Naruto 1. The Leaves Come Calling

Prologue:

The rains was coming down in torrents, drenching everything and destroying any chance of visibility. It had come out unexpectedly and out of nowhere, and it seemed that this storm had absolutely no intentions of leaving any time soon.

As the rain continued its relentless fall from the skies the cobbled streets became flooded and soon began to overflow off the rich and grassy hill in which the city was located. This created a great number of small waterfalls rushing off the hill and reflecting moonlight which created deformed shapes and shadows on the stone buildings. A distinct bird cry rang throughout the city signaling the great and fearsome hawk as it soared towards the roof of a house gracefully landing on the wooden gutter.

The bird seemed to be waiting, but for exactly what was unclear. Soon steps began to vibrate of the worn stone roads and a figure cloaked in rich silk robes of purple approached the home in which the bird was currently taking residence on. As the figure neared it drew from its cloak a thin sword with a sapphire hilt engraved with various runes all glowing as the sword was brought further towards the house.

"Finally I have found you, and to think that I almost passed over this village, well no need to think about that now, there are much more important things now aren't there Thorn."

The hawk took flight for only a brief instant before landing on the shoulder of the cloaked figure. The figure approached the warped door of the house before muttering beneath their breath. A red pentacle appeared on the door and began to smolder before it burst into a cloud of ashes leaving the door frame barren. The hawk flew off the figure's shoulder again taking a post on the house across the cobbled road. The cloaked figure laughed and pulled of the hood to the cloak revealing long blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail "Come now Sakura now is not the time to hide."

Chapter One: Presence of a Stranger.

Sakura had been having a relatively peaceful slumber until she had been awakened by the sound of wood imploding and the strong presence of another's magical energy. She quickly jumped up grabbing a small black bag filled with powder and also grabbed an amulet inscribed with runes for protection and healing. She quickly slipped it over her neck and quietly opened the door to her room. Sakura crept down the hallway which was very richly furnished with graceful and lavish pieces and also had an array of fancy decorations that Sakura had managed to salvage from her mentor's old manor.

.As she neared the grand staircase at the end of the hallway she was suddenly overcome with the intruder's magical energy, it was like a thick fog incasing and compressing around her, smothering her every move and making it difficult to continue making her way down the hall. _"Great whoever this is has to be powerful if just the energy pulse they give off does this." _She thought to herself as she neared the thick banisters.

The shadow of a figure holding a knife was overcast on the wall before Sakura due to the light the small fireplace was giving off in the corner. Just then the figure moved forward and Sakura ducked behind a cabinet filled with china and crystal dishes and glass wear.

_"Why does this energy pulse seem so familiar? Why does it seem like I have felt it before? Why am I talking to myself?"_ Sakura asked herself as the figure began walking towards the yellow wall opposite of the stairs. Suddenly the figure turned around and Sakura gasped _"Great Gods its Ino." _She thought wildly, quickly clamping one of her petite hands over her mouth.

But it was too late and Ino responded by sending a bolt of white hot energy towards the cabinet Sakura was hiding behind. It hit the cabinet shattering everything inside sending chunks and pieces of china and crystal flying through the air before clattering nosily to the ground sending the shards scattering across the wooden floors.

Sakura took this chance to stand up and rush towards Ino, hand raised and screaming "How dare you come into my home unannounced in the middle of the night and have the gall to attack me, in my own home, and destroy all of my teacher's china." She said releasing a glowing black powder from the bag that fell in clumps over the banister and landed on Ino causing her to drop her blade and the glowing runes light to be extinguished.

As the powder shimmered, causing Ino to shake, she quickly jumped up blasting waves of pure magical energy at Sakura in razor sharp blades before she was fully immobilized by the powder. The blades sliced the walls and anything in their path leaving the rooms in tatters and causing the stairwell to collapse.

"What's a matter S-A-K-U-R-A?" she asked tauntingly raising her fist as the rubble and dust cleared. "You aren't afraid of me now are you?" she asked launching another barrage of the deadly energy blades throughout the house causing the inner walls to crumble and now leaving the house in complete ruin.

Ino climbed on a mound of rubble and was shocked when vines sprouted from the rubble, wrapping around her arms and legs first, before slowly incasing her entire body in the strange white wooded vines sporting pale pink Sakura blossoms which began to drain her energy. "Well it looks like you aren't the pathetic excuse for a mage you use to be, I've heard of your great accomplishments as a healer and your natural talent with nature magic, but I never expected you to become as good as the rest of the Leaf Coven."

Sakura appeared in a flash of flower petals grinning in triumphant glory. "Now is that a hint of jealousy I just heard?" she asked bluntly pointing the tip of her finer against the soft flesh of Ino's neck.

Ino gulped before focusing all her energy into her last resort attack. Purple and white markings appeared on her forehead and the room was instantly filled with intense gusts of psychic energy. All the broken pieces of the once marvelous furniture and decorations began to levitate off the ground, slowly glowing as they began swirling with the intense psychic energy.

"Now Sakura allow and behold this, my greatest ability, using my gift with psychic energy, and my mental abilities I can create a monstrous and deadly storm of energy with just my mind." Ino said beginning to laugh with an almost insane glee.

The vines were ripped from Ino by the psychic winds and turned to dust within second of entering the storm. "And to think that back at the village you and I use to live in together, what those wrinkled idiots thought of us, before the Vampires came and destroyed it of course. The other villagers and Arch Mages use to say that I would only be a petty magician capable of merely transferring my mind using my psychic abilities into others rendering my own body useless, of course that village was a bunch of babbling fools that only cared about power directly from birth which neither of us were gifted with. So we became third class citizens and disregarded as incompetent practiconers of magic." At that she snorted before smiling again.

"Well of course if any of those fools were still alive they sure would be shocked senseless if they saw the powers both of us have now, wouldn't they Sakura?"

Sakura couldn't answer as the mighty psychic storm picked her up and began to slice her as she was lifted into the vortex of energy. All Sakura knew was that she was now bleeding badly and at the rate she was being cut she would surly die if the assault continued for much longer.

Consciousness began to fade as the world around her turned to black and her eyes closed heavily _"Maybe now I can be at peace."_ Sakura thought sadly as she saw a blur of orange before completely blacking out into unconsciousness.

But then the vortex stopped and she was jolted back into consciousness as she began to fall. Opening her eyes weakly, Sakura could only watch in horror as the ground came rushing towards her. She tried to make her body go limp, bracing for the impact and already starting to heal her injuries even as she fell. A faint green energy surrounded her various deep wounds, closing them with a faint hissing sound. She waited for the impact, calling the healing energy to cover her whole body so it could act as a shield, yet it never came. Instead Sakura felt two strong arms incase her own body and catch her as she was mere seconds from meeting with the floor.

She opened her eyes to see a boy around her age who was much taller then herself with a wild array of blonde spikes and sapphire eyes gleaming with emotion. He had broad shoulders and a muscled fame, and had caught Sakura with little strain, even as she had been tumbling towards the ground.

He was dressed in orange and black robes and had various weapons attached to his form including a large whistle roughly the size of a watermelon and shaped like a frog painted orange and red.

He grinned at her before setting her down on an overturned and tattered sofa. "Uzumaki Naruto at your service."

He said staring at her intensely for a moment before turning towards Ino screaming at her.

"What did I say; bring her to us unharmed, but no I guess that was too much since you nearly almost killed her."

He screamed as Ino stared blankly at him trembling

"Bu—But I don't know what happened, she said clutching a small purple crystal on a chain around her neck and beginning to cry

Naruto looked back at her and sighed, anger still prominent on his sharpened features

"Ino this is why I said I should have come, because you have personal ties with her and grievances with her from your past, and I knew they would get in the way."

