Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Colors of Life and Death ❯ You Need to Know ( Chapter 18 )

Shikamaru yawned as he sat down in the plush arm chair near the window. Kakashi leaned against a wall and Neji stood in the middle of the room with his arms folded.

"Thanks for coming, guys," Naruto greeted solemnly. He took a deep breath. "I...have some things I need to tell all of you." He closed his eyes and took a calming breath before continuing. "You all know about when Kyuubi attacked the village." Everyone nodded, except of course those who knew what was coming. "You were lied to...Kyuubi wasn't killed. He was sealed," Naruto gulped, "Inside me...."

Neji's eyes widened. "What?"

"You're honestly telling me you didn't know?" Shikamaru asked in disbelief.

Everyone turned to stare at the lazy shinobi. "How did you....?" Neji inquired.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out. You can't kill a youma, not directly anyway. You have to seal it inside a living being. One with a chakra system advanced enough to hold it. A human is the only logical choice. The older a chakra system is the more likely it will reject such a large and inhuman chakra so the person creating the seal would need a newborn baby for the container. Naruto was the only person our age that all the adults in the village seemed to hate." He shrugged. "Simple, really."

Everyone stared slack jawed at Shikamaru. After a moment, Tsunade eh hemmed. "Go ahead, Naruto."

Naruto nodded, somewhat amazed that not a single person had turned on him, even for an instant. "Two months ago, when Orochimaru took me, I was...cut open. He...peeled my skin back so Kyuubi couldn't heal me."

Neji gritted his teeth and Hinata looked a little nauseous from the memory.

"Sasuke pushed my wound together and Kyuubi was able to seal it, but it used too much of his chakra. He died," Naruto said as though he were sorry the Nine Tails was dead.

Even Shikamaru showed surprise. "But...that shouldn't have been enough to kill a youma that powerful."

Tsunade folded her arms. "Not by itself, no. I've been researching the jutsus Orochimaru used on Naruto. They are designed to remove seals, but they also have the side effect of corrupting the flow of chakra in the being residing within the seal. Essentially, Kyuubi's own chakra poisoned him. The combination of that and using an enormous amount of power to heal Naruto apparently proved fatal."

Shikamaru frowned in thought. "Makes sense."

"Kyuubi left me a 'going away present'," Naruto said as he began to mold some chakra.

Everyone watched in amazement at Naruto's new chakra color. However, Tsunade, Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata were confused. The chakra wasn't yellow. It was a swirling mix of red and blue. "What the hell?" Tsunade questioned.

Naruto opened his eyes when Tsunade spoke. He noticed the new colors and stared at them. "What...happened?"

Neji turned to Tsunade. "What is it?"

"It was yellow just yesterday. Not to mention it shouldn't be possible for it to be two colors at once," Tsunade replied with a frown.

"What does it mean, Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked.

Tsunade frowned in thought. "I don't know. I'll research it when I get home." She let out a puff of air. "Naruto, I believe you have a few more things to say?"

Naruto nodded. Naruto scratched the side of his face in embarrassment. "Tsunade-no-baa-chan...adopted me," he said with a smile.

"Congratulations, Naruto," Neji said after the momentary shock wore off.

"Hmpf. You were better off before," Shikamaru said with a wry smile.

Tsunade stalked over to Shikamaru, holding up a fist. "What did you say? !" she said dangerously.

Shikamaru cringed. "It...it was nothing," he replied, waving his hands protectively in front of his face. "Geez, how troublesome," he thought as Tsunade walked back to her previous position.

"Anyway. I also found who my parents were a few weeks ago," Naruto said quietly.

Except for Tsunade's, all eyes were suddenly fixed on Naruto. "Naruto-kun, that's wonderful!" Hinata cried cheerfully.

"Who are they? Have you met them yet?" Sakura asked eagerly.

Naruto's face fell. "They're...um...they died when I was born," he answered, his voice sad.

Hinata made a tiny gasp. "Oh, Naruto-kun...." she said as she bit her lower lip.

"It's okay," Naruto said, giving Hinata a small smile.

"What were their names?" Sakura asked, gently.

"My Dad's name was Arashi...." Naruto began before being cut off by a strange choking sound that came from Kakashi.

Kakashi looked as though he'd seen a ghost. "What is it, sensei?" Sasuke asked with concern.

Kakashi's beloved book simply fell from his hands as he stood and walked slowly toward his blonde haired student. When he got to the bed he reached out a shaking hand and touched the side of Naruto's face. "I...I always thought you looked like him," he said in a choked voice.

Sakura was confused. "Sensei?"

Kakashi pushed his forehead protector up and away from his sharingan eye. "But how? Sandaime told us you were dead."

Naruto was shocked to see Kakashi's eyes filled with tears. "It was a lie. He did it to protect me," Naruto informed him.

"So you...you really are Yondaime's son?" Kakashi said as though he wasn't still sure he believed it.

Immediately following Kakashi's question everyone in the room stared, positively bug-eyed, at Naruto. "You're the son of the FOURTH?!" Lee asked in shock and awe.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah."

