Chapter 22: Octopus, paradise(?) and darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (Original rant removed)

Naruko reappeared in her stool, which was thankfully not occupied. After using her usual explanation to Teuchi, "I'm a kunoichi," being more than enough, one of the two men asked for Naruko's autograph, since his kid was a fan and it was for her. (lie detector went off for the last part) While she wondered why someone wanted her autograph, the guy on her other side asked if he could have his picture taken with her. This guy didn't have kids, or a girlfriend.

While Naruko nervously basked in the open acceptance and, to a much lesser extent, enjoyed her new found fame, Teuchi was happy to see that she was finally getting what she always wanted. He was also surprised to find out that Naruko wasn't quite as bold as she seemed, that she was actually quite the bashful girl. "Before she signs any autographs, she wants my ramen to sign the inside of her stomach," Teuchi said with a smile, "right, Naruko?"

"RAMEN!" Naruko cheered, happy to get to the real food. Bugs and worms were not food!

[Two weeks later]

Naruko felt that she was on a roll. She was headed to a lush paradise, like the old toad had said, so she was obviously going to find the octopus, though her telling this to anyone other than Yamato got her odd looks, especially when she mentioned that the octopus was supposed to help her get stronger.

Well, when someone saw her tail swish about or the few times she sat down and brushed the moisture out of it had people wondering what was up with it. Well, since she was Konoha's VIP, and their jinchūriki, they figured that she was weird. A few had, on very rare occasions, happened upon Yugito when she wore a cat ear headband and danced around like a cat, because the Nibi got restless and gave Yugito its nervous energy, or how Yugito banned yarn from being on the boat for an obvious reason, so this girl wearing a very real looking fox accessory could be accepted.

For obvious reasons, the Kage had decided that Naruko would be introduced as a jinchūriki, not a bijū.

Yamato was rather happy that Naruko was a bit slow on the uptake. Well, at least he had-

"If you even think about when you saw me and Ino-chan making out on my bed, I'll kill you," Naruko stated with a slight smile while not even looking at him, as if she was able to read her captain's mind. If a certain man from Kirigakure was present, he'd think the Mizukage had a daughter with how she dropped that death threat.

Yamato shivered, doing his best to hide that memory deep in his mind. That was the last...okay, second last thing he thought he'd walk in on when it came to Naruko. It wasn't his fault that the Yamanaka girl had hiked Naruko's shirt up, or that Naruko had undone quite a few buttons on-

"Taichou, what are you thinking about?" Naruko asked, giving off killing intent in spite of her pleased grin.

"N-Nothing!" Yamato yelped. How did she do that!?

"Our honored guests, we will make landfall soon," a man cheerfully announced as the mist started to lift.

Naruko went straight to the front of the boat, clearly happy. "Para-"

Giant stone spikes, what appeared to be corpses and no vegetation of any kind appeared through the mists.

"...dise?" Naruko asked, tilting her head to the side a bit. 'How the hell is this an animal paradise?! The toad needs his third eye checked!'

"This is Kumo's version of Konoha's Forest of Death," the boatman said, "I think this place is worse, though I do admit that I have yet to visit the Forest."

"P-P-Para...dise?" Naruko tried, wondering how the old toad saw this as paradise.

"Well, of death, maybe," the boatman said, "don't worry though, the animals won't attack you if you leave them alone. Probably. Well, there is only one that we need to worry about."

The boat was attacked by a squid, then the squid was attacked by the Octobull Naruko had seen before, making her realize that he was the octopus that she was supposed to meet in 'paradise.' Then the Octobull transformed into a man who called himself Killer-B, and he did this thing called 'enka-rap' that made very little sense to her, as a whole, but she could understand the basics of what this weird old man was saying.

Naruko wondered if all her sensei would be weirdos...

After a guide arrived up and showed them to what would be their homes while they were on the island, Naruko decided to go find Killer-B, which wasn't too hard with his house being modelled after the bijū he contained.

"Hmm? You want an autograph?" Killer-B asked.

Naruko shook her head, unleashing two more tails, allowing her eyes to slit with how much power she was using. "I'm the Kyūbi, I want to learn how to use my full power," Naruko said.

"This was supposed to be a vacation from my brother, but training a little girl? What a bother..." Killer-B groaned, "you bad enough to survive my training? I won't listen to no complaining!"

Naruko decided to mimic the man's 'enka-rap,' feeling strange doing it, but it was good enough for Killer-B, who said he'd train her.