He said softening his tone, as Ino continued to tremble and a silent trail of tears ran down her face.

"How could I, we had been best friends before the raid, and look at me I almost killed her."

She cried miserably breaking down into a pile on the floor

Naruto sighed and looked around before his head snapped in the direction he had left Sakura

"Shit!, she's gone!" he screamed looking around wildly

Ino looked up, frantically wiping her face, and then cursed as she probed the surrounding buildings with her psychic senses, couldn't even sense her energy force any more.

: WITH SAKURA:

As Naruto stormed over towards Ino Sakura quickly took the opportunity to slip away unnoticed. It was easy enough because this Naruto character and Ino were in a heated discussion and she was pretty good at going unnoticed and making herself disappear. Even if that Naruto guy had saved her, he worked with Ino, and Ino had just lost control and almost killed her, so Sakura wasn't to trusting of him.

Now she was a couple of miles away from the village and pretty proud of her progress, after all she had managed to avoid being detected by those two and was now a good distance away that she didn't think they could easily track her, even with magic. She let a faint smile decorate her features as she continued walking through the mighty oak trees of the untamed woodlands. She soon jumped up on a branch and began jumping forward using magic to propel herself even further by jumping from branch to branch.

"Well it never hurt being a little careful." She said to herself as a large vibration caused her to stop in her tracks.

Sakura looked towards the village and saw a massive orange frog speeding towards her and gaining on her location.

"Damn" she cursed to herself as she turned back around and once again began running aimlessly through the tree branches trying to desperately outrun the enormous toad.

: Back with Naruto and Ino:

As Ino stood up and began probing the area around the village for Sakura's energy source Naruto withdrew the frog whistle and loudly blew into it once creating a large cloud of orange smoke.

As the smoke began to spread out it started to take the form of a massive frog and slowly began materializing into a real giant toad.

Naruto jumped onto its head and signaled for Ino to follow which she quickly complied to, and jumped up on the massive toad's skull next to him as the summoned creature took off running towards the woods.

"Ino now try and find her using your psychic senses." Naruto replied as they soon reached the edge of the woods and the frog stopped suddenly, causing the ground to shake and give off loud vibrations.

Ino did as told and began focusing her energy and soon a third eye appeared on her forehead composed of purple and white energy. The eye was closed but continued to build up energy until it was glaringly prominent on the center of her forehead and the eye opened releasing a beam of energy outwards in a concentrated force.

This force began picking up thoughts, life forms, and energy signatures and soon had pinpointed Sakura's location.

"She's about two miles north, but it looks like she had started to head west, probably because she could sense the energy vibrations that the frog gave off. That what was always so weird back in our old village, she use to be able to sense and know things others didn't, almost like a sixth sense. That's why when we were younger I thought she was psychic like me, but it's really more of an empathic connection with the forces of nature. She could just feel things and sense them because of it, and she was so strange back then. Well to everyone but me. We were the losers, the outcasts, the ones that nobody wanted, and because of that we were closer then sisters."

She said in a blurry of rushed words as Naruto nodded and the frog turned a little and sped off towards Sakura's location.

Soon Sakura's form could be seen passing through the trees, just a pink blur with her magic-enhanced speed.

Naruto looked at Ino again before drawing two orange gauntlets from his cloak and attaching them to his fists.

They began glowing with an orange and red energy and Naruto lifted one of his hands and pointed towards Sakura

The energy in the gauntlet began to condense and build up until it shot out in a concentrated beam towards Sakura's retreating figure.

: Back with Sakura Again:

As the frog quickly gained on Sakura she cursed as she sensed Naruto and Ino's energy signatures

"Great, why can't they just leave me alone?" She thought listlessly as she felt the trees around her and they began whispering to her.

At first when Sakura had been little and still back at the old village with Ino, she thought she was going mad, until she decided to listen to the things she could sense from her bond with nature. Then she learned what a magnificent gift she truly had.

Of course she hadn't begun comprehending or understanding these powers fully until Tsunade had taken her as her apprentice and taught her much more about it.

But thankfully now she did listen, and just in time as she dodged a huge beam of orange energy from Naruto.

She quickly back flipped into the thicker branches of the tree, and focusing her energy caused the trees and their branches to grow into a round shield filled with magical energy which deflected the array of orange beams of energy Naruto hurled at her from his glowing orange gauntlets.

Naruto continued the barrage of energy beams until finally the tightly woven branches of the shield began to crack before splintering and exploding into thousands of tiny slivers that flew in every direction.

Sakura stared at him dumbfounded

"_What kind of power did he have to be able to shatter one of her strongest shields and not even break a sweat?"_

She thought as she dodged a fist made completely of psychic energy sent to attack her by Ino. Sakura quickly caused the psychic attack to deteriorate with a dissection technique that quickly tore the attack apart. The pink-haired girl continued with her usage of medical spells and techniques by sending a concentrated blast of purple energy at Ino which knocked the blonde off the giant toad leaving her sprawling in the leaves on the forest floor as her nerves were jolted by the pinkette's spell. A subtle, lingering pain erupted throughout Ino's body as the spell took its full effects.

"Damn you Sakura, we just want to offer you a place in the leaf Coven."

She said seething as she stood up and shot more of her sharpened energy blades at Sakura, easily demolishing the surrounding trees and foliage.

Sakura smiled with no humor her brilliant viridian eyes cold and distant.

"If this is how you extend an invitation to join your little coven then I can hardly be driven to join. I want nothing but to be left alone, what don't you understand about that?" She asked her once upon a time, best friend in a cruel voice

The blades of energy decimated the surrounding plants in sickening flashes of silver and purple, turning Sakura's main weapon into nothing but heaps of shredded leaves and branches.

Sakura paused. She wasn't the most skilled in battle. Her main talents lay in healing and support, and though under Tsunade's training she had learned to harness her natural bond with the forces of nature into attacks, they were primarily defenses and most of the pink haired magic-users training had gone into medical and healing magics and evasion.

Sakura knew she was fairly capable with creating barriers and shields, but with Ino's surprising battle prowess and the alarming strength of Naruto's spells, she knew she was merely wasting her energy creating barriers that the two could easily shatter.

Not to mention that Tsunade had also taught her all of her magical secrets, not merely the medical ones. The world renowned healer had been quite astounded at Sakura's natural connection and affinity with nature and its energies. Tsunade herself was considered to have an almost god-like connection and bond with nature, and that connection was how she was able to create her monstrous strengths in attacks as well as how she had such amazing healing and regeneration powers.

After a year of being her apprentice, Tsunade had finally taught her that secret, and both she and Sakura had been astounded at how quickly Sakura picked the technique up.

But since Sakura had faded into the background of things, trying to avoid detection by the vampires after they raided Tsunade's manor, and also trying to figure out her next move of how to go about aiding the lands, she had learned to block portions of her power so she could avoid detection.

One of the things she had gone through various attempts to suppress to a point and keep hidden was her bond with nature so instead of constantly pervading her, it was more a dull sense instead of the heightened one it had been after her training under Tsunade.

She could open herself completely, and that way also have access to her monstrous strength, but the risk of doing such a thing was that energy had been building up in her, almost akin to the steam in a teapot. It had been building up, festering, seething and growing, and Sakura wasn't sure what would happen now if she released all the blocks she had placed on herself to remain hidden.

Especially due to her intricate bond with nature, after all the damage Ino had inflicted on the plants, Sakura was leery of what might result from her lowering the blocks she'd placed on herself for fear that with the sudden opening of her natural connection, that the energies of the plants might latch on to the opening so to speak and use her as an unwilling channel.

It was a price she knew would occur when she had placed the blocks on herself, but she had been doing so well at going unnoticed and remaining hidden that she figured she would have time to sort out these blocks before she was forced into a major fight.