Kakashi gripped Naruto's shoulder affectionately. "It's...like a part of him is back from the dead," he said, hurriedly wiping his tears away with his other hand. Suddenly his expression turned dangerous. "Jiraiya...."

"I already took care of it, Hatake," Tsunade said with a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.

Naruto looked at Tsunade in confusion. "What did Ero-sennin do?"

Kakashi stared at Tsunade in disbelief. "He doesn't know?"

Tsunade shook her head. "Nm mm. I want Jiraiya to tell him himself."

"Tell me what?" Naruto questioned, growing impatient.

"Ask Jiraiya. I want him to be the one who sees your reaction to it," Tsunade said icily.

Naruto growled a sigh.

Doctor Tokiha came into the room. He saw Sakura sitting up and smiled broadly. "She's awake," he said cheerfully.

Sakura smiled and nodded.

"Well then, how about you all clear out of here so I can check her over?" Doctor Tokiha requested.

"Bye everyone," Sakura said with a wave.

Sakura's visitors returned her goodbye and walked out the door, except for Naruto and Lee. Naruto smiled at Sakura. "Glad you're okay," he said with a grin.

Sakura smiled. "Thanks."

"Later," Naruto said with a mock salute.

Once Naruto was out the door Lee turned to the girl he loved. "I don't know what I would have done...if I could never see that smile again," he said as he lovingly touched her cheek.

Sakura paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. "Lee-kun....

"It's alright," Lee said softly, "I know you don't feel the same," he said with a small smile. "I'll see you later." As he turned around to leave he felt Sakura's hand grab his.

"Lee-kun...I can't make any promises," Sakura said gently, "but don't give up on me yet...."

"Sakura-san?" Lee questioned, trying desperately to quell the bit of hope that was entering his heart.

"Just...give me some time to think," Sakura explained.

"O...okay," Lee in mild confusion. He looked at the door. "Well then...I have to...get back to my training...Ja," he said nervously.

"Ja...Lee-kun."

Lee smiled and left the room. Sakura stared out the window, watching some kids playing ninja tag. "It was so simple back then," she thought. An image of Sasuke entered her mind, but his adorable smirk was quickly replaced by the murderous grin he had worn in Naruto's memories, making Sakura wince. "Sasuke-kun, I don't...can't love you anymore. But I'm not sure I know how to move on."

"Alright, Miss Haruno. Let's see if you're ready to go home," said Doctor Tokiha.

Sakura nodded. "Alright."

As Doctor Tokiha began the usual stages of a routine physical Sakura's mind wandered to the memory of Naruto telling everyone about Kyuubi. "I'm so glad everyone took it so well. He's already been through so much." Of course, she knew exactly what had gone through Neji and Lee's minds. She had had the same thoughts when she had been told the truth....

---------------------------------------FLASHBACK------------ --------------------------

Tsunade moved to sit behind he desk. "There is something you must know before you go on this mission. What I'm about to tell you is not to leave this room. Understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Sasuke replied.

"The Kyuubi that attacked Konoha fourteen years ago...was not destroyed as you were told. It was sealed...inside Naruto," Tsunade explained.

"What?!" Sakura and Hinata squeaked in unison.

Sakura's breathing became slow and quiet as she absorbed what she'd just been told. After a moment she noticed Sasuke didn't seem at all surprised. "Sasuke-kun, you knew?" she asked in wide-eyed disbelief.

"Hai. Naruto told me, after he stopped me from going to Orochimaru," Sasuke said, his eyes looking at the floor.

"Why didn't he tell me?" Sakura asked, her voice rising a bit in pitch.

"I saw him use the Nine Tails when we fought. I asked him what it was and he told me. I think...he didn't tell you because he was afraid of how you'd react," Sasuke said, raising his eyes to Sakura's.

Sakura bit her lower lip.

Tsunade eh hemmed and the teens turned their attention back to her. "We have recieved intelligence reports that Orochimaru plans to extract Kyuubi from Naruto and transfer it to himself. This would not only increase Orochimaru's power, but also kill Naruto in the process," she said gravely.

"N...no!" Hinata said loudly.

"You three will be accompanied by Kakashi and a team of anbu. They will act as a distraction while you get Naruto out," said Tsunade.

"But, we're not enough to take on Orochimaru!" Sakura exclaimed.

"We're hoping that the distraction will be enough that you won't have to," Tsunade explained. "Now, as for the reason you were told about Kyuubi. Should Orochimaru make even the slightest miscalculation when attempting the needed seal transfer jutsus, you may wind up facing the Kyuubi itself...."

-----------------------------END FLASHBACK--------------------------------------

Sakura shuddered at the memory as Doctor Tokiha removed the blood pressure cuff.

"Well, Sakura. I think you can go home tomorrow morning. For now, why don't you try to get some sleep?"

"Hai. Thank you," Sakura replied.

Doctor Tokiha smiled and left the room. Sakura laid down, her skin relishing in the smoothness of the cool pillow. As she closed her tired eyes one thought came to her mind. And for some reason, she found it comforting. "I think...I really do like...Lee-kun...." With that thought she drifted off into a restless sleep.

.........TO BE CONTINUED

__________________________________________________________
Hope you guys liked it. Please review! =)