Naruto 1. Off to a Rough Start

Off to a Rough Start.

"Uzumaki Naruto," called the instructor's voice.

Out of the long string of 11 and 12 year-olds stepped one blond, the smallest, and the only one wearing bright orange. He walked in a straight line along the sun-baked dirt that made up the training field to the place marked with an "X" in front of the instructor, who happened to be Iruka.

_Please Naruto,_ thought Iruka, _please pass this time, for both our sakes… _

"Naruto" said Iruka, "I want you to try and transform into the Hokage."

Naruto looked around, from Iruka, to the academy building behind Iruka, to the strange ninja standing off by the schoolyard gate wearing half a mask and a cockeye forehead protector, and breathed a small sigh. _Why does there have to be an audience for this?_ Naruto wondered, looking beyond the silver haired Ninja to the second man standing farther back. This more concealed character wore clothes stranger than the first, a jet black cloak that hid him from shoulder to toe, and a swirled orange mask with an opening for only one eye.

Despite the fact that he and Iruka had been practicing this transformation for days on end, Naruto still couldn't quite get it right. Something always seemed to go wrong, but nevertheless he formed the familiar seal of the ram and shouted "Henge!"

There was a loud "poof" and a puff of smoke, which the wind blew away revealing an almost exact copy Sarutobi. Almost... The spiky blond hair that erupted where the Hokage's hat should have been ruined the effect and brought uproarious laughter from the crowd of children.

Iruka sighed and put his fingers on his nose, rubbing slightly at the scar.

"Naruto…"

The boy released the jutsu and stepped back, begging Iruka for one more chance. "Please Iruka-Sensei," Naruto said, putting his hands together and staring at Iruka with watering eyes. This was his fourth time failing and one more letdown would be more than he could handle. "Please, I know I can do it this time."

"Naruto, you know I ca-"

"Please give him another chance Iruka-sensei" called a voice from the crowd.

Everyone turned to look at the source, Yamanaka Ino who quickly blushed. The little blonde girl slapped one hand over her mouth as her cheeks reddened.

"Err," she stammered, vying for some composure and slowly letting her hand drop down to her side. "What possible harm could it do? He hasn't passed yet so why not let him try?" She glanced at Naruto out of the corner of her eye, wiping a blonde lock of hair from her face as a small smile tugged at one corner of her mouth.

Naruto looked at her curiously, cocking his head off to one side. She hadn't complimented him, that much was certain, but at the same time there was no disdain in her voice. She wanted him to have another chance or so it seemed. Naruto didn't understand it.

Uchiha Sasuke shook his head, ruffling his raven hair and stared off towards the north. _What a couple of morons, _he thought.

_I want to, _Iruka thought wearily, _and why not? He deserves another chance. He wants to be a ninja more than anyone here._

"Okay Naruto," called Iruka, "One chance and one only. But this is going to be more of a challenge. I want you to transform into … Nara Shikamaru!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru all looked at Iruka.

_Great, now I get to be made a fool of,_ thought Shikamaru.

Sasuke glanced between Iruka and Naruto, just as Naruto glanced between Sasuke and Iruka.

"I realize that **Sasuke**, **Uchiha Sasuke** already performed that transformation," said the Chuunin, "but it should prove a challenge, seeing as how you were not told to practice it, Naruto. Do you think you're up to it?"

_I see… _thought Shikamaru.

Naruto glared at the Uchiha across the field. "I'll show you" he whispered to himself as he formed the ram once again.

Naruto closed his eyes and sparks of blue shot from his fingers as he yelled "Henge!" and erupted into a cloud of smoke.

For a minute, no one moved. There was no wind to clear the smoke now, so anticipation began to build.

"Naruto?" asked Iruka after another quiet moment passed without any signs of the blonde.

"Iruka-Sensei," called an almost raspy voice from inside the cloud as a silhouette began to take shape. "How's this?" asked a perfect copy of Shikamaru stepping from the mist, "do I pass?"

Iruka almost leapt up, even going so far as to crouch, ready to burst out for joy, but quickly regained his composure and walked forward to inspect the technique. Everyone sat silent, and the masked ninja turned away towards the center of town. Shikamaru smiled, and Sasuke pretended not to notice. Ino looked on and tried not to smile, but failed, then turned to look at Sasuke. She looked over the raven haired Uchiha, but glanced back at Naruto as Iruka inspected him, and nearly squealed with girlish delight at the Uzumaki's success.

Hyuuga Hinata merely pressed her fingers together and looked at the ground while trying to think of something to do to keep anyone from noticing she was blushing.

"Hmmm, good good," muttered Iruka trying to sound casual as he inspected Naruto's Henge. "Well, I'm impressed, perhaps even better than Sasuke's was earlier."

Sasuke snapped his vision on Iruka, but then resumed staring off into space as though nothing had happened, while Sakura was slightly more vocal.

"Are you kidding!?" shouted the young Haruno. "Sasuke-kun's was way better than that cheap imitation."

Iruka ignored the remark as Sasuke glared at Sakura, silencing her immediately.

"Hah!" yelled Naruto, poofing back to himself and pointing a finger enthusiastically at Sasuke, "hear that duck-butt? Iruka-Sensei said mine was better and- OWW!"

Iruka slapped Naruto on the back of the head and told him to be quiet or fail.

_Duck Butt? _thought nearly every student in line, turning or leaning to look at Sasuke' hair

SC

Back in the classroom Iruka settled everyone into their seats, took his place at the front of the class, and promptly began to congratulate the nine students who passed the exam while consoling the twenty some who could try again next time. But by the time he got passed the congratulation part, Naruto had become so wrapped up in his actually passing to notice when Iruka called his name.

Needless to say, the eraser soon hurled by the angry teacher found its way to Naruto's forehead with no resistance. It connected with a thunk.

"Now," continued Iruka, "Those of you who passed have been divided up into teams which I will now read off."

All eyes turned to the front. This was what they all wanted to know. These teams were essentially for life, and no one wanted to miss a minute of it.

"Team 7, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto Uzumaki."

Sakura at first nearly jumped up to cheer, but realization quickly set in and suddenly wasn't sure whether to applaud or cry. Sure she was with Sasuke, but Naruto? Was it worth it?

Ino glared down at Sakura from her seat and brooded until her name was called for team 9, along with Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji.

SC

Naruto bounded towards his apartment, chanting to himself that he was one step closer to being Hokage and that he had beaten Sasuke good, and that now Sakura was sure to notice him, and all kinds of self-assuring statements, stopping every few yards to declare to the bystanders that he was going to be a ninja now and that they probably never saw that coming. Most of them just ignored him, some huffed and turned up their noses, but no one really paid him the attention.

Ino walked quickly home, which was only a bock from the academy, and went inside to greet her mother who was standing at the kitchen table over a roast that could feed a family twice the size of the Yamanakas.

"You're home early, Ino," said the woman "is everything alright?"

"Yes mother" replied Ino warmly, "the exam was today."

"Oh? And how did you do might I ask?" asked her mother.

"I passed, but I didn't make it onto Sasuke's team."

Mrs. Yamanaka put a hand on Ino's shoulder and said she was sorry.

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be, but still," sighed Ino.

"How many other's passed?"

"Eight besides me," said Ino, "Including Naruto."

Mrs. Yamanaka raised an eyebrow and chuckled a little. "That's impressive, well why don't you invite him to dinner?"

"What?" asked a very shocked Ino, "you'd, I mean why?"

"Why not?" said her mother, "I mean he's failed several years in a row, and this could be a nice way to say congratulations on finally passing. Plus have you seen where he lives and what he eats? Everyone needs a good meal once in a while."

Ino thought for a minute and then said "Yeah, I think I will, but father hates Naruto and says I should too…"

"Don't worry sweetie, Father won't be home till late tonight, so I don't think he'll mind if we don't let him know."

SC

By the time he arrived at his own door, Naruto was almost too excited to notice the note that was taped there but he ripped it off and dashed inside, going to the kitchen and taking the single, cracked bowl out of the poorly hung cabinet. He set the note aside without opening it and took out a pan from under the dripping sink. Filling it with water, Naruto set the pan on the stove and turned on the gas, not noticing the lack of the igniters clicking.

He sat at the table and picked up the note, breaking the wax seal flipping it open.

Scanning it revealed that he was invited to dinner at the Yamanaka house at 7pm, roughly two hours from now, and that it was their treat. He thought for a minute and looked over at the bowl and the unopened ramen pack and decided he didn't really want to, and that it was probably just a trick so that Ino's Father could try to hit him with yet another kunai.

It was then that he noticed something, two things actually. One was the smell of gas, lots of gas, and the second was the lack of flame under the pot of water on the stove. He quickly got up and turned off the stove to stop anymore gas from filling the room, and walked up to the window and opened it. There was no breeze to pull out the fumes, so Naruto walked to the light switches on the wall and flipped the one for the fan to get the air moving. He had never used it before, as he wanted to keep the electric bill down, but the fumes were horrible and burning his eyes. Just as he moved the switch, he looked up and noticed the copper wire running from the switch to the fan was badly frayed as it reached the ceiling.

"Uh-oh," he muttered as a spark leapt from the faulty wiring.

Passersby Naruto's apartment were knocked to the ground by a shockwave, and awed as a massive fireball exploded out the window of the housing complex on the edge of Konoha.

Naruto sat against the wall covering his ringing ears and trying to catch the breath the explosion had knocked out of him. He opened one eye and looked around what had been his kitchen and living room. Fortunately there was not much to burn; the only furniture, a decrepit couch which served as his bed was now a smoldering pile of splintered wood, and as the structure was made of concrete and the wallpaper had been burned up quickly, there was no real damage to the building.

He got up a minute later, and dusted down his blackened clothes, then decided to have a look in his closet. The doors had been blown in, but his meager wardrobe was in acceptable condition.

"Maybe I will take the Yamanakas up on their offer," he muttered to himself.


	2. Dinner with the Yamanakas

Chapter 2- Dinner with the Yamanakas.

_I can't believe it, I just won't believe it,_ Sakura thought to herself as she meandered down the street towards her home in the northern quadrant of town. _How could I get stuck with Naruto? I mean sure I'm on Sasuke's team, but with Naruto. It's just not fair, who made that stupid roster anyway?_

She continued her mental tirade for some minutes, completely unaware that it had been the Hokage and her future Sensei who has assigned her to her team, until she passed her street, and come to a far less populated section of Konoha. In fact, she would have continued on if not for the symbol painted on the building in front of her which caught her attention: The Uchiha Crest.

"Wow did I take a wrong turn," she muttered.

She turned to leave, until she heard the clang of metal striking metal from around a corner, and a voice. It was Sasuke's voice she realized and she, fearing he was in a fight, promptly bounded off to see if he was alright.

As she turned the corner and passed under an arch, she was suddenly in the middle of a garden of well manicured grass and randomly placed stones as tall as herself. Around each stone was a small moat of raked sand and in each moat there were dozens of kunai, along with a small wooden disk with a dot in the center: a target.

In the middle of it all was Sasuke, so absorbed in flinging ninja stars at a small man-shaped target that moved on a system of ropes and pulleys that he seemingly failed to notice her intrusion. Before she could even say hello Sasuke leapt up into the air and flipped upside down and around. While he was no less than twenty feet up he jerked around in a circle and flung out his arms, spraying a hail kunai out in all directions. Some stuck into the targets roped to the rocks, some collided in midair to change course and whiz towards the targets hidden by the rocks. The vast majority however merely thudded harmlessly into the sand.

One stray flew strait towards Sakura, barely missing her torso and passing between her arm and side because she sidestepped just in time to save herself. She spun around and planted her back against the exterior wall, trying not to gasp from shock. It was nearly a minute before she peeked around the corner to see what had become of Sasuke's training.

He just stood there, arms locked at his sides and growling. It seemed almost as if tears were welling in his eyes though at a glance they seemed foggy and distant. Sakura looked around and saw that almost none of the kunai had made their mark, but those that did were dead in the bull's-eye entirely.

Sasuke raised his arm and flung one last kunai at a rock to his left. With a loud thud, it buried itself almost an inch into the stone.

"Sasuke-kun," said Sakura coming out from behind the entryway, "are you-"

"Go home," said Sasuke turning to stare at her. His eyes were as dark as ever, but now sharp and clear, almost animalistic. "When one trains to kill, it's best he be left alone."

SC

Naruto stood in front of the small house attached to a flower shop, barely a block from the academy, and glanced at the address by the front window. He looked down at the note and read the address, then looked back up at the house again. He repeated the process two or three more times before he mustered the nerve to go up and knock on the door.

When nothing happened for more than a minute Naruto considered going home, thinking that it must be some kind of prank; it wouldn't be the first time someone played him that way before. But as he turned to leave, the door opened and a relatively short woman with bleach blonde hair and turquoise eyes stepped out, followed by the pleasant aroma of wildflowers.

"Good evening Mrs. Yamanaka," said Naruto, making a rare attempt at being polite. "Thank you for inviting me."

"I wouldn't have had you anywhere else tonight," said the woman kindly, "It really is our pleasure, but please do come in."

Naruto was surprised by the display of… kindness, and was even more surprised when he stepped over the threshold and Mr. Yamanaka wasn't there to throw something at him. His hand instinctively went to the spot on the back of his head where he'd been struck by the man.

"What's the matter?" asked Mrs. Yamanaka, noticing the gesture.

Naruto immediately put his hand back down at his side and said "nothing."

"You're a little early," said the woman, looking at the clock which read 5:45, and guiding Naruto (after he took off his sandals) to a couch in the small, but comfortable living room. "Dinner isn't entirely ready, and Ino is working in the garden. You could go say hello if you wanted. She might appreciate the company."

Again, Naruto was shocked. Most parents screamed when he came near their children, and never had he been invited to actually play or spend time with anyone, excepting Iruka and Sarutobi."

"Um, no thank you," said Naruto, not entirely sure how to react. "I wouldn't want to intrude or interrupt anything."

Mrs. Yamanaka shrugged, turned to face the small table, and began arranging flowers in a vase on the otherwise unadorned stand. "You're too polite," she said. It was obvious from her voice that the smile hadn't faded from her face.

_Why is she being so nice?_ Naruto wondered as he watched for a minute, and then asked "How long have you been a flower person?" trying to fill the somewhat awkward silence that had pervaded the room.

She chuckled a little, turned around and shrugged again.

"Well," she began, "I've been a florist, pretty much since before I can remember. My side of the family has tended Konoha's gardens for years. It's just what we do: plant seeds, nurture the saplings and sprouts, and promote life in general."

At that moment a door in the kitchen opened and Ino walked in carrying a small paper sack, and set it on the kitchen table beside a large slab of pork roast.

"Mother," she called, "We were out of ginger so I took some from the garden. Is that ok?"

Mrs. Yamanaka said yes, and then looked at Naruto.

"But really," she began, "how did the exam go? I heard you passed, and I heard you did it in style."

Naruto instantly brightened.

"I did I did!" Naruto said loudly. "Iruka-Sensei told me to Henge into Shikamaru and I did! I made a perfect copy and put Sasuke to shame and everyone was starring and thinking I was awesome…"

Mrs. Yamanaka sat and listened, smiling as Naruto recalled the five minute span a hundred different ways as the minutes began to roll by unnoticed. Occasionally she nodded or cocked her head off to one side and said "really?" Naruto was more than happy just keep talking as the time rolled by, and she was more than happy to listen, though she knew he was embellishing quite a bit.

Ino stood in the kitchen, chopping up some green herb and sprinkling it over a bowl of soup. She was listening in, and rolling her eyes at most of the story telling, and when Naruto mentioned shaming Sasuke, she nearly marched in and told him to can it, though something stopped her. At the same time though, he was entertaining. The comically exaggerated facts made for a funny story, and more than once she chuckled, not at Naruto as all of the other academy students did, but with him.

The story however, couldn't last forever, and some time later the boy stopped talking, not because he wanted to mind you, but because his throat was so dry that he literately couldn't say another word. His mouth kept moving, and his hands kept illustrating the story, but no sounds escaped him.

Ino noticed as his voice became raspier and dryer, and when he finally stopped she looked around the corner to see what the matter was. When she saw him miming the day's events to her mother, she almost cracked up and lost it. It was the funniest thing she'd seen all day, aside maybe from the blonde Sarutobi, or Sasuke's hair after Naruto pointed out…

She stopped and glared at Naruto, only then realizing just how much he had insulted the Uchiha, and that was something she would not tolerate. _No one insults Sasuke and gets away with it while I'm around,_ she thought to herself, as she reached into one of the cabinets and pulled out some ground Sinicio, which her mother would sometimes mix in with soups to act as a laxative. She sprinkled the powder over the bean soup, knowing that her mother hated that particular kind and wouldn't hesitate to pass it on to Naruto.

She also fixed two more bowls of chicken soup, and set them on a tray. Then adopting her brightest and cheeriest smile, she carried the tray out into the living room and set it down asking if anyone wanted appetizers before dinner.

Without hesitating, and before Naruto could say a thing Mrs. Yamanaka picked up the bowl of bean soup, and thanked Ino for making her favorite. Naruto picked up one of the bowls of chicken and thanked her. Ino stammered, then moved to take the bowl from her mother, who resisted and held the soup off beside her.

"What are you doing?" asked the older woman, "What's the matter?"

Ino was silent for a minute as both of the others starred at her. "Well, that was Naruto's soup," she said quickly, "I heard you liked beans so I decided to fix you some."

Naruto smiled widely, but then said "Nothing personal, but beans and I don't mix well if you catch what I'm saying."

"But mother I thought you said you hated bean soup," said Ino looking away from Naruto.

"I did, but I've very recently acquired a taste for the stuff," said Mrs. Yamanaka, raising the bowl to take a sip of the broth. Ino couldn't help but cringe a little, but then her mother stopped short.

"It smells kind of funny, Ino, what did you put in this soup?"

Ino put a hand behind her head and stared at the wall, and began to list off the ingredients, making sure to skip over the laxative.

"Strange," said her mother, "I've been a gardener and florist all my life. I've come to recognize the smells of thousands of different plants no matter how faint they may be, and I could've sworn I smelled something… off in here somewhere.

Ino paled, and put her hands behind her back, but kept smiling and said she didn't know anything. Her mother then set down the bowl, glared wickedly at her daughter, and told Ino to go dump it down the drain before anything bad became of it. Ino obliged immediately, and Mrs. Yamanaka smiled at Naruto.

"What was that all about?" asked the golden haired Nin.

"My daughter can be somewhat overzealous sometimes, and I'd guess that she didn't approve of when you said you humiliated Sasuke in front of the whole class," astutely reasoned the woman, standing up and politely excusing herself to the kitchen, leaving Naruto the only one in the living room.

Ino sat in the kitchen rocking back and forth on one of the stools. The now empty bowl of once poisoned soup sat in the sink, completely rinsed out.

"Why did you do that?" asked Mrs. Yamanaka quietly, and walking into the kitchen. "He's our guest, that means he's your guest too, and you decide to play a trick on him like one of those bullies at the academy. That was a cruel thing to do Ino, especially after you wanted to invite him over. Why?"

Ino looked up at her mother and tried to find the words.

"He, I mean I," she fumbled at first, "He was insulting Sasuke. He made fun of him in front of the whole class and-"

"How many times has Naruto been made fun of Ino?" interrupted a now angry mother. "How many times has Naruto been knocked down and kicked in front of the whole class? How many times has he had to run home because other children and even adults were throwing stones at him, simply because he crossed their path? Ino, how many times have you been the one throwing the stones, and what has he done to deserve it?"

"He plays tricks on people," said Ino, "he makes a fool of himself and says all kinds of stupid things."

Mrs. Yamanaka sighed and looked Ino strait in the eyes.

"Ino, Naruto is absolutely starving for attention. Everyone ignores him, pretends he doesn't exist, and tells him to go away when he comes close. That wears on anyone Ino, much more a twelve year old boy. The reason he does what he does, is because it gets people to notice him. Even if they think he's stupid and an idiot, they still notice him, and to Naruto, even that scorn must be better than being ignored entirely."

"But…" Ino began to protest then looked away. Her mother was silent, waiting for a response, but all Ino did was stare down at the textile floor, wanting to memorize every crack and chip but finding none in the faultless tile. "But he…" she began to protest again.

"Think Ino," said the girl's mother. "How would you feel?"

The room slipped into an uncomfortable quiet, a long and uncomfortable quiet, until the sound of a key rattling in the front door, shattered the silence.

"Wonderful," muttered Mrs. Yamanaka.

"Father's home…" said Ino, as both of them quickly left the kitchen and sat beside a very surprised Naruto on the couch in the living room.

The door opened and a tall man with a sword across his back and hair only slightly darker that Ino's stepped in. "I'm home," he began to say, but stopped short when he saw exactly who was sitting in the house.

"Inoichi," said Mrs. Yamanaka beaming, and getting up. She walked to him and said they have a guest.

Inoichi drew the sword and said he could clearly see that. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he pushed himself back into the couch.

"Ami," he said loudly and gruffly, shuffling his wife to the side, "what is that monster doing in my house?"

Mrs. Yamanaka immediately stepped in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Ino and I thought it would be nice to have Naruto over for dinner, seeing as how he passed his final exam at the academy with flying colors."  
"What?!" growled Kensai, "You," he said pointing at Ino, "invited that beast over?"

"Yes I did Father," said Ino getting up and trying to be as placating as possible, leaving a frozen Naruto on the couch, "I mean why not? What did he do for us not to be hospitable?"

Mrs. Yamanaka briefly glanced over at her daughter and smiled, then turned her attention back to her husband.

"What did he do?!" echoed Inoichi furiously, "What did he do!? What about everything he did to Konoha? What about what he did to our family!?"

Inoichi shoved Ami aside, and ran towards Naruto, pushing Ino to the ground and yelling for Naruto to get out.

Naruto rolled away, just as the sword split the upholstery where Naruto had sat less than a second before. The blonde dashed for the open door and dove through, ducking behind a small tree near the house in the yard. He knew Inoichi had plenty official training as a Ninja, The Yamanaka father was after all one of the more feared, not respected but assuredly feared, Jounin in the village.

There was a loud thud, as tip of a wickedly sharp sword burst through the tree, and nicked Naruto's shoulder. He got up and sprinted down the street, dodging and weaving as he went to try and avoid anything else thrown at him.

Inoichi stood in the door, shouting and cursing.

"Stay away from my family and my house you little freak! You monster, don't come back!"

Ino was stunned; she'd never seen anyone actually try to kill Naruto before. Taunting and teasing were one thing, but this? This seemed unacceptable to her. Tears actually began to well in her eyes.

_What did he ever do to Father, or Mother, or me? _She wondered to herself, nearly crying. _What's he EVER done to Konoha?_

SC

An hour later, Naruto sat with his back against the wall of his charred apartment. The remains of the doors to the closet had been braced against the front door and set in a hole Naruto had carved in the floor, making it virtually impossible for anything but a jutsu to break down the door. Naruto had ripped out the nails left in the wall by the previous owners and used then to stretch one of his shirts over the window to keep out prying eyes.

_What did I do to them? _He wondered to himself over and over again.

"Naruto?" called a voice on the other side of the fortified door, accompanied by a knock. He recognized it as Ino, and cringed, fearing she'd led her father to him. "Naruto?" she called again, "Listen, I'm not sure what to say, but what Father did was wrong. I don't know why he is so hateful, and I don't know why everyone else is either, but I wanted to say I'm sorry for what he did."

Naruto didn't answer, hoping she'd just leave, but he didn't hear her walk away, so he got up, went to the door, and looked through the peep hole, just as the shirt fell away from the window, letting in the evenings orange light. To his shock, Inoichi was nowhere to be seen, and it was just Ino, carrying a brown paper sack.

She set the sack down, sighed and turned to leave, though after a few steps, Naruto unbarred the door and opened it. She turned around again and walked back as he leaned down and picked up the sack, reading "Ichiraku" on the side.

"Thank you," he said, half heartedly smiling.

Ino just stood there, trying to think of something to say, but nothing seemed appropriate so she elected to smile back.

"I'd invite you in and offer to share," he began, "but…" his voice trailed off.

Ino shifted to look inside, and gasped when she saw the wreck his home had become. "What happened?"

"Gas leak," he said.

She wasn't sure what to do now. On the one hand, she felt so much sympathy that she wanted to tell him that her mother wasn't letting her father back in the house (which was true, as was the fact that Mrs. Yamanaka hadn't put Ino up to any of this) and that he could sleep there if he wanted. But on the other, there was still something she didn't like about him. Maybe it was prejudice, or just not wanting to let go of her past dislike f him.

_He must've done something, _she thought to herself.

"I hope things get better for you," she said, trying to sound as warm as she could, and turning again to leave.

"Thanks," he said quietly, "And thanks for the ramen."

"My pleasure," she called back to him.

Naruto turned around and starred into his home.

_What am I going to do now? _He wondered.

Ino turned around and saw him standing there, then tried to convince herself that he'd be ok and that things would indeed get better for him.

_But, _she thought, _No one will let him make things better for himself, so how will things get better if no one helps him?_

She turned around and jogged back to Naruto, who circled to face her.

"You know," she began, "Mother kicked father out because of what he did to you tonight."  
Naruto cocked his head off to one side a little, "That wasn't very nice of her," he said. "She didn't have to do that."

"No, but he deserved it. So what I'm getting at is that we have a spare room if you need a place to stay. Quarters would be a little tight, but we'd manage if you wanted to stay, and we'd…. I'd be glad to have you."

Now it was Naruto's turn to be stunned. Was she offering him a place to stay?

"You would do that for me?" he asked.

"Of course," she smiled, forcefully putting any negative thoughts out of her mind entirely. "love to."

"Well, um thanks," he faltered a little, "Sure, thanks very much."

_Everyone needs a friend,_ Ino thought as they walked down the hall.


	3. A Mentor's Gift

A Mentor's Gift

The records room's sole purpose was to serve as a repository for information submitted by Ninjas upon the completion or failure of a mission, rendering it one of the least visited sites in Konoha. On most nights, it was completely devoid of life aside from the family of rats that made their living off of whatever scraps were left behind by rare visitors.

Tonight however, the rats had a guest. A lone Ninja had been wandering through the stacks of scrolls and the seemingly endless rows of books since before sunset, though now it was well after midnight. The small rodents trailed him silently, hoping to find some source of food he might leave behind, and they were not disappointed. The Nin would periodically drop bits of bread crumbs out of his sleeves, which the rats eagerly spirited away to the nearest of the many the dark corners.

Iruka turned back to the rats and minutely smiled. _No reason to let them starve when I can help it,_ he thought to himself as he turned back to the stacks and returned to scanning through the dates of entry (or on occasion the names of those written about) that served as titles. He reached out and grabbed a particularly thin book, bound in simple brown paper. He read the title, opened it to the first page and finding what he was looking for, walked to a nearby chair to read.

_Hatake Kakashi_

Iruka began thumbing through the pages, reading over the general topics, and browsing about the names of his associates. While most of it was nothing he hadn't seen before, given that the copy-nin's life wasn't a secret to most of the older Chuunin, he was startled when he arrived at the point in the records that detailed Kakashi's early days as a special Jounin.

_There's not much he hasn't been through, _thought Iruka, _training under The Fourth, battling in the wars, losing dear friends and eyes._

Then Iruka immediately stopped sifting through the book. He had come to the page concerning Kakashi's training methods, and the fact that none of his students passed their initial test, or became real Ninja…ever.

"Iruka," sounded a voice, raspy with age.

The Chuunin almost jumped, but kept his calm and simply closed the book with a loud clap. He turned around to see Sarutobi emerge from the stacks of scrolls, carrying with him that ever present pipe.

"Iruka," he repeated, "What are you doing here of all places, now of all times?"

Iruka stood up, set the book down on the seat and bowed to the Hokage. "I was reading Hokage-Sama." Said Iruka, almost sheepishly. _How did he know I was here?_

"An interesting choice of literature," said the old man, "Why so nosy about Kakashi? Or are you more curious about Naruto's new Sensei?"

Iruka looked at the ground and nodded. "I would like to discuss it with you if I may," said the Chuunin. "Kakashi being Naruto's new Sensei that is."

"Mmm?" hummed Sarutobi curiously, "What about it do you feel needs to be spoken about?"

Iruka looked back at the book on the chair and picked it up; opening it to the pages about Kakashi's training methods. "Not one of his groups has passed, they're all sent back to the academy."

"I'm aware of this," said the old man, "Why does that concern you? Do you lack faith in your students?"  
"Not in the least Hokage-Sama, but I do lack faith in Kakashi. His methods are brutal, and almost psychotic. He pits them against each other and against him, and expects them to work together."

"Do you feel that you've failed to equip your students for such an encounter?" asked Sarutobi, eyeing Iruka closely.

"I didn't before," stammered the Chuunin, "but now I don't really know. Maybe, but even so, why should Kakashi be so brutal with students who are barely genin?"

"Why should he go easy on them?" Sarutobi continued to question Iruka, "Naruto wants to be in my place some day, and you have never told him it was beyond him. You encouraged his dream, and now he faces the first real challenge to that dream. Do you feel that you've adequately equipped him to go chase the dream you told him he could have?"

Iruka was silent.

Sarutobi turned to walk away, opening the package he still carried, then turned back to the Chuunin, now several yards away.

"It's not too late for you to prepare him, Iruka. He may not be your student anymore, but he's still your friend."

The Third took a small loaf of bread out of the box, and resumed walking, tearing off tiny chunks and tossing them to the wooden floor. "And I appreciate you feeding my rats," laughed the Hokage as he turned a corner and was gone.

_Not too late to teach him something? But what could prepare Naruto for someone like Kakashi? _thought Iruka, _A squad of ten genin would have trouble getting one of those bells and-_

Then it hit him, and Iruka stood up, and walked quickly out of the building.

SC

At a little before 2am, Iruka stood outside a somewhat ramshackle wooden building, silently making his way from shadow to shadow. His usual Chuunin vest was replaced by a black, loose fitting suit, and a cowl that hid his face. He made his way to a window on the North face of the structure, and slipped inside unnoticed by the patrol that came around the corner only fractions of a second before.

Once inside, Iruka darted from room to room like a shade, slipping by every tripwire and dodging every obstacle in his path. He had been here before, but rarely. Still, he remembered where every trap was laid, making them easy to avoid as he made his way down narrow corridors to the very center room.

The door that barred his way was thick and held closed by no less than a dozen sturdy locks. But if there was anything that being a Ninja of Konoha had taught him, it was that no room is impregnable.

Iruka pulled a black scroll with ghostly thin, white letters from a slip in his sleeve and placed against the door. Biting his thumb and wiping the blood across the scroll, the Chuunin stepped back as the paper slowly dissolved into the metal frame. There were several clicks, and the door swung open on well oiled hinges, the locks undone and bypassed entirely.

Inside, Iruka encountered almost total darkness, but it was easy enough for a Ninja to tell that there was only one table in the room, on which sat a thick scroll.

_Strange, _thought Iruka, _no traps of any kind._

He made his way towards the table, meeting no resistance, save when a rat scurried away to avoid being stepped on. Iruka reached out and took the scroll, and opened it up revealing to him all manner of jutsu, both hidden and forbidden.

SC

Having gotten what he needed, Iruka replaced the scroll and reset the locks, then slipped away, just as invisibly as he had arrived, dodging every trap, and leaping the outer court wall with the agility of a cat.

Once outside, he leaned against the wall and relaxed for a moment.

"Hello?" asked a familiar voice from a thicket of trees.

The Chuunin prepared to bound away, but hesitated when he saw the Hokage step out of the night.

Sarutobi casually walked by the Nin, and kneeled down to a small patch of grass beside the wall. A rat sauntered out haughtily, and the Hokage rubbed it behind the ears with his finger, and passed it a small chunk of bread from his sleeve.

_You've got to be kidding, _thought Iruka.

"You know, Iruka," said the old man standing up, "What you did in there was very illegal, and by law I should have killed you on sight when I saw you jump over the wall."

Iruka slumped. He knew he would likely hang for this, or at least spend years in jail.

"And," continued Sarutobi, not showing any signs of anger or frustration "if it had been for anyone but Naruto, I would have. This time however, I didn't see or hear anything, nor did the friends I had tail you."

The Hokage turned and walked away. Iruka was speechless.

"Oh, and Naruto is staying with the Yamanakas, so you should look for him there." said Sarutobi before he disappeared into the gloom.

Iruka looked down at the grass. Two beady eyes looked back at him, watching his every move. The Chuunin sighed, and dashed off in the opposite direction, towards the flower shop.

It was just after 2:20am when Iruka arrived at the Yamanaka family home and business, so he couldn't simply knock on the door; everyone was asleep. So he elected to jump up onto a window sill and peer in. To his amazement, Iruka's luck had held, and he saw Naruto laying on his back on the couch in the living room.

Iruka took off the cowl and slid the window open just a little.

"Naruto," he whispered. No response. "Naruto," he said only slightly louder.

The blonde sat up in and starred bleary eyed at his old teacher.

"Iruka-Sensei?" he asked, rubbing his eyes clean of sleep. "What are you doing here?"

"Naruto come here for a minute," said Iruka, "there's something I need to show you."

Naruto got up and walked up to the window and Iruka stepped back onto the lawn and motioned for the blonde to follow, as he dashed off.

Despite being tired and only in his shorts, Naruto followed Iruka, now awake entirely due to the cool night air. He caught up with the Chuunin and they stopped in the academy schoolyard.

"What are we doing here?" asked Naruto.

Iruka took out a hastily scrawled piece of parchment, and handed it to Naruto. "Call it a graduation present," said Iruka smiling and forming the ram with his hands. "That should help you later," he said, just before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto was stunned, but looked down at the parchment. It depicted two hands forming a strange seal, and a brief description of a new way to mold chakra to form "kage-bunshins"

The blonde set down the parchment, and mimicked the hand positions it showed, then let some chakra flow around the seal, until he could feel the jutsu begin to take shape. He released the chakra, and said "Kage Bunshin no jutsu" and instantly there was a puff of smoke beside him, that quickly revealed another Naruto.


	4. A Ninja At Last

A Ninja At Last

It was nearly dawn when Naruto approached the Yamanaka abode. The window he'd left through was still open, making him think that neither of the other residents were awake yet, but even so, as he approached he was still cautious to remain undetected. He had almost begun to trust that the Yamanakas didn't mean him any harm, or at least not Ino or her mother, but that didn't stop him from worrying what someone else might do if they saw him entering a house through a window.

That wasn't a problem however, as the streets were all but empty; the only other people being a tired shopkeeper or two, who were getting ready to open their store. So Naruto had no trouble slipping in quietly, and making his way back to the couch. He readjusted the bedding Mrs. Yamanaka had given him, plopped down, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

SC

A sizzling sound, and the smell of honey flooded the living room, waking Naruto from a restful sleep, and reviving him with a strong hunger. He got up, stretched widely and walked to the open kitchen door. Mrs. Yamanaka was in front of the stove, and Ino stood beside her at the sink. From the looks of things, the older woman was frying some kind of strip soaked in oil in a pan, and Ino was washing green beans in a strainer.

Mrs. Yamanaka turned around, looked at Naruto, and smiled warmly.

"Good morning sleepy head," she said, "You slept in a little bit."

Ino turned around and greeted him with a quite grin. Naruto stretched again and walked forward.

"Good morning" he responded, "what time is it?"

"Almost nine" said Ino, "We need to be to the academy in an hour to meet our squad leaders, but we have time for breakfast if you'd like some."

Naruto nodded, walked to the table and sat down, again smelling the honey but not knowing where the aroma came from. All that was on the table was a simple earthen vase housing a dozen white roses, and there was nothing around the kitchen that looked like honeysuckle, or a bee hive.

"What's that you're cooking?" asked Naruto.

Mrs. Yamanaka turned around, turning off the stove as she did, and tipped the pan so that he could see the six orange strips that were now fried to a crispy finish.

"These are called Aronerve," she said, "And they make a wonderful meal any time, but especially at breakfast."  
"Why's that" he returned, curious now.

"Well, first of all they smell wonderful, like honey and butter mostly. But they're also amazingly nutritious: high in all kinds of vitamins and minerals. And aside from that, they keep your skin in healthy condition."

"We've been having them for breakfast for almost five years now." Ino broke in, "I'm a good cook, but it takes a lot of skill to make it right, so mother cooks it and I watch and try to learn."

Mrs. Yamanaka picked up the Aronerve with a spatula and put two strips on each of three plates laying out, and Ino dumped a goodly portion of the beans beside them. The two of them each took a plate (Ino took two) and set them on the circular table and sat down to eat.

Naruto cut up the Aronerve, and took one bite then stopped.

"This is delicious," he said with his mouth half full, "It tastes like … well, something really good."

Ino smiled and after she finished a bite said, "It always tastes different to each person, and it can change depending on what you're in the mood for, but it's always great. I've normally thought it was like some combination of rice, sugar, and chocolate."

Naruto grimaced slightly at the revelation of Ino's tastes, and took another bite.

"You know," he began, "I really don't know what it tastes like: sweet but not really, but it has some kind of … well…" he trailed off and began to mull it over while he ate.

"Maybe you just don't know what you like yet," said Ino, "what do you normally eat?"

"Ramen," responded Naruto.

"Ok, what else?"

"Chicken flavored ramen."

"No, I mean what besides ramen."

Naruto was silent for a moment. "Um… I eat Ichiraku Ramen a lot."

"You mean ramen is all you eat?" asked Ino, nearly stunned.

"Basically."

The two slowly digressed into a conversation about all the different kinds of foods there were, with Naruto asking questions or mentioning there was a ramen flavor like that. Ino would then answer whatever he asked about food and herbs used for seasoning, and ask him questions about ramen. While one was speaking the other was eating and listening.

Mrs. Yamanaka, through the whole discussion, sat quietly and finished her breakfast, then got up and took the now empty plates in front of Naruto and Ino, who jointly said thank you then continued to talk. The older woman listened in with greater interest when the topic shifted to Ninja arts when Ino mentioned soldier pills, and their uses.

It surprised her how much her daughter had learned from the academy, and how well she combined it with the knowledge she gained in the gardens. The girl was already a skilled herbalist, rattling off to Naruto the ingredients for all kinds of poisons and their cures, as well as many more beneficial concoctions like energy drinks and pain killers. Naruto on the other hand, while not in terms of plants and the like, was more book-smart than people gave him credit for. Though he slept in class… a lot, he was routinely throwing out obscure facts about the Hokages whenever it related to the subject.

_So, _thought Mrs. Yamanaka, _the boy who wants to be Hokage, knows everything about his predecessors. Why am I not surprised?_ She smiled to herself and began to wash the dishes.

When the topic changed to the Fourth Hokage, Naruto began to take over the conversation, while Ino would ask questions about the great wars and such things. Naruto didn't have all the answers, maybe three quarters of them, but when he didn't know he quickly filled in with his own speculations.

"Where did you learn this?" Ino asked.

"When I was admitted to the academy," Naruto began, "Iruka-Sensei was the only teacher who would really teach me anything. He taught me to read, and gave me a book on Konoha's history. I didn't really like history, but studying that book was more time that Iruka would spend with me, so I studied it a lot. It got to the point where I had most of the facts committed to memory, but I kept studying with Iruka, until somebody stole it. After that I just sort of got tired of school."

"That's horrible," said Ino.

"It's what happened." Naruto responded.

They slipped into silence for a minute or two, until Mrs. Yamanaka cleared her throat, and nodded her head towards the clock. It was five till ten.

Both of the twelve year-olds looked up, and nearly screamed.

"Geeze." Shouted Ino, "Hurry or we'll be late."

SC

Naruto and Ino raced down the quarter mile stretch to the academy, both praying that they would arrive before their new Jounin instructors, or who knows what might happen. Naruto hopped the fence, followed quickly by Ino, and threw open the side door to the first floor hallway. They both bounded in and Naruto said to follow him, as he opened another door that led into a stairwell. They ascended rapidly and burst out on the second floor, turned a corner, and dashed into a large classroom.

There were seven other young Ninjas in the room; the other graduates from their class, all turned around and staring at them. They all synchronously looked up at the clock. Ino and Naruto followed their gaze. It was one till ten. They had made it with seconds to spare, literately, and went to the front.

There they separated and went to their own teams. Ino took a seat next to Nara Shikamaru, while Naruto sat on Sakura's left, and waited for the last of the seconds before ten to tick away.

At ten on the dot the door to the class opened, and a tall man smoking a cigarette entered. His hair was jet black spiked up, and held in place by a bandana. He shifted the cigarette around his lips and looked over the group; his scarred face hard and seemingly judgmental, while at the same time, adventurous.

"Team nine," he called out, catching Ino's attention, "Come with me."

The three genin stood up and walked towards him without question, and the four of them made their way from the room. Ino threw one glance back over her shoulder before the door closed, and the rest of the students lost sight of them.

There was a moments pause, and no one said a word. Kiba and Akamaru merely sat together, staring at the same point on the blank wall. Sasuke, as was his custom, glared off into space, despite Sakura's subtle attempts to get his attention, such as flapping her hair over her shoulder and nearly hitting him in the face, or loudly clearing her throat when it was obvious she didn't need to.

_Why won't he notice me? _She wondered after several moments, slightly deflated.

_**He better get his rear in gear or I'll put it there!**_ (AN: Inner Sakura)

Naruto looked around the room, glancing from face to face, grimacing when he saw Sasuke, and trying to think of something to do.

He didn't wait much longer, as the door opened again right at ten ten, and a tall woman with glossy, unkempt black hair, and blood red eyes walked in. Her dress was made of several strips of white linen with black stripes, and seemed to shift as she walked.

"Team eight, come with me," she said with authority, but not harshness.

Hinata, Kiba, and Shino all stood up and began to walk to her. Hinata looked timidly back at Naruto who smiled at her reassuringly. She gulped and pressed her index fingers together and proceeded out of the room, leaving the last three, the members of team seven to wait on their instructor. They all waited in anticipation. Even Sasuke began to show signs of fretting, as the minutes rolled by...

SC

Away in the treetops just west of the academy, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, and the man with the cigarette all sat on an especially wide branch in silence. The Jounin was looking them over, and occasionally mumbling slightly to himself.

"Well," he finally said loudly with a smile, "My name's Sarutobi Asuma, and let me congratulate you on graduating the academy. That can be quite a feat, and not something I'm going to play down. You're all officially genin now, which means you'll be recognized as adults in the ninja community. Again, congratulations. Now, I know your names and I'm sure you know each other's but for the sake of being official and cordial, let's go around and introduce ourselves. You can add a personal goal or dream or something if you want. You start," he said, pointing at Chouji.

"Me?" asked the somewhat hefty nin. "Well, I'm Akimichi Chouji, and I don't really have a goal other than to become a great ninja like my dad someday. I want to join the Guard if I can."

"Sounds good to me," said Asuma shrugging and motioning to Ino.

She was hesitant, but soon found her nerve, and bluntly stated "I want to be the best kunoichi ever, even better than the Sannin, Tsunade."

"A steep goal indeed, but I don't doubt that you can manage it if you commit yourself to it fully." Said Asuma. "How about you there in the net?"

_What pretty clouds, _thought Shikamaru, pleasantly in a daze.

SC

"Oh for the love of!" shouted Naruto, standing on top of a desk. "Where the heck is he? Our Jounin should have been here an hour ago at the latest." The blonde plopped down on the desk, and simmered for a minute.

"Shut it," said Sasuke calmly, "He'll get here when he gets here."

"What did you just say to me?" asked an even angrier Naruto.

"I told you to shut it," repeated Sasuke, folding his hands in front of his chin.

"Yeah," said Sakura, "Sasuke-kun is right." _**But he better not be much later or I'll slug him so hard! **_(AN: Inner Sakura again)

"But he's more than an hour late!" shouted Naruto, pointing to the clock.

Neither Sakura nor Sasuke responded, so Naruto began to pace around and try to occupy his time. After another few minutes, he grinned wickedly, and dashed up to the front of the room, drawing some measure of notice from his teammates.

"This'll teach him," said Naruto grabbing an eraser and sprinting to the door.

Sasuke cocked his head slightly off to one side. "What are you doing?" he asked as Naruto stuck the eraser up in the door, and closed said door just enough to hold said eraser in place.

"Teaching him to be late," chuckled Naruto as he hopped down the stairs and sat in his seat.

Sakura examined the 'trap,' then sighed and muttered something about how stupid an idea it was, and how no real ninja would fall for that, just as footsteps began to echo just outside in the hall.

"Sorry I'm-" said a man in a mask popping his head through the door, and nudging it so the eraser fell on top of his head with puff of dust a satisfying thump.

Naruto began to laugh, and Sasuke stiffened with shock to the point that he nearly fell out of his chair. Sakura merely stood there not believing what had just happened.

"Late," continued the man acting as though nothing had happened, "but you see I was wandering this beautiful path to the academy, when I saw a rose, and couldn't help but stop to smell it. Well it was an especially aromatic flower, and I simply got lost in it, and began to aimlessly wander the path in a delirium."

Naruto was quieted instantly, let down by how the Nin had seemingly been unaffected, while Sasuke quickly recovered his composure, and Sakura began to wonder if this guy could really even be a Ninja, much less the respected Jounin she recognized as the Copy Ninja Kakashi.

He had silver hair that was spiked up, a mask covering his lower face added a great sense of mystery, and he hid one eye behind his forehead protector; he definitely looked the part, but falling for such a simple trap left Sakura needing some convincing.

"Please follow me, said the nin, opening the door wider so all of the could pass through. Team seven got up, and cautiously trailed the instructor as he led them down the hall. "That's Hatake Kakashi, something must be up if he walked into that trap like that," whispered Sakura to Sasuke, as they turned up a flight of stairs to the rooftop exit. There they halted.

"Before you pass through this door, I want you to know," Kakashi said solemnly, "that numerous traps lie on the other side. You will be ninja the second your hand touches the bar, and as soon as you open it you will open the floodgates of numerous trials, and tests. Some will praise you, and others will seek revenge upon you. Do you think you're ready?"

Naruto, without a second's hesitation shouted, "I'm going to be Hokage one day, so I'll have to learn to welcome challenges and trials." He barreled past Kakashi and the others, and threw open the door. He walked boldly outside into the sunshine, basking in the radiance of his first day as a Ninja.

There was a sudden whoosh, and Naruto looked up just in time to see a bucket of water topple from a perch above the door, tip upside down, dump him in its icy contents all over him, and blacken his sight as it fell over his face.

The Kakashi standing beside the other two genin disappeared in a large poof of smoke, and another Kakashi, the real one this time, dropped down seemingly from nowhere to take the clone's place.

Naruto fumbled around for a few seconds, while Sakura began to laugh. Kakashi looked over at her, and shook his head. She stopped immediately and watched as he walked over to a still struggling Naruto.

"We'll call it even now," said Kakashi pulling the bucket off of the genin's head. "That should teach you not to prank a Jounin. He may just fall into it so he can justify revenge. Some Jounin are really twisted and sadistic like that."

Naruto just smiled sheepishly, half humiliated, half amused. He could tell by the slight upward twist in his Sensei's mask that the Jounin was not angry.


	5. The Culmination of Things

5

AN: Well, well, well, chapter five is here. As am I, 50cal. Hey ladies and gents, I'm glad most of you seemed to like the ending of that last chapter, I know I thought it was funny. Anyway, not much new to report other than that this will be a chapter of change. On with the show… err…fic.

The Culmination of Things

"So," began Kakashi, "You all seem to know my name already, meaning you have me at a bit of a disadvantage. We didn't expect there to be nine graduates this year, so I was a last minute call and didn't get the roster. For that reason, let's go around and introduce ourselves, if for no one's sake but mine. Oh, and do add a personal goal that you'd like to meet, so I can get to know you a little better."

He pointed at Sakura and asked her to begin. She sat there for a second, then stammered, "I'm Haruno Sakura, and my goal is," she blushed and stopped, "My goal is to," she glanced over at Sasuke, and grinned but quickly put her hands in front of her face and shook her head.

"Maybe we'll come back to you, Sakura" said Kakashi, "How about you there in the blue."

Sasuke, who had calmly folded his hands in front of his mouth took a breath. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and as for my goals, there's only one…" he said quietly, with all the composure of an executioner, "I'm going to kill a certain man."

All three of the others stared at him for a moment. Sakura and Naruto looked on in surprise and curiosity, while Kakashi was unreadable. Sasuke never faltered under their gaze, as a minute ticked slowly by.

"Who would that be?" Naruto finally asked, breaking the silence.

Sasuke glared over at him. "Just someone unimportant to you," he answered. Naruto wasn't quite quick enough to catch the faint upward twitch of Sasuke's mouth, nor did he notice Kakashi's concerned look.

"Well," said an obviously uncomfortable Jounin, closing his visible eye and putting a hand on the back of his head, "That's very interesting Sasuke. How about you in the orange?" _Here we go… _thought the copy-nin.

A still dripping Naruto leapt up and raised a fist above his head. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And-"

_And I'm going to be the Hokage someday… _Sakura silently mouthed the words as Naruto shouted them. Naruto looked over at Sakura, deflated yet again.

"Yes, um, that's a lofty goal Naruto," said Kakashi, "But if you work hard you might get there someday. Now that that's done with, I think it's time we got down to some of the details on the test you'll be taking tomorrow."

"Wait!" said a less than pleased Naruto, "we just took a test to graduate from the academy. Why do we have to take another? I thought we were going to go on missions and get paid and that kind of stuff."

"You will go on missions and get paid," said Kakashi calmly, "but first we need to assess just what level of missions you're ready for. If you can only handle a D or C level, then we sure wouldn't want to take on a B unless we trained you up to par for it, now would we. This will partly be a test to see how much you have to learn to survive in the real world."

"But Kakashi-Sensei," said Sakura, "Only Chuunins are allowed to go on B level missions. And we're only genin."

"Very good Sakura, but should we be needed for a B mission, or if a simpler one became complicated and more dangerous, then we need to be ready. It's not uncommon for a C to turn into a B, or even an A." Said the copy-nin, "But yes Naruto, depending on how you do tomorrow, it might be a very short time before we start going on missions."

"Great!" shouted the blonde, "when do we leave then?"

Kakashi looked up at the sky and thought for a moment. "How about we meet at the old South Bridge tomorrow at ten am sharp?"

Everyone agreed, and Kakashi dismissed them but turned to Naruto and asked to speak with him in private for just a moment.

"What's the matter Kakashi-Sensei?" asked Naruto once Sasuke and Sakura were out of earshot.

"Naruto, what happened to your apartment? It looks like a jutsu went horribly wrong in there."

"Um," said Naruto hesitantly, not questioning Ninja Intelligence, "You see I was training with a super-powerful fire technique that I thought up and it went sort of wrong…" Naruto stopped when he saw the 'don't try to pull one over on me' look on his teacher's face. "There was a gas leak, and a spark from the fan set it off. I'm ok though, really."

"Alright," said Kakashi, "do you need a place to stay? The Hokage told me to tell you his mansion was open if you decide you'd like to stay there from now on. You'd have everything and the Hokage would, literately, treat you like the son he… you'd be well taken care of."

Naruto grinned, "That's really nice of him and all, but I'm staying with the Yamanakas. They're good people I think, but thank the old man for me anyway. Plus I was going to see if Sakura wanted to go get ramen or something. I don't have much, but she would be worth it."

Kakashi smiled through his mask and nodded, "That's very thoughtful of you Naruto. Here, make it my treat." He held out a small bag that jingled when it moved, and offered it to Naruto.

"No thanks Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto beaming "I want it to be my treat, because they are after all my new team and we should be nice to each other because of it."

The masked nin nodded and grinned, then disappeared in a blast of smoke, leaving Naruto the sole occupant of the rooftop. He turned towards the door to the stairs, and meandered his way down to the first floor, but upon hearing voices, he stopped at a corner. He recognized them as Sasuke and Sakura talking quietly, and almost walked around to greet them and invite them to dinner, but when he heard his name he froze and listened in.

"But why?" he heard Sakura ask.

"Just really bad luck, that or them trying to balance us out by sticking us with a loser." Answered Sasuke.

"But … does he have to be on our team?" Sakura asked angrily. "Couldn't it have been Shino or Kiba? Hell, I'd take that Yamanaka slut over Naruto. All he ever does is run around screaming, and get in the way of… well everything."

"Do you really think I care?" responded Sasuke, "as long as he doesn't cost us a mission or our lives, does it really matter how much of an idiot that loser is?"

"But he very well may cost us the mission."

"Maybe he'll die in the process."

Naruto turned around and walked away; he'd heard enough. He paced towards the door, looking strait at the ground in front of his feet. After a step or two, his vision began to blur, and warm tears formed at the corners of his eyes. After a dozen steps, the tears flowed down his face unchecked and unnoticed, and as he reached the door, Naruto broke into a blind run. He closed his eyes, clenched his jaw, and just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as fast as he could.

Direction didn't matter. Neither did distance. All he cared about was running away from them. He ignored the people in the street, and they did the same. He ran past all the shops and homes, not deviating from his path. He opened his eyes after a moment but still didn't see anything at all.

SC

"Ino, you're almost three hours late," said Mrs. Yamanaka as her daughter walked in the door, and set a backpack on the coffee table.

"Sorry mother, Asuma-Sensei caught up with me and told me we're going to go on our first mission tomorrow, and then I went to Ichiraku for some ramen. They actually do make good food," Said Ino, stepping up behind her mother as the older woman washed a dish in the kitchen sink.

"They do. That's wonderful dear, what will you be doing?"

"I don't know. He said it was a surprise, but-" Ino paused, "Hey, where's Naruto? I thought he'd be back by now."

"Hmm, I thought he might be with you. Do you think something happened to him?"

"Probably not, he might've just thought of something to do, or maybe he just went out with his team. Anyway, I've got to go and tend the roses. You know how frail they can be."

"Yes, I do," said Mrs. Yamanaka, looking out the window, "but maybe the roses can wait. You might go see that Naruto's not getting into trouble or something."

Ino paused for a moment, looked towards the front door, then at the door to the nursery and garden. Her mother watched her carefully from under a lock of hair that had fallen into her slender face.

"I guess they can," said Ino "I'll be back in a little bit then."

"It's almost six, be careful dear!"

Ino left the house without her backpack, and forgot to shut the door behind her as she walked briskly down the street.

SC

_I'd take that Yamanaka slut over him… _

_They're trying to balance us out by sticking us with such a loser…_

_What an idiot …_

The words bounced around in Naruto's head, repeating over and over again, as he huddled high up in a tree on the abandoned Police Station's expansive grounds. The branch was barely thick enough to hold a child, but Naruto sat with his knees pulled up to his chest, completely still except for when an occasional sob he failed to hold back sent a small tremor through him.

_I don't want him on my team…_

_He'll screw up the mission…_

_Maybe he'll die in the process…_

He had his arms lain across his knees, and his face buried in one of those soaked sleeves. It was a windless evening, and the sunset allowed almost no light into the boy's hiding place, but even so, the bright orange fluoresced in the dim glow.

"What… what did I do to any of them?" Naruto asked the silence, looking up and wiping his tear streaked, pain carved face on his dry sleeve. "I never hurt any of them. I … I"

His head fell back onto his arm, and he began to tremble once more.

SC

"Naruto!" Ino called loudly into the gloom, as she wandered some of the less traveled roads in Konoha. "Naruto!" Nowhere did anyone respond to the name, except with a grimace.

"He's up there."

Ino whirled around and put her hands out in front of her in the shape of a triangle, ready to fight the man beside her.

"My name's Hatake Kakashi," said the Nin, "I'm Naruto's teacher, and he's up there." He pointed up at the tip of a tree a block away. Ino's gaze followed and she looked throughout the branches.

"I don't see him," said Ino, lowering her hands but remaining cautious of the new arrival.

"You won't unless you're right beneath him, but he's there, and has been for some hours now."

"What's he doing up there?"

"I don't know," Kakashi sighed through his mask, "He won't talk to me, and he won't even look up when I call to him. For that boy to not respond, something very bad must've happened."

"God, is he hurt!?" Ino shouted, and dashed off without waiting for an answer.

"Very much so…" Kakashi exhaled without moving.

Ino dashed the block between her and the tree, and looked up through the branches. Sure enough, there was a fleck of orange near the top. "Naruto!" she called. There was a slight shuffle from the dark shape but nothing more. "Naruto!" she yelled again, "It's me, are you ok?!"

No response came, and Ino began to pace around a little, before jumping up, and without a second thought, climbing the tree. Even for a Ninja it was difficult work. The tree was a bramble and bore thorns some inches long that snagged and tore at her. But Ino kept climbing, even ignoring the blood drawn when a thorn slashed her cheek.

"Naruto!" she asked quietly, after she reached a branch level with his and swung herself up. He didn't respond, but simply sat there, starring off into space with an exhausted and grief-stricken expression. "Are you alright?"

"What did I do to be hated so much?" he asked in a whisper.

Ino looked across, wanting to go and sit beside him, but the branches were to thin, and the gap between them was greater than she could reach across. Ino in a bold move reached up and grabbed a branch a little less than midway between them, and hung over the gap, trying to be close enough to see his face in the dim light.

"Naruto," she said, pained and almost crying, "What happened?"

"They all hate me," said Naruto, as he put his head back on his knees and whimpered.

"Naruto, some people may be cruel, but there are people here who care about you…"

"You don't!" he shouted looking up at her, angry and tearing up again, "You were one of the first ones to throw stones or kick sand at me. You were right there beside all the rest! Laughing and smiling while I was curled up in a ball on the ground!"

Ino was silent, horrified by the realization that she had helped put him in this state; maybe not at this point, but that she was one of the people who tortured him before and this is what her actions had helped to cause. She knew it was partially her fault. It was a thought that had been twisting her stomach for a day or two now, but not like this now. This was the culmination of what had been done to him for years on end.

"Naruto… I-" she mumbled, reaching out as far as she could. She barely touched him on the shoulder, and he looked up at her, the anger replaced by emptiness in his eyes. "I'm sorry Naruto. I was wrong then." He just stared at her, and she looked back at him, neither knowing what to say. "I really am, and hope you'll forgive me."

Silence enveloped the tree, and neither moved. Ino ignored the rough bark wearing at her hand, and the thorns wrapping the tree digging into her side. As the minutes rolled by, Naruto's face slowly softened and he breathed easier. Ino reached her hand out to him again, and he reluctantly took it and stood up.

He looked at her and exceedingly weary, let a small smile cross his face.

"Let's go home," Ino said smiling, weakly but genuinely.


	6. The Fangs of Maibu

The Fangs of Maibu

All was quiet at the Yamanaka abode that night. Mrs. Yamanaka had not asked any questions when Naruto and her daughter arrived well after dark. She merely fetched a small box of herbal remedies and patched up several small cuts and lacerations on both of them. No one spoke throughout the ordeal, and Naruto collapsed on the couch immediately afterwards and fell into a deep sleep.

Ino got up, said goodnight, and began to walk towards her room. Mrs. Yamanaka smiled as her daughter turned the corner. _I'm proud of you, little one, _she thought remembering how Ino left to find Naruto almost without question, _You're growing up into someone wonderful._ She turned her attention back to Naruto, and ran her fingers through his hair once or twice. "It'll be alright," she whispered, getting up and shutting off the light, "No one is going to hurt you here." She turned around, and left the room, leaving Naruto to amble in the comfort of his own dreams.

Ino, however, tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. She'd try laying on her side, getting up and changing into different pajamas, switching sides, but she just couldn't stop her mind from racing back to the days events.

_I was one of the people who helped crush him…_ She heard herself think the words dozens of times until, finally, she dozed off to them. The unconsciousness that gripped her was filled with dozens of colorful images, but they were all incoherent. None of them made any sense whatsoever. She could however make out voices in the clutter of images. They were yelling and screaming, laughing and crying, all at once, creating a roar in her mind that caused her to toss violently in bed.

"Ino," an unrecognizable voice said in the distance.

"Be quiet!" she heard herself bark, and felt her hands press against her ears in an attempt to blot out the noise.

Suddenly it was quiet.

She opened her eyes and looked around, lowering her hands from her ears and taking in the stillness of the field she stood in. It was midday during the summer in a warm pasture filled with wildflowers. Off in the distance were four figures clustered together: two little girls and their mothers.

"Mother?" said Ino, walking towards the figures. Sure enough, as her vision sharpened, one of the women was her mother, and the other she recognized as Mrs. Haruno. It was the pink hair that gave it away really. The two children she realized after a moment were Sakura and herself, picking the flowers, weaving them together and laughing.

The older Ino heard the bustling of children and turned to look around. Several more young girls were gallivanting off in the fields towards the two women, carrying arm-fulls of appealing plants.

Her mother and Mrs. Haruno received the children, and together the whole of them began playing games in the field.

Slowly that image faded, leaving only a dark void for Ino to wander in, until she turned around and found herself in some kind of fenced in park like area the size of a quarter city block.

_The Academy playground,_ she realized when she looked around and saw the buildings all around and the children playing on the equipment. Some were scattered around in small groups, playing with toys, but most were off on the practice field playing a game of soccer. Ino however was drawn to look to the east, on the swing set where a lone child sat. It was Naruto, but much younger, no older than seven.

"Naruto!" she yelled trying to get his attention and jogging that way. But before she arrived, the soccer ball landed in the dust by his feet, propelled by an especially bad kick. The young Naruto picked it up, and stood. He looked towards the group of players who were now walking from the field towards him.

"That's ours!" shouted the foremost of the group, a child with blue hair and a green t-shirt, as he reached Naruto. "Give it here!"

Naruto grinned and held out the ball with both hands. "Do you think I could play?" he asked, "I'm new and-"

"No!" shouted the other boy, snatching the ball and kicking Naruto in the shin. As Naruto crumpled down to hold his leg, another student, a girl with auburn hair came up behind him, put her foot on his back and drove him to the ground.

Naruto fell in a heap, as a mob mentality took control of the group.

"My Mom says you're a bad person!" shouted a young girl, kicking dirt all over him.

"My dad says it's alright if I do this to you!" screamed a boy who quickly kicked Naruto in the back. The young boy on the ground curled up and covered his head, crying and trying to protect himself as the children took turns kicking and hitting him.

"Stop it!!" shouted Ino, standing in front of Naruto and putting her arms out, "You're hurting him! What are you doing?!"

The children passed through her like phantasms, and continued to beat on Naruto, some throwing rocks, others kicking sand, all while the recess monitor stood by and looked the other way.

"STOP IT!" shrieked Ino at the top of her lungs as tears flooded her eyes.

Slowly, as Ino watched, the crowd began to thin as one by one the children faded from existence. Soon it was just Naruto laying crumpled up on the ground, and one other child standing a few feet off. It was Ino: her younger self.

"Help him," cried the older doppelganger.

The younger Ino looked down at Naruto, then back towards the academy as the school bell rang. She walked over and knelt down on one knee by him and put her hand on the ground.

The older Ino smiled, and collapsed to her knees, relief flooding her heart as Naruto looked up with a tear-streaked face. He smiled very weakly.

The younger looked between Naruto and the school several times over the course of the next minute. Then, not to be left out, she took a handful of dirt and threw it in Naruto's face. She heard Naruto whimper, then smiled and bounded off to the Academy.

As the vision faded into blackness, Ino was horrorstruck. She fell back and lay on insubstantial ground, stunned and heartbroken. She put her hands over her face and began to sob.

"Ino," someone said quietly.

Ino moved her hands and looked up at Naruto through tear-stung eyes. He was sitting next to her on the edge of her bed with his hand on her shoulder. The girl didn't hesitate at all. She lurched up and through her arms around his neck, and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she cried quietly, trying desperately to keep some control of herself. "Forgive me, I was so-" now she simply broke down and wept bitterly.

Naruto, not needing any explanation but already knowing exactly what she thought, put his arms around her and held her firmly.

"I forgive you," he said quietly, and letting her cry. "It's alright."

"No," she sobbed, "No it's not. We… I was so horrible to you. I kicked you, threw dirt in your face, called you names. None of that is alright, I'm not alright, I was evil. I stole your book and tore it up! I'm sorry Naruto, I was horrible, horrible!"

Naruto was silent, but didn't let go of her. They just sat there as time went by. Ino slowly stopped crying but her grip never loosened as she clutched at his sleeves.

"Naruto, I'm so sorry" she whispered in a strained voice, feeling like she was made of lead, "I didn't know what-"

Naruto leaned back and put two fingers on her lips to quiet her.

"I forgive you," he said again, this time more quietly, but with a small smile on his face.

"Why?" She asked softly.

Naruto grinned a little more widely. "What kind of person would I be if I couldn't forgive someone who genuinely asked it of me? Especially someone who's been so kind to me?"

Ino closed her eyes, suddenly lighter. "Who taught you to be so kind?" she asked, her voice calmer now.

"No one has to teach you to do the right thing," said Naruto. "But it helps when you have a kind old man to show you the way. But for now," he continued, "it's late and we both have things to do tomorrow."

She nodded and slowly released her grip on him. He did the same and she leaned back. "sorry to wake you," he said with a smile, "But you sounded like you were having a pretty bad nightmare up here."

Ino nodded and Naruto turned to walk out of the room.

"N-Naruto," she said as he put his hand on the knob. He looked back at her with a somewhat quizzical look. "Thank you," she said.

He lowered his head, smiled at her, and closed the door.

_He'll make a grand Hokage someday…_ Ino thought just as she drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

SC

The next morning was bright and clear. The sky was cloudless and warm sunshine shown through the windows of the Yamanaka house. All in all, it was the start of a gorgeous day.

The smell of honey awoke Ino, and she sat up in bed.

_What a night, _she thought, stretching, and looking at the clock (it was 7am.)

She rose and showered, then feeling refreshed and energetic, changed into her typical purple attire and went downstairs. When she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother was, as always, cooking the Aronerve in the same skillet she always used, and Naruto was sitting at the table reading a piece of paper.

"Good morning," she said and walked to the table.

The others looked up at her, and warmly returned the greeting, as Ino took a seat next to Naruto and looked over his shoulder.

"What's that?" she asked, sounding playfully curious.

"A letter from Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto, shifting so she could read it, "It details what my team is doing today."

"What??" Ino asked incredulously after reading for a few seconds, "He wants you to skip breakfast. That's silly, you won't have any stamina at all to work at the test."

"That does seem kind of strange" said Mrs. Yamanaka.

Naruto nodded, "I know, but that's what Kakashi says to do, so I'll trust him. He doesn't seem like a sinister guy to me," he said remembering back to when the copy-nin offered him the money to take Sakura out. "I'm sure he has a reason for it."

"He very well may," said Ino, "but I think it's a bad idea. You should at least eat a little; even if it's just one strip of the Aronerve."

Naruto thought for a minute, and was just about to decline the offer, when Mrs. Yamanaka set a plate in front of him, that had just one thin strip on it. She was smiling, and nodded in agreement with her daughter.

"I suppose you're right," he said, cutting it into bite-size pieces, "After all, I don't want to run out of energy."

Mrs. Yamanaka fixed two additional plates and set them on the table, then took a seat next to her daughter, and breakfast commenced. The three of them began to talk about the upcoming day, and Mrs. Yamanaka made it no small point to tell them just how proud she was that they had both made it and were officially ninja. Naruto laughed and confidently said he never doubted he'd be a ninja, and Ino agreed and commented on how that final exam went at the academy, then chuckled as she recalled the look on Shikamaru's face when Naruto copied him perfectly. They all laughed, and Naruto mentioned that Shikamaru is always a source of some kind of fun. Ino affirmed that he was amusing to watch, but not much fun to talk to.

For nearly an hour after they finished eating, the Yamanakas and Naruto just sat around the table and talked. The conversation was as random as it was lighthearted; shifting from topic to topic with no real aim or direction.

"Hey Naruto," said Ino when things began to wind down, "We've still got an hour and a half till you're supposed to be at that bridge. Do you want to go hang around town?"

"Sure," Naruto said beaming, "What did you have in mind?"

"I was going to go and pick up some supplies for today's mission, starting with a bag or two of kunai, and I thought you might want to come with."

Naruto hesitated for a minute.

"Um," he stammered, "I'm normally not welcome in most shops, and the owners tend to chase me out or throw things, so going into a store that sells sharp objects-"

"Don't worry about a thing," said Ino, the shop I have in mind is owned by the sweetest old lady you'll ever meet."

"Well…ok" Naruto agreed.

"Good," said Ino, "May we mother?"

"Of course dear, just be safe," said Mrs. Yamanaka.

"Thanks," Ino declared as she got up, and motioned for Naruto to do the same.

Together the two of them made their way out the door, after thanking Mrs. Yamanaka for breakfast and permission to go.

The streets were strangely quiet for 8:30am in Konoha. Normally scores people would be up and bustling about by now, but Naruto and Ino walking side by side presented the most dense crowd in the street. The shop keeps were all in their stores tending to whatever matters demanded their attention, or simply taking the time to enjoy the beautiful weather while business was so slow.

The two genin walked down the main road to the quadrant of Konoha, holding a conversation about their respective Sensei. Ino mentioned Asuma's relation to the Hokage, and Naruto joked about how Sarutobi must be nepotistic. They both got a laugh out of that, and another when Ino said she'd bet Kakashi was hiding beaver teeth under his mask. Ino stopped them in front of a small shop not far from the Ichiraku Ramen stand. It was a little dark inside as racks of weapons blocked out most of the windows, but Ino didn't hesitate to lead Naruto inside.

"Momo," she called, "it's Ino, are you here?"