Killer-B held his hand up. "First we greet each other with a fist bump, we rhyme, then we train," he said.

Naruko showed off her people skills, bumping fists with the man, then she screwed up the enka-rap and insulted him. She decided to try out her harem technique, since it always worked, but Killer-B just tossed the copies off and slammed the door in her face.

Naruko retracted her tails and started to beat on the door. "C'mon!" she shouted, "I hate being this weak!" She wasn't getting anywhere, so she went to where the guide, Motoi was and knocked on his door.

The man opened the door and listened to Naruko. He got angry at Naruko and got her to explain what happened. "I think I know what happened," he said.

"What?" Naruko asked.

Motoi didn't want to reveal how physical contact between two jinchūriki, or a jinchūriki and a bijū, could allow them to read each other, so he decided to alter his explanation a little. "Killer-B is extremely good at reading people. He probably noticed something about you that was off, something that would interfere with your training. You have to take care of that first, or else he won't give the time of day," he explained, "I know, come with me and I'll see if I'm right."

Naruko, Motoi and Yamato, who decided to tag along, went to a huge waterfall. "These are the Falls of Truth, a place that Killer-B trained. If you meditate on that small patch of land in this lake, you'll see why Killer-B refused to train you," Motoi said.

Naruko eagerly ran to the circular island and did as she had been told, wondering what was going to happen.

"So we finally meet, you damned hypocrite..."

Naruko's eyes snapped open, a figure becoming visible behind the waterfall, glowing red points where the eyes would be.

"Pathetic worms interrupting your meal for autographs, that pink haired bitch sucking up to you and everything else," the figure said as it passed under the water, "so fucking annoying."

The figure was Naruko, but she was wearing a fully corrupted version of Naruko's Savior mode, her eyes were glowing red and, worst of all, she had nine flesh and blood tails swaying behind her. "Y-You..."

The corrupted savior held her hand up, purple/red chakra forming into a thrumming ball. "Don't you find humans pathetic? Years of treating us like a diseased leper, then we save them and they come rushing to us in pairs, kissing our ass just so they feel better about their past treatment of us, trying to get on our good side. Rikudō, now we know why Sasuke was such am arrogant dick," the other Naruko said, crushing the orb into shining fragments.

Naruko stood up. "Who are you?"

The other Naruko grinned, a vicious one. "Come on now, you aren't that stupid. I'm you, the REAL Naruko, the one you keep hiding from the world."

"You're lying! I'm not hiding anything!" Naruko shouted.

"These are the Falls of Truth, idiot! What did you think would happen here, that you'd see our mother or something? No, this place allowed me to surface completely, the true you," the other Naruko said, "I am what the others have always seen deep within you, that burning darkness, that unending hatred that you claim doesn't exist. I'm different from you in every sense, especially..." She vanished in a dark red flash, Naruko reacting just in time to catch a punch aimed at her head from the side. "I don't hold back like a pathetic weakling and use our full power!" Dark Naruko declared.

Naruko grunted, realizing exactly how heavy her blows were while she donned that armor. She activated her own Savior mode and threw Dark Naruko off. Naruko attempted to fight against her dark half, but Dark Naruko was faster, stronger and she made it seem effortless. Dark Naruko grinned and employed her tails, smashing Naruko back with a series of nine strikes. "Dammit!" Naruko growled as she got up.

"Yakekurō!" Dark Naruko shouted, her hands coated in dark pinkish flames that expanded into claws. She charged Naruko and, with a combination of her burning hands and tail blades, beat Naruko to the point where her armor started to suffer damage, something she didn't think was possible.

Naruko took three blades to her shoulder, then a burning uppercut struck her high up on her chest, sending her soaring back to land on the water, chips of armor falling into the depths. "Do you understand now? I'm the stronger one, and I am true to myself, so I'm the real Naruko! Give me my body back, you fake!" Dark Naruko shouted, pointing at Naruko.

"Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruko shouted, creating a few dozen clones.

Dark Naruko sneered. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," she said, creating far more than double her opponent's clone army.

"How is that even possible!?" Naruko shouted.

Dark Naruko chuckled. "I told you already," she said. "I'm the real one."

"The stronger one."

"The truthful one."

"Destroy that fake!" Dark Naruko commanded, her clones rushing forward.

Naruko snapped out of her meditation due to the shock. She fell back, shaking in fear.

"Naruko, what happened?" Yamato asked.

"I was...fighting my darkness...in physical form" Naruko muttered, "she was so much stronger than me. She could use all my powers, and even more." Naruko lowered her head in shame. "I couldn't do anything to her!"