Heaving a heavy sigh as these thoughts all flashed through her mind in a few seconds, Sakura closed her eyes and disintegrated all the blocks she had placed and set upon herself.

Almost instantly she was overwhelmed. The energies of everything around her were smothering her, and surrounding her in all their powers and energies. For a few years now Sakura hadn't had to deal with this onslaught, and its force caught her so off guard, that she couldn't even block the torn apart plants as they began to shrilly scream.

Sakura held her head as their screams of pain only grew louder. Now her whole body was shaking and the voices raised higher still into an otherworldly chorus of agony and pain that wracked Sakura's body as all her once blocked senses and connections flared to life in a brutalizing explosion.

Suddenly the energy of the trees and plants surrounded her, filling her with unimaginable power as her senses pulled more and more the energy from all around into her.

As the staggering amounts of energy entered her body, she screamed releasing a great storm of wind and rain that came crashing on Naruto and Ino.

The frog jumped trying to avoid the onslaught, but the first wave of the storm hit its leg and sent it sprawling on the ground with a sickening thud before it disappeared with a puff of orange smoke.

Naruto and Ino stared at Sakura's form which was now being surrounded by a strange green energy that was overpowering her.

Ino activated her third eye again and gasped, shocked as she saw the destroyed tatters of trees and plants pouring their energy into Sakura, and saw Sakura's own body instinctively pulling more and more energy into itself.

"This is bad; the plants seem to be forcing their energy into her, and her own body is subconsciously drawing all the energy from around her into itself"

Ino said desperately looking at the green energies of the cut plants and trees that they were now sending it into Sakura's own form as well as the literal sea of energy Sakura was drawing into herself from her surroundings.

Naruto looked at her "What do you mean the plants are forcing their energy into her and that she is also drawing energy into herself?"

He screamed at her looking furious as Sakura screamed again causing the ground to crack and shatter into a massive crater below her.

Leaves and the remnants of the trees and plants Ino destroyed went flying through the air and the rain picked up as did the already ferocious wind.

Ino's hair flew wildly in the wind behind her as she struggled to find an answer to Naruto's question.

After another minute of thinking and another cry from Sakura generating even more power into the storm, Ino finally spoke.

"the only thing that I can think of is that her bond with nature that makes her nature magic so good also gives her a connection to it's energies and powers, which would explain a lot, but it also allows Nature to somewhat take control of her on rare occasions, like when she get's upset of angered or like in a rare case like this that must have been cause by me destroying the trees. But I don't think that's all there is to it either. It seems she must have put blocks on herself to weaken her connection to nature she she'd remain undetected, and that allowed energies and forces to build up, and now that she's released these blocks this is happening"

Naruto thought for a minute looking intently at Sakura's glowing green form that was levitating up into the air and taking on an eerie appearance/

"So you mean to say that because of her bond with nature the plants in a panic crazed moment chose to force their energy into her?"

He asked looking at her surprised until the storm increased in intensity yet again by another scream from Sakura, and sent them both flying back and slamming into the murky depths of a small pool.

Ino sputtered as she stood staring at Sakura's form

"She can't take much more of their energy, or she'll die."

She said sadly as she readied another telekinetic blast that went spiraling through the storm and imploded into a massive wall of telekinetic energy, blocking the majority of the storm.

Ino turned to Naruto

"There's not much time, the wall won't hold off this storm for too long, and Sakura's body won't be able to contain much more energy form the plants."

She said just as cuts began opening all over Sakura's body and the green energy of the plants began seeping out of the wounds they created and spiraling around her.

Sakura gave one final scream, but no more energy went to power the storm. Instead the green energy healed all the wounds it had opened up, still surrounding her in its faint glow, and the pinkette collapsed on the ground in a small heap. In seconds the storm died down to a dull rain shower.

Ino cursed as she saw Naruto's face contort in anger before he became surrounded by an orange energy.

"Naruto, calm down!" she screamed desperately sending a psychic orb to try and contain him.

The orb of purple energy surrounded Naruto and encased the monstrous orange energy swirling around and on him.

Ino grimaced as he roared and the energy shot out at the shield cracking it and sending Ino slamming back into the cloudy pool of water.

She quickly resurfaced and trudged to the pool's edge, getting out and focusing her energy and preparing to send her mind into Naruto's.

As she focused desperately willing her energy into this last spell the orange energy began gathering on his body and forming the rough silhouette of a massive fox.

As the energy condensed more on his body, Naruto screamed as it forced blood out mixing with the orange energy to make sinister blood orange energy.

Naruto was about to scream again but was suddenly silenced as the energy took over his mind.

Ino could only watch in horror as Naruto's eyes turned from cerulean blue to blood orange and he began to mutter incoherently to himself.

The voice however wasn't Naruto's, for it was wild and ancient

"Damn it!" Ino screamed

"You idiot, why did you lose control? Now you've released the demon fox again!"

She yelled now furious at Naruto for losing control of the Demon fox.

He turned to her and in that ancient, animalistic voice began talking

"Foolish girl, did you really think those mind seals would stop me?"

He asked laughing as he disappeared in a flash and was by Sakura's side licking a large gash across her forehead

"Don't you even think of laying a finger on her you demon." She yelled furiously sending a small energy blade out that the Demon Fox-possessed Naruto quickly destroyed with a swipe of a tail that was now growing.

Soon it reached well over ten feet and another tail sprouted, and in no time three of the legendary nine tails of the fox demon had sprouted and were now moving back in fourth behind the demon fox.

"Shut up woman, I haven't time for you're foolish shouting and yakking; the kit himself knew he couldn't stop this girl from receiving so much of nature's energy, so he called on my powers to aid him. Quite an interesting woman this one."

He replied smirking as the three tails stretched towards Sakura and grabbed her, wrapping her in the blood orange tails created by the demonic energy.

They began to constrict around her and then release and withdraw, bringing with it some of the green energy from the plants.

In a few moments Sakura began stirring and after a couple more applications of the demon fox withdrawing energy she awoke and gasped.

Sakura began struggling before the Fox Demon unrolled his tails dropping Sakura.

She fell, and landed ungracefully on the forest floor.

Ino rushed over to her and glared at the Fox Demon who was now laughing

"Well kit, I did as you asked, and you did the blood pact, which now means that that stupid woman can't block your mind from me and our energy shall now be suffused forever."

He said before the energy receded and the glowing red eyes returned to their natural cerulean color.

Naruto fell to his knees from the force the demon fox had inflected on him by suffusing their energy together.

He struggled to his feet before walking towards Sakura who herself was trying to get up, and failing quite miserably.

"Can't you both just leave me alone?' She said furiously before she stopped her struggle and relaxed for a moment before her hand started to glow a soothing light green color.

Sakura raised her hand to her forehead before Naruto grabbed her hand stopping her.

He glared at her as she tried to break free of his grip, but he was much stronger then her and she soon realized this giving up and glaring back at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked glaring at her as he let her hand go.

Sakura rolled her eyes

"What does it look like; I'm healing myself, that energy from the plants and such might have healed my external injuries, but there's still internal damage left from all of that energy."

She said, once again lifting her hand to her forehead in an attempt to heal herself.

But yet again Naruto grabbed her hand

"But you shouldn't even be using any of your energy, never mind be healing yourself."

He replied looking at her sternly

"The energy the plants gave you and the other forces you were drawing in instinctively damaged the energy paths in your body. I know that because I can see your body is swelling, especially where the energy creating organs are."

He said as Sakura tried to stand but yet again failed miserably, falling to the ground.

Ino quickly caught her and withdrew a small emergency medical kit from the pouch attached to her waist beneath her robes, and began getting out gauze and medicines.

"Why are you helping me now Ino? Before you tried to kill me, and now you're trying to treat my injuries."