There was a sound of falling metal objects crashing to the floor, and from within the jungle of shelves an old woman hobbled out. She was hunched over, garbed in a turquoise robe, and wore her startlingly white hair up in a bun. Her face was creased by countless wrinkles, but her sharp blue eyes were as clear as the Hokage's.

"Good morning child," she said in an aged voice, "What brings you here? And you brought a guest, how wonderful."

"Momo, this is Naruto."

"Wonderful to meet you child, my name is Amishi" said the old woman, "an honor."

"Nice to meet you too," said Naruto, bowing slightly.

"Now," said Ino, "What do you have in the way of Shuriken and Kunai?"

The old woman smiled, almost devilishly, and said "Whatever you're looking for."

"How about something cheap?" asked Ino.

"Child, you should know price does not concern you. I can sell you whatever I want for whatever price I want. It's my store, and I happen to like you so you don't need to worry yourself with things so inconsequential as price."

And with that, the old woman motioned for them to follow her into the heart of the store, which turned out to be quite expansive. The building appeared to merely be a front, and the structure actually ran deep underground.

She pointed out to them weapons off all kinds: spears that could be compressed into a cane, sturdy shields that would fold down into an object the size of a book but expand with the push of a button, armor made from the skin of a drake. All of it was absolutely fascinating.

"Where do you come by all this?" asked Naruto after she demonstrated a throwing star that was paper thin, but razor sharp and heavy as lead.

"The Hokage," she chuckled. "I supply ANBU with all of their equipment, and Sarutobi-Sama compensates me well for it. I take the money and use it to hire Ninja who acquire everything you see here; be that from another village, or by making it themselves I don't care. It's a good system."

_Obviously,_ thought Naruto.

"Ah, here we are," she said stopping in front of a pegboard displaying dozens of kinds of throwing weapons. "Just pick the kind you like and we'll call it a treat for my favorite…and only granddaughter."

"Thank you Momo," said Ino, leaping at the woman and embracing her, while Naruto was taken back by the revelation.

"It's my pleasure dear, now let go please, you're crushing me."

Ino and Naruto skimmed over the display. Eventually Ino settled on a small, black shuriken with four blades at 90 degree angles. From one tip to the opposite it was about three inches and very thin.

"I'd like those," she said, pointing to her choice.

The old woman opened up a small shelf beneath the board and pulled out a small burlap bag. "A bag of 50 Midnight screams. How about you Naruto?" she said.

Naruto was still looking. He liked the midnight screams Ino had gotten, but was also entranced by the paper thin shuriken and the firestorm kunai.

"What about that?" he asked pointing towards a kunai that had strange runes etched in the sides.

Amishi grinned. "Those are the FrostCry," she said, "They are made of a special kind of ice that, when treated properly hardens into a metal that won't melt. They pierce the target, then the runes activate and shatter the kunai, sending hundreds of shards of super cold metal throughout the body of the enemy."

Naruto cringed at the brutality, and elected to go with the midnight screams. Amishi tossed him a bag of fifty and asked if there was anything else they were looking for. Neither of the genin could think of anything, so the three of them made their way back to the front of the shop.

Ino asked Amishi how the Ajira side of the family was faring, and the two of them began talking about family matters. Naruto was lost from the conversation, and having almost half an hour left before ten, decided to wander the shop. He looked through several racks of spears, and eventually made his way to the sword department.

Nothing in particular caught his interest at first, but as he looked, he started to appreciate all the skill that must have gone into forging these. Amishi sold everything from katanas to claymores and everything in between. All of the swords were works of art, some with elegant finery etched into the handle or blade, while others were made of a metal that fluoresced different colors.

An especially unique weapon caught his attention: a sheathe, about thirty-one inches long, with a handle at either end. Not knowing if it was some kind of trick to confuse an enemy or not, Naruto reached out and took hold of the sheath in the center and picked it up.

It was surprisingly light for its size, almost weightless, and he put his right hand on one of the identical handles, and drew out the blade. It was only sixteen inches in length, making it a wakizashi. The Blade was a burnished gold, and the edge was wickedly sharp. Naruto held it in front of his face, and looked it over. All in all it was a magnificent looking weapon: perfectly strait, no nicks in the blade, and a totally smooth finish. He sheathed it and tugged on the other handle, and another blade emerged. It was the same length as the other and just as sharp, but there the similarities stopped entirely. This time the blade was a deep and cold cerulean, with a serrated back, and a rough pattern resembling claws running down the sides.

"Wow," muttered Naruto.

"Wow indeed," came an almost serpentine voice from the end of the aisle.

Naruto turned and saw Amishi, standing there with Ino. The old woman looked startled, but at the same time intrigued. "Did you have any trouble drawing those blades, son?"

"No ma'am, why do you ask." He answered.

"Interesting," she uttered, "Do you know what those are?"

"No I don't actually. I mean I know their wakizashi but I've never seen any this ornate before." He responded. Amishi chuckled, and walked up top him. She asked for the swords, and he gave them to her.

"The village of Maibu," she began, "was destroyed long before I was born, but during their time they were famous for their mastery of forging. No one knows quite how they did it, but the Smiths of Maibu were somehow able to imbue their works, especially swords and armor, with various enchantments using chakra and the very essence of themselves. Some swords could set things on fire, others would cut through any material, and others would be venomous by their very nature."

"Are those from Maibu," asked Naruto and Ino in unison.

"Yes they are. I went to great lengths to procure these, hoping they might open for me, but I was disappointed. Even so I kept them, as a novelty mainly, but still hoping that the might open for someone from ANBU…"

"What do you mean 'open?'" asked Naruto.

"So you want to learn about weapons of a past era?" asked Amishi.

Both genin nodded.

Amishi grinned. "Well, I could spend a lifetime on the subject, but we don't have that kind of time unfortunately. Long story short; at the height of their skill, Maibu Smith were able to forge weapons they called 'sentients.' These sword-like creatures, were indeed made of metal, but they also had a very limited form of awareness. Now they couldn't speak or move on their own, but they could distinguish between people, and by unknown means, act."

There was a brief pause.

"What do you mean act Momo?" asked Ino.

"I mean," she said, now like a teacher at a lecture, "that the swords would choose their owner, and act for them. I mean that only the owner could use the sword, or draw it, and the weapon's innate abilities would only work when the owner was using them. Don't get me wrong, they'll be a sword for anyone, but they'll only work to their fullest potential for you. Each was as unique as its wielder, making a set explanation impossible, but it looks like those swords just chose their master…"

Both Ino and Amishi looked at Naruto.

"Me?" he asked after a second. Amishi nodded and held out the wakizashis.

"They'll only open for you now…" she said, "I have no more use for them."

Naruto took them and bowed low, thanking her very much, then slung the sheath onto his back and fastened the strap so one handle was at his left hip and the other was at his right shoulder. They walked back up to the front, and Naruto and Ino again thanked Amishi for her generosity.

"It was my pleasure, really. And I am glad that those swords will finally be put to use." She said.

"Um, I meant to ask," said Naruto, "What do they do?"

"Don't know," Amishi shrugged, "That's for you to find out. Maibu swords grew in power with their owners, and mirrored them, so there's no telling what will happen, now you'd best go or you might be late."

Naruto and Ino looked at the clock which read 9:50.

"You're right as usual," said Ino, hugging her grandmother, then turning and setting off towards home while Naruto made for the South Bridge.

"See you tonight Naruto!" she called over her shoulder.

"Later!" he called back.

SC

"You're late," said Sakura as Naruto walked up to the bridge.

"By all of thirty seconds." Naruto responded.

Sakura was sitting on top of the arch on the bridge's south side, and Sasuke leaned against the handrail. Naruto took a seat opposite Sasuke, and no one said a word. Naruto merely tried to avoid looking Sakura in the eye, and she made no attempt to make eye contact with him. It didn't take very long for the sound of the river beneath to become the only noise.

"What are those?" Sasuke finally asked Naruto, breaking the silence.

"What, these?" countered Naruto, pointing a thumb to the swords.

Sasuke nodded.

"Swords, what do they look like."

"Do you know how to use them?"

Naruto grinned, "I plan to learn."

Sasuke shrugged as a there was a burst of smoke in the center of the bridge.

"Sorry I'm late," said Kakashi as he materialized in the cloud, "but there was an old woman who needed help crossing the street and-"

"LIAR!" shouted Sakura, pointing a finger at Kakashi.

The copy-nin put his hands up and grinned through his mask. "Ok, ok, relax," he said.

"When are we going to take this little survival test of yours?" asked Sasuke.

"Now," said Kakashi sternly, "it's time we saw what you three can really do when your life is on the line…"


	7. Tolling of the Bells

Tolling of the Bells

They were small: no larger than marbles. Two silver bells, suspended from strings wrapped around Kakashi's index finger, were swaying and jingling in the breeze that blew through the forest surrounded plain a mile outside Konoha.

"These," said Kakashi shaking the bells "are your aim." The three genin stood in a line opposite the Jounin, starring at the small shining orbs as he dangled them up in the air to display them.

"The whole extent of your test today is to take these from me at any cost. I don't care how you do it, but if you manage to get one, you pass and get to move on to be a true ninja. If you are unsuccessful and don't get one by noon, you fail."

"What do you mean 'fail'?" asked Sakura hesitantly.

"I mean," Kakashi said serpentinely, "That you will be stripped of the title Ninja, and made unable to ever attain it again. And let me tell you that no one has ever passed this test before."

Kakashi took out an orange book and began reading a page roughly one third of the way from the end.

"You can't do that!" shouted Naruto, "We worked hard to get this far! You can't just tell us it was all for nothing!"

Sasuke nodded, "There are only two bells, meaning one of us is guaranteed to fail and never be a Ninja. Naruto's right, you have no authority to say that."

"I do, and I just used it," chuckled Kakashi, not looking up from the book "You have exactly ninety minutes, I suggest you get-"

Sasuke wasted no time, and leapt at Kakashi like a lion. The raven haired genin completed a series of hand seals inhumanly fast, and pressed two fingers to his lips. Kakashi dodged to the side, just as Sasuke blew an enormous fireball at the copy-nin. Sasuke landed, pivoted, and whirled around to try and roundhouse kick Kakashi center-mass. The Jounin caught his foot and spun, throwing Sasuke face first into the dirt.

"Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!" shouted Naruto, suddenly creating a dozen clones of himself, each one with the two wakizashi drawn and ready to fight. Kakashi, though still off guard from the ferocity of Sasuke's attack, easily maintained his ground as the Narutos charged, and Sasuke staggered to his feet.

The copy-nin didn't even close his book, but fended off the Narutos by dodging and allowing them to hit each other, or by slamming his unoccupied hand into one's face, banishing it immediately in a poof of smoke. Sasuke rejoined the fray, but was promptly picked up and used as a club by the Jounin to annihilate the clones. Kakashi then threw Sasuke into Naruto, and sent them both tumbling in a heap.

Within seconds of launching the attack, Kakashi stood over the two genin looking down at them, and condescendingly chuckling.

"Your teamwork desperately needs to improve," he said, "but it was a valiant attempt."

_He just destroyed them both…_fretted Sakura, _how are we supposed to win against someone like him?_

Sasuke grimaced, and slammed his hand on the ground, smashing the small pellet he held, and creating a blinding cloud of smoke. Kakashi leapt back and all three genin took advantage of the cover and darted away in opposite directions. Sasuke retreated about fifty yards North to the cover of some underbrush, while Naruto went south to the forest itself and Sakura hid amongst some rocks to the west. Kakashi merely stood his ground in the middle of the field, and resumed reading his book, giggling with a pervert's delight from time to time.

Naruto sat down to take a quick inventory of his gear, praying he had something that could distract the Jounin long enough for him to steal a bell. Three yards of steel wire, fifty shuriken, half a doze kunai, and ten or so exploding tags: enough for a trap worthy of a genin maybe, but he'd need more firepower to best Kakashi.

_I need the others help… _he admitted to himself. _What? _Naruto turned as a sudden explosion caught his attention.

Sasuke had attacked Kakashi again, and thrown some small fire bombs around the Jounin to hold him in place. Sasuke jumped over the wall of fire, and caught Kakashi's arm, throwing the man off balance, and causing him to drop the book. The two grappled for a moment before Kakashi twisted Sasuke's arm and threw him into the air.

Sasuke rolled in mid air and put his fingers to his lips again. Kakashi was still ringed in by the flames and could only watch as Sasuke shot another grand fireball down at him.

The fireball moved closer and closer, and Kakashi put up an arm to shield himself. "A genin shouldn't be able to do this!" he yelled as Sasuke grinned. The Jounin was completely enveloped by the flames. Sasuke's joy was short lived, as there was a puff of smoke, and Kakashi was replaced by a smoldering log.

"Shit!" Sasuke yelled as the copy-nin appeared behind him. This time there was nothing Sasuke could do but watch as a heavy boot blotted out his vision, and drove him into the grass outside the flames.

Sakura sat behind a rock, carefully watching the battle between Sasuke and the Jounin, taking note of Kakashi's every move trying to find some flaw in his defense. It seemed to her that Kakashi was prone to underestimating what a genin could muster, but now that Sasuke had shown his hand, there was nothing he could to catch the copy-nin off guard.

_And I don't have anything out of the ordinary I can do, which leaves Naruto… _She thought, just as there was a slight rustle of grass beside her. The pink haired girl whirled around, and flung a kunai.

There was a metallic ring as it bounced harmlessly off Naruto's golden blade.

"Sakura, it's me," he hissed.

"What do you want?" she whispered back.

"I've got a plan," he answered, holding up two makeshift shovels made of wood and several kunai, all lashed together with wire. "How fast can you dig?"

SC

"That should hold you" Kakashi said, stepping back and admiring his work.

Sasuke hung from the branch of a tree, dangling a good five feet off the ground, suspended by and wrapped in steel wire. _That worked well, _thought Sasuke.

"One down, two to go," said Kakashi, "And we're only five minutes in."

SC

"Are you sure this will work?" asked Sakura sheepishly? "I mean we've only got ten minutes left, so if this doesn't work, we're doomed."

"The hardest part," Naruto said, "will be getting Kakashi Sensei to actually come this way. But once he does, it's over, and we'll be able to bargain for all three of us to pass."

_Great… _thought Sakura, "I guess, but how do we get Sasuke down?"

Naruto put his hands together, and created a Kage-Bunshin, then crouched and marked the nearby boulder, behind which they were hiding from Kakashi with a small crest like that of an Uchiha.

"Leave that to me. Once Sasuke is down, we'll need to drive Kakashi here. You and the clone go left," said Naruto, "I'll sneak around to the right… go now!" he forcefully whispered.

Sakura and the clone jumped up, and charged Kakashi, who readied himself for the attack by turning the page. Naruto quietly sprinted far to the right, and created another dozen clones directly in front of the one with Sakura. All the clones leapt at Kakashi, while Sakura unleashed a torrent of kunai and shuriken.

Naruto crept ever closer, while Kakashi dodged and weaved between the deadly projectiles. Sometimes the copy nin would toss a clone in the way, subsequently nullifying both threats, so Naruto would stop and create another few clones to keep Kakashi busy; making it look like the original clone was the master.

Sasuke, who had been watching carefully, turned to his left, and saw Naruto approaching. He immediately turned his attention back to the battle to keep from blowing cover.

Finally Naruto was within striking distance, and flung himself at the tree, slicing through the wire with the swords, and landing gracefully behind.

"What?" asked Kakashi, stunned, "Clones!?"

Sasuke grabbed hold of the wire, and whipped it at Kakashi, who dodged to the side, as the lethal line snapped, and tore into the ground where he'd stood not a second before. Sasuke readjusted, and whipped the wire again and, as Kakashi was in midair and could do nothing to change course, snapped the Jounin in the thigh. There was a loud crack, and Kakashi winced as a thin trail of blood fell from a rip in his leg to the ground.

"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto, nodding his head towards his and Sakura's previous hiding place. Sasuke's keen eyes caught the symbol immediately, and he knew something must be up. The Uchiha whipped the wire again and it lashed around Kakashi's other leg.

"Not today," said Kakashi, pulling out a kunai and slashing the taught wire, freeing himself and sending Sasuke reeling from the recoil.

Naruto charged, and slashed at Kakashi with his left wakizashi, pouring all of his strength into the blow. The Jounin blocked the blade, but jumped back as a blue spark leapt between the blades. It was apparently harmless, but Kakashi was unsure what to make of it.

_They're likely to be the conduit for some deadly jutsu,_ thought Kakashi.

Naruto, not hesitating, angled himself opposite Kakashi and the trap, and charged again. This time Kakashi fought with both hands. He drew another Kunai, and fended off all of Naruto's attacks, but couldn't find an effective opening to strike back that wouldn't be a fatal blow, so he didn't strike out for a real blow at all.

The wakizashi were long enough that Naruto's wild movements put deadly force behind them, but short enough as to not make them as clumsy as a long sword. And what made it all the more difficult was that because of the shorter length, Naruto kept in close. Kakashi's long arms, even with the short kunai, had trouble maneuvering to match the awkward distance between himself and the genin meaning that even an amateur like Naruto, was a dangerous opponent.

What gave Kakashi a definite edge however, was that whatever gift the blades held, Naruto seemingly didn't know how to activate, and there was nothing more than a blue or golden flash every time the blades met.

"Enough games," said Kakashi, ducking under a blow and wheeling around, and planting his foot in Naruto's chest. The genin flew backwards, and rolled to a stop in the dust.

Sasuke roared and jumped at Kakashi, taking the chance to attack, whereas before he would've been cut to bits. The copy-nin was mere yards from the trap, and Sasuke held nothing back: blowing fireballs, lashing out with kunai, throwing firebombs (some to guide Kakashi, but most randomly to mask the purpose of the few aimed ones,) and praying the Jounin wouldn't notice Sakura letting out her last remaining lengths of wire.

Naruto looked up from his place in the dust, then smirked and disappeared in a poof of smoke. The two wakizashi tumbled and stuck solidly in the ground.  
"What??" Kakashi gasped.

The girl flung the line, which now had a shuriken lashed to either end at Kakashi. He jumped just in time to avoid the projectile.

"NARUTO NOW!!" bellowed Sasuke, and the blonde jumped from behind a rock, caught the line (tearing open his hand in the process) and whipped it at Kakashi, who was again in midair.

The line thrashed around Kakashi's leg, and the shuriken imbedded in his calf, holding tight. Naruto jerked down, and Kakashi crashed through the camouflaged netting in front of the marked rock, and tumbled into a pit about ten feet deep, four feet in diameter…and lined with no less than twenty explosive tags.

The copy nin stood up and looked around, then reached up and started to adjust his forehead protector, but hesitated and rather put both hands at his sides. The three genin walked up and lined the edge of the pit, and looked down on the Jounin.

"Do we pass?" asked Sakura haughtily.

"You still don't have either bell," said Kakashi coolly, "And you have less than a minute to go."

Naruto squatted down, holding out a small stick. "Sasuke, if you would please," said Naruto.

Sasuke grinned and blew a small stream of fire and lit the end of the stick on fire.

"We'll make you a deal, Kakashi-Sensei," said the blonde, "You let all three of us pass, and I won't blow you to strait to Suna."

Kakashi looked around for a second, noting that the tags were very real, and ready to detonate at the slightest provocation. _These kids are good, _he thought, _and not just smart, but brutal. I would never have seen this coming._

Kakashi reached to his side, snapped the bells off his belt, and tossed them up to ground level. "You pass," he said, "All three of you."

"Thank you," said Naruto, catching the bells. He took one in each hand, and held one out to each of the other genin. "How's that for endangering the mission?"

Sasuke and Sakura were completely silent and Sakura swallowed hard, but each took a bell out of Naruto's hands, then the three of them stood up, and took a step back. Kakashi jumped out of the pit, landing solidly in front of Sakura. Sasuke and Naruto gathered around at Kakashi's bidding, and he put a hand on the boy's shoulders.

"Well done, great job," he said, smiling through his mask. "You pass with flying colors: good teamwork, advanced individual skills; I was thoroughly impressed."

The three genin smiled; even Sasuke grinned and looked down at the ground.

"How about we go to the beef bowl?" asked Kakashi, "my treat."

"Sure," answered Sakura, while Sasuke nodded and said "why not."

Naruto however shook his head, and declined.

"I actually had things I wanted to do today," he said, "But thanks for the offer, I appreciate it."

"Alright," said Kakashi, "But be at the Hokage's office tomorrow morning at nine. We're taking a group photo, and checking in to see if we've been assigned any missions."

"Right," said Naruto, turning and running back towards Konoha, grabbing and sheathing his wakizashi along the way, "I'll see you all there!"

SC

Naruto arrived back at the Yamanaka's at ten till one, and went in. Inside it was as warm and bright as always, with the scent of sweet flowers permeating the air.

"Anybody home?" Naruto asked, closing the door behind him.

"In the kitchen," Mrs. Yamanaka called back.

Naruto walked in, to find her sitting at the kitchen table, working with a small flower with an unopened purple bud. She was carefully examining the bud with a magnifying glass.

"What's that?" he asked.

She sat down the tool, and looked up at him, smiling as always.

"This," she began, "is a flower I don't know the name of. I found it while I was wondering north of the river, and brought it home. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly special about it, but we can't tell for sure till it blooms."

"When will that be?" he asked.

"I don't know, but it should be soon, given that the stalk looks mature. How'd the test go?"

"It was great!" Naruto answered happily, "And I'm glad you and Ino made me eat something."

She chuckled, "I thought you would be, Ino is in the garden if you wanted to tell her how it went." Naruto said thank you, and went to the mahogany door in the living room. He opened it and stepped into the new territory of the Yamanaka's indoor garden.

It was rather small, not much larger than a normal house, but dense with all kinds of foliage that basked in the light let in by numerous windows and skylights. Ino sat in the middle with her back to him, tending the shoots of some orange and pink roses. He hopped over to her and she turned and smiled as he approached.

"Good afternoon," he said warmly, "I thought you had a mission."

"I did," said Ino setting down her tools and standing up, "But Asuma-Sensei said the situation suddenly got really bad and he had to cancel it."

"That's too bad, I'm sorry."

Ino smiled, "Don't be," she said, "It's not really anything to complain about. But how did your test go?"

"It was awesome! And I'm really glad I ate." Naruto laughed, and Ino giggled a little.

"I thought you would be," she said, echoing her mother.

"Hey um," Naruto stammered a bit, "do you want to go get dinner later?"

Ino playfully cocked her head at him.

"I'd love to," she said, "Dinner sounds great, but you choose the place. Would you like to help me out here in the meantime?"

Naruto beamed and eagerly accepted. Ino held out a small hand rake, and they knelt down by the roses, immediately lost in a conversation about flowers, herbs, and of course…ramen.


	8. A Glimpse of Death

AN: Hey everyone. I'm glad to see that most of you seemed to like that last chapter, and I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has been faithfully giving me ideas and input. Again, I really do appreciate it and hope it continues. Man this chapter is late, I'm sorry. It's a little lengthy, but some people requested that so… And about that action scene last chap, I'm not very good at writing action TT. Alas, now, as promised, chapter 8! On with the fic!

* * *

A Glimpse of Death Can Open Your Eyes

It was just before dawn, and Konoha was quiet. Naruto lay peacefully sleeping on the mildly angled rooftop of the Yamanaka abode, dreaming of the day he was to become Hokage, while a few feet to his left, Ino dozed tranquilly; an empty box of Ichiraku ramen between them.

Dinner the previous night had consisted of chicken flavored ramen shared by the two genin and Mrs. Yamanaka, as the trio sat out into the early morning hours stargazing and talking about nothing in particular. Ami had gotten lost in the telling of a story about her mother's role in the Wars, and didn't realize both of her listeners had dozed off, until both were soundly asleep.

As the sun rose over the tree line, Naruto rolled over and woke up. He grudgingly sat up and stretched, then looked around, taking a moment to remember exactly where he had fallen asleep that night. He looked over at Ino, who was still sleeping, and couldn't help but grin. He reached over, nudging her shoulder and causing her to roll away and continue to doze.

"Ino," he said, standing up and walking beside her, "unless you want to fall off the roof, I suggest you get up." He smiled and gently nudged her again.

She yawned, then opened her eyes and sat up. Blinking, she looked over at Naruto and said good morning. He helped her to her feet, and they looked off to the east, out over Konoha as morning washed over the buildings and illuminated the treetops.

"Thanks for dinner last night," said Ino after a few moments.

"My pleasure," he responded, glancing over and grinning.

Ino stood up, and they both crawled inside through the window to the second floor hall… Well, more of a room than a hall. It had a window on the North wall, stairs opposite the window led to the main floor, and on either wall in-between there were doors that lead to either Ino's or Mrs. Yamanaka's room. They went downstairs and into the kitchen, where there were two plates stacked high with vegetables and fruits, and a note. Naruto picked it up, then read it over.

"Your mom went to the store and out to run a bunch of errands," he said, handing her the note, "and said she'd be back around ten."

"Well, what do you want to do till then?" asked Ino.

"I was thinking I'd go to the Hokage's office a little early. I need to be there at nine anyway."

Naruto sat down in front of one of the plates, and Ino did the same. They both started to eat, and Ino asked how the test the day before had gone. As was his custom, Naruto immediately launched into a somewhat romanticized but fairly accurate rendition of the events leading up to his team trapping Kakashi in the pit.

Ino sat and listened, occasionally making comments, or nodding along.

"It was incredible!" exclaimed Naruto, "Sakura through the wire right to me and I caught it, then whipped Kakashi-Sensei in the leg and slammed him into the hole. And I was all like 'so do we pass,' and Kakashi-Sensei didn't want us to at first, but as soon as Sasuke and I threatened to blow him up, he tossed the bells up to us and said we win! It was great!"

Ino smiled widely, "It sounds like you guys really pulled a fast one on him. That's awesome."

Naruto nodded in agreement, then pushed the plate away and sat back in the chair. Ino got up and took both plates to the sink, and started rinsing them off. Naruto stood and walked up beside her, then took a dishtowel and scrubbed his plate clean, while Ino washed hers under the faucet. Naruto took both, and dried them off with a clean rag, and set them back in the cupboard.

"Thanks," said Naruto before Ino could say anything.

She grinned back, and looked past him at the clock. It was two till eight.

Naruto turned around and glanced back.

"How about we both head out and see if old man Hokage has anything for us to do today?" asked Ino.

"Sounds good to me," said Naruto.

SC

"So what exactly do they do" asked Ino, glancing at the sheathed wakizashis slung across Naruto's back as the pair of them walked down the street.

"What do what do?"

"Those swords err waki-whatever. Momo said they would have some kind of power. You mentioned fighting Kakashi-san with them yesterday, but never talked about them doing anything special."

"Well," he began, "they didn't really. I mean sure there was some little spark whenever I swung them at Kakashi-Sensei, but it's not like they shot lightning or anything."

"They must at least be really sharp," Ino answered, "if they sliced through that wire holding Sasuke as easily as you say they did."

"Oh, they went right through it," Naruto grinned, "it was like cutting a wet string."

Ino chuckled a little, as they began to ascend the open air stairs leading up to the Konoha Official's Offices. The Offices were built like a pyramid around the base of the monument to the Hokages; twelve offices on the ground floor, then eleven on the next, then ten an so on until you came to the Hokage's at the very top, and his was more of a complex than an office, tunneling into the very heart-rock of the monument.

They reached the Hokage's floor and turned to corner, and nearly barreled into Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Kurenai.

"Oh, watch where-" Ino began to say, until Naruto elbowed her side just a little, "I mean pardon us." She put an arm up behind her head, and tried to look friendly and innocent. Hinata, upon glimpsing Naruto, nearly fainted and promptly began to twiddle her index fingers around one another. Kiba crossed his arms, adopting a hostile demeanor, while Shino just stood by apathetically.

"Sorry about that," said Kurenai, "What are the two of you doing here so early? And without your teams?"

Naruto stepped forward. "We just decided to go for a walk," he said confidently, "You know get here a little early and see what our missions would be today."

Kurenai grinned. "You might as well follow us. It'd save you a trip to the office."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, Naruto," said a familiar voice from behind the two blonde genin.

Naruto turned around, to be met by Kakashi, who was walking up the way and putting away an orange book.

"What are you doing here this early?" asked the copy-nin.

Naruto just sighed.

"No matter really," said Kakashi, "Maybe we should go and see the Hokage together, eh."

"No need," said Kurenai, "Our teams are going on a joint peacekeeping mission." She held up a manila envelope and playfully tossed it at Kakashi as she would a shuriken. He caught it out of the air, and opened it up. "I got them from Sarutobi's aid while he was out to breakfast."

"Well, I guess there's no need to bother picking up the mission specs," he replied after a brief review of the contents, making sure the papers had the Hokage's official seal. "Naruto, walk Ms Yamanaka home, then come to the west gate and meet up with Sasuke, Sakura and myself. We'll take the mission from there."

_This was a bit of a waste of time, _thought Naruto, _he would've just come to get me anyway. _He then looked over at Ino. _Maybe not a total waste of time,_ he grinned.

Naruto and Ino nodded, then turned around and descended the stairs. Neither of them said a word till they were just a block away from Ino's house, when she turned to him.

"I guess this means dinner on me is out of the question," she said. Her tone was cheery, but there was a sense of discouragement in her voice.  
"I guess so," said Naruto, matching her happy tone, but not being able to hide the same disappointment. "But when I get back, I'd love you … to take you up on your offer."

"What was that?" asked Ino, not entirely sure what she heard.

"I said I'd love to take you up on your offer when I get back," said Naruto, blushing wildly.

"Me to," she said, fumbling for what to say, and not really knowing what to think.

They stopped in front of her door, and stood opposite each other, not speaking, and not really thinking about anything to say. He stared across at her, not entirely certain what he was thinking, but knowing it had something to do with how he loved how her eyes seemed to shimmer whenever she smiled.

Ino on the other hand was just now beginning to notice how dazzlingly blue Naruto's eyes were. The end result was that they simply stood there for minutes on end in a comfortable silence.

Naruto was the first to shake himself out of the dreaminess he'd slipped into, and take a step back.

"I need to get going," he said.

Ino looked down at the ground, then back at him, and nodded.

"When do you think you'll be back?" she asked.

Naruto shrugged, then hesitantly turned away, and began to walk towards the city's main gate. Ino stood on the doorstep and watched as he left. For the first time in a long time, she was genuinely confused. On the one hand, she knew that he had to go and that it was his responsibility, but on the other she felt almost betrayed that he'd rather go than stay and have dinner with her. While at the same time, she didn't know why she wanted him to stay at all, nor did she understand why she felt lonely when he wasn't there. She knew he made for good company, but after spending several days with him…

Her mind was a jumbled mess as she tried to sort through her thoughts and separate them out from her feelings, all while watching Naruto leave, and trying to come to grips with the fact that she missed him and he wasn't even gone yet. She slowly slipped into a daze, and it wasn't until Naruto turned a corner, and disappeared after a quick glance back and a wave, that she realized that she really did miss him already.

_What's wrong with me? _She wondered, opening the door and stepping inside, _What am I thinking, and why can't I get him out of my head………? _

"It's called caring for someone," answered her mother's voice from the couch.

Ino lurched and whirled around, ready to strike. She had recognized the voice, but it so violently jerked her from her thoughts that she momentarily forgot what was going on around her, and almost didn't know it was her mother sitting on the couch.

"I recognize that look," said Mrs. Yamanaka warmly. Ino withered from shock, but quickly recovered and went to sit by her mother.

"I'm confused…" said the girl after a moments pause.

"You're wondering why you can't stop thinking about Naruto, right?"

Ino nodded. _How did she know?_

"You're not the only one your father taught to read minds," laughed Mrs. Yamanaka.

"You've been reading my mind!?" asked Ino, drawing back and suddenly hurt by the invasion of her privacy.

"No dear," said her mother smiling. "I don't have to. The way you watch him, talk about him, and the way you're there for him: it's pretty obvious what's going on in your mind."

Not to me," said Ino quietly, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. "I don't know what to think or do or anything. I know he's my friend, but is he more or something? I mean I really want him to be happy and all and I really want to spend time with him… I don't know…"

"It sounds a bit like you're falling for him,"

"I don't think so," said Ino shaking her head, "we're just friends. I just want to be his friend."

Mrs. Yamanaka smiled, "That good Ino, and for now that's exactly how it should be. You're too young to be anything but 'just friends.' But, do you think that someday several years down the road you might ever want to be more than his friend?" she asked.

Ino nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again. "I really like him, as a friend, and I think he likes me. I hope he does. But I kinda look at him and start to think that maybe he's more than that. Maybe he's special, and someone I could… well, you know… fall in love with."

"Would you trade your happiness for his?"

"I think so… Yes. Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Ino, I'm not here to tell you who or what you are, but I'd be lying if I said I thought you were just infatuated," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "… Do you think that, right now, you love Naruto?"

Ino closed her eyes, and tried not to blush. "I-," she stammered, "I barely know him… I mean, part of me wants to say yes, but I don't know. I just don't know what to say or think or do… I really want to say yes but, I just-…. I hurt him. I threw sand in his face and all kinds of horrible stuff," Ino began to tear up at the memory of her nightmare a few days ago. She remembered how Naruto was helpless and she took joy in making him cry. "I was awful to him…"

"Did you ask him to forgive you?" asked Mrs. Yamanaka straightforwardly.

"I did…" said Ino, holding back more tears and wiping away the old ones.

"Did he forgive you?"

Ino smiled slightly, remembering back to how much more at ease she felt with herself when he did.

"Yes," she said blushing.

Mrs. Yamanaka smiled, "Then you've got nothing to apologize for or feel guilty about anymore. That's over and done with forever. You might as well forget you were ever like that to him, because dwelling on how you **used** to act will only make it harder for you to move on. The only thing you should do because of your past actions now is to simply know not to repeat them."

The room fell silent for a minute as Ino looked strait ahead.

"Thanks mom," she said, looking over and smiling, "But I still don't know if I really love him: like love him forever and always type love him.

"No hurry on that answer dear, just something to think on" her mother said sweetly, reaching over and playfully pulling Ino into her lap. "You've still got plenty of time to figure it out for yourself,"

Ino hesitated, thinking about what had been said for a moment, then reached up and tried to tickle her mother's sides. But Mrs. Yamanaka was too quick and grabbed a cushion to bat at Ino with. Before long, a full fledged pillow war broke out, as both sides succumbed to a girlish lightheartedness, giggling uncontrollably and trying to be the first to disarm the other.

SC

"I believe you all know each other," said Kurenai to the group of genin assembled in front of herself and Kakashi. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata all nodded the affirmative. "So introductions aren't necessary. Today we'll be heading west, to the small village of Aerin. They're a source of intelligence but as of yesterday they severed all contact with us. Our job will be to reestablish communication."

Kakashi sat by patiently, "This may only be a C rank mission, but I consider it high risk. It could easily become far more dangerous, but the Hokage feels that you're up to the task" he said, "And I for one happen to agree with him." Kakashi looked over his team and smiled through his mask, "But caution is still king here."

"It's not a short trip," said Kurenai, "so let's move out." She waved her hand over her shoulder as she turned around, and the group of eight set off, hiking west for a half mile or so before they broke out into a jog (which for a ninja is the whole sprinting through the trees thing.)

They all quickly established a good pace, moving roughly six leagues an hour. Hinata and Kurenai were at the lead, followed by Kiba and Akamaru. Shino and Naruto were in the center of the formation with Sasuke right behind. Sakura was second to last, between the Uchiha and Kakashi.

They traveled for almost seven hours without stopping for anything, and in almost total silence. The closest things to conversations were Sakura's attempts to talk to Sasuke. The raven haired boy however, would have no part of it, electing to simply press onward and leaving Sakura speaking into the dead air ahead of her.

Once or twice they changed directions at Kurenai's discretion, or upon warning from Hinata that there was someone ahead on the ground. When they finally stopped to rest high up in the trees on branches that were still large enough for several people to sit on, it was almost five. Kakashi and Kurenai stood off together, muttering quietly. The genin on the other hand all lay stretched out or sitting against the massive trunks. The trees they occupied were dense, screening out most of the light from above, but remained well lit however, due to their being on the edge of an open grove.

Kiba pulled a small rice cake out of his pouch and began to munch on it, while Akamaru slept on the boy's head. Shino ate a piece of fruit he plucked from the tree and Sasuke sat down to enjoy a bit of seed-cake.

Naruto sat back against the tree, watching the others eat, and feeling quite hungry himself. He'd stopped at a stand to buy some food before they left Konoha, but had eaten the rations almost two hours ago as they traveled.

"N-Naruto?" asked a timid voice beside the blonde. He nearly jumped, despite that it was just Hinata, because she had been so quiet.

"Don't do that…" he gasped, trying to catch his breath, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" He was smiling now, and joking around, but Hinata buried her chin in her jacket and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"I'm sorry," she said, stammering to get the words out, "I just saw you sitting over here and thought you might be hungry." Refusing to make eye contact, Hinata pulled a large rice ball wrapped in plastic out of one of her pockets and offered it to him.

"That's awfully nice of you, but I wouldn't want to take your lunch from you." He said.

"It's alright," she said setting the rice ball between them, and producing another from the opposite pocket, "I brought several; more than enough for the two of us in fact, and…" she trailed off, looking in his general direction, but still not making eye contact.

Naruto looked off behind him, wondering what Hinata was looking at, and thinking there must be something back there. But when he was convinced there wasn't he turned back and took the rice ball she offered.

"Thanks very much," he said beaming and unwrapping it, "I'm starving."

"You- you're welcome," she said shyly, "there's plenty more so if you finish that one-" She cut off, as Naruto reached out grinning, asking for another. She stammered for a second, then quickly reached another coat and pulled out a third, then handed it to him. "Thanks Hinata," he said, "you're a real pal."

"It's my pleasure, Naruto-kun," she said, smiling weakly and looking off as he devoured the treat, "I'm glad you like them."

"Like them?" he said playfully, "they're great. They've got my favorite seasoning in them."

Hinata just nodded, wanting to tell him she made them specifically for him, but fearing that might suddenly spoil the taste she kept silent, and nibbled on one herself.

Sakura sat a ways off and watched as Naruto and Hinata ate, resenting the fact that she was sharing with him. _I don't get it, _she thought _he's never done anything but be a complete idiot and a loudmouth. He's never given her any reason to like him, but she does. _Her problem was probably related to her own lack of a meal.

"How far are we from Aerin?" Sakura called out to Kakashi.

The copy nin turned and glared at her as if to say chastise her for being so noisy, then nodded over his shoulder. "Come see for yourself."

All the genin got up, and hopped over to the branch nearest the end of the tree and looked out. The grove was beautiful, with a small brook running across one end, but there were no signs of human life there.

"Welcome to Aerin," said Kurenai.

Everyone was silent.

"Um… there's nothing here," said Kiba.

"Not on the surface," said Kakashi, before he leapt between the trees down to the ground. The other seven followed his lead and together they all walked out into the grove. It was much larger than it seemed from so high up. "Aerin is underground," explained the copy nin, "It was originally a safe house Konoha set up decades ago, but when iron ore was discovered there, many people from Konoha quickly moved out here to make their fortune, until it was large enough that it formed it's own city."

"Didn't that upset the Hokage?" asked Sakura.

"The third didn't really appreciate it, but knew it wasn't worth an insurrection, so he just let it go. As a form of tribute, the people of Aerin however proclaimed their loyalty to Konoha, and declared themselves the rulers of this territory for Konoha. For years they would send out spies and rangers to patrol the wilderness, and every day their chief of police would prepare a report on the surrounding area to be sent to the Hokage, via a courier nin. It was rarely useful until the Wars, but then the information they provided on a daily basis became invaluable."

"So when the reports didn't come the other day, it made the Hokage wonder what happened," said Sasuke.

"Exactly" replied Kurenai. "Odds are it's nothing, but even so. It still looks good if we send a sizeable force to 'ensure that our allies are alright.'"

"So we're at this for politics?" asked Sakura, "this is really just a waste of time?"

"You're getting paid for it," said Shino calmly, "I wouldn't complain."

The whole group chuckled as Kakashi stopped them in front of an unsuspicious mound of grass. He knelt down and pulled up the grass like a blanket, exposing a shallow metal dome, which he lifted up and moved aside, revealing a tunnel. Kakashi jumped down, and Kurenai waited as the others went down one by one. She then slid the lid back in place as she herself jumped down.

The tunnel the group found themselves in was long and dark, lit only by the dim glow of shimmering orbs the size of a head. The orbs were hung from the walls at seemingly random intervals, but after a certain distance, were absent entirely, leaving a threshold of blackness.

They walked down two by two up to the edge of the light, as the passage was wide enough only for a pair at a time.

"Odd," said Kurenai. "I've been here on several occasions, and each time there were guards at this entrance."

"Hello!" shouted Kakashi down the hall, startling the others, "We are emissaries of Konoha seeking an audience. … Is anyone here?"

No response.

Kakashi walked calmly to the front of the group, and stooped next to Hinata while Kurenai walked to the back and drew a kunai from underneath her dress.

"If you'd be so kind as to have a look," said Kakashi politely to the young Hyuuga.

Hinata nodded nervously, and put her hands out in front of her. Veins bulged beside her eyes and she stared straight ahead into the darkness. For nearly a minute, she didn't speak, then readjusted her stance and stared harder.

Akamaru backed farther into Kiba's hoody and growled quietly. The boy reached up and patted him on the head to silence him.

"I see," she began, "it's strange. There will be nothing as far as I can see, then a brief flash of something, then nothing."

Sasuke slowly reached behind his back, and drew three shuriken from a pouch. "There's something out there," his voice was edgy, and tension shown in his gaze. "I can see movement."

All of the others somehow readied for an attack, either by drawing a weapon or taking a stance. Naruto drew out both wakizashi and dug in his feet a little.

"This could be very bad," said Kakashi "but we need to investigate." He stepped forward, and motioned for the others to follow. "If there's trouble," he whispered, "everyone stay together and in-between Kurenai and myself but make for the entrance."

The genin nodded as the squads took a step into the darkness. The gloom was nearly impossible for even the shinobi's eyes to penetrate, but they made their way a hundred more feet through an arched doorway out into an open area that was completely black.

No one took another step. The chamber was silent, as Kakashi shifted and readjusted his forehead protector without alerting the group.

"A Trap!" he yelled, "Genjutsu! Retreat!"

Kurenai slapped her hands together. "Kai!" she shouted, and a wave of transparent chakra undulated out from her, rolling the darkness back like a blanket, revealing the stone entry room, well lit by dozens of lanterns, and occupied by no less than a dozen figures robed in black with cowls over their faces.

"Assassins!" shouted Kakashi, "Fall ba-" but before he could finish, three more of the figures simply appeared in front of the exit, each brandishing wickedly curved kunai in each hand.

Kurenai drew back towards the group and crouched down ready to fight. She prepared to throw the weapon, but before she could even think to move, a chill shot through her and she couldn't move. She struggled desperately to break the Genjutsu holding her frozen only to discover that it was no illusion, but some block in her mind.

"_**Kill him!**_" shouted one of the assassins in a metallic voice.

The room erupted into utter chaos. Kunai and shuriken flew through the air. Four of the assassins leapt at Kakashi who dodged to the side, and drove his open hand into one of their throats, filling the room with a loud crack as the body fell to the ground, limp.

Naruto was swept up in the horror and action. He watched as one of the robed figures engaged Sasuke, who charged in close and fought back with Taijutsu and small fire jutsu. Akamaru jumped from Kiba and bit into the throat of one of the attackers, catching him completely off guard and ripping out his larynx. Kiba was hit from behind with a shuriken that caught him between the shoulders. He turned to attack, but was struck heavily across the face with an iron clad fist that knocked him to the ground; he didn't get up. Akamaru however was relentless, sinking his bloody fangs into any assassin that came close to his master.

There was a loud blast as Sakura threw an explosive tag on the ground in front of her to provide a distraction for the two assassins who had attacked her, and she retreated to Kakashi's side as he buried his dagger into an assassin's chest. The whistling of projectiles as they flew through the air was a constant, as was the sting of being nicked by one that had barely missed, or that was nearly dodged.

Naruto whirled around, just in time to block a claw like weapon swung at his head, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the boot that followed. It blotted out his vision and sent him tumbling across the room. Naruto came to a stop but immediately rolled out of the way as a spiked boot crashed into the ground and missed him by the width of a hair. The boots owner, having thrown his last shuriken, joined the first attacker, the one with the claw, and together they engaged Naruto from both sides.

The young blonde thought he was done for, when suddenly one of the attackers fell to the ground and began to writhe around, screaming out and retching. Naruto didn't have time to watch, as the other assassin suffered no such fate, but continued to attack. He did however notice blood streaming from the afflicted man's robe until he was silent and motionless, as a countless number of ants vacated the carcass.

The assassin with the claws struck again with inhuman strength, but recoiled, as Naruto made an X with his swords, and blocked the blow. The assassin wrenched his blade from the trap, but stumbled as Naruto made no effort to keep him motionless. The genin did however, rush in and slash at where it looked like his throat should have been.

The blade passed through easily, splitting the cloth on both ends of the cowl and passing through flesh and bone. The assassin fell backwards as his head, shrouded in the mask, tumbled from his shoulders and landed on the ground. The truncated cadaver fell in an unceremonious heap, as blood pulsed out of the neck as the heart beat erratically for a second, then went still.

Naruto was left with no time to think, but turned and saw Shino, who was busy casting flies into the faces' of two assassins, being approached from behind by a third. The blonde quickly drew a shuriken, and flung it with all his might at the attacker, who turned and blocked. Naruto charged forward, knocking the blade swung at him aside, and jabbing his own weapon into the face of his foe, sending a shower of blood out the back, and drenching his own hand. Shino turned only long enough to nod and smile to Naruto, before spinning to roundhouse kick an assassin in the gut.

"Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!" shouted Naruto, summoning three clones to face the two assassins who had just rushed in through the entryway.

Hinata, seeing Kurenai's plight, focused intently on seeking out the source of the jutsu, only to see a thin and wispy cord of energy visible only to the Byakugan running from her Sensei's forehead, to the forehead of a stationary assassin. _Not wholly chakra, _she thought, _but some other kind of mental energy._

"_**I told you to attack only the vessel!**_" shouted the assassin with the strange energy cord. "_**Kill him NOW!**_"

All of the assassin immediately abandoned their current fight, and rushed at Naruto who was quickly overwhelmed. For some though, like those who turned their back on Kakashi who was fighting with both eyes, it cost them their heads.

The assassin fighting with Sakura, simply brushed her aside and slammed his fist on her head, toppling her to the ground, and dug one of her shuriken out of his side.

Naruto couldn't keep up. He was hacking and swinging wildly, creating a clone as soon as one was destroyed, but he was still slowly being taken apart blow by blow. Now assassins were streaming in from the entrance, and many were armed not only with swords and claws, but began to cast jutsus. Sasuke fell victim to an explosive attack that smashed him against the wall, and knocked him out while Hinata flashed blue, and was suddenly blown to the ground in a flash of light.

Kurenai jerked, shattering the mental block and the assassin paralyzing her staggered back. Immediately she appeared in front of him, and slammed her fist into his face, then jabbed his stomach with a kunai. He fell back and lay still, leaving her free to bound off to Naruto's aid. Kakashi dispatched the last assassin in his way, and rushed to bludgeon the enemy nearest him with a knife through the heart.

In a matter of seconds, the two Jounin, with minor help from Naruto and Shino (who were the last two genin standing), had cut down every assassin in the room. Thirty motionless, shrouded bodies lay scattered throughout the room.

Kiba struggled o his feet, rubbing his head, and Hinata pushed the dead body of an adversary off of her. Sasuke groaned but didn't get up, while Sakura stood on her feet, clenching her eyes shut and holding her aching head.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Kurenai between ragged breaths. Naruto nodded, along with Kiba and Shino. Hinata grimaced and didn't answer, and Sasuke said he'd be fine (he still didn't get up mind you.)

"No serious injuries?" asked Kakashi, wiping blood off of his hands.

All of the genin went through and said no. Hinata had gotten the worst of it by far: bloodied knuckles, numerous bruises, a badly bleeding scrape on the scalp, but still nothing fatal.

"Alright," said Kakashi, "All of you, go outside with Kurenai and wait for me. I need to know what happened here…"

Kurenai motioned for them to follow her. Shino went and helped Sasuke to his feet, as Hinata lent him her shoulder to lean on. Sasuke however simply righted himself and followed as the squad, minus Sakura and Naruto left through the now well lit hallway.

"Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto, "I want to help. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, go outside and wait, it still isn't safe in here," answered the Jounin.

"Please Kakashi-Sensei," said Sakura, "I want to know what happened here, same as you. And -"

"Yeah, we just proved we can handle ourselves didn't we?" asked Naruto.

Sakura glared at him, hating the interruption.

"Fine," muttered Kakashi, "Stay close to me, and help me unmask these bodies. We need to know where they're from first of all."

"Great," said Naruto.

The three of them set about their work, pulling the masks off, or in a few cases, unwrapping severed heads from their cowls. They explored a little farther into the city, and began to turn up the dead bodies of innocent civilians, along with a few other assassins. It turned out that most of the enemies looked to be from the fire country, and few were older than twenty. Of the thirty, only ten wore forehead protectors, and those that did, wore blank ones.

"So we were dealing mostly with samurai for hire, and only a few Ninjas which would explain the lack of jutsu until the end," said Kakashi, "the ninjas were waiting for the cannon fodder to do their damage and die before they unleashed their chakra based attacks to lessen the risk of hitting their own."

"But why all this?" asked Sakura, "Someone must have arranged it, and this would be nothing short of an act of war."

"I don't know," said Kakashi glancing up at Naruto, who was examining the face of one of the recently unmasked ninja.

"I know this guy," he called to Kakashi and Sakura, "come here."

The others jumped to his side to examine the face. "Inoichi…" muttered Kakashi, stress obvious in his voice, "what the hell is going on here?"

"Mr. Yamanaka?" asked Sakura.

Naruto and Sakura stood up as Kakashi walked a few steps back and turned away, putting his hand over his masked mouth and mumbling.

"The investigation can wait," said Kakashi, "The Hokage needs to know about this now. Let's go."

In a blur, the body suddenly lurched up, and Inoichi pointed his hands at Kakashi.

"NO!" shouted the copy-nin, too late. There was a blue flash, and Kakashi fell to the ground motionless. Before she could even scream, Sakura was crushed to the ground by a savage blow, and Naruto was kicked into the opposite wall. One wakizashi flew out of his hand, the other dropped to the ground. He fell to the floor immobile, but alive.

"Good evening Kakashi-kun" said Inoichi, walking over to the Jounin, "Spirit Bind; it uses your own soul to place your mind in a paralytic state. Quite useful for holding one still."

"Why – are you doing this?" Kakashi struggled to ask. "Why would you betray Konoha?"

"Betray?" asked Inoichi, "Why Kakashi-kun, I'm offended. I'm saving Konoha, from that," he said drawing his sword pointing it towards Naruto. "It's high time the Kyuubi no Kitsune was finished, before it can kill again."  
"Naruto is not that demon," said Kakashi, "It's people who treat him like one that are the demons."

"Shut up!" shouted Inoichi, kicking the copy-nin in the face, "That thing is a monster, and I intend to rid Konoha of it. He may have a different body, but he's still the killer! I'll save Konoha."

"Traitor!" shouted Sakura, getting up, "You think you're a hero, but you're nothing but a traitor!"

"What did you say you insolent brat?!" yelled Inoichi.

"Sakura be quiet," said Kakashi.

"You slaughter a city loyal to Konoha, then attack Leaf Ninjas, and you claim to be Konoha's savior?!" she shouted, stalking around the room till she was between Naruto and Inoichi.

"Some sacrifices must be made if I'm going to save Konoha from the Demon!"

"Sacrifices!?" shouted Sakura. "You're no savior, you're sick!"

Inoichi snapped and rushed forward, "I'll kill you!" he roared and raised his sword.

"Sakura No!" shouted Kakashi.

Inoichi swung down, slicing through skin and bone. Blood splashed everywhere. The body was split open from the left collarbone to nearly halfway down the sternum. As the warm blood began to pour from the egregious wound, and pool on the floor around Naruto's feet, Sakura, unscathed, looked on in shock. He just stood there, his eyes starting to go pale, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side, looking up at Inoichi.

"Naruto!" shouted Kakashi, "Naruto!"

"She didn't do anything to you," Naruto muttered weakly, "Leave Sakura alone…"

Naruto raised his right hand, holding the midnight blade, and mustered his last bit of remaining strength to swipe down at Inoichi. The crazed Ninja jumped back, avoiding the nearly harmless swing, but left his sword sticking in the genin.

"Naruto…" whispered Sakura in shock.

"Bastard Demon!" shouted Inoichi, running up and wrenching his blade from Naruto, the force of the motion staggering the young blonde. "I swear I'll send you back to Hell!!" he screamed as he raised the blade above his head.

"NO!" shrieked Sakura, grabbing Naruto's sword, tears streaming down her face. She barreled forward, and plunged the blade into the flabbergasted Inoichi's chest, puncturing his heart, killing him almost instantly. She twisted the blade to finish the job, and let his lifeless body fall backwards.

Kakashi leapt up, released from the paralysis, and caught Naruto as he passed out and began to fall. The copy-nin set him down gently, and tore off his jacket and shirt.

"My god…" muttered Kakashi. The wound was fatal. Naruto had been completely rent open.

Sakura fell back and began to sob.

"He saved me," she cried over and over, "He's dead for me. I wanted him dead and now he died for me!"

"Sakura!" shouted Kakashi, "Sakura! Come help me!"

"I might as well have murdered him myself!" she moaned.

SC

Ino gasped, and dropped to her knees in the flower bed, crushing the newly budding tulips beneath her. She clutched at her chest as a chill shot straight through her heart. She couldn't breathe.

"Ino!" shouted Mrs. Yamanaka, rushing to her daughter's side from the doorway, "What's the matter? What happened child?" She clutched at Ino and pulled her into her arms. She went limp, no longer supporting herself.

"Ino!...Ino!"

"Naruto…" whispered the girl.

* * *

AN: … … … Well, I'm hesitant to even ask what you're all thinking right now, but I still want input. My only real note here is as follows: Don't even begin to think this is anywhere near over.

Reviews please!


	9. On Damsels and Demons

AN: We, I'm very glad to see that most of you appeared too actually like chapter 8. You have no idea how many times I scrapped it and started over because I couldn't get it to turn out the way I want lol. I was kind of torn about the cliffhanger, wondering f it was a good idea, but it moved things along nicely. And now here you are. On with the Fic! Oh, and I forgot to mention; a league is about 5.44 miles.

* * *

Of Damsels and Demons

_Where am I… _Naruto wondered as he floated through a black, silent void. There was no wind, no light, and no sounds of any kind. It was completely devoid of anything save Naruto himself.

_Is this hell? Did I die?_

**Not yet… **rumbled a thunder-like voice in the distance. **But you are indeed close.**

Naruto began to shift around, looking for the source of the voice, but he couldn't see anything. "Where are you?"he called out into the darkness.

**Here… **answered the voice from all around.

"Where?" asked Naruto again, "I can't see."

There was a sound like a deep rumbling. **Then open your eyes if you want to see.**

"But," said Naruto, "My eyes are open. It's just too dark."

**Then you are nearer death that I would have thought, **said the monstrous voice. **You humans are so frail, but fortunately, so easy to repair.**

"Who are you!" shouted Naruto, "I'm tired of this game! Where am I and who the hell are you!?"

Naruto suddenly ceased floating as his feet made contact with something solid. He collapsed to his knees, and though he couldn't see, he began to feel around his surroundings. Much to his dismay, there were no distinguishing characteristics of any kind around him. The ground was completely flat and as smooth as polished granite.

He stood up and rubbed his eyes. Slowly, taking several minutes, his vision began to return. It was as if a shroud was slowly being drawn away from his face and he looked up. He was in an enormous chamber, black as the abyss and empty of anything but a mammoth cage in what was, as far as Naruto could tell, the exact center of the room.

The structure was almost like something someone would put an object on display in, but on a massive scale. It was far too large to practically hold anything; the bars were a dozen feet apart, more than eight inches thick, and ran from the floor up until they disappeared into the blackness. A cold wind seemed to flow out of the darkness within the cage, for it was truly dark inside: as black as Hell.

**Over here…** said the voice from the cage.

A knot formed in the pit of Naruto's stomach but he cautiously approached until he was only a few feet from the cage. "Hello?" he asked.

Two red eyes opened high up in the cage, and starred down at Naruto. They narrowed and the cat like pupils dilated back and forth to examine him as they descended several stories to reach his level, and when they did, Naruto was frozen. His clothes and hair began to sway as a hot, sticky wind blew over him, sounding like the bellows of a furnace. A gust knocked Naruto back as whatever the eyes and breathing belonged to snorted in distaste.

**You remind me of that Fourth Hokage, **rumbled the voice, **and it makes me wish to destroy you… But for my own sake I will resist the temptation. **

Naruto fell backwards and scuttled away without turning his back on the cage.

"What do you mean I look like the Fourth?" he asked again, trying to mask the dread that had gripped him, "Who the hell are you?"

The eyes reared back up and blinked once or twice. **I am, **the voice said with unimaginable authority, **Kyuubi no Kitsune: Greatest of the Demon Lords.**

"Wait," said Naruto nervously, "Yondaime destroyed you… He sacrificed himself to kill you when you attacked Konoha twelve years ago. How can you be here? Wherever here is."

The beast was silent for a moment. **The Fourth imprisoned me here… In you of all places. Back then you were barely a kit so you wouldn't remember.**

"Wait," said Naruto looking around, "you mean we're in me? How does that work?"

**It's a complicated process really, **said Kyuubi condescendingly** and I can't really explain it to one as uneducated and inexperienced as you in any but the simplest terms.**

Naruto was insulted and tempted to verbally fight back, but in a rare moment that didn't lack common sense, he decided it would be best not to argue with a demon lord.

**When I retaliated against Konoha, **continued Kyuubi, **It was your Fourth Hokage who came out to meet me when I slaughtered your elite. We were locked in glorious combat for hours on end and neither of us could dominate the other; he was simply too quick, but I was far too powerful for his pitiful attacks to do anything but annoy me.**

**Finally he realized I was too great for him, so he tried to seal me away but couldn't muster the chakra necessary to even touch me, much less lock me in some trinket. But the clever bastard went for help and discovered a way to use his own soul to bind my essence inside of another soul, the way you humans combine a resign and a catalyst to create an epoxy.**

The analogy was lost on Naruto, who didn't know what an epoxy was, but he got the general idea. "So what am I doing here?" asked the genin.

**Resting, **answered Kyuubi, **that Yamanaka nearly cut you in half. Even I've had to work quickly to keep you alive the past few hours. And I won't be able to actually start healing you until these ninjas get you back to Konoha and stabilize you.**

"I'm confused…." Said Naruto, sitting down, "I mean, just so many questions now…"

**It's not my job to patronize you and answer your questions, kit.**

The giant fox stepped forward and its silhouette took form in front of the faint backdrop of misty red chakra. He was massive, perhaps a hundred feet tall or more even. When he sat down in his elegant, cat-like pose he stood even higher at the shoulder, and his eyes burned like bloody stars.

"Can I ask you just one question for now?" asked Naruto.

Kyuubi emanated a deep rumble, almost like laughter. **You just did but you may ask another. I may not answer it, but you may ask at least.** He said sneeringly.

Naruto grimaced in annoyance "Why are you keeping me alive?"  
Again Kyuubi chuckled devilishly, **I assure it's out of no affection for you. I want out of here kit I can't do that if you die. Should Shinigami claim you, he gets me as my essence is bound to yours.**

"So you're the reason I never get sick or hurt or anything?"

Kyuubi nodded, **I can not keep you from harm, but I can watch you and ensure you heal quickly should you be injured. The wound the Yamanaka inflicted on you however is dire.**

Naruto swallowed hard. "How bad is it?"

Kyuubi hesitated; **He came within inches of severing your arm, cut your heart open, and punctured your left lung. You have no idea how close you … we are to passing into the void. I managed to get your heart back in one piece, but even so. Keeping up with the massive loss of blood is enough, but maintaining your breathing and moving blood without your heart is near impossible.**

Naruto walked forward and put a hand on one of the massive bars.

"Am I going to die?" Naruto asked, shaking just a little.

**That, **said the Fox, **is up to this Kakashi person. You are slowly dying, even with my aide, but he may get you back in time at the furious pace he's running. He must have trained under Yondaime to move so fast. And that Hyuuga girl keeping up with Kakashi is no small feat either. If he gets you back before your body simply shuts down, then I can aide the medics in stabilizing you. After that I can stop worrying about keeping you alive, and I can focus on healing you.**

Naruto grimaced and sat down with his back to the cage. Kyuubi turned back around and looked up into the gloom where his chakra was slowly floating. For whatever reason, Naruto's mind continued flashing to Ino. He didn't see her or anything, but he was horribly worried. He kept thinking he could hear her crying or hear people whispering around her.

"How do you know what's going on outside of here?" asked Naruto after a moment.

Kyuubi looked over his shoulder. **I'm trapped in your consciousness, bound by your soul. Everything you feel, I feel. Everything you see, I see. Whatever happens to you, happens to me in one form or fashion. Now I'm considerably more resilient to emotion than you petty humans, but I still know exactly what you feel.**

Naruto hesitated, not entirely sure how he felt about someone else knowing his innermost feelings and thoughts, but then shrugged it off, reasoning that Kyuubi would never be able to tell anyone. He got up and began to pace around, looking up at Kyuubi once in a while. The Fox just sat there, intent on his task, and not saying anything.

"Why don't you just pump more chakra into healing me?" asked Naruto, "You must have a lot if you're a Demon Lord."

**I could, **said Kyuubi, **If I wanted to kill you. I'm a demon, kit, my chakra is infinite but toxic to you lesser life forms. I have to heal you just from healing you using my chakra. And there's a point where your body will be so poisoned from my chakra that I can't heal you no matter how much I use. It's not a very practical process, but it's all we've got for now.**

Naruto nodded, understanding a little better now…

SC

Kakashi barreled through the treetops, completely ignoring anything other that large branches in his way. The copy nin was grave, his heart raced and his brow was soaked with sweat; Naruto's blood dripped from his clothes. He leapt from tree to tree, cradling Naruto's body in his arms, and sprinted among the branches, moving at almost twenty leagues an hour with Hinata hot on his heels.

Her face was streaked red from the tears that continued to fly from her face as they ran, and her legs wobbled with every step, but she refused to stop or give in. She had promised herself to see that Naruto made it safely back, regardless of the cost.

The Byakugan was active as she carefully watched the path ahead for danger, but her primary focus was on Naruto. She couldn't identify the wispy red chakra that slowly steamed from his wound, but it seemed to be preserving him so she prayed it wouldn't give out. Even with the mysterious energy, the blood still moved sluggishly and irregularly through his veins, and most of it drained out and onto Kakashi.

"Hinata," said Kakashi.

"Hai," she answered.

"You can still wait here for the others. There's nothing you can do. You're just wearing yourself out."

She shook her head. "N-No thank you Kakashi-Sama," Hinata answered, stammering for the words in her exhaustion but saying them with resolution, "Even if I can't do anything to help, I can still be here and that's more than nothing."

Kakashi nodded, and they both stepped the pace up even more. Hinata navigated, pointing out the routes that were the closest and would provide the least resistance, while the Jounin made the final call on the paths, deciding if the ease would make up for the added distance, and within the hour, they could see Konoha's walls off in the distance.

SC

"Naruto!" Ino burst through the hospital doors, and ran to the front desk. "Where's Nar-"

"Miss, you'll have to be quiet," responded the receptionist, "this is a hos-"

"What room is Uzumaki Naruto in?" interrupted Ino in a much quieter but no less stress filled voice. "I need to see him immediately."

The nurse pulled a large notebook off of one of the shelves behind her and swiveled back around to set it on the counter in front of Ino. She opened it up and flipped through until she came to one of the pages nearest the end and began scanning through the appointments and emergency entries.

Seconds ticked by as Ino waited impatiently; tapping her foot and glancing between the clock and the nurse. _Could she read any slower? _wondered Ino, _can she even read at all?_ "Ma'am it's important," Ino said tersely, "I need to see him and-"

"He's in emergency surgery right now," said the nurse, "no observers allowed."

Ino clenched her eyes and whirled around in frustration, pressing her fists to her forehead and groaning. "What room will he be moved to after the surgery?" she asked.

"I'm sorry" said the nurse, "But that's not information I'm allowed to distribute to anyone without the proper clearance."

Ino stood for a second, then turned back around and propped herself up against the desk, pointing her hands at the nurse and lowering her head. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said in a low tone. The nurse was just about to reply, when her head jerked back and Ino's body slumped forward a little but caught on the desk. The glassy eyed nurse shook her head, then looked back down at the book and scanned through the last few pages again.

"Bingo," said the nurse in a strangely child-like voice, "Operating room 12, and room 721 after that." The nurse put her hands together and slumped forward as a small blue light flashed behind her eyes. At the same time, Ino stood upright, and walked off smiling girlishly.

Ino trotted quickly down the hall to the east wing as the receptionist sat up rubbing her head, and turned the corner to the main operating room. All but one of the windows in had large blinds shutting out prying eyes, and Sarutobi stood in front of that one. His face was unreadable, though he shifted his weight from side to side.

"Hokage-Sama," Ino said sheepishly as she approached and bowed.

He turned and looked her over, taking notice of the tension so readily displayed on her face. "Ino, what are you doing here? This is supposed to be a restricted area."

Ino bowed again, and assumed a humble demeanor. "I heard Naruto was in the hospital and that he'd been badly hurt on a mission, and I just… well-"

"You just had to be here." Sarutobi finished her sentence and sidestepped a little. "You won't be able to see him from here," he began, "but you can see at least be a little closer."

Ino nodded gratefully and stood beside him. Inside the operating room two doctors worked on a body hidden by sterile curtains. Half a dozen nurses and aids bustled about, handing the surgeons different tools, and sterilizing used ones. Sarutobi's lips mimicked the motions of sucking on a pipe, though even the Hokage was not allowed to smoke in a hospital, while Ino held her hands to her chest, trying to understand what was going on.

"How bad is it?" she asked after a few minutes.

Sarutobi grimaced and moved like he was going to take a pipe off his lips, then stopped when he remembered he didn't have one. "We're not entirely sure," he mumbled, "but the doctors said that he would normally have a one in a million shot."

Ino stifled a gasp, and covered her mouth. She tried not to start crying as Sarutobi stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder. He drew her to his side and smiled down at her. "But for the future Hokage of Konoha," he said in a less dismayed tone, "I'd say their much better than that."

Ino closed her eyes and nodded; she did not want to think of what might become of Naruto if even one of the surgeons' hands slipped just once. _His life is hanging by a thread, _thought Ino, _Naruto… please don't die…_

"I'm fine! It's just a scratch now let me go!" demanded a girls voice from away down the hall. Sakura came marching around the corner, followed closely by a nurse who was trying to convince the pink haired genin that she needed to be resting. Sarutobi and Ino turned to see Sakura resisting the nurse at every junction, and keep pushing their way.

Ino turned back towards Naruto as the Hokage went to meet the two bickering girls. "What's the problem here?" he asked sternly, but not harshly."

Sakura was silent, looking at the ground while the nurse cleared her throat and flipped her blonde hair back behind her ear. "This child," she said, "Is disobeying my orders to stay in bed and rest. Not only that, but she even went so far as to break into the records at the desk to find out which room Uzumaki Naruto was in."

Ino looked off towards the three as a knot formed in her stomach. She glared at Sakura, a sudden distaste welling up in the back of her mind.

"This 'child'" said Sarutobi, "Is a ninja of Konoha, and you are not one of her superiors. Do I make it clear that you have no authority to force any kind of treatment, medical or otherwise, on her?"

"Yes sir," the nurse said immediately, bowing low and shuffling quickly away.

"Thank you," said Sakura.

"I won't allow someone to forbid anyone from seeing a member of their team," the Hokage then just sniffed and went back next to Ino. Sakura followed and stood on the old man's opposite side. Ino crossed her arms and blew a lock of hair out of her face. Glancing Ino's way, Sakura scowled and began to chew on the end of a broken fingernail.

"What exactly are you doing here Ino?" she asked coldly, putting her hands back down by her side.

"Waiting to make sure Naruto is alright," answered Ino in an equally unwelcoming tone, "And you?"

"I-" said Sakura, "I wanted to check on Naruto too."

"Did you come to make fun of him? I don't think he really needs that from you again right now." Ino sneered.

I came here," Sakura said angrily, "to see if there was any way in the world I could help. I'd heard he wasn't doing well, and then I saw you so I figured it must be really bad if the vultures were already circling."

Ino took a step around the Hokage, who immediately took a step back to carefully observe, and whirled on Sakura. She got right up in her face and the pink haired genin didn't hesitate to do the same. "Is there something you want to say to me?" growled Ino.

"Actually yes," said Sakura, "I don't think Naruto needs a pig like you hanging around and bothering him with all your whining."

A loud crack resonated through the hall as Ino slapped Sakura squarely across the cheek with all the gusto a twelve-year-old kunoichi could muster. Sakura twisted under the blow, but then whirled back around and slapped Ino just as hard.

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow, but didn't intervene as the two girls stared each other down. Both their cheeks were already beginning to bruise, and both faces grew redder and redder as the animosity built.

