Regaining Loss

Seven years after the Fourth Great Ninja War.

Naruto mentally told himself that it was not supposed to be this way. He was breathing hard while his arms and legs sprawled out to either side of his body as he lay on his back on the grass covered ground. He was about five kilometres away from Konoha, the surprise attack knocked him down mid-way during his leap from one tree branch to another. The unknown attacker was fast… very fast… fast enough to crash into him before his sense could warn him. At the point of impact, Naruto felt a pinch at the side of his neck before falling to the ground. And once he crashed ono the ground, he stared in shock at the young man who he considered to be his best friend standing over him. Both of Naruto's eyes were fixed on the pair of blood red Sharingan eyes staring down at him.

"Sa... Sasuke..." Naruto struggled to speak. He felt his body growing numb while Kurama yelled out from the back of his mind. Kurama's voice sounded as if it was getting further and further away while exclaiming that he was trying to send chakra through the pathways.

"Something's wrong, brat!" Kurama exclaimed, his voice sounding an unusually distant whisper, "I'm trying to send you chakra..."

Naruto tried to mould chakra, both his own and Kurama's. 'I... I can't access my chakra... not even Kurama's chakra to activate the Sage cloak,' Naruto thought to himself while all feeling seemed to be leaving his body.

Naruto's eyes shifted towards the sneer on Sasuke's lips, the latter holding out a kunai with the sharp tip pointed down towards him... it was the very kunai Sasuke used during his ambush only two minutes ago. And now, Naruto could felt the scratch on his neck caused by the kunai blade as a sharp pain radiated from the scratch to his face, then to the rest of his head and down to the rest of his body. All this time, as Naruto screamed out loud in pain, Sasuke was silent while he stared at him with a slight head tilt to the left.

And just as the pain suddenly went through his body, it was now gone. As was all feeling of his body.

Even now, Naruto's eyes were locked onto Sasuke's own eyes. The blonde couldn't even feel if his chest was rising up and down... he couldn't feel if he was breathing. But he could hear his heart beating, he could hear himself taking in air through his nose and then the WHOOSH of expelling the air out of his lungs. But the sensation that comes from feeling his chest rise and fall was gone.

'What's happening? Kurama?'

"Some kind of poison," Kurama said, his voice barely audible despite sharing the same body, "I'm being locked..."

'Kurama?' Naruto mentally called out. He even tried to enter his mind space but, to his horror, he could not. 'Kurama?'

"Naruto-kun." If Naruto could have an expression of shock and surprise at Sasuke using the suffix of 'Kun', he would have. As it was, Naruto could not do anything, not even furrow his eyebrows, right now except stare at the maniacal grin on Sasuke's face. Or rather the person he thought was Sasuke. 'This is not Sasuke... no... no... something's wrong. This can't be...'

"Collecting samples of the Kyuubi's chakra in Lightning Country in order to develop a fast acting poison was difficult... but achievable," Sasuke said in a voice Naruto recognized as belonging to someone he thought had turned a new leaf after the war.

'No... no... we're supposed to be at peace... we...'

"I know what you're thinking, Naruto-kun," Sasuke crowed while spinning the kunai in his hand, "I was supposed to have seen the light... that I'm supposed to be Konoha's ally."

'Not... not Sasuke... this is not Sasuke!' Naruto mentally screamed as he continued to stare at the young man standing over him. Naruto could only helplessly watch as Sasuke got onto one knee and then placed a hand on his chest, 'This is Orochimaru! Why! What have you done with Sasuke you bastard!?'

"Your body is failing, Naruto-kun," 'Sasuke' said as he raised the kunai in his right hand, "the poison has already decimated your entire chakra network." Orochimaru then chuckled, "ku ku ku ku" before continuing, "I would like to go into the whole villain monologue, but you have only a minute of life left. And... as a fellow Konoha Shinobi, I would like to ease your passing into the next world."

