From Before
DG32173
Sarah: final chapter is here! This is going to be the longest of all the chapters, so be happy.
Genma: (looking at some papers) this is the final chapter?
Sarah: I just said that. (Grabs papers from Genma) no peeking, Genma-kun. You'll have to wait and see it along with everyone else.
Sasuke: bah. About time this story ends.
Sarah: hehe, well, this one may end. But there are more to come in this fic series, Sasuke-kun.
Sasuke: (sighs in annoyance)
Naruto: Sarah-chan doesn't own my series!
NOTE
(Authors note)
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Scene change
POV change
MemoryScene change in memory
INDEX
Baka: idiot
–chan: a suffix of respect for females and children
Kitsune: fox
Koi: love, beloved
Okaa-san: mother
Otou-san: father
–sama: suffix of respect for someone older or of higher power than you
–san: suffix of respect for men and acquaintances.
Youkai: demon
Chapter 11
The Plan, Results, and a Secret
"Please, Hokage-sama! Please do this one teensy favor, please!" Sakura and Ino beg, giving the old Hokage the best pleading puppy faces they can make … which is pretty convincing considering they've had years of practice.
"And why should I do this?" the old man asks grumpily.
Sakura speaks up to answer. "Because our families have served the village for generations and have lost many lives protecting it. One small favor after all that servitude and sacrifice shouldn't be too much to ask for," she adds with a wink. Here comes the part that the Hokage will have to agree to. "I'll try to teach Naruto to behave if you do!"
Sarutobi sighs. "Fine," he mutters.
The two girls hug him. "Arigato Hokage-sama!" they chorus. Then they run off to treat themselves for the successful plan beginning.
"Ugh, this generation of ninja is more trouble than it's worth," he mutters before turning back to his paperwork. He had long known the feelings between Sakura and Kakashi. But since her father approved, he wouldn't step in the way. But why would she ask for Naruto and Sasuke on the same team as her and have Kakashi as the Jounin teacher? She knows that Sasuke and Naruto would never get along and she knows personally Kakashi's record with students. And for Ino to request Shikamaru and Choji on her team? 'Whatever those two are planning, I doubt I'll want to know,' he thinks. 'I'm already more involved than I want to be.'
With Sakura and Ino a few hours later
Ino is spending the night at Sakura's house, and they are discussing their plan in her room. "It was so easy to get Hokage-sama to agree!" Sakura gloats.
Ino laughs. "Mention Naruto and he'll do anything!" she agrees. "He really spoils that baka."
Sakura giggles. "Well, he's got no folks, so someone has to look after his hide, or he'd have done something really stupid by now," she says.
Ino chuckles. "Hokage-sama and Iruka-sensei decided they'd look out for him for some reason or other."
Sakura stops giggling suddenly at a thought. "Why doesn't Naruto have folks? And why don't most of the adults like him? He's a pretty nice kid, if you ignore the goofiness," she says. "Bet ya he acts stupid just to get some form of attention."
Ino pauses to think. "Yeah, I bet you're right. But what happened to his folks?" she murmurs.
"And why don't most of the adults like him?" Sakura continues. "Otou-san, Kashi-kun, Hokage-sama, and Iruka-sensei seem to be the only adults who like him."
"Don't forget Nana, his landlady. She basically raised him like a grandma would an orphaned grandkid," Ino points out.
"Maybe we should ask otou-san about it," Sakura suggests. Ino nods and the two girls go looking for Sakura's father. They find him in the library, reading a novel. "Otou-san? Can we ask you something?" Sakura calls to him.
Nikiji looks up. "Hai, what's bothering you?" he asks, marking his page and setting his book on the table beside him.
The girls move from the doorway and sit on the floor in front of him. "Haruno-san, why doesn't Naruto have parents? And why does almost everyone treat him bad? If they were nicer to him, I'd bet he'd be a good kid," Ino says softly.
Nikiji looks thoughtful. "Well, twelve years ago, when you two were just a few months old, a powerful and wicked kitsune youkai attacked the village. It had nine long tails that whipped up tornados, brought on tsunamis and hurricanes more powerful than ever seen before. It's roar brought on powerful winds and when it moved, terrible earthquakes occurred.