Sakura was the first to act, slapping Ino again, to which Ino quickly responded with yet another blow to Sakura's face. "Why don't you just go indulge on some of crème cakes!" Sakura barked "I doubt you could get any bigger."

"Maybe you should go talk to one of the surgeons," growled Ino, "I'm sure they'd be happy to move some of all forehead to your chest! God knows you could use it."

Sarutobi immediately stepped between them and moved them apart, stopping the insults from spiraling into a genuine fight. "Ladies," he said calmly, treating them with all the respect any kunoichi could expect, "please control yourselves. Look, they're finished."

Both girls rushed over to the window as the surgeons set down their tools and stepped back. The nurses removed the curtains, and reveled Naruto. The two kunoichi nearly gasped when they saw him. He was pale, and a dark crimson gash was stapled and stitched shut, running from his shoulder down to below his heart. The boy's eyes were clenched shut, and his breathing was apparently pained.

"I don't think," said Sarutobi kindly, and kneeling between the two, "That Naruto needs to be surrounded by two bickering little girls right now. Maybe you should try to at least get along if not try to be nice to each other for his sake."

The two girls looked over the Hokage and simply glared at each other.

* * *

AN: Ah… Chapter nine is up. Yes, it was a little (okay, maybe a lot) slow, but there were some things that needed to be said and set up and this was the best place to do it. Hope you all enjoyed reviews please! Oh, and what did you all think of the tension between Ino and Naruto? I'm curious as to what I should do with the relationship between the girls, and need input from all of you to decide

Many reviews please!!


	10. Tomorrow's Derge

AN: Hey, me again, and I bring tribute! I present to you a new chapter. Anyway, I'm glad to see most of you all liked that last chapter. The NaruSakuIno fans were happy at least, but as I like to play around with different ideas, here is my latest! However please, sate my hunger and feed me lots of reviews. I crave them. On with the fic!

* * *

Tomorrow's Dirge

Hinata walked briskly down the hall of the luxurious Hyuuga estate towards her room, carrying a plate of pork and fresh fruit. She had excused herself from the strangely unfriendly atmosphere of the dining room when her stomach had begun to bother her, but Hiashi insisted she eat something, so she took the rest of her barely touched meal with her. No one was in the hall to take notice of the way her feet barely left the floor as she went, or of how her already fair complexion was fading to a ghostly white, and no one was there to hear the plate crash to the ground as she locked her door behind herself.

The pork and fruit scattered to the ground as she tossed them aside and dashed to the bathroom, covering her mouth and opening the lid to the toilet. She fell to her knees, and began to vomit up her scant meal, nearly choking on the force of the heaves. She shuddered and leaned forward, supporting herself on the bowl until she was finished.

The Hyuuga girl wiped the corners of her mouth on her light brown jacket, and stood up slowly, shivering the whole way. She lifted her head, and was suddenly gripped by a wave of dizziness, and turned around again. She wretched for a minute, having nothing to purge herself of aside from bile, then sat back and flushed the mess away.

Again she wiped her mouth and stood up, much more slowly this time, and leaned against the wall, resting her exhausted legs. Hinata wrapped her arms around herself as she stood, trying desperately to stop shaking, until she moved and went to the sink. She opened the medicine cabinet and took out a toothbrush and some toothpaste, then turned the water on.

She brushed thoroughly, trying to clear her mouth of the wretched aftertaste, as well as trying to clear her mind of the awful images of Naruto bleeding out all over Kakashi.

_There was so much blood, _she thought mournfully, pausing to rinse. _And the wound was so deep… there's no way that Naruto-kun could have…_

Her eyes began to tear again as she recalled Kakashi carrying Naruto out of the door to that horrible place; the boy was crumpled up like a rag doll, and everything was so soaked in…

Hinata's stomach turned, and she fell to her knees again, covering her mouth and praying she wouldn't throw up again. Even as she held the urge to gag back, she could feel the foul swill welling up in the back of her throat. She swallowed hard and suppressed the reflex, finally quelling the apprehension.

She stood and picked up the bar of soap to wash her face. She hesitated though and instead stared down into the marble sink for a minute, then closed her eyes and shook her head. _What's the matter with me? _She wondered as she closed the medicine cabinet and glanced into the mirror.

Hinata screamed and stumbled backwards, throwing the soap at the mirror and clutching at the towel rack for support. It came ripping out of the wall as she fell and landed hard against the floor. The soap recoiled harmlessly off of the polished surface and plopped down on counter.

Gasping for air, she go up and scurried to press her back against the wall as she stared off at the mirror, not seeing her reflection and dreading what she might spot again. "What was that?" she whispered between gasps as she clutched at her chest. Hinata stood there for several moments, trying to slow her rushing heart and master her breath.

She knelt down and scooped up a towel, then walked forward and turned her head to the side. Without looking, she tossed the towel up and draped it over the mirror, completely covering the reflective crystal. Slowly, she looked up to examine her work and ensure that the mirror remained completely out of sight. It was.

Hinata measured her breaths, as her heart began to calm again, and dared to take a step closer to the veiled antagonist, but stopped short as the uneasiness of before returned double strength. She sidestepped the mirror to get to the door to her bedroom, and opened it slowly; each creek from the aged hinges sending a sharp chill down her spine and through her stomach.

She quickly got out of there and flung herself on her bed in the corner opposite the bathroom. She rolled so her back was against the wall, and she stared unblinkingly at the door, almost like an animal awaiting its predator. Minutes ticked by as the sunlight streaming in through the windows gradually faded to a rosy hue and then a deep red, until it was almost gone.

Hinata slowly stood up and crossed the open floor between herself and the bathroom, and opened the door as wide as the hinges would allow. There were no creaks this time, and she peeked her head inside. There was nothing out of the ordinary; the bathtub was curtained off, there were no sinister shadows skirting about behind the toilet or sink.

There was no delay between her flipping the switch and the small chandelier casting its warm light over the whole room. But the dread was still there. It had grown with every step she took closer to the mirror, and now that she stood directly beside it, it was mind numbing, though she still felt there was no choice but to look.

She reached out and began to fumbling with the very corner of the towel, rubbing it between her thumb and index, and trying to convince herself one way or the other to do something. Slowly she peeled it up, exposing only the slightest edge of the mirror, but it was too much. She couldn't look and dropped her hand, shrouding the mirror again.

She jumped at a sudden knocking, and spun towards the door. "Hinata-Sama? Are you in there?" asked a familiar voice.

"Y-yes, Neji-nisan," she sighed catching her breath.

"Are you all right? Hiashi-Sama asked me to check up on you," said Neji from the other side of the door.

Hinata walked to the door and unlocked it, after shuffling the spilt food off into the corner with her foot, then opened it and stepped out. "Is everything alright?" she asked, closing the door behind her, "I'd heard you just got back from a mission up north today but didn't see you at dinner. How did it go?"

Neji stood there with his arms crossed and starring at the floor. "Hiashi-Sama would speak with you in the main anteroom as soon as I can bring you to him," he said ignoring the question, "Please come with me."

Hinata stepped behind Neji without question, knowing that if she was to be escorted within the confines of the Hyuuga estate, her father must be greatly concerned over something. Neji began to lead them down the hall in a b-line path for the very center of the complex. They passed few others in the halls, and those they did see didn't make eye contact, but continued along with their own tasks.

Neji stopped before a large wooden door that was out of their way, if they were heading for the main anteroom that is, and unbolted it using a key he produced from inside his baggy white shirt. With minimal effort he tugged on the door until it opened with a puff of air that blew his hair out of his face, leaving Hinata free to see that her cousin had a sutured gash above his ear.

"Neji," said Hinata, concerned, "What happened?"

"It's none of your concern, Hinata-Sama," he said pulling his hair back down into place to hide the abrasion. He pulled the door open and motioned for her to enter the stone hallway beyond.

Hinata stepped up and walked in as Neji shut the door behind them. "This way," he said pointing down the steadily descending and curving passage.

They both began to make their way through, Neji leading the way with Hinata following close behind, guided only by the light of thin slits in the rock wall that held small, smokeless oil lamps.

"Neji, where are we going?" asked Hinata nervously, "the anteroom is on the other side of the mansion."

"Hiashi-Sama," said Neji after a brief pause, "is worried that Konoha may soon come under attack and he's moved down to the tunnels connecting this estate with ANBU HQ to be in more direct contact with Konoha's sources. He will speak with you further in just a moment."

"What do you-" she began, but stopped herself as they rounded a corner to find Hiashi himself standing in front of another large wooden door.

Neji and Hinata both bowed, and Hiashi waved his hand. "You're dismissed," he said, and immediately Neji began to walk off.

"What's the matter?" Hinata asked, breaking protocol by speaking first, "Is something wrong?"

Hiashi grimaced and took a step closer. "I understand you just got back from a mission involving that Uzumaki child." He said coldly, "Is this correct?"

"Yes father it is, but-" she said "I don't understand why everyone is so on edge all of a sudden."

Hiashi reached up and stroked his chin. "I need to know exactly what happened today in Aerin."

Hinata spent the next twenty minutes recounting everything she could remember about the day's events, and answering her father's incredibly direct and specific questions. Most of the report centered around the non-ninja warriors, who Hiashi seemed convinced were samurai for hire, as well as the later chakra-based attacks, and the specific effects of each. With noticeable discomfort, Hinata recalled the strange energy that blasted her to the ground, and how it was similar to the technique that held Kurenai in place for so long.

At this, Hiashi ran a hand over his face and shifted uneasily. "Was the energy some kind of chakra?" he asked, "Could you tell exactly?"

"No," she said sheepishly, "It was completely different, almost like essence more than energy."

"Then it was indeed Yamanaka Inoichi…" muttered Hiashi, "Could you identify where any of the enemy ninja were from by their faces?"

Hinata thought for a minute, "I couldn't tell. They were covering their faces, and even with the Byakugan I was really only focusing on killing them. When I was pinned under a body, it didn't help any."

"That's all," Hiashi said tersely, "If that's the case, then that's all I need you for."

Hinata gulped, "Yes sir," she said quietly, "But I was just wondering…"

Hiashi raised an eyebrow.

"Do you think that I could go to the hospital tomorrow and visit Naruto?" she asked.

"No," he said, and turned around to open the door.

"Why not?" asked Hinata, her voice rising nearly to a challenging pitch.

Hiashi looked over his shoulder and scowled at her. It was just a simple question, but Hinata had just questioned the head of her very prideful clan. "What was that?" asked Hiashi, "I'm sure you didn't mean whatever it was to come across quite that way. His voice was full and cold, almost furious but still controlled and seemingly calm.

Hinata covered her mouth and quickly back stepped away. She shook her head, praying her father would not be insulted enough to pursue the matter.

Hiashi's white eyes burned as he glared at her, ruffling his brow into a frown. "You do not question me." He said in the same chilled voice.

Hinata nodded, then turned around as he jabbed his finger towards the exit and scurried off. She nearly ran back out into the well lit, carpeted hall, and shut the door firmly behind her.

"Am I crazy?" she gasped.

SC

The hospital room was almost completely dark, the only light being from a streetlight outside casting its rays in through the window. But it was enough for Ino to be quietly, almost silently busy which was important as she didn't want to wake Naruto who was sleeping peacefully on the bed. She was moving around the room, organizing eight or nine porcelain vases of varying sizes around the nightstands and on shelves, and unpacking plastic wrapped flowers from cardboard boxes.

After she had decided which arrangement of flowers would look best in each vase she set about actually combining the plants and pots into very attractive decorations, then shuffling them about once again until they were in a spot she thought Naruto would notice and approve of.

Once she was finally done beautifying the room, Ino sat down next to the bed on the unrolled comforters her mother had brought in several hours before. She lay back, and wrapped some of them around her, hoping that the Hokage had made it clear to the nurses and doctors that would be coming in periodically that she (Ino) had special permission to be there, on account of "being exceptionally skilled with healing herbs, and thus fit to watch over the boy while her remedies took effect."

Ino smiled when she remembered how the Hokage had actually intervened for her and told the nurses that she was a practicing herbologist. _It's not entirely true, _she thought to herself, _I don't actually practice herbology, but even so…_

Occasionally Ino would drift off into a light slumber, but she could never truly fall asleep. Her mind was restless and there was always some noise or shadow to distract her and turn her thoughts back to first seeing Naruto come out of the surgery. He looked so helpless and shriveled just hours ago but now, color had returned t his face and he looked stronger, almost normal even. The change had been dramatic, but it was nothing she was going to complain about.

Hours passed and the nurses began to come in every forty five minutes to check Naruto's vitals and make sure his wound hadn't reopened. These were good opportunities for Ino to keep tabs on exactly how well he was doing, and it seemed that there was nothing but good news; he was completely stable, and each time he was checked the wound seemed a bit less pronounced. Naruto was doing so well in fact, that the first nurse to check on him doubted herself enough to call the doctor in to confirm what she saw.

SC

"How am I doing?" Naruto asked the giant fox.

Kyuubi looked down at the genin in front of his cage made some kind of rumbling in his chest. (One would have a hard time telling if the demon was chuckling or growling.) **"Your body is healing exceedingly fast due to my efforts. You should be back to normal by sunrise at the latest."**

"Well, uh… thanks," said Naruto, not quite how he should respond to a demon saving his life.

**"Don't thank me kit," **said Kyuubi with some measure of amusement, **"I'm only doing this so I don't pass into the void. Believe me when I say that I have no affection for you in any way."**

"Ah c'mon," said Naruto standing up and walking up to the edge of the bars, "You mean that talking to me all night hasn't made you any more fond of humans at all?"

**"To be honest, I've found your attempts to create conversation nothing if not irksome."**

"Then why did you even bother talking to me at all?" asked Naruto, "I mean you didn't hesitate at all when we were talking about your exploits in the past."

Kyuubi was silent for several moments, and Naruto gave up trying to get another word out of him. The two of them had been conversing for most of the night about history and battle. Naruto had learned a great deal about the demon's history in particular, or at least the gory parts of it. Kyuubi was quite free with information about his slaughtering dozens of villages hundreds of years ago.

**"You might try training while you're in here," **said the fox, completely changing the subject.

"What?" Naruto asked.

**"Train. Learn. Toughen up. If we're to survive in the real world amongst all the enemies who could really hurt you, you must be prepared for them. My abilities to heal you won't count for anything if you're killed in an instant."**

"You mean I can like work out in here and stuff like that?"

Kyuubi sniffed. **"Why not? You're just as real in here as you are out there, just as I am just as real here as you are."**

"Cool!" shouted the blonde, jumping to his feet and turning to face the fox, "What should I do?"

**"It's my world in here kit. I can make whatever I want happen. You on the other hand, are just as limited here as you are outside, so how about I conjure up enemies and you try to survive them."**

"Sounds good to me," said Naruto, slamming his fist into his palm, "But just on thing… Will fighting in here make me stronger out there?"

**"No. You'll have to become physically more adept in the real world, but fighting in here will teach you to use the strength you already have… Think fast!"**

There was a rush of motion, and Naruto spun around. A glint of light appeared right in front of his face, and he ducked just in time to avoid a kunai that flew over his head with deadly speed. Off in the distance, Naruto saw the man who threw it, and charged without hesitation…

SC

"Okay… okay, I'm done," said Naruto, leaning over the fallen bodies of three men robed in black. The blonde put his hands on his knees, and his two dozen shadow clones all disappeared in poofs of smoke as the bodies faded into nothingness. "Damn, that was tough."

"**Those were comparable to what you'd face on one of your C class missions kit," **said Kyuubi**, "You charged right into their trap."**

"I won didn't I?" growled Naruto, "What does it matter if they got the jump on me?"

Kyuubi shook his head. **"Kit, you need to learn to think before recklessly charging in. Snares are the greatest weapon your enemies possess, and they're not hard to create. You proved that a few children could defeat one of your greatest warriors when you and the other members of your team bested Kakashi."**

"Ok I got it," said Naruto, as he sat down with his back to one of the cage's massive bars, "I won't charge after a single ninja when he may have allies nearby."

**"One lesson down, one million to go," **Kyuubi sneered, snapping his jaws shut with a loud clap. **"You humans are all the same; you see what you think is a threat, you attack it, and get yourselves in way over your head."**

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Naruto.

Kyuubi again was silent, so Naruto elected to close his eyes and simply rest. Almost immediately the boy felt refreshed and rejuvenated.

**"A side-effect of the state your mind is in," **explained Kyuubi without prompting, **"It may be my domain, but because this is still a part of your mind, seconds of rest here will replace hours of sleep."**

"That's cool," said Naruto, "What time is it out there anyway?"

Kyuubi looked towards the invisible ceiling, then sat up straight and looked down at Naruto. **"Seven in the morning and it's almost time for you to wake up. You're in a hospital room decorated with lots of plants. I'd assume the flora means that Yamanaka girl is either currently nearby, or has recently been here."**

"Ino?" asked Naruto, looking up, "Can I wake up now?"

**"It's up to you kit. You decide that, not me, just look up and want to wake up."**

Naruto didn't hesitate but looked up towards where the ceiling should have been, and immediately sensed that he was flying skywards into the blackness. Gradually he noticed the feeling of things around him. There was a soft mattress beneath him, and the smell of wildflowers all around. The boy opened his eyes, and found he was indeed in a hospital room with lots of vases and flowers scattered about.

"Wow," mumbled Naruto, "Ino went all out on this." He slung his feet over the side of the bed nearest the door and stood up stretching. Then looked around at all of the different kinds of flowers, and actually recognized most of them from the Yamanaka's garden. It was only after having stood up that a thought occurred to him.

_I'm naked! _He realized, grabbing the sheet off of the bed and throwing it around his waist. _Why am I naked if they were just working on me above the waist?_

"Naruto!" a feminine voice joyously shrieked behind him.

Naruto jumped and spun in midair, landing ready to fight. But before he realized what was happening Ino had leapt over the bed and thrown her arms around him. "I was worried sick about you…" she sighed into his shoulder.

"Eh," gasped Naruto, not entirely sure what to do in the current situation. Though Ino was threatening to crush him with her grip, Naruto kept his hands off of her, keeping them in the air as not to make things any more awkward. "No worries," he stammered after a moment, "I feel great."

Ino clutched slightly tighter, then loosed her grip and stood back just a little, keeping her hands on his shoulders. She stared into his dazzlingly blue eyes, and he looked back at her.

"Um… Ino," said Naruto quietly.

"Yes, Naruto?"

The boy stammered for just a second, trying to find the right words, then looked back at her.

"Do you know where my clothes are?"

SC

It was unearthly cold. Sarutobi's lips were turning blue, despite the smoking pipe he held between them, and his eyes shifted constantly between the cadaver lying on the cold stele table in front of himself and the coroner. The bodies face was shrouded beneath a dark veil, and the rest of it was hidden beneath a white sheet.

The coroner walked to the wall and flipped a switch. A lighted, blood red sign on the opposite wall came to life, and boldly read "Autopsy in Progress." That, coupled with the steady light from a single light bulb suspended above the table, gave the room an eerie atmosphere of living death.

"I thought you should be here for this," said the coroner in a raspy voice. "Forgive me if I'm quiet, but few people to talk to doesn't make for much of an enchanting sound."

"I understand," said the Hokage as he took the pipe in his hand and blew a smoke ring away from the corpse, "You said it involved the security of Konoha so let's get to the point shall we?"

"Of course, Hokage-Sama," said the smaller man. "First I think you should know exactly who we're looking at." He walked to the head of the corpse and removed the mask, exposing a fair haired, attractive man in his middle thirties.

"Yamanaka Inoichi?" said the Hokage in amazement.

"Yes, the ANBU sent to investigate Aerin brought almost forty bodies back for me to examine. None were particularly out of the ordinary… at least as ordinary as ninja can be anyway, but this young man was far different."

"How so?"

"Well first," continued the little old man, "He is from Konoha. The others were all from countries far from here as far as I can tell. Then when I examined his brain, I found several abnormalities in his frontal lobe."

"So the behavioral central wasn't working properly." The Hokage noted.

"Yes sir, he would not have been himself in the least: probably exceedingly violent and vengeful. He would've made a mountain out of a mole hill, as they say."

_So how much more would he make of Naruto? _Wondered Sarutobi as he stepped closer to the deceased Nin.

"And it wasn't that the lobe was even severely traumatized, as is the case with most patients like this, but the brain matter had rather been overloaded with a strange chakra."

Sarutobi grimaced, "Strange chakra from what?"

The coroner grasped the sheet at Inoichi's chin, and drew it down to his abdomen, showing the sewn up incisions he had already made to examine the body's organs. He leaned down and turned the head so Sarutobi could see the neck and shoulder.

"I believe this is the culprit." Alleged the coroner.

Just above Inoichi's collar bone, there was a small black mark in the shape of a coiled serpent no larger than a coin.

Sarutobi bit down on the end of his pipe, snapping off the mouthpiece. The finely crafted wooden tube fell to the concrete ground and splintered, spilling out the smoldering ash.

"A cursed seal…" mumbled the Hokage.

* * *

AN: So, there you have chapter ten. I had intended to take it farther, but for the sake of plot twists to come, I'll cut it off here. Soon to come: The Funeral and The Fox. Will everyone survive? Probably not ;) Tell me what you think! Reviews for me please! 


	11. An Acceleration

AN: Well, how did you all like the whole cursed seal thing? I thought it would be a cool little twist, but oh well. I realized a little late that it was really light on fluff, but thanks to all of my more loyal readers who stuck with me through it. Some of you like Gnosismaster have been with me from the start, and others like plus-44 and thekey92 are relatively new, but I wanted to thank everyone who reviews. I love the input you guys give me and hope it keeps coning. Enjoy!

* * *

An Acceleration

Naruto was released from the Hospital at just before noon the next day. After numerous exams, blood tests, and examinations, many of which were repeats to make sure they were not missing something, he was said to have made a full recovery. Naruto was overjoyed with the prospect of finally being able to leave the hospital, but no one was quite so happy as Ino. She sat patiently by throughout the whole series of assessments, not saying a word, but barely able to contain little squeals of joy whenever the doctors found nothing wrong with Naruto. When he was finally allowed to leave, she insisted they go out for ramen as her treat.

Naruto, not being one to turn either food or time with Ino, eagerly accepted, and they set off, leaving an entire staff of befuddled and amazed doctors and nurses behind them.

"Thanks again for lunch," said Naruto as the two of them stepped out into the warm sunlight, "are you sure you won't let me pay for at least mine?"

Ino shook her head and grinned, "No silly, I told you it is my treat. Besides, you paid last time and the time before that, and the time before that. I can pick up the tab sometimes too you know."

She playfully slapped his arm, and he smiled, not sure what to talk about on the nearly ten minute walk to the ramen shop. He thought about mentioning the mission to Aerin, then decided that was a bad idea. Thinking a bit more he wondered about the weather, but before he could say anything, Ino side stepped closer to him. She slipped her hand in his, intertwining their fingers together and reaching up with her other hand to gently grab hold of his forearm.

The final result was Ino walking shoulder to shoulder with, and leaning slightly into a confused Naruto. He looked over and slightly down at her, wondering what exactly he should do, but she looked back up at him with the warmest smile he'd ever seen on her. Suddenly reassured, Naruto just smiled back and squeezed her hand a little as the continued to walk.

It was a warm day, not unusually so, but still enough that by the time they reached Ichiraku, Naruto and Ino both were more in the mood for something cold to drink.

"You know," said Ino, "We're old enough now, by ninja standards anyway, to drink sake or riksi if we wanted to."

Naruto shook his head. "Maybe, but we're still not old enough to buy it. Besides, why would you want to drink that stuff anyway? It's horrible tasting."

"I don't know," Ino said shrugging her free shoulder, "I just thought it might be something interesting to do just once since we legally can and we both know this place likes ninja enough to sell it to you."

"I don't think that's a really good idea," he said, "It wouldn't do anything but make us sick, and I for one don't feel like getting drunk."

"Ok," said Ino grinning up at him, "I guess I really wouldn't want to see you get sick and throw up all over yourself. It would be kind of embarrassing."

Naruto smirked, wondering if he'd just been challenged. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't think I quite heard you right. Did you just suggest I can't hold my liquor?"

Ino stepped back, and smiled girlishly at him, "I didn't say anything like that." She said playfully. "All I said was that it would be awfully embarrassing if you threw up all over yourself after just one drink."

"We might just have to see about that," he replied, lifting up the flaps and letting her inside. She brushed passed him, making a point to get him with her shoulder without hurting him, and he followed her inside.

It was a busy day with no less than ten customers packed into the tiny ramen stand, but luckily there were two stools open on the far right of the counter. Naruto and Ino both went and sat down as Naruto raised his hand to try and get some service.

"Just a minute," said Ayame, flashing the two of them a quick but genuine smile between rushed patrons, "I'll be right with you."

Naruto grimaced, slightly annoyed by the lack of attention, until Ino touched his arm. "We're not in any hurry, are we Naruto?" she asked grinning.

"No, I suppose not," said Naruto, settling in and glancing over at Ino.

It wasn't long until it became obvious to the two genins that there was not going to be a lull in the service anytime soon; it was a Wednesday afternoon during the lunch hour, meaning everyone and their Jigokinu in the area would be after a quick lunch before they went back to their job. It didn't however really bother Ino or Naruto who had struck up a makeshift game of tick-tack-toe using chopsticks, and small cookies that Ayame had given them in a hurry to try and apologize for the lack of service.

After nearly thirty minutes of Ino winning game after game, Naruto finally surrendered with good graces and declared her the winner and said she could brag now if she wanted to, to which Ino happily obliged. It was all in good fun though and both of them knew it.

"Alright," said an exhausted but still bubbly Ayame as she dried her hands and walked over to the two of them. "What can I get the two of you?"

Neither of them had noticed that the shop had cleared out surprisingly fast, but both immediately said "combo pot please," beaming with delight that it was finally their turn.

"Coming right up," said Ayame, turning around quickly causing her mahogany hair to twirl about and immediately pulled the ramen from a small cabinet above the boiler. "Do you two want that with everything in it?" she asked.

"Yes please," said Ino, "All the trimmings if you would please."

"Ino," whispered Naruto, "that's expensive."

"Don't worry about it, I'm picking up the tab and it's my treat."

Ino grinned and put her hand on top of Naruto's. He smiled and said thanks.

"And I," said a girl's voice from the other side of the counter, "Will have another riksi please."

Naruto and Ino both turned around to see who would be ordering a drink that stiff, and Naruto nearly jumped when he saw Sakura sitting there, with three empty shot glasses beside her. She didn't sound tipsy in the least nor would her perfect posture have betrayed that she'd been drinking, though the alcohol was definitely showing in her bloodshot eyes.

"Ma'am," said Ayame, "I really think you've had enough to drink. Three riksi would have a sailor stumbling all over himself."

"I said," growled Sakura, "that I want another drink. Are you going to refuse a ninja of Konoha a request?"

"Well," muttered Ayame sheepishly.

"Sakura," shouted Naruto, standing up. "What's gotten into you?"

Sakura turned to look at him, and stared for a moment while she tried to focus. She raised a hand and tried to point it at him, but ended up just knocking over the jar of chopsticks.

"You," she said in a perfectly controlled voice, "have no right to talk. You just go around, talking to anyone who comes your way and flirting with any bug in the road so what's it to drink if I get a little drunk when bad gets things?"

"You can't just go around bullying people like that," said Ino, "It gives all of us a bad image."

"And what do I care-" said Sakura just before she fell backwards off the stool and landed with a solid plop. The other three occupants all got up and hovered over the deeply sleeping girl; Naruto and Ino looked on in disbelief as Ayame closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Sakura may be a jerk at times," said Ino cautiously, "But she doesn't seem like the type to go around getting drunk."

"Do the two of you know her?" asked Ayame.

Naruto nodded, "She's on my team."

"Oh," replied the woman, "Well, it wasn't really her fault. She came in crying while you two were off playing your game, and sat down next to one of our more rowdy customers, who offered her a drink. One sip was enough to get her inebriated, and she wanted more. I didn't really pay attention but just served her."

"Why was she crying?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know," said Ayame, "I was too busy trying to keep up with all the orders…"

Ino glanced around, not quite sure what to do. "Maybe we should call her parents," she said after a minute.

"I don't know where the Harunos live," admitted Naruto. Ayame nodded along with him, and Ino shrugged her shoulders.

"What do we do with her?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know," said Ino.

"Why don't you two just head on home," said Ayame, "and I'll keep her here till she wakes up or take her to the hospital or something."

"You sure?" asked Naruto, "I'd feel kinda bad dumping my own team member on you."

Ino grimaced and stepped forwards quickly. "She's probably right Naruto," she said, "besides there's nothing we could really do anyway so like Ayame said, let's just go on home."

"Well if you're sure," muttered Naruto.

"Positive," said Ayame smiling again, "I'll make sure she's ok. Business is usually quiet for the next several hours anyway."

"Awesome," shouted Ino, plastering her face with a grin as she scooted Naruto and herself from the shop before the boy could get another word in. "Thanks very much Ayame."

The woman smiled and looked down at a now snoring Sakura. _She is going to wake up with such a monster headache… _thought Ayame. _Poor girl._

There was a quick burst of light and a quiet poof, just as _Ayame_ turned back to the stove. The grease in the pots that she had been boiling Naruto's and Ino's ramen in had suddenly caught fire, and was now flaming like a Bunsen burner.

"Eek," squealed Ayame as she rushed over in a panic, "the old man is going to kill me when he gets back!"

SC

Ino unlocked the front door to her home. She and Naruto entered and found the living room to be completely dark. Thick sheets hung over the windows in both the living room and kitchen, and blocked the afternoon sun. There was no greeting from Mrs. Yamanaka.

"Mom," said Ino, "Mom we're home. Is everything alright?"

There was no response.

"Mrs. Yamanaka," shouted Naruto, holding up a bag of seeds they had purchased from the farmers market on their way home, "we brought you something."

Ino took another step in and peered into the darkness. "Mom! Mom you're scarring me. This isn't funny."

There was a quiet whimper from the direction of the kitchen, and Naruto cautiously walked in. He went to the covered window, and uncovered it, allowing sunlight to flood in.

"Mom!" shouted Ino, rushing to the female figure sitting at, and hunched over the kitchen table. "Mom are you ok? What happened?"

Mr. Yamanaka didn't respond, but just began to whimper again: crying against the wood of the table and clutching a piece of parchment in her hand. Ino put her arms around her mother from behind, and began to ask in an almost hysteric voice what was the matter.

Naruto jumped over and quickly looked things over: no blood, no signs of a fight, nothing out of the ordinary. Mrs. Yamanaka turned and looked up at Ino, her normally mature face streaked almost as red as her completely bloodshot eyes. Again, she began to cry but she refused to break eye contact, but simply stared at her daughter.

"I'm- I'm sorry Ino," she choked out, "but –but there's been a-" she held up the parchment, and Ino hesitantly took it.

"Dear Ami Yamanaka," Ino began to read aloud, her voice quaking, "We regret to inform you that Yamanaka Inoichi has been killed in the line of duty." Ino's voice caught and broke, but she kept going even as the tears welled in her eyes. "He was ambushed by rogue Nin just north of Konoha and killed in the ensuing fight. You have our deepest condolences and assurance that he died in the service and defense of Konoha. He will be missed."

Ino dropped the letter and stepped back. "Father," She muttered. Mrs. Yamanaka got up and turned around, putting her arms gently around her daughter. The two of them stood there, crying into each others arms.

Naruto instinctively raised his hand to cover his shoulder and felt a pang shoot through him as he remembered the attack which nearly cost him his life. Naruto had nothing but the worst to think of Inoichi; the man had thrown stones at him, kicked dirt in his face, spat at him. He'd even tried to kill Naruto twice, and once he'd come within seconds of success. He cringed at the mere thought of Inoichi, the man was a monster. But here he saw the two women standing across from him and crying over the death of the ogre.

"I know what you're thinking Naruto," said Mrs. Yamanaka, looking over at him without letting go of Ino. Her face was still streaked with tears, though she had a determination about her. "My husband," she began, speaking through tears, "wasn't a bad man. He loved his village and his family. He would have given his life to protect any of us without a second thought and now he has."

Naruto was taken back, was she really praising a man who she'd seen try to commit murder? How could she defend that?

"Naruto, I know he was far from perfect," said Mrs. Yamanaka while Ino cried into her shoulder, "But Inoichi had a good heart. He took good care of our family and sacrificed so much to do that."

"He tried to kill me!" shouted Naruto.

"What he did was wrong, but he was shocked and angry. He wouldn't have really followed through," said the woman across from him.

"He sure as Hell would!" yelled Naruto, pulling on his collar to expose the scar that twisted down his front. "Inoichi did this to me as I ran to stop him from killing Sakura! He was trying to kill a twelve-year-old genin. The man was a monster and he was insane!"

Ino looked up with bloodshot eyes and stared at him, "Why didn't you tell me?" she whispered quietly as her mother looked on in disbelief.

"He would have finished the job too; he was rearing back to slash me again and would've cut me in two if Sakura hadn't stabbed him first! Inoichi was a maniac!"

"Get out of my house!!" yelled Mrs. Yamanaka, jumping to her feet and whirling on him. "I will not have anyone under my roof defile my husband's good name and lie to my face about him!"

"They're not lies," he growled, "He attacked my team while we were on a simple mission to a nearby settlement. He was leading a group of enemy samurai and ninja and would have killed all of us if not for Kakashi and Kurenai!"

"OUT!" screamed Ami.

"FINE!" shouted Naruto. He got up and turned around, then stomped to the front door and jerked it open. "Go talk to Kakashi or Sakura about it if you don't believe me!" He slammed the door behind him, and Ami collapsed to her knees. She put her face in her hands and began to cry again bitterly.

"I hate you," she said turning her face up. "First Inkiri, now Inoichi… what has my family ever done to you? I hate you! I HATE you!"

"Mother…" whispered Ino, standing slowly up and clutching her hands in front of her. "I- I love you. You know that right?"

Mrs. Yamanaka didn't answer immediately. She merely knelt there whimpering into her hands, occasionally wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Just-" she said without turning to Ino, "Just go to bed…"

"Yes mother," said Ino slowly, her heart aching as she turned and began the now laborsome trek up to her room. She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back down. As far as she could tell, her mother hadn't moved from that spot on the floor.

_I've never seen her like this before… _thought Ino, _Naruto…_

She couldn't wrap her mind around why Naruto would say something like that. Her father was a respected Jounin who had done service after service for Konoha without question. During the wars he was commended by the Forth several times for his bravery and loyalty in the face of overwhelming odds.

_Father's outrage against Naruto was the first time he lost himself since brother was killed and I was barely an infant then. Why would Naruto make something like that up?_

SC

Afternoons in the area around Konoha were usually clement and serene, so today was no exception as Sarutobi wandered a road just north of the village. The old man's only company was his new pipe, a beautifully crafted, mahogany shafted piece, and a single songbird that twittered and tweeted as it hopped along the path behind him.

He stopped in front of a small stump in the road as solitary ANBU ninja dropped out of the trees, scarring away the bird. The nin bowed low.

"Begging your pardon sir," said the man in the mask, "But I thought this was important enough for you to see in person and in private."

"How do you mean?" asked Sarutobi taking the pipe out of his mouth, "What is so important that you couldn't detail it in a note but rather had to call me out here to see it?"

The ANBU stepped aside and motioned for the Hokage to have a look for himself. "Please understand Hokage-Sama, I mean no disrespect but I worry that you may underestimate the direness of the situation."

Sarutobi moved forward and looked off into the forest. The only thing to immediately catch his eye was a black tarp laid out over a bump in the landscape. He walked out the ten or so yards to the oddity and put his hand on the tarp as the ANBU nin followed close behind. In a quick motion he pulled the tarp off and immediately stepped back. Speechless, the old man stared down at a single dead, mutilated body; a corpse who's face had been completely stripped away.

"I fear Orochimaru is on the move," said the ANBU, "And I believe he's closer to Konoha that we ever thought possible."

SC

Naruto wandered the streets of Konoha for well over an hour, brooding about the fight and how he was now homeless again, before he realized that he had wandered back to Ichiraku.

_Ramen sounds good, _he thought, _Ramen always sounds good and I don't have anything… or anyone._ He walked into the empty shop and sat down at the counter, then looked over at the menu on the wall and began to skim it for anything new.

"I'll be right with you!" called Ayame from out back, "Give me just a second."

"No hurry," responded Naruto.

Several minutes passed as Naruto kept reading the menu, then shifting to look around the shop when that became boring until finally he got up and walked around the back of the shop. There, he found Ayame, next to a small metal cylinder, struggling desperately to pull the lid of a small metal box open. It was bolted to a block of concrete buried in the ground, and rusted shut. Ayame had resorted even to trying to pry it open with her bare hands after the key broke, but was having little success and getting herself quite dirty.

"Uh, need some help?" asked Naruto.

Ayame screamed and fell back as her grip on the box gave. "Don't do that!" she shouted, putting her hand over her heart. "Sorry but you scared me half to death."

"Sorry," said Naruto, "Need a hand?"

"Would you?" asked Ayame, "I can't get the blasted thing open. But please don't use any ninja techniques or anything, I really don't want the tank in there to explode…"

Naruto walked over and began to pull on the lid.

"That drunk girl woke up and went home by the way."

"That's good," said Naruto between grunts.

"I'm sorry, the key broke" groaned Ayame, "The old man leaves for a week and I instantly start screwing everything up," whimpered Ayame, "He's never going to trust me again…"

Ayame began to descend into her own little world of self degradation, while Naruto struggled futilely to get the lid open. Both were completely oblivious to the other, until Naruto's grip threatened to slip, and he had to stop pulling.

"Hey," said a voice from the street.

Naruto and Ayame both turned to see Uchiha Sasuke walking from around the shop. "I was wondering if you were closing early for the day or something," he said.

"No no no," said Ayame jumping up, "I just can't actually cook anything until I get this empty propane tank changed and the lid is being very stubborn."

Sasuke glanced between Naruto and the tank, then walked over and asked if there was anything he could do to help.

"You can help me try to get it open," said Naruto, and both he and Sasuke began to tug on the lid. For all the grunting and straining muscles, even together they couldn't pop it open.

**"For goodness sake…" **groaned a deep, rumbling voice in the back of Naruto's mind.

There was a quick, almost unnoticeable red flash from the hinges of the box, and the lid burst open, sending both Naruto and Sasuke reeling backwards. Ayame grinned and thanked them as the two boys recovered and she changed out the propane tank for the stove.

"That was interesting," muttered Sasuke.

"Thank you boys," Ayame said again, "I'll tell you what, your meal tonight is on the house."

Sasuke and Naruto both grinned and the three of them waked back into the shack as Ayame began to get the ramen ready.

"So how're you doing?" asked Sasuke, "You didn't look so good the other day."

"Whoa, is Sasuke actually being social?" asked Naruto jokingly.

"Not really, I just wondered if you've made a full recovery."

"The doctors said so, and I'm feeling back to one hundred percent, so I'd say yeah. Why do you ask?"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and looked off towards the window. "We've been assigned to a C rank mission and leave in the morning for the Country of the Wave," said Sasuke. "Kakashi-Sensei wanted you to know if you thought you were up for it."

"How long would we be gone?" asked Naruto.

"I'm not sure and neither is Kakashi. It's a simple escort mission, so the mission specs say not longer than three or four days, but we both know how easily a job can get complicated."

"Do we ever," Naruto laughed, "Speaking of which, I've been meaning to tell you that you fought really well back in Aerin. As much as I hate to admit it, I was really impressed."

Sasuke grinned and said thanks, "It was as much as I could do being caught off guard like that, but oh well. You looked pretty good yourself. Shino probably wouldn't have made it out if you hadn't helped. But how did you get the… uh-" Sasuke pointed towards his own shoulder and Naruto looked down.

The blonde thought for a second, just as Ayame set down two bowls of Ichiraku's best ramen. They thanked her and then turned to their food.

"I couldn't dodge a hit," Naruto said between bites, "A … Rogue Nin jumped me from a pile of bodies and I couldn't get out of the way."

Sasuke was silent for a minute. "Kakashi couldn't react in time?" asked Sasuke.

"Kakashi was paralyzed by some weird jutsu so Sakura and I had to fend for ourselves."

"Well, never mind. I guess it's not that important now anyway. But really, do you want me to tell Kakashi that you're up for the mission?"

"Of course," said Naruto after finishing his ramen, "Where do we meet?"

"We'll assemble at the west gate at nine am sharp. Kakashi will brief us on the mission we'll head out from there." Sasuke grinned, "You sure you can handle it?" he asked good-humoredly.

Naruto smiled, and laughed a little. "I'm more worried about you being able to keep up with me."

"We'll just have to see about that." Sasuke got up and walked to the entrance of the shop. "I'll see you there, just make sure you're ready to see how a real ninja works."

"I'll be sure to bring a mirror," laughed Naruto.

Sasuke chuckled then walked out and turned a corner.

"Friend of yours?" asked Ayame, leaning on the counter and taking the two empty bowls.

"Maybe," said Naruto.

* * *

AN: Hey everyone! Not a whole lot to say here other than that I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that I hope you're all so kind as to give me lots of reviews. Thanks and I guess I'll talk to you all again shortly! 


	12. When Left With Little

AN: Hey everybody! Just me again, brining for your viewing pleasure another chapter.

Not really a whole lot to say here other than a word of thanks to Lamson, and ixt000, and all of those of you who offer constructive criticism and point out where I made a grammatical error or something like that. I love interacting with the audience and hope I'm doing a good job of being entertaining. On with the Fic!

* * *

When Left With Little 

Early morning hours in Konoha are so peaceful. Before the sun rises, before the birds begin to chirp, and it's still cold from the night before; everything seems so at rest and serene. So one could imagine just how annoyed Nara Shikamaru was to be up and about at this hour rather than lazing in bed. In all actuality, it had taken numerous threats from his father to get the broom-headed boy out of bed.

_So damn troublesome… _he thought to himself as he meandered towards the Hokage's office. _Why did dad have to sign me up for this stupid test thing anyway? It's not like I have less important things to be doing today._

"Shikamaru!" called his father from up ahead, "If you don't step to we'll be late and won't get anything out of this."

"Coming father," responded Shikamaru, walking only quickly enough to meet his father's demands, and absolutely no faster. As the moments rolled by, he wondered exactly what kind of hoops he would have to jump through for the Hokage in order to finish this 'test.' According to the senior Nara this was some event sponsored by ANBU, which made Shikamaru think he may very well in the running for a future post in the village guard which was sure to open up.

_Just great… _Shikamaru mentally carped, _even if it's not for a post, it'll at least involve a lot of paperwork, and maybe even some obstacle courses and the like. There goes the day and the worst part is, _he swallowed hard at the thought, _I'm missing out on so much sleep._

After another few minutes of a quiet walk, the two Naras found themselves in front of the Ziggurat like offices of the Konoha officials, and began their ascent up the stairs.

"Shikamaru," said the boy's father in a much more cooled voice, "I don't expect much of you, and I don't expect you to like this, however you will go through with it or neither of will get any peace from the rest of the family for as long as we live."

"What exactly will I be doing?" asked Shikamaru, pausing and putting his arms behind his head.

"You'll see," said Mr. Nara, "Just don't be surprised if even you have to really push yourself."

_Great… _thought Shikamaru.

SC

In the great black void of Kyuubi's realm, the usual peace and quiet had been replaced with the harsh shouts and cries of combat. No less than five figures robed in black and flickering in and out of sight had completely surrounded Naruto and were relentlessly hurling kunai at him. The blonde genin however, neither fled nor retaliated but instead had drawn both of the wakizashi from Maibu, and was spinning and twirling around in a small red circle carved in the black earth around him. Despite sweating profusely he nimbly flicked the swords around, knocking the knives out of the air or dodging them all together.

**"Better," **remarked the giant fox from his cage, many yards away, **"Much more effective than those rampant flailing movements you were making some hours ago. Now at least you're not being reduced to a pin cushion."**

Naruto smirked, and in a single spin, deflected two of the knives back at their owners, who subsequently fell backwards into nonexistence as the kunai thudded into their chests. The genin then flung the swords at two of the others, dispatching them before they could react to the attack. But prior to the second set of two falling, the fifth had already been struck down by one of Naruto's own Kunai.

"Not bad wouldn't you say?" asked Naruto, stepping out of the circle.

Kyuubi's eyes narrowed just a bit, and instantly thousands upon thousands of kunai, needles, and ninja stars were flung from the nothingness all around and shot towards Naruto like bullets.

"Hey," he shouted, ducking and covering his head, "What are you-" he was cut off by a deafening roar as the missiles split the air all around him and thumped into the ground all around. For nearly a minute he hunkered there frozen in place by the rain of metal.

"By the fourth," he said as the last missile fell and he stood slowly up, "what was that for? You could've killed me!"

**"The exercise," **growled Kyuubi, **"Was merely to fend off the enemy ninja by deflecting their attacks. But you had to try and show off. When will you learn kit: don't rush in recklessly. That nearly cost you your life the other day and you still seem to forget just how easy it is to walk into a trap."**

"I've gotten a lot better," said Naruto, "I did your silly drill for hours without getting hurt after I got the technique down…"

**"But all it takes is one mistake kit. Just look at ME." **Kyuubi's voice was rank with condescension, but also something else… almost like self-pity. **"I am a Demon Lord, a god among insects. Yet I stepped into a single trap and suddenly I'm a prisoner…"**

"That sounded awfully contrite for a Demon Lord," Naruto said playfully.

Kyuubi snapped his massive jaws with enough force to shake the floor and send tremors through the air. **"Choose your words carefully," **rumbled the Demon.

"Ok, ok," said Naruto, leaning back against the bars. "What time is it out there anyway?"

Kyuubi looked up, then shook himself like a dog would if it was bitten by a flea. **"Eight am on the dot," **he growled, **"So we'll have to call this lesson done for today. You need to wake up and get going."**

Naruto quickly obliged and stood up, suddenly entering the flight like trance as he had in the hospital just before he came to. He opened his eyes and saw that everything was just the way he'd left it; the door was barricaded with the blackened remains of some planks of wood, and the charred walls were still threatening to collapse into piles of ash.

Naruto stood up from the pile of sheets he had been sleeping on and stretched widely. "Home sweet home," he muttered almost bitterly.

**"Reminds me of some of the nicer sections of Hell," **said Kyuubi from the back of Naruto's mind.

"Would you stay out of my thoughts unless I'm in trouble?" asked Naruto, surprisingly politely, "If I just go around talking to some voice in my head then people are going to know you're active which wouldn't be good for either of us."

**"Good point," **said Kyuubi, **"Fine then, I'll refrain from interfering with your thoughts."**

"Thanks." Naruto walked to what was left of his old closet and pulled out the only suit he hadn't left at the Yamanaka's. Grimacing at the memories of the day before, Naruto threw the suit on over his boxers and decided to go out for breakfast since the explosion some time before had destroyed all the food in his apartment.

"And what makes a better breakfast than Ramen?" he asked himself as he trotted out the door. The blonde genin bounded down the stairs and out into the open street, running towards Ichiraku since he didn't want to be late for the mission.

By the time he arrived it was only five after eight, leaving him plenty of time to eat in the nearly abandoned ramen stand. He walked in and sat at the far right stool as Ayame called from the back that she'd be out in just a second. Almost five minutes later, she walked in and greeted him cheerily.

"Good morning Naruto," she said warmly, "You're here awfully early for lunch."

"Actually I wasn't here for lunch," said Naruto, "I was hoping to get breakfast."

Ayame stammered for just a second then put her hand behind her head and tried to sound as cordial as possible. "Um… we don't exactly offer a breakfast menu. We're a lunch and dinner stand."

"Oh," said Naruto, disappointed and hungry, "I guess I'll be going then. Thanks anyway."

He got up and turned to leave without saying another word, but Ayame could hear his stomach growling from where she stood, and she put a finger to her lip.

"Naruto," she called after him. He stopped and looked around at her. "If you want to give me a few minutes to get everything set up around here, I'll whip you up anything on the menu you'd like."

"Really?!" asked Naruto joyously, "Anything I want?"

"Yep," said Ayame beaming, "and I'll pick up the tab."

"You're the best!" Naruto yelled as he jumped back onto the stool. "I really mean it. You guys really are the best."

"Only for our favorite customer," she laughed.

SC

By the time Naruto reached the courtyard in front of the gate, it was only ten till nine, but the whole area was a buzz of activity. This was one of the busier sides of town, accounting for nearly a third of the total businesses in the village, with the more residential sections being just to the north. So it was no surprise that Naruto had trouble picking out anyone in particular from the bustling crowd of people, and that his search for the other members of team seven ended with him sitting on the edge of the fountain in the center of the courtyard.

The fountain itself was a beautiful work, depicting the first Hokage standing tall and looking out over the city, and Naruto found himself starring wide eyed at the marble image. _One day, I'll be a hero, _he thought, _and everyone in this village will love me._

It wasn't until a passerby bumped him, nearly knocking him into the water that Naruto snapped out of his daydreaming, and noticed a familiar pink haired girl on the other side of the fountain.

"Sakura," he shouted, standing up and walking around to her, "Sakura."

She turned around and looked for who was calling her name, and looked away when she saw that Naruto was approaching. He sat down a couple of feet away from her, and glanced over. Sakura tried mightily to pretend she was just lost in crowd-watching, but gave up and looked over.

"Where are the others?" asked Naruto, "It's almost nine, shouldn't they be here by now?"

Sakura shrugged and cocked her head off to one side. "You'd think," she groaned, "but then you never can tell about Kakashi-Sensei. He always has some weird little thing on his agenda."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, remember that excuse he made the other day when he was late to our lunch at Ichiraku?"

Sakura stifled a giggle, and then looked down. "I remember," she said, "I just about slapped him. It's so irritating that he's always late and always has some stupid line to try and get out of it."

Now it was Naruto's turn to shrug. "It's not really that big of a deal. I mean he's a Jounin after all and I'm sure he has his reasons. Security issues probably tie him up and he tries to make it funny by coming up with something to make us laugh. You know you chuckle about it later," he said turning to her and grinning.

She smiled and nodded. "It is kinda funny once you think about it."

"Sasuke though," said Naruto, "doesn't seem like he'd be the type to be late, or right on time for that matter. At the academy he was always the first one to class, and when er left for Aerin he was ready to go before any of us."

Sakura wavered, then gulped. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that," she said sheepishly.

"About Sasuke?" asked Naruto. A bitter edge crept into his voice as he remembered how all she wanted to talk about in the academy was Sasuke.

Sakura shook her head and clutched her hands to her chest. "About Aerin," she mumbled, barely loud enough to be heard over the crowd. I just wanted to-"

Naruto listened intently, but suddenly looked up as she stopped. Kakashi, Sasuke, and an old man dressed in shabby clothes with a straw hat were walking up from within the cluster of people. Kakashi called out to them, and Naruto leapt up. Sakura hesitated but slowly stood up and followed the blonde over to the rest of the squad and the old man.

"Glad to see someone could make it on time," mumbled Sasuke, turning to look at their guest.

"Naruto, Sakura," said Kakashi before Sasuke could say anything else, "This is Tazuna-san. We'll be escorting him to the Wave in the next few days, so I hope you've all packed the essentials."

The three genin all nodded, and Naruto ran a mental checklist of everything he kept in his sack, and rummaged through it with his left hand to make sure he actually had it. _Soldier pills, shuriken, kunai, wire, tags, emergency ration… _It was all there.

"Wonderful," said Tazuna scowling off towards the distance behind the open gate. "When do we leave?"

"Right now," said Kakashi, motioning for the group to move out.

"This guy is so annoying," whispered Sasuke, leaning over to Naruto.

SC

"Well congratulations," Sarutobi said smiling brightly. "Shikamaru, I'm thoroughly impressed with your performance today."

Shikamaru stood opposite the Hokage on the other side of the large mahogany desk in the well lit and welcoming office. "Cool," the boy said unaffected, "What exactly do we do now? With all respect, I've been taking tests and running an obstacle course for the last four hours, and I'm beat."

"Yes, you have every reason to be a little tired. That test was Jounin level, yet you finished in less than a fifth of the average completion time, with a perfect score might I add. And you emerged unscathed from the course ANBU runs. Your performance was exceptional for anyone, and unheard of for a genin. There's not a doubt in my mind you'll be accepted."

Shikamaru shifted uneasily. "Wait, accepted to what?" he asked, "I never got any info on why exactly I was doing of this anyway. What's going on?"

Sarutobi grinned. "You mean your father didn't tell you?" asked the old man coyly. Shikamaru shook his head and the old man laughed. "That's just like him; never divulge any information at all. But what can I expect from a family of such high caliber?"

"Listen," said Shikamaru trying to sound respectful, "Thanks for complimenting my family and all, but seriously… what was all this about?"

Sarutobi got up and walked over to a small cabinet and opened it up. He took out a small tin, opened the lid, and pulled out a bit of brown mush between his fingers. Shikamaru watched impatiently as the Hokage took out his pipe and patted the mush into the bowl and stuck the stem in his mouth.

"Do you know how ANBU works?" asked the Hokage.

The genin was taken back by the question. "Which part? There's a lot too it." Shikamaru responded slowly.

"The training part," said Sarutobi. "Do you know how we recruit for ANBU and train those recruits?"

"I have no idea," Shikamaru responded immediately, "It's all kept secret."  
"It's quite simple really," said the Hokage casually, "we scour the village for students who appear to have potential, then have them somehow prove that they might just have what it takes to guard the village. It's usually some kind of assessment interview, and if they pass we'll assign them to apprentice under a real ANBU scout out in the wilderness. They'll learn from the scout, go on missions, and make a very hefty salary, rather than earning money by the mission. Would any of this interest you?"

"Why do you ask?" Shikamaru scowled as he quickly worked the problem through his head, and came to a quick, concise conclusion.

Sarutobi just smiled and lit his pipe. "How do you like the desert?"

SC

Meanwhile, team seven was having almost no difficulty with their trek through the forest around Konoha. The biggest mishap was when and Sasuke had become so involved in a conversation regarding the Fourth Hokage's actions during the wars, that neither of them heard Kakashi warn them of a dip and a puddle in the road. Naturally, neither of them saw the pitfall and blundered right into it.

Sakura and Tazuna, who had been walking and talking about some of the fundamentals of being a ninja, both turned and chuckled but offered the boys a hand up, and the five of them continued on their way. Sasuke insisted on acting like nothing had happened, while Naruto was just embarrassed enough that he followed suit, despite trying to shake the mud out of his sandal every other step.

"Don't' you think it's kinda weird?" asked Sakura about a quarter mile down the road. "That it's been dry as a bone the past few days, with no rain and low humidity yet there was a puddle back there?"

Naruto, Sasuke, and now Tazuna were wrapped up in a rather heated debate over whether or not Konoha was the most powerful village in the region. Sasuke was somewhat apathetic, though he did lean towards Konoha being dominant, while Naruto was vehement in his declaring Konoha the greatest. Tazuna however seemed to think, given dozens rumors that an incredibly powerful force was the founder, that the Sound Village might have some running in the power race.

_Guess it was nothing, _Sakura thought to herself.

"Sakura," Kakashi said quietly.

"Yes Sensei?" she responded.

"That was a good observation. It might be wise to be on your guar- Aurgh!"

From the shade of the canopy of trees, a long, metallic whip, fastened of interlocking blades, had snapped out and wrapped itself around Kakashi's torso and arms. Quick as a flash, a second and identical whip shot from behind a twisted bramble and tangled around Kakashi's legs, leaving him completely bound up.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" shouted Sakura as the others realized what was happening.

Two figures shrouded in grey and black robes leapt from the shadows and pinned the group in. The taut lashes were wrapped around their arms, and before anyone could even flinch, they jumped away from each other, stretching the bladed whips even more.

The razors dug into Kakashi just a little before the attacking nins ferociously wrenched their weapons to finish the job. The genin could only watch as their leader was literately cut to shreds before their eyes. The blades passed through him like he was made of paper, and the dark nins jerked their whips back to their sides as bits of Kakashi fell to the ground before they had even had time to bleed.

"Brother! Kill him!" shouted one of the black figures in a raspy voice.

Immediately the two rushed straight for Tazuna, lifting their arms and brandishing wickedly curved metallic claws protruding from their gloves. Sasuke jumped in their way, performing a lightning fast series of seals in the process and out his fingers to his lips. As he drew in a breath, the raven haired boy glanced at Naruto and nodded.

The enemies, in mid jump, could do noting but come together in the air and propel themselves off one another in opposite directions to avoid the stream of fire Sasuke heaved at them.

Naruto, a wakizashi in each hand sped and leapt forward, swinging mightily at one of the brothers before he could react and brought the blade straight down on his head. The wakizashi shattered the bone in its path and cleaved the Nin's skull completely open, spilling blood and brains all over the path as Naruto jerked the blade back and stood aside to avoid the gore. The body fell forwards and collapsed in a heap.

Naruto, not wasting any time, spun and hurled the bloody sword at the other brother who had just landed. The edge grazed his ear and moved by, burring itself in the trunk of an oak beyond.

The nin diverted his attention from Sasuke and screamed when he saw his brother's mangled corpse bleeding out on the ground. He flung a small kunai at Sasuke, catching him off guard and clipping his ribs. He rushed towards Tazuna, only to be stopped dead in his tracks, as Kakashi materialized seemingly out of nothing. The copy-nin's fist was glowing brilliantly and screaming like a legion of angry birds.

"Chidori!" shouted Kakashi as he drove his hand through the nin's heart.

The demon brother, impaled by the still glimmering weapon, began to fall away, but suddenly became translucent and glassy, then fell to the ground with a splash.

_A water clone!?!_ thought Sakura, gasping in horror at the battle in front of her. _But then- _she turned to look for the real one and her heart nearly stopped as she saw a shadow in the canopy diving like an arrow for Naruto.

"Naruto!" she shouted, as she ran for him, "Look out!"

The shadow took the shape of the Demon Brother, ready to strike. Kakashi and Sasuke turned too late to do anything… and Sakura threw herself in front of Naruto just as the assailant drew back and struck out.

"Sakura!" yelled Naruto, reaching out and taking hold of her, trying to spin and put himself in the enemy's way.

Kakashi charged forward, sightless with fury and splitting the air with blinding speed. He grabbed the demon brother around the neck and reared back, strangling him in the air, not letting his feet touch the ground.

The black figure kicked wildly and slashed at Kakashi with his claws. He tried to use his whip but was too close for it to be effective.

The copy-nin ignored the slashes in his arm, and only squeezed all the tighter. His fist clenched shut with a crack as the demon brother's spine gave under the tremendous pressure and snapped in two. This time the body remained solid and Kakashi tossed the body like a rag doll to the ground.

"Sakura… Sakura," Naruto whimpered.

Kakashi rushed over, followed quickly by Sasuke, and then by Tazuna. They all knelt down beside Naruto who was on his knees, and clutching at Sakura. She had a death grip on his jacket, and was rasping as she tried futilely to breathe. A long, deep incision across the middle and right side of her throat was made it near impossible for her to breathe at all as the blood poured down her front, drenching both her and Naruto.

"I'm so sorry," Naruto began to cry, "I tried to save her."

Kakashi cursed and snatched Sakura from him. Cradling her in his arms and pressing down on her throat he leapt up and dashed off towards Konoha.

SC

Kakashi sprinted along the ground as fast as his legs could carry him, faster that he'd ever run before. He didn't care what obstacles were in his way; trees he'd simply dart around, while brambles and streams he'd jump over as nimbly as a cat. His life's goal had suddenly become to get Sakura to Konoha alive.

Slowly Sakura looked around her as the world slowly became less and less defined. Trees that were flying by gradually faded into a murky river of drab colors. The air whipping all around became a dull and indistinct roar. Her attempts to breathe had all but stopped, and the flow of blood had been reduced to a trickle from between Kakashi's fingers as Sakura closed her eyes.

"Sakura!" Kakashi gasped when he could no longer feel her pulse against his blood soaked hand. "Sakura wake up!" he yelled without slowing, "Sakura!"

SC

Naruto fell to his hands and knees crying. "This wasn't supposed to happen!" he shouted, "I was supposed to save her! It's my responsibility! She's not supposed to die!"

* * *

AN: Well everyone, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. As requested by VenomLord I did mix things up a little didn't I. As always, I crave reviews, so if by some chance you want to know what happens next, send me lots of reviews. See you all later. 


	13. Liabilities and Reassignments

AN: Hey everybody, me again! Glad to see you all made it through that last chapter alive and have the intestinal fortitude to actually start this one. I realize it was a little brutal and caught several people off guard. Many of you seemed to think doing that to Sakura was a mistake but that's all part of it. There's nothing quite so good at keeping people on their toes as a high-quality shock once in a while. Oh, and Gnosismaster, I loved your reaction. It really was quite refreshing. Read and Review please. On with the Fic!

* * *

Liabilities and Reassignments

Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna all sat quietly in the reception room of Konoha Central Hospital. None of them spoke. They all just sat forward in their chairs, hands folded between their knees with their heads bowed. The seats had no armrests to separate them, but the three of them still sat as though there was no one else in the room. The only other soul on the floor was the receptionist behind the desk, and even she was silent.

Sasuke, who was sitting between Naruto and the old man, would occasionally glance between the two with a quick flick of his head, then go back to starring at the polished tile floor directly in front of him. It almost frightened how entirely a sickly, deathlike aura had pervaded the room. And it unnerved him to see Naruto who was usually the first to try and lighten the mood, so cheerless.

The blonde genin sat completely still, his eyes overshadowed by his hair due to the steep angle of his slump. His hands were clenched into fists in front of him; so tight his knuckles had long since gone pallid. Sasuke almost opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and elected to review the ambush in his mind.

_These Ninja type are dangerous folk,_ Tazuna mentally stammered as he glanced around nervously, the horrific attack still fresh in his mind. _Everything's quiet and peaceful, then something blows up and everything goes crazy for ten seconds before something else blows up._ He didn't understand what had happened. It was all over too quickly: fire, maybe an explosion, blood, screams, bright lights… _And these are just their trainees… what are the really dangerous ones like?_

There was a soft pat as a tiny drop of water fell to the floor under Naruto. His cheek was marked by a thin stream of tears that he could no longer hold back. Sasuke and Tazuna looked over, and Naruto immediately moved to wipe the moisture from his face. He tried so hard to keep from crying, almost constantly wiping his eyes and trying to think of something else, but in the end all he could see was Sakura jumping in front of his as the demonic ninja slashing her throat.

"If she hadn't done that," muttered Naruto, "That ninja would have skewered me through…" tears again began to well up in his eyes. "I at least might have had a chance to survive."

"Nobody said she was dead son," said Tazuna as softly as he could, given his gruff voice, "That Kakashi fella seems to be one of the best around. I'm sure he… did everything he could to get her here in time."

Sasuke scowled, then stood up and began to walk off down the hall. He put his hands behind his head and moved steadily away. "I'm going to go for a walk," he said before the others could ask anything, "It's not like there's anything we can do here anyway."

The old man didn't say anything, but Naruto looked back down at the ground. "Could I be alone please?" he asked quietly. Tazuna looked over and nodded, understanding how solitude can be a blessing, and got up.

"I-" Tazuna began but stammered not sure how to word what he wanted to say. "I can't say I know what you're life's been like. I don't know what kind of hardships or joys you've seen, but there are those out there who are your friends. Losing someone is never easy but-"

"I know what you're saying Tazuna-san," said Naruto, "But I just need time."

"Alright," said the old man.

Tazuna turned around and followed the path Sasuke had taken, walking down a flight of stairs before he decided to go to the cafeteria and see if the smell of food could make him hungry or not.

There was no sound in the waiting area. The digital clock didn't tick, and the nurse had finished her filing and merely sat looking off into space, leaving Naruto little to do but hope Sakura would be ok.

His mind continually flashed back to that first horrible moment; seeing that laceration in her throat even before her heart could force it to bleed; holding her to him as she slowly began to bleed; feeling the warmth quickly fade from her skin… _What could I have done differently? _he wondered, _What did I do wrong?_

He didn't reach an answer. He couldn't see why doing what he did wasn't the best ting to do. Teaming up with Sasuke to kill the one, throwing his sword to try and kill the other, he'd done everything the right way… the only thing that went wrong was just human error. He had no way to know teaming up with Sasuke would leave Sakura open, or that killing the one would enrage the other. And he didn't expect to miss when he attacked the other…

_I just don't know…_ he groaned.

**You did nothing wrong kit. Her actions were her own. Her situation is her own. And her fate will ultimately be her own,** Kyuubi whispered.

_But that doesn't change what happened. It doesn't change that I couldn't save her._

**No it doesn't, but that doesn't mean she's your responsibility any more than Sasuke and Kakashi are. You are responsible for your choices, not theirs. Sakura is no different nor is the rest of the world. You can't let what someone else chooses to do dictate how you see yourself.**

_This coming from a demon… This coming from one of the worst mass-murderers in history._

**Where something comes from does not affect whether it is good or bad. Listen kit, there's no need to wallow in self pity because you couldn't save someone who threw their life in harms way to protect yours. If anything you should be grateful.**

_Just shut up you stupid fox! You're not helping any!_

**Perhaps you're right, logic is rarely a comfort for the wounded.**

Naruto snarled and gritted his teeth as his eyes watered again and fresh tears flowed down his face. Kyuubi's lecture had done nothing but infuriate him and further confuse his already befuddled emotions. The blonde genin got up and paced around for several minutes, trying to make sense out of what was going on in his mind. He couldn't understand why he was blaming himself, but at the same time it made no sense to him why he was not responsible for her … wounding. She had after all thrown herself in the way to protect him, because he wasn't able to properly protect himself. Finally he just sat down and put his hands on his head.

So lost in his thoughts, Naruto failed to notice the soft pat of approaching footsteps as they made their way down the hall towards him. He leaned over farther and closed his eyes in an attempt to blot out the headache that was quickly setting in. _What did I do wrong? _He wondered.

"Naruto?" said a soft voice from the corner of the room.

It was Ino. She stood there at the junction between the hall and the white, rectangular waiting area, half hiding behind the wall and resting her hand on the corner. She wore her usual purple skirt and top over the white bandages, though today they were accompanied by a small golden necklace.

She walked carefully over and sat about a foot away from Naruto before he realized she was there, and it wasn't until she leaned over and put an arm around him that he broke down and really cried.

"Naruto…," Ino whispered, overwhelmed with sympathy as she moved her other hand around his chest, "It'll be alright." She shifted and pulled him closer so his forehead rested against her cheek and held him tightly to her.

"I killed her Ino," he quietly choked, "I couldn't save her."

"No Naruto… never never" she said as she pulled him even closer, "You did you're best. Even the Hokage couldn't do more than that."

SC

"Have a seat Kakashi," said Sarutobi gesturing towards a chair opposite the large desk in his dim office.

"With all due respect sir, I'd prefer to stand," said the copy-nin through his mask. "I'm anxious to get back to the hospital to be with Sakura."

"Yes, about that" muttered the Hokage, "I read the medical report you brought me from the doctors, and I'd like to say you did well given the circumstances. According to the trauma surgeon, another minute or two and the girl would have died on the operating table."

"I did my best sir."

"I'm positive you did, but there are just a few things we need to discuss quickly. And they pertain to your team specifically."

Kakashi waited patiently as the Hokage lifted the medical report in front of him again and began to read through it.

"According to these experts, it's a miracle Sakura is alive, and what's more, she's stable," said Sarutobi. "However, while she is expected to live, it's unlikely she'll make a full recovery. The doctor's opinions are that she is incredibly fragile and is likely to remain that way for a long time, possibly the rest of her life and severity of the injury, that any trauma what so ever could reopen the wound. Sakura wouldn't survive another round of that, Kakashi."

"I read the report," said Kakashi respectfully, "What are you implying?"

Sarutobi puffed on his pipe a few times while he set the stapled report down and crossed his hands in front of him. "I'm not about to question your prowess or your leadership my friend," said Sarutobi, "you've proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that you're more than capable of walking into a deadly situation and emerging unscathed. Even the Fourth put his life in your hands on several occasions and you never once let anyone down, but what I am going to say is that you do have a habit of finding yourself in plenty of those deadly situations."

Kakashi nodded, grateful for the praise, but anxious as to what was to come next.

"With all the feats you attempt, the burdens you shoulder, and the intensity of your training system, you can't afford to have anyone on your squad who isn't both a team player AND self-reliant.

"Haruno Sakura may be an excellent team player and clever besides that, but she isn't as self-reliant as Sasuke and Naruto are. Those boys make an incredible force because they're abilities and mindsets compliment each other so well. But on top of that, they're both capable of surviving and fighting alone."

"What are you saying?" asked Kakashi, "That I take Sakura off of team seven?

"I'm not going to order it," said the Hokage, sitting up straight and assuming a very noble demeanor. "However I will personally ask it of you as a friend and for Sakura's own safety. Her lack of individual strength and martial prowess make her a liability on a team that handles what you are certainly destined to do. Naruto and Sasuke no doubt are fated to become some of the greatest of out age, and the third member of their team needs to be closer to their level, not just in terms of skill but also maturity and mindset."

Kakashi looked down at the ground and dropped his shoulders. There was no point contesting anything Sarutobi had said. He was absolutely right; it was plain as day that Sasuke and Naruto were destined for power and that they needed someone who would allow all three members of team seven to work as a single fighting force in addition to working individuals who could stand alone. But at the same time, he fancied that Sakura had become an important part of the group.

"Who would you suggest take her place, should I decide to reorganize team seven?" asked the copy-nin, making one last vie not to change.