Naruto wanted to scream "WHYYYYYY!" He wanted to know why Orochimaru was doing this. Most importantly, he wanted to know how Orochimaru gained possession of Sasuke's body. And the more Naruto willed his mind to open, the more frustrated he got. Suddenly, Naruto felt strange... stranger than he was feeling now. It felt as if he was falling but Sasuke... 'no, Orochimaru'... remained where he was on his knee with the hand holding the kunai pulled back. Suddenly, the Orochimaru possessed Sasuke swung his arm down while laughing.

Naruto didn't feel the pain from the blade being stabbed into his heart, which was then pulled out and stabbed into his side. As blood flowed out onto the ground, Naruto's vision started getting darker and darker but he still didn't feel anything… not even pain. Even so... even though he didn't feel anything, not even the breeze or the heat from the sun high in the cloudless sky... Naruto knew he was dying.

And then, just as 'Sasuke' shunshined away, Naruto was left with nothing but darkness taking him over and a sensation of falling down a deep never-ending tunnel. He could tell his eyelids were closing shut, 'I need to warn the village somehow… Ino… Ino-chan! Ino-chan, can you hear me?!' Naruto mentally called out for his wife, 'Ino-chan!' And darkness surrounded him as the last bits of life left his body.

Suddenly, there was a flash of brilliant white light followed by a stinging sensation on his left hand. Where there was once darkness all around him, Naruto now found himself under the warm light of the sun high in the sky above. Where only a few seconds ago he couldn't feel anything at all, now he could feel the heat... he could feel his own body as his chest rose and fell. Nothing was numb any longer as he opened his eyes and, with a look of surprise on his face, looked out towards the Konoha Memorial Statue several meters away.

"What the..." Naruto tried to move – oh how relieved he was that he could at least attempt to move – but he discovered he could not. He looked down to see a rope tying him to the stump behind him. And then there was the fact he was wearing his orange and blue jacket along with the orange pants; the combination had him surprised. It was a colour combination had had not worn in years and yet, here he was wearing the clothes that were arguably the most infamous combination of clothes in Konoha.

'Is this heaven?' Naruto thought to himself as he looked up at the clear blue sky and then back down at the rope tying him to the stump behind him, 'ok, maybe not heaven. Or is my version of heaven a kinky place where I'm tied up waiting for Ino-chan?'

Naruto quickly threw that idea out the window. He heard the rumours before they even started dating of how his wife was kinky in bed. Hell, he believed some of them but never repeated the rumours in the event her best friend – the very same pink haired young woman who was his teammate - punched him so hard for believing something so allegedly ridiculous that he would be sent flying towards the moon. Yeah, he was never going to repeat those rumours. Surprisingly, his eventual mate turned out to be different in many aspects from many of the rumours surrounding her... for the most part. He did not have many issues with her kinkiness in bed.

Shaking his head at the thought of the beautiful blonde who became his wife, Naruto took in a deep breath and tried to ascertain the situation he found himself in right now. 'Could this be a genjutsu?'

"Naruto!"

Naruto stiffened at the anger in Kurama's voice in the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and almost immediately found himself staring at something he thought he would never see again. In front of him was no longer an open field where Kurama would spend time after the Fourth Great war taking a nap. While he could see the blue orb of chakra he pulled out from Kurama, alongside the Chakra from the other eight tailed beasts; they were all, just like Kurama, locked up behind gigantic prison bars.

"What did you do?"

"What do you mean what did I do? This wasn't me... I couldn't even move remember?"

Kurama rushed up to the cage and then rammed against it. The entire sewer-like mindscape shook as Kurama roared in anger causing Naruto to cover his ears.

"Kurama!" Naruto yelled as the water beneath his feet rippled outwards, "calm down!"

"I hate this Naruto!" Kurama growled out as his eyes grew red in anger, "I hate this cage!"

Naruto uncovered his ears and then looked up at Kurama panting in anger, "I know. Let's deal with whatever happened, and then we'll find a way to release you from this cage." Kurama nodded his head before Naruto opened his eyes and stared out into the real world. At least that's what he thought.

"First I get out of this mess," Naruto whispered to himself as he wiggled his body around, "and then, I figure a way out of this genjutsu. And then, once I'm out of this place, I am going to pay Orochimaru a visit and force him to give Sasuke back."

