyes as they burned with the threat of tears. He was really blind for someone with such an advanced Byakugan.

“He pulled the Kyuubi into Hell by using a forbidden jutsu,” Tsunade said in a hollow voice. She was feeling pleasantly numb at the moment, though it was sure to pass quickly. “He was sacrificed at birth and sacrificed in death. This time around, we'll be sure that he is seen as a hero.”

Her words brought forth a fresh bout of tears for a few individuals, along with resolute and proud visages on the others.

“I-I always s-saw him as a hero...” Hinata hiccupped quietly, her fingers gripping onto Shino's jacket to keep herself upright, “long b-before I knew about the K-Kyuubi.”

“Hai,” Lee sniffed, rubbing his bandaged forearm across his nose, “He inspired hope in everyone, even those that had long given up on themselves. Whether the people accept him or not, he will always be a hero to those that matter.”

Light grins and nodding rippled through the crowd.

Jiraiya nodded at his words. “I'm glad you see things that way; it was a good decision to tell you everything. However, I'm afraid I must once again burden you with some more bad news.”

This caught Tsunade, Sakura and Kakashi's interest, as they were unaware of anything worse happening.

“The Akatsuki's goal is to collect and control every sealed beast, and then use them to start and stop wars. Every country will have to depend on them financially and they will control the shinobi labor. Ultimately, they are set on world domination.”

The news of Naruto's death had left them distressed and in tears, but the added information of finding that their very freedom was in jeopardy had left their hearts frozen in their chests. Even Sasuke was staring at the sannin in stunned disbelief.

“What?” Tsunade said sharply. “Why wasn't I informed of this?”

“My intelligence just came by this information recently. If it weren't for the latest events you would have known by now.”

“Still should have told me before then,” she muttered but let it go. She rubbed her eyes with one hand. “What do you suppose we do about this?”

Jiraiya looked at the gathered chuunins and jounins, looked at their questioning and somewhat expectant faces, as if he had a solution. “Unless you know someone who can defeat a bijuu, there's nothing we can do.”

A heavy silence settled over the group and Tsunade could feel the weight of their expectations along with the guilt of Naruto's death pressing heavily on her mind. Finally, after much consideration, she spoke.

“You will all return to your duties and will speak nothing of what you heard today; this includes the Akatsuki's plans, Sasuke's return and...Naruto. I will approach the counsel with this matter and will move on from there.”

“But Hokage-sama, what about Naruto...?” Kakashi asked, finally speaking.

“That...” she swallowed and pressed on, “I'm afraid a memorial service for him will have to wait.”

Sakura looked angrily at her though blood shot eyes but Tsunade continued speaking.

“Uchiha Sasuke, you will undergo interrogation by Morino Ibiki until he deems you fit to be released. Afterwards you will be put under triple probation as well as under constant ANBU surveillance. You are to remain within Konoha's walls at all times and will only be allowed on missions until I decide you have proven your loyalty. Even then, they will be D ranks. You will earn your right to reinstate yourself as a shinobi of this village, do I make myself clear?”

“But what about my brother?” Sasuke hissed, furious with the terms but not all that surprised. Some of the shinobi present thought the sentencing was a bit harsh while other's thought it well deserved—namely those sent on his retrieval mission three years ago.

“You should have thought of that before you chose the coward's way for power.”

The muscles in Sasuke's jaw tightened as his teeth clenched.

`Damn that Naruto,' he thought, his mind choosing the easiest way to place the blame for the unfortunate turn of events. Even in death the blonde still tormented him.

“Dismissed. Kakashi, Sakura, I'll trust you to escort Uchiha to the interrogation quarters.”

“Hai.”

The ninjas filed out of the room via the door or just teleported. Jiraiya exited through the window, as was his usual egress, without so much as a glance towards his former teammate. Tsunade sighed heavily and seated herself once she was sure everyone was gone. Only then, in the sanctity of isolation, did she allow herself to cry.

 

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The three members of team seven walked the halls of the Hokage tower in an uncomfortable silence. Kakashi walked rather stiffly and slightly ahead of the younger two. A part of him wanted to look back at them, to see how Sakura was holding up, if her tears had dried, and also to shout at Sasuke, to shake the ungrateful little—no, it was best not to let such thoughts be called to mind until everything had settled down.