"That is why Killer-B refused to speak with you, he could see that your hatred was great. In order to train with Killer-B, you must defeat that darkness," Motoi stated.

"How the hell do I defeat myself at full power when I can't even use half of it?" Naruko asked.

Motoi shrugged. "I don't know. I never bothered with the Falls' power." He didn't mention that he feared them, feared what had to be a horrendous evil that festered deep within his soul, all because of how stupid he had been.

Naruko thought that she could ask Killer-B, but she remembered how he had flat out ignored her before. He wouldn't help her out at all at this point, just like all her previous sensei. She needed to conquer this first part on her own in order to gain his attention and earn training from him. "Can you tell me about Killer-B, so I might be able to figure out how he defeated his darkness?" she asked.

"If you weren't like Killer-B, I'd say no, but this is to help you move forward and grow, so I will help you out," Motoi said.

Naruko listened to the story of Killer-B and Motoi, since they were the same story. She could relate, but not entirely. Killer-B had been a jinchūriki since he was five years old, if things had gone right, Naruko, no, Naruto would have been a jinchūriki his entire life. But things changed and it was Naruko, the bijū who held a human soul. Still, Naruko suffered because she was different, because she had a power no other person in Konoha could have. It wasn't just fear of what she was, it was jealousy because she did nothing for the great power she had. With clans, it made sense why there were strong ninja born within their numbers, but Naruko was strong just because she was a bijū. She didn't need to work to have the chakra reserves she had, she didn't need need to do anything to gain her rapid healing ability, she didn't do anything to have a long life, she just had them, and people hated her for that.

Because Naruko was so deep in thought about Killer-B's past, she made a mistake when she went to where a large tentacled animal was attacking Motoi, thinking it was Killer-B. Truth was, the squid had been prowling around and Motoi, wanting to talk to Naruko to see if she was alright, had been caught by it.

"I'll-" Naruko started, changeling the chakra required for a rasengan.

'Let me enjoy this,' Dark Naruko whispered, the chakra scattering.

Naruko's eyes widened in surprise. 'Did going to the Falls make her strong enough to stop me from fighting?'

Killer-B, in Octobull form, showed up and beat the crap out of the squid, throwing him back into the ocean after he forced it to release Motoi, a person he considered a friend in spite of the attempted assassination when they were younger. In fact, he didn't even seem to remember the event at all.

Naruko blinked, realizing she may know why Killer-B was able to defeat his darkness. She ran to the falls, wanting to try out her theory.

Killer-B watched the girl go. 'I wanted to thank her for helping my pal out. Well, I guess I'll go find her at the Falls later. After all, with her personality, she can defeat that darkness of hers if she just thinks of it as herself.'

"Hoh? Back so soon? Finally going to give me my body back?" Dark Naruko asked with a sneer.

"No, and I don't want to fight you. I learned from watching Sasuke what happens when you try to fight someone that is much stronger than you," Naruko said.

"I can't be talked down or annoyed enough to leave you alone either," Dark Naruko said, "we share the same nindō, and what I promised myself is that I would take back this body and stop lying all the time. I also know you far better than anyone, even that beautiful vixen of ours."

"Funny, if you did know me that well, you would know what I'm thinking of," Naruko said as she stood up.

Dark Naruko took a half step back. "What?"

"You said it yourself, right? The Falls of Truth bring up what's inside of my heart. That means my fears, my doubts, you and," Naruko smiled as words proclaiming her to be the greatest Hokage ever appeared over her head appeared, "this."

Dark Naruko scowled. "You forgot this part of your wish, idiot." The words 'Yamanaka Ino's husband-wife' appeared next to Naruko's declaration.

Naruko blinked, then pointed at her dark half. "HEY! I was getting to that! You ALWAYS leave the best for last!"

Naruko smirked. "Then what about her?" she asked, pointing as an image of Sakura appeared, making Naruko wince slightly. Dark Naruko chuckled. "You said it to the blonde vixen, that Sakura wasn't the only girl you had a crush on back at the academy. Just because you're with the blonde vixen doesn't mean that flames of love for the pink haired vixen are gone from our heart."

Naruko looked down, somewhat ashamed at herself. Yes, she did love Ino, but she couldn't say she didn't love Sakura in the same fashion, not without lying. "Y-You're missing the point. I trust the people of Konoha now. They've accepted me for who and what I am. If I wasn't so shy," she pointed to her own declaration, "this would be the autograph that man would have received."