Ino, few minutes ago in the future.

"Well? Sakura?" Ino lay back on the bed while staring at Sakura who was staring at a screen while the pink haired young woman was slowly moving a probe on her abdomen, "I was feeling sick for the past few days. I couldn't eat the food I loved, I couldn't drink the stuff I like, and even smells made me want to puke."

Sakura turned her head towards Ino and smiled. Ino felt herself getting lighter – as if she was floating high over the bed - as Sakura said, "you're pregnant." Her suspicions confirmed, Ino felt tears gathering around her eyes as her lips formed a wide smile. She watched as Sakura turned back towards the screen and moved the probe slightly to the left. And there was a look of surprise along with a smile on Sakura's face before she turned towards Ino once again, "it's twins, Ino. You and Naruto are going to have twins."

"My God," Ino couldn't help but chuckle before she rested her head back into the pillow. She turned her head towards Sakura who was cleaned the metallic end of the probe and continued to say, "twins. I'm going to be a mom."

Sakura chuckled as she got up from her seat and grabbed some paper towels. While using the towels to rub the gel off Ino's abdomen, she said, "we're going out to celebrate… oh…" The pink haired woman looked as if she came to a sudden realization before saying, "that's right, Naruto's supposed to be coming in tonight, right."

"Yea."

"Then tomorrow we celebrate," Sakura chuckled while throwing the towel away, "I don't think you'd want us around tonight."

Ino laughed before saying, "hell no." Ino looked down at her exposed abdomen – and she couldn't even tell she was pregnant just from looking at her abdomen with her own eyes. She then looked back up at a smiling Sakura, "I'm going to be a mother."

Sakura chuckled before leaning in to hug Ino, the latter tightening her hold on her closest friend. This was amazing news. Suddenly, Ino felt as if there was a red-hot kunai being driven into her brain. She yelped in pain while bring both her hands to the sides of her head.

"Ino?" Sakura, who pulled back, said with worry in her voice as she stared at the pain etched on the blonde kunoichi's face, "Ino, what's wrong?"

'Ino-chan!' Naruto's voice yelled out in her mind.

"Ino? What's going on?" Sakura asked once again.

"Naruto… I heard Naruto's voice in my mind," Ino said panting as she looked at Sakura, "he… he's in pain… I could feel the pain in his voice, I… I… no…" Ino felt a stinging sensation in her chest. Ever since they started dating, Ino and Naruto began forming a deep bond between them… a bond heighted by a combination of her mind jutsu and Naruto's chakra. They could feel each other's presence no matter where they were… but now… now things very different. She brought a hand up to her chest as tears fell down her cheeks when she could not feel Naruto anymore… she knew in her soul that there was something very wrong.

"Ino, where is he?" a worried Sakura asked.

"Sakura," Ino whispered, her voice cracking, "I… I could always feel Naruto… no matter how far away we are away from each other… but I can't feel him now… I…"

"No," Sakura said as she helped Ino sit up on the bed, "he's out there, and… and we're going to find him. And bring him back to Konoha. We're going to bring him back to your kids."

BOOM! BOOM!

Sakura and Ino froze as the hospital started to shake. They could hear the sounds of explosions from outside along with more shaking, this time the shaking was more violent. The explosion was closer to the hospital. Sakura and Ino heard the alarms in the hospital blare while a female voice ordered everyone to take shelter, that the village was under attack.

"Everyone to the underground shelter!" Sakura yelled as she helped Ino off the bed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The last thing she heard was Sakura yelling out in pain before a bright blue and white flash of light blinded her. The bright light faded away, only to be replaced by darkness. Ino couldn't feel anything, but she could hear screams in the distance along with cries for help and groans of pain. She tried to open her eyes, but discovered she could not.