"Many ninja died fighting it, including your okaa-san, Sakura, and Naruto's parents. Then the Yondaime came up with a plan to stop the beast. By sacrificing his life, he sealed the demon into a newborn baby boy …"
"Naruto," Ino and Sakura whisper.
Nikiji nods. "Hai, Naruto. That is why the villagers hate him. They fear that the fox would overpower him and break free. But the Yondaime's last wish was that Naruto be thought a hero for holding the beast in him. That wish has not been fulfilled, sadly. The villagers cannot see past the fact that he holds the nine-tailed fox that tried to destroy our village. So when the third took power as Hokage again, he made it a law that no child of then or in the future is to know of the fox spirit Naruto carries."
"But, otou-san, why are you telling us then?" Sakura queries.
Nikiji smiles at his daughter and her best friend. "Because you two are his friends, and don't you dare deny the truth," he says. They both blush, that's exactly what they were about to do. "Do you girls want to know a secret? Very few people know it and you must not tell anyone."
Sakura and Ino feel their eyes widen. A big secret? It had to be, or he wouldn't have stressed the words he had. They look at each other, then nod at Nikiji. He grins. "I knew Naruto's father. Everyone did. But very, very few know he was Naruto's father. Or they might have treated Naruto very differently. His father was the Yondaime himself."
Ino and Sakura grin. "I knew they were related," Ino tells Sakura. Nikiji raises an eyebrow. "Me and Sakura were looking at a book with pictures of the Hokages once."
"And we found one of the Yondaime when he was a teenager. We thought Naruto had somehow messed with it case they look so much alike," Sakura continues.
"But when we realized that it was the Yondaime, we just knew they had to be related somehow. We just never thought that the Yondaime was Naruto's otou-san," Ino interrupts.
Nikiji laughs. "I guess you girls can keep some secrets," he teases. The girls just stick their tongues out at him. "It's getting late, and you girls find out your genin groups tomorrow. Time for bed. And girls," he says. They look at him from the doorway. "I know what you girls did at the Hokage's office today." They pale. "But I won't tell. Now off to bed."
"G'night otou-san! And thanks!" Sakura says.
"G'night and arigato, Haruno-san!" Ino says.
"Good night, girls," he laughs.
He shakes his head when he's sure they're upstairs. He looks at the portrait above the large library fireplace. In it are a younger Nikiji, his black hair tied up in a long ponytail and emerald eyes shining brightly, with his arms around the waist of a beautiful pink-haired woman with delighted emerald green eyes with a sleeping baby girl with a pink tuft of hair in the woman's arms. "She's just like you, koi, when you were young. So mischievous, charming, and intelligent. Not to mention beautiful," he says to the woman in the painting. "She's becoming more like you everyday. Watch over her, Simari, and keep our daughter safe."
Next day after all the other groups left with their teachers –with Kakashi–
"Hm, Sakura-chan, Naruto, and Sasuke, eh?' Kakashi thinks as he leans against the wall around the corner from the classroom where his students are waiting he thinks back to the way outdated milk carton he had found on Naruto's table earlier. 'Great. This is gonna be hell,' he thinks as he listens in on Naruto's prank. "Eraser in the door? Again? Jeez, this is getting old. Can't they come up with something original? Like a … I dunno, an eraser on the floor for me to trip … er, stumble over,' he thinks with a sigh. 'Ah, might as well go in there. Those boys most likely don't remember me, last time we met was… five years ago at that baka sleepover. Sakura-chan better be damned good at acting.'
He sighs; resigning himself to his fate, he steps through the door and lets the eraser hit his head.
"HAHAHAHA! You fell for it!" Naruto laughs, pointing at him.
"I'm so sorry, sensei, I tried to stop him but Naruto …"
'Ah so she can act.' "Hmm… how can I say this …? My first impression is …"
Sarah: hehe! We all know what happens from here, so I'll cut it off there. The last chapter of this fic is complete! REVIEW! Tell me how you think it turned out! Hehe, this is only … um, I believe the second fanfic I have completed! Well, I'm off to type up the next book. Keep an eye out for it. It will be called: To Forever. And it will start when Sakura and the others are seventeen and Kakashi's thirty-one. BYE!