Dark Naruko looked like she was about to explode, in fact, raging red chakra surged around her like a barely contained storm. "You trust those fucking idiots?! I already told you that they only accept you because you saved their lives! They are self serving, egotistical assholes who not only turned away from you when we needed them, they did their best to make it so that we never had anyone to rely on! They wanted us to kill ourselves, and if we had done that, the day we died on would have become a national holiday, complete with a FUCKING PARADE!" she roared, "Watch! As soon as they feel that we've been repaid or that we've served our purpose, we'll be right back to where we before! They'll take the vixens from us and lock us in a cage, just like Danzō wanted!"

Naruko gave Dark Naruko a sad grin. "I am still wary of the villagers, just a bit. But there is someone I shouldn't be wary of."

"Who?" Dark Naruko asked.

"You, me, us. I shouldn't be scared of myself, I should trust in myself," Naruko said with a grin.

"...Hahahahahahaha!" Dark Naruko cackled, actually falling to her knees with laughter, "all that pain they forced us to suffer..."

"I should be like Killer-B, who is not only proud of himself, he believes in himself," Naruko said.

Dark Naruko looked at her counterpart, a grim expression on her face. "So that's how it is. You're going to kill me, aren't you? I'm no different from Nagato, just a thing in your way... When did you become like this?"

"No, I can't kill you. I think that you're the reason I was never fully consumed by the curse seal, why I can use Savior in spite of it being corrupted. You are the reason why I'm still alive," Naruko said as she approached her dark half.

"S-Stay back!" Dark Naruko cried, two of her tails shooting at her other half.

Naruko dodged the tails with ease, charging at Dark Naruko. "I'm coming!" she shouted.

Dark Naruko panicked, thinking that Naruko had found a way to purge her from the heart. Something was wrong, she couldn't read all of Naruko anymore and it truly scared her. The humans had changed her, made her able to lie to herself. Dark Naruko's remaining tails formed large, vicious blades on the ends and she shoved them forward. "I won't disappear!"

Naruko didn't get to her dark half unscathed, but she still got to her and enveloped her in a hug. "We're one in the same, you're just my nervousness and fear of the villagers' new attitude. Deep down, you want to give them a chance too, don't you?" she asked.

Dark Naruko didn't move for a few moments, then she roughly shoved Naruko off as some purple energy leaked from her, going into Naruko. "What... I..." she closed her eyes and shook her head, "forget it. If you want your ninjutsu and bijū powers back so badly, I'll stop messing with you. I'll also hide so that the old man can't sense me anymore."

"Wait!" Naruko called.

Dark Naruko glared back at her other self. "I'm not as petty as you think. A speech and a hug can't ease the pain I suffer in your place."

With that, Naruko was forcibly pushed out of her trance. Killer-B showed up and congratulated her on besting her darkness, as well as rapped a bit and said that they would go off for some training, but a burst of smoke stopped them.

Kayako and Shiratama stepped out of the smoke, then went over to Naruko. "Heya kiddo, I figured you would want to become stronger, so I've come to offer ya a hand!" Kayako stated.

Shiratama wanted to chastise her mother for her rudeness, but doing so would be rude, so she let it slide for now. "Naruko-sama, we may have a kitsune that has a style you would be good with, though meeting him is a little difficult," she said.

Naruko tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean by difficult?"

"He's dead," Shiratama said.

Naruko blinked, completely confused.

Kayako grinned. "No human style'd suit you and that armor, so the only style available is one that utilizes chakra as a weapon, to convert it into blades, claws and even spectre orbs."

"Spectre orbs?" Naruko asked.

"A manifestation of spiritual energy. The ones normal kitsune manifest are actually kitsune-bi, Fox-fire. We can all use it, though we normally just use it to be menacing. Sadly, nobody alive can use them in combat either," Shiratama explained.

"Alright, who are these dead masters?" Naruko asked, just wanting answers.

"Your grandfather, Kurama, and your mother, Tsurenai. Kurama was a master of a beastial fighting style that encompassed everything a hunting canine was: high speed attacks that ripped and shredded the foe, skills that prevented them from running and overwhelming ferocity. Your mother mastered the use of kitsune-bi and spectre orbs as weapons and developed the deadly chakra weapons kitsune can use today. You are naturally using elements of both, but only at the most basic levels," Kayako said, "what we're gonna do allows you to contact shadows of them, since you absorbed your mother's chakra at birth and your grandfather's chakra from the Valley of the End."

