Stream of past

Confessions and Discoveries

"SASUKE!" yelled a horrified Sakura as she watched Orochimaru sink his fangs in her friend's shoulder. She failed, it was happening again. He's going to get the curse mark, and be all sorts of mad again and leave the village and it was all her fault. She should have told the hokage, she should have told Kakashi, she should have done more. S-she-

A tiny feminine cry snapped Sakura out of her thoughts. Orochimaru, hearing the cry as well lifted his head to see what happened and was meet with the tiny glare of Lady Katsuyu. The slug having taken the bite instead of Sasuke.

"Katsuyu..." said Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru! Leave! These children are under my protection. I will not let you harm them!" yelled Katsuyu.

The snake sannin 'tsked' before retracting his neck to his body. "It seems I have been outsmarted... But no matter, we shall meet again Sasuke Uchiha...and you too little blossom." And then he started creepily fading into the ground before he disappeared completely.

"Sasuke!" yelled Sakura once she freed herself from the snake. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" she asked, a bit panicked, while checking out his shoulder for any wounds. The raven haired male shook his head. "*sigh* Well that's a relief." Then she took the slug from his shoulder.

"Is that a talking slug?" asked a very confused Naruto.

"It's her summon, dobe." said Sasuke.

"Lady Katsuyu! What was that? Are you alright?" asked Sakura.

"I'm alright my dear, no need to worry. And that was Orochimaru's curse mark, or rather his attempt at giving Sasuke one." answered the slug.

"Orochimaru's curse mark?" echoed the boys.

"Yes, it is a special seal developed by him. It grants the user increased chakra levels and physical capabilities when the seal is active, howerver the seal corrodes the mind and makes them pure evil. My guess is that Orochimaru tried to give Sasuke the curse mark in order to get him on his side so that he could get Sasuke's body. I-" suddenly Katsuyu got interrupted by Naruto.

"Wait, wait, wait! Why the heck does Orochimaru want Sasuke's body?"

"For 2 reasons. One is immortality, Orochimaru changes bodies by transferring his soul to a new body. Thus, when the body gets old, he just transfers to a new one. And the second is Sasuke's sharingan. By taking over his body he would undoubtedly inherit the sharingan." said the slug.

All 3 of them stared at the slug in silence, before Naruto started talking. "Well good thing he didn't give you that curse mark, eh Sasuke?"

The Uchiha looked at Naruto with wide eyes before returning his gaze to the summon. "Hn."

"But Lady Katsuyu, you have the curse mark. Won't that affect you?" asked Sakura.

"Don't worry dear, the curse mark does not work on me. I'll be just fine." said Katsuyu.

"Well that's a relief..." said Sakura.

"Lady Katsuyu..." said the raven haired male."Thank you...For protecting me."

"Oh! It was nothing dear! I was just doing my job. Now you children better get ready. My summoning time is almost up...So before I go I wish you 3 good luck and that I look forward to you 3 becoming chunin." said the slug.

"Thank you ma'am!" said the three genin before the slug puffed away.

Sakura sighed. "Well that was...horrible...L-let's just go, before something else happens."

The boys nodded and the 3 of them started jumping up the trees, after 30 minutes of walking in silence they found a cave made by an overgrown tree's roots. They squished themselves between the small entrance, before sitting down in tense silence. Sakura was the one to break it by clearing her throat.

"Guys, before anything else I...I need to tell you guys something." said Sakura as she looked at the ground, her hair covering her eyes.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.

"I- Uh...There are things, things that I know, that I shouldn't know about, that would put me in danger...that would put you in danger...that would put a lot of people in danger...Stuff that I- want to tell you guys about, but I can't...Not yet at least...It's just-" Sakura,frustrated, blew air through her nose and took the boys' hands in her own. The action surprising both of her teammates as they looked at her in concern. Then she raised her head, her face showing raw desperation, tears at the corners of her eyes. "Please don't tell anyone about Lady Katsuyu. They can't know that I have her! I'm begging you!"

The boys looked confused at each other, before looking back at her. Naruto being the one that spoke. "Don't worry Sakura-chan! I won't tell anyone a thing about Katsuyu. And I'm sure teme here won't either." The blonde glancing at Sasuke.

"Hn. I won't say anything either." said the Uchiha.

"See Sakura-chan? Your secret is safe with us!" said Naruto while smiling brightly.

Sakura made a strangled noise before she broke down crying. "T-thanks you two! Thank you, so so much! You don't know how much this means to me!"

That was when the boys realized this was the first time they saw her crying. Sakura, to them, was always this strong person that brought all of them as a team together. Unwavering, a pillar of hope and strength. It made them wonder just how horrible the things she knows were, if it made her break down like this.

Eventually, Sakura calmed down and Naruto decided it was time he tells them, his most guarded secret. "Hey guys, if we're confessing and all that...I uh...I also have to tell you something..."

Sakura looked at Naruto with a confused face, while Sasuke raised his eyebrow skeptically at him. Naruto gulped before he started explaining.

"I...I am a demon." said Naruto with tears in his eyes. " The Nine-Tailed Fox...the demon that destroyed the village and killed the 4th...I am its container..." The blonde closed his eyes, as if expecting disgust and them to yell at him and call him a monster. But instead what he was met with was Sakura's hand rubbing circles on his back in a soothing manner.

"Oh, Naruto...Please don't call yourself a demon. It doesn't matter if you have the ninetails. You're still our Naruto and nothing will ever change that." she said while smiling kindly. "Know that I don't think any lower of you and I'm sure Sasuke doesn't either." The 2 genin turned their eyes to their raven haired teammate, who had a thoughtful expression.

"This explains so much...At least now I know how you can do so many shadow clones at a time. But no, this changes nothing, you're still the same dobe." said Sasuke, now looking at them. " 'S not your fault people can't tell the difference between a kunai and the scroll holding it. A very dumb scroll may I add..."

After hearing this, Naruto send them a cheeky grin. "Thanks guys, also who're you calling dumb you stupid teme!" At this, Sakura burst out laughing, making Naruto grin and Sasuke smirk lightly.

They'll be fine.