"What...?" Kakashi asked, wondering what he had meant. Someone had left them?
"They're dead!" Konohamaru sucked in a breath, realizing he needed to calm down. He leaned forward, placing one of his hands on the floor. "We were coming back from a mission when we stopped for Teacher Ebisu to check something.... But he didn't come back for a while so we started going in the direction he went. We stayed on our toes the entire time.... But when we reached a mountain all the animals stopped making any noise and we took that as a sign to be on our guard, but out of nowhere, Moegi said to start running. But before I could move this guy ripped my side open with these claw things."
"He went for me again but Moegi caught his attention and before I could do anything she screamed and I heard her hit the ground. He got her in the face with the same claws that did this to me...." Tazuna placed his hand over his mouth as Kakashi gripped his hands into fists. "He got Udon in the chest."
Inari placed his hand on the other boy's shoulder, not being able to imagine seeing that happen. "He came after me again and caught my arm, and in the same transaction, I killed him with a kunai to the face. I collapsed after that.... Teacher Ebisu came back after that, but once he saw the enemy, he got scared. I called out to him; he even looked at me, saw that I was alive! But he just turned and ran! When I get back to the village, I'm gonna—"
"You're not going back," a woman muttered. He turned to see Sakura standing in the door that led to the hall. "Not for a while anyway..."
"Big Sister Sakura?" he asked. She approached and knelt down next to him before gently bringing him into a hug, breaking the dam he had put up. She smoothed down his hair as he cried. They all knew he wouldn't be truly alright for quite some time. She glanced up at the two sitting at the table.
"They aren't looking for you," she said quietly. They both froze as she looked back down at Konohamaru. "I'm sorry..."
"It's true I'm afraid." Behind Sakura, a large white slug with two blue stripes on its back slowly entered the room.
"Lady Katsuyu?" Kakashi asked.
"Hello everyone, it's nice to see you again," she said, her voice just as soft as it always was.
"What in the world is that...?" Tazuna muttered.
"Tsunami, Tazuna, Inari, this is Lady Katsuyu. She is Sakura and The Hokage's summon."
"That is incorrect." Everyone but the young woman looked at the slug that, at the moment, was the size of a small child. "I have ended my contract with Tsunade."
"What?" Sai asked in shock, surprise being evident on Kakashi's unmasked face as well. "Why?"
"She abandoned you."
It was silent. Kakashi rested his forehead against his hands, his elbows on the table.
"She ordered a retreat and forbade going back for survivors," Sakura explained. "She said it was too dangerous. So I disobeyed orders and went after you guys. I found you guys and three dead ANBU. After I started running I came across Konohamaru, he told me Ebisu left them and I tracked him down."
"What did you do...?" Kakashi asked, his eye narrowed. She looked up, her eyes meeting his.
"I punched him."
He paled.
"I see..."
"I have Moegi and Udon in a scroll so when I find a home I can bury them properly."
"What do you mean, find a home?" Inari asked.
"Well, I'm a rogue-nin now."
"Wait, does that make us rogue-nin?" Konohamaru asked.
"That makes us dead," Sai stated.
"Oh..."
It was quiet for a bit.
"Sakura?" Inari called her attention. "I have some questions..."
"What is it?" She gave him the best smile she could muster.
"Where was Naruto...?"
The smile faltered, turning into a frown.
"Well..." she started. "He left. He was so consumed over losing Kurama, I guess he didn't think about anything else...."
She gained many different reactions. Inari was angry, Tazuna and Tsunami were confused, and the rest were horrified.
"Kurama's dead?" Kakashi asked. She shook her head.
"For those who don't know, Kurama is the name of the nine-tailed fox that was sealed inside of Naruto." The three townspeople gave looks of fear. "Normally if a tailed beast is extracted from its jinchuriki, the jinchuriki dies. Although if the jinchuriki is killed, the beast will perish as well. Somehow the clan we attacked was able to extract Kurama without killing Naruto."
The response she received was silence. "I'm not sure if it was intentional or not..."
"Where is he then?" asked Tsunami.
"He's in a scroll in my bag."
Jaws dropped.
"Wait, you were able to put him in a scroll by yourself?" Kakashi asked, stunned.