"It isn't without risk though, Naruko-sama. Using that chakra, a mindless shell of them will be created. No sentiment, no true will, just pure fighting instinct," Shiratama warned, "they will exist solely to fight and destroy, or in this case, for you to steal their skills."

Naruko thought about it, then nodded slightly. "Old man, I'm going to go get a real fighting style first, then we'll do your training."

"Uh, oh, yeah. Cool," Killer-B muttered, at a loss for words because he had been eyeing Shiratama the whole time.

"Come on then kiddo, we need the Falls for this to work. We'll bring out Tsurenai first, since she'll be easier for you to go against," Kayako said, grabbing Naruko's sleeve and dragging her, literally, as she went to the small island on the lake.

"Wh-What?!" Killer-B gasped, "that midget is pulling Naruko like she's a feather!" He didn't even realize that he hadn't rapped.

Shiratama smirked slightly. "All kitsune are born with a power. My power is Kagutsuchi, allowing me to freely create and control flames while not being harmed by them, though I cannot control flames made by another person or demon. Kayako, my mother's power is called Titan, and it gives her unbelievable strength and durability. She has no supernatural powers, but she can throw a mountain if she wishes." She looked to Killer-B. "My mother could probably easily defeat you in a strength contest in her current form."

Killer-B whistled at that, wondering if it was true. Well, he didn't want to find out, so he turned around. "When the girl's ready, have her come find me." He vanished, wanting to be fully prepared for whatever happened. He had no clue what would happen when she entered the temple proper, so he needed to chat with his partner a bit first.

Shiratama walked over, finding that her mother had completed the seal array on Naruko's hands already, so she charged it with power, then told Naruko to bring her hands together.

Naruko did as she was told and everyone present flinched when the falls briefly kicked up, then a figure started to form behind the water.

"Is that..." Naruko started, watching the figure step forward.

A beautiful redheaded woman stepped out of the waterfall. She had deeply tanned skin, full lips and a generous figure. She wore a kimono, an extravagant one at that, with nine fiery red tails swaying gently behind her. Her eyes were closed, a calm look on her face.

"Naruko, don't think of it as a person or even a living being. While it does have form, it isn't her," Kayako warned.

Before anyone could say anything, the woman opened her eyes, making everyone aside from the elder kitsune gasp.

"She has no eyes!" Yamato shouted.

Shiratama nodded. "Why would a hollow shell need eyes? Everyone knows that eyes are the windows to the soul, so a soulless beast wouldn't have them."

Tsurenai snarled, dozens of fireballs forming around her as a chakra lance and chakra katana formed in her hands. Each of her tails formed a long, thin blade as well, her empty sockets locked on Naruko.

"Naruko, go fight that until you learn to fight like it! Make sure to learn how to use kitsune-bi and spectre orbs too, since its quite useful from what I've seen!" Kayako ordered, then grabbed her daughter and bolted for shore, "by the way, her movements are restricted to the lake, so come ashore if you need medical attention, or a break!"

"Eh?!" Naruko gasped, then dodged aside as the copy of her mother tried to sheathe its lance in her face. A quick swipe of the katana made Naruko jump back. With no command at all, Naruko donned her Savior mode and charged forward, forming her own katana. "Got you!" she shouted.

Crackle! Wham!

Splash!

"She cut right through Naruko's katana... How did she do that?" Motoi asked.

Kayako chuckled. "Naruko's weapons don't have enough chakra in them, so Tsurenai can easily cut through them. Besides, Naruko is just copying her mother's ability through chakra memory. Naruko needs her own weapons to fight, ones that she can flood to the brim with her own chakra."

"Her own chakra?" Yamato asked.

"Naruko-sama has her mother and grandfather's chakra within herself. I don't know if she's doing it intentionally, but she hasn't been using her own chakra while in that form or when creating her weapons. That is why her armor and weapons are weak, because they aren't really hers," Shiratama explained, "though the armor does have more of her own chakra in it than before."

Yamato realized that the reason Naruko's armor was changing was probably because of her using her own chakra rather than her sires', but that corrupted side was probably chakra that had been corrupted by the curse seal on Naruko's neck. 'Something needs to be done about that seal, I feel that it will be nothing more than a hindrance to her now.'

Naruko had been reduced to dodging the myriad of attacks that came at her. The lance had reach and power, the katana had speed and precision, those fireballs were just insane, coming at her from multiple angles and in groups. It was like fighting her worst nightmare: a shadow clone army of Guy and Lee!