She asked as she pulled slightly away from Ino. The blonde frowned and her lipped quiver before she spoke in a raspy voice

"I'm sorry about that Sakura, really I didn't mean to do that, but I lost control, I got lost in the past and my bitterness towards you never trying to locate me and how we got separated and everything else that's happened since our village was raided, and thanks to that I almost killed you."

She said sadly as tears began to form in her eyes.

Sakura looked up and smiled at her softly.

"It's alright Ino, I mean there's a lot I don't understand about why you're so angry or bitter at me, but I just lost control of myself today as well." She said patting her on the back before she embraced her long lost friend.

"You know Sakura; I really missed you after those werewolves separated us. At first I thought you were dead. I went back and looked for you and searched and searched for days. But I couldn't find you, not even a trace. And then years later there were rumors of Lady Tsunade taking on a pink haired apprentice so I figured you had moved on and forgotten about me, and then there were reports about you having become a healer and nature mage."

She said returning the embrace

Sakura smiled and laughed patting the blonde's back

"I had been worried too, and I searched as well. But the werewolves wounded me, and I would have died if Lady Tsunade's attendant Shizune hadn't stumbled across me on an search for medicinal herbs. I heard rumors of a blonde psychic be apprenticed by the Lady Bog Eye, but I was never sure if it was you. I had a feeling, but by then I was training to become strong enough to search for you, and then the vampire's raided Lady Tsunade's manor."

Then getting a mischievous look in her remote eyes, the pinkette, placed a small hand on Ino's cheek

"But I never heard any rumors about you Ino-pig." She said lovingly, embracing the old insult that had eventually turned into affectionate pet names for the friends.

Ino burst into laughter too; scaring away a few owls that had been observing the scene unfold.

"Well forehead-girl I'm sure it's just because you were too addled to understand the rumors that were going around then."

She said as Naruto picked Sakura up who smiled up at him and laughed

"I can walk you know."

She said laughing again as Naruto grinned at her

"Maybe for the moment, but when your brain finally gets out of the shock stage of what happened, you're body is going to kind of break down for a few days."

Sakura looked at him funnily for a moment as they began walking through the woods.

"And how would you know that, are you some sort of healer too?" she asked

Naruto laughed at this

"No, I don't think I have the skill to heal, but when the demon fox takes over and forces his energy into me, the side affects always leave me crippled for a day or too, and you had nearly a whole acre of plants feeding their energy to you."

He said as they stopped at the top of the hill and Naruto withdrew the frog whistle and blew into again.

The orange mist reappeared and soon formed into the giant frog, however this time it had a large leather saddle built in a circle that had a few sleeping sacks rolled out on it.

"So it might even be a week or two before you get better." He said as he set her down on in the massive saddle, which turned out to be a leather platform, and sat next to her while Ino sat on Sakura's other side.

Sakura laughed at this and settled down into the large saddle.

"Perhaps for a normal person, but my body heals remarkably fast, not to mention I can still heal myself."

She lifted a pale hand infused with pale green healing energy, and the energy spiraling around her in an instant before Naruto could stop her.

She let out a deep sigh, slumping against Ino's shoulder as her body quickly mended itself.

Naruto let out a curse, but Sakura simply stared at the blonde man, too tired to do much else. The man who had been trying to protect her all day, and who had saved her today when she had lost control after she's taken the blocks she had upon herself down.

He had rescued her, and Sakura realized that this was not some average man or magic-user. Even though she had been overwhelmed she had sensed what he held inside of him. He held the Nine-tailed Fox, the most powerful of the tailed beasts, extremely powerful and dangerous demons that had been sealed inside babies years ago to contain their power. The Nine Tails was known as the king of the tailed beasts, and the fact that Naruto had the Nine-Tails sealed inside him and had survived the process and was able to not only function but tap into the demon's powers was a pure monument of how powerful a person Naruto was.

Sakura's eyes tightened as her body finished mending herself and exhaustion set deep into her bones.

Naruto frowned at her opening his mouth, but Sakura tiredly lifted a hand silencing him

"Your concern is kind, although it's a bit unfounded. As you stated you're not a healer and therefore do not know advanced and complex medical magics which can restore the body, but not waste a heady amount of energy. Also you do not know me, you might have heard rumors of my, and if so then you know I was apprenticed by Lady Tsunade and you can safely assume that I'm capable of healing myself even in this state."

Naruto grumbled, and then raised a tanned arm behind his head to almost absently scratch the back of his skull and ruffle his layer of blonde spikes. He grinned then, eyes twinkling and shrugged his broad shoulders so his muscles rippled.

"I guess you do know more about what you're talking about," he replied cheerily "But the main question now is if you'll join us in the Coven of Leaves?"


	2. Stronghold of the Leaves

Authors note: So I realized I forgot to add one of these to the first chapter. You all probably recognize most of chapter one if you read it before. You'll notice of course there have been some changes and corrections, but I kept what I thought was good, and then added some more since my writing style has changed somewhat since I started writing this. Hopefully now I can actually complete this story since I have a fair amount of it already planned out. Oh I obviously don't own Naruto or any of the characters and so on and so forth. The only thing I can claim as my own work is the story idea itself, and the writing that has been produced from it. Hopefully chapter two makes some things more clear, and starts to build the scenes that the story is going to take place in.

"_**Sakura why do you think they treat us like this?" the small pinkette frowned and turned to her taller, beautiful best friend whose icy blue eyes were swimming with tears **_

_**She shrugged her own green eyes beginning to water and quickly averted her gaze to the soft grassy ground beneath her. **_

_**They were in a field of wildflowers, the bright emerald hues exploding with vibrant shades and colors in their isolated hiding spot. **_

_**The village largely ignored them and their needs and left them to their own devices, instead focusing on the children of prestigious magical families as well as the children with already blatant magical skills at their young age. **_

_**They didn't take the time and pay attention to two poor orphan girls. One a blonde with astounding mental abilities and a unique psychic power where she was able to transfer her mind into another person's body. They thought that since this technique left her own body utterly defenseless, that the only thing she would be capable of was being a mind reader for the council-if even that. **_

_**The other was an even stranger child with astonishing locks of naturally pink hair, and a strange bond with nature that overall seemed weak, frail and utterly useless to the village elders and leaders. Perhaps she could become a healer or learn some nature magics, but concerns such as the magical education and training of two orphans was hardly a bother to them. **_

_**So instead they had escaped to the borders beyond the village, the rolling fields and woodlands that surrounded it and cloaked it in forested majesty. They were left alone by the villagers for the most part, and the only one they had any constant contact with was their neglectful caretaker at the orphanage. **_

_**These two were the only orphans in the village, a small rundown collection of thatched houses and cottages centered on a fort and surrounded in low walls of fields and farmland. Then came the forests and endless green fields of flowers where the two would go and spend most of their time. **_

"_**I don't think they understand us," Sakura said finally **_

"_**They find us strange, even for magic-users and they don't understand our powers or abilities and because of that they think we're weak." **_

_**Ino frowned, eyes emptying of tears and filling up with an older fury that sharpened her features and briefly revealed the beautiful face of the woman she would grow into.**_

_**Her eyes shone flat and then filled with a brightness before dimming, a small trait that Sakura knew was her friend picking up information with her psychic senses. **_

"_**You're right of course, Forehead" Ino replied softly "You usually are, and I keep seeing us older and really powerful, but the images are hazy and some of them keep changing, like they're teetering and depending on certain circumstances." **_

_**The blonde clenched her fists and yelled out, causing Sakura to raise her head and stare at her in her strange silence **_

"_**Maybe we'd be able to understand this better if the leaders would be willing to get us teachers and take an interest in our education. That way we wouldn't be stuck scrambling to understand our abilities, and just aimlessly blundering about with them as we are doing." **_

_**Sakura shrugged, mouth tightening into a thin line, as a warm breeze swept through the field, sending the flowers shivering in a lazy dance, and the two girl's hairs waving in the gust like gold and pink ribbons. **_

"_**There's not much we can do about it though is there? They won't listen to us, nobody will," **_

_**Suddenly they both turned towards the village a second before a huge explosion sounded, shaking the ground as a massive plume of black smoke began rising above the treetops. **_

_**There were several more, smaller exploding sounds, and screams and sounds of fighting in the distant. **_

_**Ino stood up, grabbing Sakura's hand and pulling the smaller girl to her feet, **_

"_**What was that?" Ino screeched in Sakura's ear**_

Sakura awoke with a start, staring blankly around for a moment as she tried to pull her mind from its haze of recollections and memories. For a moment she had no idea where she was, and then recognized the figure of Ino curled up near her, and the figure of Naruto sprawled out not too far away.