Sarutobi puffed on his pipe before asking, "Who would you want?"

Kakashi thought for a moment, running through the list of all of the rookie nine, and even of some of the previous year's graduates.

"What about Nara Shikamaru?" asked the copy-nin.

"I'm sorry, but he's unavailable for that position," said the Hokage.

"Why would that be if I may ask," asked Kakashi raising his visible eyebrow.

"He's on a diplomatic training mission to the Sand to meet with the Kazekage and his family."

"But the rest of his team is here," said Kakashi, now genuinely interested.

"Shikamaru is no longer a member of team nine. He was just recently inducted into ANBU's special tactics squad. Team nine is dormant until a third member is found or graduates the academy."

"Alright then, I suppose Hyuuga Neji is out of the question?"

Sarutobi grinned. "I can have him transferred if you wish, but do you really want both Neji and Sasuke on your team?"

Kakashi grimaced as an image of the possibilities flashed into his mind. "Ok, how about Yamanaka Ino? She and Naruto are good friends and if family history is anything to go off of then she has enormous potential."

"Perhaps," said Sarutobi, "But that would leave Chouji alone and Asuma without a team."

Kakashi sighed, "You just asked me who I wanted."

"I did, but I want you to look at it from every angle."

The copy nin ran a hand through his silver hair and scratched the back of his head. "Honestly, I think Shikamaru or Ino are the best possible candidates. Shikamaru is clever and inhumanly intelligent, while Ino has her father's private training to work with as well as her grandmother's teachings. Those alone make her a force to be reckoned with."

"Shikamaru is out of the question," said the Hokage, "ANBU has declined since you were part of it Kakashi. Anymore it's a dilapidated shell of what it was ten and twenty years ago. That Nara boy has the potential to completely turn it around if he can ever get over his lethargic attitude."

"What about Chouji?" asked Kakashi, "like you said, this will leave him without teammates."

Sarutobi shrugged his shoulders, "The Akimichi have a long history of being one of the last lines of defense for Konoha during a crisis. I'll offer Chouji a chance to try out for a position in the city guard. I'll never turn down a guardsman from the Akimichi who meets even the basest entry requirement… they're just too valuable for their brute strength and ability to keep the peace."

"Well, can you think of any other candidates?" asked Kakashi.

"That Hyuuga Hinata has potential," said the Hokage.

"Yes, but I think she's a little on the timid side. She may have the Byakugan going for her, but she's too afraid to really fight."

"You might be surprised," said Sarutobi, "But her personality wouldn't mesh well with Sasuke or Naruto, you're right"

Kakashi nodded in agreement, "Tenten or Rock Lee would be good, but that would mean reorganizing that whole team, no… I think Ino is the best choice."

"I would tend to agree," muttered Sarutobi, "But one thing to keep in mind; if she and Naruto develop affections for each other which is unavoidable if you put them together, and something happens to one of them, it will likely cripple the other emotionally. You and Obito were like brothers. Just remember what you were like in the months after he-"

"I understand," said Kakashi suddenly interrupting, then realizing how rude he'd just been and bowing low. "Forgive me sir."

The Hokage nodded and Kakashi stood up. "You still have yet to fully recover," said the old man compassionately. "Naruto and Ino would likely face similar situations if something tragic were to happen…"

_Yamanaka Ino it is, _thought Kakashi, _though this could turn out riskier than anything else. What a gamble…_

SC

"Is your mom still mad at me?" asked Naruto quietly. He was lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling with his head in Ino's lap, while she gently ran her fingers through his somewhat matted hair, and looked down at him.

"No," she responded, "she never really was. It's just that finding out … what happened to father really hurt her. She still isn't quite the same, but this morning she went to the Hokage's office and talked with him for several hours. When she got home the first thing she said to me was that she couldn't believe she chased you off like that."

"Is she going to be ok?" asked Naruto.

"I don't really know," said Ino, shrugging her shoulders. "She was always madly in love with father, even when she was furious with him she still loved him more than anything…"

"I'm sorry," said Naruto, closing his eyes, "I don't mean to pry but how are you doing with all of this."

Ino smiled weakly, then started scratching his scalp with her nails a little. "You're not," she said, "I miss him, and I loved father very much, but he was always working and never really there. The longest I ever saw him was when he took mother and I on a trip up north, and even that was related to a mission."

"I'm sorry," Naruto said again.

"Don't be," Ino smiled a little more now. "Don't get me wrong, he was my father, but I didn't really know him… Anyway… We'd love to have you back at home. Mother feels terrible, and wants to apologize any way she can. So will you come back?"

"I'd love to," Naruto answered without hesitation, "But I don't think I'll have time to run back to my apartment tonight and pick up my clothes. As soon as Kakashi-Sensei and the Hokage figure out who's going to take Sakura's place for the mission we'll be leaving for the Wave."

"Oh," said Ino, trying to hide her disappointment, "Well, if you still want to wait here for Sakura to wake up I could run back to your place and take it over to mine. That way you might have time to stop by and say goodbye before you leave."

"I'm afraid that won't be an option," said Kakashi, walking around the corner with a manila envelope in his hand. "There's been a slight change in plans for the day." He handed the envelope to Ino as Naruto sat up.

"You're being reassigned to team seven with Naruto, Sasuke and myself," he said as Ino opened the letter and skimmed through it. "We're leaving for the wave in eight minutes. Sasuke and Tazuna-san are already at the gate and waiting for us."

Naruto and Ino looked at Kakashi and then each other. "I guess that takes care of that," said Ino. Naruto nodded.

"And I've already informed your mother," said the copy-nin to Ino. "She's been fully briefed on the mission and will expect you back within two weeks time."

"Two weeks!" blurted Naruto, "I thought it was only supposed to be a week or less."

"It was," said Kakashi gravely, "But given the circumstances, the Hokage and I decided it would be best for us to take an alternate route to our good friend Tazuna's homeland."

Naruto grimaced and looked down at the ground.

"It could be worse," said Ino looking over at him, "at least the company will be nice."

Naruto faked a smile. _But what about Sakura? She nearly got herself killed trying to save me. The least I could do is be here when she wakes up…_

"Naruto," said the silver-haired Jounin putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "She'll be ok. Right now Sakura just needs all the rest she can get, and we need to get going."

Naruto nodded as he and Ino stood up, and together the three of them set off down the hall. Ino was the only one to look back towards the recovery rooms. She frowned, then glanced at Naruto and around again, before they turned a corner and she could no longer look back.

SC

Roughly thirty leagues from Konoha, shrouded in mists beneath a thick canopy of trees west of the village, two figures sat with their backs to opposite sides of a large tree trunk. One was silver-haired like Kakashi, but wore baggy purple clothes and large round glasses that sat beneath a forehead protector embossed with a leaf. The other was garbed in a uniform of the Sound, stained dark with travel through the wilderness and the plate of stele over his brow confirmed his allegiance, though the black hair hanging in front of his face made it difficult to tell.

The second spoke first in a cold and smooth voice. "What's the word from the leaf? How did our little gamble go?"

The silver haired man, no older looking that sixteen or thereabouts, licked his lips and brushed some of the collected mist from his vest. "It could've gone better. The Yamanaka grievously wounded the boy, but since the demon intervened, failed to kill him."

"Did Yamanaka escape?"

"No, he was killed in the fight and his body was taken to the coroner for examination."

The second hesitated. "What did they find out?"

"The examination turned up the cursed seal, but they never discovered you were influencing his actions. As far as they know it was just your run of the mill seal."

"I suppose this puts an end to our little test then."

"So are you going to start using the mind altering seals?"

"…no," said the man in a serpentine voice, "The control I have over it is too imperfect as of yet. The Yamanaka's mind fought too hard and he ended up driving himself insane trying to resist me." He chuckled and looked up, revealing a pallid angular face. "It was indeed a valiant effort on the fool's part. The last though I detected before his mind shattered was a rabid hatred of anything that endangered Konoha. If everyone in that fallow shared his mindset we wouldn't stand a chance."

The first laughed, and stood up. "I suppose it's a good thing they've become so complacent. At least one of the last real lookouts has been removed."

"Indeed," the pale one said, "But even so, It's still our top priority to ensure that Uchiha Sasuke sees things our way, and for that to happen, that Uzumaki brat must be neutralized. Can I entrust that responsibility to you Kabuto?"

"It will be difficult," said Kabuto, crossing his arms, "Jinchuuriki are never easy targets."

"I'm sure you'll come up with something."

Kabuto grinned, "And seeing as how ANBU now know you're somewhere in the area they'll be on the lookout for anything suspicious."

"I know, but ANBU couldn't find me decades ago when they were at their prime and I was weak. They'll be next to useless now that the positions are reversed."

"Well then," said Kabuto smiling maniacally, "I guess I won't have anything to worry about then. I'll just stalk the brat during this mission and ensure that he dies during the exams later this year. He won't interfere with any of our plans."

The second man stood up and began to walk off into the mist. "No hurry Kabuto, no hurry."

* * *

AN: Ah, I feel better. Another chapter done and posted always brightens my day. But sorry to say, I won't be able to write another for several days. Blame my school. I have a summer paper to write and I've procrastinated far too long. Oh well. Hey, I've got a quick survey that I'd really appreciate you all filling out on my fic. If not that's cool, but I would appreciate the feedback.

1. Is the team change a good idea?

2. Is Shikamaru moving to ANBU cool?

3. What would you like to see me do with the love triangle that's sure to develop (hint hint)

4. Overall, how well do I move the plot along?

5. Any other comments and suggestions are more than welcome.


	14. Standing On the Shore

AN: Sorry to keep you all waiting, but between summer papers, school starting up, and time with friends and the girlfriend, I've just been very busy. That doesn't mean however that I've been inactive on this fic. I've done a lot of thinking, and have come up with what I hope are cool ideas, so here you are. And by the way, I just wanted to say thank you Krakatos and Iztiak. My favorite thing to get from the audience is just what their thinking about the fic, be that in general or in depth. I don't mind getting angry notes any more than I mind getting notes saying I'm the greatest, simply because I want to know what everyone is thinking. That's why I want the reviews. Thanks again and on with the fic!

* * *

Standing on the Shore

It was a cool morning before sunrise. Dew was still collecting on the grass and shrubs in the forest surrounding the small campsite, if one could really call it a campsite. Two small tents standing side by side and low to the ground were covered in moss, tree bark, and uprooted brambles for the sake of stealth, and nearly invisible amongst the undergrowth surrounding them.

Kiba and Shino lay sleeping in one, both wrapped in small blankets, more to stave off mosquitoes than the elements, while Kurenai slept quietly in the other with Hinata next to her. Despite conditions nearly ideal for a restful night: mild temperatures, a soundless atmosphere and plenty of warm food the previous evening, the young Hyuuga just couldn't manage to catch any sleep, and she stared off into the distance as she had for the last several hours.

Images of ferocious animals constantly rioted through her mind, often accompanied by the smell and taste of blood. On their trek through the woods she had constantly looked to Kiba and Akamaru, knowing that their keen sense of smell would surely alert the team to any danger on their way back from the neighboring hamlet of Ichiba. The dog and his owner however, seemed completely unworried. They had completed the D rank delivery mission easily and the return trip home promised to be just as simple.

Hinata though just couldn't shake a feeling of encroaching horror. There were no words she could voice to her Sensei that would convey what she was feeling, so the girl was silent as ever, focusing on whatever provided a momentary distraction before the fear returned.

_What's wrong with me?_ She wondered, _Ever since…_she shook her head to try and clear her mind, but Kurenai stirred and rolled over. The woman opened one red eye and glanced at Hinata sleepily.

"What's the matter?" asked the gloomy haired woman.

"Nothing," said Hinata quietly. "I was just getting up to go wash up before the others do."

"Fine," said Kurenai, "Just don't go too far. There's a stream about five minutes east of here. Want some company?" The Jounin smiled warmly, knowing Hinata was generally the type to not want to go far alone. So she was surprised when Hinata shook her head and quietly got out of the tent.

"No, I'll be alright."

"Sure?" asked Kurenai, not entirely sure if she'd heard her student right.

Hinata didn't acknowledge the question but rather simply began to make her way out into the forest and towards the stream. As she walked, hands clutched together to her chest, her thoughts floundered around in her mind with no real rhyme or reason. They swayed back and forth between her troubled sleeping of late and the ease of the missions she'd taken, from Naruto to Neji and back again.

_Why can't I get any rest anymore? _She asked herself as she reached the small body of flowing water. _Why can't I sleep without dreaming such horrible things?_

She knelt down by the stream, which was no wider than four or five feet, despite being at least two yards deep, and cupped the water in her hands. She splashed it up against her face and shivered at the sensation. It was bitter cold, despite the temperate and humid air, but felt good and made for a refreshing jolt.

_Not being able to keep anything down is beginning to show… _she thought as she stared at her reflection. The girl shown in the water looked only slightly different than Hinata did several days ago, but the change was becoming a bit more noticeable. Just under a week of involuntarily vomiting up every meal was starting to strip the baby fat away from her face and limbs. Even her core, she noticed, was thinning up.

But the result due to her small and still very young frame was not a body a teenage girl would envy, but rather a figure that appeared drawn, almost gaunt or even stretched in a way. It showed most in her face, where her cheekbones, relatively pronounced to begin with, now shown more distinctly, and where her cheeks were angled more steeply towards her chin.

It wasn't that she looked unhealthy yet. Her body had had plenty of reserves to draw on, and then there were the soldier pills that provided the energy. But pills are a poor substitute for more substantive food, and sooner or later, should the weakness in her stomach continue it would be obvious she wasn't well.

_Naruto would never look at me then… _she fretted, _not if I get sickly and weak. And what would father say? It's so easy for me to make him angry and ever since he started talking with ANBU he's been more irritable than ever… Oh what am I going to do? _

Hinata put her face in her hands and tried to hold back the tears. "I've got to be strong," she mumbled, "Strong for my friends no matter what."

The figure in the water, seemingly animated by the ripples and minor tossing of the glassy liquid, glared intensely and maniacally back up at her; baring its teeth and clenching its fists even as Hinata hid her face.

SC

It was nearly dark by the time team seven stopped and prepared to settle in for the night. They had made good time if nothing else. Having left more than one hundred and sixty miles behind them, they were almost a three quarters of the way through their trip, though they would have been farther along if not for The Hokage's decision to send them on a different route to avoid the main roads.

Even though they all knew it was much safer, no one was particularly at ease. They all seemed anxious and jumpy, and whether they would admit it or not, all of them, including Kakashi were fearful of an ambush.

More than once the copy nin had whirled around and glared off into the trees in search of something. But each time he found nothing, setting the already uneasy genin even more on edge.

Tazuna barely spoke the entire time, choosing to walk in the center of the group and constantly be looking around for any sign of danger. Despite the high tensions of the day however, the lack of attack had begun to take the edge out of everyone's demeanor, and as Kakashi lit a campfire from some fallen branches to cook the evening meal, Tazuna had even gone so far as to pull out a reed pipe and strike up a tune after he'd gotten comfortable on the ground.

The slow but happy music quickly banished the air of foreboding that had so long pervaded the group. Ino smiled and sat down; swaying lightly to the melody like a tree in the wind, and Naruto soon joined her. Together the two began to slip into a dreamily content mood as Tazuna continued to play. Even Sasuke relaxed and sat with his back to a tree. They were all tired from the day's journey and eager for rest, but none of them had realized just how fatigued they really were.

"This is nice," said Ino, leaning over just a bit and resting her head on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto nodded, "It is."

"I didn't know you played an instrument, Tazuna-san" said Kakashi, standing up strait.

"I normally don't when there are people around," said the old man after he finished the song, "but it's been a long and difficult day so I figured there was no harm in trying to lighten the mood a bit."

"You're music is beautiful," said Ino happily, "how long have you been playing?"

Tazuna smiled and looked down at the ground. "I've had this pipe for almost forty years, but I've just recently taken it up."

The old man started into another song, this one much more somber, but no less enjoyable. They all quieted down, though Kakashi remained standing and alert to any activity in the forest outside the camp.

Slowly, he wasn't sure exactly how it happened, Naruto lay back on the ground and put his arms beneath his head as a pillow. It finally hit him that he was genuinely tired and, despite his best efforts to the contrary, his eyes slowly slipped shut. He wasn't asleep, but neither was he totally awake. Naruto was still aware that Ino was somewhere near, nonetheless he couldn't tell if she was upright or lying down. Either way though, he was glad to have her company.

Sasuke leaned back a little more, and closed his eyes, even as he drew a kunai from his pouch and drifted off to sleep himself. The raven haired boy soon shifted in his sleep to lay flat on the ground, with the weapon securely tucked under warmers he wore on his forearms, so he could easily access it if necessary.

"Looks like your students are tired," said Tazuna, after another song as he glanced about the camp, counting three dreaming twelve-year-olds.

"Their day was just as hard as ours has been," said Kakashi, still looking out into the forest.

"Even harder perhaps, they are after all only children. And yet here they are, braving the same dangers as someone as experienced as yourself."

The copy nin grimaced. "You're right," he said, glancing at Naruto laying flat on his back, and Ino who was curled up close beside him. "They've already seen horrible things and they've already lost people who were close to them."

"You're referring to that pink haired girl?" asked Tazuna.

"No," Kakashi shook his head, "Sakura's going to be alright. But all three of them have either never had, or lost family and friends. The thing that makes them special is that they live with it and work through it."

"Having friends helps to, I'd imagine," said Tazuna, looking at the two blondes.

"It does…" Kakashi trailed off, "Though…"

The two slipped into silence, and eventually Tazuna put away the small pipe and lay down, placing his pack beneath his head. Kakashi however was not so quick to rest. He stood and paced around the edges of the camp, silent but fidgety.

_What the hell are you? _he wondered, watching a still shadow hiding in the dark beside a tree. He couldn't detect any chakra signature from it, nor could he hear it or tell if the shape was moving at all. Kakashi really didn't even know if he was even seeing it, but using the Sharingan would be risky; opening it could prove to be an unnecessary drain on his energy.

Then, just as Kakashi reached to raise his forehead-protector to have a good look, it instantly was gone; the presence, the feeling of being followed and the shape all disappeared completely.

_Dammit! _Kakashi mentally cursed, _Now I'll never know._

SC

"**Good, much better than before,"** rumbled Kyuubi from within his cage, "**Now just concentrate on staying in constant motion. It's far more difficult to hit a moving target than it is to pin a sitting duck to the ground."**

Naruto grinned as he hopped around within the bright red circle, nearly a dozen a dozen feet in diameter. In each hand he held one of the wakizashi he'd received from Ino's grandmother, and with them he fended off dozens of kunai and shuriken that came at him in waves every few seconds. The projectiles were thrown by invisible ninjas from beyond the edge of the circle, and whistled through the air with incredible speed and force. Each time Naruto parried one of their attacks the chamber would fill with a metallic ring, though he never once faltered under the shock of the strike.

"I think I'm getting stronger from all of this," said Naruto between waves. He ducked under another shuriken and spun blearingly around, flicking the swords around to fend off nearly an entire wave of its counterparts. "I mean, blocking kunai moving this fast would have numbed my hands a few weeks ago."

**"No no kit," **said Kyuubi, **"Remember, in here you learn to use the strength you already have effectively. All the training in this world won't make you any stronger in the real world, but it teaches you coordination, balance, and control. Might I make a suggestion?" **The condescension in Kyuubi's voice was obvious, but Naruto didn't mind, he'd gotten used to the fox's jeering and masked cynicism after the months (AN: In all reality it was more a matter of days, but since the passage of time was so slow in his mind, it was for all purposes months,) he'd spent under it's tutelage.

"Name it," said the genin, "Unless it's something like your weird fixation on raw meat."

Kyuubi shook his head and made his strange growl/chuckling noise. **"No kit, I've given up on showing you the pleasures of eating uncooked game. What you should do though is to buy yourself some kind of weighted clothing."**

"What?" Naruto asked, parrying the next wave. The blonde rushed forward, still whirling the wakizashi around in the defensive manner he'd nearly mastered, as a lone ninja leapt into the circle.

**"When we reach the wave, you should go to one of the vendor's shops, preferably a blacksmith and request that they make you some fastening of a very dense metal that you could wear under your clothes to weigh yourself down."**

Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, just as the ninja lashed out with a glaive, and materialized just behind him. The enemy nin barely had the time to turn around before his vision was suddenly blotted out by Naruto's sandal. The figure in black collapsed to the ground and Naruto landed just in time to block/dodge another wave of deadly projectiles.

"Why would I do that?" asked Naruto as he plunged the blade into the ninjas chest and ripped it back out, "Don't I want to be as mobile as possible during a fight?"

**"Brilliant observation," **murmured the demon as Naruto flung one sword at another ninja who leapt in, skewering his abdomen, **"But during training and everyday life out there, it would behoove you because then every motion you made would be strengthening you."**

Naruto yanked his free hand away from the enemy nin, and the glint of a thin wire, running from Naruto's sleeve to the small pommel of the weapon appeared in the light as the blade returned to its master's hand not a second too soon. The air filled with a shrill whistling as hundreds of missiles whizzed straight for the young ninja.

"But wouldn't that throw my balance off when I took them off for a fight?" asked Naruto as he jumped around like a flea to avoid being thoroughly aerated. Try as he might however, even his best efforts couldn't hold off everything and several of the smaller projectiles nicked his legs.

**"It would," **rumbled the fox as Naruto fell to the ground whimpering, **"Unless of course you were to have some kind of constant training without them… say here for instance."**

"Gotcha," growled Naruto, hobbling to his feet. "Can I call it a day, I mean I can barely stand with my legs like this."

**"No,"** Kyuubi said flatly, smirking just a bit.

Immediately the no less than six black figures jumped into the circle, each with their own unique weapon.

"Oh c'mon…" sighed Naruto.

**"Push yourself kit. That's why we're here."**

SC

_This blasted sand is getting everywhere… _Shikamaru mentally griped as he trudged through the fine rock, often sinking into his ankles or deeper depending on how heavily he stepped. _It's hot, there's no protection from the sun, and I'm losing feeling in my feet. It's got to be a hundred and ten degrees inside this stupid getup, I can feel my breath just heating up the inside of this stupid mask… I'm just not cut out for this whole ANBU thing. It's far too troublesome._

In truth, it was well above the century mark out in the middle of the desert, and there was nothing to offer shade to Shikamaru, his master, or their small caravan of Suna escorts. The two leaf nin had met with their sand counterparts a few hours earlier in the middle of the wasteland separating the Sand Village from the rest of the world. It was almost a comical sight, seeing five figures, two wearing black and all wearing strange masks that vaguely resembled animals, marching through scorching sand towards a low skyline off in the distance.

The sand sentries stopped and motioned for the two ANBU to continue on, and then disappeared in small puffs of sand and wind.

"That was strange," muttered Shikamaru, "why not escort us all the way?"

"We're on good terms right now, the leaf and the sand," said the other robed figure in a woman's voice, "there's no real need for them to watch our every move but it's still good practice for them to at least follow us a ways before returning to their posts."

"I guess," mumbled Shikamaru as they continued on at a slightly faster pace, "this still just seems like a waste of time, a 'diplomatic reconnaissance mission' to a country we're friends with."

His master didn't respond and they continued on for several more minutes.

"Iokoi-Sensei?" asked Shikamaru, not sure if he had offended her somehow.

"Shikamaru," she said quietly, trying to avoid being heard. "I'm only going to say this once… the Hokage suspects something is amiss. Memorize everything you see here, no matter how trivial it may seem."

_How troublesome,_ thought Shikamaru, pondering the somewhat cryptic message as they moved on.

Within the hour, they had reached the outskirts of the sandstone city, and were greeted by a young woman, probably about fourteen or fifteen, who was relatively tall for her age standing equal in height to Shikamaru's master. Her spiky blonde hair jutted up and out in two misshapen buns, blown about by the harsh wind that was whipping the sand all around the village in near solid sheets.

"Storm's coming," she called out flatly over the wind, "Let's get inside till it calms down. After all, it would just be a shame if the sand were to get into your lungs and asphyxiate you."

Shikamaru gulped, not liking what he was hearing, as the blonde whipped around a tall black staff she was carrying and opened it into an enormous fan. She stepped beside the younger of the two leaf nins and blocked the bursts of wind blown sand for them.

"Please follow me," she said tersely and began to lead them down the street.

Shikamaru was miserable.

_I hate this. _He thought, _why in the world is the Hokage doing this to me? I don't stand a chance out here and I don't want to do this!_

The young blonde led them to a large metal door set deep in a recess in one of the larger buildings on the outskirts of the city. It swung open with a grinding creak after she slammed it a few times with her fist. They all entered and a big burly man in a tan cloak closed the door behind them.

Shikamaru found himself standing in the entryway to a large hall carved from tan stone. It ran downwards as it went, cutting into the earth and was dotted with a dozen or more doors on either side of varying shapes and sizes. Aside from themselves and the doorman they were the only souls to be seen in the building.

"Welcome to the capitol," said the girl, folding her massive fan with a flick of her wrist. "Pardon the lack of a greeting, but we've all been rather busy of late. My name is Temari by the way and I've been assigned to accommodate you as our welcomed guests." She spoke quickly and almost without emotion, but Shikamaru couldn't not pick up some masked tension in her voice. He was actually glad to be wearing the goofy mask when she looked at him because it hid the flinch that shot across his face.

"We merely appreciate an audience," said Iokoi in a decidedly false voice, "the Hokage has eagerly been awaiting news from the Kazekage on his plans to attend the Chuunin Exams."

Temari frowned only slightly before returning to her clam and collected manner. "I'm very sorry," she said, "But the Kazekage just the other day was forced to attend to pressing matters outside the city." Iokoi flinched behind her mask and stifled a gulp. "Though I'd be more than happy set up an appointment with his chief assistant if you'd like," Temari concluded.

"Yes," Iokoi said without hesitation, "That would be most helpful of you. And while you're at it, my own assistant has never traveled outside the fire country and is anxious to explore the world a bit."

Shikamaru nodded, trying to play along, not to help with the mission mind you, but rather to avoid provoking his master. "I am interested in having a look around," he said in a voice that, while far deeper than his own, was still convincing, "But I'd rather not wander where I'm not wanted, so I should like a guide."

Temari bowed low to hide the grimace that had spread over her face. "I'll see to it that our guests are well attended to," she said, resenting having to use the canned line she'd been taught, "Please wait here." She stood up tall and turned on her heel.

"Shikamaru," whispered Iokoi, almost silently after Temari disappeared down a side passage.

The ex-genin turned his head only slightly to acknowledge his name.

"That was good," she whispered just as quietly, "but be careful what you say. Try to glean as much as you can without asking."

Shikamaru nodded, "What are you hopping to learn here?" he asked in a whisper.

She hesitated, then looked down at the ground. "Hopefully why we've had so little cooperation lately."

_Another riddle,_ groaned the apprentice, _why so secretive?_

They waited in silence for another few minutes before Temari returned. Indignant she said that Daito would see Konoha's representative at the end of the hall and they could go wherever they wanted from there.

"You and I," she said turning to Shikamaru, "Are to tour this complex until the storm outside breaks. I've been commanded to then show you whatever you wish… to an extent. The only condition being that you removed your mask, we don't want anyone to feel they're being spied on."

Through the pinhole eyes, Shikamaru glanced nervously to his master behind Temari for a verdict. The ANBU Elite staled for just a second before nodding only slightly.

Shikamaru groaned, then reached up and removed the white stele face, and slipped into his vest. Temari glanced up, scrutinized him for just a second, then with apparent indifference said they could begin now.

SC

"Who the hell are you anyway!?" shouted Naruto angrily at the strange ninja in the mask.

The masked nin turned and looked at the badly bruised and battered Naruto, then shifted his glance to Kakashi, and the strange man laying on the ground with a single needle protruding from his neck. Sasuke and Ino stood on either side of Tazuna with drawn kunai, as the old man hunkered down with his hands in front of his face.

"My name is Haku," said the masked ninja in blue, "I'm a hunter nin from the hidden mist village. We've been hunting Momochi Zabuza for some time now," he said gesturing at the man on the ground beside Kakashi.

Naruto glanced at the body laying on the ground warily. The man had short, spiky black hair and bandages wrapped over his lower face to hide his mouth. There was nothing puny about him; from his stature, towering over six feet tall, to the enormous sword clenched by his deathly hand, this Zabuza person was a giant.

The copy-nin relaxed a little and shifted his forehead protector to cover his Sharingan eye, and wiped some of the blood off of his vest. "Well, thank you very much, Haku," he said, "We appreciate the help."

"It's my pleasure," Haku calmly replied, walking forwards with swaying steps that caused the long black strands of hair hanging nearly to the nin's waist to sway back and forth like pendulums. "Zabuza was a dangerous criminal and we thank you for your assistance in his death." The ninja in blue kneeled down by Zabuza and put one of the dead man's arms over his shoulder and stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to dispose of the body."

"Yes, of course," said Kakashi wearily, "Don't let us interfere with your duty."

Haku nodded his thanks and formed a seal in front of him with his free hand. There was a blast of air and a rush of mist and leaves, and Haku disappeared with Zabuza's body.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the demon of the mist was gone. From the moment he ambushed them to the very second before Haku ended the battle by killing the missing-nin, no one had expected to make it out alive. Even Kakashi had been fighting like a man possessed to protect not only himself, but also Tazuna and the genin, all of whom Zabuza was simultaneously targeting.

Ino ran for Naruto and threw her arms around him. He returned the affection and groaned with fatigue. The young kunoichi buried her face in his shoulder.

"That was the most stupid thing I've ever seen anyone do!" she nearly cried angrily into his shoulder, "You could have gotten yourself killed you idiot!" She clutched at him more tightly with every breath, and he patted her on the back.

"But," he said, "I didn't get myself killed. You and Sasuke were there to bail me out after all."

Ino was silent as Sasuke and Tazuna walked up. The Uchiha was limping slightly in his right leg. "But we might not be there next time Naruto," he said, "and then where will you be?"

Naruto grinned widely and looked over at the raven haired boy. "But we're a team. Taking risks for each other is part of the deal."

"Naruto's right," said Kakashi approaching the genin and a much shaken Tazuna, "the three of you will be inextricably stuck together for years to come and it will be your responsibility to watch out for each other."

The three genin looked at the ground, until Tazuna spoke.

"I hate to cut this little life lesson short, but this might not be the end of these attacks," said the old man, "Gauto isn't going to stop hunting me just because he lost one of his mercenaries."

"Gauto?" asked Kakashi incredulously, "The black market mastermind?"

"So you've heard of him," said Tazuna, "Yes, that rat will stop at nothing to keep me from reaching the Wave and building the bridge to the mainland that will cripple his monopoly on our trade."

"So he's the one who's been attacking us and you knew it all along?" Kakashi wondered aloud. "You bought a C-Rank mission, when you knew full well going into this that we'd likely be hunted by one of the richest, and most deviously underhanded men in the world because he wants you dead."

Tazuna hesitated briefly. "My country is poor;" he muttered looking down, "Just affording a C-Rank was taxing on our coffers. There was no way we could hope to pay for anything more."

"And so you put my squad's life in danger?!" Kakashi asked angrily. "There's nothing I hate quite so much as a liar Tazuna-san, and I'll admit that I'm toying with the idea of leaving you right here and taking my team back home."

"No you can't do that," pleaded Tazuna, "I'd be as good as dead if you didn't protect me. I have a family to take care of. Think of them."

Kakashi was silent, and merely glared at the old man. He shifted his weight back and Tazuna braced himself for a terrible blow, though he did not step back or back down. But Kakashi didn't lash out. Not yet. He seemed far too interested in how the old man stood firm and clenched his jaw.

"Please," said Tazuna, "Gauto is slowly choking my country to death. He murders women in the street and gets away with it simply because no one had the courage to stand against him. Now I try to do my part to break his stranglehold on us and I'm asking for your help."

Still Kakashi was silent.

"I think we should do what we can for him." Naruto said bluntly. "It sounds like this Gauto is a total creep. We should take him down."

Ino took a step forwards next to Naruto and nodded. "It's the right thing to do. Think of all the people we'd be helping."

"And," added Sasuke from the background, "It's not like we're just setting out. We've got less than eight leagues ahead and more than thirty behind us so we might as well press on."

"Better to plow through a bramble than jog through a desert, as the saying goes," muttered Kakashi, still looking at Tazuna. "Fine, we'll see this through, but let me assure that if anything happens to my team I'm going to personally feed you to Gauto and his thugs."

Tazuna nodded and breathed a little easier. "Thank you, I realize the dangers, but you'd be literately saving the lives of hundreds of people."

"I suppose," said Kakashi in a somewhat less heated voice, turning to resume the march "Let's continue."

The genin nodded and together the group of five began to press forward down the path through the thinning jungle. Kakashi was at the head, keeping a wary eye out for any sign of danger, but he moved more sluggishly than before. It was more than a hobble in his injured left leg. He seemed to almost be dragging his feet.

"Are you alright, Kakashi-Sensei?" asked Naruto, taking notice of his teacher's pace.

"I'll be fine," came the Jounin's response, "That fight was just more draining than I really thought it would be."

"Alright," said Naruto slowly, "You don't look ok…"

Kakashi looked back smiling. "No worries," he said, "I just need to recover a bit. Using the Sharingan can take a lot out of me, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little slow and short tempered."

"I know where we are," Tazuna interrupted, as the others all turned to look at him, "Oh what a stroke of luck."

"What do you mean?" asked the copy-nin.

"We're less than a mile south of the small fishing village of Schi," he said, "We can catch a boat to the other island from there and then just make a straight shot to the construction site. It would keep us off of all the main roads and save us more than three hours as opposed to hiking down to the docks."

"Would Gauto be watching the village?" asked Kakashi.

"Doubtful," said the old man, "Schi is one of the only communities Gauto has no control over. They're on the mainland so he can't monopolize their trade routes with the other nearby villages, and they're small enough that he would have no reason to. They do some independent trading via the water with the other villages, which really tweaks Gauto's nose, but they're useless to him."

"Sounds like a plan," said Naruto as the others nodded.

The five of the altered course a little and eventually broke through the woods and emerged onto a sandy beach. Dark clouds overhead threatened rain, and a chill wind was blowing in from the east as they emerged. The beach sloped gradually down for about one hundred or so yards before it was broken by a low wall made of crates and driftwood. The wall was no higher than a man's waist, and encompassed a small group of ramshackle buildings. There were maybe twenty of the huts all huddled together about a minutes walk from the waves of the channel.

"That my friends, is Schi. They're usually an inviting bunch, always eager to welcome guests in and feed them," laughed Tazuna, "They're a community of about nineteen or so families, though I'm not sure what the wall is for since there aren't really any predators in the area."

"Where are all the people?" asked Ino as they approached, "I don't see anyone."

"Neither do I," Kakashi said warily.

"Most of them fish," said Tazuna as they reached the wall and hopped over, "So they'd be out on the water."

"I don't think so…" Ino said in a voice near a whimper as she put one hand over her mouth and pointed with the other.

The others all followed her gaze to the nearest of the slum houses. Its roof was dilapidated, and looked ready to collapse in, while the only window was broken and bits of shattered glass lay mixed in with the sand all around. The front door was hanging off only one of its rusty hinges, leaving a gaping portal into the house. And it was to s figure on that threshold to which Ino was pointing.

A man was laying on his back, half in half out of the house. There was a bloody dagger in his hand and a club in his other clenched fist. His face was twisted into a snarl of rage and pain. The sand on which he rested was red as crimson; dry trails of the once thick fluid had caked down his shirt around the monstrous gash in his chest.

"My god…" muttered Tazuna as he slowly turned his head and scanned the surroundings. There were similar scenes all over. A dozen or more men lay dead in the shadows of their homes, rent open by ferocious blows, and clutching at makeshift weapons.

"Search the huts," said Kakashi quietly, "The three of you look for survivors. Tazuna is with me."

The genin nodded and carefully set out into the tiny village. When they came to the first door and looked inside and nearly choked. Lying in the middle of the one room apartment, there was a lone woman. She was curled in the fetal position and her clothes were stained a brown from numerous stab wounds that covered her from head to toe. In her arms, she clutched a small bundle of cloth that bore the same color as her bloodstained clothes.

Ino took a step forward and knelt down by the woman. Tears had begun to well in her eyes and by the time Naruto got down beside her, she was crying.

"You don't need to see this," said Naruto, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Let's get out of here."

Ino didn't hear him. She looked up and put a hand on the brown swaddling linens and slowly pulled them away.

Behind the cloth, there was the pale and unblemished face of a young baby. She couldn't have been more than a year old…

The baby wasn't breathing.

Ino gasped, then fell back on her hands and clenched her eyes shut. "What kind of monster could do this?" she cried, "Who could be so heartless?"

"Gauto," muttered Tazuna from the doorway.

The genin looked back to see Kakashi and Tazuna standing in the doorway. "We should be going."

Naruto helped Ino to her feet, and she leaned on him for support as they exited the house, and walked through the village as one group. In every house the sight was the same. Men, women and children alike were all dead, cut down by swords and daggers, and shot down by arrows. More than once Ino threw up, and even Sasuke's stomach weakened at the constant sight of merciless destruction.

All over there were crates of goods smashed open and their contents scattered over the sand. The fishing boats and the small flats for transporting bits of cargo all were torn apart or had holes knocked in the bottom so they couldn't sail. A makeshift warehouse for storing goods had been turned into a waste heap.

"So this is what happens when someone refuses to bow to a monster," mumbled Naruto as Tazuna and team seven stood on the shore, watching the waves wash up onto the sand. "He just kills them all and destroys their homes."

Tazuna nodded. "This is Gauto," he said, "You see now why we need your help to break his hold on us. He kills at will, and destroys on a whim. His army of mercenaries is merciless and revels in death."

Kakashi closed his eye and turned his face skywards for a moment. There was a flash of lightning, and immediately a deafening peel of thunder ripped overhead. The ground shook violently with the intensity of the sound, and a harsh wind blew in from the waters. Without and beginning drizzle at all, the clouds burst and a torrential rain began to drench the sand.

"You have our full backing, Tazuna-san" Kakashi said with no reservations.

* * *

AN: Chapter 14… There you have it. Now for a few quick questions I have for all of you. First, was leaving the fight with Zabuza off camera a good touch. I figured I didn't need to rehash a fight scene you all knew inside and out but what do you think? Second, Did you like Shikamaru lol? I was going for the constantly complaining teenage couch potato. Anyway, last of all, what did you think of the ending? Too brutal, not long enough, just plain crappy? Drop me a review, I'd like to see what you all thought. See you next chapter! 


	15. Trough of the Wave

AN: Well, 50cal here yet again. Glad to see that most of you appreciated the Zabuza fight being left off screen. I thought it was cool since it just would have been cumbersome and quite unnecessarily so. Anyway, nothing really to say here other than that I hope you enjoy this next installment! On with the Fic!

* * *

Trough of the Wave

The torrent of rain that came crashing down in constant waves, accompanied by the freezing gusts from all around pummeled team seven as they marched along the beach. Behind them they left a small raft made from fragments of other boats that they had used to cross the channel and gain the island coast. It rolled around on the tossing water's edge for a few moments before the waves claimed it and dragged back into the water where it quickly disappeared into the mist.

"That raft of yours didn't last too long," said Tazuna to Kakashi.

"It wasn't meant to," replied the Jounin over the rain, "It got us here in one piece so I'd say it did its job."

The old man nodded, and then pointed off down the beach towards a small collection of lights barely visible in the rain. "That's the village of Hajike," he said, "It's the primary construction site and where we'll be spending most of our time during the building process."

"How soon will it be done? The bridge I mean." asked Naruto as they quickened their pace.

"They've been working on it for the past nine months, though they've stopped now to wait for me" replied Tazuna, "Over ninety percent of it's done, but we're moving into the most dangerous phase: building with almost no foundation other than sandstone under the piles. The schedule calls for it to be done in the next two months, but once the men hear about Gauto's most recent attack I think they'll agree that it needs to be up within two weeks."

"So I'm guessing we're going straight to the jobsite?" asked Sasuke.

"Of course," said Tazuna, "But you don't need to worry about food or lodging. Hajike is literately right at the edge of the bridge. They're a poor village like most of the rest in the Wave, but they've been happy to volunteer not only their services, but their homes and resources. This bridge is more than a construction project. Because it means freeing us of Gauto, it's a unifying cause."

SC

Despite the weather and the encroaching night, construction began on the bridge within an hour of Tazuna arriving on site. He immediately took the role of chief supervisor and began shouting orders through sheets of rain that battered down, and constantly moved from one end of the bridge to the other to inspect a dozen different facets of the process at once and acquaint himself with the many people under his command.

Naruto was amazed at the transformation that suddenly gripped the old man. Tazuna changed from a somewhat laid back old geezer with an attitude problem into a fiery zealot. Twenty years of fatigue dropped from his shoulders, and a new light flashed behind his eyes as he spurred the workers on wherever he went with pep talks, and stern but encouraging speeches. The dozens of professional workmen and the numerous volunteers seemed to look to him as they would a general.

At first, all four ninja tried to keep up with Tazuna and act as his bodyguards all at once, but due to his constant movement Kakashi decided it would be best if they spread out. Sasuke was to patrol around the outer three edges of the bridge and watch for any kind of threat from the sea, while Naruto and Ino would guard the ramp leading from the shore to the viaduct's main platform. The copy nin himself would watch over Tazuna, and at his order they all set about their jobs.

As the minutes rolled on into hours and the midnight approached, Naruto was fascinated with the obvious amounts of effort that were going into this bridge on so many fronts. As he looked on into the village, which began not ten feet after the bridge ended, men and women walked up the ramp and onto the platform in an almost constant trickle. They would stop by a small booth occupied by a large man with a list in his hand and a crate behind him. After a brief talk, the man would turn to the crate and pull out a hardhat, hand it to the volunteer and then look down at the list and assign them something to do. He didn't however, say anything about payment.

Most of the volunteers were sent back into the city to obtain food and supplies, but some were handed a tool or a sword and sent to work or guard the platform. It was obvious that, despite the vast amounts of available labor, the real work was being saved for the professional workers, while the volunteers were more often than not given some light task or assigned simply to stand watch.

"Isn't it amazing," whispered Ino to Naruto as the two of them stood close together, "how ready and willing these people are to work into the darkest hours to get a job done for their country?"

"Yeah," Naruto answered, "Some places would force work like this for minimal wages, but these people are eager to do it for nothing at all. This Gauto, I've never met him and I already hate everything about him."

"He's a monster…" whispered Ino, "How could he do that to those people? I don't understand…"

Naruto looked off into the distance and sighed as the rain began to come down even harder and faster. A frigid gust blew up over the edge of the bridge, making the already cold rain absolutely chilling. "Evil… is unfathomable."

_This is absolutely miserable, _groaned Sasuke as he marched around the platform's perimeter. He shivered and wrapped his arms tightly around himself in an effort to keep out the cold. _I've been walking mindlessly around for three hours, the rain hasn't stopped once for even a minute, and it's getting colder by the second… _It was three am, and Sasuke was right; the temperature had been steadily dropping, but not enough to freeze the rain into hail, but rather the near frozen droplets merely splattered on contact with the genin and soaked right through his clothes.

Sasuke began to shiver incessantly as he made his rounds, but despite his condition and increasingly pessimistic outlook, he refused to abandon his duties to go and look for some kind of over clothing. _Why didn't I bring something warmer? These shorts barely hold out Konoha's temperate weather, and this shit just doesn't –_ "ACHOO!" his bemoanings were interrupted by a loud sneeze and a raspy cough. _Ah forget it…_

The genin looked over towards the ramp, and immediately caught sight of Ino and Naruto, standing on the side of one lane and huddled close together. Both were shivering but neither was neglecting to watch for danger. He looked over to find Kakashi watching Tazuna like a hawk as the old man loudly discussed design plans with another contractor.

"Awfully bad weather for this time of year!" shouted Tazuna over the howling wind after they'd apparently finished the discussion.

"Yeah, but not unheard of for this part of the country," shouted back the unnamed contractor, "Just last Monday we got snow! And remember that blizzard that hit last year in the dead of autumn?"

Tazuna laughed, despite the elements and nodded. "Do I ever," he responded, "Near about froze my ass off!"

"We all about froze our asses off!" shouted his friend. The two men laughed and seperated, going opposite ends of the bridge.

Up until then, Sasuke had been focusing all of his attention on the surrounding seas, watching for danger, and only then turned his focus on the bridge enough to notice that everyone he could see, probably some two hundred busy workers and a few dozen sentinels, were all in the same boat as he was. None of them were comfortable, everyone was freezing and shivering. They all had blue lips and numb feet, but continued working without question. Granted, they were all wearing considerably more than Sasuke, but still.

_These are determined people,_ thought Uchiha boy.

"Um, excuse me," said a feminine voice behind the genin.

Sasuke turned and saw a young, raven haired girl standing next to him and holding a large basket made of stretched hide. She could have been no older than twelve at the most, and she carried herself with an air of shy humility that shown in her ebony eyes. Her black cloak hung around her like it was made of lead; completely immune to the gusts that were throwing other's clothes all about.

"Can I help you?" Sasuke asked through his chattering teeth, trying to be somewhat polite.

She shook her head a little, and looked down. "I noticed you looked cold, and I …. well," she stammered and set the basket down and opened it up. The girl reached in and pulled out a heavy black cloak and raised it up to him. "It's water fox hide," she said, "Completely waterproof and very warm. Plus the fur feels nice to the touch." She smiled and told Sasuke to please take it.

"Thank you," said the genin hesitantly, but not refusing the warm cloak. He slung it on and put up the hood, noticing a difference immediately. The hide did indeed shield him from any additional soaking, and the fur lining seemed already warm. "This is wonderful," he said with a smirk, even if the pelt felt like it weighed twenty pounds.

She smiled. "I'm glad you like it. Now we match!" she laughed, seeming a bit more confident now that he had accepted her gift. "And I'm Fanfai by the way. Who are you?"

Sasuke's lip twitched up in a smile and he pulled his arms into the cloak to keep them warm. "Uchiha Sasuke," he said.

Fanfai gawked and looked him over quickly, then shook herself and focused on his face again. "You're an Uchiha?" she asked in wonder, "The legendary clan from Konoha? Is that where you're from, Konoha?"

Sasuke just nodded, not sure what to make of the girl.

"My daddy is a scholar," said Fanfai, "He researches bloodline limits and all kinds of clans for the government, and his favorite thing to talk about were the Uchiha and their Sharingan. He said it worked like it was magic or something. And if anyone says anything about Madera he talks for hours and hours but I just tune him out most of the time. Though not when he talks about how the Uchiha were considered one of the most handsome clans."

Sasuke smiled, enjoying the praise, but at the same time a part of him twinged at the mention of darker times…

"Anyway, I guess you have stuff to do here, being an Uchiha Ninja and all," said the girl, "but would you mind if I just sorta tagged along?"

Sasuke smiled again. "Shouldn't you be getting home to your mom? I'm sure she's worried about you being out so late."

"My mom's not around," said Fanfai matter of factly, "I never knew her because daddy says she had to go away so I could be born. And daddy is almost never around, so I almost always stay up all night and just sleep during the day anywhere I can find a place."

"You mean you don't have a home?"

"Nope," said Fanfai, "Just a house the landlady kicks me out of."

Sasuke gulped, not sure how to respond, but just nodded. _There hasn't been any trouble, _he reasoned, _Why not? Besides, I at least owe it to her for the cloak._ The raven haired boy nodded and Fanfai's eyes lit up. Immediately the two of them began making a pleasant conversation, as Sasuke made his rounds with a renewed vigor.

Roughly two miles away from the bridge, two men stood on the deck of a large vessel. An awning made of an exceptionally thick and durable cloth, embroidered with golden thread protected them from the driving rain as the shorter of the two looked through a large set of binoculars at the workmen skittering about like ants on the bridge.

One of the two was tall and robed in a black tunic that hid his figure from his chin down to his toes. Red clouds blazed on the cloth like fire, and a straw hat hid his face. The other gentleman was short and chubby, with small black sunglasses and spiky brown hair.

"That Zabuza of yours failed to kill the squad," said the man in the hat drolly, "If I were any less patient that would be a deal breaker right there you know, which of course would be grounds for me to immediately execute you. But seeing as how I am kind, I will give you until midnight to complete the job." Despite the almost lighthearted tone of the words, the man's voice carried a deathly cold edge.

The smaller man gulped. "I am terribly sorry Tobi-Sama. You have my assurances that he won't fail again."

"You yourself said that Zabuza won't be back to full strength until this evening, which cuts your deadline quite close. What do you plan to do Gauto-san?"

Gauto gulped again, not sure how to answer. "I could send in the mercenaries."

"Cannon fodder," chuckled Tobi, "They might kill a few of the workers but even that young kunoichi is more than a match for any of them. A ninja of any caliber after all stands far above any normal man."

"Haku could lead them," muttered Gauto.

"That young… person, has massive potential, but without Zabuza he… she… Haku would quickly be overwhelmed by Kakashi and killed. Though by all means, send in the cannon fodder. It's not like they're doing anything but taking up space on these ships. Fewer mouths to feed and fewer men to pay. Besides, they would likely kill a few of the workers as I said which would be good for your ends if nothing else."

SC

_It is soooo bloody cold out here! _Naruto mentally whined. His extra layers of clothes provided him some amount of protection, especially since the jacket was a thick fleece, though even with the luxuries he was miserable. _I thought this place was supposed to be like a balmy seventy degrees year round or something… _

"How you holding up Ino?" asked the boy in orange to the girl hanging onto his arm, his voice quaking from the cold.

The bleach-blonde girl only whimpered and clutched his arm a bit more tightly in response. Her hair was soaked and clinging to her face, and the somewhat skimpy outfit she wore afforded her no warmth at all. The rain was a never ending curtain that beat down on her, no matter how hard Naruto tried to act as a shield.

"Maybe you should go to town and find someplace warm to dry off and rest," Naruto yelled over a howling gust.

Ino shook her head. "I'm f-f-fine…" she muttered through chattering teeth.

Naruto shook his head and looked down. "Ino, I'm wearing ten times more than you and I'm freezing. Go and find some place to stay warm."

"I'm not going to leave," she said stubbornly, "Kakashi-sensei told me to help you guard the ramp and that's exactly what I plan to do."

"That's admirable, but you're going to have a hard time keeping watch if you're dying of pneumonia. I'll tell Kakashi-sensei about it, don't worry, and just go get some sleep in a warm bed."

Ino was silent for a minute, then let go of Naruto and took a step back. "Be careful," she said quietly, almost drowned out by the wind, "Don't do anything stupid."

Naruto smiled and put an arm around her shoulder. "No promises."

She grinned playfully, then wrapped her arms around herself and jogged off into down the ramp and stopped at the nearest house's door. Naruto watched as she knocked and was accepted in by a gentle looking old woman with the stem of a smoking pipe in her mouth.

"Well," sighed the blonde genin, "Back to business." He crossed his arms and kept watch for several more minutes. People had stopped coming up to work a little while ago, and the man at the booth had taken up a hammer himself and was currently working on reinforcing some small support holding up a light post.

Off in the distance, a bell began to chime that it was four in the morning.

"And then daddy told me that the cow had made him do it," Fanfai laughed at her own joke as she trotted behind Sasuke. The boy cracked a smile at the mildly amusing story, but never once deviated from his route. While he had devoted some of attention to Fanfai, he hadn't failed to notice a dense fog lingered over the water at the base of the bridge, whereas only seconds before it was several dozen yards away.

CLANK! There was a metallic noise from no more than ten feet to Sasuke's left, and he turned to see a small dark shape protruding over the edge of the bridge's guardrail. It was no larger than a child's ball, but had three wickedly sharp hooks that clung to the side of the platform.

"What in the world?" wondered Sasuke as he walked over to investigate, motioning for Fanfai to stay put. He reached the object, but it was far from a light post and shadowed by a stack of crates, so it appeared even to a ninja's eyes as little more than a strange shadow in the dark. He reached out and tapped on it with a kunai, and heard a metallic thump.

"What the hell?" he gasped, as dozens more of things attached to the edge of the bridge with clanging reports. Suddenly the air filled with the sound of more than rain and wind, as Sasuke looked up and saw scores of thin, elongated shapes hurdling down towards him.

"We're under attack!!" he shouted as he spun around and dove over to Fanfai. The confused girl looked up at the sky just before Sasuke pulled her down and covered her.

Arrows came clattering down all around them, whizzing by their ears, thudding into boxes and crates and pinning the tails of their cloaks to the ground. Sasuke and the girl were lucky enough to avoid the shafts, but many others were not, and shouts echoed around as the scene played out all over the bridge.

As soon as the volley ended Sasuke jumped up ready to fight, just in time to see dark shapes leaping onto the bridge from the points where the sinister shapes had stuck. "Grappling Hooks!" yelled the genin as he sped forward, "Fanfai run!"

The young girl turned on her heel and sprinted off, panting in fear while Sasuke leapt into the air and performed a lightning fast set of seals. Fire erupted from his mouth and fell like hail on the invaders, charring them and burning a few of the ropes which they'd climbed.

The sounds of battle erupted from all over the bridge as the sentinels drew their swords and charged the attackers. Sasuke turned to see Naruto had already twirled his own two Wakizashi from their sheathes and set to work dispatching any foe who came his way. Meanwhile the raven haired genin flung a shuriken at a head that peeked over the edge. The deadly projectile thudded into the attacker's skull and the limp body fell backwards.

Acting on instinct, Sasuke spun and ducked under a sword that missed the top of his head by millimeters. The genin quickly saw his assailant had been thrown off balance by the evasion, and jumped up, kicking him in the chin and snapping his head back to the painful crack of breaking bone. _That was either his neck or his jaw, _thought Sasuke, and judging by the way the man fell and stopped moving, he assumed it was his neck.

"Their coming up over both sides!" yelled someone from a ways off. Indeed, more hooks had planted themselves and men of every size were leaping up to fight.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Naruto as he saw a group of the attackers about to overwhelm some young girl running away. _Kyuubi, chakra NOW!_

**Pleasure… Spill blood with it! **growled the fox from deep within Naruto's mind, as a faint red haze swirled around Naruto's hands when he crossed his index fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Justu!"

Instantly, dozens of clones of Naruto sprang into existence, each with swords drawn and faces snarling with a battle cry. The clones scattered out and began to fight on numerous fronts, ripping through the enemy like tissue paper.

"INOCMING!" shouted Sasuke from far away, and Naruto looked up to see hundreds more arrows falling out of the sky, numerous times more than before. Cries from both sides rang out as the shafts continued to fall and tear into anything and anyone in their path. Dozens of bodies collapsed to the ground, men who'd been fighting with their backs to a large box were pinned through to the crate by the long arrows. The genin's shadow clones were almost completely wiped out by the barrage, but that didn't deter him from his fight. He ducked and weaved and dodged and blocked, skirting the shots to slash through any of the men climbing up onto the bridge.

"Naruto, Sasuke, take out those ships!" shouted Kakashi. Naruto spun to see his master, or more accurately a duo of his master's copies frantically defending Tazuna from no less than ten invaders who were lucky enough to avoid the rain of arrows.

The blonde genin jumped up onto the guard rail and sure enough saw several flatbed barges floating below, each carrying between thirty and forty men with longbows and crossbows.

_So many… _he thought.

**Use that jutsu Sasuke did!**

_I'll try… _Naruto grimaced and put his hands together. _What were the seals again? Serpent rat monkey boar horse tiger! _He pressed his fingers to his lips and blew out a massive ball of fire infused with a swirling red chakra. The fireball vaporized the rain in its way creating a cloud of steam and incinerating the barge below. As the flame connected with the channel and extinguished a cloud of vapor shot up from the wreckage with a loud hiss.

**Clones kit, Clones!! Leave the chakra to me!**

Naruto pressed his fingers together and summoned twenty more kage-bunshins, each with red chakra swirling around their hands. In a flash they all rattled off the six seals and took in a huge breath.

To the men on the barges below, frightened and confused by the sudden and fiery disappearance of one of their comrade's ships, it abruptly seemed that an all encompassing wall of white hot flame was crashing down on them like an avalanche, just before their world went black. To the copy nin defending Tazuna, it appeared as though a scene from years ago was replaying itself.

"My god…" muttered Kakashi as he watched the Naruto clones disappear and the boy fall backwards onto his haunches against the bridge, "Kyuubi no Kitsune." His distraction was quickly forgotten however when Tazuna called out for help and the copy nin was forced back into action.

_What's the matter with me? _Naruto asked Kyuubi as the boy's vision spun and his stomach convulsed, _Why do I feel so sick all of a- _He cut himself off to turn onto his hands and knees and throw up.

**It's my chakra, **said Kyuubi. **To you humans it's horribly poisonous and you aren't immune to the effects of using it. But it will pass so get up and fight!**

Naruto nodded and tried to stand, but was so disoriented by the sudden rush of nausea that he couldn't move without falling over again. He looked over and saw a tall man rushing at him with a sword raised high, and the genin smirked as he pulled out a shuriken. He tossed it at the man, who knocked it aside like a pesky bug.

_Oh damn…_ was all Naruto could think as the dizziness exploded into all out vertigo and made it impossible for him to even keep his balance effectively. The sword swooped down and Naruto flinched.

There was a clank as the sword sailed off as if it had been struck and flew out of the assailant's hand. It noisily banged against the ground and rolled away. The man, half stunned, looked over and saw a young girl with bleach blonde hair standing a few yards off after having just thrown the kunai that disarmed him.

"Ino," Naruto smiled.

"Get away from him you pig," growled the girl as she pulled yet another kunai out from behind her dress.

SC

"No… No! You won't get anything out of…" growled the warrior who had earlier attacked Naruto. Only now he was hogtied and squirming on the ground with his eyes screwed shut in consternation. "Get out of my head!"

Kakashi and Naruto stood next to him, while Ino's limp body slumped behind them. "This is taking longer than I thought," mumbled Kakashi to Naruto, "Either this is a very strong mind, or it's Ino's first interrogation via spirit bind."

"Or both," said Naruto as the victim continued to squirm on the ground. "How exactly does spirit bind work? Is it anything like that shadow thing that Shikamaru can do?"

Kakashi nodded. "In a way. The Nara's use shadows controlled by chakra to physically manipulate matter. The Yamanaka's however actually leave their bodies and overshadow another being's soul. Not the most wholesome ability to be sure, but it has its advantages, like being able to break into another person's memories for example."

"GET OUT!" screamed the man on the ground, temporarily distracting them.

"She is definitely persistent," said Kakashi, "albeit a little sadistic."

"What exactly did you tell her to find out?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and exhaled audibly. "The usual: who he's working for, how many of them there are, who leads them and the like. But I doubt we'll get too far."

Just then, the man stopped squirming and passed out. Ino's body jerked, then she stood up and popped her neck, then shivered at the cold.

"He works under Gauto but doesn't know anything," said Ino quietly. "He's never even seen his boss face to face."

"But Gauto is behind all this!" shouted Tazuna angrily as he stormed through the rain to their group. "He killed no less than fifty of my men!" Tazuna jerked his hand towards the scene behind him where volunteers were scouring the bridge and sifting through the bodies. The living, regardless of who they'd fought for only minutes before were carried off to the village to be cared for, while the dead were piled on carts. "And how am I supposed to deal with this!?! You need to go and hunt Gauto down!"

"I doubt, Tazuna-san that Gauto would be easy to find." Kakashi looked off into space and squinted as the rain began to slow from a rushing torrent to a drizzle. "Besides, killing him would likely not be the end of your troubles."

"What do you mean?" asked the old man angrily, "He's been the root of all of our troubles."

"Up until now," said Kakashi, almost as much to himself as to Tazuna, "However it seems that Gauto is no longer the one pulling all of the strings. Even in Konoha we've knowledge of the black market and its dealers, and we've compiled information on every one of them for future reference and I can say with confidence that Gauto is acting out of character."

"How so?" asked Tazuna.

"For one, that slime is clever. He will never willingly enter a battle of any kind that he knows he can't win, and when he does choose to fight he devotes all of his attention and resources to the battle. Doesn't it seem strange that he sent no ninja to fight us even though he had the money and the connections to hire someone like Zabuza?"

Tazuna was silent.

"It's almost like he's rushed," said Ino, drawing all eyes to her. "When I was in the mercenary's head, I sensed a definite sense of urgency. Maybe it wasn't being rushed, but he definitely felt the need to accomplish his mission as quickly as he could."

"So…" muttered Tazuna, "IF" he greatly emphasized the conditional, "If someone were pulling Gauto's strings, who could it be? He has the money to hire an army of assassins and ninjas, and he fears no one taking away his wealth, except maybe us. Making money on top of what he has is no use to him. What could possibly buy off his services?"

"What about his life?" asked Kakashi, "What if he's having a sword hung over his head and being ordered around by someone?"

"But again…" said Tazuna slowly, "By whom and for what?"

No one answered.

"Tazuna-san" said a young man, probably in his mid teens, as he jogged up to the old man.

Tazuna nodded and the boy held up a clipboard. "We've cleared the bridge of the injured and dead."

"What are the damages?" asked Tazuna, taking the clipboard.

"Eighty eight of the workmen are dead sir, along with one hundred and three volunteers, not counting the thirty sentinels. Nine men are missing and presumed dead. There are a total of two hundred and ten injured in the village being cared for."

Tazuna growled and looked down at the bridge. "Ensure that all of the wounded receive proper medical care… or at least as proper as we can give given the circumstances."

"Even Gauto's men?" asked the boy.

"Did I stutter?" barked the old man, "I said all of them. We're not monsters here, and I refuse to stoop to a monster's level just to satisfy a desire for revenge. Understood?"

The boy nodded and jogged off quickly, as Tazuna put a hand on Kakashi's shoulder for support. "I've never thought I couldn't do this… until now," Tazuna groaned, suddenly slumping like a hunchback. "Half of my workforce is dead… Dead… and," he reached and rubbed his eyes, "They died needlessly."

Kakashi nodded with his eyes closed. "All the more reason for us to carry on and dedicate this bridge as a monument for their sacrifice, and as a monument to freedom from tyranny."

"Gauto is so strong though," Tazuna mumbled, "I can't see how he's not winning this fight."

"You have to fight back," said Naruto. Tazuna and Ino both looked at the orange clad genin, one with hope in her eyes and the other with tears forming in his. "If you don't then he will win. We can protect you, but it takes more than a Ninja to save a country. It takes freedom… and hope. You're the only one who can give these people that."

Tazuna was silent.

Naruto looked around at how even now men were walking off of the bridge. Some had dropped their tools and swords, while others were carrying them in tired hands. The rain had finally stopped, but the weather was a poor consolation for all that. He saw Ino looking on at him with a glimmer in her eye, but a pained grimace spoiling her expression. Even Kakashi refused to make eye contact with either of his students.

"Wait," said Naruto, "Where's Sasuke?"

Kakashi looked down and closed his eye. For a brief second Naruto could have sworn a tiny tear appeared before it was immediately absorbed by the mask hiding Kakashi's face. "He's attending to something elsewhere," said the copy-nin in a low tone.

SC

Out in the dark of the early morning woods, Sasuke stood beside a tall tree. His black cloak hung around him as his head drooped down towards the ground. His soaking raven hair was chaotically tossed over his forehead and in his face was the look of a corpse. His eyes seemed to be covered by the film of death.

He stood several feet away from and looking over a small mound of dirt, not more than a foot high, and about five feet long. A sapling was growing at one end of the mound, and draped over the fledgling tree was a black cloak, pierced by many holes and slashed open down the back.

The Uchiha clutched his hands so tightly he shook. Tears dropped from his eyes and blood slowly dripped from wounds in his palms cut by his own nails. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep, yet quivering breath, before he let it out in a solitary, quiet sob.

* * *

AN: Chapter Fifteen… There you have it. Our mission to the wave is drawing to it's climactic conclusion, so congrats on sticking with me through another installment. If at all possible, I'd like everyone to drop me one review, just one each, about what you thought of Sasuke this chapter. Was he ooc to the point where it was annoying, or was it a decent showing of another side of him? Was he too emo or not enough? I don't know. I'm trying to develop character, but Sasuke is a tough one, simply because… he's Sasuke, need I say more? Anyway, hope to hear from you soon and I'll be back soon with the next go round of The Gambit. 


	16. High Tide

AN: Hey, 50 cal here yet again with the 16th installment of the fic. Nothing really to say here except sorry to those of you who wished I'd spared Fanfai but be at peace, for there was a cause for her death. Anyway, thank you to all my loyal readers. Backyard, you've been with me for a good long time and have provided me with a near constant stream of ideas and input, so here's to you. Oh, and Sylis, let me just say that a little flattery is always appreciated lol. On with the fic!

* * *

High Tide

It was bright. The stream of light blaring down from the large incandescent lamps over the small table put out almost as much heat as they did light. But it was necessary for the men under them to be working in this condition, because one minor mistake and the whole operation could fail.

There were three of them; the men in white coats, all huddled around a small raised table in the large white room. Their hair was wrapped up in plastic netting and they wore textured latex gloves to avoid contaminating anything, as well as to provide some extra grip on the tools in their hands. All around the three were machines and instruments of every shape and size, performing dozens of different tasks and monitoring every aspect of the young girl lying on the operating table before them.

"Okay," said one of them as sweat beaded on his brow, "let's finish this up now. Hajime, make sure to graft the tissue as carefully as you possibly can. Aosho, help me seal the windpipe."

Minutes ticked by as the men set about their work. Once or twice someone would gasp, but by some stroke of luck or by the skill of his partner, disaster was avoided. Nearly half an hour later, it was finished and the anesthetized girl was carefully placed on a girdy and wheeled out of the room.

"Well done gentlemen," said one of the surgeons as he took of his mask. The other two did the same and began to congratulate one another on the success.

"Well done indeed," said an old man in a funny triangular hat as he walked into the room smiling.

"Hokage-Sama," the three surgeons said in unison, giving a respectfully low bow.

"I'm impressed," said Sarutobi, "I was told that operation only has a one in a hundred success rate."

The tallest of the doctors nodded, "Yes sir that's correct, but things went off without a hitch today. Honestly it's like fate just wanted us to succeed."

"I'm glad it did," said the Hokage, "How long until she wakes up?"

"We're going to keep her under anesthesia for a while depending on how she does, so anywhere between three days to a week."

"Why so long?"

"Well," the head surgeon began, "We just built her a new windpipe and two major blood vessels that lead to and away from the brain. Her body may be as good as new but it needs to adjust to the new tissue. Waking up too soon would be a potentially hazardous shock."

"I see," said Sarutobi, "But nonetheless, wonderful job."

The three bowed again as Sarutobi turned to walk out and down the hall. He retraced the path of the girdy perfectly to a wing devoted to recovery rooms for trauma patients. He began scanning through the windows and seeing all manner of ninjas, recovering from a broad range of injuries. Most of them he knew personally, simply because all but a few were ninjas whom he had assigned to particularly treacherous missions. He knew where they had gone when they were hurt and how they were attacked because he knew the dangers of the excursion.

_There are days I wonder about this profession… _he thought in the back of his mind, _If it's really worth it to send my people on missions where I know good and well that they're like as not to come back maimed or crippled… or not at all._

He hated knowing that he was the one to make the call to tear families apart, to separate husbands from wives forever, and shatter friendships that had been established in the tender years of childhood, but it was necessary; or at least that's what he told himself so he could sleep at night.

He came to the window he'd been seeking and peered in at the sleeping figure on the bed. The pink hair was a dead giveaway, as was the prominent forehead; both were trademarks of both sides of her family.

He grimaced when he saw the bandages wrapped around her neck and all of the machines required to monitor her condition in case anything should go wrong. It was like looking at a priceless portrait that had been ruined.

_The price of being a ninja._

SC

Night was quickly approaching and the setting sun was casting a bloody glow through the hazy mist that had engulfed Hajike since the massive storm broke earlier that day, but within the depths of one of the massive barges floating downstream from the great bridge, the only light came from a single shaded lantern. As the tide tossed mildly, the barge rocked only enough to swing the lantern gently from side to side, though the shifting light was casting eerie shadows from the bed in the corner, and from the short figure standing beside it. Slowly the covers on the bed began to shift and rise as a monstrous figure sat up and looked around the vast empty room.

"How are you feeling Zabuza-san?" asked Haku from beside the bed.

Zabuza rolled his neck and snapped his jaw shut with a loud report. "Better and stronger than ever," said the mercenary as he got out of bed and readjusted his trousers. "If I didn't know better I'd never guess Kakashi had cut me open like that."

Haku smiled, "Well that's good. I suppose that means the medicine Tobi-Sama is doing its job then."

Zabuza nodded. "That was one hell of a steroid. I feel like I could take on a demon."

"You probably could've anyway," chuckled Haku, "And now that you've got that special blend in you there'll be no stopping you tonight."

"What's tonight?"

Haku faltered for a moment then began, "Tobi-Sama ordered Gauto-san to complete the mission before midnight tonight or else there would be the devil to pay, so we've got a little less than four hours to kill Tazuna and capture that Uzumaki kid for the Akatsuki."

Zabuza began to laugh quietly. "Should be fun," he said after a moment, "But If we want to get this done good and quick then we'll have to try a different approach."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Simple enough, I'll take Tazuna and his lapdog Kakashi, while you handle those genin. As soon as you're done with them, you can help me with that copy nin and together we'll overwhelm him."

Haku nodded. "I can do that, though I'd rather not kill the children. They're too young don't you think?"