"I'm not even surprised," Sai sighed, his chin in his left palm, his right arm resting on the table. Sakura blushed slightly in surprise.
"Well, he was weak and couldn't move. I told him what happened and he became very angry. He said he was happy he was out but thought that Naruto would come back for him because he said they were 'friends'. He was angry he had ever trusted him. I asked him if he'd like to join me...."
╌❀✿╌╌💮╌╌✿❀╌
"Why would I want to be sealed away again?!" the large beast rumbled. He was on his side, unable to move. Letting out a huff through his nose, clouds of dust were sent into the air. Sakura shut her eyes to avoid dirt getting in them.
"I wasn't going to seal you away for good," she stated. He laughed weakly.
"Why wouldn't you?"
"Because I don't want to, or need to."
He stayed silent for a few moments, watching her curiously.
"You're odd for a human. You're kind to me even though you're not stuck with me." He paused. "Do you think that if you are kind to me I will not kill you?"
He grinned as much as he could in his current state.
"You can't kill anyone right now! Let alone move on your own! What will happen if someone finds you!? They'll seal you away! Or worse!" she exclaimed, waving her arms around. She heard him let out a snicker before his eyes grew. "What's wrong?"
"It seems there is someone on my side.... Guess you were right about someone coming along too—" He paused as he saw that she was gone. "Where did she go?"
Sakura landed on Kurama's side, finding a man in what appeared to be a village's ANBU gear. He looked up from his scrolls in what she could tell was shock, even with the ANBU mask covering his features.
"What!? How are you not dead!?" She cut him off as her fist connected with his face. He was slammed onto Kurama's side.
"I won't die that easy," she huffed. "Now, what were you doing...?"
Looking at his scroll, she had found it to be a weak seal with another scroll laying next to it. Opening it, she found a seal that Kurama would not be able to break out of, even at his best. Picking up the two scrolls, she jumped back down to where he would be able to see her. The fox looked at her as she held up the high-level seal.
"Well look at this, you're going to use their seal. Don't think I'll just let you seal me—" He stopped again as she began to cut the length of scroll off that contained the seal with a kunai. "What are you doing?"
She placed the seal on the grass and tore a large X through it.
"As I said," she stood up and crossed her arms, looking him in the eye, "there's no need and I don't want to."
He raised one of his large brows.
"And why is that?"
"Because I want to be friends, Kurama."
He stayed silent for a while, but eventually sighed and closed his eyes.
"Very well."
╌❀✿╌╌💮╌╌✿❀╌
They all stared at the young woman, who was now sitting on the ground.
"Wow," Konohamaru breathed.
"Again, I'm not surprised. Sakura is very convincing."
She looked at Sai in shock.
"You called me by my name!"
"I've respected you for a long time, the name was somewhat of a joke."
She smiled.
"Thank you, Sai."
"Excuse me, Lady Sakura," Katsuyu started, "but your belongings are on their way in a total of five scrolls. Lady Hachidori was kind enough to send some of her children to collect them."
Sakura gave her a small look of confusion. "I took the initiative and went ahead and asked them to gather Konohamaru's things as well."
"Lady Hachidori?" She was unsure she had ever heard that name before. She turned to look at Kakashi and Sai. "I asked Lady Katsuyu to collect your things from your houses. I hope that's alright."
"Appreciated," Kakashi said. Sai glanced over at him, sensing the mood change.
"That's very kind of you, Sakura," the artist said, senses still on the older shinobi.
"Thanks, Lady Katsuyu," Konohamaru murmured.
"Well, I've been told I can't eat till you wake up," Kakashi sighed. "So may I eat? Please?"
His begging caused many of them to laugh.
"Of course!" she said. He smiled in hope. "After I check all of your wounds!"
He frowned, causing more giggles. Sakura checked their wounds and they all turned out to be doing well. She worked on healing Sai and Konohamaru to full health, as Kakashi said he would be fine going last.
Sai was left with a scar on his arm, but not on his leg. Kakashi healed completely, surprisingly leaving no scars. And Konohamaru was left with three claw marks on his side, which he assured Sakura were fine because they looked cool, and the line going down his arm, which he wasn't as fond of. After finishing up, they began discussing where they should go.