'What happened? Who attacked us? Naruto… Sakura… Shika… Choji… where are you? Are you alright?' As she thought about her husband and her friends, Ino could finally feel a warm sensation on her upper left arm. She couldn't believe that it was time for the jutsu… her experimental jutsu to activate… a jutsu that she knew would be classified as 'forbidden' if it ever got out into the world. She created it after her marriage to Naruto… a man who she found a happiness that was indescribable. Ino regretted how she treated Naruto in their early years and often wondered, soon after they started dating that is, how different their lives would have been if they had a better relationship in their childhoods. So, over the intervening years, after much research, Ino developed a jutsu array using both of their blood and chakra. She tattooed the array onto her arm by herself, hopeful that one day… when they passed away… they could relive a life where the two of them didn't have many regrets.

And now, the jutsu was activating. Which meant she was dying.

This wasn't the way she wanted to die; not after an attack on the village by some probable madman. Not after Naruto and Sasuke had done so much to bring about peace in the world.

But at least she would have Naruto with her. She just hoped he wouldn't be too shocked or angry; after all, this was supposed to be a surprise. Almost immediately, she corrected herself. No, there was something to regret… her twins. Her twins were gone. She and Naruto couldn't be parents to the life that had been growing inside her. If she found the people responsible for this disaster, she would kill them.

And she suddenly felt as if she was floating before feeling a tug at her navel. She thought the sensation of sending consciousness' back through time would be more… interesting. Honestly, she didn't know what would happen, or that the jutsu would even succeed.

"Ino?"

"Troublesome. Hey, Ino."

"Ino?"

Just after hearing those three male voices, the last one especially causing her heart to race in happiness, Ino felt warmth and the smell of barbequed meats wafting into her nostrils. She felt hands shaking her shoulders before she gasped as she opened her eyes and pushed herself off the tabletop. She stared in surprise at both Shikamaru and Choji, seated on the other side of the table, staring back at her. 'They looked so young…' Ino then turned to her left and smiled at Asuma staring back at her with worry, 'Asuma-sensei's alive. I did it… I… I'm back in the past.'

"Ino," Asuma said with eye brows furrowed, "you were talking about going shopping and then your eyes rolled over before you dropped your head onto the table."

"And then we shook your shoulders," Choji said, Ino facing him now, "and you suddenly woke up. What's going on?"

Ino then turned to Shikamaru who was staring at her exposed upper left arm. Ino then turned towards Asuma, who was also looking at her upper arm. She turned her head and focused on the jutsu array on her upper arm which was already starting to fade away. It was meant to be for a single use only; after all, she had no idea what would happen to a consciousness if it had to repeatedly travel back in time.

"I don't recognize that seal," Asuma said, "and you didn't have that earlier today, did you?"

Ino gulped at Asuma. Of course, he would be asking questions. She then turned towards the questioning looks on both Shikamaru and Choji. Before she could try and come up with an answer, she felt a sudden feeling of loss. She closed her eyes and could feel what could only be described as a shadow of life from where her twins would have been in her abdomen. Ino could still feel them… she could feel their life… or what would have been their lifeforce. And the weight of it all hit her. She was back in time, but her children were dead.

"I…" Ino could feel tears gathering in her eyes as she stared at Shikamaru who was looking more worried than a few seconds ago.

"Ino, what's…"

"Excuse me," Ino whispered with pain in her voice as she rushed out of her seat and then towards the exit. She needed to get out of here. She needed to find Naruto… she needed to tell him everything… and they needed to mourn. She needed him now more than ever. Ino could hear chairs clattering backwards while at the same time Asuma, Shiamaru, and Choji was calling out to her. Ino started to sob now as she ran towards the left after leaving the restaurant. Her children were gone… violently taken away from her. She could still feel their life within her… but they weren't there.

Ino could sense her team behind her, but they were chasing her from some distance away. She was happy to see them again, but right now she needed her husband. And she was hoping that her jutsu worked on Naruto as intended.

'Where is he?' Ino thought, 'Ichiraku's? His apartment? Training?' Shaking her head and wiping her eyes while running past crowds of people around her, Ino made a decision, 'go to Ichiraku's… if Naruto's not there, I'll have them ask him to meet me outside his apartment. That's the best thing to do I think… yeah… that would be the best thing to do.'

TBC