Zabuza mentally groaned, but shook it off. "You're heart is too big, but I guess that's just who you are, fine just make sure they don't interfere and incapacitate the brat Gauto wants so he doesn't run away. Now, let's get started, bring me my sword."

Haku grinned and walked off into the gloom of the deck, returning shortly carrying Zabuza's massive weapon. "Just be careful," said Haku as he handed Zabuza the neck splitter with relative ease, "We wouldn't want anything happening to that perfect body of yours."

SC

Construction on the bridge had been cancelled for the day in lieu of a mass funeral being put on for the men who died in the attack. The entire village was in attendance, along with numerous men and women who had made the trip to Hajike from the surrounding area to volunteer, only to find the scene of sorrow that awaited them.

Tazuna got up in front of a podium, stood on a makeshift platform in front of a massive funeral pyre, and began to deliver a eulogy for those who chose to die rather than live oppressed in the shadow of tyranny. He conveyed a message of hope and freedom, to which the assembled crowds cheered and hollered out in approval, before he stepped down and took a torch from Kakashi who was standing nearby.

The old man took a step back and tossed the flaming brand on the second tier of the leveled pyre. Almost immediately the wood took the flame and began to shine as the fire spread quickly and engulfed everything in its path.

Ino, Naruto, and Sasuke stood silently in the back of the gathering, watching the pyre glow and crackle. The blondes were holding hands and standing close together while Sasuke leaned with his back against a dead and rotting tree with his eyes closed.

"Sasuke," asked Naruto. The raven haired boy opened his eyes and glared at Naruto. "Are you alright?" Sasuke just grimaced and looked off into the distance, leaving Naruto bewildered and curious.

"What's the matter? Did something happen to your eyes?" asked the boy in orange, only then noticing the reddish tint that had come over the other boy's eyes.

"Nothing," muttered Sasuke, "They've just been burning for a while, and having that giant pyre over there isn't helping any."

"I'm sorry," Ino said softly, "Anything we can do?"

Sasuke turned on them with an icy stare. "You can leave me the hell alone." His voice was quiet, but unmistakably hostile.

"What's your problem?" growled Naruto, stepping in front of Ino, "She was just trying to be nice." Sasuke took a step forward, with his hands at his sides, and Naruto involuntarily braced himself.

There was a quick rush of air and Kakashi materialized in between the two genin with his ever present book in his hand. "Is there a problem here?" asked the copy nin in a whisper, "It is after all exceedingly rude to act this way at a funeral."

Naruto and Sasuke took a step back but neither relaxed or took their eyes off one another. Kakashi shifted his glance between the two of them. "What's the matter with you?" he asked suspiciously, "The two of you were fine just yesterday but now you look like you're ready to come to blows."

"Why not tell Naruto to shut up and mind his own business," growled Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I know it was a hard morning, but the least you could do is show some respect," whispered Kakashi before Naruto could respond.

"Respect," muttered Sasuke, "Maybe you should show some respect to the dead and put that smut you always read away."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. He'd never seen Sasuke act this rebelliously before. "Perhaps you're right," said the copy nin as he tucked the book into his vest, "But now that I've done my part, why don't you show some respect both to the dead and to your team?"

"I will," said Sasuke, "When they give me the same courtesy."

Ino piped up, "I just wanted to know if there was anything Naruto and I could do to help you. I thought that was being very courteous."

"Maybe you should learn to keep your nose out of other people's business," sneered the Uchiha, "I thought you'd know that was just common courtesy."

"Sasuke," murmured Naruto, "Why are you such a jerk all of a sudden? This isn't like you at all."

Sasuke was silent, and Kakashi moved to stand completely between the two boys. "That's enough, Sasuke I don't know what's gotten into you and I don't care. We'll talk about it later, but for now since the ceremony is winding down we need to just escort Tazuna back to the bridge so he can do some preliminary evaluating. Understood?"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino all nodded and the tension between them seemed to diffuse just a little as Kakashi turned and lead them up to the front of the crowd where Tazuna was speaking to a group of three or four young men in ratty clothes.

"Tazuna-san," said Kakashi above the conversation.

The old man turned around, waving the men off and asked Kakashi if he and his squad were ready to go.

"We're ready whenever you are," said the copy nin, "But are you sure this is completely necessary? You going back this soon without any workmen."

Tazuna nodded, "Yes Kakashi, as inconvenient as it may be I'm afraid it's completely necessary. One of the engineers on the southern edge reported a possible fault in one of the piles. Before I can let anyone back on we need to go down and assess just how bad it is."

"What are the odds of it being really bad?" asked Naruto.

"Odds are," said Tazuna, "That it's nothing, just a crack in the layer of waterproof tar tile which can easily be repaired. If it's something more serious though then it could endanger the whole project if we continue without addressing it."

"Perhaps it's best if we go now then," said Kakashi as he eyed Naruto and Sasuke, hoping that something to do would keep them from fighting.

"Agreed," said Tazuna.

The walk to the bridge was but uneventful and tense. Kakashi walked between Naruto and Sasuke in front, while Ino followed close behind Tazuna and brought up the rear. Despite the encroaching dark they all made it to the bridge in good time and set about crossing the platform to the point where Tazuna said the fault should have been.

Sure enough, right at the base of one of the pile's anchorings atop the platform, there was a crack about as thin as a finger stretching on for about three feet before it ended abruptly at the top of the anchoring.

"Well well," said Tazuna with a smile, "This doesn't look too bad at all. A little ugly to be sure but I think we can take care of this in just a few minutes if you four would be willing to help."

"We'd be happy to," said Kakashi, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders," so it's not too serious then?"

"Not at all," said the old man, "It's just a crack in the top layer. Easy to fill up with a little packing mud I suppose. Naruto could you get me that bucket over there, the one with the spatula looking thing sitting on top."

Naruto walked over to the one Tazuna was pointing at and took hold of the bucket's handle and pulled up. Amazingly, he stumbled under the weight and struggled to haul it over to Tazuna, eliciting a grin from Ino and a good humored joke from Kakashi.

"Thanks m'boy" said Tazuna, plastering an obviously fake smile across his face as he popped the lid and took a hold of the miniature shovel. "Now can any of you do something to heat this stuff up? It's hard as a rock right now and I'd have hell trying to just scoop it out by hand."

Sasuke stepped up and performed a few quick seals. "I can do that," he mumbled. Without pressing his fingers to his mouth, he tightened his lips and blew a stream of searing air on the hard putty. After a moment, the grey pitch had shifted to a reddish brown muck and become gelatinous.

"That's enough, that's enough," said Tazuna abruptly.

Sasuke stopped and stepped back as the old man scooped up a few pounds of the goopy material and slung it against the crack with all the finesse of a drunken lumberjack. Tazuna set to work at smearing the stuff in and working it into every pore of the stone. The four ninjas simply watched, wondering why the old man simply couldn't have some workman set about the task instead of having to do it himself.

"I think Tazuna-san just likes being out here," whispered Ino to Naruto.

The blonde in orange chuckled a little and Kakashi shook his head, stiffening a grin himself. "I agree," whispered the copy nin, "but then again I think being away from that funeral is lightening everyone's spirit."

Naruto looked over and smiled. "I guess, "even Sasuke doesn't look quite so down anymore."

The raven haired boy glanced over at Naruto without really making eye contact. He just crossed his arms and kicked at the ground for a second, before looking up. "Naruto, I'm… sorry about earlier," said the genin, just about knocking the Uzumaki over. "You to Ino, I just kinda snapped."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, _Well well, _thought the Jounin, _that was a nice little surprise. Maybe Naruto will actually be courteous in return for a change._

Naruto made a quick recovery before anyone could say anything and quickly regained his balance. "Nah, it's okay duck-butt, we forgive you." he playfully prodded, "But don't think that means I'm gonna let it happen again."

_Or maybe not… _groused Kakashi as he reached up and covered his face.

Much to everyone's shock, Sasuke actually cracked a grin. The Uchiha boy flipped some hair out of his face and glanced between the three other ninja. "Fine," he said, "Just try and-"

"Quiet," said Kakashi calmly.

The genin and Tazuna all looked at the copy nin who had moved a little off to the groups right. He was starring over the edge of the bridge and glancing warily from side to side.

"You three group around Tazuna-san and keep him… and yourselves safe no matter what," he said, completely composed.

The three genin quickly formed a triangle around Tazuna with Naruto at the head, Sasuke on the man's left, and Ino on his right. "What's going on?" asked Ino nervously as Sasuke pulled out a few shuriken and Naruto drew his swords.

Kakashi turned to face them. He'd pulled up his forehead protector embossed with the Leaf, revealing his blood red Sharingan; the three tomoe marks opening like a new set of eyes.

Almost immediately a wall of mist began to rise up from the sea and completely envelop the bridge. The vapor hung in the air and began to darken like smoke, until nearly all visibility was lost in the gloom. Naruto looked around him and could barely see Tazuna and his teammates, much less Kakashi.

"Zabuza's back," said the Jounin. Even as the words rolled off of the Jounin's lips, a maniacal laugh began to radiate throughout the gloom and seemed to chill the already cold and moist air. It was indeed Zabuza.

"Tazuna-san," said Naruto, "How soon could we expect some kind of reinforcements?"

Tazuna shook his head and looked down. "Never at best," he murmured "I told everyone to just stay back until I confirmed the fault was nothing serious."

"Probably a good thing," laughed a deep voice, seemingly from dozens of points all around at once, "Anyone who came to help would just end up getting in your way. And once you five were dead I'd just have to kill them too."

Kakashi rolled his shoulders, throwing up a facade of indifference. "You can always just surrender and let us go on our way," said the copy nin. "After all we both know you're no match for me."

All around the laughter boomed again as a form began to take on shape in the dark haze. The figure was no shorter than six feet tall and carried a sword just as large. Immediately the whole group tensed and readied for a fight, and the figure twirled its sword around playfully.

The concrete at Kakashi's feet shattered under the sudden and explosive pressure of his stride. The Jounin drew out a kunai and flew faster than any arrow straight at Zabuza and they both disappeared into the mist. The clang of stele on stele rang through the air as the two ninjas dueled.

For what seemed like an eternity the two clashed, the sounds and bellows of battle growing fainter as they faded into the distance. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other and agreed by unspoken consent, then they turned to Ino.

"I'll watch after Tazuna," she said, "Go help Kakashi-Sensei."

Sasuke and Naruto rushed, shoulder to shoulder towards the sounds; Naruto twirling his blades in anticipation of the conflict.

"Stop!" shouted the raven haired boy abruptly.

The two genin screeched to a halt, their sandals skidding on the bridge as a straight row of needles thudded into the ground directly in front of them with a series of soft thumps, just as a nin in flowing blue robes and a white mask dropped out of the mist before them. Long black hair seemed to flow from the edges of the disguise and blow in the light wind.

"I'm afraid that I can't let you interfere with their battle," said the nin in a strangely gender-neutral voice, "You'll have to contend with me."

"We'll see!" shouted Naruto, charging straight in twirling his swords as Sasuke performed a series of seals.

Without missing a beat, the strange nin leapt up and twisted in midair. Naruto gasped as the back of his collar suddenly caught in the attackers iron grasp and he was slung into Sasuke like a battering ram before the Uchiha could react. As the nin in blue landed gracefully, several yards away from the crumpled genin, the two boys lay in a heap.

"How do you like Haku's Rengoku no jutsu?" asked Zabuza's voice from the mist all around Kakashi. "Is it thick enough for you?"

The copy nin glanced measuredly all around, futilely scanning the gloom with his Sharingan. Even the powers of the Uchiha bloodline did him no good; the chakra infused mist masked the missing nin completely. All Kakashi could see when examined the area was a faintly neon blue cloud that obscured all sources of chakra within it, leaving the Jounin to rely completely on his hearing.

"I'm not quite sure I could cut it-" began Kakashi before he whirled around to parry the massive sword swung at him from behind. The Jounin deflected it with ease and slashed at the source, but cut nothing but the air as the sword liquefied collapsed in a puddle.

"I'm not sure I could cut it with a knife," said Kakashi, "But you'll have to compliment your friend on having a knack for covering your ass."

"Oh?" asked Zabuza, "How do you mean?"

"Well let's face it, if this Haku person hadn't saved you a few days ago I would have killed you then. Now if it weren't for this mist, I'd be slaughtering you now."

"Perhaps, but whatever works," said Zabuza with a serpentine calm in his voice.

Another series of clashes and clangs emanated from the mist as six tall figures all attacked Kakashi at once. He dispatched them quickly and each one immediately collapsed in a puddle on the bridge.

"Coward," growled Kakashi, "These clones are barely a fraction of what you can really do. Why not come out and fight me yourself?"

"Why don't you come and get me?"

_Fine, _thought Kakashi, _if you want me to bring the fight to you then why not…_

The copy nin put his hands quietly together and molded just a bit of chakra. Holding his breath to keep silent the copy nin tried to decide how many shadow clones would be enough to throw Zabuza off guard. Two would be far too few, but it wouldn't take much chakra which would be important for the Chidori since he'd only get one shot. Ten or fifteen would probably do it but might eat into the energy needed to finish the fight, depending on how long it took to track Zabuza down.

_Track! _It was an epiphany. The copy nin couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it sooner as he uncrossed his fingers and reached slowly around into his vest. The quiet rustling was the only sound he made as he pulled out the small scrolls.

"What are you doing Kakashi?" asked Zabuza, "what do you have written on that scroll?"

_Impossible… how did he know it was a scroll, or does he? Is he just taking a shot in the dark or can he really see what I'm doing?_ "Nothing of consequence," mumbled Kakashi as he slowly and silently unfurled the scroll and cut a small gash in his thumb.

No sooner had the blood appeared than the metallic smell pervaded the mist and spread the scent throughout the whole area. Instantly, no less than thirty shapes took on Zabuza's form in the mist and leapt at Kakashi. The copy nin slammed the scrolls on the ground and spun, simultaneously sweeping a trail of blood across the scrolls and filling the air with a massive volley of shuriken, every last one in the Jounin's pouch, that hacked the water clones to pieces. Kakashi threw his hand down on the scrolls and pumped the pre stored chakra into the paper, creating a cloud of white smoke with a bang… Nothing happened.

A bead of sweat began to form on the Jounin's brow, and he slapped the scroll a few more times as if he expected something else to happen. "Shit…" he muttered aloud, "That was a waste."

"Indeed it was," rumbled Zabuza's voice as his shape appeared in the gloom not ten feet from Kakashi, "What do you plan to do now?"

"That depends on whether or not you're the real version," said the copy nin as he stood up.

Zabuza laughed, "Well, I make no promises, but I think I'm the real me, and I think I'd know."

In a flash, the missing nin disappeared.

_What?!? _Was all Kakashi could manage to think before Zabuza materialized from the mist directly behind him. There was an almost imperceptible glint of light from the edge of the massive sword as is swung through the air with soundless speed and made its way straight towards Kakashi's neck.

The Jounin felt a cold edge against his skin, and by the time Kakashi had time to turn his head it was already rolling off of his shoulders. His vision spun and began to go black, though he could watch as his own body began to crumple and collapse; useless in its truncated state. The nin's body fell to the ground with a solid thump and wretched once, then again as the head rolled to Zabuza's feet.

Zabuza began to laugh as blood spasmed from the severed neck since the heart beat erratically, and by the time the flow of blood slowed to a trickle when the heart stopped beating and only gravity was left to draw it out, the missing nin was bellowing victoriously. He slammed his sword into the ground when he saw the decapitated head's glazing eyes flit aimlessly in the skull, trying to locate something.

What he didn't realize, was when the head's lips began to smile just as the eyes closed. There was a brilliant flash as the headless body blazed as bright as the sun in the dark, throwing the missing nin off guard. The head disappeared in a poof of smoke, and from the new cloud leapt a brown mutt that clamped onto a blinded Zabuza's arm with ferocious jaws.

Within a second the ground around Zabuza exploded up and a dozen dogs, some large, some small, but all ferocious bit into Zabuza and essentially pinned him down. Struggle as he might, he didn't break the dogs' grips he was firmly rooted down.

"Show yourself you goddam coward!" the nin shouted angrily into the mist.

The flash in the mist drew Haku's attention away from the two genin before him just long enough. A badly bleeding Naruto performed a quick series of seals in unison with Sasuke, and the together the two unleashed a massive wall of flame that sped towards the hunter nin. Haku however was not one to be caught in an attack that forward and sped to the side, even as the fire blazed by where the nin had stood only milliseconds before.

The nin in blue spun and flung out a single needle, impacting a Naruto clone in the forehead, banishing the summon with a poof of white smoke. The shuriken Sasuke threw met a very different fate when Haku plucked them out of the air with his bare hands and hurled them back at the Uchiha, grazing his claves and dropping him to the ground.

"Bitch!" shouted Naruto, pressing his fingers together, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Dozens of clones leapt into existence and rushed at Haku. Each of them was ready to do whatever it took put an end to the nin in blue, but not one of them was ready for what happened next.

Haku charged straight at them and dove into their midst. The Counterfeit Hunter had a trio of needles protruding from in between each finger, making for nine in each hand, and slammed his spiked fists into two of the clones with blinding speed, destroying them, even as he spun and flung out the deadly spikes.

Each needle made its way into a clone with pinpoint accuracy, but as those vanished in puffs of smoke, Naruto sent in another wave of clones. Haku destroyed those so but Naruto had yet a third ready to send into the fray.

"I can do this all day little boy," said Haku calmly, "Can you? I'm sure you'll run out of chakra eventually."

"Not hardly," Naruto said with a laugh as he formed the shadow seal again and spawned another wave of twenty copies. "I've got more chakra that you could ever dream of having." The faint red glow around the Uzumaki's fingers was a testament to that.

"How much more do you have?" asked Sasuke as he crouched beside Naruto.

Naruto just glanced down and smiled. "Plenty."

Despite a seemingly inhuman level of skill, Haku quickly began to bow under the barrage of shadow clones. It seemed like for every one dead, three more would spring to take its place. No matter what the nin tried, Haku was completely surrounded.

"Haku!" shouted Zabuza from off in the distance, "Finish this NOW!!"

The hunter nin barely glanced over and instantly knew what Zabuza wanted, and jumped into the air, spinning around and unleashing a cloud of needles, sacrificing accuracy as well as almost every needle left in the arsenal to buy just a duo of seconds to perform the necessary hand seals.

"What's going on?" asked Naruto nervously as the black mist began to ascend skyward, leaving the battleground mostly clear.

"No idea," said Sasuke.

As Haku completed the final seal, the mist all around began to condense in midair and congeal into what looked like solid sheets of ice. All in all, one hundred or so of the translucent and highly reflective sheets appeared in a great dome with the two genin in its center and stretching out to encompass almost half of the massive bridge, before Haku had even reached the zenith of the jump.

The hunter nin back flipped towards one of the sheets, but instead of colliding with it, merely passed through it, or into it. The genin couldn't tell which, but all they could see was that once Haku made contact with one of the mirrors the nin suddenly appeared on the surface of every single on in a 2D image.

"This is bad," Naruto gulped.

"HAHA!!" Bellowed Zabuza as soon as he saw just where everyone was standing. He wrenched his arms upwards, breaking loose of Kakashi's trap and sending the hounds flying in all directions. The missing nin vanished, even as Kakashi shot forward with a kunai in hand to finish the fight, and reappeared on the other side of the dome.

He stood directly behind Tazuna and Ino.

The old man and the girl turned to see the monstrous figure looming over them with his giant sword in hand. "You're going to do just as I say," growled Zabuza in a low pitch.

"The Hell we are!" yelled Ino as she exploded forward and slugged Zabuza square in the gut. Her hand connected to his iron hard abs with a painful thunk, and the monster of a man began to chuckle as the undeterred Ino punched him again with her undamaged hand.

"You're out classed little girl," laughed Zabuza as he caught her arm and twisted, driving her to her knees, "One of your villages finest barely managed to survive me."

The kunoichi, refusing to give up, drew out a kunai even as Zabuza snapped her wrist like a tooth pick, and whirled around, further coiling her broken wrist, but propelling the blade in-between two ribs on his left side.

Zabuza screamed and stumbled back, clutching his bleeding wound. Ino faltered, dizzy with pain and fear, but threw the knife with all the strength she could muster, burying it firmly in Zabuza's right bicep and causing him to drop the Neck Splitter.

"Dirty little bitch!" shouted the missing nin as he lurched forward and drove his fist into Ino's cheek. The girl rocketed to the ground only to have her rib cage nearly crushed in as Zabuza ferociously stomped on her. Even then, Ino grabbed hold of Zabuza's boot and held on tight.

_Maybe I can hold him long enough for Naruto to get here… _she thought as the pounding in her head intensified while Zabuza's free foot solidly connected with skull.

"Let her go," said Kakashi as he arrived and stood a few yards in front of Zabuza.

"As if," laughed the missing nin, "Haku wanted me to let you and the others go after we killed Tazuna and took that Uzumaki brat. But not now, no, now you've really pissed me off. You're all going to die and I'm going to make you watch your kiddies suffer." He pulled a long knife out of his baggy pants and held it down to Ino. "If you make one move towards me, the old man, or go inside that dome, this little bitch dies a painful death."

"Ino!" shouted Naruto as he saw Zabuza kick the girl off his leg and hold her up as a shield. "Kakashi-Sensei do something!"

"Naruto," said Sasuke hesitantly as he looked all around, "We should concentrate on one problem at a time, starting with how we're going to take care of this nuisance. Let Kakashi-Sensei handle the rest."

"But I - Argh!!" Naruto shouted as a needle buried itself in his shoulder.

The two genin looked up to see each image of Haku had reached out of its mirror and was holding a perfectly clear needle made of solid ice.

"This is bad," muttered Sasuke.

Naruto didn't have time to respond as the Hakus all threw their needles with inhuman speed, and replaced them even before the missiles had found time to make their marks in the genin.

**Kit… Kit! **growled Kyuubi from his mental cage. **I can give you all the energy you need, but you have to be the one to use it, so USE it!**

_Just keep it coming you stupid fox…_

Naruto pressed his fingers together and formed a wave of fifty snarling clones, that all leapt up at the mirrors, but immediately met a painful fate, as hundreds of needles passed right through them and continued on towards the genin.

Sasuke gulped down a breath of air and shot out a stream of fire, melting most of the missiles heading for them, but leaving the mirrors unfazed. Naruto twirled around with the wakizashi and managed to pick the remaining ones out of the air.

"Try that again," said Sasuke after the next wave.

"Ok," muttered Naruto, creating more clones.

As the copies all jumped out to attack the mirrors, Sasuke sucked in a breath and again spit out the fire, this time in a much thinner and more concentrated stream. In midair while the copies were disappearing in puffs of smoke, the jet of flame suddenly sparked, like it had found something to burn, before it continued on and smashed into one of the mirrors, leaving a small black hole through it.

"Nice," said Naruto with an almost feral grin, "If you can do that a few thousand times we might just take out one of them."

Sasuke grinned. "I can see it."

"See what?"

"Look," said the Uchiha, "at the lower left corners of the reflection's robes."

"They're singed off…" muttered Naruto.

"I can see it right before that Haku character moves. It's fast, but I can see it. There's only one moving between all the mirrors super fast. Even now there's only one even though it just looks like there's one in each mirror. If your clones are any distraction at all, I might be able to end this."

"Sounds like a plan," said Naruto, not waiting any longer, but sending out another volley of the clones.

* * *

AN: Hey. What's happening everybody? Ok, so 16 is officially posted. Hope it was to everyone's liking. Well, nothing to report really, other than a request for reviews about a few things. I'm just looking for input on what you think of things thus far. You know, character development, plot, deviation from cannon being ok, etc. Oh, and was leaving things in media res a good thing? Later, 50cal. 


	17. Hitting the Floor

AN: Hey everybody. Sorry I've been gone so long, but school has really been a bother lately with so many… you get the idea lol. Anyway, don't think I haven't had my mind on this fic for the past many days, and I hope my ideas are as cool to all of you as they are in my head. One thing to remember is that the action here is relatively fast paced, so I'm trying to be a little bit brief with everything for that purpose. On with the fic!

* * *

Hitting the Floor

"Silly little boys," muttered Haku, "I'd hoped by now the two of you would have realized you should just surrender."

"Are you still talking!?" shouted a Naruto clone just before it vanished in a poof of smoke under a barrage of Haku's attacks.

"I am," said Haku as another wave of needles exploded out of the mirrors, "And if you children don't give up and allow Zabuza to go through with his plan then you're going to die here."

Sasuke dodged between the deadly projectiles, avoiding most but being nicked by a few. He glared at the mirrors and his eyes twitched between them madly as he followed the brief flashes betraying his enemy's movements.

_This isn't helping. All I get are the after images. God damn this bastard… _

The Uchiha loosed another stream of fire, missing entirely as Haku dealt with yet another onslaught from Naruto. The blonde was struggling to keep up. Haku's movements were getting faster and faster. He could barely take time to summon more clones before the last wave was wiped out by the hunter nin.

**Kit, tell the other boy to use a wider spread and aim for the center of the dome, **said Kyuubi hurriedly, **We're running out of time if you want this to end well for any of us.**

"I think I've got a better idea," said Naruto.

The Uzumaki boy leapt in the air and spun in a circle, deflecting a dozen or so needles aimed for Sasuke and landed in front of his team mate.

"That was impressive," muttered Haku as he watched the boys stop to talk briefly, "It's really a pity they're so stubborn since it means I probably have to kill them for it, but then again I guess that is what makes them who they are."

The hunter nin studied the two of them for a second as they turned about and looked around, undoubtedly wondering why they were being given a reprieve. Haku couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the both of them, standing here about to die simply because they had the bad luck of being Tazuna-san's escort.

"Last chance," yelled Haku from a hundred different angles all at once, "If you give up and go home I'll let you live. I'll even try to convince Zabuza-san to let your friends go. All you need to do is give us Tazuna and everybody gets out alive and happy. Sound good to you?"

For an instant Sasuke hesitated, not because he was contemplating Haku's offer in the least, but rather because he was thinking about Haku's motives. "That ninja," said Sasuke to Naruto, even as Haku drew back and readied to attack again, "really doesn't want to kill us. Maybe we could take advantage of that."

"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto angrily, "Don't tell me you're actually thinking of taking that bitch up on its offer?!"

_Bitch? _Wondered Haku, half amused and partially insulted.

"Not in the least," growled Sasuke angrily, but quietly. "Someone who works for a butcher like Gauto is no better than that monster!" Haku flinched at the accusation as Sasuke began to shout, "Who do you think you people are!? It's bastards like you who are the reason innocent people have to die!"

Haku hesitated, not sure what to think. "I think you misunderstand," said Haku, "neither Zabuza nor I really work-"

"So now I think it's YOU'RE TURN TO DIE!!" Images of Fanfai's shallow grave burned behind Sasuke's eyes as he exploded from the ground, crushing the tiles under his stride as he rushed towards the nearest mirror. He was propelled solely by rage. White hot chakra, fueled by will alone burned around Sasuke's fists while he performed the familiar seals.

Even the hunter nin had almost no time to react, leaping out of the mirror less than a tenth of a second before Sasuke's fiery jutsu wiped it from existence. Haku soon found Sasuke to be taking the offensive, blasting mirror after mirror in the tight wall of icy glass with a technique far beyond what any genin should know.

Sasuke literately began to burn with energy from some hidden reserve, and continued to bellow pillars of flame that chased the hunter nin from one mirror to the next. The Uchiha boy could see, clearly, his enemy's movements. It was almost like watching a mouse dart about; not easy to see but plainly visible, and what was more, he no longer saw afterimages, but shadows that ran where Haku soon followed.

Had Sasuke broken his focus on incinerating Haku for even a second, he would have realized Naruto moving in slow motion to form the shadow clone seal, seemingly taking whole minutes just to move his hands together. The blonde was dumfounded by Sasuke's sudden and ferocious attack; he'd never seen anything like it… mostly because he couldn't really see what was going on at all. To his eyes, Haku was still just an image in mirrors that Sasuke (the shimmering black blur) was chasing everywhere with streams of white fire while his cloak flapped in the frenzied motion.

_Where did Sasuke get all this energy? _Wondered Naruto as the clones sprung into existence. _He was nearly dry minutes ago but now…_

**He's enraged. **Kyuubi muttered. **Oftentimes when Humans are feeling guilty or hurt they channel the feelings into wrath. Ninjas especially are innately good at focusing the hostile energies into a powerful storm of action.**

_But he's using so much chakra… where did he get it all._

Kyuubi was silent for a moment as the clones leapt into the air. **Maybe it's the fact that he's an Uchiha. That clan tended to find strength in dire situations.**

Haku turned to wipe out this new enemy with a quick volley of frozen needles, breaking his focus on Sasuke just long enough to allow the furious Uchiha to catch up, and Sasuke soon found himself slamming his glowing fist into Haku's stomach as the two connected in mid air with a rumble like thunder.

Blood erupted from the Hunter Nin's mouth and splashed against the inside of the mask as the two figures fell to the ground. Sasuke landed on top, and utilized the motion to crush Haku into the tile. Naruto could only watch, half horrified as Sasuke got up and began to relentlessly kick Haku, driving his heel into the hunter's face and chest.

"Does it feel good when you're the one who's having the shit beat out of you!?" shouted Sasuke, "Does it!? Do you think any of those people your boss butchered enjoyed it!? What do you think was the last thing they thought before they died? I guess we'll never know but your hands and Gauto's hands are soaking in their blood!!"

"Enough!" yelled Naruto, running over as Haku stopped moving, "He's dead already!"

Sasuke didn't stop, but kept beating on the body before him. "Dead isn't good enough!" he shouted, "He doesn't deserve an easy death!"

"That's enough!" said Naruto, putting his hand on his friends shoulder, "You're not going to bring anyone back by beating up a corpse."

Sasuke whirled on Naruto and punched him in the cheek, knocking the Uzumaki to the ground. "What do you know? You don't have an innocent little girl's blood on your head!"

Naruto stopped and stared up at Sasuke. For several seconds, neither one moved. They just stared into each other's eyes. Naruto was trying to wrap his mind around Sasuke's statement, while Sasuke was trying not to let himself haul off and attack his team mate.

"Sasuke…" muttered Naruto.

The Uchiha was silent. His raven eyes so severe they almost had a tint of crimson to them. "What?"

"The mirrors aren't gone."

Sasuke spun around and looked up. Sure enough, the numerous sheets of glass left from his attack were not simply falling apart, as would have been the case with a summon when the controlling ninja dies, and what was worse, they were growing larger, and fusing together into a seamless dome of ice overhead.

"What the," gasped Sasuke as the mirrors began to thicken and darken. The Uchiha looked for Haku's body, but the 'corpse' was gone.

"I think playtime is over," said the hunter's familiarly calm voice from all around. "I was planning on letting you go, but you spat in my face and kicked me while I was down. I'm not going to play anymore. Perhaps your turn to die has arrived."

A single high pitched whine split the air, followed by a dull thud. Naruto gasped, and began to turn all around to see what was happening. Sasuke looked down to see the glimmer of a single needle protruding from the center of his chest. There was no pain, it had been far too sudden for any kind of reaction, and as he began to fall backwards Sasuke looked up. But nowhere did he see Haku. What he did see was a horrific downpour of glimmering lights speeding towards him at mind numbing speeds.

Naruto glanced behind just in time to catch sight of Sasuke collapsing to the ground in a heap. The genin resembled nothing so much as pincushion. No less then hundreds of long needles stuck out of him from every angle. The thick, coarse cloak had afforded him no protection at all.

"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto, taking a stride towards the raven haired boy as he impacted the ground, driving the needles in his back their full length into him.

The air again filled with the buzzing and thudding as Haku relentlessly sent wave after wave of the deadly darts hurdling into Sasuke's chest and limbs, then stopped, refusing to finish the job but rather force Sasuke to suffer. Naruto reached the Uchiha and clutched him up, cradling him as Sasuke's nearly limp body twitched in the shock.

It had all happened so fast. One second Sasuke was destroying Haku, beating the hunter nin to death. Then in a flash the tables turned and Sasuke was laying in a quickly growing puddle of blood.

"Sasuke…" whispered Naruto, tears forming in the corners of his eyes, "Sasuke don't you even think of dying."

"Why…" groaned Sasuke in a raspy voice as he looked up at the dark towering above them with glazed eyes.

"I haven't had a chance to beat you yet," coked Naruto, "You have to stick around long enough for that at least. That's why."

Sasuke closed his eyes, shook his head and let out a gurgled breath as the blood began to pool in the back of his throat. "Why didn't I send her home?" The boy's head lolled off to one side and he stopped breathing entirely. Naruto clenched his teeth and averted his gaze just as the dark dome of ice closed out the world entirely.

He set Sasuke's body down and looked up to see a single image of Haku looking down at him from above. The nin in blue didn't move as Naruto screwed his eves shut and tightened his fists so much it hurt.

The scratch marks on Naruto's cheeks suddenly deepened into trenches as a glowing red mist began to seep from his body, providing the only light in the gloom. The skin on his fingers stretched, jetting his fingernails out into cruel talons while his teeth lengthened into fangs. Naruto's eyes burst open and flooded the chamber with a bloody light as he hungrily searched for his enemy.

**Spill blood with it! **howled Kyuubi. **This WILL be over quickly!**

"What's going on in there?" whispered Kakashi to himself after the dome finished closing up. He glanced madly between Zabuza and Ino (who Zabuza was still holding at sword point) and from Tazuna behind them to the dome. "This is beyond out of hand."

"Your little kiddies are getting slaughtered," laughed Zabuza, wrenching the unconscious Ino up higher and closer to the blade of his sword. "No one has ever survived that, and no one ever will. They're finished."

Kakashi scowled, trying desperately to think of some way to get to Ino. If he could secure the girl he might stand a chance but taking down Zabuza would still be difficult even now that the demon of the mist was badly wounded and bleeding out his side like a stuck pig. The Jounin began to slowly reach around his back, feeling for flash bomb in his vest as he went, but stopped as soon as Zabuza pressed the sword against Ino's throat.

"I wouldn't even think about it," said Zabuza almost jovially, "Unless you want me to take her pretty little head off."

Kakashi froze as a single drop of blood began to roll down Ino's neck, then he turned to look at the dome. Several moments passed and nothing happened.

_Please, _he mentally pleaded, _Sasuke, Naruto, hurry up in there. We need you out here._

At that instant the dome shook violently and fiery red cracks appeared all over it. Pulses ran through the ground and nearly knocked the unsuspecting ninja's to their knees, while Tazuna fell flat on his back. Not a second later, a second pulse ripped through the air and the black dome exploded in a flash of red light sending shrapnel out like a grenade and catching everyone off guard.

Kakashi turned to see nothing remained of the structure but a pile of melting ice on the bridge. In the middle of all the destruction was Naruto. He blazed with a magnificent aura and glared up at Haku who merely floated in mid air some twenty feet off the ground. Both of the Uzumaki's wakizashi were clenched in a white knuckled grip and the very metal of the weapons seemed to boil and froth in response to the demonic chakra.

"What the Hell?" gasped Zabuza when he saw the genin, "Haku kill him!"

Naruto looked over at the monster holding Ino captive and growled. He caught a glimpse of motion out of the corner of his eye and spun, simultaneously hurling the darker of his two swords at Haku, and rushing at Zabuza with inhuman speed. The missing nin had no time to do anything before the fiery red fist smashed into his face causing him to drop Ino and sending him hurling backwards. The missing nin crashed into a pile of boxes, but hurriedly leapt up and charged at Naruto, flailing his massive sword as easily as if it were just a rapier.

Haku dodged the blade flying for his face by a hair's breath, feeling it nick his ear as it passed by. The nin in blue watched as Naruto laid into Zabuza and the two began to duel in a flurry of chaotic attacks, parries and war cries. Something in the hunter nin twinged, an instinct told him to dodge or die, and he burst up higher in the air, propelled by the special wind jutsu of flight.

Even as he flew, Haku felt a searing edge slice into his calf and rend his leg open from his knee to his heel. He turned around and saw none other than Sasuke, holding Naruto's sword, sailing through the air in a tall arc.

"Impossible," muttered the hunter as he collapsed to the ground, clutching at his injured leg, "You were dead."

Sasuke landed, facing away from Haku and stood up, blood dripping from the tip of the blade in his hand. He flicked his wrist and scattered the crimson liquid across the ground.

"Not even close," said the Uchiha boldly as he pulled a needle from his shoulder and tossed it to the ground: the last remaining trace of his wounds. He turned around, grinning wickedly and starring at Haku through crimson eyes, with irises as black as hell and shaped like wickedly curved throwing stars. One glance into those eyes sent a chill down Haku's spine.

The two nin faced off after Haku tied a strip of cloth tightly around his leg, and stared each other down. Red explosions of chakra erupted all over the opposite sides of the bridge as Naruto and Zabuza dueled, but neither the hunter nin nor Sasuke cared. This was going to be their duel and theirs alone.

"Zabuza is truly a monster," said Haku, "And accepting the gift of Akatsuki has done nothing to weaken him, but even so…" Haku paused to let the full effects of his words seep in. "despite his marvelous strength and ferocity, he's nothing compared to me."

Sasuke hesitated and looked at Haku through his new eyes like a starving cat looks at a troublesome mouse. "I suppose then," said the Uchiha with an air of pretension, "That Naruto will make short work of him then."

Sasuke moved his hand up in front of his face and flipped his bangs out of his eyes and glared at Haku. The air in front of the Uchiha exploded into a wall of white fire that rushed forwards at Haku with inhuman speeds, charring everything in its path and fusing the bridges granite tiles into a solid sheet of glistening stone. The hunter nin disappeared in a flash of speed and Sasuke spun around, raising the wakizashi as Haku appeared. There was a metallic ring as the weapons collided and sparks showered over the ground.

Haku wrenched back and slashed again, this time with his other hand and another weapon. Sasuke blocked the attack and parried sending Haku stumbling back. The black pinwheels in Sasuke's eyes spun like a dervish and Haku leapt away as a geyser of the white fire burst up underneath him nearly igniting his cloak. Sasuke appeared behind the nin in blue who spun to block the short sword just in time to avert what would have been a fatal blow, and both of the nins vanished.

Clangs resounded throughout the arena as the two of them materialized only long enough to strike at one another before disappearing again. Flashes of light were the only proof of their positions, as the two met sometimes as high as a hundred feet in the air or as low as beneath the bridge. Even to Kakashi as he stole Ino and Tazuna to a safer location, it seemed that two hornets were relentlessly having at one another in a furious dance, while in a less chaotic, but just as deadly battle, a burning Naruto attacked Zabuza relentlessly, driving him farther and farther towards the edge of the bridge.

The missing nin's sword was hacked nearly to pieces; deep gashes were left wherever Naruto's blade made contact, and as the battle raged it was quickly becoming evident that Kyuubi was going to carry the day. Naruto's muscles surged with demonic charka, and despite the nausea that was beginning to grip him, the genin carried on as if he were fine.

Finally, Zabuza's grip slipped on his sword and the massive blade flew from his hand, clattering across the bridge and bumping into a crate. Zabuza turned and jumped for the sword with Naruto in hot pursuit. His massive hand clenched around the handle and Zabuza turned, raising the blade as his last security.

Naruto slashed down on the large sword, and raised the blade and hacked again before the missing nin could react. Again and again Naruto slashed at the blade, cutting deep wounds in it, frenzied from the adrenaline and surge of battle. Zabuza's arm sank lower with each blow, as with each strike he saw death a little more clearly.

At last the blade snapped in two and Naruto's sword sliced through the air on a course to a stunned Zabuza's skull.

"**DIE!!!**" screamed Naruto, his voice mingled with Kyuubi's own as the two personalities began to blend.

Zabuza tried to roll away and threw up his arm in defense.

Naruto's sword passed effortlessly through flesh and bone, severing Zabuza's arm at the elbow as the missing nin tried desperately to get away. Both ninjas howled, one in agony and the other in delight as the limb thudded to the ground and slowly began to drain of blood.

"MY ARM!" bellowed Zabuza as he fell to the ground, clutching the stub protruding from his shoulder.

Naruto walked over and picked up the severed limb, holding it up in front of him. The dying skin under his fingers began to char and crackle in face of the demonic energy as Naruto and Kyuubi began to laugh uproariously. "**It's no longer anything of yours!**" bellowed the demon through its vessel, "**And before long your head won't be either!**"

"Little Fucker!" growled Zabuza, "Haku is going to-"

"**Haku**," laughed Naruto and Kyuubi "**Will soon be lying face down in a pool of his own blood while I feed you to the sharks in tiny pieces. ARGH!**"

Naruto yelped as a shooting pain burned through his shoulders, and he turned his head to see a trio of needles sticking out of his jacket and Haku hovering in midair. The hunter nin charged, sailing through the air straight for Naruto with an icy knife in each hand prepared to cut the Uzumaki to ribbons.

Demon chakra surged through Naruto and the boy jumped forwards, impacting Haku and the two of the tumbled to the ground. The hunter nin wretched in pain as the poisonous chakra instantly began to eat at his skin and burn away his energy. Sasuke appeared beside the contorted tangle of bodies to watch.

Haku furiously stabbed the blades into Naruto, not caring where he hit or even how much damage he did but just wanting desperately to get free of the deathly embrace. Had he not had a mask on, it would have been plain that the hunter's eyes were being dissolved away by the chakra and by now his skin was liquefying.

After a dozen seconds of agonized screams and struggling the body in Naruto's arms finally stopped moving and collapsed. Naruto stood up, still glowing with the chakra, and looked over at Sasuke whose eyes still bore the strange markings. The two smiled, almost mischievously as Naruto held out his fist and the Sasuke did the same. The two rapped their knuckles together as the red glow faded away and Sasuke's eyes returned to their normal state.

"Now," said Naruto, turning to where he'd left Zabuza… but the nin was gone. In his place stood Kakashi, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. A sudden wave of fatigue rolled over Sasuke and his knees buckled. He steadied himself and sat down as Naruto did the same to stave off a dizziness that was creeping in.

"Kakashi-Sensei," muttered Naruto.

The Jounin looked up and walked over, the knelt down in front of the two genin and smiled. He glanced between them for just a moment, then sat down and put his hands together.

"You two," he began, "Have more potential than I ever would have thought possible."

"Where's Zabuza?" asked Sasuke quietly as he rolled his head back and closed his eyes, "We've got to go after him."  
"No, not now," said Kakashi shaking his head. "Eventually yes but for the present I'm amazed either of you can even speak. You need to rest for a while."

"But where is he?" asked Naruto.

**Don't worry kit,** said Kyuubi, **He got a massive dose of my chakra. He won't live to see another sunrise.**

_You sure? _Naruto asked the fox.

**Positive. His internal organs were literately falling apart. He's a dead man.**

Kakashi stood up and pointed off south, towards the channel. "He's not our problem now."

SC

The holds of the big barge floating in the Wave's channel were dark and cold as ever. So cold in fact that candle providing the only light in Gauto's quarters was struggling to stay lit, while Gauto himself pressed his back into the corner. His fat belly heaved as he panted and fear glinted in his eyes as he stared at the massive silhouette standing in his doorway.

It was Zabuza.

The missing nin held the last of Gauto's guards by the throat, dangling him off the floor as the man choked and wretched for air. With a flick of the missing nin's wrist the man's head flew back with a loud snap, and Zabuza let the dead body fall to the floor as he advanced towards Gauto.

"Wait," yelled Gauto, his voice breaking in terror as he held up his hand for Zabuza to stop, "Don't kill me! It wasn't me!" Gauto glanced over at Tobi who was standing quietly in the corner of the room watching things unfold.

"It was him! Kill him!" cried Gauto, pointing at Tobi who cocked his head off to one side, "He told me to do it! It's not MY fault!"

"Oh but it is," growled Zabuza, "You were the one who hired Haku and I, and you were the one who arranged that grand disaster. So you are the one who's going to pay for Haku's death."

Gauto turned to Tobi and dropped to his knees. "Please, spare me!" pleaded Gauto. "Zabuza is the one you should punish. He's the one who failed."

Tobi stifled a laugh and leaned back against the wall. "He may have failed you," said the Akatsuki nin, "But you failed me. So you are going to pay the price."

Gauto turned back to Zabuza and pressed against the wall as much as his girth would allow.

"You're fucked," said Zabuza flatly, as Tobi walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

AN: Ahhhh. I fell better after finishing that. For all those of you who are weary of lots of action and just looking for fluff, I have good news, much relief is ahead. And for those of you saying you want even more action I also have good news, you'll get it. Again, sorry about taking that long to update but I've been obscenely busy (plus my computer is screwed up so I had to do most of this at thelibrary lol). Reviews for me please if you want more! 


	18. Provincial Haven

AN: Hey, 50 cal here again. About last chapter… … … I'm glad everyone who reviewed seemed to think it was cool and not a bore as are most other "climaxes" from the wave arc. That's what I was shooting for. And to answer a question; yes, Fanfai had to die for Sasuke to think her blood was on his hands, and yes he really did get the Mangekyou which lets him do all kinds of fun little tricks (as you'll see later muahaha) but you'll have to stick with me for that. I hope you all like fluff. On with the Fic!

* * *

Provisional Haven

"Naruto! Would you care to do the honors?" Tazuna shouted jubilantly. The old man stood up straight next to the entry ramp of the Great Bridge's main platform, holding a massive pair of scissors and wearing, of all things, a tailored suit. He gestured for the genin to ascend the ramp and join him at the podium.

The massive crowd, easily five thousand people assembled in front of the bridge, all cheered uproariously. Some jumped in the air, some clapped their hands above their heads while others clanged cymbals and jangled tambourines, but absolutely every one of them roared their approval and unreserved joy.

Naruto's throat caught as he stood there in the front row of people. He hadn't expected to be singled out for some kind of honor. He glanced from side to side at Sasuke and Ino, both of whom gestured for him to go, then he looked at Kakashi who just smiled and closed his eye.

"Come on now," said the old man acting as the master of ceremony, "Don't be shy. You deserve this."

Naruto looked up at the podium, then grinned as he took Ino's hand in his and started forward, putting his free hand on Sasuke's shoulder and leading both of them up towards Tazuna. The already deafening cheers exploded and seemed to shake the ground with their volume.

Ino promenaded with all the poise of a queen, nearly gliding up and enjoying the attention in no small way. Sasuke on the other hand walked with his feet almost dragging along the ground and his hands in his pockets, though, when he reached the podium he quickly gained his composure.

Men and women of every age shouted praises as the three genin reached the podium and stood beside the old man as he looked on approvingly, then glanced down at the long red ribbon sectioning off the bridge.

Sasuke and Ino knew exactly what to do and each took hold of the ribbon and held up a taught portion while Naruto received the oversized scissors from Tazuna and walked over to his team mates. The blonde boy held the blades over the ribbon and turned for confirmation from Tazuna.

He motioned for Naruto to wait just a second, as he held his hands out over the crowd. "Everyone!" he shouted with astounding volume, "One week ago to the day, Gauto, an evil madman who had been plaguing us for more than two decades, saw what we were trying to do here with this bridge. He saw that we were making a stand for freedom and justice and he was afraid. Gauto was so obsessed with prolonging our slavery to him that he attacked us as we worked and killed many of our friends and family members.

"Gauto nearly destroyed us. But he failed. He failed to keep us oppressed. He failed to hold us down. He finally failed, and we were finally freed to build this bridge. We are finally free!"

The crowd exploded. They stomped their feet and cheered to the heavens, shouting words such as 'freedom' and 'liberty' as loud as they possibly could.

"We," continued Tazuna, just as loud, "owe our freedom to everyone who built this bridge: to the men who died here under Gauto's attack, and to those who worked tirelessly and selflessly no matter what, but perhaps most of all, we owe our freedom to dear friends, the ninja of Konoha! I name this bridge The Great Link for it will stand, until the foundations of the world are undone, as a symbol of freedom and our undying gratitude to our friends who made it possible! Cut the ribbon!"

Naruto beamed from ear to ear as he slammed the scissors shut and severed the long red band. Sasuke and Ino let go and it fell to the ground like a giant snake that had been cut in two. Without pause the crowd began to rush up the ramp and onto their bridge.

For Naruto, life suddenly became a dream. Even as al the people began to rush by him, even as they all cheered him and the others and shouted their praises and thanks, all he could really see was Ino. All he really found himself caring about was the way she was smiling back at him, and despite the excitement, all Ino could think about was the way Naruto's eyes just shimmered.

It was nothing if not a beautiful scene…fit for a portrait really. The two genin stood no more than five feet apart just gazing at one another with the most tender affection showing plainly on their faces. Everyone around seemed to fade into the background as by unspoken consent, they reached out, joined hands and began to walk against the flow of people off the bridge.

Kakashi watched the two young genin leave hand in hand, and considered following them as they entered the small village on the shore, but, remembering back to more innocent times in his own life, just smiled and let them be.

_They're twelve years old_, he reasoned, _far too young to need a chaperone._

Kakashi shifted his glance around all the activity and festivities taking place and actually began to laugh when he caught sight of Sasuke. The young Uchiha was in the center of a crowd of girls and young ladies, each vying for his attention. But more amusing still was the fact that he seemed to be relishing the attention.

_Good, maybe this will help him heal a bit…_ thought Kakashi, as Sasuke turned to accept a pen and sign a scrap of paper.

SC

"And what can I get for you and the little lady?" asked the tall, aged waiter as he escorted Naruto and Ino out of the afternoon sun and into the dimly but comfortably lit restaurant, "A booth by the window perhaps?"

"Oh that would be lovely, don't you think?" said Ino.

Naruto nodded, "As long as I get to be with you I'll be happy," he said.

Ino blushed a little as the waiter cordially and discreetly smiled and began leading them through the rows of tables and booths. Naruto walked side by side and hand in hand with Ino, and noticed a stark lack of business in the restaurant; for the two dozen or so tables and the booths lining the walls there were only a handful of patrons.

The waiter looked back and noticed Naruto looking about and guessed his thoughts. "Ay, there aren't many people who eat here anymore," he said in a somewhat nasal voice, "Not for a while now at least."

"What's the matter?" Ino asked as the waiter seated them in a particularly comfy booth by a window that overlooked the coast and channel.

"Don't be a' worrying," he said, "It's not the strambolli and fettuccini. It was Gauto. For a long time this place was the premier source for fine cuisine in the region, which meant we were a little expensive but nothing the populace many years ago couldn't afford."

"But after Gauto moved in and things got bad no one could afford to eat here right?" asked Naruto.

The waiter nodded sadly. "But we managed to keep our doors open through little things like… well… I'm not entirely sure how we did it but it was done. And you can imagine how glad I was to hear that Tazuna-Sama had decided to build his bridge right on my doorstep, business is sure to boom now."

"I can imagine," said Ino, taking a menu and opening it up as Naruto did the same.

"Just let me know when you're ready," said the waiter, "And don't worry about paying anything. This is all on the house."

"We couldn't," said Naruto, thinking about the sadly few customers, "I mean we should at least pay for our meal."

"Nonsense," blurted the waiter, "I am the proprietor here after all… I'm just waiting tables to conserve funds until the traffic picks up, so I can give my free food to anyone I want. The least I could do is to repay those who saved my life."

"What do you mean?" asked Ino.

"When I was volunteering on the bridge the other night, I was jumped by at least fifty of Gauto's thugs!" he exclaimed, stretching out his arms for dramatic emphasis, "And they were all saying '**Shikigen we're going to kill you good and slow'** when suddenly there was some heavenly bright flash and they all fell dead." He paused for a second and looked at Naruto, "And you sir were there in their place, shining like the sun on a summer day. Now I'll leave you to each other, but again thank you for saving me."

The waiter bowed and began to walk away, leaving a smiling couple at the table.

"Wasn't it night during that attack?" asked Ino once Shikigen was out of earshot.

Naruto nodded and shrugged his shoulders playfully, "I think our friend has a flare for drama, but he seems like a nice enough guy."

Ino leaned forward, setting the menu down and rested her chin on her folded hands, revealing her tightly wrapped wrist and looking across the table at Naruto. "But he was right you know."

Naruto looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You shine like the sun to me."

Naruto stammered and smiled, then looked down. He wasn't sure what to think and he hadn't had much practice at responding to compliments, especially when said compliment came from a girl sitting across a table from him.

The boy put his hands on the upholstery beside him and looked around. "I've always thought you were beautiful," he said sheepishly.

Ino grinned and looked down. She had hoped he'd compliment her, but now that he had it had only made her more self conscious, more aware of her… appearance.

"Are you kidding?" she said, trying to sound confident, "I look terrible."

She shifted, trying to position her hands to hide the dark, blotchy bruises still clinging to her jaw line and that ran along her cheekbones, as well as the shady discoloration under her eyes. But even her hands were still bruised from when Zabuza had relentlessly beaten her.

"I don't think so," said Naruto smiling, "the makeup took care of all the damage."

"Naruto…" said Ino quietly, "I'm not wearing any."

"Oh," gasped Naruto, trying to act surprised, "really?"

Ino blushed and set her hands in front of her and avoided his gaze.

**That was a clever one kit, **said Kyuubi humouredly, **did you rehearse that one or are you naturally a gentleman?**

_Oh be quiet,_ said Naruto, _I'm trying to…_

**Oh, I was merely saying I was impressed. That sounded like it came from an age before chivalry died.**

_Can you just stay out of this? Please?_

**I suppose, but you and I are going to talk later about ... what I will expect. Just be glad that blondes tend to be more receptive to flattery.**

With that Naruto felt Kyuubi's presence ebb from his consciousness, really for the first time since before the first battle on the bridge.

"You're sweet," Ino stammered.

Naruto reached out and set his hand on top of Ino's as she looked up into his eyes.

The sun was setting as Naruto and Ino strode out of the restaurant. Naruto, with his arm around Ino's shoulder, was smiling merrily and enjoying the feeling of a belly full of the most scrumptious food he'd had in a long time, while Ino was merely soaking in the feeling of the contact. Shikigen bid them a final and fond farewell, and then went back inside.

"We ate nearly a week's wages in food today," Ino said almost laughing, "that was delicious."

"No kidding," said Naruto, "that pasta was incredible."

"So what do you want to do now? Kakashi-Sensei said he'd send for us when it was time to go?"

Naruto paused and looked up just in time to see the first star appear in the sky.

"We could go stargazing," he suggested.

"Hmmm," Ino mumbled, "sitting out under the sky with you, watching as the stars slowly come out with no one else around… How could I say no?"

Naruto smiled and asked if she had anywhere she'd like to go before hand.

"Anywhere you want to go," she said feeling more confident and leaning into him some more, "I'd be happy to follow."

"How about over there," said the blonde boy pointing towards an outcropping of rock farther inland that was jutting out of a tall hill.

"Ok," said Ino, "Race you there!" Before Naruto had the time to realize what was going on, Ino had jumped forward and dashed off down the road.

Not being the type to let a challenge go unanswered, Naruto quickly caught on to what she was doing and took off after her, starting to catch up after a few long strides. Ino however, not to be outdone so easily decided he was close enough to actually start running with the intent to beat him there.

Some minutes later, after both of the young genin had dodged and weaved about numerous obstacles scattered about the base of the hill, both lay next to each other panting on the stone outcropping. After they decided they were having far too much fun and had too much energy to stop and watch the stars come out the race had really degenerated into a game of tag amongst the rocks, ending when both participants had tired themselves out enough to need a rest.

(AN: Ninja tag isn't like our tag. It takes far more energy to run away from dozens of shadow clones than it does a normal person, and should one player suddenly turn into a rock… it makes her difficult to find and thusly, difficult to tag.)

"I had no idea - you were that fast," Naruto puffed as Ino shifted to rest her head on his chest, "You were like lightning."

Ino smiled. "Well," she said in a playfully haughty tone, "A true kunoichi of Konoha has to be strong, smart and fast."

"Don't forget cute," said Naruto, "You fit all around."

Ino just smiled and looked up at the sky. The darkness was quickly rolling in from the east and the stars were appearing more and more frequently. After a few minutes of enjoyable silence, most of the brighter constellations were visible and Ino began to point them out as they took shape and began to slowly trail across the sky.

Naruto felt a stir in the back of his mind, just before Kyuubi's voice began to echo through his consciousness.

**This little girl knows much about the signs in the sky. Has she had formal training in astronomy?**

_I thought I told you to stay out of this_, grumbled Naruto

**I was merely curious, no need to get angry. And I thought you might appreciate an offer of my help.**

_What do you mean?_

**She knows the signs but not their meanings or stories. I, on the other hand, have seen the rise and fall of numerous civilizations and over the ages have come to familiarity with hundreds of shapes and patterns as well as many stories behind each one. You'd be amazed at how many different people recognize the same shapes and ascribe similar meanings to each.**

_And…?_

**Females are sometimes impressed when someone shows an interest in a subject they like, and what better way to show interest in astronomy than to be well versed in its history… or at least to give the appearance of knowledge.**

_So you want to feed me information so I look smart to her?_

**Exactly**

_Hmmm. Sounds good to me, _thought Naruto happily.

Immediately Kyuubi began to draw Naruto's attention to different constellations which Naruto would then point out to Ino while the demon prepped him on the name of the pattern, what cultures recognized it, and some of the stories behind it.

"That," said the boy as he pointed up and traced his finger in an imaginary V shape in the sky, "Is Pico: a pair fish that, according to the Wave's mythology, swam so far upstream that they reached the heavens. And there," he pointed to a collection of stars vaguely resembling a box with two arms, "you can see Aiches."

"Where did you learn all of this?" asked Ino smiling.

Naruto grinned. "It's just stuff you pick up when you hang around weird people."

**Watch it kit.**

"Wow. I never knew almost any of this," said Ino, "I mean I'm pretty familiar with most of Konoha's mythology and constellations, but never all of this."

"Well, there's a lot more if you're interested," said Naruto.

Ino hesitated, then rolled on her side with him still on his back and leaned in until her face was within inches of his. She smiled and looked into his eyes.

"Oh I'm definitely interested," she said. "Why don't you tell me some more?"

SC

Sasuke pushed open the door to the hotel room Kakashi had rented for the genin and stumbled inside. He shut it behind him and collapsed on the bed, breathing hard. Sweat beaded on his brow and his complexion was nearly devoid of color.

"Damn…" he muttered, "Damn it's been days now and I still feel drained…"

"Those eyes will do that to you," whispered a serpentine voice from the darkened corner of the room.

Sasuke's heart nearly burst as he leapt up like a startled cat. He reared back, ready to strike and instantly activated the Mangekyou, scanning the room and finding the intruder in a flash.

The silver haired man in the corner raised his hands in a surrendering motion and cocked his head off to one side. "Who, whoa," he said in an unaffected way as what little light there was in the room glinted off his circular glasses, "no need to do that, I just want to talk."

As near as the Uchiha could tell, the man was unarmed, and not molding any chakra for a jutsu. It really would seem he just wanted to talk. Nevertheless, Sasuke didn't relax his guard but maintained a battle ready stance and sized up his guest, despite the rapidly growing migraine beginning to burn behind his eyes.

"My name's Kabuto," he said shrugging his shoulders, "And just by the look in your eyes, or more accurately, the eyes themselves, it's obvious you know I'm not trying to pull anything."

Sasuke nodded but wasn't going to take any chances. He could still tell there was something … off… about this Kabuto person.

"What do you want?" asked the Uchiha.

"I'd just like to have a casual conversation, then if you'll listen to what I've got to say I'll be on my merry way and you can go on yours. Sound pleasant?"

"Let's have it," said Sasuke, eager to get rid of this uninvited nuisance before the Mangekyou drained every last bit of his energy.

"Right to the point," said Kabuto, "An admirable trait if for no other reason than your quickly running low on energy and just want me to leave."

Sasuke flinched.

"So I hit the nail on the head then," said the man in the glasses almost playfully, "but never mind. I just wanted to tell you that my organization has had its eye on you for several months now. You have the potential for greatness. Your whole team does really, but who I'm most interested in is you: you, one of the few remaining Uchiha in the world."

"Meaning?" growled Sasuke.

"I'm getting there, no hurry now. As I was saying, one need only look in a history book to see that your clan has been a force to be reckoned with through the ages. In all three of the great ninja wars it was the Uchiha who provided their villages with the edge to come out on top. The Sharingan and Mangekyou work like tools from heaven."

"Get to the point," barked Sasuke, becoming impatient.

"I am," said Kabuto, just as calm as when he arrived, "I'd like to ask you for your … unique services. I was hoping you might be willing to lend my organization that decisive Uchiha edge in exchange for compensation beyond your wildest dreams."

"Fuck off," said Sasuke, "If this offer of yours was anything legit then you'd have approached me back in Konoha. Meaning you want me to turn traitor."

"Is it really traitorous to rid Konoha of a dreaded enemy?" asked Kabuto, "what do you know of the group of S-Class criminals who call themselves the Akatsuki?"

"Never heard of them."

"Well, suffice it to say you and I and Konoha share a common enemy in the Akatsuki. You see, their goals are directly in opposition to my organization's own, and Konoha's not overly fond of them either."

"I don't see how that makes them my enemy," said Sasuke, "Or Konoha's for that matter. If this Akatsuki really even exists then they haven't done anything against Konoha or it would have been in the archives."

Kabuto smiled. He'd backed Sasuke into a corner and was ready to play his trump card. "The slaughter of the Uchiha Clan is recorded in the Archives isn't it?"

Sasuke froze and his eyes snapped open wide. The Mangekyou faded, replaced by Sasuke's natural raven eyes as the last usable fragment of his chakra vanished.

"Let me tell you a little more about just what both your village and mine have against Akatsuki," said Kabuto.

Kabuto was interrupted by a clattering at the door as the knob began to turn.

"Think about it, Uchiha," said the silver haired nin as he dashed to the open window, "I'll be in touch."

No sooner had Kabuto disappeared into the night, leaving Sasuke exhausted and bewildered, than the door opened up. Naruto and Ino strode in, hand in hand.

"Good evening Sasuke," said Naruto happily.

"Evening," Sasuke said quietly, "Where have the two of you been all night?"

The two blondes grinned and looked at each other before turning to Sasuke with the 'I have no idea what you could possibly be implying' kind of grin.

"Well I suppose it's none of my business anyway," said the raven haired boy, smiling and deciding to try and not think about Kabuto, Akatsuki, or… "Though I'm guessing you two enjoyed your date."

Ino grinned, not sure what to say as Naruto put his hand behind his head. "You're the one with the Sharingan, not me," said the Uzumaki.

"I guess I am at that, but do you two think you could keep it down? It's past two and Kakashi said we'd be going home tomorrow."

"Really!?" Ino gasped joyously, "That soon?"

"That's the idea," said Sasuke, "We leave tomorrow at noon and if we hurry we'll get back in less than half the time it took us to get here."

"Awesome!" Naruto and Ino jointly cheered.

"But speaking of which, where is Kakashi," asked Naruto.

"He said he had some business to finalize," said Sasuke, "But he's been gone for a while and just told me to tell you not to worry if he was a little late getting back."

SC

"It's definitely Zabuza," muttered Kakashi, starring at the mangled cadaver laying on the autopsy table in front of him.

"Yes, I know," said the coroner standing beside the Jounin and Tazuna, "But I thought the two of you might appreciate seeing it first hand; give you a little closure and all of that."

"Closure would be nice," said Kakashi crossing his arms and frowning, "But Gauto is still out there and as long as he is, this country is still in danger."

Tazuna couldn't help but crack a smile.

"What's on your mind?" asked the copy nin.

"Gauto is officially a non issue," said the old man as the coroner left the room, muttering something about gruel.

"Oh? And why is that?"

Tazuna walked over to a metal cabinet and motioned for Kakashi to follow him. When the nin had stepped beside the engineer, Tazuna reached out and opened one of the doors which swung open on creaky hinges.

"Oh," mumbled Kakashi, "That's why."

Inside the cabinet, sitting on a steel platter was the severed head of the black market kingpin, sunglasses, bristly hair and all. The expression on the face was nothing if not steeped in utter terror.

"Zabuza himself delivered it to the town patrol," said Tazuna with a victorious tone in his voice, "just before he fell to the ground dead."

"Well," said the copy nin, "A little grotesque, but I suppose the Demon of the Mist wanted to die the same way he lived."

"Brutally?" suggested Tazuna.

Kakashi shook his head, "Living by his own rules."

* * *

AN: Hey gang. Hope you all enjoyed chapter 18. I tried to provide a little bit of both worlds, the fluff and the plot developing stuff (and I added a little bit for my macabre friends there at the end.) speaking of which, I've got a few questions I'd like everyone to answer for me.  
1. Is Sasuke's Mangekyou cool or just encumbering at this point in the story?  
2. Am I overpowering anyone?  
3. I'd just like a general overview of what you're thinking as you read this, good bad and ugly, let me know how I'm doing.  
Oh, and I just wanted to send out a special thank you to HitmanPAC. As much as I had to swallow my pride to read that, I'm always looking for advice on how to make things better. (and yes, I am trying to guard against overpowering. Hence the survey and trying to tone down the Mangekyou while playing up the energy draining aspect.) Anyway, Sayonara all until we meet again! 


	19. The End of the Mission

AN: Hey everybody, glad to see you all again, it's been a while and I've missed writing TT. but with all kinds of tests and … other complications things haven't really allowed for me to revisit the lot of you, but nonetheless I've broken away to write another chapter. Read, review, enjoy. On with the Fic!

* * *

The End of the Mission

**Good Naruto, very nicely done**, bellowed Kyuubi in Naruto's mind.

Performing to the demon's standards was rare, but actually receiving a compliment on his efforts was unprecedented, so naturally Naruto's confidence soared as he twirled and masterfully executed the finishing blow, dispatching his imagined enemy with a flick of his wrist. The blonde genin landed gracefully on the black ground as the pieces of the enemy nin Kyuubi conjured fell unceremoniously on either side of him.

The blonde stood up and rolled his neck, surveyed the terrain; eight bodies total, or pieces thereof were strewn about the miniature battlefield, which consisted mainly of a mock Konoha with some forest thrown in around the edges. The two blades shimmered in the bloody light, completely devoid of stain, as they'd not remained in their victims long enough for the blood to stick.

One of Kyuubi's massive tails twitched in the dark, and the scenery, as well as the dead bodies that littered it, shimmered and vanished, leaving Naruto in a blank field of dark.

The boy walked to the massive cage and sat down with his back to one of the massive bars, and took a satisfied breath. "So how'd I do?" he asked, already knowing what the fox would say but wanting to hear it anyway.

**Surprisingly well, **said Kyuubi, **many of the kendo masters of old would have been satisfied with your performance if you were one of their neophyte learners. But don't let it go to your head, compared to the masters you're still only a child playing with sticks.**

"I tried," said Naruto, recognizing that being compared with even the worst of the old warriors by Kyuubi was a high compliment. "You were around when the old masters were still alive right?"

**I was new to this world, but yes, I was there. What business do you have with it?**

"I was just thinking," said Naruto picking up just a little of the seemed defensiveness in Kyuubi's voice, "you've mentioned them a bit and each time you made them out to be like super human. Who were they?"

Kyuubi hesitated. **You're asking for a few thousand years of history in which every detail is of great importance, but suffice it to say that the 'old masters' I mentioned were the ancestors of everyone who is today. Even the greatest of your ninjas pales in comparison to their apprentices.**

"Were they ninjas?" asked the boy, wonder in his voice.

**No,** Kyuubi said with his condescending chuckle, **they were more like Samurai, but if you mean to ask if they could use chakra, then yes. As I said, they were gods by today's standards.**

"Wow, so what were they like? I mean were they nice and good people or were they really evil?"

Kyuubi grumbled a little to himself. **SO many questions that would take years to answer… But I suppose there's no real harm in curiosity either, though we lack the time to properly discuss the ancient history of this world, perhaps when we return to Konoha I'll tell you a bit about them.**

Naruto frowned and crossed his arms, "But if they were so great I want to know about them. Could you at least teach me some of what they knew? Like jutsus and stuff?"

**You lack the strength, kit, **said Kyuubi with no small measure of mockery in his voice, **not only do you have far too little chakra to perform any of their most basic techniques correctly, but your body would never be able to bear the strain.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Naruto angrily, "Of course I could take it!"

**Kit, **said Kyuubi, a deathly cold edge in his rumbling voice, **I'm tired of your impertinence and impatience on this subject. The day may eventually come when I'll teach you some of what they knew. But this body is my vessel, if it dies so do I, and I will not let you destroy it trying to master a jutsu beyond your abilities. You may eventually be strong enough, but not yet.**

"But how can you expect me to get strong enough to learn their skills if you don't teach me more than cool little moves with these swords?" Naruto shouted angrily, pointing one of the blades in his hands accusingly at the demon, "When do I get to learn something more useful to a ninja!?"

Kyuubi snapped his jaws with an ear splitting snap. **I'm growing tired of this kit. You can either accept the training coming from an all powerful demon who wants to keep you alive, or you can go off and flounder in your own inadequacy.**

Naruto nearly leapt through the bars but bit his lip for a moment. "Your training is making me inadequate!" he yelled, "teach me the old ninja arts, not sword tricks!"

Kyuubi was silent for a moment, but the red mist covering the ground began to glow faintly until a deep rumble echoed throughout the chamber. Kyuubi's massive tails twitched in the air.

**Fine, **Kyuubigrowled loudly, **If you want to learn new jutsus you must first prove that your body can handle the drain.**

Immediately the air around Naruto began to glow blue. The genin gasped as his limbs suddenly fell like lead weights at his side. Vaporous chakra began to pour out of him in every direction. His pupils dilated and contracted wildly as his breathing became erratic and painful.