As her mind worked through its fog, the pinkette stretched and let out a loud yawn. After healing herself she had been rather tired, and then Naruto had begun asking her if she'd join this mysterious Leaf Coven that he and Ino were a part of.

Sakura shook her head. She had told him she'd meet the rest of this coven and then make her decision after that. Honestly she wasn't much of a group-work type of person. She was solitary by nature, and when she did work with someone else it was usually only one or two other people.

She'd never had much experience in covens in all honesty. She and Ino had been all each other really had in those days back at that stupid village that was now nothing but smoldering ruins taken back over the forest, a massive graveyard, where the entire village besides Ino and Sakura had been killed.

Then after Tsunade had taken her as an apprentice, she would work very closely with her and Shizune, but it had never been more then that. She had no idea what this Coven of the Leaves was all about, how large in number they were, what their goals and aims were, and also what their skills and powers were.

Seeing that Naruto and Ino were members, Sakura assumed that all the other members were exceptionally powerful with unique magical skills and abilities, and that they were all probably just as oddly unique as their powers.

But still, she had no idea of what the purpose of this coven was, what duties they felt bound to, and what they would need a healer for.

Ideally when one goes into the statistics and tactical side of battle, a healer would increase the success rate of any mission or quest since they'd be able to supply medical care and treatment to the members of the team.

But realistically most healers were barely competent in battle and their only real magical talents lay in healing, leaving them vulnerable and often times more of a burden on a team. Unless of course they had been trained in combat to use the same medical magics they used to heal their companions, to wound and fight their enemies.

But even at that point the healer always played more of a support role, and they were usually constantly guarded by at least someone else on the designated team.

Perhaps things would be different in this Coven of the Leaves. For Sakura had been expertly trained in combat, and the Leaf Coven certainly seemed aware that Tsunade, the lands greatest healer and one of the best magic-users in the lands had been her teacher for several years.

Maybe they would realize she was able to handle herself in battle, and once she had grown accustomed to not having the blocks on her, she would be at her most powerful and able to do far better then she faired in the scuffle with Ino and Naruto.

Yes, that was entirely possible, though Sakura admitted to herself it might not be the most plausible idea. If she joined this group of people, this assumed group of elite and unique magic-users she'd be out in the open.

There would be no real way to go unnoticed, no way to hide her identity once they started their campaigns. Naruto said once they had reached the Leaf Coven's stronghold they would explain all their activities, plans and what they intended to do with her.

But Sakura already had a feeling that they were planning to try and aid these nations and lands of the serious corruption, chaos and pandemonium that had swept over them now for nearly a century.

There were Vampires figuring prominently in the troubles of these lands. Those foul beasts and creatures were constantly raiding and destroying smaller villages and attacking travelers on trade routes and caravans and so on. Also prominent were the werewolves and their territorial packs, attacking anyone who wandered too close into their territories and also waging their own personal war against the vampires, uncaring of those who got in their way.

Then there was an endless tirade of corrupted and fallen magic-users that had become so twisted and deformed by lusts for power in its various forms. The lands were being drowned and swallowed whole in corruption, and chaos, and war was breaking out among the various nations. Disaster was anywhere you dared to tread, and the lands had become a vile, dangerous place.

The Fallen Courts were those who lead the five great nations or villages. They were a group of disturbingly powerful, particularly cruel and deranged magic-users that had been controlling the wealth and influence throughout the lands for decades.

Sakura believed completely that they were the core to the land's problems. There had been a time once, when she had still been training under Tsunade, before the raid, before they'd been forced to go into hiding, which Sakura remembered sharply as all these questions began filling her head.

They'd been out in Tsunade's vast, walled in garden. A beautiful and expansive space filled with all kinds of rare medicinal plants and herbs and poisons. It had been an extravagant place, filled with lots of beauty and splendor, and protected heavily with some of Tsunade's most powerful enchantments and spells.

That garden had been a sanctuary to Sakura, a safe retreat that resonated with its own arcane magic as the flowers faded and trailed into marshy swampland. The manor itself was built in the wild expanses of untamed forests and woodlands that slowly overtime had been devoured by swampy mires and marshland.

The garden pools had sprung up and then spiraled out into beautiful marshes and swamps that added their own strange beauty to the gardens, and also provided a climate that could sustain and grow rare and powerful herbs and plants from all over the lands.

So in this special place that had grown to be nearly sacred to Sakura she and her teacher had sat at a marble table and that's when Tsunade had revealed her theories on the land

"_**Sakura you must have noticed by now that what's been happening to these lands is not as chaotic as it appears. You're bright enough that you should have caught on to the little patterns, the little bits of calculation that steer all of the troubles plaguing us. It's all very underhand and wrapped in deceit and lies and illusions, but once you know what to look for, the patterns and signs stare out glaringly." **_

"_**What do you mean?" the pinkette asked in a thin voice, "I know what you speak of, at least I think I do. But for clarification I suppose I should ask what you suspect is the hidden hand so to speak. What do you think is in control of all the havoc being unleashed upon these lands like a rancid infection?"**_

_**Tsunade pursed her lips, and pulled out a thin cigarette from her coat pocket. She snapped her fingers, the brightly painted red nails flashing as a thin flame appeared on her finger and ignited the tip. **_

_**Sakura's imposing master gave her a secretive smile and winked. **_

"_**Don't mention this to Shizune. It's a nasty habit, not to mention she already makes a fuss with the alcohol and ale and all." **_

_**She handed Sakura another thin cigarette she produced from her coat pocket and lit it for the pink haired girl that had become so much like a daughter to her. **_

_**Sakura took a long drag and savored the taste. She normally didn't smoke much, only with Tsunade when they could steal away from Shizune's watchful gaze. **_

"_**It's quite obvious once you see the small details and put them together, almost laughable that most people still haven't realized that the Fallen Court is the one pulling all the strings and causing all this mayhem. Look at it this way, all the villages and towns that have been demolished have been ones opposing the Five Great Cities and their policies and laws. The Fallen Courts are the ones who directly control those cities and since those are the five centers of commerce, trade economy and political influence, control and power in these lands it's not a long shot that the Fallen Court is behind this." **_

_**Sakura frowned**_

"_**But what about the Kages? They are the rulers of those cities are they not, and most of those villages were destroyed by either Vampires or werewolves in their personal skirmishes right?" **_

_**Tsunade laughed at this **_

"_**Yes, the Kages are the rulers of the five cities, at least in title and appearances. BUT they are little more then figure heads and puppets in all reality though. Mouthpieces that the Fallen Court speaks through and controls just like fancy little marionettes. **_