Tsurenai managed to make Naruko move the way she wanted, so she twirled her lance, the fireballs coming together to form a thrumming ball of power. The orb slammed into Naruko, exploding and throwing her into the cliff wall.

Naruko grunted as she pulled herself free, or at least tried to. "Shit!"

"Bijudama," Tsurenai stated as energy flowed from her tails to her mouth, a very small orb forming. She shot this at Naruko, who was hit dead on and briefly swallowed up in an explosion a little larger than she was.

Naruko groaned, feeling pain all over. When she pried herself out of the cliff face, she tried her best to not react to how much of the armor didn't come with her. Her entire left arm was bare now, the armor on her left hip breached wide open and one of the heels had cracked off. Despite this, Naruko sighted her foe, formed her weapons and jumped at the shell of her mother.

[Konoha, same time]

Sakura had finished feeling sorry for herself a few days ago. She hadn't quite come to terms with Sasuke trying to murder her and his teammate, not once, but twice. There was no use in moping around all the time, so she decided that she wouldn't be at such a disadvantage next time. There was a limit to how much chakra Sakura could focus to her forehead everyday to try and form the seal Tsunade had, so she decided to try a route that she hadn't tried yet: elemental training.

"Alright Sakura, this piece of paper will-" Kakashi started.

The pink haired girl slipped into her old habits and started a rant on what Kakashi was trying to tell her about. She caught herself, cupping her hands over her mouth and blushing slightly. She hated how people looked at her sometimes when she did that.

Kakashi sighed. "I keep forgetting that you are far smarter than any student I've ever had. Well, you three were my only real students, so the others don't count. Anyway, I could have just handed this to you and you'd know what to do, right?"

Sakura nodded and held her hand out, Kakashi placing the paper in her hand. Within a few moments, Kakashi was flabbergasted.

"How?! How is that even possible?!" the man bellowed.

Sakura herself didn't understand, and her confusion heightened when the other jōnin showed up.

"Kakashi! That was a most Youth filled shout you just let out a moment ago!" Guy boomed, smiling at his eternal rival.

"What happened?" Anko asked, having been wandering nearby eating her dango.

Sakura saw that Kakashi was too confused to speak on any subject other than impossibilities, so she answered for him by holding out the piece of paper and saying, "this chakra paper... According to it, I have affinities for all five basic chakra natures."

That got Guy joining in with Kakashi, but Anko merely smiled. "Wow, a new elemental mas- er, mistress, and with no bloodlines either. I can see the Hyūga going a but nuts at this."

"I-Is it that strange?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi snapped back to reality. "Sakura, other than the Sandaime Hokage, only five other people in this world have been known to naturally use all five basic chakra natures with no bloodline, and only two of them had affinities for more than one."

"What he means to say is that you, girlie, are a genius surpassing all those before you," Anko said, "about time we got a woman on that illustrious list. To top it off, everyone is sayin' you're the next Tsunade, and that you're better than she was when she was your age. Damn, it's almost like you're Kage material."

Sakura blushed a bit, not used to such high praise. Tsunade had made a similar comment about Sakura's healing abilities, but to be truthful, Sakura was just learning things that hadn't been known when Tsunade was the same age, so it was only natural that she was ahead. Had she been building up medical techniques from scratch, Sakura honestly figured that she'd be at the same point Tsunade had been when she was fifteen.

"Alright, now we need someone who knows the various elements," Anko said, "I can help a bit with fire, but so can most of Konoha. Silver over there is good with water, lightning and earth, but you'd learn better from Tree boy. As for wind... well, maybe someone from Suna now..." Despite how Naruko-like Anko was, the mention of a wind user dampened her usual high spirits (aka sugar high) and she looked off to the side. She was obviously thinking of Asuma, a fallen comrade and lover to a friend of hers.

Sakura decided to learn what she could about the elements, though she figured that she wouldn't get her hands on anything monumental, maybe just a jutsu or two that would surprise Sasuke long enough for her to capture him.

'I won't be the one who needs rescuing next time,' Sakura vowed to herself.

[Island Turtle, a few days later]

Naruko panted, having finished her tenth training battle against the partially revived Kurama. Even with what she had picked up with Tsurenai's shell, Kurama was monstrous. The world's fear of him was well deserved.

"Wow, never thought I'd see someone come out of a battle with Kurama with all limbs intact," Kayako praised.

Naruko smiled slightly. Her armor was busted, but most of the torso armor was still in one piece, as was her left leg's armor. Naruko noticed the length of the shadows and blinked. "Wait, did I just fight in Savior mode for four hours?"