**The energy escapes you kit, gather it into a moldable form or you'll die of exhaustion.**

Naruto tried to raise his arms to for a seal, any seal, to mold the chakra, but they were just too heavy, he was too tired. His muscles were burning, his lungs felt like they were going to explode.

**This is the energy required for a simple jutsu kit. I thought you said you could take it? Where is that confidence now? Try and call on the energy to seek out an enemy and burst his heart. Perform a simple combination of seals, go ahead, and try.**

Naruto heaved a breath and shouted in pain, bringing his hands up in front of him into the ram seal. His chakra fluctuated for only a second, but his arms fell back down before he could do anything.

The blue light disappeared and the boy fell backwards. A pillow of red chakra leapt up from the ground and caught him in the air, then lowered him slowly to the ground on his back. Naruto was gasping for breath. Blood was running out from the tips of his fingernails and the corner of his mouth as he lay there.

"You… you…" he tried to speak, but could barely muster the energy, "You sucked the chakra right… out of me… bastard fox. Trying to kill me."

Kyuubi hesitated, not for any reason though except to let Naruto lay there and realize just how wrong he'd been. **Kit, now do you understand? You just aren't strong enough yet. Not only do you lack the chakra for the attacks, but the jutsu you want to learn drain you of your very life force too.**

Naruto felt a little energy seep back into his body, and reached up to wipe the blood off of his cheek.

"Why am I bleeding?"

**In here kit, this is my domain. Whatever I command happens and I wanted you to feel the full extent of the damage you'd receive from attempting one of those jutsus.**

"I see," said Naruto exhausted. "In here… I can just close my eyes and instantly recover energy that would take days to get back in the real world… Why am I still so tired?"

**Because out there, if you had tried that technique, you'd be dead.**

"Right," said Naruto, feeling humbled, "Maybe I should wait a little while."

Kyuubi sat silent, not even uttering an I told you so kind of remark. His massive tail twitched before he spoke. **Sleep kit, you have to be up in a few hours, and I think tonight's lesson has been learned.**

Naruto just nodded as he suddenly felt the sensation of a warm bed all around.

SC

Early that morning team seven rose and got ready for their journey home, packing a few bags of the necessary commodities such as compact seedcakes hard tack, all of the unpleasant but filling foods that a traveler takes with them. From all three of the genin there was no shortage of griping about the lack of 'real' food, until Kakashi told them that the wave was still too poor to produce soldier pills, and that he had sold his to pay off an orphanage's taxes.

Wile none of the children was entirely convinced that Kakashi was indeed capable of such charity, they didn't want to fight about it. So the four of them set off into the city in the predawn hours towards home.

"It's kinda a funny feeling," said Naruto to the group, "starting back towards Konoha."

"How do you mean?" asked Kakashi, turning to look over his shoulder as he was leading the group.

Naruto hesitated for only a second, "It's just that, being away from home and going through all of this just makes the world seem like such a big place. Home seems so much smaller, whereas before it was all I knew so it was huge."

Kakashi just smiled through his mask, "That's why it's so important to defend your home," he said, "Because it IS that one little place in the world where you belong. There's an old cliché that home is where the heart is, and truer words were never spoken."

Bringing up the rear of the group, Sasuke grimaced. _But how do you protect it? _wondered the raven haired boy.

The four of them approached the edge of the bridge and began to ascend the ramp where not too long ago, Tazuna had honored them all as heroes. In each of them it evoked a sense of wonder as they rose to the level of the now clear platform and could see clear to the edge and into the wilderness beyond.

"You three are the reason for all of this," said Kakashi, stopping and looking at them. "I never would have guessed that three genin, not even a year out of the academy, could persevere through so much, much less come out and provide the people of a desolate community with such a treasure."

The Jounin closed his eye and smiled, "You've all done so well and I'm proud to be able to say you're my team. And you should each be proud to say that you were teammates."

Ino couldn't hold back but ran forward and hugged Kakashi around the waist while Naruto beamed from ear to ear and put his hand behind his head. Sasuke stood back with a grin on his face and gave Kakashi a slight but respectful bow.

"We couldn't have done it without you Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto, "You're a great leader, and we couldn't have asked for a better one."

Ino and Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"I couldn't ask for a better team," responded Kakashi, putting turning and steering them towards the west.

SC

"Hokage-Sama!" gasped the Chuunin as he burst into the dim but comfortable office.

Sarutobi turned in his high backed chair to face the new arrival. He puffed lazily on his pipe and glanced up from the report on the Wave mission that had arrived from Kakashi via carrier pigeon the day before.

"Ah," said the Hokage in relatively high spirits, "Glad you're hear because I need letters sent out to Suna and the rest of the alliance that both Momochi Zabuza and the arms dealer Gauto have been slain by Kakashi and team 7."

The Chuunin hesitated, slightly stunned. "Um, wonderful news," said the unimportant to the plot Chuunin, "I'll see to it right away, though you told me to alert you as soon as the Haruno girl was awake."

The old man raised an eyebrow and set down his pipe. "Yes? How is she?"

"She's conscious, but exceedingly weak, and I think she'd like to see you."

Sarutobi's eyebrow rose just a little higher.

"Only if you can make time of course," the Chuunin added hastily not wanting to be disrespectful.

"Oh, I think I can always make time for someone in need," said the Hokage in a grandfatherly type of tone.

"Please follow me sir."

The sunlight shone into the hospital room as Sarutobi opened the plain white door and stepped in. He took off his hat and held it in front of him, effectively stepping out of his rank for Sakura's sake as she lay almost helplessly on the bed in front of him.

"I was told you asked to see me," said the old man without a hint of unkindness in his voice.

The pink haired girl nodded, and slowly reached up to the scar running from one side of her alabaster throat to the other. Sarutobi flinched as she felt the darker skin that the surgeons said could never be fully healed. He wished to heaven that there was someone in Konoha who could remove the blemish.

"I'm sorry dear," he said, "but we can get you something to cover it up if you wish."

Sakura, her eyes still closed shook her head from side to side, dismissing the statement all together.

"Naruto," she whispered, her voice breaking as she uttered the name, "is he alright?"

* * *

AN: Ah, the wonders of getting busy with school… How I hates it! Oh well. Im sorry that it can't really be helped but such superfluous chores as school really do take away from the things I like most… Anyway I decided to try something new with a short and concise chapter. I kinda liked it but could go either way really. That's what I'd like to ask all of you.

Short chapters good or bad? Granted, not all of them would be puny and not all would be monstrous, but a few of each here and there. Reviews for me please!


	20. What do Girls Want

AN: Ah, I'm back once again, but would you look at the time. I'd say it's about that point again where I ask you all to please forgive me for being late with the update, then provide some explanation like school being a pain in the neck as usual, though I think you all get the idea by now. Anyway, here's chapter 20, and I must warn the rest of you of what I've told BackYard (who is quite the author by the way,) and that would be … (dramatic pause) something I'll write in the ending Author's note Muahahahahaha! Read, Enjoy, Review!

* * *

What do Girls Want? 

Sarutobi scowled across the mahogany desk in front of him, not looking beyond Kakashi, but not making eye contact with him either. The Hokage was merely glaring angrily, leaving Kakashi to wonder what horrible thoughts were going through the old man's mind.

"Why," sighed the old man finally, placing his hand on his brow and closing his eyes.

Kakashi was silent for a moment. He knew exactly what Sarutobi was asking, but he was afraid to say what was on his mind.

"I knew they could handle it," stated the Jounin flatly.

The Hokage sighed again, seemingly unconvinced.

"Kakashi," he began, "I won't mince words with you. You overstepped your bounds with this, and if you were anyone else I'd likely have-" He stopped himself, trying to check his irritation, and took a deep breath.

"You've done a great service to a lot of people, that's not in question," said the Hokage in a quieter, but no less forceful tone, "But you knew as soon as those mist nin attacked you on the road that this mission was far more dangerous that we'd first guessed."

"I did sir," said the Copy Nin.

"Then why didn't you pull your squad back and leave the matters to more experienced ninja?"

Kakashi stayed silent for a moment, then uncrossed his arms and shrugged, "I considered it for a while, I even went so far as to threaten Tazuna-san, but after I thought further on the matter I decided it was well within my squad's capability to complete the mission."

Sarutobi sat back in his chair. "What evidence did you have of your team's abilities? They're fresh from the academy: untried and inexperienced. You had no way of knowing how they'd fare outside of controlled tests and exams."

"Hokage-Sama," said the copy nin in a far more serious tone than before, "I think we both see just how quickly Naruto and Sasuke are progressing, and Ino isn't lagging to far behind herself. She did after all go toe to toe with Zabuza and critically wound him. If not for his sheer brute strength-"

Sarutobi held up his hand and looked across at Kakashi. "Yes, I can see that Sasuke is growing at an incredible, albeit alarming rate. That Mangekyou of his does nothing if not prove to me that his potential is limitless. And Naruto… It's obvious those Maibu swords of his are influencing his development; he's even starting to fight like one of those old ninja."

"I had noticed that," muttered Kakashi, reflecting on Naruto's sudden mastery of Kinjutsu, "the memory of those swords is beginning to act on his style."

"As is the Kyuubi," said the Hokage, "You said in your report that Naruto possessed an uncanny ability to call on the demon's strength, meaning he not only knows of the fox, but is gaining control of its powers, and possibly even communing with it."

"I don't think that's an issue Hokage-Sama, after all, Kyuubi has a vested interest in keeping Naruto alive."

Sarutobi shrugged, "My thought exactly, so I'm not worried about Naruto interacting with the demon; primarily because I'm not sure if he really even can, and secondly because if he does, then the Kyuubi will do him no harm. But that's not the point. Yes your team is strong, but they're inexperienced. I'm not criticizing your achievements, but all that potential is meaningless if they or you end up dead."

"Alright," said Kakashi in an apologetic tone, "I may have taken a gamble with steep risks, but at least we came out on top. Besides, now they do have a considerable amount of experience under their belt."

"You always did have a way of getting under my skin with your arguments," said the Hokage, closing his eyes and putting two fingers on the bridge of his nose, "and not in a good way. Listen, all I'm going to say is that in the future, you have to be more careful. They're genin."

"And the Chuunin Exams are in a month," said Kakashi. "So soon they'll be Chuunin."

Sarutobi, still with his eyes closed, couldn't stop a smile from spreading across his face. "You have that kind of confidence in them already?"

"My confidence in my team, Sir," said the Copy Nin resolutely, "is absolute."

The Hokage chuckled only slightly and folded his hands on his desk. "I can remember when the Forth said that about you… where are the children now? I assume you gave them their pay?"

Kakashi inwardly sighed, glad to have changed the subject. "Yes sir, plus hazard pay. Sasuke I'm not sure about, he said he was going to go get something to eat before going to one of the training fields, while Naruto and Ino both went home."

SC

"How do think your mom is going to react when you tell her how you fought on the bridge?" asked Naruto, as he and Ino walked side by side… and hand in hand towards the Yamanaka abode.

Ino cringed, then shook off the chill that had shot down her spine. "I know exactly what she'll do; as soon as we turn the corner up here, we'll see her waiting at the front door, she'll yell how happy she is to see me, then rush forward and crush my back in a hug."

Naruto stifled a chuckle, then asked how she knew that, as Ino playfully nudged his arm.

"It's exactly what she did my first day walking home from the academy," giggled Ino, "And my second day of coming home from the academy."

"Really?" asked the boy, "I never would have pegged your mom for the overly worried sort. She does after all let you do the whole Ninja thing."

"Oh, she's not overly worried, just overly doting."

"Don't girls like that in their parents?" asked Naruto.

Ino smiled, "I love my mother, I just wish she'd wouldn't be quite so …" she searched for a word.

**Smothering, **suggested Kyuubi.

"Smothering," echoed Naruto.

"Exactly," said Ino, "thanks, but yeah. It's like because my brother died, and especially now that father has… passed on, I'm all my mother has and while she doesn't want to cling to me, she can't really help being incredibly overly affectionate at times."

Naruto's heart sank. "I never knew you had a brother," he said in a slightly quieter voice, "would you mind if I asked what he was like?"

Ino shrugged. "I never knew him. He died twelve years ago when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha."

Naruto nearly tripped over the perfectly smooth sidewalk.

**Mmm. How about you don't tell her about me for a long, long time.**

Naruto silently agreed and offered his condolences.

"Don't worry about it," said Ino, "as horrible as it may sound, it doesn't really bother me because like I said, I never knew him. I wouldn't mention him to my mother though. I've never heard her talk about him, but I don't know how she'd react."

"Ok," said Naruto "I won't but it might be something good for the two of you to talk about some time."

**Careful kit, this could be a very delicate matter.**

"I plan to eventually," said Ino as they rounded the corner onto the road leading to her house.

"Ino!!" shouted a feminine voice from down the way, "Naruto! I'm so glad the two of are home safe!"

Ino glanced over at him with an –I told you so- kind of look and a smile, as the older of the two Yamanaka women came jogging down the path towards them. Naruto looked off towards the house behind her and couldn't help but grin.

_She's still welcoming me home. I have a home._

Just then Ino playfully braced as if she expected to be hit by a rampaging bull, and put her arms up in front of her face in mock defense. She glanced over at Naruto again, not sure what to make of the slightly bewildered look on his face as her mother plowed into the young Kunoichi and scooped her up into a hug.

"I'm so glad to have the two of you home, and I can't wait to hear all about the mission" said Mrs. Yamanaka as she set Ino down and turned to face them, "But we shouldn't just be standing out here doing nothing, we can talk over a cup of tea."

Naruto grinned. The sudden hospitality was a welcome relief after what he and Team 7 had been through recently. "That sounds great," he blurted, "Wait till you hear how Ino stood up to a guy who Kakashi-Sensei was scared of!"

Ino blushed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, but didn't say anything, as her mother smiled warmly at Naruto and said that sounds scary.

"It was incredible," shouted Naruto, "She charged straight for him and stabbed him in the side…"

Naruto began to digress into the whole story of the battle on the bridge, talking with his hands as much as his mouth; he was flailing them around wildly in mock combat, as his own swords clanked in their joint sheath on his back.

Mrs. Yamanaka leaned down and whispered mischievously in Ino's ear, "so much for a cup of hot tea."

Ino nodded, and together she and her mother grabbed Naruto by the arm, and promptly, but not unkindly led him into the house. Naruto however, barely noticed that he was being moved, and continued to dictate the happenings of the fight.

"And then Sasuke and I totally were going crazy on that Haku character, while Kakashi-Sensei was just sitting back trying to keep up with us. It was great!"

Mrs. Yamanaka grinned and glanced across the small kitchen table, and looked between her daughter and Naruto, who were sitting a little closer together than they had been the last time the three of them were at this table. It was a fact she did not fail note. She especially took notice of the look in Ino's eyes as she watched the other genin … expound on the battle.

The girl looked almost starry eyed, like she was listening to the story of some star, or teen idol or something, and while Mrs. Yamanaka was far too level headed to be made uncomfortable by her daughter's behavior, she was not so naïve to file it away into the back of her mind.

"Naruto," said the older Yamanaka in an especially motherly voice.

"Oh, yes ma'am?" said the genin.

She glanced between Naruto and Ino a few more times before starting again. "How about I buy you ramen tonight at Ichiraku: anything you'd like and as much of it as you can eat?"

Naruto grinned, a little evilly, and forgot completely about telling her about the mission. "Nay, I really appreciate the offer, but we just got paid for a B-Class mission, and even a little extra for the trouble. Plus, I really can't tell you how nice it is that you're letting me stay here. If anyone should be buying anyone dinner I should be the one paying."

Mrs. Yamanaka smiled again, a little taken back by the maturity and generosity of the offer, but waving her hand to the compliment. "It's nothing I assure you." she said, "You're always as welcome here as anyone in the family and I love having you, but what I'm trying to say is that Ino and I need to have a little girl talk."

"Oh," said Naruto, a little surprised but not insulted by any means, "Sure, I can step out for a bit, maybe go pick on Sasuke-Chan a little bit." He winked at Ino as he said it and she winked back.

"What's up mother?" asked the Kunoichi.

"Oh you'll see," said Mrs. Yamanaka with an unreadable grin on her face (unreadable in the sense that you could tell she was grinning, but there was no indication as to why.)

"I'll see you two in a bit then I guess," said Naruto cheerily as he got up and began to walk from the kitchen.

"Come back in just a few hours!" shouted Mrs. Yamanaka and Ino in unison.

"Ok, I'll bring back ramen or something," said the blonde as he shut the front door behind him and set off down the path.

_Hmm, now what can I do for a few hours?_

**You could train, **said Kyuubi.

_Nah, I just got back from a mission. Maybe I'll go to the plaza and look around there for a while._

**Or you could train,** said the Fox a little more sternly.

_Why? I just want to relax a little bit. Don't you demons ever take a day off?_

**No, **said the Fox flatly, **Now how about you head out to that training field west of the Hospital and practice some jutsus or something.**

_That's it! I'll go to the Hospital and visit Sakura-Chan, Kakashi said she was doing better, and I've been missing her for a while now. What better to do then drop in on a friend right?_

Naruto could feel the demon sigh in the back of his mind.

**Fine, but tonight and tomorrow we hit it hard to make up for lost time.**

Naruto started down the road that led to the hospital and looked up at one of the clocks hanging above a store. It was just now 2pm and which meant he'd have plenty of time to talk to Sakura and grab a bite for dinner. Who knew, maybe Sakura would join him.

As he strode beside the street, he couldn't help but fondly picture the pink haired girl in his mind. Despite sometimes being the worst of people to him, Sakura really had always been there and her presence alone was somehow comforting he thought.

_Why are you so set on me spoiling my day off anyway? _Wondered the genin.

**I just want this body in prime condition in case you should suddenly have to fight for our life. After all, if you die so do I and I don't like the idea of oblivion.**

_Selfish thing aren't you?_

**Demon, **said the Fox in a –what did you expect- kind of tone.

_Fine, I'll hit it hard in training tonight. But only if you agree to teach me some cool jutsu._

**Agreed, but I decide the jutsu and you have to be alright with my decision.**

_Deal._

After a droll conversation with the fox about how exactly to navigate the streets of Konoha (Kyuubi was convinced they were going the wrong) Naruto had reached the large double doors of the Hospital and was pulling them open to allow an hunched old woman to enter.

"Thank you young man," said the woman, a smile creasing her ancient face.

Naruto just smiled in response and stepped in behind her and walked up to the desk.

"Name and do you have an appointment?" asked the very bored female receptionist without even looking up at him.

"Um," Naruto stammered, "Uzumaki and I'm here wondering if you could point me to Haruno Sakura's room?"

"Hey Kess!" shouted the receptionist in an annoyingly nasal voice after looking around the desk for a moment, "do we know where the roster is?"

"It's not there on the desk?!" shouted back an equally annoying voice from somewhere in the stacks of files behind the receptionist.

"No!"

Naruto was becoming irritated, and couldn't help but scratch at the counter with nails that were slightly longer than they had been a minute before.

"Well check again!" shouted the Kess character.

Naruto slammed his fist impatiently on the counter, and a whole mass of books and folders fell from the desk into the receptionists' lap and the floor around her chair.

"Might that be it?" asked Naruto, pointing to a hard back book in the receptionists' that plainly read "Room Roster."

"Oh," said the startled woman, "so it is," and she immediately flipped it open and began scrolling through the names and rooms and authorizations.

_What was that? _Asked Naruto in his mind after the sudden feeling of impatience had passed.

**I was growing tired of her incompetence, **said the demon, **Perhaps I went too far.**

_I'd say so, try to keep the whole dark side thing in check please._

Naruto sensed Kyuubi's agreement just as the receptionist collected herself and looked up from the book.

"It looks like Haruno Sakura is gone sir," she said, "checked herself out this morning and left with the Hokage."

"Really?" asked Naruto, "do you know where she is now?"

"Not personally," she said, "But you might try with the Hokage. I'm sure he'd know, sir. But he could be anywhere." The unease around the unusually strong boy was obvious in her voice, though she checked it well for someone without training.

"Have a good day, sir," she said, obviously wanting to be rid of Naruto, "I'll let the Hokage know you were here if he comes back and - EEK!"

The woman jumped up and stomped down with her high heeled shoe, trying to kill the rat that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere around her ankles. There were a series of loud clacks as she tried vainly to kill the rodent, but it dodged out and away from her stabs, and escaped behind Naruto's sandal where it peeked out at its aggressor.

"I'll take care of this little guy for you," said Naruto as he reached down and carefully picked up the rat which, surprisingly, didn't resist. "I'll put it outside away from the hospital."

The receptionist seemed satisfied and moved to straighten herself up and regain a presentable image, as Naruto, rat in hand, left out the large front doors. He walked about a quarter mile down the road and kneeled down by a bush.

**Finding the Hokage could be very difficult in this town, given the hour he's likely out and about, not in his office and tracking him down could be time consuming.**

"Yeah," muttered Naruto, looking at the rodent who seemed to be looking back up at him. He felt a strong desire from Kyuubi to devour the animal, but decided to just let it go.

"I don't suppose you know where old man Hokage is?" he asked as he set the rat down and it scampered away into the brush by the road.

**You're hungry, let's just go get something to eat.**

Naruto nodded and looked around to get his bearings before setting off for the nearest ramen stand. On the way he contemplated just looking around for the old man but decided Kyuubi was right and that it would be too hard to track him down in the time he had.

"Hey!" he heard a slightly raspy voice shout from a ways behind him.

Naruto turned to see none other that Sarutobi walking up the path towards him, smiling and welcoming him back.

"I heard you were looking for me," said the old man as he reached the genin.

"Um, yeah," Naruto stammered, surprised by just how lucky he'd gotten, "How'd you know?"

Sarutobi looked down at the ground at Naruto's feet, and Naruto glanced around just in time to see a little brown rodent scamper away into the grass. The old man grinned and waited for Naruto to say something.

"You're kidding," said the genin, "rats?"

"Well," said Sarutobi, "A long time ago, long, long time ago in my youth, I got tired of always putting up with rats. I saw them as useless little pests, but then I saw how quickly they scurried about it hit me that with a little bit of training, they could make great spies and messengers. When in doubt go to the rats."

The old man chuckled a little just before asking Naruto what he could do for him.

"Um, I was wondering if you'd seen Sakura-Chan lately," said the genin.

"Oh, actually I did. We left the hospital together a while ago and then went shopping."

"How's she doing?" asked Naruto, more than a little concerned.

"You'll have to see for yourself," said the Hokage flatly, "She's in the training field west of the hospital; practicing her Taijutsu when last I saw her."

"So she's up and around and even training?" asked Naruto, almost dumfounded.

"Go see for yourself."

Naruto didn't need to be told and broke into a run back the way he'd come.

_Don't say a word, _he said as soon as he felt Kyuubi preparing to speak.

**What? **Said the Demon condescendingly, **I was going to say I told you so, but I decided to hold my tongue.**

_Right, _thought the genin.

He arrived at the training field seconds later and looked around, but tall scarecrow like dummies in black cloaks (you know, those kind that ninja seem to get from nowhere) had been set up all around, hindering Naruto's view of the grounds.

Naruto wanted to call out and see if Sakura would appear from somewhere within the forest of manikins but he hesitated and merely waited on the outskirts of the gathering. Something told him to just wait, though he didn't know why, and for inexplicable reasons, the atmosphere was thick with some kind of anxiety.

_Do you think Sakura is really here?_

**Perhaps not. I don't smell her, but it's possible that her scent changed from being in the hospital or any number of things.**

"I don't like-" Naruto began, but was cut off as his hand instinctively leapt to the handle of one of his wakizashi. Completely on reflex, he jerked the sword out and raised it in a flash as a glint of light exploded out one of the dummy's back, shredding the cloak on its way.

There was a loud clang and a tremor ran up Naruto's arm as the kunai bashed against, and ricocheted off the short sword, then thudded into the dirt. Naruto instantly sank to an aggressive stance and charged at the dummy, drawing the other blade and leaping into the air. The genin corkscrewed and sailed at the manikin, landing on it and hacking it to shreds in milliseconds, as it bent backwards to the ground.

Naruto rolled to another hostile posture… landing right at a pair of feet… feet in nice, blue sandals, connected to smooth legs that ran up into black spandex shorts covered by a dress. He looked up and straight into Sakura's face.

"Naruto!" she yelped, both surprised and humored, "What are you doing here?"

"I- um I," he stammered, looking dumbly up at her, "I heard you were here and I figured I'd come say hi but then one of those things all around just threw a kunai at me."

Sakura stepped back and looked around, "Sorry," she said, "that was me. I was practicing and I've gotten good enough to throw a kunai or shuriken through a target and hit the one behind it."

"Oh. It's ok," said Naruto, standing up and dusting himself off, "That's impressive, but shouldn't you be resting or something?"

Sakura grinned and pulled out another shuriken. She twirled it like a ring around her finger, almost lazily and seemed to be entranced by the motion. "I've been out of commission long enough," she said as much to herself as to Naruto, "I'm tired of being useless, so I've decided that no matter what, I'm going to get as strong as you and Sasuke. That way when we go on missions, I won't be the one staying back for fear of getting hurt."

Naruto paused, not sure whether or not, or even how to tell her that Team 7 had been reorganized and that Shikamaru was in ANBU, while Chouji was a member of the Town Guard. It was an issue that was bound to come up soon and if he didn't tell then surely she'd get mad that he had the chance but didn't take it. It was probably just as well that he hesitated because Sakura wasn't done just yet.

"But I guess I've got farther to go then I thought," she said, "Seeing as how you just took that manikin apart like a rag doll, when they're supposed to be made to simulate enemies with armor."

"Um, thanks I think," said Naruto, "You were looking good yourself."

He had only then regained the presence of mind to really realize that there had been a slight change in her wardrobe. She had traded in her usual dress for a much darker, but still recognizably red one similar to the old one, and also the spandex she normally wore had been replaced by what seemed to be a two piece under suit. It was flat black, like cotton, and covered her from mid thigh, as far as Naruto could see, to her wrists and up to the base of her head, obscuring her neck completely.

Most notably however, her hair was shorter. Whereas before it was halfway down her back, it now barely reached her collar. While she was no less strikingly attractive, she had a different air about her. She had a look far too mature for any twelve-year-old.

"Sakura-Chan," he said, "Are you all right?"

She looked herself over and tousled her hair just a little before she looked back at him. "Sure," she said, "Why do you ask?"

"Um," he said, not sure what to say exactly. She didn't look unhealthy, quite to the contrary she looked like the image of health; those doctors had really done their jobs superbly, but she just didn't look quite like the girl he had known.

"You just look a little different," he managed to say, "Don't get me wrong you look good. Better than good you look incredible, I'm just wondering why the change."

She smiled for the first time since he arrived and playfully twirled around, giving him a better look at her, and put her arms up above her. "So you like the new look?"

Naruto nodded, unable to not stare, much to Sakura's satisfaction.

"I'm glad," she said as she completed the 360 turn and came to face him. "Hokage-Sama said you might like the dress, and I cut my hair since I thought that it would make it harder for someone to get a hold of me in a fight. The under clothes are a stealthy spandex sold specifically to certain types of Kunoichi."

Naruto just nodded, not really paying attention but more absorbing her words.

"Glad you like it," she reiterated, "You're look hasn't changed a bit, but that isn't a bad thing at all."

Naruto looked himself over and put on that childish little grin he was so good at. "Yeah, I really like orange and all, though I was thinking that I might want to change things up a little bit."

Sakura looked down, then after just a second of silence glanced back up and looked Naruto straight in the eye and smiled.

"How about we talk about it over Ramen?" she asked.

"About what?" Naruto asked, kind of surprised.

"Anything," said Sakura happily, "What you want your new look to be, how the mission to the Wave went, we should just catch u a bit. After all, you've been gone for a little while and it looks like we both might've changed a little bit, so let's just go get something to eat and talk things over."

Naruto smiled and nodded trying to be friendly, "Sounds good to me. What are you in the mood for?"

"We'll go get some Ichiraku and I'll pay," said Sakura, "Then you can offer to walk me home, I'll say that sounds nice and we'll see where it goes from there."

"Sure," said Naruto, thinking in the back of his mind that he'd pick up the bill for her, "sounds good to me. Plus that'll let me pick up something for the way back anyway."

Sakura's ears immediately pricked up.

"Where are you going after you drop me off at home?" she asked, almost incredulously, "Aren't you planning on eating with me?"

"Well yeah of course, but I promised the Yamanakas that I'd pick up some dinner for them too."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. The corner of her mouth curled down into an almost wicked glower for less than an instant before she began to smile brightly and take a step closer to him.

"So you're still staying with them?" she asked to which Naruto nodded in affirmation, "I must've forgotten entirely. Well isn't that decent of them to put you up, and nice of you to stay with them."

Naruto looked quizzically at her. "Yeah…" he said, "I've stayed with them ever since my apartment blew up. How about we go now?"

Sakura nodded quickly. She reached out and hastily grabbed his hand. "Let's go," the pink haired girl said in a terse tone.

**A feisty one this vixen, kit, **said Kyuubi as the two genin began to walk off towards the ramen shack.

_I've noticed… _thought Naruto, as he pulled his hand back to his side.

As he let go, Sakura looked over at him and flashed a cute smile.

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AN: Another chapter up and running, and what better place to say this than here at the end of the chapter. We are fast approaching the end of this fic. Yes I know it may be heart wrenching for some of you to hear, but _The Gambit_ has almost run it's course and I can officially say that we are within ten (or less) chapters of the grand climax and finale, which I've already mapped out to be possibly the most twisted (not necessarily in an evil way) it can be. But here is where I've hit a dilemma. I've been toying with the idea of a sequel, but I can't decide if I really want to write one, so I'm asking all of you to drop me a review with your opinion on the matter. Basically, would you like to see a Sequel, and your reasons why. Hope to hear from all of you soon! 


	21. Trials and Tribulations

AN: So here we are again. I realize I probably should've should have said this earlier… like at the beginning of the fic, but frankly I forgot so I'll say it now. As much as I wish I did, I do not own the Naruto Franchise or any article, character, or whatever contained therein… there, I said it. Now the big Japanese Lawyers can't sue me lol. I bring you a chapter 21, filled with all kinds of fun little bits for everyone! Read, Enjoy, Review!

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Trials and Tribulations… of Soon to be Teenagers

They were all empty. Every single one of the twelve ramen bowls was completely drained of its contents, and a very full, correction, completely stuffed Naruto sat back from the cluttered counter and let out a deeply content sigh, while Sakura who sat not two feet to his left just smiled and leaned her elbow on the bar.

All throughout the meal Sakura had been nothing but cordial and kind. She had nothing bad to say about anyone or anything and filled Naruto in on how things had been going in the village, or at least as much as she knew anyway. The pink haired girl even managed to eek a note out of Kyuubi about how she was being 'unusually pleasant.' But it didn't bother Naruto at all, and before he knew it he had forgotten all about the awkward hand holding incident that had happened earlier that day.

"Man that was great," said Naruto, "Ichiraku always is."

"Got that right, best place in town," said Ayame from behind the bar.

Sakura glanced at the waitress, smiled, and dropped a generous tip on the counter which Ayame took with a 'thank you.' The pink haired girl then turned back to Naruto as the waitress turned to leave for the back, looking over her shoulder.

"So," said Sakura, "now that we can actually talk, why don't you tell me how that mission to the Wave went?"

"Um," said Naruto, who was actually beginning to tire of telling the same story over and over again, "I can give you the long and short of it on the way home if you want, but I'm really curious as to how you've been. Honestly I was worried about you the whole time we were in the Wave, but the mission wasn't really letting me write back."

Sakura smiled and looked down at the floor below her feet, "I've been ok I guess, give what happened."

Naruto listened intently, hoping he wasn't dragging out any memory she was uncomfortable with.

"I don't really remember anything about the battle," she continued as the last of the customers left the ramen shack, "or being wounded. The only impression I can recall is … is wanting to make sure that you were ok."

Naruto glanced away from her for a second and then looked back towards her not sure what to say. "I do appreciate it," he finally managed, "But I wish that you would've just saved yourself all the trouble. I mean don't get me wrong I'm thankful but you almost died."

She just smiled and didn't look up from the floor, but rather concentrated on shuffling a bit of trash around with her sandal.

"Naruto," she said after a moments pause, "death has a funny way of altering the way people can look at things. We've both been there, but I think we both realize it. You've been different, still a great guy, but more grown up since Inoichi almost killed you, and I… I haven't felt quite the same since that battle."

"I think coming face to face with death has a way of forcing you to grow up a little," said Naruto, "But you're still Sakura to me."

She smiled, "I'm glad you still see me that way, though I'm not sure I am. I realized just how… fragile life can be. Let's face it, all it takes is a second and it can be over, but it also made me think about just how precious life is, and how we need to treasure every minute of it."

Naruto nodded, and thought a little about what she was saying.

**Deep thoughts for one so young**, said Kyuubi, **but her words do not lack wisdom, and you might be wise to listen to what she has to say.**

_I know, _thought Naruto, _I guess she has changed a little, and maybe it's for the better._

**She thinks about the world with a mind that has come to realize just how frail you humans are.**

"I agree," said Naruto, "That's why we need to protect not just ourselves but those around us, because that life is so precious."

Sakura didn't answer. For a long moment it seemed to Naruto that she wouldn't speak because she simply sat there and looked at the floor, apparently lost in thought, but both by his own hesitance to interrupt her thoughts and mention from Kyuubi that it would be rude to do so, he waited to see what she'd say. He sat there studying her demeanor, taking notice of how more than her attitude and clothes had changed. When the blonde took a closer look it seemed her whole appearance had undergone some transformation.

The only way Naruto could think to describe it was that she looked more mature than the last time he had seen her. She didn't have the same childish glow she used to, but instead possessed a cooler, less brazen aura about her. It wasn't long until Naruto wondered how in the world he hadn't caught onto the difference before.

"The people we care about," she muttered finally, looking up and right into his eyes, "Naruto…" she hesitated, "I just wanted to say that I… think you're … a really good guy."

Naruto smiled and put a hand behind his head. "Thanks Sakura-Chan, I try to do my best."

Sakura's hand trembled, and she quickly set both hands in her lap and looked away from him. Had Naruto looked as closely at her no as he had before, he would have realized that sweat was actually beginning to bead on her brow, and that despite her best efforts Sakura couldn't keep her shoulders from quivering, but instead he was suddenly too concerned with avoiding her gaze to notice.

A few times Naruto made an effort to look up at her, but for whatever reason, every time he tried he suddenly found it hard to concentrate, and he found himself staring at the same spot on the floor.

**Are you alright, kit? **asked the demon, a hint of actual concern in his voice, **Say something… to anyone.**

_I just don't really know what to say right now._

**For one as talkative as you that's a switch. Maybe you should offer to walk her home now.**

Naruto thought for a moment, then decided it was a good idea to make the offer before he said, or didn't say something in his sudden stupor that he'd later regret.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto began almost timidly, still not entirely collected, "You said you'd like me to walk you home, right?"

She nodded, then looked up and said "yeah, how about we head out?"

Naruto mirrored Sakura and said 'yeah.'

The two of them got up from the bar. Naruto took out his wallet and set the payment for the meal on the counter, plus a little tip for Ayame, while at the same time Sakura pulled from he dress a small coin purse and put yet another sum on the counter, and neither one noticed the other paying for the ramen. They stepped out of the shack, and began to walk down the road towards the Haruno house, not really paying attention to what was going on around them.

"Sakura," said Naruto after they'd walked in a awkward silence almost the whole way to her house.

She looked over and quizzically asked what was on his mind.

"I just was going to say that I missed you while we were in the Wave, and all of us were worried about you."

Sakura smiled and even blushed a little before she said anything.

"Thanks Naruto, that means a lot to me, and I missed you too."

Naruto looked up and glanced down the way a bit as the reached her front porch, and Sakura reached for the doorknob. She hesitated for a moment and then let her hand fall back down to her side. She turned to Naruto but didn't really look at him.

"Are you alright?" asked Naruto, an air of concern in his voice, "You're shaking."

It was only then that Sakura realized that she was indeed trembling, and she quickly wrapped her arms around herself to try and hold still. "I'm fine," she said tersely, "Just a bit chilled."

Naruto moved like he was going to touch her arm, until some unearthly feeling of uncertainty rushed over him and he just stood there, struck dumb. He didn't know how he should act or what he should say or even what he should think think.

_Kyuubi? _He asked almost desperately, _What do I do?_

The great Fox was silent, and had Naruto not been so wrapped up in his own thoughts, or lack thereof, he would've sensed a great amount of discomfort emanating from the demon.

**It's time we left… now.**

Naruto nodded to himself, wanting to get away from this nervousness, but at the same time not wanting to tear himself away from Sakura. He didn't want to leave her company.

"Naruto…" said Sakura, looking into his eyes and nearly stammering.

"Yes?" he answered, still dumbfounded by some inexplicable force of will that seemed to be strangling his own resolve.

Sakura's eyes darted between Naruto and the city behind him, and she opened her mouth just a bit like she had something to say but couldn't quite find the words. Naruto could feel his heartbeat quickening; an incessant drum roll that pounded in his ears at a furious tempo.

Suddenly Sakura fell, no, stepped forward in an exceptionally quick but still controlled move. She kissed him on the cheek and threw her arms around his shoulders in one fluid motion, then just as quickly she let go and stepped back.

Naruto's mind began to swim like a school of fish on the run from a predator as a thousand different questions, thoughts, and feelings exploded behind his eyes. Had that just happened? What was she thinking? What was he thinking? What should he do now?

It had been nothing more than a quick kiss on the cheek followed by an expedient withdrawal, but as he looked at her standing there with her arms behind her back he didn't know what to think. Something had nearly snapped inside of him and he nearly rushed up and kissed her back, but the same indecision and trepidation that had gripped him before were just as strong now and held him firmly in place.

It was a sickly feeling.

On the one hand he was so enthralled in the moment that his heart was whirling like a hurricane in his chest. His head was spinning. Any of the old clichés would apply as he stood there silently, holding his fingers up over his cheek, but on the other hand he was terrified. There was something about Sakura that was overridingly daunting. Since the ramen shack, she had somehow transformed from the sweet twelve year old girl on whom he used to have a crush into the beautiful and mysterious young woman standing before him now.

To Sakura, the situation was quite different. Trying to describe the mind of a young girl, barely over the threshold of adolescence after she's just initiated what one might call a 'first kiss' is a feat I needn't even bother attempting. Be content to know that Sakura's thoughts were moving in no one comprehensible direction at all, and it showed on her face and in her demeanor.

The girl came across as nothing if not absolutely distraught. She couldn't bring herself to look Naruto in the eye, but nonetheless she was trying desperately to muscle through the embarrassment and say something. The result was that her eyes were madly darting between his forehead and sandals, whilst her arms were wrapping her in a tight fisted embrace.

"I'm sorry!" she blurted, just before throwing open the front door and trying to dash inside… but slipping and scrapping her knee on the concrete porch. "I didn't-" she tried to think of something to say but just fell silent, jumped up, and slammed the door.

Naruto was still standing there, as dumb as any rock in Suna, and stared dimly into space.

**Kit… kit… kit, it's time to snap out of this.**

Naruto twitched, and nearly fell backwards but caught himself and turned around to leave.

_What just happened?_

**I'm not sure. I think… no, that's not it, but suffice it to say that … well I can't say that either. I don't know kit. Human courting rituals are strange to me. Perhaps it's time we returned home to the Yamanaka's. **

_Yeah… I think I need something normal… for once._

**Don't forget the ramen.**

_Right._

SC

"Idiot!" shouted Sakura as she roughly kicked a footstool out from beneath her foot. "What in was I thinking? I'm such an idiot!"

Sakura began to pace the length of her living room, and with no small amount of anguish did she knock away or nearly trip over any poor piece of furniture that got in her way. After a while, her path elongated into an ellipse, then into a full circle that spanned the area of the room, meanwhile her hands and arms were shaking, balling into fists, and launching up into the air more and more erratically while her voice was fading into an undertone.

"How could I do that? I must've been out of my mind!" Sakura suddenly burst out. "Way to blow it, now Ino is going to completely have her way with him because you completely choked up and lost it! Brilliant Sakura! Absolutely Brilliant!"

Finally, after she'd run out of things to knock out of her way she collapsed on the couch in a heap and pulled one of the decorative pillows close to her. She curled around the cushion and buried her face in it.

"Ino is going to be the death of me," she muttered, "This is all her fault."

SC

Ino lay on her side on the couch, turned with her face towards the wall while her mother sat opposite her in a recliner, leaning back and finishing up a long, rather one sided conversation. The two blondes hadn't really changed positions or even changed facial expressions for nearly two hours.

"Can you see where I'm coming from?" asked Mrs. Yamanaka, "I mean I really only want what's best for you and right now I don't want you getting in over your head with anything."

"I know mother," said Ino almost defensively, "but what I'm trying to say is that I don't see anything wrong with wanting to move forward with this. It may be a bit of a risk but I'm fine with it. It would be a good thing to have work out after all, right?"

"Yes dear, it would be," said Mrs. Yamanaka as she sat back in her chair and crossed her ankles. "but again, I don't want you to get hurt. Things like this are, or at least can be, very dangerous"

Ino sat up and begrudgingly crossed her arms. "You don't think I can handle it," said the girl, "You think I'd mess up or something and then suddenly my life is over all because I made one little mistake. I'm a ninja now, I know how to handle myself."

"But you're also still just a little girl," said her mother in a soothing tone, "and you're my little girl. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Mother," said Ino tersely, "I can handle it."

"Alright," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "If you're sure your ready…"

Ino just nodded, "I'm ready to learn. I saw how Naruto and Sasuke fought on that bridge. They were inhuman. How can you expect me to keep up with them and not just be deadweight for the team if you don't teach me the techniques I was supposed to learn anyway?"

"I know dear, I just wish your father were here to teach them to you and I wish that you were older. The Spirit manipulating jutsus are, by all rights, forbidden, and allowed to be learned by our family for very special purposes. And it's not for no reason. They can be just as dangerous to you as to the enemy."

Ino hesitated, then stood up as tall as she could and tried to assume a dignified appearance. "I can handle it," she began, "please, let me learn. I want to work for the good of the village and… and…"

She thought back to just how much it had hurt to wake and discover that Naruto had needed to fight so desperately on her behalf. It pained her to know how much she had worried him, to see the agonized look in his eyes when she first woke up, when he wasn't sure if she would pull through or not. She never wanted to see that look again.

"I want to be able to help Naruto," she continued, "I don't want him to have to constantly look after me."

Mrs. Yamanaka smiled for the first time during their whole talk and took a deep breath. "Honey, Naruto is a great guy, and he's obviously stronger than anyone knew, but I don't think he really needs to look after you."

"But, I … Zabuza took me hostage and I barely scratched him."

"Not true," said her mother, "I spoke with the Hokage who read Kakashi-San's report. According to them you critically wounded Zabuza, who was almost as strong as Kakashi-San. A genin fighting a Jounin is unprecedented. A genin nearly killing a Jounin… that's just unheard of, besides, you'll grow."

"I guess, but I still want to learn those jutsus."

"If you're positive," said Mrs. Yamanaka hesitantly, "but you have to promise to be careful with them."

"I will," said Ino, "But there's something I'm curious about. I have been for a little while now."

"What's on your mind?"

"How did you learn the jutsus if they're so secret?"

Ino's mother just grinned a little. "That should be obvious dear. You didn't think your father wanted to leave me completely defenseless do you? He taught me most of what he knew."

Just then there was a knock on the door and both girls jumped at the noise.

"Come in!" yelled Mrs. Yamanaka then whispered to Ino, "we'll have to finish this another time."

Ino nodded as the door swung open and Naruto poked his head in and asked if he was too early.

"Not in the least," said Ino happily as she got up to greet him, "we were just finishing up actually."

"Great," said the boy as he came in fully, hauling with him two large take home boxes from Ichiraku. "I hope everyone is hungry because they were having a special."

"Starving," said Ino.

"I'll grab the lemon pepper seasoning," said Mrs. Yamanaka as she got up and opened the door to the garden, "Just bring everything into the kitchen you two."

"Can do," Ino and Naruto both shouted after her.

Ino smiled and looked up at Naruto. "Missed you," she said happily.

"I was just gone a little while," said Naruto grinning.

"I know," said Ino. "Didn't stop me from missing you though."

Naruto just beamed as he handed off one of the bags to Ino while the two of them made their way into the kitchen and set the supplies down on the counter. Ino began unpacking the meal while Naruto went to a cabinet and pulled out three bowls and three sets of chopsticks. The boy went about setting the table while Ino surveyed everything that had been purchased.

"Three bowls worth of Misao, three of chicken, three of beef, supreme, veggie-lovers, low fat," she rattled off, stopping short of the second bag, "And all of them large. Naruto you must've spent a weeks pay on all of this."

"Nah," said the boy looking over his shoulder at her, "They said they'd give it to me at warehouse prices since I was their best customer or something. Now which ones do you think we should cook up first?"

Ino rummaged through the second bag for a second before pulling out one labeled 'stir-fry meats' and set it down by the stove. "I'll take this one," she said, "How about you?"

"Um, how about one of the supreme ones," he said, "Those are normally really good."

Ino nodded and set a pot of cooking oil on the stove and lit the flame. "Those are the ones Chouji used to eat all the time," said the girl, "I wonder how he's doing."

"I'm not sure," said Naruto shrugging his shoulders as he finished the table, "I can't imagine he isn't great though. I mean Chouji and the rest of the Akimichies are good ninja after all."

"I guess," said Ino as she dropped a brick of ramen into the now boiling oil, "He and Shikamaru were always a lot of funny. Chouji was always pestering Shikamaru who was just wanting to lay around and be lazy."

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, Shikamaru is supposed to be in ANBU now and last I heard he was off investigating the Suna for some kind of plot."

"How do you know?" asked Ino, "ANBU operations are always top secret."

Naruto gulped. He hadn't expected her to ask about it, and he wasn't about to tell her that Kyuubi could hear everything going on for miles around.

"Kakashi-Sensei talks in his sleep," said Naruto off the top of his head.

Ino giggled. "Liar," she said playfully, tossing a seasoning shaker at him then continued in a fun loving tone, "I'll let it go though, seeing as how we ninja can never reveal our sources." She glanced over at him, then quickly looked back down at the ramen in mock ninja fashion.

Naruto, not one to let a game pass by unchallenged, crouched down and out his hands together in the rat seal. He focused the newly molded chakra into the souls of his shoes (with a little help concerning the focusing part from Kyuubi) and began to silently creep towards her.

Soundlessly he crept up right behind her and let his face hover right beside her shoulder. It was all he could do to keep from laughing when he realized she really hadn't detected him thanks to the "padded foot" jutsu he'd picked from his demonic mentor a while back.

**There's no way she hasn't noticed you by now. Your breathing has been so heavy, the only way you could've stayed quiet is if she's completely out in her own world.**

_Hush, _Naruto mentally hissed.

**It's not like she can hear me anyway.**

_But you're going to make me lose my focus._

**I never knew you had any.**

Naruto cringed but otherwise ignored the remark and instead focused on his little contest of stealth. He began to wonder if she really hadn't noticed him or if she was simply ignoring him for the sake of a fun little game.

"Smells good," Naruto whispered.

Ino shrieked.

"God don't do that!" she yelled as Naruto stumbled back with ringing ears, "I almost slapped you."

"Sorry," mumbled Naruto, catching his balance and rubbed his now throbbing temples, "I thought you knew I was there."

"Everyone ok in here?" asked Mrs. Yamanaka walking in from the door to the garden, "who screamed?"

"Just fine," said Ino, "Naruto just scarred half the life right out of me."

Mrs. Yamanaka put on her best stern face and looked over at Naruto, trying her best but not really succeeding at looking angry. Try as she might she just couldn't keep her lips from slipping into a faint smile.

Ino as well was trying not to let the penitent and pathetic look that had come over Naruto's face affect her, but it was just too much. He looked too much like the young child who'd been caught with his hand in the candy drawer and she couldn't find it in her to be angry with him.

"It's alright," said Ino finally allowing a smile to cross her face, "Just don't do it again or I might haul off and hit you."

"Ok," said Naruto, still unsure if he was ok.

"C'mon," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "I'll wash my hands and we can all just have dinner and Naruto can let us know how his day went."

A lump suddenly formed in Naruto's throat though he wasn't entirely sure why, until he remembered exactly what had happened between him and Sakura not an hour before. His mind involuntarily began to churn for excuses to avoid the conversation, until he settled on the one that seemed the most logical.

"It was nothing too major," he said, "I just wandered around mostly and went to Ichiraku." He was almost certain that neither of them would be too happy if they knew he'd been hanging around with Sakura, and he knew Ino would be far from cheerful if she found out about the … incident on the Haruno porch.

"It's got to be better that what mother and I talked about," said Ino playfully, "All of the awkward silences, the unspeakable topics," she winked at her mother, "It was just awful in the worst way."

"Oh," said Mrs. Yamanaka, over dramatizing her words and the accompanying actions, "It was simply dreadful. Some girls just don't know how to hold a conversation well. You just must relieve us and tell us how your day went, down to the last detail."

Though it was all meant in jest, by now Naruto's face was beginning to take on a distinct hue of crimson. "It was nothing important," he stammered.

Just then there was a loud knock on the door and Naruto nearly leapt out of his seat to get it, muttering that he had it. Mrs. Yamanaka and Ino too got up, as neither was expecting company, and followed Naruto to the living room.

The boy opened the door up and in an exasperated but controlled tone greeted Kakashi, who was standing at the door with a large manila envelope in hand and an unusually large hawk trailing behind him on the ground, hopping along the path not unlike a dog.

"Top of the evening to you," said the Jounin (even though it was really only late afternoon) with a smile and a tip of the hand to Mrs. Yamanaka and the children.

"Good evening Kakashi-San," said the woman wiping some of the dirt from the garden off of her hands and onto the apron she wore around her lean frame. "What can we do for you?"

"Hi Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto and Ino in unison.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ino.

"Well if you'd rather I could leave," said the Jounin with a grin showing through his mask, "But then you wouldn't get this nice letter from the Hokage about the training session tomorrow."

"Training session?" asked Naruto as the Jounin handed him the envelope, "What training?"

Kakashi gasped and put his hand over his masked mouth, "Did I say that out loud?" he said with a wink. "I'm sorry, I wasn't supposed to tell you that you and the rest of the rookie nine are meeting tomorrow for SURVIVAL TRAINING" he emphasized the words to no end and then paused. "Survival Training," he repeated.

"Um, thanks," said Naruto as he looked down at the envelope.

"Don't be late," said Kakashi as he began to walk away.

"Wait," said Mrs. Yamanaka abruptly.

The Jounin turned around and glanced back at the three of them.

"We're having Ichiraku for dinner and would love to have you join us Kakashi-San."

The copy nin waved a hand dismissively but not unkindly and turned back to face them. "Oh no thank you," he said kindly, "I've got my own dinner boiling at home and I wouldn't want to take away from yours."

He turned and walked away a little more quickly this time, leaving the two genin and the woman to close the door and walk back inside after shouting a group "Goodbye."

"Couldn't he have gotten in big trouble for doing that?" asked Ino.

"Doing what?" asked Naruto as he popped the seal on the envelope and pulled out a crisp sheet of brown paper, printed with jet black ink.

"Telling us things he wasn't supposed to," finished the girl.

Naruto began to read over the paper as Mrs. Yamanaka piped up, "No, he just wouldn't reveal anything he really wasn't supposed to. Kakashi may be a bit of a maverick, but he's loyal to a fault."

"What do you mean?" asked Ino.

"He and your Father worked together a little back in their Chuunin days," said her mother, "And Inoichi would endlessly gripe complain about Kakashi and how he was always doing things his own way." Mrs. Yamanaka almost laughed then continued, "But of course that's not why your father was angry, but because whatever Kakashi did would work."

"Father was always really big on protocol," mumbled Ino.

"You have no idea," said Mrs. Yamanaka in an undertone, almost to herself, "he used to be so bad about it that I was temped to jack slap him a few times for being so rigid, but then we got married and he eased up a bit. But you can imagine how much it bothered him that Kakashi was always doing things so unorthodoxly."

"I guess," said Ino as Naruto looked up from the letter, "What's it say?"

Naruto looked back down and began to read from the opening sentences, "Dear members of Team Seven, your presence at a gathering tomorrow has been requested, and you are to assemble with all of your necessary ninja gear and tools at the North Eastern Training grounds one hour before sunrise. It has been requested that you bring no company or outside acquaintances for the sake of security. Rest up and be punctual."

"Well they sound happy," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "you two should probably finish dinner and then just focus on relaxing and getting a good nights sleep."

"Yeah," nodded Naruto.

**I smell intensive training tonight between the two of us kit, **grumbled Kyuubi.

SC

"Neji-San, you in there!?" shouted the Hyuuga guard as he banged loudly on the heavy oak door leading to the genin's quarters.

The whole of the Hyuuga estate had been mostly inactive for several days after Hiashi, the Head of the Clan, had discovered the body of a dead ANBU soldier, scuered on a sharpened tree limb within the clan grounds. Hiashi had the whole clan put on alert following the ANBU investigation, and immediately turned the body of the dead Ninja over to the Hokage.

While the autopsy results were inconclusive, it seemed that the spearing of the body was performed after the Nin died, and that it was a single blow to the heart with an open hand that actually killed him. To further complicate matters, there was no evidence that the brute force of the blow, although it was enough to crack the sternum, was the death blow, suggesting that the attack was chakra based.

"Neji-San!" shouted the white eyed guard again, "Lord Hiashi has demanded that you appear before him in the meeting chamber for questioning."

While it was no secret that Neji had been seen skulking around the halls of the mansion, it was not quite so well known that he had of late become increasingly irritable. Even the slightest provocation and he would leap into a battle stance like a frightened academy student. No one quite knew why except Neji himself and he had stopped speaking to anyone.

"If you don't unlock this door Neji-San" said the guard sternly, "I will break it down." Obviously the thought hadn't occurred to him that Neji could be anywhere in the branch house complex.

It had been reported to Hiashi that when he wasn't stalking around like a hunted animal, Neji had been spending hours and even days at a time in the clan library, pouring over books and old scrolls, reading everything he could about the Hyuuga history before the founding of Konoha. He had been obsessing over details that seemed minute; highlighting and underlining anything he could find about old clan leaders, their wives and children, etc.

"One," began the guard after he failed to unlock the door with a jutsu, "Two," he pressed his hand against the oak, "Three!!"

The wood splintered with a loud crack and blew away like balsa beneath his hand and he shuffled quickly through the opening. The guard raised his hands into the typical defensive jyuukin posturing and pressed his back to the wall.

Immediately he knew something was horribly wrong. The furniture was jumbled and tossed about. Several articles were broken, and the light fixture that usually hung from the ceiling had been ripped down and thrown against the wall. The bookshelf had been thrown to the ground and papers were everywhere.

"Neji-San," he said loudly, his words echoing down the polished walls, "Hiashi only wants to talk with you. No one is saying anything about any trouble."

The guard advanced slowly towards the bathroom door and began to push it open a little with one hand. He peered in the crack but saw nothing so he forced it open all the way and stepped in.

"Shit," he growled as he saw a body laying face down on the ground. The guard cautiously but quickly knelt down and rolled the body over. It was Neji, eyes rolled back in his head and barely breathing, with bloody puncture marks all over his chest and arms.

"Help!" he shouted, scooping Neji up in his arms and moving to get out of the room, "Assassin!!"

* * *

AN: One more chapter down and not too many left to go. Well congrats on sticking out another one. I hope the ending was enough to get some curiosity aroused, and that there was enough of everything else. So drop me a review, let me know how I'm doing. Even if it's just a little one liner, it's still better than no review at all lol. Plus I do take questions if anyone wants to ask, I'd be more than happy to provide an answer Anyway, Sayonara until we meet again. 


	22. Through a Glass Darkly

AN: Hmmm. As usual, I bring you another chapter after a brief retreat to the wonderful world of school… Blech I don't like it. But oh well, nothing I can do. Not much to say here except another request for reviews from each and every one of you. Every time you read a chapter and don't review, a kitten gets eaten by a St. Bernard. Please think of the cute and fluffy kittens. On with the Fic!

* * *

Through A Glass Darkly

_Ram, rat, boar, dog, dragon-_

**Faster with those seals kit! **bellowed the demon.

Naruto leapt up into the air just in time to dodge a flurry of shuriken thrown his direction by Kyuubi's simulated attacker. The knives whizzed off into the blackness of the formless training ground where they disappeared harmlessly.

_Horse, bird, snake-_

The enemy ninja jumped up in hot pursuit, rearing back and flinging out a deadly bladed whip from within the confines of his black sleeves. Naruto saw it coming but was already in mid jump, unable to do anything other than finishing the jutsu.

**He's going to cut you to ribbons.**

Naruto glanced up as the enemy Nin soared straight at him with blinding speed, the deadly whip sailing ahead, mere feet from his face.

**Kit!**

_Ram!_

Instantly, the Nin in black hurdled down towards the ground like a meteor. His body split the whining air as he fell and quick as a thought he smashed against the floor with a thunderous crash accompanied by the sound of bones shattering like cheap balsa.

Naruto flipped in midair and gracefully landed alongside the crushed corpse and glanced up towards Kyuubi's enormous cage. "How was that?" he asked confidently.

Kyuubi flicked one tail and cocked his head to get a better look at the until recently moving enemy. He sniffed the air and examined every aspect of the battleground for a full three minute before so much as looking at Naruto.

**Not as bad as it could've been, **rumbled the fox, **Though honestly I wish you'd used enough force to split the body like a sausage as you should've. That would've been far more satisfying.**

"Maybe, but for the sake of my stomach I'm glad I didn't," said Naruto as he stood up, "plus this way I didn't I didn't use up a whole lot of chakra, and that guy is still very, very dead."

Kyuubi emanated his trademark purring laugh. **You quadrupled the force of gravity on his body more than fifty times over, **said the fox, **he smashed into the ground weighing almost fifteen of your tons.**

Naruto glanced at the body as Kyuubi let it vaporize into the gloom and couldn't help but grin. "I did it the first time…" he muttered, "I actually managed to pull one of the Old Master's moves on my first try."

**Don't let it go to your head kit, that was a simple one, and you used less than a quarter of the energy a master would have thought necessary. On top of those, you performed the seals too slowly and you were clumsy about them.**

"Way to kill the mood," chuckled the genin. By now he was used to tolerating Kyuubi's chidings, if for no other reason than because he knew the fox meant well. "But even so…"

Kyuubi hesitated and then looked away. **For a first attempt it was an acceptable job, and I'll grant you that odds are that you'll never have to use as much energy as the Masters. But you really must work on improving the speed at which you can perform hand seals, that or find a way to bypass them all together.**

"I am trying," said Naruto, drawing the golden sword from the sheath on his back, "Seals have never really been one of my strong points, but I'm giving it my best effort."

The blonde thought for a second, the looked up at the fox, "Was that the same technique you forced me to use earlier, when I was insisting you teach me?"

**The Kudari no Jutsu? Yes, though I used it at it's full potential.**

"So you made me use more that four times the energy I did this time… Why in the world would anyone need to smash someone into the ground with sixty tons of force?" asked Naruto, "What I used was more than enough to kill anyone."

**Actually kit, the technique is exponentially proportional to how much chakra you put into it. You used a quarter of the normal energy and got fifteen tons worth of weight behind the enemy's fall. Using the full attack would be more than sixteen times that.**

"Even so," said Naruto, amazed by the power, "It just seems like it's overkill."

**Maybe so, maybe not, **growled Kyuubi, **just remember that people were considerably more… resilient all those years ago then you are today.**

"I guess. That's incredible."

**So were they, now are you set to try again?**

"Sure, I guess," said Naruto as he readied for another round.

**Good. Now this time don't use it until a few minutes into the battle to give things time to develop some realism.**

Naruto nodded. What Kyuubi didn't tell him is that there were going to be multiple attackers this time to force a focus on executing the seals quickly and effectively.

SC

Naruto woke early the next morning, nearly three hours before sunrise. He got up off the couch, went to the bathroom and bathed as quietly as he could, given the running water, then walked to the closet by the door to the garden that Mrs. Yamanaka had given him to keep his clothes in and put on his standard attire.

"You're up awfully early," said Ino, coming down the stairs just as Naruto finished putting his orange jacket on, "Is everything alright?"

Naruto nodded and closed the closet door. "Yeah, I just couldn't really sleep well."

"Nervous about the test today?" asked Ino.

"Not really," said Naruto, "It doesn't sound like it'll be anything we can't handle. Besides, Kakashi-Sensei said it was going to be a survival test, and the last thing he labeled like that was a contest to get some bells from him which wasn't too bad."

"So you think it'll be something like that?"

"Yeah, that'd be my guess. I'm thinking that it'll probably be us against some Chuunin or Jounin and we'll have to try and get something like a scroll from him, or guard a scroll from him."

Ino just thought for a second and sat down on a chair opposite the couch. "Well this should be fun. I just hope it's not Kakashi-Sensei."

"Yeah," Naruto laughed, "After Sakura, Sasuke and I tricked him he'd be on full guard. In fact, I'll bet that's what this is about."

"What do you mean?" asked Ino.

"He probably wants a rematch." Naruto chuckled.

Ino shook her head. "I don't think so," she said, "Kakashi-Sensei doesn't seem that petty to me. It most likely has something to do with the Chuunin exams coming up in a few days."

"Chuunin exams?" asked Naruto, "What're those?"

Ino was taken aback a little, not sure what to say. "You don't know about the Chuunin exams?" she stammered after a moment.

Naruto shook his head hesitantly.

"Well, they're the tests the villages of the Alliance hold twice a year to decide which genin get to be Chuunin."

"Oh," said Naruto, "Why does no one tell me these things?"

Ino smiled. "Well if you listened in class back during the academy days you would've known," she said playfully elbowing his arm. "Where would you be without me to tell you these things?"

Naruto grinned, "Heh, I don't really know, probably back in my burned up little apartment trying to figure out what to do now."

Ino chuckled, "I'm glad you're not, I like you right where you are."

"I don't mind where I'm at one bit either," said the boy.

"We try to be welcoming," said Ino as Naruto took a seat on the couch, "After all this is just as much your home as mother's and mine. We wouldn't want you anywhere else."

Naruto just smiled and sat back on the couch. He sighed just a little and thought to himself about everything that had happened since his apartment had blown up what seemed like ages ago.

"I realize it might not be much," said Ino, misinterpreting his silence to be a negative, "But you're always welcome here."

"No no no," said Naruto sitting up and facing her quickly. "You have no idea how much it means to me. You and your mother have been nothing but kind to me for a long time, and I appreciate it a lot."

The two slipped into a slightly awkward silence after Naruto had finished. Ino wasn't sure how to respond, and had been swept over by a sudden uneasiness in her stomach. It wasn't much unlike stage fright, except that Naruto was her only audience and she couldn't seem to think of anything to say that she hadn't already said once or twice.

Naruto was in a similar predicament in that he'd already said everything he could think to say, and he didn't really want to look foolish by suddenly changing the subject and shifting to a new topic. The end result was that the pair of them sat in the quiet living room, starring at each other without starting up a new conversation.

Soon however, the awkwardness began to slowly fade and Naruto found himself more and more comfortable just looking at Ino, memorizing her features, and smiling at her. It was only then that the realization struck him that he was actually smiling and he wasn't sure why. He also noticed that Ino was grinning back at him and he, for whatever reason, couldn't help but think that she was having thoughts about him that were similar to his own about her.

"Are you kids alright?"

The two of them turned to see Mrs. Yamanaka, dressed in a fluffy purple robe, descending the stairs in the gloom.

"I thought I heard voices down here," she said, "I'm just glad it's you two and not all the ghosts I keep dreaming about."

The woman smiled and Ino chuckled, "No worries," said the girl, "We won't let the big bad monsters get you now will we?"

Naruto sat by and watched as the two Yamanakas chuckled to themselves, the joke had been totally lost on him but he wasn't feeling quite bold enough to ask and risk looking foolish.

"You two are up a little early don't you think?" said Mrs. Yamanaka, "You don't have to leave for almost an hour and a half."  
"We know," said Ino, "but neither of us could really sleep any longer, and this way at least we'll be more awake for the thing today."

Mrs. Yamanaka nodded and took a seat opposite ser daughter on the couch next to Naruto.

"Which reminds me," she said, reaching under the sofa and fumbling around for something, "Momo stopped by a while ago and gave me a package for the two of you. She said it was in case you ever needed any help in a tight spot."

"Momo?" said Ino, "You're trying to tell me she actually left the weapon shop?"

Mrs. Yamanaka smiled and nodded, "A miracle I know, but it just tells me that she really wanted to make sure you got whatever it is she has in store for you…. Ah here it is." She pulled out from beneath the sofa a long and slender box wrapped in brown packing paper and set it on her lap. "Momo said not to give it to you as soon as you got back since you'd probably need time to get used to being home again."

"So she stopped by while we were in the wave?" asked Naruto.

"She did," said Mrs. Yamanaka, splitting the tape holding it shut with her fingernail and setting the now open box on the coffee table before them. Naruto and Ino both stood up and leaned over to get a better look at what was inside.

"What exactly is all this?" asked Ino, reaching down and pulling out what looked to be a silky, long-sleeved shirt made of some pitch black material with a silver insignia, matching the red swirl on Naruto's jacket, on the back. Naruto held up another shirt in one hand, smaller that the one Ino had, and bearing on the back an intricately designed string of knots in the shape of a hawk. With the other hand he pulled out a pair of pants as black as the shirt but tailored a bit more loosely.

"Looks like she got you some new clothes," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "And ANBU gear too unless I miss my guess. How sweet of her."

Naruto set the shirt and pants down, "There's more," he said as he reached back in and held up yet another pair of pants and a black leather sack.

"So I guess we each get our own suit," said Naruto, noticing that one shirt and one set of pants were both smaller than the other, "But what's in the sack?"

"Open it up," said Ino as she sorted out the clothes.

Naruto pulled on the drawstrings holding the purse sized bag shut and began to lay the contents out beside the box on the table. The first item was a thin roll of what looked like metal wire, followed shortly by a roll of white strips of cloth and a note written on white paper.

Mrs. Yamanaka picked up the note and scanned over it while Ino and Naruto sorted through the articles on the table trying to make sense of exactly what everything was and what it was meant to do.

"The suits," said Mrs. Yamanaka looking up, "Are tailor made for the two of you and woven from the same material that ANBU Black Ops use on A-Class missions. The wire is a specially treated kind of aluminum alloy, very flexible but stronger that anything you can get on the open market. This stuff wasn't cheap…"

"What about the white cloth?" asked Ino.

Mrs. Yamanaka read on and then began, "Apparently it's a special kind of fabric adept at channeling chakra. The Hyuugas use it during times of war to aid in fighting with chakra, namely their jyuukin style."

"But neither of us knows how to use that…" said Naruto, "Does it do anything else?"

"It does indeed, 'it makes it easier for you to redirect chakra too, so molding your chakra for complicated techniques won't be so much of a challenge,'" the woman read directly from the note.

"What does that mean?" asked Ino, "Like we don't have to do seals to use a jutsu?"

Naruto's heart nearly leapt into his throat. If these wraps could bypass the need for him to use seals then doing using the Kudari would be infinitely easier, not to mention all the other jutsus he wanted to learn.

"That would be awesome!" Naruto cheered.

"Umm, I don't think so. It says here that you still have to do everything except mold the energy," said Ino's mother, "Just focus raw chakra into the wraps and perform the seals, then let them do the rest."

"Darn," said Naruto, "But even so that will make things a lot less difficult."

"No kidding," said Ino, "No more worrying about molding, just use the energy and go for it."

Mrs. Yamanaka chuckled and looked up from the note, "I don't think a 'thank-you' card will quite cover this one."

"This is all really great," said Naruto, "we should definitely take her out to dinner or something."

"I don't think she'd accept," said Ino playfully.

"Why not?" asked Naruto. The thought of the old woman not approving of him was enough to make him ill and it suddenly showed on his face.

"Don't worry," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "She adores the two of you, and she even told me that she wished you, Naruto were actually part of the family."

Naruto smiled and tried not to blush.

"She's just a total recluse," laughed Ino. "She's a great old lady but her people skills are a little lacking."

"Even so," said the token male of the group, "I'd say we owe her big."

"Maybe if you stopped by and said hi after the survival test," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "She might not act like it but that would make her day."

"I'd say that can be arranged," said Ino, "But for now we should probably change into this new stuff, grab something to eat and get going. If we're early maybe we can size up what's going on."

"Good idea," said Naruto and Mrs. Yamanaka in unison.

SC

"This stuff feels really good," said Naruto, as he and Ino walked down the street side by side. "It breathes like nothing else but isn't too cold."

Both Naruto and Ino were attired in their new outfits, though Naruto had refused to go outside without his trademark orange jacket, and Ino had elected to wear her standard purple skirt and top over the jumpsuit.

"And you look pretty good in it too if you want my opinion," said Ino.

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head like he always did when he was trying to think of something to say. "Thanks," he said, "You don't look half bad yourself."

"Half bad?" Ino playfully gasped, "Are you kidding, I look dang good. I can really see myself falling in love with these clothes."

"Maybe we'll have to ask your grandmother for some more then," said Naruto, "I'll admit, they're a nice change from the same thing every day."