Sakura's eyes alternated between staring blankly ahead and glancing at her former teammate. Sasuke walked along side of her emitting a strong aura of bitterness and loathing. His face was arranged into an ugly scowl and glared hatefully at anyone who happened to pass them. His irritation seemed to grow as he found it more and more difficult to ignore and unreadable looks Sakura kept shooting at him.

“What?” he finally snarled harshly out of the corner of his mouth. Sakura seemed to jump out of her musings at the sound of his voice. Her jaw worked itself a couple time as if she were searching for the right words. She new exactly what she wanted to say, but she wasn't sure she was prepared to say it. It would be admitting a lot of things that she had been trying to ignore for many, many years.

“If you have something to say to me then just say it.”

Though he didn't turn around, Kakashi was listening intently to the pair behind him, curious as to how Sakura would handle this.

Sakura thought, for the briefest of moments, that she would spare Sasuke of her emotions and continue hole everything up inside for the remainder of their walk. But one look at that spiteful, arrogant, condescending visage was enough to gather up all the righteous anger and grief within her and surpass one of her greatest obstacles.

“I wanted you back.” She started out by stating, her voice quiet and emotionless, her eyes overshadowed by the drapes of her hair. She had Sasuke's attention at least. “I wanted you back so bad so that we could all be together again...”

The group had come to a stop two floors above their destination. Kakashi had turned around to watch them by now.

“...but not at this price...” her shoulders began shaking and she finally raised her face to him allowing the florescent ceiling lights to wash over her pale complexion. Fresh tears were alight in her eyes as she hissed out the most painful truth.

“You weren't worth him!”

Sasuke looked stricken, as if there were some underlying meaning Sakura uttered that she wasn't even aware of. Kakashi's one eye had revealed his shock as well as his pride, feeling as though she had done Naruto some sort of justice. Sakura had come along way since he first listened to her squeal out her dreams four years ago; though it was unfortunate what she had to go through to make it this far. The greatest achievements within a person are often born of the greatest losses.

Sasuke's hands were clenched at his sides, his teeth grinding, as he glared at the pink haired girl who was meeting his gaze with equal contempt. Despite the tough exterior she was holding up, Sakura felt like she was breaking down inside more than ever. She felt drained, she wanted to curl up and forget everything.

“Sakura, I'll take him the rest of the way. Go home.” Kakashi said, picking up on her high distress.

“Th-thank you sensei.” She managed before bolting from the building. The two sharingan wielders walked in silence for the rest of the way—both left to stew in their separate thoughts.

 

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The clock seated on the wall overhead two conversing individuals struck eleven O'clock, letting out three small chimes before falling silent for the next half-hour.

“Amazing...a kid like him creating a strained opening to hell. Those are pretty hard to pull off, right?”

“Yeah. But there are many, many different ways to force an opening. I only know a handful of them myself.”

“So? What are we going to do about this?” Harry asked Inuyasha in a hushed tone as his yellow tinted glasses showed him the sleeping foreigner through the wall separating them.

“I have an idea.” Inuyasha replied, earning him the younger man's attention. “Give me a couple days and I'll see what I can do. I need to scope things out in his world first; figure out what the deal is with this Akatsuki and everything. I can't just send him back there like this.”

“Wait...you said he couldn't get back.”

“I'm not sure that he can. But I think I know how I can. Just give me a while. Do you mind if he stays?”

“No.” Harry said, looking back at the boy again, “I think we'd get on well enough.”

“Good. Just make him comfortable. Distract him please; he's got to have a lot on his mind right now.”

“Poor kid.” Harry sighed, running a hand through midnight hair, “He's got to be what? Fifteen? Sixteen? It must have been hell.”

“Hmm...” Inuyasha looked at Harry shrewdly, “About the same age you were when I found you huh?”

Harry glared at his mentor, recognizing that calculating look. “So?”

The hanyou gave a half smirk and shrugged.

“Nothing, just a hunch, that's all.”

“What are you talking about—?”

“I've got to go.” Inuyasha replied walking away. Harry growled frustrated and followed him.

“Can you at least explain to me how the hell you're going to get over there?”

“The same way he got here...only backwards.”

 

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Don't worry; I know where I'm going with this...I think. I'll be jumping back and forth between the different worlds so you know what's up with everyone. And I'll try to keep everyone in character -_-

Again I greatly appreciate those of you who have decided to give this a shot, and I love the feedback I'm getting.