_**As for the issue of the Werewolves and Vampires, think of it in this way. The vampires are led by Orochimaru who overthrew their last queen and literally ate her heart, eyes and brain, and also drank all of her blood, thus infusing him with all of her power. Orochimaru use to be a part of the Fallen Court before he left them and joined the ranks of the Vampiric Legions and overthrew their queen. Do you really think that the Fallen Court would ever let one of their members leave alive? Some people say it's because he is too powerful for them to stop them. But look at in this way Sakura, the Fallen Court's main mode of operating and action is underhand trickery and manipulation. So they make the illusion that Orochimaru left their ranks and joined the Vampires, but in all actuality they sent him there to overthrow the Vampiric Queen and thusly gain control over all the Vampiric forces in the lands. It's also a disturbingly identical situation with the werewolves. Their King was challenged for his right to be the Alpha of all packs, and was beaten and then killed by Kakashi who also defected from the Fallen Court. Now Kakashi wasn't a Lord of the court, but one of the guards to the court. His situation is somewhat different, because it does seem that though he might have been ordered to take control of the Werewolf packs that he did after gaining leadership of all the werewolves sever all ties with the Fallen Court. This would make some sense, since the werewolves aren't the ones directly attacking and raiding villages, rather attacking the vampires that attack the village. If they were both under control of the Fallen Courts don't you think that Kakashi and Orochimaru would not be sending their forces to try and destroy each other so badly? Also take in account even your own story. You and Ino were separated when you encountered werewolves. They attacked, but yet they didn't kill and eat you as werewolves should have done. Instead you were left unconscious and severely wounded just in time for Shizune to fine you and bring you here. It's all connected Sakura, never forget there is a great complex pattern, a design to all of this, and once you start looking at the design the more and more you'll be horrified." **_

"You seem to be lost in thought,"

Sakura jumped, startled from her recollections as she turned to face a grinning Naruto. She quickly smothered her surprise, under a cold glare, before her face softened into a dim smile.

"Yeah, I've had a lot on my mind recently," she replied, wrapping her arms around herself and lowering her head so her pink locks fell in front of her face like a veil.

"Well it's all going to start getting pretty hectic once we get back to the base." Naruto admitted, stretching his arms so his joints could faintly be heard popping over the rushing wind.

"If you do agree to join us then you'll be the last piece to finish off the coven, and we can finally function fully and properly and get underway with what we've been preparing to do."

Sakura's eyes narrowed

"So you haven't done any campaigns or quests yet?"

Naruto laughed at this, quickly shaking his head

"No, no we have, believe it. It's just that we're following a kind of prophecy and we're only doing certain things until all the pieces are in place. You're the last piece, and after that things are really going to start picking up."

Sakura shrugged, raising her head and brushing her hair back, before putting it in a messy bun. She took out a thin cigarette and quickly lit it, savoring the taste as the smoke burnt down her throat.

"I haven't agreed join this coven of yours just yet. I've agreed to go with you to your stronghold and meet the other members, but that could simply just be out of curiosity. Don't assume that I've already hitched my wagon to yours,"

Naruto smirked at this and laughed

"You know you really do remind me of Granny,"

Sakura frowned, as Naruto moved slightly closer with a mischievous look.

"And who is it that I remind you of?" she asked coldly, eyes tightening and her pale hand curling into a fist.

Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head

"Granny Tsunade of course, mind you I haven't seen her since I was really little, but her and my teacher Jiraiya use to be old teammates and are close friends."

Sakura's mouth nearly fell open as she stared at the blonde man containing the nine tailed fox demon. He was surprising her more and more as she got to know him better. He was not only the host and physical container or prison for the strongest of the tailed beasts, but was apprenticed to one of the most powerful and prominent magic-users in the lands, someone Sakura had met on several occasions when he had stopped to visit Tsunade's manor.

"You're apprenticed by the Toad Sage?" she asked quietly "But he never mentioned you,"

Naruto's head dropped as he let out a string of curses

"Stupid, perverted old man. He probably told Tsunade but asked her not to mention it to you. How do you think I heard about you Sakura? Jiraiya said he met you several times, but he didn't want to spread the word about me because the containers of the tailed beasts are hunted because of what they have within them."

Sakura smiled at this

"It makes sense. The less people that know about you the safer you are. I remember hearing rumors of the Fallen Courts capturing the one tailed beast's container and extracting the demon from her to harness its powers for their own deeds."

Naruto shook his head eyes taking on a harsh, steely look

"Not quite. It's a fraction of the Fallen Courts that are elite members that have branched away from the main court but still work closely with them. They're known as the Crimson Dawn, and they're the ones tracking the tailed beasts and their containers. It's how Jiraiya and I got separated, when they raided the brothel that also served as his hideout."

Sakura sighed

"Yeah Tsunade and I were separated under similar circumstances when her manor was raided. She and Shizune have gone off into hiding, and I was left to fend for myself and disappear into the cracks of the world."

Naruto's eyes softened and he put one of his warm, tanned hands on her shoulder

"Yeah they all have seemed to have gone off in puffs of smoke. I haven't found any traces or heard anything from them. I think they're planning something big, and they've left us to follow our own paths while they ready themselves for what's coming. We'll see them again soon enough. That much I'm sure of, that much I know."

Sakura nodded, and let another small smile grace her porcelain features

"Yes, I feel as much, it's just a matter of time. But the when of the matter is what seems to be in question. Speaking of that when will we be getting to this stronghold of you and your coven's? We've been traveling nearly all night, and on a giant frog to boot. How come nothing has noticed this and tried to stop us?"

Naruto grinned

"It's really not wise of us to be traveling like this, but Ino cast a powerful enough spell around us that should play tricks on anyone's mind who does glimpse us. The way she explained it was as some kind of multi-layered illusion, so it seems just like a large patch of clouds or something else that will go unnoticed."

"Well that was quick thinking, although even if Ino is powerful, a lot more powerful then before, I don't think her spell will be able to keep us concealed for long, or from all things."

Naruto nodded

"Yeah, you're probably right, but we've been traveling fast and we'll be at the stronghold very soon, so we only have about another hour at the most to go before we'll there."

Just as Naruto finished saying this, there was a deafening cracking sound that came off as more of an explosion, and the shimmering silvery wisps of energy that had surrounded them shattered.

The giant toad shook, instantly waking Ino up and causing her to screech.

"What the fuck was that?" the blonde woman screamed, pulling her dagger inscribed with runes out from beneath the folds of her cloak. The runes began to glow as Ino's eyes grew distant and then sharpened in the blink of an eye.

Sakura tensed, recognizing that look even after all these years. Ino was currently probing the area with her psychic senses trying to detect where the attack came from and what had sent the attack.

The pinkette pulled out a dark green bag and quickly opened it, and walked in a wide circle, as she first made one circle and then an inner circle around them from the grayish powder in the pouch.

She then pulled out another pouch and tossed several protective herbs and crystals into the gap between the two circles. Sakura's hands glowed with a faint energy for a moment as she made a slight incision on her palm with a small silver dagger pulled from her bag.

She slammed her hand down causing a barrier of ethereal energy to surround them in a spherical shape, just as a massive stream of flame enclosed them.

Naruto muttered a low curse, spreading his hands out and sending a flurrying gust of air around them, causing the flames to rise up away from them and the cloud coverage to clear so their attacker couldn't hide.

"It's Sasuke," Ino replied curtly "He somehow managed to track us,"

Even before Ino had finished speaking, a dark figure had materialized before them. It was a tall man, eerily pale, with crimson and black colored eyes and spiked black hair that was layered in an unusual pattern.

He was handsome Sakura grudgingly admitted, except for the hallow look in his eyes, and the arrogant smirk that decorated his features, revealing a mouth full of sharpened teeth that looked like they belonged in a shark.

Sakura stared dumbly at the man for a moment, as Ino sent out a telekinetic blast causing Sasuke to move through the air. Somewhat dully Sakura noted that he was levitating. Perhaps a better term would have been flying except for the disturbing floating quality his movements held, almost as if the man were grasping through water.