"Yeah," muttered Ino as she walked a little closer to him. "Naruto?" she asked, changing subjects.

He looked over at her and smiled warmly. "What's up?"

"Do you ever get the feeling that things just aren't quite right anymore? Like this isn't the way it's supposed to be?"

Naruto cocked his head off to one side curiously, "What do you mean? I don't think I follow."

"I don't know," said Ino after a brief pause, "Sakura getting wounded and taken off your team, my team falling apart and my being put with you and Sasuke. I'm not complaining at all, but doesn't it seem a little unreal or like we're not supposed to be like this?"

Naruto thought for a second and rolled the question around in his mind for a few moments before he glanced back at her.

"Does it really matter?" he asked, "whether or not things are really the way they're supposed to be isn't something I think we can really choose. So I wouldn't say it's anything to be worried about. I mean maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but the way I see it all that really matters is that we try to do the best we can in everything we can."

Ino hesitated and looked down at the ground as they walked.

"Do you believe in fate, Naruto?" asked Ino.

"No," he answered without faltering. "I like to think that things happen the way they happen because of what we do, not because of some kind of grand scheme of things."

"Hmm," muttered Ino, "I guess."

"Why do you ask?" wondered Naruto, not entirely sure what had brought this to her mind.

"I just keep thinking," she said, almost to herself, "that something is going to happen… something bad."

Naruto tried to think of something to say but came up short for a minute and instead reached over and took her hand. She looked up at him, genuine worry showing in her eyes.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to you Naruto," she whispered, "and I just keep having these feelings that something horrible is going to happen and a lot of people are going to get hurt. It would kill me if you were one of them."

Naruto squeezed her hand and she clenched her fingers around his, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What's bothering you?" he asked, suddenly defensive of her.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt again," she said in an undertone. "My Father nearly killed you, and he betrayed Konoha in the process. I'm not going to let you get hurt again."

Naruto stifled a gasp as his stomach suddenly began to churn.

**Kit! **Kyuubi exclaimed, **She knows. I don't know how but if she knows that Inoichi tried to kill you then she knows that Sakura killed him. Guard every last word you say here.**

"How um," he stammered, "How did you find out about that?" he asked in a shaking voice. "No one knows that."

Both genin stopped walking and just stood there in the predawn hours waiting for the other to break down and say something. The wind gusted up and blew a loose scattering leaves across the sidewalk.

"I'm not stupid Naruto," she said firmly but not unkindly, "I appreciate you trying to protect my feelings but after we saw Sakura drunk at Ichiraku I went around and asked a few questions. Sakura wouldn't talk to me and all I could get out of Mrs. Haruno was that she was a little depressed over the recent mission. After that I went straight to the Hokage who told me everything."

If it would have been possible, Naruto's heart would have sunk even lower in his chest. The boy's breathing stilled nearly to a stop, and his mouth went suddenly dry.

"I don't hold it against you," she continued, "taking a hit like that for her. And I don't hold it against her for killing him. It was a battle after all, and I'm not even really bothered by the fact that she almost died for you. I'll admit it doesn't sit too well with me, but whatever."

"Ino," Naruto tried to jump in but she reached up and put a finger on his lip to silence him.

"Please," she said quietly, "I'm trying not to get jealous here. Just let me say that… Naruto I don't know how to say this, and I don't want to sound stupid or anything."

A single tear dripped down her cheek.

"I don't ever want anything to happen to you Naruto," she whispered, pulling him into a tight embrace and burying her face in his jacket.

Naruto, for a second at least, had no idea what was going on and merely stood there with his arms hovering above her shoulders. Suddenly he realized he was actually thinking about trying to get her back to arms length, so he quickly rejected the idea and wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't worry," he murmured into her, "I'm going to be there for you no matter what… I promise."

She looked up from the wet patch she'd quietly cried onto his jacket and looked into his eyes. "No," she whispered, "No I don't want you to get hurt for me. Naruto… I…. I love you."

For just a moment there was a brief but stunned and somehow peaceful silence as they just stood there with each other. There was no wind, nor had the sun risen as to illuminate them in the darkness of a building's shadow.

Naruto's mind was almost numbed, but not unpleasantly so. He found himself ruptured up in the moment and suddenly relieved that she cared about him. What was more, Naruto only then realized that he felt the same way for her. He never wanted to see her hurt or in any kind of trouble. He wanted nothing moiré than to be there for her forever.

"Ino," he whispered, "I you have no idea how much I love you too."

All of their surroundings seemed to somehow slow, or stop all together, frozen in a moment neither genin ever wanted to end. The lonely morning dove perched in the nearby oak tree cooed softly in the stillness of the morning, providing the only ambience for what seemed like miles around, aside from the skittering of little claws as the rats and mice scurried about the sidewalk looking for their next bit of food.

SC

"Glad to see you could join us!" shouted an apparently grumpy Sarutobi Asuma as a figure emerged from the gloom and strode onto the training field. "You're the last to arrive."

It was Akimichi Chouji, standing an inch taller than the last time his old mentor had seen him, and wearing the green and silver uniform of a Town Guardsmen. The boy smiled and waved at those gathered on the field, then raised a muscled arm to salute the Hokage. The old man saluted Chouji back and beckoned him over.

"Morning!" he greeted them all, "So I'm guessing that we can get started?"

"Good morning Chouji," said the Hokage, "You're looking well."

"I've already lost a lot of weight," said the guard, "The first weeks of basic training are really intense."

"So I'm told, but enough with the pleasantries," responded the old man, stepping away from the group of twelve ninja, "I'm glad you all could be so punctual, and I'm even more pleased that each and every one of our rookie nine, as well as their Jounin instructors could make it here."

Sasuke glanced down the line and examined the faces of those assembled in wonder. It hadn't been very long at all since they had graduated the academy, but already everyone looked different. Naruto and Ino standing there hand in hand in their new clothes were the most obviously changed aside from Chouji who'd had a growth spurt.

_But then again, _thought the raven haired Uchiha, _I hadn't noticed_ _that Hyuuga girl._

And indeed, Hinata had undergone a subtle but somehow radical transformation. Maybe it was that she wore her beige jacket wide open, revealing the blue T-Shirt underneath, or perhaps it could've been how she now carried herself, walking at her full height with her arms crossed almost haughtily in front of her, but neither was what Sasuke was staring at. Her eyes had him completely transfixed. They were almost no different than any other Hyuuga's but at the same time they were far more intense than any he'd ever seen.

_She has the look of some kind of … creature, _thought Sasuke, _I've only ever seen eyes like those on Naruto._

The Uchiha managed to keep from shivering at the sudden chill that shot down his spine, and turned back to the Hokage.

"Now on to business," continued the old man, "You have all been summoned here this morning to engage in a little… examination, if you would. Now don't worry, how you do won't affect whether or not you're sent back to the academy, but…it will determine if you're allowed to participate in the upcoming Chuunin Exams."

Naruto nudged Ino's arm. "Good call," he whispered.

"As I was saying," said Sarutobi after clearing his throat, "This will in no way damage your career anymore than a bad grade on a test at the academy, which as we all now know doesn't really amount to much."

There was a bit of a snicker from the group at that.

"Let's face it," said the Hokage, shrugging his shoulders, "All of that book learning is nice and provides a firm foundation for learning the basics of the art of shinobi but it doesn't by itself prepare you for what being a ninja is. Now each of your instructors has said they'd like to refer you for the Chuunin Exams next week. That's fine and I have nothing against it, however, I would like to see if each of you is up to it. What we've gathered here today to do is give you a taste of what you'll be up against to see if you can really handle what may be coming your way. Now without more delay, Kakashi will be providing you with the instructions to today's test."

The old man stepped back as the masked Jounin stepped forward, pulling out of his vest, a box about the size of cigarette case, and made of what looked like mahogany. He opened it up and displayed inside a row of nine rolls of paper, bound tight with silver thread.

"These," said the copy nin in a commanding tone "are your objectives. Each one is no bigger than one of Asuma's smokes, and can easily be concealed almost anywhere on one's person."

He began to walk down the line of genin and handed them each one of the little scrolls. "Now please take a moment to put it in some fold of your clothes or in a pouch, or wherever you'd like and preferably somewhere that isn't easily accessible to someone trying to steal it from you, because that is the objective of each and every one of you; to steal the scroll of the opponent to which you have been assigned."

Everyone looked around nervously, not sure how to react until Naruto finally shuffled the scroll into the small pocket on the underside of his new shirt. Ino did likewise and after a few seconds, everyone had cleverly hidden their scroll somewhere about themselves.

"And finally," said Kakashi, "you've been sectioned off into one on one matches that will take place one after the other until the end, when the winner of the first match will face off against the ninth genin. First up will be Chouji and Ino."

The Yamanaka girl gulped nervously, but stepped up at the same time the new town guard did. Kakashi waved his hands and the remainder of the group took a dozen or so paces back to give the two of them room.

"Not the way I'd planned on spending my morning," muttered Ino.

"No techniques are barred," shouted Kakashi, "Just don't kill each other. These are meant to challenge you, not destroy you."

Ino and Chouji dashed to opposite ends of the field and readied themselves, waiting for Kakashi's signal.

"Sorry about this Ino!" yelled Chouji.

The girl just let a small smirk cross her face before hiding it behind a stoic glare.

"Begin!" yelled Kakashi.

Chouji was already performing a series of seals and charging forward at Ino, who had leapt up in the air and flung out a flurry of shuriken to slow the Akimichi down while she concentrated on funneling chakra into the wraps around her hands.

"Not that easy!" bellowed Chouji, who had just completed the jutsu and exploded to four times his normal size. The boy curled into a tight ball and, in true Akimichi style, was thundering straight towards Ino like a tank. The shuriken didn't slow him at all.

"Shit," hissed Ino when she saw she wouldn't have time to complete the seals.

The girl raised her hands and unleashed the chakra upwards in a burst of wind that propelled her back to the ground just in time to sidestep Chouji's charge. She twirled and watched as he passed, trying to tell exactly where he'd hidden the scroll. The only problem was that because of his immense size, it was impossible to tell.

Quickly the meat tank pivoted and reversed directions, jetting back at Ino who nimbly jumped to the side in time to avoid being crushed.

As the rest of the group watched the contest, Kakashi walked up slowly behind Naruto and Sasuke and knelt down between the two of them to be at their eye level.

"Hey," said the copy Nin, beckoning for their attention.

The two genin turned in unison to face him and asked what he needed.

"I just have a few quick rules just for the two of you."

"Like what Kakashi-Sensei?" asked Naruto.

"About what the two of you are capable of. Like we said earlier, these tests aren't designed to get anyone hurt including yourselves, so I'm going to have to ask you two to tone it down a bit. Naruto, please don't use any of that… unique chakra of yours, and Sasuke, don't activate the Mangekyou. Both of those abilities are dangerous to you and the person you're up against, ok?"

Both genin nodded an affirmative.

"Good," said Kakashi smiling through his mask, "Oh and Naruto, no swords."

The three ninja turned back to the battle just in time to see Chouji rolling under Ino as the girl flipped through the air over him and pointed two fingers at the guard. There was a puff of blue smoke from her fingertips and an incandescent blue burst of light from a small point on Chouji's back.

The Akimichi yelped in pain and transformed back to his normal size. Carried by inertia, he rolled along the ground a minute longer as Ino performed a few seals and aimed her hands at Chouji.

"What the hell was that?" asked Chouji, jumping to his feet and putting his hands together in front of him.

"Wouldn't you like to know," said Ino.

Chouji charged forward, as Ino's hands glowed blue for only a second. She looked between her fingers at Chouji and grinned. "Perfect, I'm going to have to let-" she muttered just before the hefty Nin suddenly had an explosive burst of speed and plowed straight into her.

The girl was send hurdling to the side like a tossed rag doll as the freight train Akimichi kept rumbling forward, undeterred. He changed course and began to circle around for another pass as Ino stumbled to her feet and wiped a drop of blood away from her split lip.

She quickly ran through her mind what had just happened, trying to find away around Chouji's brute force. Much to her dismay, Chouji again accelerated inhumanly quickly when he came within striking distance, though this time Ino was a bit more prepared and jumped high in the air, hoping to hit him with another jutsu as he plowed underneath.

A grin crossed the guards face and he leapt in the air at Ino just as her feet left the ground, and as she hadn't time to focus any chakra, Ino was helpless to avoid him. Chouji slammed into her, and in mid air performed a quick series of seals, again transforming into the meat tank just before crashing to the ground.

He felt Ino impact the earth beneath him and immediately returned to normal and rolled away, revealing Ino's scuffed form lying in the shallow crater left by the encounter.

"Ino!" shouted Naruto, "Are you ok?!"

The girl rolled to her side and pushed herself up on one arm.

"I'm just fine," she shouted back at the whole group, though mainly at Naruto, as she held out her right hand and opened it, revealing a single, cigarette sized scroll.

"WHAAAT!?!?!?" Chouji exclaimed in shock as his eyes went comically wide. He began to madly search his person and pulled out a small bag from his sleeve and turned it upside down. Frantically he opened it and shook it, looking for his scroll.

The Hokage and all three Jounin just smiled as Naruto began shouting congratulations to her. Ino nodded and walked back to the group, with the guard not too far behind her.

"Sorry," said Ino warmly to Chouji, "about that."

Chouji grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "I shouldn't have been so reckless, but oh well. Are you ok?"

"A little ruffled but fine," she responded, then smiled and turned to Naruto.

"That was fast," said the Uzumaki, "but impressive."

"Thanks," Ino grinned, "glad you thought so. Maybe next time-"

"Next!" shouted Kakashi, "Will be Naruto and Hinata!"

"Oops," said Naruto, "Gotta go"

The blonde boy jogged out to the center of the field, and looked back ant the crowd. He waited for just a moment for his opponent to show, but Hinata just stood in the center of the group with her arms crossed and her eyes shut lazily.

"Umm, Hinata-Chan" Kurenai prodded kindly.

"I don't think so," said the Hyuuga girl in an almost amused tone, "I'm not really into public humiliation."

The Hokage narrowed an eyebrow and looked at her out of the corner of a glance, while Kurenai tried to move her on with little gestures.

"Oh C'mon!" shouted Naruto playfully, "I'm not that good!"

Hinata open her eyes and glared at Naruto for just a minute before grinning just a little at him. "I didn't say you were. I was just hoping to spare myself some energy," she muttered as she strode out onto the field, taking off the tan jacket and tossing it to the ground. She took a stance a few paces from him raised her hands in a typical jyuukin pose.

"Byakugan," she mumbled.

Naruto stared in wonder as suddenly dark lines creased an outline of Hinata's irises, and couldn't help but stare as veins popped up all around her eyes. He quickly regained himself though and clenched his fist ready for the fight.

Kakashi raised his hand in preparation to begin.

**Kit, **Kyuubi sounded in the back of Naruto's mind. **Be extremely careful here… there's something not right about this girl and I won't interfere per your Sensei's request.**

_It'll be fine, _thought Naruto; _Hinata-Chan isn't the type to-_

"Begin!" shouted the Jounin.

Immediately Naruto felt an icy burst in his chest.

Directly in front of him he saw Hinata, smirking just a little, and as Naruto looked down he saw that she'd rammed two fingers firmly against his sternum. In shock he didn't have any time to react, and even before the first blow of pain had faded, Hinata disappeared and Naruto suddenly felt the same pain in his back directly between his shoulder blades.

He started to turn his head to see what was happening but as he did, Hinata struck again, this time on his right shoulder. His whole arm went numb and there immediately followed a shot of cold in his left thigh.

Dazed, Naruto began to fall to his left, but even then Hinata didn't relent. All over Naruto began to feel jets of freezing pain burst through his body and before he'd hit the ground he could feel less than a third of his limbs. His hands twitched madly, and he searched desperately for a second to figure out what had just happened. One second he was fine, and the next, meek little Hinata was pummeling him.

_C'mon Naruto, _the genin mentally screamed as his body hit the ground with a thud. _Get it together! Think! Figure this out!_

Hinata hovered over him and set on hand on her hip. Her victory had been pathetically quick. She flicked her hair off to one side and grinned, then shifted her weight and glanced all around.

"Now where have you hidden that scroll?" she asked, "I wasn't paying attention to you earlier so I don't really know… hmmm."

_She's mocking me! _Naruto realized. _What happened to her? This isn't like Hinata-Chan at all…_

Naruto growled and managed to roll onto his front and start to push himself up on his one good elbow while Hinata glowered above him and merely watched with amusement. He struggled up to his knees, not making eye contact with her.

Hinata began to chuckle as he tried so hard to stand but found his legs were numbed and fumbled back to the ground in a heap. Naruto, undeterred, tried again with the same results.

_This isn't working… I'm paralyzed and worse, I can't mold any chakra outside my body…_

**Then mold it on the inside, **rumbled Kyuubi, **She's blocked your Tenketsu which I'll explain later, but you can still circulate chakra inside your body… Need I say more?**

_Not in the least, _Naruto grinned, _if she's blocked something the I'll just have to unblock it…_

**Not what I had in mind.**

But it was too late. Naruto had already begun to amass all the chakra he could muster directly into his core while at the same time, suppress it and build up what felt like a massive pressure in his chest.

_Now… just need to… _

Naruto released the energy all at once, and immediately little pinpoints of pain seared over his skin as little bursts of blue energy erupted from his pores and feeling began to flood into his body again.

A very surprised Hinata jumped back a few yards when her victim suddenly exploded in a blue puff of light. She raised her hands to fight as Naruto (still slightly dazed mind you) leapt to his feet and without wasting a second charged forward in a burst of midnight color.

The quick retaliation, albeit uncoordinated and a little clumsy, was more than enough to catch the Hyuuga off guard. Naruto's fist slammed into her jaw, sending her reeling through the air, even as Naruto pressed his hands into a seal.

"Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted loudly, and just then another Naruto burst into existence directly ahead of Hinata.

The clone kicked fiercely and knocked Hinata to the ground. Naruto charged again and jumped up, twisting in midair in hopes of landing on her with the heels of his sandals.

"YEAH!" shouted Ino from the sidelines, "Finish this up quick!"

Hinata glared over into the crowd, and twisted around planting her hand on the ground and sideways onto her knees just as Naruto came crashing down. She twirled around and jabbed at the clone that disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Naruto put his hands together and this time summoned a wave of no less than thirty copies, who simultaneously jumped at her.

Hinata's lips curled into a grin and she jumped up and twirled, this time however glowing blue as a transparent sphere formed around her.

"What in the-" a clone mumbled as all thirty sailed closer to her.

"Kaiten!" shouted the Hyuuga girl, and immediately the sphere exploded outwards, impacting and banishing the clones instantly.

_Just in time, _thought Naruto.

Hinata smiled as she looked down at him and began to return towards the ground. You can imagine her surprise when a single Bunshin exploded up from the ground and slammed its fist into her jaw, hurdling her even farther upwards.

"One fiftieth normal power shouldn't be too much!" shouted Naruto as he clapped his hands into the final seal, the ram.

Hinata gasped, suddenly leaden as her body began to rocket towards the ground at mind numbing speeds. She grimaced and fought to turn in mid air. The ground was spinning closer and closer as she picked up speed like a meteor.

"GAAH!" she nearly screamed as she landed hard on her feet, bending heavily at the knees and leaving deep divots underneath her sandals. Her arms hung like dead weights at her side as the force of the jutsu on her continued to press her down.

"No way," muttered Naruto, still holding the jutsu firmly in place, "She should be out cold, and there's no way she should be moving…"

He focused a little harder and allotted more chakra to the technique, and Hinata grimaced in response. He back bent a little lower, but she refused to go down, and even went so far as to take a single step. Her foot slammed down onto the ground with a loud thud and a tremor. Naruto frowned, feeling the fatigue from maintaining the jutsu more than a few seconds beginning to wear on him, but he pressed even harder, bringing it to almost a third of what he'd used with Kyuubi.

Hinata growled in frustration, but stood up straight and took another booming step. She reached out with a trembling arm, her fingers not more than a yard from his face, and began to shake wildly. Her fingertips flashed blue for only a second, and Naruto suddenly jerked back as if someone had struck him in the neck.

He rolled back and onto the ground sputtering in shock from the attack, meanwhile the jutsu had broken and Hinata was free. Naruto leapt up, trying to ready himself to fight, but was stopped cold as Hinata slammed her open palm into his chest. He felt his heart spasm out of rhythm and suddenly he couldn't move.

Hinata slashed at his shirt with just one fingernail and pulled out the tiny scroll as he stumbled backwards, clutching his chest.

"Winner!" yelled Asuma from the sidelines.

Hinata glanced at a stunned but recovering Naruto and chuckled a little.

"Too bad," she whispered for only him to hear.

"What do you mean?" he asked as loudly as he could, which was really just a hoarse whisper.

She leaned in, sending a chill down his back, and whispered right into his ear. "I was having fun, and we were both holding back due to the … circumstances. I'd like to finish this sometime."

"Hinata," said Naruto as she leaned back, "What's gotten into you?"

She just grinned again and walked back to the group, and he followed not far behind.

Ino rushed up, but refrained from a hug and merely took his hand. She led him back to Sasuke and Kakashi, saying that he should probably relax. He was too dazed to really understand what anyone around him was saying, but he got the general idea.

"Naruto," Kakashi whispered as the genin sat down with Ino's help, "Are you ok?"

Naruto nodded, and closed his eyes.

"I almost stopped the fight. Are you sure you're ok?"

"Fine," said the genin in a whisper, "I'm glad you didn't."

"Next!" said Kurenai, "Sasuke and Shikamaru!"

SC

"Well done!" the Hokage said loudly as he stood up in front of the somewhat battered genin and their instructors, "You all performed admirably, and I won't hesitate to allow each and every one of you into the Chuunin Exams, as for now though, you should rest up and try not to worry too much about the days to come."

The rookie nin all looked around awkwardly, not knowing if that was a dismissal or something, until Kakashi announced that they should probably get back to going about their duties now.

Shikamaru, who happened to be walking in a similar direction as Sasuke glanced over at the raven haired boy and nodded to him.

"You did pretty good out there," said the ANBU trainee, "You almost had me a time or two."

Sasuke looked over unwelcomingly but not unkindly and nodded back. "If not for the shadow of that tree I would have had you the first time."

Shikamaru shrugged and kept on walking.

Naruto and Ino strayed from the field together and back towards downtown.

"You looked good out there," said Naruto once they were out of earshot of everyone.

Ino grinned and looked over at him, taking his hand and giving it a quick squeeze. "You didn't look half bad yourself. Are you ok after…"

"… I'm kinda soar, but alright."

"I'm glad you're not hurt," she said, "C'mon, let's go see Momo and see if she'll patch up that shirt of yours."

Naruto smiled, "and thank her for it in the first place."

"Remind me," said the Hokage as he walked towards his office complex with Kakashi, "to summon Hiashi-san this afternoon. I wish to have a word or two with him."

"About Hinata?" asked the copy nin.

Sarutobi gently nodded, "About Hinata."

* * *

AN: Well, there you have a long one. A little far from the canon I now but that's what fanfic is all about! Quick survey here about stuff in general if you don't mind lol. First, how's the action, second, how's the fluff, third, are the characters developing reasonably nicely, and forth, any general comments you'd like to make? Remember the kittens now… See you next time!


	23. The Serpents Entwine

AN: Good to be back. I'll admit that I almost gave up on this Fic once or twice which is why it took so long to update, but I'm not going to apologize or make excuses, just thank you all for bearing with me through both writer's block and some really tough times! Don't forget to review and enjoy!

* * *

The Serpents Entwine

The hospital was usually quiet early in the mornings. Aside from the occasional nurse bustling about the floors to ensure the patients were sleeping peacefully there were rarely any happenings. This morning was no exception and indeed, the halls of the building were the quietest they'd been since before the last war. There was only one thing out of place.

Hyuuga Hiashi stood in the second floor reception room, with his arms folded in front of his chest and his eyes shut almost serenely. In no way did his demeanor betray the whirlwind of confusion and anxiety that roared within his mind. Occasionally he would glance up and look at the clock, then look down and think for a second before closing his eyes again.

The minutes ticked by monotonously into hours while the receptionist dozed at her post, occasionally hiccupping or sputtering in her sleep until the clock finally read that it was four am. Only then did Hiashi look away from the clock and down the hall to his left, despite having heard nothing, he'd felt the approach.

"You're late I believe," said the head of the Hyuuga Clan. "We were supposed to meet almost three hours ago."

Sarutobi looked up from the ground in front of his feet and moved his hand up to his lip as if to grab something, only then realizing that he'd left his pipe at home so not to agitate anyone at the hospital.

"Quite to the contrary," said the older of the two men as he smiled, "Being that I am the head of this village I would say that I am on time and that you were early. But anyway, what is it you wished to speak to me about?"

Hiashi's face tightened into a grimace. "It's about … the recent events both within Konoha and outside. You can't deny that the timing couldn't be worse." The two men began to walk side by side slowly down the hall towards the hospital rooms as Hiashi continued. "Suna is, for whatever reason, marshalling dozens of units of ninja only eighty miles to out western border, and we've lost twelve additional ANBU black ops in this murder investigation. On top of it all, there are the Chuunin exams to worry about."

"I know, I know," said the Hokage quietly, "The timing is deplorable, given that the first two parts of the exams begin today, but I still don't quite get what you're trying to say."

Hiashi stopped walking.

"Sir," he said, being unusually respectful, "I'm asking that you cancel the exams."

"Out of the question," said the old man, "All of the entrees are already in town and for the sake of the already tenuous peace we have with our neighbors I can't do that. You know how important it is that we maintain good relations. As much as I hate politics I don't think we have a choice in the matter."

"But things are bad enough as is without diverting more resources to the exams. Just look. Since the first ANBU was killed on my estate, a dozen more have died in the investigation. No sooner do you assign an agent to the case then do they turn up dead. What's all the worse, intelligence is saying that Orochimaru is nearby as evidenced by the recent debacle with Yamanaka Inoichi. We need to cancel the exams until we can sort all of this out, or at least move them to another city. Suna would likely be happy to host the events."

Sarutobi stopped and thought for a moment, moving his lips as if he were mulling the end of a pipe around, then turned directly to Hiashi. "I can't do that. Whether or not Orochimaru is here, whether or not there's a monster loose in Konoha, the exams have to go through. If nothing else it might draw our adversaries out. After all, the exams are a major event, and make us seem a prime target. If Orochimaru is going to do something, he'll make his move within the next month. If this hidden enemy killing our agents is going to make a major move, he'll make it within the next month. There are no doubts about that."

Hiashi sighed. Seeing that he wasn't going to convince the Hokage to act had done nothing for his normally stubborn personality, but he decided to concede the point. He turned back towards the end of the hallway and pointed towards one of the observation windows.

"There's something else I'd like to show you if you have time."

"Oh?" asked the Hokage, "What would that be?"

Hiashi moved to the farthest window and stood in front of it, looking at the room behind it. He nodded towards the figure laying bandaged on the bed. It was Neji.

"How's he doing?" asked Sarutobi, "I've read the initial report, but haven't had time to check up on him recently."

"He's still in a coma but he'll live," said Hiashi, "though his health isn't what concerns me. I've looked over his wounds, or lack thereof and I've come to the conclusion that his attacker is the same one who killed all of the ANBU on the investigation."

"Yes, you were the one to first prove that conclusively by comparing his wounds with the needle marks on the other bodies, I read the letter you sent me on the subject, but again, I don't see what you're getting at."

Hiashi hesitated for a minute before speaking. "Understand," he said, "I don't say this lightly for you will know what it could mean, but I believe his attacker was a Hyuuga."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you say that?"

"I was wrong when I first said the puncture marks all over his body were Senbon wounds. I later discovered each injury was perfectly lined up over a Tenketsu."

An eerie silence quickly enveloped the hall, broken only by the beeps from Neji's heart monitor.

"Jyuukin…" muttered the Hokage.

Hiashi nodded and continued. "Each blow was delivered with such force that it not only blocked the Tenketsu, but also broke the skin around it. Whoever did this was an animal, possessing superhuman strength and incredible amounts of chakra. Neji is one of the best I've ever seen: a prodigy, a genius even, but he never stood a chance."

"If what you say is true and I do not doubt it is," said Sarutobi, "Why was Neji spared and the ANBU killed?"

"Neji isn't overly popular among my Clan," said Hiashi, "so I don't know. All I can see clearly is that whoever attacked him is a master of Jyuukin."

SC

"Nervous?" Ino asked in a whisper as she leaned over to Naruto who was standing right beside her.

Naruto shook his head. "Not in the least," he said almost merrily as he surveyed the crowd before him. He could see that there were about one hundred ninja assembled in the largest classroom the Konoha Academy had to offer. The group was primarily comprised of nin from Konoha and Suna, but there were also a few squads from other assorted villages. They had dispersed themselves among the various tables and benches throughout the big room, and were all looking at the four genin of team seven who had just made a rather noisy entry.

"Of course he's not nervous," said Sakura, looking around Naruto to talk to Ino, "Naruto isn't afraid of anything."

The pink haired girl flashed Ino a smug grin, then smiled warmly at Naruto. Ino's eyebrows narrowed almost instinctively before she hid her dislike for Sakura behind an obviously dubious smile.

"Thanks Sakura-Chan," said Naruto, "I'm glad the Hokage decided to allow for a four man team. It's nice to have you back."

Sakura grinned and leaned back against the wall by the door, deciding not to mention the fact that Sarutobi had only allowed it after both the young Haruno and her mother went to him and made quite a fuss about the whole matter.

"The circumstances were a little strange though," commented Sasuke, "After all, how often is it that something like this happens and necessitates a four man squad?"

"Are you sure it was a good idea?" asked Ino, scooting a little closer to Naruto.

"I think it was," said Sakura, as she too inched toward the blonde boy.

"What do you think Naruto?" the two girls asked almost in unison.

Sasuke looked out of the corner of his eye, half curious to see how Naruto would answer. It was obvious to anyone watching that the girls were each competing for an answer… well, obvious to anyone but Naruto that is. The Uzumaki just looked back and forth between the two for a moment trying to figure out what he was missing.

"Well?" said Ino, "Do you think it's really a good idea to have her back, or do you think it could end up causing problems in the end?"

"Problems?" burst out Sakura, "How could I cause problems?"

"A bigger team means a bigger target," Ino pointed out.

"But I could also bail the three of you out if I had to."

"Are you saying we need bailing out?"

"I said if I had to. Are you saying I couldn't?"

"I'm just saying we don't need your help."

"So you don't think I can help?"

"I didn't say that, why don't you listen and stop being so sensitive?"

"I'm not overly-sensitive but maybe you shouldn't be so rude Ino-pig."

"I am not rude you little-"

"Girls please," Naruto tried to interject, raising his hands and trying to pacify the two.

"Stay out of it!" they both shouted at him, "Nobody asked you!"

"…but…" Naruto muttered, trying to make sense of why they had asked him his opinion only to tell him to stay out of it while they continued to fight.

Sasuke grinned and shifted to a more comfortable position. "At least they're both off my back," he muttered to himself as he listened to the two girls sling insults like howler monkeys sling… well anyway.

"YOU FOUR BACK THERE!!" shouted an imposing voice from the front of the classroom.

Ino and Sakura froze with Naruto trying to hold them apart. Sasuke glanced up, half annoyed, half curious as to who had called them out. At the front of the room was a large man, at least six feet tall with a black bandana covering a heavy set forehead. His face was no less daunting than his voice, being that it was covered in deep and dark scars. He wore a black trench coat with matching pants and boots.

It was only then that team seven realized that while they'd been busy in the back, everyone else in the room had seated themselves around the desks and tables. Everyone in the room was looking directly back at them.

"Perhaps," continued the large man, "You'd care to take you're seats with the rest of the genin. That is, only if you feel it's not beneath you. The seating chart is on the board, now move!"

Sakura, Naruto, and Ino all glanced at the board and immediately scurried off to their designated spots without even so much as taking the time to really see where they were in relation to everyone else, in hopes of not angering the instructor. Sasuke on the other hand merely looked it over slowly and studied his spot and who was around him, before strolling to the desk to which he'd been assigned and sitting down.

"Thank you for getting that done so promptly," the man at the front jeered, "Now on to business. My name is Ibiki, I'll be administering the first test, and that's all you need to know about me. Here are the rules in the simplest terms I can give them." Here he picked up a piece of chalk and began to write on the massive blackboard in front of him. "This will be a written exam with ten questions, the last of which will be given ten minutes before time is called in one hour. A perfect score is of course ten. Each incorrect answer will subtract one point form your score. Should you be caught cheating, and I assure you, the Chuunin volunteers lining the room will make sure you are caught, you will be docked three points. If your score reaches zero your whole team will be disqualified."

The room fell into silence as Ibiki took a large stack of papers from his desk and handed them off to Chuunin who began to walk around the room and hand them out, face down, to the genin.

"Sounds fun, doesn't it Naruto?" asked a voice from beside the blonde.

Naruto nearly jumped when he looked over and saw Hinata sitting right next to him. She obviously enjoyed his reaction and smiled serpentinely at him.

"N-not really," he managed to whisper as the Chuunin put a test in front of him.

"Isn't it funny that we aren't immediately kicked out for cheating?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" inquired Naruto.

Hinata just smugly shrugged her shoulders as Ibiki shouted for everyone to begin.

Naruto flipped over the test and began to survey the questions, hoping to find one he could answer. All in all he wasn't too concerned, he knew that all he had to do was get one and not cheat to pass…

_Hmm, word puzzle… no. Shuriken trajectory, no. Cryptogram, no…_

It soon became clear that the first of the questions was a beast, and they only got harder from there.

_Umm, Kyuubi can you give me a hand on this please? I have no idea what any of these are asking for._

**Sorry kit. You're on your own here. I'm a demon. I don't think about how things are done, I just tend to blow stuff up.**

Naruto quickly began pouring over the questions again, looking desperately for something he'd missed, or overlooked, but nothing jumped out at him. His only real book knowledge was history. The physics of fighting had never meant anything to him, so he was all but helpless.

**You could cheat. **Kyuubi pointed out. **That wouldn't be too hard…**

_That just seems so underhanded…_

**Suit yourself kit. If you fail it will be no fault of mine.**

SC

"Congratulations!" shouted Ibiki to those who remained in the room. "The thirty-one of you left all pass!"

"What do you mean?" asked one of the remaining genin sitting towards the back of the sparsely populated room. "What about the tenth question? What is it?"

Ibiki just glanced down and smiled, then proceeded to launch into a long dissertation about how having the guts to stick out the test was the answer to the tenth question.

"And don't forget-" continued the instructor, just before the classroom window shattered and in a flash the whole front part of the room was sectioned off by a curtain that seemingly came from nowhere.

Before any of the genin could manage to gather themselves a rather tall woman leapt in the broken window and stood directly in front of them all, letting her three quarter length trench coat hang wide open to display her rather well endowed and fishnet clad body.

"Anko's here!" she shouted loudly, pointing a finger at them, "And I think it's-" she trailed off and began counting the crowd as Ibiki shuffled out from behind the curtain.

"Theatrical as ever Anko," said the instructor, "And annoyingly punctual."

"You must be slipping," muttered the dark haired woman. "I count ten teams with one to spare…"

"Just a good batch this time around I guess."

Anko closed her eyes and smiled wickedly. "I guess we'll just have to weed out more than usual. Everyone!! I'll be passing around a waiver. Please sign it and state that if you die during the next phase of the exam your family won't sue the Exam Officials! Once that's done, you're dismissed to meet at the southernmost entrance to the forest of death!"

SC

"So where do we go from here?" asked Ino.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all glanced around the dark forest undergrowth, trying to regain their bearings. The fight with some nameless mist nin, from whom they'd easily taken the heaven scroll, had been just active enough to cost everyone their sense of direction, and given that the forest canopy was dense enough to blot out the sky and allow no light in, the genin had almost nothing to go off of.

"Ummm," stalled Naruto, "Maybe that tower the crazy fishnet lady talked about was … this way?" he pointed off towards the distance, but Sasuke shook his head.

"We just came from that direction," said the raven haired Uchiha, "We need to head North, which would be to our right."

"No," interrupted Sakura, raising her finger like a school teacher would if she were about to lecture a student, "During the fight, we all got turned around so we'd need to head to in that direction." She pointed off to her right, but immediately Ino jumped in to say her two cents.

"Not that way, because that would be south and like you said, we need to go north," said the young Yamanaka, nodding off towards the direction Sasuke had suggested they go.

"But we just came from that way," muttered Naruto.

"Hold on, hold on," said Sakura, trying to settle the dispute before anyone came to blows over it. "Why don't we just send someone up to the ceiling of the canopy and have them scout around for which way is which?"

Naruto nodded to himself, "Sounds good to me," he said, "but who's going to head up?"

"I'll go," said Sasuke after a brief pause, "Might as well get it over with as quickly as we can."

The group quickly agreed, and Sasuke jumped to the lowest branch of a nearby tree. From there he began to make his way up higher and higher, hopping up to the next tier of boughs. Quickly, he was obscured from sight.

Naruto, Ino, and Sakura all leaned against the base of the tree. Naruto was brooding, while Sakura was staring off into space. Ino on the other hand was chuckling lightly to herself, though it took Sakura a minute or so to realize the girl was snickering.

"What's funny?" asked Sakura.

"I just think it's kinda ironic, don't you?" replied Ino.

"What's ironic?" asked Sakura, becoming a little annoyed by Ino's demeanor.

"We're ninja," said Ino, "and yet we can't even find our way around a forest without sending someone up a tree to scout around. You'd think we'd carry around a compass or something."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh. The childish joke had all but completely washed away her anxiety. Naruto, who'd been listening in, took a moment to catch on, but when he did he grinned to himself.

"You'd think," Naruto said.

The three of them slipped into another silence, though it wasn't uncomfortable. Ino and Sakura began passing the time by hurriedly glancing between each other and Naruto, who was staring off into space, seemingly in his own universe.

_Where is it now? a_sked Naruto.

**I can't tell, **growled the demon, **and that's what bothers me, before I could tell where the scent was coming from because it wasn't so pervasive as to be overpowering, but now…**

_Now… what? a_sked Naruto.

**Now, the scent is so close that … it's like I can't tell where exactly where it's coming from. And what's worse is that it smells … evil.**

_How so?_

**How else would you have me describe it kit? **Growled the suddenly impatient Demon,** There aren't words in your language to describe half the things I could say. The only words you'd understand are that this presence, whatever it is, is evil; maliciously evil.**

_Like you?_

Kyuubi huffed. **My attitude perhaps, but little else; compared to me it's a bug.**

"Naruto?" asked Sakura.

Naruto snapped out of his daze and looked over at the pink haired girl. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Nothing," she said with a smile, "Just wondering how you're doing. You look a little spaced."  
"I guess I was. Sorry guys," he said.

Sakura smiled and cocked her head off to one side cutely, "Don't apologize, I was just wondering what was on your mind. Looked like you were thinking pretty deeply about something."

"Not really," said Naruto shrugging, "I was thinking about these exams a little."  
"Really?" said Ino jumping in, "What about them?"

Naruto got up and walked around a little with his hands behind his head. "I don't know," he said, "I guess I'm just worried about someone getting hurt. I'm not sure I could handle that." He cast a sidelong glance at Ino who immediately smiled and blushed.

Sakura looked between the two of them and got up, then positioned herself between Naruto and Ino, hesitating for just a second before putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto," she said quietly, "I don't think you're going to have to worry about that. Everyone on this team is good, really good, and I know you can handle anything that comes your way."

Naruto looked over at Sakura and smiled. "Thanks," he said, "That means a lot to me."

Ino grimaced just as Sakura smiled back. She wasn't about to let this stand. The platinum haired girl got to her feet and walked to stand right next to the pair.

"Where do you think we should head after this?" Ino interrupted. "Once Sasuke gets back I mean."

Much to Sakura's dismay, Naruto's attention immediately shifted straight to Ino and his eyes seemed to brighten as she spoke to him. "I don't know," answered Naruto, "Whichever way the tower is I guess, but we won't know that until-"

BAAAM!!! A loud explosion followed by the sound of crackling flames ripped through the air. All three genin suddenly felt the temperature rise no less than twenty degrees as they each looked up to see that a large portion of the canopy overhead was ablaze with white fire.

"C'mon!" shouted Naruto, not wasting a second and leaping up into the trees towards the epicenter of the blast, "Sasuke's in trouble!"

Meanwhile Sasuke above darted through the tops of the trees like a frightened squirrel. Seemingly every step he took he'd whirl around in midair and let loose another torrent of the white fire. The deadly heat would sear through the air towards the blurred figure in hot pursuit, which would then dodge out of the way nimbly and continue its chase.

"Naruto!" shouted the Uchiha as he saw his teammates pop up from among the leaves, "Be careful! He's a damned monster!"

To Naruto, Ino, and Sakura, it seemed that Sasuke was nothing more than a blue flash among the treetops, running in circles as though being chased by some invisible enemy. They scanned the scene for all they were worth, but even their trained eyes could barely keep up with Sasuke, much less whatever was chasing him.

**Kit! **Kyuubi growled in the back of Naruto's mind, **This is it, this is the presence I smelled, be cautious.**

Naruto nodded, drawing on what little of Kyuubi's chakra he'd learned to access at will, and focused the energy into the palm of his hand. Aiming carefully right at Sasuke's heels, and struggling to see what was going on, Naruto pointed his open fingers and released the deadly demonic energy in a single, concentrated bolt.

There was a flash of red light, followed promptly by a loud bang, and Sasuke was sent tumbling from the force of the shockwave, but so also was someone else. A second figure, garbed in some tan material was seemingly stunned by the blast and stopped dead in its tracks.

It just stood there and looked over at Naruto. She seemed to be a woman in a russet tunic and purple sash, with long and stringy black hair flowing down into her pale and sharply angled face. Something wasn't right about her, Naruto could feel it.

"Ok," whispered Naruto when he saw Sasuke regain his balance, "you two sweep around me on either side and we'll take her down in one quick move."

No response.

He looked back and saw both Sakura and Ino standing there frozen. Shock and horror were carved into their faces as they remained absolutely motionless. They both stared straight ahead at the attacker.

**Genjutsu kit, I'll explain later, but I'm guarding your mind from the same fate and Sasuke's sharingan seems to be doing the same for him. It's up to the two of you now so GO!**

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. On one accord and seemingly on the same thought, Naruto and Sasuke both charged forward from opposite directions, and by an unspoken word, began to whip around the intruder as Naruto drew out his wakizashi and Sasuke unsheathed a deadly curved kunai.

"Cute," said the figure in a particularly serpentine voice as the two genin circled on for a death blow, "But utterly useless in the face of a deity." The figure in tan reached out just as the two boys struck, taking hold of Naruto's wrist and Sasuke's hair. He spun around and flung them into two different trees with such force as to splinter the wood and crack the bark. Naruto's swords went whistling off into the darkness.

Naruto groaned, not so much from the impact but from the twisted knot that formed in his gut the moment that monster had touched him. The boy doubled over and clutched his abdomen in pain but managed to look on to see what was happening.

Sasuke seemed to be in equal torment from the mysterious illness, as he two huddled in the hole his impact with the tree had left. However, the figure in tan was slowly making his way, hop by lazy hop, to Sasuke's position. Naruto couldn't see her face, but he could feel the dark energies rolling off of the enemy. Naruto managed to struggle to his feet, still clenching his gut, and asked Kyuubi what was wrong with him.

**Poison kit, that nin must've coated his nails in some kind of toxin. I'm doing what I can but this is a risky endeavor, fighting poisonous substances with equally deadly chakra. I can blot out the pain though, so you can still fight.**

Immediately Naruto no longer felt the churning and straightened up.

Sasuke twisted around and hurled a handful of poorly aimed shuriken at the monster standing not ten feet away from him. The movement made him sick and proved useless as the nin simply sidestepped and walked on towards the Uchiha.

"Uchiha Sasuke is your name unless I'm mistaken."

"You know my name," Sasuke grunted, "But I don't think I caught yours."

"Ohh, how rude of me," said the nin in a cynical tone, "You're right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Orochimaru; you though, can call me master. That I'd much prefer seeing as how you'll soon be working for me.

"Bullshit," muttered Sasuke, "Forget that."  
"Ah," said Orochimaru in an almost ruptured sigh, "The impudence of youth. I can see you'll be defiant to the end, but fortunately, that is already upon us and it seems I have just time to spare before this whole village goes straight to Hell."

Orochimaru knelt down beside Sasuke who was no unable to move due to the poison in his veins, and opened his mouth unnaturally wide, revealing three rows of wicked sharp fangs, the twelve canines of which were no less than three inches in length. "Time to sleep now," said the nin as his forked tongue flitted around in his mouth.

"Back off!" shouted Naruto, leaping up from behind Orochimaru and unleashing the pent up chakra he'd masked until now.

Orochimaru, caught off guard only enough to not have time to retaliate and obliterate the pesky genin, turned just to see the fiery red claws of chakra slash into his face. The pale skin apparently boiled away in the face of the demonic claws, and Orochimaru jumped back about twenty feet from the two genin. The nin was grinning and looking at the two of them hungrily, and as he lowered the hand covering his wounded face, Naruto could plainly see the porcelain skin underneath the pale mask of a woman's face.

"What- what are you?" wondered Naruto aloud.

Orochimaru began to chuckle as the fiery red chakra encircling Naruto's arm faded away and the genin's hand fell limp at his side. Sasuke's eyes closed and he choked in pain.

Suddenly, Orochimaru's head shot forward on a rapidly lengthening neck, until he was face to face with Naruto. The blonde genin had no time to react as the monster spat some vile slime in his face. Naruto collapsed and cried, and clutched his face as the caustic material burned him.

Orochimaru then turned his attention on Sasuke and rushed forward, burying his fangs deep in the boys shoulder and latching on tight. Sasuke growled but didn't cry out.

"Easy boy, you'll be mine soon enough," Orochimaru mumbled into Sasuke's flesh as the skin around the fangs began to bubble and darken like ink. "We wouldn't want anything to go wrong here now would we?"

Sasuke open his eyes, and turned to stare into Orochimaru's slitted pupils. The Mangekyou toma was as black as a moonless winter night and spinning like a tornado.

"Get the hell off me!" Sasuke screamed as his bloody eyes raged crimson and flashed like wildfires.

"Uh oh," Orochimaru muttered.

The hollow of the tree exploded and burned like the sun. Orochimaru, or his head at least was catapulted with such force from the tree that his body was whipped back along the same trajectory and hurled like a spear some hundred yards away. His once alabaster face was now mangled and charred, but still the nin smiled.

"I suppose this can indeed wait a bit then," he shouted towards the genin, "But you're fate is inevitable after all." With that he turned and sprinted off through the trees at a mind numbing speed.

Naruto leaned against the burning interior of the hollowed out tree, utterly stunned. He didn't hold it against Sasuke, blowing them both up to drive off that Orochimaru creature, but he still wished there'd been a somewhat less painful manner by which to do it. His head was spinning, his vision was so tunneled all he could see was a pinpoint of light in front of him and his ears were ringing like fog horns from the wave. On top of it all he could taste the warm blood flowing freely in his mouth. It was even beyond his feeling to notice the oven he was sitting in was cooking him alive, but even so, he lifted his head and looked around for Sasuke. He couldn't see him.

"Naruto!!"

The blonde genin heard the scream faintly, but was so disoriented he couldn't tell from where it came. What he did know was that someone was picking him up and carrying him from the inferno of the blazing tree. For what seemed like hours he floated in a void of unconsciousness, not aware of anything at all. Even Kyuubi was nowhere to be seen or heard.

After a while, Naruto began to become aware of things around him like the grass beneath his legs, and some hushed voices whispering. He thought he caught his name several time, and the voices sounded familiar but he couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Then as if by some divine lifting of a curtain around his mind, the next thing he knew he was sitting with his back to a tree on the forest floor, looking straight into Ino's and Sakura's smiling faces.

"Thank goodness," said Ino when she saw Naruto open his eyes.

"We were getting worried you'd never wake up," said Sakura worriedly.

Naruto glanced between them, confused for a moment, then remembering exactly what had happened. He tried to sit up but a wrenching pain from every joint in his body stopped him immediately.

Sakura and Ino put their hands on his shoulders and leaned him back against the tree. He didn't resist them.

"You've been sleeping for almost an hour now and barely breathing or moving or anything," said Ino.

"You had me… us, really worried," muttered Sakura, glancing between Ino and Naruto. Ino looked back at Sakura and let a small and innocent smile cross her lips. Sakura returned the look.

Naruto grinned, glad to be among friends again, but suddenly grimaced as he remembered how the fight with Orochimaru had ended. "Where is Sasuke?" asked the boy worriedly.

"Don't fret," said Sakura, "Sasuke's fine or at least he's in much better condition that you were. He's sleeping peacefully over there by the bramble, but he was absolutely exhausted."

"Ok," said Naruto relaxing a little bit, "What happened? There was a big boom; Sasuke used his fire jutsu at point blank range, and then I blank totally out. It was just… I don't know, a blur."

Sakura hesitated, as did Ino. "I… I don't know," said Sakura, "we just… that guy or whoever he was used some kind of weird genjutsu and-"

"We couldn't move," Ino interrupted, "It was terrifying."

Sakura nodded, "We're sorry we couldn't help."

Naruto, half stunned by the after effects of Sasuke's suicidal technique, was now completely stunned by just how nice Sakura and Ino were being to each other. Ever since they went into the academy, neither one of the girls would so much as look kindly at the other, but now they were being almost … friendly. He wanted to ask them what was with the sudden lack of hostilities, but decided it would be best not to risk wrecking the situation.

"No worries," said the Uzumaki, "You did all you could, and you got Sasuke and I out of there. Thank you."

Both girls looked down at the ground and smiled. "We should probably wait here until Sasuke wakes up and then we can keep heading towards the tower," said Ino, changing subjects as quickly as she could.

"How close are we?" asked Naruto.

"About an hour away," answered Sakura, "And that's if we take our time."

"In other words," said a strange voice from up in the trees, "Not nearly close enough."

Naruto and the girls looked up towards the source of the voice and saw three nin. A boy with spiky black hair, a girl with flowing raven locks and a wicked grin on her face, and another boy, this one wrapped in bandages and a baggy grey coat. All three of them were in drab colors and wore a headband with the emblem of the 'sound' on it.

"There are two ways we can do this," said the one in bandages.

"You can give us the scrolls and surrender," said the girl.

"Or we can beat the shit out of you until you hand them over," said the other boy.

Ino and Sakura immediately leapt in front of Naruto, weapons drawn ready to fight.

"Oh how cute," said the girl, "Look Dosu, they want to fight us."

Dosu, the one in bandages, nodded and chuckled, "I guess so Kin, would you and Zakku like to deal with them or should I get involved?"

"I think I can handle them on my own," said Zakku, the spiky haired punk, leaping down to face Sakura and Ino on equal ground, "They're just two girls and a beat up brat anyhow."

_Oh boy, this kid has no idea what he's in for, _thought Naruto as he glanced over to where Sasuke was resting and saw that the Uchiha was waking up. Naruto looked back at the battle that was about to begin and, despite the fatigue clinging to him like wet cement, readied himself to jump in if things went south. He reached around his back and felt that the wakizashi had been returned to their sheath.

"Make it quick Zakku," shouted Kin, "we've wasted too much time as is."

Zakku smiled maliciously and opened his palms towards the girls, revealing small pinpoint holes in his hands.

"Enough already!" yelled Ino, charging forward, followed immediately by Sakura, "We don't have time for this nonsense!"

Ino and Sakura split off, charging Zakku from different sides. The sound nin however followed and traced their movements with his hands, and waited until they were just meters away before moving. He leapt into the air, still tracking their movements.

Suddenly Sakura and Ino were both blown back by invisible waves of air. They were thrown to the ground some ten yards apart and collapsed, somehow slashed by the chakra imbued wind. Wasting no time however the girls leapt up and charged again. Sakura glanced at Ino and nodded, just as Zakku attacked again. Ino leapt behind Sakura who braced herself and took the brunt of the attack.

The platinum haired kunoichi jumped up just as Sakura's grip slipped and the girl flew back again. Ino, with the element of surprise on her side moved straight at Zakku, who had no time to move.

Ino's foot collided with Zakku's skull as she ruthlessly kicked him in the face, knocking him over. Even as the sound nin fell, Ino planted her free foot on his shoulder and spring boarded off of him, moving towards the other two.

Zakku collapsed to the ground in a heap, unconscious and bleeding from his nose and ears, as Ino drew out two handfuls of shuriken and kunai and flung them at the two other nin in a spray of metal. Surprised, but not unprepared, Kin retaliated with a flurry of her own, countering each one of the projectiles Ino had thrown.

"Not that easy," shouted Dosu, lashing out and punching at Ino.

The girl just grinned and easily dodged the ill placed blow, and continued forward, reaching out with a glowing blue palm, ready to-

Ino collapsed, falling to the ground almost twenty feet below and crawled to her hands and knees. Her vision was spinning and her stomach wrenching. Suddenly the feeling became too much to bear and she vomited.

"I'm good at that," said Dosu, glancing between Ino and a very unconscious Zakku, "But I'll give you credit for knocking out Zakku, he's got a skull an inch thick so don't feel bad-"

Dosu's world suddenly went black as Sakura, who'd been sneaking around from behind, suddenly jumped up from her place and drove a shuriken into the back of the sound nin's neck, completely separating his brainstem from his spine: instant death. Dosu's body fell from the branch and thudded to the ground in an ugly mound about ten feet away from where Zakku lay half obscured by a bush.

Kin jumped back in shock. "How?" she gasped, "Dosu's a master of sound. He can hear anything. And so can I for that matter. How?!"

"I figured," said a badly bleeding Sakura, "after I saw what he did to Ino I guessed that he had to be doing something with sound to mess with her equilibrium. After I figured that much out it was just a matter of a sound muffling jutsu."

_Damn that girls smart,_ thought Naruto to himself.

**That was very clever of her, **muttered Kyuubi.

_Where have you been? _Asked Naruto.

**Healing you, don't complain.**

Kin's eyes shifted madly between Dosu's corpse, Sakura who looked ready to pounce, and Ino ho was just starting to struggle to her feet. The sound girl suddenly turned as if to run and bolted up higher into the trees where she spun and planted her feet. Looking back down at all of them, she surveyed the scene quickly and cursed, just before her whole demeanor changed and a smile crossed her face.

Naruto, still exhausted, glanced behind Sakura and Ino and to his horror saw Zakku was on his feet and pointing both hands directly at the girls. Naruto tried to yell out to get their attention, but the sound nin beat him to the punch.

"Hope you bitches are ready!" he shouted, as Ino and Sakura whirled around to see what was going on, "Cause this is going to be one hell of a bang!"

Before either of the kunoichi could react, The wind all around began to rush in towards Zakku as he mustered the attack, and readied to release it. The sound nin grinned as he saw his victory now. Neither girl could move since the sudden decrease in pressure due to the rush of air had thrown them off balance.

Suddenly there was a loud crack and Zakku screamed in pain as his shoulder was abruptly wrenched from its socket by a firm blow from behind. Another crack followed and two arms emerged from the shadows behind Zakku. They took hold of his elbows and forced his palms up towards the canopy above, just as the nin lost control of the jutsu.

Kin didn't even have time breathe before the wall of air collided with her. The force of the impact blew her no less than fifty meters into the air and nearly stripped the clothes off her back. They all saw that she landed about a quarter mile away in a thicket, but everyone's attention was on Sasuke. The Uchiha nin was not himself. Dark tattoo like markings had burned themselves in cloudlike patterns across his skin, his eyes were a blood red sharingan, and purple chakra was coursing out of his body like fire. He had Zakku pinned to the ground at his feet and stood menacingly over him with his foot on the sound nin's throat.

"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto, "Don't do it! We don't have to kill him!"

Zakku's arms flopped uselessly on the ground like dying fish as the boy struggled under Sasuke's heavy foot. The Uchiha looked over at Naruto with burning eyes and then back down at Zakku on the ground.

"But…" he began, "I guess there's no need to waste the energy." And with that, Sasuke let up on his foot, and stepped off of Zakku. The sound nin couldn't believe it, he was being spared.

Zakku jumped up and looked between Sasuke and Naruto, not sure to make of what was going on, then turned and started to run, really it was more of a hobble, away as fast as his battered legs would carry him.

"Now get out of my sight you pathetic little louse!" shouted Sasuke, "Before I decide you're not worth the air you're so proud of throwing around!"

"You're going to regret this!" shouted Zakku over his shoulder as he plodded away.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed angrily. "Bad decision," he muttered to himself.

Zakku stopped dead in his tracks as Sasuke suddenly in front of him. Sasuke reached out and took hold of Zakku's arms just below the shoulder and lifted the nin in the air.

"I'm sorry, what was it you just said?"

"Nothing… Nothing!" Zakku shouted in pain as Sasuke began to slowly pull, stretching the nin's already fractured frame.

"Maybe you should've just let it go when you had the chance," muttered Sasuke.

"Arrgh!" Zakku growled as Sasuke pulled a little harder.

"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto, "Let it go!"

But it was too late. Naruto, Ino, and Sakura could only watch as with one fierce jerk, Sasuke tore Zakku's arms from his body. Zakku's screaming body fell to the ground as Sasuke turned around and tossed the bleeding limbs off into the bushes, walking back to the rest of the team and leaving the sound nin to bleed out on the cold earth.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, getting to his feet, "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

The Uchiha looked over his shoulder at the crying nin he'd left to die, then back at Naruto. "He was a threat," Sasuke shrugged, "If we let him live he might have come back to bite us in the ass."

Naruto looked towards the maimed nin dying behind the Uchiha and grimaced, "But you didn't have to be so brutal about it at least…"

"Feh, whatever," muttered Sasuke as the tattoos faded quickly from his body. "Save the lesson until we finish this, then maybe I'll have time to feel bad about doing what had to be done."

Sasuke turned and started walking off in the direction of the tower, as Ino and Sakura came up behind Naruto. Ino put her hand on his shoulder and told hi to just let it go.

"What's happened to him?" asked Naruto "One minute he's fine, and the next he's a monster… and what was with that seal all over his body?"

"I don't know," said Sakura, "But c'mon, let's go. We can talk about all this later."

"And why the hell are the two of you so buddy buddy all of a sudden?" asked a very frustrated Naruto, "Doesn't anyone stay the same for more than ten minutes?"

"We can talk later," said Ino soothingly, "Let's get out of here for now."

"Fine," said Naruto, still angry.

SC

"Impressive," said Anko as she stood alongside Sarutobi and Ibiki on a stage erected in front of the group of about ten genin. "Fewer made it than I anticipated."

The room was a large one, easily one hundred feet long and wide, made entirely of stone with some kind of observation balcony running around the top and acting as a kind of second floor. In truth, there were only ten genin who made it to the tower: Naruto and the rest of team seven, Hinata, Kiba and Shino, as well as a team of genin from Suna, it really was a small turnout.

"Perhaps you did too good of a job weeding out the teams, Anko," said Ibiki quietly. "Less than a third of the genin who passed my test are here."

"Meh," shrugged the woman in fishnet, "Not a bad thing. All that means is that we won't have to bother with preliminaries."

"Pardon me!" shouted Kiba coarsely, "But what in the world is going on here? So have we all passed or something?"

Before Anko or Ibiki could say anything Sarutobi stepped forward and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Congratulations!" said the Hokage, "on passing the second part of the Chuunin Exams. I'm sure all of you are very tired, given the hardships you had to endure to come this far, but hear me out for just a moment. As I said, the second part of the exam is over, and you have but one more phase to go. Now that we've decided who among you is worthy to have come this far, we must now decide which, if any of you are worthy to take the title of Chuunin. The only way to do this is a simple one. You will show us everything you have! One month from today, the ten of you will assemble at the stadium in Konoha for a tournament, and there we will decide who is worthy to be called Chuunin."

"A month!" shouted Naruto, "Why do we have to wait so long? Can't we just get it over with now?"

Sarutobi smiled and shook his head. "If you were to fight now, it would only be what we've all seen before. This month is given to you that you may train yourselves to the best of your abilities and show the judges something they've never seen before."

"So will we know who we're fighting?" asked a red haired boy from the sand team.

"I was just getting to that," said Sarutobi patiently. "Anko, the box please." And with that, Anko turned to face the genin, holding a small red box with a hole in the lid.

"Alright everyone," she said crankily, stepping up to Naruto and shouting for them all to hear. "Here's what you're going to do. You reach in and pull out one, only one, slip of paper, and then once everyone's gone we'll find out what you got."

Naruto did so and looked at his slip as Anko went down the line and everyone drew out a piece of paper. After it was all done, Sarutobi looked up towards a large scoreboard on the wall and a set of tournament brackets appeared.

"Who drew number one?" asked Sarutobi.

Ino raised her hand, and her name appeared in lights beneath the number one slot on the scoreboard.

"And number two?" continued the Hokage.

This time Sakura raised her hand, and her name appeared right beside Ino's in the number two slot. The two girls looked hesitantly at each other, as Sarutobi continued down the line. After a minute, Gaara's name appeared in the number nine slot, and Sarutobi announced that would mean that Sasuke was number ten.

"So there you have it," said Ibiki, "Haruno Sakura versus Yamanaka Ino, followed by Temari versus Kiba, then Kankuro and Shino, followed by Naruto versus Hinata, and last is Gaara versus Sasuke."

"Now you all know the match up," yelled the Hokage. "I suggest you study your opponents and learn their strengths and weaknesses. Learn to fight them well, and in one month prepare to give the judges everything you have. Dismissed!"

As the genin began to shuffle from the room, Naruto shot a sidelong glance at Hinata who he found was already looking at him and smiling in a sadistic kind of way. She raised a hand and cynically waved at him and he just looked back in front of him.

SC

"What do you say we all go out for ramen?" asked Ino once they were out of the forest of death and back in Konoha, "I'll treat."

"Sounds good to me," said Naruto smiling, "but if you want me to come along then you have to let me pick up your bill."

Ino grinned and shrugged, 'accidentally' bumping into Naruto and slipping her hand in his. "Well in that case how could I say no?"

"Mind if I tag along?" asked Sakura.

"Sure," said Ino before even Naruto could speak, "I did say all of us."

Sakura grinned and Naruto nearly tripped over his own feet. "Ok," he said, "you're going to have to tell me exactly why you two aren't at each other's throats anymore cause frankly its weirding me out. Not in a bad way mind you, keep it up, but I want to know."

The two girls giggled and glanced at each other and Naruto. Then Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Care to join us Sasuke?" she asked, "Love to have you along."

Sasuke shrugged and looked off into space. "I should probably start training for my fight with that Gaara kid, I hear he's good," muttered the Uchiha. Sakura, Ino, and Naruto all looked a little disappointed but Sasuke turned to them and smiled. "Nah," he said, "Who am I kidding? Getting in shape can wait. Sure, I'll come, but no one is paying for me."

"Deal," said Naruto.

Ino leaned up and cupped her hand by Naruto's ear to whisper to him. "I'll tell you what Sakura and I talked about later," she mumbled happily, "Don't worry, it's all good."

"Glad to hear it" Naruto whispered back, "I was beginning to worry about the two of you."

Ino just grinned and looked at the team. "I'm glad everything seems to be getting back to normal… and even better," she whispered into his ear again.

Naruto just smiled warmly back at her, then turned to answer a question from Sasuke about Ichiraku's prices. Ino looked over at Sasuke and smiled, but the sisterly affection for the Uchiha she'd been nursing quickly faded when his collar slipped and she saw the mark that was left over from when Orochimaru attacked them: a mark in the shape of three small snakes, each the size of a small coin and tightly coiled into little comma like marks.

Team Seven decided not to talk about what had happened in the woods that day, even to each other, and by unspoken agreement each promised not to bring it up with Kakashi or anyone else, believing it was best to just let the issue die. This was perhaps their greatest blunder, which would set in motion events to shake the very foundations of the world.

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AN: Chapter Twenty Three is FINALLY up and running. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay plugged in for the next installment in The Gambit. Next Chapter will bring to the forefront the culmination of everyone's, even Kyuubi's worst nightmares. Coming soon, the grand climax. Who will live and who will die? Who will remain loyal and who will betray? Now GIVE ME SOME REVIEWS! 


	24. Awakenings

AN: Well, here we are with Chapter 24. What can I say, things are coming along quite nicely at a fairly acceptable pace, though I must admit I wish I could turn these chapters out a little faster with a few more reviews attached to each one from you guys, but oh well. No oblique request there at all. And to answer a question, yes I really like Ino. She's by far my favorite Naruto girl. What can I say, she's cute and has a fiery personality. At any rate, not much to say here, other than I hope you enjoy. Ps. A big shout out to SkyMaiden and Darksyde24! Thanks guys!

* * *

Awakenings

Three weeks went by in a flash, and it all seemed like a total blur to Naruto. He was constantly doing something. Whether it was training with the new "Sanin" Jiraiya who came to town about a week after the Second Exam, or spending time with Sakura and Ino at Ichiraku, he was always in some kind of motion.

On this particular day, exactly eight days before the Third Phase of the Exam was to begin, Naruto happened to be in a field just outside of town by himself, working with Kyuubi on some real-world applications of the Demon's training. After Naruto had complained about needing practice outside his mind the demon had agreed that it was about time Naruto graduated from mere simulations to real training.

**Now hold it, steady in mid air, that's it but don't let it waver, **rumbled Kyuubi from deep inside Naruto's mind.

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated on maintaining a steady flow of chakra from his body into the floating orb of energy hovering a few feet off the ground in front of him. The wispy blue ether glowed and seemed to burn with an inner light as it traced through the air and merged with the ball of light.

Naruto grunted and strained as a small lump formed on the side of the sphere, and Kyuubi warned that he should be focusing on keeping it completely round and smooth. The genin struggled against the energies vying to escape from his control, until it became too much. The ball exploded like an overly ripe fruit dropping to the floor as the forces within burst out with a brilliant flash and a resounding bang that knocked Naruto to the ground.

**You're not trying hard enough Kit. The chakra is not some ****putty**** you can mold on a whim. You have to bind it to your will, especially now that those special ANBU wraps are gone.**

"You think I don't know that?" asked Naruto, frustrated. "I'm trying, but this exercise is insane. Even Kakashi-Sensei wouldn't be able to do this."

**It doesn't matter what your master is capable of unless you plan on fighting him in the future. What matters is how strong you are. What matters is whether or not you can best your opponents.**

"Like Hinata," Naruto mumbled, getting to his feet.

**Like Hinata, **confirmed Kyuubi, **That girl has an uncanny talent. Her mastery of chakra is inhuman, and as we've both seen, her physical strength follows suit. You have to be better than her at one or the other. You can't count on luck.**** These exercises aren't pointless, you need to learn to control the chakra and focus it.**

Naruto's mind flashed back to the battle he'd had with her weeks ago, and a shiver ran down his spine when he remembered just how she'd shaken off his jutsu. "That attack should have shattered every bone in her body… and then some…"

Naruto pressed his hands together in the sign of the ram and focused. Again his chakra began to seep from his body and float out towards a single point in the air. The energy slowly collected and formed into a small orb just hovering off the ground. This time however, the surface was as smooth as polished glass, but turning slowly on a ninety degree axis. Sluggishly it began to grow and gather more and more energy until it was nearly as large as Naruto's fist.

**Power ****Kit;**** force it to conform to your whim.**

Naruto grinned, though through an ache that gripped his whole boy. "I think I got it," he growled triumphantly once it was about the size of a bowling ball. "It's mine!"

**Kit, you're ****wavering****. Stop Kit**** now –**

BAAM! The ball of chakra exploded again, this time with a roar and a rush of wind. Naruto toppled backwards to the ground and rolled back no less than a dozen feet before skidding to a stop.

"Dammit!" he shouted angrily, "I'm never going to get this! We've been out here for hours and I'm not any closer than when we started!"

**Kit, you've made progress**** albeit ****negligible****, but if you want to make more then you need to get over it and actually work.**

"I am working," growled Naruto, "This is insane. No one could do this!"

**Hinata could do it.**

Naruto was silent. The genin hooved angrily at the dirt with his sandal and crossed his arms before sitting down and sulking. He knew Kyuubi was right, but admitting it would be nothing short of admitting defeat, and he was never going to admit he was beaten.

**But aren't you admitting defeat by giving up? **Kyuubi asked haughtily, sensing Naruto's thoughts and wanting to provoke him… as much for amusement as anything. **If you surrender to this then you're saying Hinata could beat you. You're saying that-**

"Ok! Enough!" shouted Naruto, "I'll do it, I'll try again if you'll just quit with that…"

Naruto got to his feet and tried again… and again, and again. For hours on end, until late in the afternoon he tried to focus his energies into a perfect sphere and hold it stably in the air, but each time Naruto's failure sounded with a loud explosion. He tried everything: compressing the energy, letting it expand a bit, putting it into a mad spin, but nothing worked. Each result was a little worse than the last as the constant exertion wore on Naruto's stamina. Hours ticked by but every minute seemed to bring Naruto a little lower, every try was another failure.

Naruto's hands began to go numb, and blood dripped from under his fingernails. He could feel himself falling apart, but wasn't relenting. The sun continued on its path through the sky, unnoticed to the genin below. Naruto was staggered. Every attempt ended in failure.

Finally, out of sheer exhaustion, he collapsed to the ground. He was panting and out of chakra. Sweat was flowing down his face and soaking his ANBU suit. "I can't do this," he whispered.