Kayako nodded, not understanding what was going on.

Shiratama cleared her throat. "Mother, Naruko-sama's time limit for Savoir Mode was a mere half hour when she battled Pain."

Kayako shook her head. "Nope, that was Kurama and Tsurenai's combined limit. We still don't know little Naruko's limit yet."

Naruko had heard about that theory, but that's all she thought it was. If she hadn't used her own chakra yet in battle, then that meant her power was way above what she thought it was. Yeah, Naruko was restricted to three tails, at best, but it wasn't like each tail manifested was a huge jump from the last, right? Naruko figured that she was just getting used to it, that her mastery of Savior Mode was rising so that it caused her less strain, used less chakra. In other words: control.

"Anyway, I think that you only need one or two more runs against Kurama before you've learned everything you can from this training," Shiratama said.

Naruko realized something was a bit off not too long ago. "How am I learning so fast with this training?" she asked.

Kayako laughed, turning to her daughter. "Told you she'd figure it out!" she managed between chuckles, she looked back to Naruko, barely managing to contain her laughter, "we told you that you've been using your sire's powers, that's the truth. This training is not for you to just see and copy the moves, it is to pressure the shells into using their powers so that, when they're dispelled, the chakra's memory imprints the abilities into your body. Didn't you even notice that, upon being dispelled, the shell became chakra that bound itself to you?"

"What? How does that even work?" Naruko asked.

"You didn't think it was odd how you suddenly started making chakra katana years ago or how quickly you adapted to using tail blades?" Kayako asked, then shook her head, "any skill learned or created by your sires is something you can master with ease, provided you absorbed some of their chakra. With Kurama and Tsurenai's chakra in you, you got a huge variety of skills to learn, and a massive potential for power."

Naruko blinked. "Potential for power?"

Shiratama nodded. "All the legendary skills of Kurama and Tsurenai exist within you, and your own abilities are incredible. If you just used your own power, I can't even imagine what you'd be capable of."

Naruko realized that, for lack of a better term, this was shadow clone training. Making those shells fight to their limits, to use every move they had meant that Naruko herself would gain the abilities afterwards.

"Well, you may get a basic understanding of the skills, like the chakra weapons, but you need to build your own skill with them up," Kayako stated, "that's why I'm here. Once you finish up with the rhyme and no reason boy, I'll spar with you a bit. Don't worry, I'm a tough woman, I can take anything you throw at me."

That last part made Naruko choke a bit, since Ino had said something like that the night before she had to leave on this trip. Nothing...major happened, enough that Yamato wound up breaking her window when he got a good eyeful of the two, but it was far more than Naruko figured she could get at the current point in her relationship with Ino.

Seems that, when two girls were involved with each other, each 'base' had a lot more to it, as Jiraiya would have said.

Now, what happened the first hour of the morning Naruko was to leave, THAT was enjoyable and she couldn't wait to marry Ino! She was fairly certain that Jiraiya would call that a 'home run.'

"Is she thinking of her mate?" Kayako asked her daughter. She was being quiet, since the empress was blushing red and playing with the tip of her tail, which now seemed to hold the full attention of the redhead.

Shiratama nodded slightly. "More like mating with her, it seems."

They decided to leave their empress to her fantasies for a while, more like the rest of the day. Kayako was starving!

Weeks later, Naruko was standing before the Falls, Killer-B standing next to her. "Why are we here? I thought I was going to train..." she grumbled. She had seen enough of the Falls of Truth to last her a lifetime or two.

Luckily, what Killer-B wanted to show her was on the other side of the waterfall.

"What the?! A temple town?!" Naruko yelped.

Killer-B nodded. "Yeah, me and Hachi are going to train you personally."

"Huh? How is the Octo-bull going to teach me anything?" Naruko asked.

Killer-B led her to a stone head with an open mouth, explaining that all the statues were jinchūriki who failed. For some reason, Naruko knew this was a lie and reached into the mouth, pressing a switch without even having to search for it.

"How did I know that?" she wondered to herself. Maybe she gained memories of her mother and grandfather?

The room that a hidden stone door led to was utterly white. It was like a blank space with no definable limits aside from the floor and the door.

"So, here in the east, I'm about to go beast!" Killer-B cried out, chakra starting to whirl about him.

Naruko felt a thundering punch in her heart, making her double over. The room darkened as the girl coughed up black and red liquid, seemingly corroding the area.

"Huh? This isn't right!" Killer-B shouted in alarm.