Obviously it was a vampire attacking them, Sakura could sense as well as see that much, but what unsettled her more so was the fact that Sasuke was Orochimaru's apprentice. That meant that above all else he was exceptionally skilled and powerful, and also extremely deranged if not highly disturbed.

Sakura remembered her mentor telling her of her other old teammate and friend. Orochimaru had been twisted and cruel even when they were younger, doing all sorts of horrible magical experiments and tests.

It also meant that now the apprentices of the Three Myths, the legendarily powerful and skilled magic-users known as the Toad Sage, the Slug Queen, and the Snake Lord were all gathered together in the same place.

Sasuke appeared suddenly in front of the barrier. Slamming his pale fist against the wall of energy and causing it to shake, although not break it. He stared at Sakura with his blood colored eyes, flecked in patterns of ebony and hissed.

"How annoying," he cut out lowly "You really think a petty barrier like this can stop me?"

Sasuke let out a roar as his hand became surrounded in electricity and a shrill chirping sound filled the air.

Ino turned to Sakura a cocky smile on her face.

"My, my, he's as arrogant as ever. I think you know what to do Sakura as soon as he hits the barrier."

Sakura nodded just as the black-haired vampire struck the barrier with enough force to shatter it. Sakura twisted her hand and sent the force of his attack and the force of the shattering barrier refracting back at him, hitting him directly and causing the Vampire to curse.

Ino stepped up next to the pinkette, forming her hands into a circle like shape as a purplish energy surrounded them, concentrating before it shot out at Sasuke, who disintegrated it with a bolt of lightening he released from his fingertips.

Sakura's hand quickly became encased with the dark blue energy of her medical scalpels and she went to charge towards Sasuke, but was pulled back by a hand on her shoulder.

Surprised she turned to see Naruto with a grim look on his face.

"No, I'll fight him," was all he said before jumping off the giant toad, a blur of blood red and orange energy.

Ino frowned as the two started their skirmish in the air. It was really almost invisible; for the two were moving so fast that they were just blurs of the energies they had called around themselves and were using to fight.

It seemed more like a storm then anything. Lightening and fire were flashing through the sky, the wind was being thrown in numbing howling tempests, and the energy was pulsing fiercely and quite heavily through the air.

Sakura sighed , coming to stand next to Ino, her medical scalpels still activated.

"Men," she replied tiredly and at this comment Ino laughed, slinging her arm around the smaller girl's shoulders

"Oh I have missed you all these years!" the blonde replied brightly "But Naruto and Sasuke have….let's just say they have some bad blood between them, quite literally and figuratively."

"But Naruto was weakened by what he did with the Nine-tails to rescue me wasn't he, and he's still trying to fight Sasuke on his own?"

Ino shrugged stowing her rune covered knife back into her cloak.

"One of the small blessings that come with the curse of containing a demon in you is that Naruto is able to recover and heal very quickly. Kind of like you, except it's the demon inside him healing him instead of his own magic."

Sakura bit her lip and grunted before slowly speaking

"But Sasuke is powerful and extremely dangerous. I remember Tsunade talking about Orochimaru and how he had turned Sasuke who use to be from some prestigious old family of magic-users, and that even before that he had decided to seek out Orochimaru and train under him. Only someone with a severe lust for power would do such a thing. Orochimaru is known for his weird experiments and tests."

"Oh yeah without a doubt Sasuke has some real issues inside that pretty skull of his, but it doesn't matter, Naruto will dispatch him soon enough. He has a trick up his sleeve that should get rid of Sasuke for the time being, and then we can be on our merry way."

An explosion shook the sky, and a twisting cyclone pulled down from the clouds and swallowed Sasuke up, carrying him away until he was a black dot in the distance, twisting and withering in the tempest's grip unable to escape the forceful winds.

Naruto landed back on the toad's saddle, and pulled the reigns making the giant summoned creature sprint even faster. The toad hopped and in a great release of energy it hopped, teleporting midair and then landing on the ground in front of a towering fortress.

The toll of the teleportation caused the frog to dissipate into a thick orange mist, and when that cleared Sakura finally got a good look at the Leaf Coven's stronghold.

It was an imposing structure built between to steep cliffs, and surrounded by patches of forest. The stones were a sleek gray, covered in layers of moss and green algae, and the front gate was an impressive iron structure littered with all sorts of magical sigils.

The fortress was completely inaccessible from the ground, and Sakura realized that the cliffs it was built between not only acted as strong natural fortifications, but along with the trees and plant growth, concealed the stronghold from sight.

A waterfall crashed down into a pool that had begun absorbing the first, faint traces of dawn. It was like a curtain of silver and blue, laced with oranges and reds, and as Sakura stared at the waterfall, Naruto and Ino walked into the pool.

"The entrance into the stronghold is obviously concealed," Ino replied "The thing is it is also heavily protected with our best enchantments and spells, and the only way to reveal the entrance is to have one of these."

Ino pulled a chain from around her neck, over her head, and lowered the purple crystal attached to it, into the water.

The crystal glowed and hummed, sending a series of ripples through the pool, that as they skimmed out, paused mid-motion and sat there in heavy silence.

The ripples slowly rose, bit by bit, until they connected into a series of stairs that turned to stone.

"It's literally the only way to gain actress to our base," Ino replied with a smile

"All the spells and enchantments, the powerful barriers and wards we've placed up ensure that. Even if they try and reach it through flying they can't it'll be like they ran into a brick wall."

Sakura smiled, walking up the floating stone steps behind them

"It's very impressive," the pinkette replied "And certainly it's secure. But how do you maintain such powerful barriers consistently? I can only imagine the staggering amount of energy it takes to maintain all of these spells and enchantments."

Ino shrugged, flipping her pony-tail over her shoulder

"It's really not that difficult. We have several of them powdered naturally, we just crafted the enchantments to draw the power in from the earth of sky, and several of them are actually fueled by the waterfall. There are also some powdered by crystals and complex diagrams and sigils which are carved all over the base."

Sakura halted mid-step, impressed by the complexity of the bases defenses. Ino and Naruto continued up the stone steps without pausing, and Sakura looked ahead of them to see where the steps were leading to.

They rose around the waterfall like a spiraling staircase, and then jutted out behind the cascading wall of shimmering water, into a pathway. Sakura walked quicker to catch up to the two, Ino still merrily chatting with Naruto who was walking energetically.

"You're gonna love it here Sakura," he said with a grin "It's a really nice place, and everyone is looking forward to meeting you."

Sakura sighed, Naruto seemed to never tire, and was always a constant ball of energy, and Ino was just as she remembered her, cheery and talkative, almost never stopping her chatter in its constant barrage.

They reached the stone pathway behind the waterfall, and as soon as Sakura's foots stepped onto it and off the final step, the steps quivered, before turning into water and falling back into the pool below with a loud splash.

The pathway lead into a gaping mouth of a cave entrance, one that rose up high and was covered in blankets of green allege and small clumps of water plants growing out through the cracks.

Sakura recognized several medicinal plants growing out of the cracks, and made a mental note to come back and see what she could collect in terms of supplies for medicines and remedies.

Several arcane symbols and runes were etched along the cave's entrance, some that Sakura knew, some she recognized for its basic purposes, and some that she had never seen before and had no idea what it symbolized or what powers or energies it channeled.

Naruto flicked his wrist, and suddenly the blackness of the cave's entrance vanished, replaced with flickering gold light from torches that lined the walls.

Shadows danced in wake of the torch flames, and Sakura realized it was really more of a tunnel then a cave, that curved and winded deeper into the cliff.