"Of course it isn't."

Killer-B followed the flow of crimson liquid, which had flowed off to one side and gathered in a puddle. From this puddle, a copy of Naruko rose, but this one had nine flesh and blood tails, as well as a darker aura.

"You...But she defeated her darkness," Killer-B muttered.

Dark Naruko chuckled. "She did and she didn't. I'm not the evil within her, I'm just the ruthless part of her that will kill evil rather than try to turn it good. No, what is evil in her, is that thing over there."

Naruko recovered and stood beside her double, seeing the blackness she had thrown up gathering on a 'wall' a good distance away. "What is that?"

"That, Naruto, is the darkness that can make you the greatest threat this world will ever know," Dark Naruko said, "I suggest we go Savior now, unless you want to become enslaved."

The moment Naruko activated Savior, her dark half did as well. Killer-B decided to go Version 2 at least.

From the boiling darkness, a skeletal fox snout burst forth. The skull was followed by a spine and shoulders, than arms with wicked bone claws. With a surge, it pulled itself forward, more arms and a pair of massive skeletal wings coming free. Within a few moments, a Kyūbi-like skeletal monster with six arms, a pair of dragon wings and nine tails ending with various bladed instruments of war. Worst of all, the thing had a...oil-like liquid within it, acting like innards, skin, even the membrane for the wings. From its hollow eye sockets, a cold, soulless white light issued forth, making fear grip the hearts of all present.

"I am the source of all terror. I am the origin of horror. I am eldritch fear. I am the god of dread, Oblivion!" the beast roared, causing the area to vibrate violently as dark power rushed off its form.

The kunoichi of Konoha were allgearing up for the war, all donning the uniforms of their ranks. Some were exempt from this, such as Kurenai, who was in no shape to fight, and a scant few more, who were either incapable of fighting well in said uniforms, had specialized clothing or had customized variants of the standard uniforms.

Sakura and Ino just happened to be in the same room, the other two kunoichi who had been in the room having long since left, having only needed to put on their vests. The pink haired medic honestly wondered if everything would go well, and she also wondered about Naruko's well being. The redhead was sure to blow her top when she found out that pretty much every ninja in the world, her friends included, were going to fight a war to protect her, as well as save the world.

'I wonder how much ramen we'll have to get her before she stops grumbling about it,' Sakura thought, then chuckled silently as she imagined Naruko saying it wasn't enough as the bowls stacked into the sky in two piles.

Ino decided that now was a good enough time to ask her question, one that had been burning inside of her mind for a while. All she had to do was wait for the right moment, so that she could stop Sakura from running.

Sakura noticed that her sandals were off to the side and went over to them, her chūnin uniform basically half off as she frowned, wondering why her sandals were-

Click.

'Great...a trap,' the medic thought, seeing that her captor was none other than Ino. Well, better than a random boy who wanted to ask her out. "Ino, what-"

"So, Forehead," Ino said, a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms, "mind telling me the exact moment you fell in love with my fiance?"

Sakura felt a cold trail of sweat trace down her temple. '...Oh shit!'

A/N~

Sorry about the seasons long wait. I just couldn't write at all. I knew what I wanted to write, but every time I opened the text file to type it out, my fingers just refused to move. I partially blame it on the load of bullshit that Kishimoto called the ending to the manga. I had a rant, but I deleted it all because I can sum it up in a few points.

1: For me, chapter 698 is the last chapter, since it made less sense than ever past that.

2: I have nothing against Hinata, or the NaruHina pairing, I just find it a crack pairing because of how little Naruto and Hinata interacted.

3: Hinata, in my opinion, was a horrible match for Naruto. She has a weak personality and, as anyone could tell, she retired after getting pregnant, proving her father's words before the chūnin exams true.

4: I helecarrier the NaruSaku, NaruIno, NaruSakuIno, and the NaruHarem pairings.

5: Though I hate Sasuke, because he was forgiven so much for atrocities without any repercussions, and then walked off to be a father that was only slightly worse than Naruto, I actually treat him very well. For instance, I have actually changed the ending of this fic to be less...dark when it came to Sasuke's fate. If you guys want, I can post an extra chapter that contains the original ending.

6: I HATE the SasuSaku pairing because, for it to happen, Sakura has to be one hell of a masochist.

If there are any errors, I will post a revision later. I need to break past this block and get this out or I'll never get it done.

Thanks to Dragon And Sword Master for pointing out that my usual line break no longer works on this site. (Give us a warning next time!) I fixed it all up.