The three made their way through the tunnel, Naruto leading them, Ino still chatting away, now talking about the various symbols and sigils covering the tunnel walls, and Sakura following behind the both of them

She was only half listening to Ino, taking note of some of the symbols she pointed out that the pinkette hadn't recognized or even known, but a part of her was looking ahead. Wondering what other characters this Coven of the Leaves held. She wondered what kind of powers and abilities they had, what they looked like, how they acted, and most importantly, how they functioned and worked together as such a large-scale team or coven.

Most covens were relatively small, not going above thirteen members, and the smallest being three magic-users. Any lower then that, and it was more like a partnership, and any higher then thirteen started getting unruly, hard to direct and control for specific purposes.

After a coven reached thirteen, it generally branched off into different circles, all still connected but each with their own leader and specific jobs and roles. Then it became what some termed as a grove; a collection of covens or circles all intertwined yet separate entities that focused on specific tasks and roles.

Some termed them divisions, others legions, but regardless of what they were termed, Sakura was wondering if the Coven of Leaves functioned more on that level then an actual coven.

She had said as much to Naruto on their journey here, but he had told her once they were at the stronghold it all could be explained, and had only told her that the Coven of Leaves had several members, and from that Sakura assumed more then thirteen magic-users were a part of it.

"And this symbol is from an old written language, from an ancient civilization that has long since faded into the depths of history. Some of the legends around it claim that the people were celestial beings, from the star covered skies, and that's why it's loosely been referred to as Celestial Writing or Sky symbols. Whatever the people behind its creation were, the symbols are still powerful and tend to channel specific constellational energies from various stars and such."

Ino explained cheerfully, pointing to a large symbol that dominated one section of the cave wall. Sakura recognized several of the symbols around it as representing specific stars and constellations and planetary forces, but the symbol itself looked like a crude angel drawn in stick figure and then bent around in awkward positions.

"Where did you come across these Celestial Writings?" Sakura asked "I've never heard of it before, never mind seen it."

Ino laughed "I would be surprised if you had, one of our members is an avid researcher and collector of arcane knowledge from all over the lands. They spend most of their time researching old scrolls and texts, and then trying out the information in the various writings."

Sakura would have asked more about this person, but the tunnel had come to an end, another gaping mouth of an opening appearing before them, spilling the rays of bright morning sunlight into the tunnel.

A set of stairs led up to the entrance, and Sakura was relieved to have left the cramped confines of the tunnel behind. When she stepped out of the cave, the pinkette held back a startled cry.

Rising before her was the fortress she had seen on the ground, but it had altered from the sight she'd first glanced upon.

It was the same imposing structure, but now it was entirely devoured by thick green vines, and looked more like an abandoned citadel slowly turning into ruins. The trees were much thicker, and Sakura figured that now she wouldn't be able to even catch sight of it if she were on the ground.

Ino looked over at her with a knowing smirk.

"A bit different from what you saw below huh?" the blonde laughed at this and gestured around with one of her arms.

"That was an illusion what you saw, although it normally is invisible to most, but since we brought you with us, the invisibility enchantment didn't affect you. Even with it being invisible to most, there are still several other illusions cast over it, and one of them is to make it look less defended, more tamed. Now that you've passed through the tunnel, the illusions no longer take effect on you, and you see that the base is almost entirely eaten with foliage and vines. The woods around it are much thicker, and it's all for our defenses. The illusions scramble what it really looks like so if our enemies are able to dispel the invisibility enchantments they will see the fortress, but not as it really is. It makes it so they don't know what they're going into, even if they think they do. All the plants and overgrowth here act as natural concealment and defenses."

"So then in one aspect this stronghold is always changing its appearance, shifting what it appears as so that intruders can't get any information on its defenses and weaknesses then?"

Ino smirked

"Exactly, but there will be time for explaining all the ins and outs of it later. Right now you need to meet the rest of the Leaf Coven, and decide if you'll join us or not,"

Sakura nodded, and the three, made their way through a tangled path, where on either side crops grew in large patches and plots. There also was a large pool off to one side, that trickled down the mountainous slope and Sakura suspected that it ended as the waterfall.

There were little buildings placed here and there. What seemed to be a faded barn with livestock, a forge, and also several other outbuildings that Sakura could only guess as to what their uses and purposes were.

It was shocking really, because more so then a stronghold, this place seemed to be its own community teeming with life, and it could have been a small village or town on its own accord.

There was obviously a large food and water supply, all defended by the towering cliffs, and Sakura realized that the stronghold and all its outbuildings were built in a valley of sorts that opened up in the cliffs themselves.

The cliff walls towered up high above them, rising on all sides, a natural wall that could put even the strongest cities defenses to shame.

They reached the metal gate of the fortress, and on its own accord, the iron grate-like barrier rose up, and the heavy doors swung open revealing the interior of the fortress.

The fortress was built like most other fortresses, and with the same basic design. It opened up into the hall that was lined with tables, several benches and chairs as well as a few couches and bookcases. There were weapon racks and chests scattered about, as well as several shields and banners hanging on the wall.

The banners were all the same, a deep black cloth with a scattering of green leaves spiraling down in a lazy dance. Two massive fireplaces faced each other on either side of the hall, and to the left and right were narrow passageways that lead further into the fortress.

There were a few archways and doors further into the hall, and at the head of the hall was a massive circular table with high backed chairs surrounding it. A complex and dizzying magical diagram was drawn out on the table's surface in white chalk, and several crystals were positioned and various points of the diagram, with herbs, bones, and other trinkets placed at other places.

Naruto lead them down the hall, and past the massive table, to a door that had been concealed between one of the tapestries on the back wall. It was made of a heavy wood, and gave a groan of protest as Naruto pushed it open and ushered the two girls inside, before he entered and closed the door behind them.

It took Sakura's eyes a moment to adjust to the dimness in the room. Just as most strongholds featured tiny slits for windows that provided light and ventilation but didn't weaken the building's defenses with large open holes for enemies to enter through, this fortress was no different.

But unlike the main hall that had been illuminated by two roaring fires kindled in the two enormous fire places, this room was lit only by candles randomly placed throughout the room, throwing must of the room into shadows.

From what Sakura could determine the room was circular in shape, and probably one of the lower rooms in a tower, and what the flickering candle flames revealed in their dim glow, was a room of figures entirely hooded, all gathered together in a loose cluster.

Their robes were all a dark green, and Sakura was surprised because Ino's robes were purple, and Naruto's were orange, so she hadn't expected them all to have the same shade.

A stiff silence filled the room, and Sakura found herself disturbed as simultaneously all of the hooded figures turned to look at her. An eerie sensation swept over Sakura, as she felt probed and invaded by all their sensations, before she quickly closed her mind and emotions and concealed them with even faster haste.

She let a small smile grace her lips as she noticed a few of the hooded fingers wince, and even one person flinch and let out a startled cry.

Ino stepped up next to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, while Naruto turned and gestured towards the hooded figures that all slipped their hoods off.

"This is the Coven of the Leaves," Naruto began with a grin stretching across his tanned faced

One of the figures stepped forward from the shadows and Sakura jolted back, hissing as her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

"You!" she seethed as the figure stepped closer to her, and then charged forth in a blur of energy.

AN: So this is chapter two of The Coven of the Leaves. I hope you enjoyed it, and I've already started working on the third chapter so hopefully it will be out by the end of the weekend or by mid-way through next week at the latest. This chapter is more setting the scene for the upcoming chapters, and sort of a filler chapter in the sense that it explains a lot of what's going on in the story. I know it seems that Sasuke only made a brief appearance and was easily dealt with, but don't worry he'll be back soon, and he'll be much more or a challenge. Let's just say he was arrogant and Naruto caught him off guard by summoning a tornado. Make sure to review or send me a PM if you have any questions, suggestions, commentary and so on. Hopefully this time I'll get around to completing this story. As always thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope you enjoyed the story.

- Petalsxinxthexwind


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