**Hinata could do it.**

Naruto tried to yell, but could barely manage a moan. "I know Hinata could fucking do it… I don't care. I can't do this!"

Kyuubi didn't say anything. In truth, the demon was lost for words. In all of his twelve, almost thirteen years as a part of Naruto, he'd never known the genin to slip into despair over a defeat. People had been knocking him down his entire life but Naruto had always gotten right back up.

_**But then again,**_ thought Kyuubi, _**He's always been beaten by other people, never something he couldn't do: always someone, never something…**_ _**This is disgusting. He needs to wake up.**_

**Kit, **began the demon in an annoyed tone, **get over it.**

"What?" Naruto uttered, almost stunned by the demon's frankness.

**You heard me. Get up, dust yourself off, and figure it out that there's no good in sulking like this. All you're doing is wasting time you could be spending training. There's no reason to whine over this. Now get over it.**

"How can you say that? I've given it all I've got."

**Then all you've got isn't good enough. Give more. Give more you little louse!**

"Shut up," Naruto groaned, "I am not a louse."

**You're acting like one. Running away and giving up ****like**** an infant, pathetic at best. You need to grow up kit and quit these ****delusions**** of grandeur. You're giving up and you're a failure because of it!**

"Fuck you!" yelled Naruto, powered by a sudden anger and leaping to his feet. "I'm not the failure! You are! You're the one stuck inside of me like a trapped animal! Who are you anyway! I don't have to put up with you!"

**Then don't, **growled Kyuubi, **if you're not ready to face reality like a man then go****, run to your precious little vixens and sulk like a pup.**

"Leave them out of this!" Naruto shouted, "Ino and Sakura are not vixens!"

**But don't count on me for anything more than energy, **continued the demon, undeterred and ignoring Naruto's interjection, **If you want my chakra then take it, but I'm done teaching you anything.**

"Fine! I'm sick of you anyway!" Naruto screamed into the thin air, "but just remember that if I die, YOU DIE!"

There was no response. Naruto could feel Kyuubi's presence recede from his consciousness. He was gone, but something else had taken his place. The grand demon was replaced by an awareness of some new power, or access to power that Naruto had felt only in small doses before now. It was the demon's chakra. Naruto could feel that he'd somehow unlocked it.

"Is it mine now?" wondered the genin quietly.

New energy rolled through his body as the fatigue fell from his limbs like mire, his blood pulsed in his veins with new vigor, and Naruto felt his muscles grow strong again. And what was more, he could feel only the twinge of slight discomfort from the poison of Kyuubi's… his… new chakra, like a dull throbbing in his chest. It was nothing.

But the power wasn't alone. It brought with it some kind of unearthly awe. Naruto was suddenly aware of just what he was master of: limitless energy. The knowledge was what followed the power, and it brought with it a confidence, a genuine feeling of strength that up until now the boy had never known. He was strong.

"This …" he said in wonder, holding his hand up in front of his face. "feels…" The boy's hand began to glow, then burn with an aura of red chakra, contrasting sharply with his black suit. "Good." Naruto smirked and clenched his fish shut, banishing the chakra back into the confines of his body.

"I could do anything with this," he muttered through his grin as he turned and began to walk back towards Konoha with a new and powerful stride. Thoughts raced through his mind, images of glory and honor, power and fame. Mostly though, his thoughts turned to Ino. "I can offer her everything now… Being rid of that demon is the best thing that's ever happened to me," he muttered.

Then suddenly he found himself thinking about the near at hand Chuunin Exams.

"Hinata, are you in for one hell of a surprise."

SC

"So where do you think the runt is?" asked the taller of the two figures.

The shorter of the two was silent, staring out from under his broad reed hat towards the gates of Konoha. He glanced from side to side then back towards the city. "I don't know," he said in a very collected and calm voice, "But last intelligence said he was just returning from a mission to the Wave Country."

"But he's been back from the wave for a while," said the other figure, shifting his weight and ruffling his black and red cloak, "that was weeks ago."

"It doesn't matter," said the smaller of the two men, "We'll find him within the day easily."

"What of Jiraiya? He could prove most troublesome Itachi."

The man in the black cloak started walking forward and the taller figure followed close behind. "I'm sure he'll be no problem for us." Said the Uchiha, "at least not for me. Are you worried Kisame?"

The other figure grinned and light glinted off his polished fangs. "Not at all, I just want to get on with this. The less time we spend here the better, and the sooner we get back to the base, the sooner we can finish up these plans."

"Indeed," said Itachi as they approached one of the massive gates.

There was only one guard, a Chuunin standing almost lazily at his post with sword draped down his side. He glanced up at the two newcomers with some mixture of amusement and curiosity. The cloaks and hats they wore completely shrouded their figures and faces, making them seem mysterious, but at the same time, goofy.

"Halt," he said as they approached, "What's your business here?"

"None," said Itachi, stepping forward and lifting the brim of his hat, revealing two blood red eyes, "Tell me, if I were looking for a certain ninja, to whom would I speak?"

The Chuunin's head lulled off to one side as he stared dumbly into Itachi's eyes. A bit of drool began to dribble down his cheek as he answered. "I'd talk to the director of public affairs," said the Chuunin slowly, just before he fell off to one side and collapsed in a daze.

Itachi's eyes faded to a deep black as he stared down at ninja. "Thank you," he said.

SC

Naruto opened the door to the Yamanaka family home with his foot and stumbled into the living room, carrying a large paper sack in either arm and trying not to spill the contents of said bags everywhere as he walked to the kitchen and set them down on the table. Ino and her mother trotted in right after him, neither one carrying a thing and followed him to the kitchen.

"Thanks for helping with the groceries," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "You really didn't have to do that you know."

Naruto turned around and grinned, "I wanted to help," he said smiling, "I know all that fertilizer for the gardens is kinda heavy and I didn't want you to have to carry it all."

Mrs. Yamanaka smiled warmly and sat down at the table. "That was very sweet of you Naruto," she said, "what a gentleman."

Naruto blushed and put a hand up behind his head.

"I could have told you that," said Ino, walking up next to the boy and nudging him with her elbow. "He's always so polite."

"You guys are too much," he said after a moment.

"We know," said Mrs. Yamanaka playfully.

"Hey," said Ino as an idea struck her, "Mom, why don't you take the rest of the day off while Naruto and I tend to the garden? That way you can relax and all while we do the work. After all, we both like working in the garden."

Mrs. Yamanaka looked between the two genin, playfully exaggerating the scrutiny of her look, then nodded to Ino and added a wink. "That sounds really nice, are the two of you sure you wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all," said Naruto, "I'm actually starting to like getting to know things about plants. It's interesting stuff." He glanced over at Ino.

"Fine then," said Ino's mother, "You two tend to the garden, and I'll just stay in here and try to think of something to do."

"Can do," said Ino, reaching down and picking up one of the two bags of fertilizer and standing up. Naruto leaned over and got the other and looked towards the window. The sun was just beginning to set, casting a warm and amber glow all throughout the house.

_The greenhouse is going to be so beautiful… _he thought to himself.

As the two of them left the kitchen, Naruto leading the way, Ino looked back at her mother and smiled. The woman just winked again and smiled back. Ino turned back and walked through the living room to the door to the conservatory where Naruto was waiting for her. The boy got the door and motioned in with his hand.

"Ladies first," Naruto said, offering to hold the bag for her.

Ino acted flattered and walked past him, setting the package in his arms and stepping down the three wooden steps into the Yamanaka Greenhouse. The scene made her breath catch. Soft red light was flooding in through the translucent glass ceiling, making every shape and color in the room just pop with life. All of the warm colors seemed to just blaze, while the darker shades formed a serene shadow all around the brighter colors. All of the flowers seemed to be made from some kind of gem as the sun's rays caressed them all with rosy light. Ino had seen this before, but never quite so vivid… and never with Naruto so near.

"Absolutely gorgeous," said Naruto, setting the bags down by the door, which he slowly shut.

Ino nodded. "I've never really noticed it before, but it really is," she whispered back.

"I wasn't talking about the flowers," Naruto whispered right against her ear.

Something like a chill rushed down the girl's spine, though it was far from unpleasant. Ino was suddenly aware of just how close Naruto was, and just how deeply she was blushing.

"Naruto," she said without turning around, "I don't think I know what you're talking about."

The boy smiled and looked down her back, entranced by everything about her. He had never thought she was unattractive, but now, here alone in this heavenly setting, something came together in his mind. She was truly beautiful in every way.

Ino felt Naruto's fingertips on her hips as he stepped in just a little closer and pulled her towards him. She didn't resist, she couldn't think to nor would she have wanted to. All she could think about was some new sensation that felt like it was bubbling in her belly.

"I think you do," whispered Naruto, smiling. "These past few weeks, I've loved every second I've spent with you. I just wish I could've spent it all with you."

Ino flushed even more as he slowly snaked his arms around her waist and interlocked his fingers in front of her. She could feel his breath on her neck. It sent thoughts of him rushing through her mind and she couldn't help but swoon just a little as the feeling in her stomach slowly began to seep all throughout her, making her feel warm.

Naruto moved as if to catch her as her weight shifted but she caught herself so he just stepped a little closer. To say he had any idea what he was doing would be a lie. His actions were based solely on his desire to be close to her.

"Naruto," Ino murmured, failing to say anything beyond his name.

"Hmm" Naruto asked quietly as she put her hands on top of his and began running her fingers over his hands.

She was lost for words, but acting totally without thought, turned in his arms to face him, looking up into his eyes and feeling so warm as she pressed against him. He smiled and Ino could feel herself melting. She was sure that any second now she would simply collapse to the floor as the warmth from her belly began to burn through her like fire, reaching from her fingertips to her toes.

The moment seemed to last forever, and the world all around faded into the background as the two of them stood there, lost in each other's eyes. Ino slid her arms up around Naruto's neck as he held her close and gently. Neither one was sure where it went from here or even if there was anywhere left for it to go, but they didn't care.

Naruto was happy. He felt more loved than he ever had before. All of the years he'd spent alone and crying vanished from his mind. All the darkness of his life, all the pain and suffering, the guilt, the want of company and love, it was all gone. He knew he was happy, and his mind rested in the joy of the moment. The warm sunlight fell perfectly across Ino' face to illuminate her eyes and bring out all of the natural beauty that was there, and Naruto just drank in her loveliness, calm in a state of bliss.

Ino looked up into his eyes, and her heart skipped a beat in her chest. The smile on his face and the warmth in his pure blue eyes were overwhelming, somehow stopping her breath and making her pulse race. She knew she was in love. She instinctively knew that she loved him and that he loved her back.

Before she knew what she was doing, Ino felt her hands cupping Naruto's face. It felt like lightning was surging through her fingertips and down her arms, into her shoulders and all through her. She wanted to pull him closer. She wanted so badly to have nothing between them, and before either of them knew what was happening, his lips pressed against hers.

Stars exploded in Ino's mind, utter bliss and terror all mixed together in a single convoluted rush of feeling. This was it, her moment, and as she closed her eyes, her mind lost itself in his touch, the world around her truly and completely collapsed, leaving nothing but Naruto, his arms around her, and his lips against hers.

Whether or not she had leaned up to him, or if he had pulled her up to him and kissed her neither knew. The simple yet passionate kiss however seemed to go on and on. Ino couldn't tell if time was passing in hours, seconds, or even at all. She didn't know where they were or if they were anywhere at all. But what she did know was that she could feel Naruto's heart beating against her chest in rhythm with her own heart. She knew this was what happiness really was.

Naruto drew back just far and long enough to allow a breath, before shifting and moving in to gingerly kiss her neck. He could tell by nothing but how her eyes were barely shut and how she leaned her head back at his touch, baring her alabaster neck to his kiss, that he was making her burn for him, long for him to keep going.

"You have no idea how much I love you," he whispered against her neck, slowly running his hands up and down her back.

Ino groaned and leaned her head farther back. She couldn't speak. Words were utterly lost on her. She moved her hands to the back of Naruto's head and ran her fingertips over his scalp as he continued to kiss her neck and whisper against her skin.

Goosebumps broke out all over her as he went just a little higher and traced his lips along the line of her jaw, then slipped a little lower to kiss down into the pit of her neck. She nearly couldn't contain herself, cocking her head off to one side to allow him better access to her was simply not enough. She was burning all over for him. Moving her hands up the back of his tight mesh shirt and rubbing his back was simply not enough. She wanted more.

"Naruto," she hoarsely whispered.

He slipped his hands under the back of her shirt and pulled her up close against him, running his fingers up and down her skin and caressing her sides. The feelings his hands sent rushing all throughout her were enough that she snapped her head back and gasped, to which he feverishly moved in and again began to kiss her neck more potently than before.

Ino nearly fell backwards, but Naruto's arms held her up. She closed her eyes again and put her hands down to the top of his pants in the back. The fire in her belly had shifted lower and now rested in her pelvis. From there the primal burning was sending its heat in wave after wave through her body.

"Naruto," she gasped, pulling her hips in against him and wrapping a leg around the backs of his knees to hold tight to him. "Naruto," she whimpered as the waves of heat seared through her chest, igniting overwhelming desires. Ino was shaking like a leaf in the wind, unable to hold in all the feelings whirling through her. The kisses, the chills, his warm hands, pressing against him, the warmth, the fire, the passion, the newfound sensations, they were all too much to contain.

"God oh god oh god," she gasped.

Naruto smiled. Knowing he was doing this to her was overwhelming, intoxicating even. He slid his hands down her back and under her thighs, rubbing the muscle as he hoisted her up off of her feet and wrapped her other leg around him. The girl let herself go. She gave him control and did not want it back.

Once she was secure, Naruto slid his hands back up her back under her shirt and began to gently stroke her shoulders and sides. He kissed her lips again as his vision blurred from the overwhelming new sensations.

Naruto blinked to clear his eyes and found himself starring at Ino as she leaned her head back, biting her lip to keep from moaning and clenching her eyes shut. Everything about her seemed surreal, and it was only then that Naruto realized he'd carried them to a wall, and had set her back against it. He saw himself pulling her against him and grinding against her.

Shocked, he ceased moving, horrified that he was somehow hurting her. His mind was aflame with paranoia and he was suddenly self conscious.

"No," Ino gasped as she felt him slow down, "please don't stop." She opened her eyes and starred, blearily into his. "Don't stop." The look on her face melted immediately away into a pleading smile. She wasn't afraid or in pain, she was in love.

"I-" Naruto began, smiling broadly, but cut himself off as there was a knock on the garden door. Both of their heads immediately snapped towards the noise.

"Naruto," called Mrs. Yamanaka from the other side, her voice slightly muffled by the oak between the rooms. "I realize you're busy, but there's someone here to see you. He says he has something from the Hokage."

Naruto groaned inwardly and looked at Ino. She was looking up into his eyes longingly. Everything about her was begging him to stay with her, and though she wrapped her arm a little tighter around him, she nodded off towards the door.

"Go," she whispered, "I'll be right here."

Naruto looked between her and the door for just a second, then let go and stepped back. Ino let her arms drop to her side and leaned all her weight against the wall.

"Coming," Naruto called out as he turned and walked towards the door.

He climbed the stairs and put his hand on the knob, turning it and stepping into the Yamanaka's living room. From there he could see Mrs. Yamanaka standing by the couch, looking out the open front door. He followed her gaze and saw a figure, garbed in a straw hat and black cloak with red clouds standing just outside the door. He shivered as he looked towards the stranger, and instinctively positioned himself between the visitor and Mrs. Yamanaka before he walked up to the threshold.

"A word privately if we may," said the figure with an icy voice that made Naruto's heart quake.

Even so, the boy stepped outside into the dusk and beside the stranger and closed the door behind him, catching a glance of Mrs. Yamanaka as he did. He could see by the look on her face that something was bothering her.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" asked the stranger without looking at the genin.

Naruto nodded.

"Please come with me Naruto-kun," said the man, for it was indeed a man's voice, "we need to go now."

"Where?" asked Naruto sharply, sensing trouble.

"Naruto! Get Back!" shouted a familiar voice from behind the figure.

Naruto shifted and saw Sasuke, in his new jet black clothes, standing off at a distance. His eyes were crimson red and the Mangekyou toma mark was open wide and spinning furiously.

The blonde's eye caught just the hint of a white spark at his feet, and Naruto leapt back, along with the cloaked figure as a pillar of white fire shot up from the ground with a loud roar. Naruto's front was singed, as was the visitor's hat. The smoldering straw fell from his head, revealing a man who looked to be in his mid twenties, with long black hair and an angular face. Most significantly though, were his sharingan eyes.

"Uchiha Itachi!" shouted Sasuke, "So you've finally come!"

Naruto looked up at the monster in front of him as Itachi turned to Sasuke. Memories of the Uchiha slaughter poured into his mind, as Naruto realized in whose presence he was standing.

"Been a long time Sasuke," muttered Itachi unaffectedly, "I see you've actually succeeded in opening your Mangekyou. You must've gone to great trouble to do that. Tell me, who did you kill?"

"An innocent little girl," Sasuke's teeth clenched with rage as he spat out the words. "But I didn't do it for you, or for these eyes. You're not worth that. It was my own **fucking** stupidity!"

"If you didn't kill her for power," said Itachi calmly, "then it was meaningless and she died for no reason."

"Shut UP!" shouted Sasuke, "I'm not here to talk, just to kill you! You're time has finally come Itachi!"

Naruto stared on in amazement as Sasuke's hand began to blaze white and crackle with lightning. The sound of a the air burning around the white hot energy sounded like a multitude of thousands of birds all screaming at once.

"Chidori," said Itachi, unimpressed.

"Now DIE!!" screamed Sasuke, rearing back and lunging forward, charging like a stallion towards his brother.

Itachi disappeared in a burst of wind, and materialized right beside Sasuke. He reached out and caught the boy by the wrist, and jerked downward, shoving the Chidori straight down into the earth where it dissipated with a rumble and a tremor. With a flick of his wrist, Itachi snapped Sasuke's wrist like a twig, while simultaneously looking Sasuke in the eye and flashing some kind of energy between them.

Sasuke screamed in agony, just as Itachi let go and whirled around to roundhouse kick Naruto in the stomach. The blonde had summoned up an aura of red chakra and leapt into the fray, only to be sent hurdling back. Naruto stopped himself, rolled to his feet and growled angrily as Itachi turned to face him and cocked an eyebrow.

"So you've managed to somehow control the power of the nine-tails?" Itachi wondered aloud.

Naruto didn't answer, but instead held out his hand and began pumping demonic chakra into a single point in his palm until a glowing sphere of burning energy the size of a piece of fruit coalesced and spun like a devil above his hand. The energy was perfectly round, smooth, and represented more chakra gathered into one form than Naruto had ever felt before.

"Is that a Rasangen?" Itachi asked himself, "not perfect, but similar. Interesting, but pointless."

"And you're going to back the hell off unless you want me to shove it in your gut!" yelled Naruto, "Get away from Sasuke now!"

Itachi glanced down at the genin cradling his broken wrist and shrugged. "As you wish," said the missing nin.

In a flash, Itachi disappeared again and materialized right in front of Naruto, grabbing Naruto's wrist and wrenching it. Naruto grunted but the bone didn't break. He tried to thrust the ball of energy into Itachi, but the nin dodged to the side, and instead used Naruto's strength against him.

Before Naruto could react, Itachi had maneuvered the boy's arm and shoved the burning energy into Naruto's own stomach. The genin howled as his own attack ripped and tore at his internal organs. The demon chakra wasted no time in destroying anything it came in contact with, and poisoning the rest.

Almost immediately, the boy's energy ran out and Naruto fell to the ground in a bloody heap. The crimson liquid poured like water from the fist-sized hole in Naruto's stomach. He clutched at what should have been a fatal wound, trying desperately to hold himself together, though he turned when he heard the door to his home open. Naruto's heart froze when he heard Ino scream his name. He didn't know if Itachi had gotten to her.

"This is becoming annoying," muttered Itachi, "and with Kisame off dealing with that Jiraiya fool-"

There was an explosion of smoke that blotted out almost a hundred feet in every direction from Naruto, and the boy soon felt himself being whisked away by something wet and slimy. Itachi remained motionless even as a flash in the smoke pulled Sasuke away from him and another motion swept Ino away from the door he was just about to charge.

As the smoke cleared, Itachi grimaced as he saw Jiraiya, accompanied by no less than ten man sized toads, each wearing armor and carrying weapons, standing about a dozen yards away, between him and the three genin.

"Did somebody mention the Legendary Toad Sanin!" shouted the old pervert, striking a pose, "Did I hear the name of the mighty Jiraiya?! Did someone summon the awesome-"

"Would you can it and kill him already," growled Naruto, who was pumping every last bit of his chakra into healing his wound.

Jiraiya, thrown off by Naruto's interruption, took a second to recover his composure while Itachi stood back. "I could," said the Sanin, cockily, "but you see I stubbed my little finger filleting his fish faced friend and I don't feel like wasting any more energy."

"How thoughtful of you," Itachi said cynically, "I appreciate the gesture."

"Gotcha!!" shouted Jiraiya just as a pair of scaly arms burst up from the ground and locked Itachi's heels to the earth. "The Legendary Sanin never lets an enemy of Konoha live."

"Oh well," muttered Itachi, "Not today I guess." The nin held up a hand and burst into a puff of smoke, then was gone.

The Toad Sanin stared dumbly at where Itachi had just been standing, then reached up and scratched his head through his long white hair.

"Well that was anticlimactic," said Jiraiya, disappointed by the lack of a real end to the fight. "But then again all the greatest ninja battles always end in an instant. But nonetheless, I was hoping to finally kill that little prick."

"I was hoping you would too," said Naruto, getting to his feet and clutching his healed, but still churning stomach.

"Are you alright?" Jiraiya asked hurriedly, "I saw what you did to yourself. You should be dead."

"We both know just how fast I heal," said the genin as the frogs burst into ninja smoke.

Jiraiya nodded, "But we needn't talk about that here. Sasuke needs help"

"What happened here?" asked Ino in a huff.

"Itachi used an extremely powerful genjutsu on him," said the Sanin. "We need to get him somewhere he can rest."

"I meant here," said Ino, "who was that, who is Itachi, and what did he want?"

Naruto and Ino both looked at Jiraiya for answers, but the Sanin merely put up his hands for them to calm down. "I'll tell you when I have time," he said, "But as for now we need to see to Sasuke, and you Naruto, need to go to the hospital and make sure you're not going to die of internal bleeding.

Naruto was about to protest, but caught Jiraiya's wink at the end telling him it was just for appearances. He also softened up when he felt Ino's fingers on his arm as she worriedly looked to see if he was alright.

"Fine," said the genin.

"Good," mumbled Jiraiya, picking up Sasuke and holding him over his shoulder, "And one more thing. That jutsu you tried to use on Itachi, I'd like to see you try it again sometime. I think we need to talk about it a little."

Naruto nodded, then began to walk down the road with Ino, adding a little hobbling to his motion to feign being hurt, and as a result, to have Ino help him walk.

Jiraiya watched them until they turned a corner, then began walking away from the scene just as a crowd was beginning to form to see what in the world had just happened in the middle of the usually peaceful town.

"That kid is something else," said the Sanin to himself, "must be genetic."

SC

"Is your mother alright?" Naruto asked hesitantly, worrying about Mrs. Yamanaka.

"She's fine," said Ino as she helped Naruto hobble through the hospital doors, "When she looked out the window and saw what was going on, she went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. By then though, it was already over."

"It all happened so fast," muttered Naruto. "The whole fight took less than half a minute, but that was all the time Itachi needed to destroy Sasuke and I."

Ino froze in her tracks. "Itachi as in Uchiha Itachi?" Ino asked, suddenly realizing who had just visited her house. "What in the world was he doing here? ... What did he want with you?"

Naruto straightened up, and slipped his fingers around her hand. "I don't know" he said, "But whatever's going on, we'll make it through."

Ino looked up at him, then down at the ground and smiled weakly. "Yeah," she said quietly, "We will."

Naruto gave her hand an encouraging squeeze, hoping to relax her a bit. "Are you hurt?" he asked.

Ino shook her head and stepped a little closer to him. "I'm ok," she said, "I'm just worried about you though. You looked really hurt."

"Don't worry about me," Naruto grinned, trying to sound confident, "Just remember who I am."

Ino smiled and quickly leaned up, giving him a peck on the cheek. "I know exactly who you are. That's why I know you can handle anything. Just promise me that you won't try to go after him, Itachi I mean. If something happened to you I don't know what I'd do."

Naruto squeezed her hand again and looked into her eyes. "I promise," he said, "trust me, the last thing on my mind is going after some super-human monster."

Ino smiled. "Thank you," she said.

"Naruto!" called an unfamiliar voice.

Naruto looked towards the receptionist's desk and waved when he saw that it was Neji who had called his name. Naruto remembered him from the early years in the academy. Neji had been in the class ahead of him. The young Hyuuga finished filling out a little paperwork as Naruto and Ino made their way towards him.

"What's up?" asked Naruto as he stepped up next to Neji, "good to see you're finally up and around."

"Just checking out," said Neji quietly without looking up from the papers in front of him. "Naruto, I need to have a word with you if I may. It's about… the exams."

"You're condition?" asked Ino before Naruto could speak. "What's the matter?"

Neji signed his name at the bottom of the last sheet and handed it to the receptionist who then announced that he was free to go. The Hyuuga looked sidelong at Naruto and grimaced when he saw the tears in his clothes.

"Do you think we could speak privately?" asked Neji, "I mean no disrespect but what I have to say is for you and you alone. Please, it's a matter of no small importance.

"Sorry," said Naruto, "but I'm not going to just shoo Ino away. If she wants to listen I'm not going to ask her not too."

"It's alright," said Ino, "I understand that you boys need to talk about something. I'll just head home and make sure mother's alright. She looked a little shaken when we left."

"You sure?" asked Naruto.

"Positive," said the girl, "I don't mind. Just come home safe please."

"I will," Naruto smiled.

Ino kissed him on the cheek again, then turned and walked to the big double doors at the entrance. She turned and waved before walking out and disappearing from sight.

"She seems nice enough," said Neji once Ino was gone, "Have you been seeing her long?"

Naruto nodded, "Longer than I thought really, but since when did you take an interest in people's love lives?"

Neji shrugged and looked off away from Naruto. "I'm not, but it's polite to make conversation."

Naruto frowned a little as he looked Neji over. This wasn't like him at all. Naruto couldn't remember even a single time at the academy when Neji had been even slightly concerned with being polite.

"Maybe we should get to the point," said Naruto, "what's bothering you?"

Neji let a small smile cross his face, then turned towards the door and began walking out. He motioned for Naruto to follow and together the two of them left the building and began moving towards the center of town.

"You always were the blunt one," said Neji, "But I suppose that's not a bad thing. After all, having someone around who's not afraid to tell something the way it is can be an advantage."

"Ok," said Naruto, "What in the world is going on? Stop dodging the issue."

Neji stopped in his tracks with Naruto right beside him. "It's about Hinata-Sama. There's something I think you should know about her."

Naruto froze and looked at Neji out of the corner of his eye. "What would that be?"

The busy street all around them served as the perfect buffer to hide their words from any listening ears. The crowd bustling by was almost completely unconcerned with their presence.

"My little cousin isn't herself. I'm afraid a terrible secret kept by my clan for generations is finally coming out into the open, and though it may cost me my life if Hiashi-Sama learns I've spoken of such matters, it is only just that you know since it may be your destiny to be the one to end it."

"What are you talking about?" asked Naruto.

Neji hesitated for only a second before turning to Naruto and looking directly into his eyes with a chilling glare. "Hinata-Sama is the one who attacked me."

Naruto's blood almost stopped pumping in his veins. He wasn't intimate with the Hyuugas, but even he knew that their "famous clan loyalty" was not something any of them ever violated, even if it was just out of fear for the peace. The branch house never disobeyed the head house, and the head house didn't abuse their authority over the branch. For either side to attack the other could ignite a war within Konoha.

"Why would she do that?" asked Naruto.

"Like I said, Hinata-Sama isn't herself. She's a demon now."

* * *

AN: I'm done! Not with the fic of course, but with this particular chapter. Hope you enjoyed and I hope also to receive a review from each of you. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time. And by the way, I've enabled anonymous reviews so none of you have an excuse lol. Coming up next: The Serpent Emerges! 


	25. The Serpent Emerges!

AN: Well, glad to see you all made it alive and well to chapter 25. I guess you might say we're getting towards the climax here. It's definitely looming on the not too distant horizon, and I must warn you, I write endings like Ninjas duel and fight. I'll leave you to ponder that, but in the mean time I've got a story to tell. Oh and just one quick thing. I know that some of you are screaming at me for not including enough fluff with Sakura. Well I don't want to ruin the plot for any of you, so all I can do is ask that you trust me a while longer when I say that Sakura is bound for her time in the sun. (please don't hunt me down and kill me.) On with the fic!!

* * *

The Serpent Emerges

It was dark, and cold. There was no light coming from any source and Sasuke couldn't see his hand in front of his face, or anything else for that matter. As near as he could tell he was in a massive room, the dimensions of which were unimaginably huge, and he was alone, or at least he couldn't hear anything. But at the same time he didn't feel alone.

It might just have been the fact that he was blind in a place with which he was unfamiliar. It could have been that he'd arrived with no memory of how he got there. Or perhaps it was that no matter which way he turned, there always seemed to be a hot, sticky wind blowing down the back of his neck, like breath.

"Perhaps this is Hell," said the raven haired boy, trying to sound unfazed by the situation. "Am I dead?"

Nothing answered, and Sasuke looked around, peering into the darkness. He reached out and waved his hand as if to clear away some mist, hoping to disrupt whatever it was that was keeping him blind, but to no avail. The darkness was nothing his eyes could pierce or his hand could waft away.

"Well it's no good just sitting here waiting to starve," said Sasuke taking a step in front of him. He took another step after testing the ground in front of him to ensure it was solid, and then another and another. Soon he was walking at a cautious pace through the gloom with his hands stretched out in front of him like a blind man, but it didn't seem right. After coming this far, he thought, he should've come to some kind of wall or obstacle. But he hadn't. There was nothing to hinder him. The room was totally open and void.

"Where the hell am I?" the boy wondered aloud, "I can't remember a blasted thing."

For what seemed like endless hours Sasuke wandered. The sticky breath on the back of his neck got warmer and warmer with every step he took and seemed to bring with it a sickness, a haze in his mind that made him want to vomit. It was only once this sickness became unbearable that he hesitantly changed directions, but it didn't matter which way he went in the void, every step made him more and more ill.

Finally his foot struck something and he froze. His hands had touched nothing so he knew whatever it was couldn't be more than a few feet tall. _No matter _he thought, _I'll just step over it and move on. _

Sasuke cautiously raised a foot and moved to climb over whatever it was so he could be on his way, but as he did he suddenly found it impossible to move and stumbled over. He landed hard on his side in a puddle of something that surrounded the lump. Whatever this liquid was it was as warm as the breath on his neck and dripped off his hands and clothes back into the puddle with little splashes.

"What, what is this?" Sasuke muttered, terrified and confused.

Silent he stared at his hands as the faintest color began to seep into his world and make the void visible. Crimson; his eyes saw nothing but scarlet shades, red as blood flowing into his mind. Only then did he see what he had stumbled over. Sasuke's face paled as his heart nearly stopped beating. He was laying next to a corpse. His hands and clothes and face were soaked in its blood.

"What is this?!" he gasped, starring down at the body.

His eyes were suddenly drawn to the landscape around him. Everything was blood, he could see nothing unless it was red, but all around him were hundreds, no, thousands of corpses; each one somehow familiar to him. They wore scarlet robes that seemed to burn against the blackness of the floor and background.

"Who are you!?" he shouted, irrational with terror.

Again, there was no response. The bodies just lay there, long gashes torn into their forms from which flowed a seemingly unending puddle of blood. The heat on Sasuke's neck intensified as he stared on in utter horror. This was sick, it wasn't right. Sasuke leapt up, desperate to run, but couldn't stop himself from looking down at his hands and the body at his feet instead. Both were dripping with the warm red liquid.

"I've got to get out of here!" shouted the Uchiha boy in stark terror.

He whipped around and set himself to run, but instead screamed and fell backwards, tripping over the body and landing again in the blood. A corpse behind him had risen up and stared at him. It looked to have once been a woman, but now just a cadaver, a husk of life, hunched over him and staring at him through empty eye-sockets.

Training and discipline both failed Sasuke. Instead of jumping to his feet to confront the menace he turned and started to scurry away from it in the same way a frightened rabbit would flee a wolf. He shambled over other bodies, running as fast as his feet would allow, but for him, no speed was fast enough to carry him away from this place. Deeper and deeper he charged into the plain of bodies, stopping only to look over his shoulder at the one corpse, sinking into the distance. Finally Sasuke stopped. Out of breath and sweating he turned to look at the specter in the dark, still hunched where he left it.

"Sasuke…"

The boy froze again, his eyes wide with horror. The voice came from the dead woman. It was empty and dry and dead: hollow and unearthly cold, though he instinctively knew that it should have been warm and comforting. This voice was some perversion.

"Sasuke…" it said again, the whisper carrying over the hundreds of yards between them.

"What do you want!!" Sasuke screamed.

"Revenge," the voice uttered. It was his mother's.

Something stirred around him. Sasuke looked in every direction and choked on his fright. This was impossible. The bodies were standing up. All throughout the field of corpses the bodies were getting up as though drawn by some cord tied to their neck. They turned to face the Uchiha boy, starring with cold dead eyes.

"Get the hell away from me!" Sasuke yelled at the top of his lungs.

But the corpses were as deaf as they were dead, and each one began to slowly float towards him. They didn't walk, nor move any muscle on their own, but each was animated almost like it was on a conveyer line, being drawn towards him.

"I said stay back!" he yelled again, fear causing his voice to waver and crack.

They were closing in around him and Sasuke knew he was done for.

"Cling," said a collected voice from somewhere beyond the void. "Cling to life in an unsightly manner. Hate. Hate for you have nothing to love. Kill. Kill for all life is utterly meaningless."

Sasuke knew the voice, but in his panic couldn't place it. All he knew was that one of the bodies closing in around him was carrying a sword. Sasuke reached out and took hold of the handle, jerking it from the sheath with such force that the man's belt was ripped from his waist.

"I warned you!" Sasuke shouted, "NOW DIE!"

Sasuke whirled around in a blind flurry, whipping the sword through the air and hacking down a trio of his undead enemies. The bodies collapsed to the ground, still and oozing out a torrent of blood. The Uchiha twirled again, and two more bodies fell. But there were so many more. They were all still advancing.

Ten, then twenty, then fifty, then a hundred all fell beneath his sword. He sliced them in two and hacked off their heads and rammed the sword through their chests. They were all dying a second death as soon as they came close. Men, women and children all he utterly destroyed until there was only one left: his mother.

"Sasuke," she muttered in the same tone as before.

"Stay back or I'll"

"Sasuke…"

With one fell swing he severed her head which fell to the ground right alongside her body. She was still finally, leaving Sasuke the only figure again in the gloom. He was panting hard and sweating. He was covered in blood and grime.

"Impressive," said the same voice that told him to kill.

Sasuke whirled around to see Itachi, in his black cloak standing atop a mound of bodies. His brother was grinning maniacally and looking around at all of the destruction. "Couldn't have done it better myself."

"You," said Sasuke, pointing the sword directly at Itachi's heart. "I'll kill you!!"

Sasuke leapt like a tiger, descending on Itachi who refused to move, and hacked at his throat like a lumberjack. Itachi's head rolled off his shoulders as Sasuke landed behind the pile of bodies and turned around.

The severed head fell to the ground with the decapitated body, then rolled off the back of the pile, stopping t Sasuke's feet and looking up at him. A smile crossed the head's face, just before the mouth opened in an uproarious laughter. Sasuke screamed at the sight and stomped the head fiercely, trying to shut it up.

"I couldn't have done it better myself!" it shouted.

"What do you mean!" yelled Sasuke in terror.

"Look around. I couldn't have done it better myself."

Sasuke looked up from the head and gasped. He was no longer in a dark void, but in the center of the Konoha market. All around him were dead bodies with long gashes and torn in their forms by the sword he still held in his hand. Each one of them he recognized as a past acquaintance or friend. Many of them had been his family, but they were all dead now. Blood was splashed against the walls and pooled in the mud all around.

"No no no no no no no no no no no!!!" Sasuke howled, his eyes wide, "This can't be possible! What have I done?!"

"You've killed them all," said Itachi's voice.

Sasuke turned around just as Itachi appeared behind him, alive and well. The older brother shoved the sword in his hand through Sasuke's belly before the younger could react. Blood sprayed from the wound and Sasuke instantly fell forwards into Itachi's shoulder.

"You've killed them all," Itachi repeated, "And with your own friend's sword no less."

Even as his vision began to fade, Sasuke raised the weapon in his hand to eye level. It was indeed Naruto's blade, the darker of the two at least, though now it was somehow different. Long and wickedly sharp teeth had grown from the blade and a ruby sat in the hilt like an eye.

"Dear little brother, you've killed them all," said Itachi mockingly, just as Sasuke's eyes failed him, "and now I've killed you."

SC

Birds were chirping. The sun was shining in through a window and falling across Sasuke's face. He opened his eyes slowly, half expecting to see Itachi, but instead saw the ceiling of a nicely decorated hospital room. He sat up in bed, still tense and a little confused, but had his wits about him enough to realize he was in no immediate danger. The room looked secure, and comfortable on top of that.

There were several potted flowers scattered about, from the Yamanaka garden no doubt, and a half dozen get well soon cards lined the bedside table. Sasuke picked one up and flipped it open. He read the message inside and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Only Naruto," he muttered before putting the card down and laying his head on the ample supply of pillows. "That was crazy, man what a nightmare. I-"

Sasuke lurched up in bed again, shock carved on his face.

"That wasn't a dream," he said tensely, throwing off the covers and finding himself clad in a white patient's gown. "Itachi really was here. Naruto and I really did fight him and he did something to me. Where's Naruto? I have to find him now? Where are my clothes? What day is it?"

Sasuke marched from the room shouting for a nurse. One immediately ran up from that floor's desk, rambling something about his health, but Sasuke ignored it.

"Where are my clothes?" he barked loudly, "And what day is it?"

The nurse stopped in her tracks, "Umm," she stammered. "Your clothes are in the bin behind my desk, and it's the fifteenth."

"Fifteenth," repeated Sasuke, "good, so I've still got six days till the exam meaning I've been asleep for two, plenty of time. Get me my clothes."

The nurse, not wishing to further anger the ninja who'd been brought into her care with a warning from another ninja, immediately scurried off to fetch the boy his outfit and returned with it in less than a minute. Sasuke wasted no time in running to his room and changing into his black outfit, then walking back out into the hall and b-lining for the stairs.

"Excuse me," called the nurse, "But you'll need to check out."

The Uchiha pulled the door to the stairwell open and disappeared through it.

"Or… not."

Sasuke nearly ran down the stairs, feeling refreshed after almost forty-eight hours of sleep, even if it was marked by horrible dreams, and bolted out an emergency side door into the beaming sunlight. He shielded his eyes for just a moment before taking off running down the street towards the Yamanaka's. If anyone knew where Naruto was, he thought, it would be them.

Sasuke reached the popular flower shop in two minutes flat, and knocked on the door. Mrs. Yamanaka answered, wiping some dirt off of her hands with a dishrag and told Sasuke that Naruto, Sakura and Ino, along with Neji were just outside of town in a field training for the Chuunin exams. Sasuke thanked her and bolted off, not wanting to waste another minute.

The boy dashed down the street, blowing by surprised citizens and dodging anyone foolish enough to step out in front of him. Before long, he had reached the city's gate and hopped out the huge wooden doors like a cat, looking for any signs of his team.

It didn't take much observation. The Uchiha immediately heard the sounds of battle echoing from his left and dashed off in that direction. He cleared a bit of bramble and came into a field where he saw four figures. Two were Ino and Sakura, sitting side by side in the grass, while the other two, Neji and Naruto, whirled about one another inside of a dirt ring about twelve feet across. The girls looked to be dirtied up from their own training and sat watching as Naruto attempted to outdo the jyuken prodigy.

"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke, despite the battle raging in the ring.

The blonde genin looked away from Neji towards Sasuke just long enough for Neji to get the upper hand and subsequently put two fingers over Naruto's heart without actually striking him.

"Dead," said the Hyuuga, "For the fifth time today."

Naruto grinned, and motioned for Sasuke to come over then turned back to Neji. "Yeah, but that's out of twelve matches. I'm seven and five right now. Not bad for a rookie wouldn't you say."

Neji nodded as Sasuke walked up beside them and the girls got up and walked over, completing the group. "True," said Neji, "But you must remember, Hinata-Sama is … far better that one might expect. I didn't stand a chance against her. I understand you're holding back but even so, you still have to do better."

"I've still got a week," said Naruto.

"Suit yourself," said the Hyuuga, deciding not to argue.

"Now," said Naruto, turning to Sasuke, "What's up? Glad to see you're up and around."

"Yeah," chimed in Sakura, "We were worried you'd sleep through the exams."

Sasuke shook his head and asked if he could speak with Naruto alone for just a minute. The genin agreed, adding that there were a few things Sasuke should know before time ran out, and with that, the two walked a fair distance into the field to talk, while Ino and Sakura again began to spar. Neji just watched.

"So Hinata is possessed?" asked Sasuke, about ten minutes into the conversation.

Naruto nodded, "That's what Neji says. According to him it's some kind of monster from ages ago that was sealed in the first Head of the Hyuuga Clan and has been passed down like a bloodline ever since, for whatever reason it's just found the strength to get out and take over Hinata."

"Why don't the Hyuugas just destroy her then?" asked the Uchiha, "Or at least seal it up again."

"That's what I suggested," said Naruto, "But Neji says that even Hiashi couldn't kill her or seal it without starting a battle that would wreck half of Konoha. The best thing that can be done right now is to just wait and try not to provoke her."

"You mean until you try to kill her in the exams."

Naruto looked at the ground. "That's the plan…"

"And just how do you plan on killing a demon Naruto? Don't you think a genin should leave that for someone like the Hokage?"

"I can do it," said Naruto sternly, looking up at Sasuke, "we both know that I'm not an ordinary genin. And neither are you as far as that goes. We're both exceptions to the norm."

Sasuke just nodded in agreement. "But even so, I still hesitate to say you can take on a demon alone, even if it is just working through the body of a little girl."

"You'll just have to trust me," said the blonde, "Now why did you come rushing over here so quickly? What's on your mind?"

Sasuke paused and looked around as if to make sure no one was listening in before clearing his throat. "I don't need to tell you what it means now that Itachi's come back."

Naruto froze. He'd been dreading this moment for the last two days. He knew exactly what was coming, but didn't know what he was going to say or do. "Enlighten me," mumbled Naruto, "I'm not sure what you're getting at."

Sasuke grinned al little maniacally. "You're right Naruto, neither of us are normal. We're both exceptional, unique. We're both more powerful than anyone our age and together there's no one who could stop us."

"And?" probed Naruto, trying to buy himself time to think of a response to what he knew Sasuke was ready to suggest.

"I want you to help me kill Itachi. Just because I'm an avenger doesn't mean I have to kill him alone. There's no shame in it as long as Itachi dies and I'm involved in the fight. And on top of that, if you agree to help me, I'll help you defeat that demon in the Chuunin Exams. It's a win-win deal."

"Sasuke," began Naruto, looking down at the ground, "You know neither of can beat Itachi. We already tried and it nearly got us both killed."

"But he caught us off guard," growled Sasuke, not liking Naruto's resistance.

"No, you had been tracking him. You were ready, and by the time I attacked, so was I. But he still beat us both like we were nothing."

"But maybe we could catch him off guard," said Sasuke, hiding his emotions behind a wall of feigned apathy. "And then it would all be over."

"We can't Sasuke, not yet. Neither of us are that powerful, even together."

Sasuke drew back with a pained look on his face, almost like Naruto had struck him. He turned back to the side and stared off into space for no less than a minute as he thought, contemplated something deep within the confines of his mind. Naruto looked at his friend and started to say something, but quickly shut his mouth and decided to let Sasuke have the moment in his thoughts.

"Odd," said the Uchiha, "That you of all people should be the voice of reason speaking to me." Sasuke grinned almost merrily, though Naruto could tell that some dark thought was bubbling within Sasuke's brain.

"I know… I can taste the irony in it." Naruto said after a moment. "But it's the truth. We can't change it."

"But I wonder," interrupted Sasuke, turning back to Naruto, "just how relative truth is. I wonder how much of truth is just an interpretation of our own thoughts. It makes me think that what is truth can change."

"What are you saying Sasuke?" asked Naruto."

"I'm going to change the truth Naruto," said Sasuke emphatically, starring straight at the genin across from him with eyes widened by fervor. "It may be true now that I can't kill him, but I will change that. I will make my own truth. If you won't help me, then I'll go to whoever will."

"Sasuke," said Naruto placating, "I didn't say I won't help, just that I can't right now. Later, after we're Jounin maybe I can help, but not until then for sure."

"It'll be too late by then," Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth, suddenly angry. "He'll be too strong for any of us then. I have to reach a peak sooner than that. I need power, infinite power soon. I need power."

Sasuke's eyes were wild and his stance was aggressive. He hunched forward with white knuckled fists clenched and teeth bared as if to bite. Everything about him was somehow animalistic, and worse, his transformation had been so rapid. Without warning Sasuke had swung from a calm and collected demeanor to feral persona.

"What's gotten into you?" Naruto asked quietly, taking a step back. "Sasuke, this isn't right. This isn't you at all."

Sasuke's lips narrowed into a grin and he started to say something in a hushed voice, but the look of concern in Naruto's eyes slapped Sasuke in the face. He straightened up quickly, as if recovering from a daze and wondering exactly where he was, then closed his eyes and put his hands up to his face.

"I'm sorry Naruto," said the Uchiha in a hushed tone. "I didn't mean to come across that way. I'm still not fully recovered from … a few days ago."

"What's the matter?" asked Naruto, putting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke reached up and took hold of Naruto's wrist, but just stood there, drawing support from a friend. "Just bad dreams s all," said Sasuke, looking up at Naruto with pain etched on his face. "Just a nightmare."

"We're here for you Sasuke," said Naruto, "Ino, me, Sakura, Old man Hokage, Kakashi, we're all on your side."

"I know," said Sasuke. "and you have no idea how much it means."

Naruto grinned, and Sasuke weakly returned the smile. Suddenly the Uchiha boy felt heavy with fatigue and it showed again on his face and in his eyes.

"You should go rest up," said Naruto, "You look really tired."

"I am," said Sasuke, "But I don't have time to sleep if I'm going to get ready for the exams."

"Sure you do," said Naruto. "After all, that Sharingan of yours puts you leagues ahead of the competition, except for me of course."

Sasuke chuckled and shrugged, "I suppose, but that's a theory we'll just have to test in the final stage. But for now… You're right. I need to get some sleep."

Naruto nodded. "Just relax."

"I will," said Sasuke, turning around to walk off but stopping a few paces away. He looked over his shoulder at Naruto. "I am sorry," he said, "I still don't know what I was thinking."

Naruto waived his hand dismissively and shook his head. "It's nothing to be sorry about."

Sasuke smiled weakly again and began walking back towards Konoha, but as he did, his collar slipped and revealed the black seal left on his shoulder from the Forest of Death. To Naruto it seemed, though he couldn't really tell, that the three snakes that made up the seal had somehow uncurled just enough that their tales formed small toma marks on Sasuke's shoulder.

A shudder shot down Naruto's back as he caught sight of the mark, but he decided it was Sasuke's business and not his, so the blonde genin turned around and jogged back towards his training partners.

Sasuke, unnerved by the recent turn of events, decided that rather than go back into Konoha he had to find something to do. Despite his fatigue he needed to find some way to occupy his time before he went crazy, and what better way to do that than to force his mind to work. He ran several ideas through his mind, before finally settling on practicing some of the more difficult Ninjutsu.

"I really should do at least some basic exercises before I go to relax," mumbled the Uchiha.

Looking up at the sky and guessing by the sun that it was just about noon, Sasuke turned and jogged off towards a nearby patch of woods, taking out a few shuriken out of his pouch on the way. Reaching the trees he tossed the shuriken around like targets in spots that would be difficult to hit and centered himself between them all. He pressed his hands together and ran through a quick set of seals, then drew in a deep breath.

Fire burst from the boy's mouth and a single pillar of the blaze burst into a dozen or so smaller needles of fire that Sasuke concentrated on guiding through the trees with chakra to their targets, guessing a bit at the locations. He heard the puffs of the needles impacting something and began to search through the trees for the small metal targets. Most of the shuriken had small singe marks scuffed into them from a direct impact, but a few had been missed entirely. Overall it hadn't been a bad run for an exercise he'd come up with off the top of his head.

"Not bad," said an icy voice from behind Sasuke.

The boy whipped around, half expecting it to be Naruto playing a trick, but saw no one. He looked around the forest and activated his sharingan, scanning for any danger.

"A trick of the wind?" wondered Sasuke after he confirmed that no one was around. The woods were even clear of animal life, which was, needless to say, strange for that part of the region. "That must be it?"

"Oh," said the voice in an almost amused tone, "You're far from alone. I'm right here."

Sasuke's mind flashed back to the dream he'd had of Itachi. He battled to get the memory out of his head but the images of the blood seemed to stick in his mind by some will of their own. He turned around, looking for whoever was toying with him but saw no one.

"Where are you?" Sasuke asked aggressively. "Show yourself."

"Come and find me," said the voice, "Follow the scent of death."

Sasuke readied himself to fight, building up chakra behind his eyes so he could call on the Mangekyou at a seconds notice, and began to walk deeper into the forest. He followed a path that he seemed instinctively to know would lead him to wherever he needed to go. Before long he stumbled onto the edge of a small pond choked with reeds, cat tails and muddy water.

"Down here," said the serpentine voice.

Sasuke looked down at the water at his feet, and saw not himself in the reflection, but instead a tall man, garbed in tan robes. He had a pure white face with jagged angles and yellow eyes set under long black hair. Sasuke, much to his own surprise, didn't recoil at seeing a reflection other than his own in the water. It somehow felt almost natural.

"I don't understand," said the genin, "Who are you?"

"How rude of me," said the face in the water, "My name is Orochimaru."

_That name!_ thought Sasuke, his mind flashing back to the forest of death.

"Yes," said the reflection, "So do you see now?"

"No," Sasuke answered, "How is this possible?"

The seal on Sasuke's shoulder suddenly throbbed. It wasn't overpoweringly painful, but more than enough to draw the boy's attention. Orochimaru grinned, "That," he began, "is a very special seal. It allows a small portion of my being to move directly in and out of your mind."

Sasuke jumped and put his hand up, covering the black mark. "What?" he exclaimed, "Get out of my mind!"

"Oh but Sasuke," said Orochimaru, speaking directly to Sasuke's brain, "you didn't let me finish. That seal, 'Cobra's Hood of Heaven' is an ancient one, if you just let it activate and let me in, you'll become nothing short of a god."

"I don't care," said the Uchiha sternly, "I don't want anything to do with you. I-"

Images of the dream exploded back into Sasuke's mind. Pictures of the bodies, of his mother, and of Itachi flashed before his eyes. Sasuke dropped to the ground, desperate to block out the images, but unable to see anything else.

"Stop!" growled the genin, "You're messing with my head! Get out!"

"Too late for that," said Orochimaru, "I'm already quite comfortable in here."

"What do you want?" asked Sasuke, hoping that he might strike a deal with the monster.

"Why, to help you get what you want," said Orochimaru. "I want Itachi dead just as badly as you do, but like yourself, I'm not quite powerful enough on my own. However, if the two of us were to work at it together then I'm sure that even the mighty Uchiha Itachi wouldn't stand a chance against us. After that, I'd hoped you might be willing to serve me for a while."

Sasuke paused, unconvinced. "I don't want you in my head," he said after a moment. "I'm going to kill Itachi, but I swear I'll fight this every step of the way if you try to take over my mind and don't let me be."

Something like laughter flowed through Sasuke's thoughts. "Indeed," said Orochimaru, "That would be most troublesome. But I think I have a deal that would satisfy us both. If you come to me and help me do away with Itachi then give me your body willingly after that's done, then I won't force my way into your mind right here and destroy your consciousness in the process. Sound fair?"

"The hell it does," barked Sasuke.

"Well fine then, I'm disappointed but I guess I'll just have to break you the old fashioned way and MAKE you see things my way. You leaf nin are all the same… so stubborn."

Instantly a stabbing pain surged behind Sasuke's eyes. It was like a metallic claw was trying to gouge its way into his skull through his temple. The genin dropped to the ground, clutching his head. He tried to scream, but found himself unable to control his breathing. Images were rioting through his mind, memories from his childhood. He saw his mother's smiling face, then his Father. His first day at the academy suddenly appeared before him. All of his memories were being drug out by Orochimaru but Sasuke had no idea what he could do about it. He was in too much pain to concentrate. Slowly he felt something cold begin to seep into his thoughts like slime. It was a sticky poison that crawled into his mind and began to fester there.

Sasuke knew he had to resist, he could feel his mind fading away. He found himself thinking that it was his duty to serve Orochimaru. He knew it wasn't true, but he couldn't get the thought out of his mind that he somehow belonged to the snake nin. It was all happening so rapidly. Sasuke wasn't being allowed time to mount a defense.

Slowly he opened his eyes. He knew he had to try something. His enemy had now reached the beginning of the mission to the wave and Sasuke just knew that if Orochimaru got through all of the memories, it would be over, Uchiha Sasuke would be gone and replaced by some puppet.

The battle on the bridge flashed in Sasuke's mind and a thought occurred to him. Sasuke opened his Mangekyou, and looked around. A small stone caught his attention and he immediately focused on it, memorized everything about it. He memorized how small it was, its exact color and shape, the texture of its surface, everything. Immediately he forced his mind to see the rock and nothing but the rock. He focused on it to the exclusion of all else.

Sasuke could feel the icy talon in his mind stop, like it had run into some kind of barrier as soon as Sasuke thought of the stone. It was working the genin thought, and he redoubled his efforts, building a wall around his mind from that solitary little rock. He could feel the claw smash up against his thought, but to Sasuke's elated relief, the attack simply couldn't get through. Over and over the attack came against Sasuke's mind, bet each time, the genin's consciousness was safe behind the wall he'd created from the rock. The single thought of the pebble he'd memorized with the Mangekyou was something Orochimaru couldn't get passed. The seal on his shoulder was burning like fire, but it was nothing Sasuke couldn't shrug off.

"You see?" said Sasuke through gritted teeth, "I'm not like anyone you've met before. I don't care how much power you're offering. You can take it all and shove it straight up your ass."

An image of Naruto passed through Sasuke's mind. He dwelt on the thought for just a second, relieved that it hadn't been Orochimaru who conjured it. "I've got my friends," said Sasuke resolutely, "and I'm not going to betray them."

Sasuke could feel the fury and the killer intent on the other side of his mental barrier. "You know you'll never be strong enough!" he could hear Orochimaru faintly shouting. "Never without me!"

Then another thought occurred to the genin. "You're the reason I was messed up earlier. When I was talking to Naruto and acting crazy it was because you were trying to get in. But it doesn't matter now. You might as well give up because I'm not going to let you through."

Another wave of killer intent exploded from behind Sasuke's mental barrier. He could sense that Orochimaru wasn't used to being beaten, especially by someone so much weaker than himself.

"Fine!" shouted the Snake Nin, "Not today, but very soon, you will waver and I- I will destroy your mind and you will serve me! I swear it Uchiha Sasuke! Just wait, something will come along and it will distract you long enough for me to finish this. Very soon you will belong to me!"

Sasuke felt the presence recede from his mind, and with it, all the foreign and traitorous thoughts that it had brought. He could think clearly again and stood up, deactivating his sharingan and rubbing his aching head.

"This is bad," muttered the Uchiha. "I held him off today, but as long as I've got this seal stuck to me, there's nothing to stop him from mounting another attack and if I'm not ready for it then I'm not going to be able to put up a fight."

Sasuke looked around and began hobbling back towards Konoha. He was thankful at least that the pebble trick had worked, and decided that he was going to train his mind to always keep the barricade around his core thoughts so that if and when Orochimaru attacked again, he wouldn't be caught off guard and would have time to put up another barrier.

"Even so," he muttered to himself, "If I slip up and lose concentration while he's trying to get in I'll be helpless…"

Suddenly the Chuunin Exams took on a whole new level of peril.

SC

The days flew by in rapid succession, each and every hour faded seamlessly into the next for the four genin of team seven. Naruto especially barely noticed the passage of time. He was continuously training, either with Jiraiya or Ino, Sakura and Neji. The boy was quickly approaching the point where even the strongest Jyuukin attacks Neji could muster were only glancing blows against his specialized defense. Naruto was even beginning to pick up some of the basics of Jyuukin from the Hyuuga prodigy, though he knew that the true power of gentle-fist was far beyond his natural capabilities.

Naruto also noticed a distinct change in Ino too. When she wasn't with him, she and her mother were off in a field outside Konoha along with Momo (Ino's grandmother.) The two older women had kindly asked that Naruto not come near them during those times, and vaguely hinted that it was a family matter, and he respectfully agreed and obeyed.

Sakura too was changing quickly. She had apparently taken up the study of some moderately advanced genjutsu as well as undergoing rigorous chakra building exercises. She was keeping all the details to herself, but Naruto worried that she was pushing herself too hard, though he kept his fears silent. He didn't want to make her think less of herself and he certainly didn't want to come across as chauvinistic.

Even Sasuke stepped up his training, frequently going off with Kakashi, presumably to work on his mastery of the Sharingan and the Chidori.

Every night, Naruto spent hours in his own mind, (where Kyuubi's absence was surprisingly unmissed.) Over and over he would duel shadow-clones, trying to force himself to improve with his wakizashi, while at the same time becoming less and less dependent on them. He practiced the gravity jutsu and experimented on fueling it with Demon Chakra. The result was dramatically more powerful, though surprisingly draining.

And before anyone had the time to wonder where the days had gone, the Chuunin Exam's final stage was at hand, and the whole of Konoha, as well as hundreds of foreign visitors were crowding into the giant stadium in the eastern quadrant of the Leaf Village.

The stadium was laid out like an enormous animal pin, with scores of rows encircling an arena cut deep into the ground. From above it looked like a funnel delving underground, and teeming with ants.

Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, Sakura and the rest of the contenders were all gathered in a special row of catwalks suspended about fifty feet above the arena floor, which was made up to look like the verdant terrain surrounding Konoha. It was a staggering sight, Ino thought. She'd never actually been in the arena before, much less competed within its walls and she found that butterflies were stirring in her stomach.

Naruto glanced over at her, catching the worried expression on her face. Smiling, he subtly reached over and touched the back of her hand with his fingers. She turned to him, almost jumping from the anxiety, and smiled after composing herself a bit. She slipped her hand in his just as the announcer came over the speaker system.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" shouted the man's voice, "Greetings and welcome to the final stage of the Chuunin Exams! Today you will witness the very best of each village's newest recruits … (blah blah blah, you don't really care about all that drivel. I'll skip to the good part.) … First up are the two lovely Kunoichi of Konoha's rookies, Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino!"

Both girls gulped, casting sidelong glances at each other and Naruto, before walking down the long catwalk stairs onto the field. The whole trip down neither said a word to the other, while the announcer gave a brief overview of both of their academy years. Ino positioned herself about ten paces away from the southernmost wall of the arena, while Sakura readied in the exact center. Both knew that the other's victory would hinge on distance. If Sakura got close, which she might be able to manage with the aid of a Genjutsu, Ino knew she was finished. But Sakura knew that if Ino stayed at a distance long enough to pull off some kind of mind-body attack, the Yamanaka girl would walk away with an easy win. However, as the Chuunin instructor stood between them and raised his hand to begin the match, Ino shifted and drew a tiny blade out of the back of her dress, catching Sakura's eye.

_Why such an offensive stance? _Sakura wondered, s_he should be on the de__fensive__ unless_-

"Begin!" shouted the instructor, jumping back to avoid getting in the way.

Ino disappeared in a bluster of dirt and leaves, and Sakura spun around, anticipating an attack from behind. But none came. The arena was silent.

"She's hiding," Sakura realized. "Clever, but no matter." _I'll just __use a broadly sweeping fire jutsu to flush her out._

Sakura flashed a few hand seals before taking a deep breath and taking aim at a particularly dense region of the trees, not too far from where Ino had disappeared. The pink haired girl spat out a surprisingly large fireball that collided with the trees and instantly reduced them to cinders. Ino wasn't there.

Up in the stands Naruto looked over at Sasuke and joked, "If Sakura doesn't take it easy she's going to torch the whole place."

Sasuke didn't even so much as nod. He continued staring blankly off into space.

"Why so distant all of a sudden?" Naruto asked, stepping a little closer. Sasuke still didn't respond, "Ever since you woke up you haven't quite been yourself."

Sasuke looked over at Naruto, an expression of frustration, but not with Naruto, on his face. "Now isn't the best time," he said in a low drone, "we can talk about it later if we have time."

Naruto nodded, respecting Sasuke's privacy. "But if this keeps up there won't be anywhere for us to duel in the final round."

Sasuke's lips twitched up into a smile but before he could say anything, Hinata's laughter broke out from the other side of the stands. Naruto and Sasuke both looked over at her, guarding their expressions. Neither one had seen her for almost a week, but there was no doubt that the demon was gaining control over her. Everything about the once innocent girl was different. Her baggy jacket was gone, replaced by a skin-tight, leather vest with matching pants, and her hair was now jet black. Even her eyes were taking on a slightly orange hue, as opposed to the Hyuuga's subtle lavender.

"In the finals," said the demon, "Will be only myself and Sabaku no Gaara. I hate to break it to you but neither of you will be leaving this place unless it's in a body-bag."

Sasuke turned to face Naruto, standing close enough to whisper and cleared his throat.

"I doubt that even if you did manage to knock her out that allowing Hiashi-Sama to reseal the demon would work. It looks like the Hinata we remember is pretty far gone."

Naruto glanced over Sasuke's shoulder and eyed the girl. He took note about everything he saw, than woefully nodded to Sasuke. "She's totally different."

"I don't want to see anybody die here but it looks like there might not be a choice.," whispered Sasuke, stepping back beside the Uzumaki.

By this point in the fight below, Ino had leapt out from underground and was now engaging Sakura in fierce hand to hand combat. The Yamanaka girl was trying numerous different attacks that focused on assaulting the spirit directly, but Sakura never gave the relatively sluggish Justus a chance to connect. Sakura however was having almost no luck herself. Ino was proving incredibly resilient to her attempts to use genjutsu, removing Sakura's biggest advantage.

For several minutes the two clashed with Kunai and various chakra based attacks, though neither seemed to be gaining the upper hand until Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke, throwing Ino off guard just long enough for the pink haired genin to reappear behind Ino and smack her in the back of the neck with the side of her hand.

Most of the crowd, Naruto especially, gasped when they saw the well timed and perfectly executed kage-bunshin that essentially sealed Ino's loss of the match. The Yamanaka girl, stunned by the sudden shock to her nervous system collapsed to the ground and Sakura was promptly declared the winner.

"Naruto taught me that one a while ago," whispered Sakura into Ino's ear.

"Didn't see that one coming," commented Sasuke, he seemed better now. "I didn't know she could do a shadow clone. Did you teach her that?"

"Yeah, but I didn't expect her to use it against Ino," said Naruto as he carefully watched Ino struggle to her feet and begin to hobble off of the field.

Naruto jumped over the edge of the railing and landed beside Ino, who refused to look up into his eyes. He smiled without saying a word, and took hold of her arm, slinging her elbow up around his neck and helping her walk up the stairs.

"You really don't have to do this you know," Ino muttered in a low tone as they climbed "I can walk now."

Naruto grinned playfully. "I know. But this gives me an excuse to be close to you."

Ino blushed and looked down without smiling, though her grip around Naruto tightened just a little as she pulled herself closer to him.

_Why did he teach Sakura…?_ Ino wondered to herself. She glanced up at him and quickly planted a kiss on his cheek. Naruto smiled again and looked at her, then silently mouthed 'I love you.' Ino let a small smile cross her lips and whispered the words back, amazed by how much she enjoyed saying them.

While Kiba and Temari began walking down to the arena for their match, Sakura came trotting up behind Naruto and Ino, stopping beside them and asking if Ino needed any help. Naruto was worried that Ino might react poorly, despite the seemed concern in Sakura's voice, and his fears were not groundless. Ino turned over her shoulder and nearly spat the words at Sakura, telling her that she neither wanted nor needed help from the likes of her.

Naruto groaned. It looked like their tenuous truce had, for whatever reason, come to an end. _I'd best stand between them for a while_, he thought to himself, _maybe Sasuke would help me keep them apart_.

SC

Temari had destroyed Kiba. There was no other way to say it. As soon as the mistress of the sand had unleashed the full fury of her fan, Kiba hadn't stood a chance. Shikamaru on the other hand had faired quite well against Kankuro, catching the sand nin from behind and subduing him with a clever combination of Shadow manipulation and a simple concrete wall.

The three previous matches had captivated the audience, but now, as Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto walked silently down to the arena, there wasn't so much as a peep from anyone in the stands. This was the match everyone had been waiting for.

Naruto cast a sidelong glance at the audience, his eyes falling immediately on Hiashi and the ten other Hyuuga warriors, including Neji, sitting with him. All of the lavender-eyed ninja sat on the edges of their seats, as if poised to move at an instants notice. Even from this distance, Naruto saw the worry on their faces, especially Neji's and his own heart sank. He was confronted with a horrible dilemma.

On the one hand he could fight all out and likely kill the demon possessing Hinata, and free Konoha of that evil, but on the other the thought of hurting someone who had once been so innocent made him sick. He could try to simply knock her out or subdue her long enough for Hiashi to do his work, but there was no guarantee that he would stand even the slightest chance if he held back. If Neji was correct and Hinata was growing exponentially more powerful by the day, then it was likely she was already too much for him unless he fought to kill.

Naruto breathed a pained sigh and looked across the twenty or so feet of cultivated turf separating him from the demon. The Hyuuga girl was already in an aggressive stance and ready to pounce. Her teeth were bared in an almost feral smile and as she stared at him with the Byakugan Naruto could feel the waves of killer intent rolling off of her.

The blonde genin breathed another painful sigh and set himself to the job.

_She has to die, _he thought. _There's no other way I can end this without a lot more people getting hurt._

The Chuunin instructor looked between Naruto and Hinata. To anyone there to watch it was obvious the man was very uncomfortable standing where he was.

Naruto delved into his demonic chakra and began loosing the bonds keeping it contained. His eyes took on a faintly red tint as the pupils began to slowly elongate into thin slits. The whisker marks on his cheeks deepened just a little and his fingernails subtly sharpened till they resembled daggers or claws more that nails.

Hinata grinned, perfectly aware of the reason behind the slow shift in her opponent's appearance, and set herself a little lower to the ground. Her own eyes began to glow with a dim orange light while her fingertips flexed like the talons of a crow.

"Begin!" shouted the Chuunin, jumping back like a frightened hare.

Naruto charged forward without a second's hesitation, and reared back to strike. Fiery red energy was swirling around his hand like a maelstrom as he moved in hoping to end the battle before it had a chance to begin. The red chakra spun in his hand as he focused it into Jiraiya's "secret" move: The Rasangen.

In the fraction of an instant that it took Naruto to charge in close to Hinata, the girl had already shifted her weight to spin out of the way as Naruto struck out with the attack. Whipping her clothes in the gust it caused, the Rasangen passed by her harmlessly. Hinata grinned and drove two fingers into Naruto's wrist, disrupting the flow of chakra to his hand and cancelling out the attack.

The blonde genin turned on her like a beast and slashed fiercely with his other arm, red claws protruding from his hand splitting the air. But Hinata was still too fast for simple tricks and spun out of the way again. This time however she jumped behind him.

Naruto however instantly recognized the move from his sessions with Neji, buying him the second he needed to turn and catch Hinata's wrist. He could see the surprised look on her face just before he tossed her in the air. Naruto crouched and leapt up after her, flipping around and planting his foot squarely in her stomach. Hinata was thrown even higher up, but chuckled to herself as she saw Naruto performing a familiar set of hand seals.

"Old tricks. You're going to need something new," she muttered as Naruto finished and she felt herself become suddenly heavy. "Something like this!"

Hinata closed her eyes, forming the seal of the ram and concentrated as she became heavier and heavier. Suddenly a blue line shot from her 7th chakra (between the eyes in the forehead) and connected to Naruto's chest. A red burst of chakra, the same energy Naruto was using to fuel the gravity shift, surged along the line and wrapped around Naruto. The boy gasped, and found the ground speeding towards him. He was plummeting towards it at a mind bending speed.

_Oh shit!_ was all Naruto could manage to think before he smashed into the earth, sending chunks of rock and a cloud of dirt high into the air. Hinata landed gracefully beside the somewhat human-shaped hole in the ground and leaned over to stare down it.

"Quite a mess!" she shouted, "all this dirt in the air is going to make it hard to see for several minutes; just enough time for you and me to finish this don't you think, Oh Kyuubi no Kitsune? I tire of these mortal games, why don't we come out and play as we did in the old days?"

Hinata cocked her head off and waited for a minute, but nothing came from the crater.

"Did I kill him?" she asked herself, "That would be no fun at all… We'd barely gotten started."

There was a deep rumbling from somewhere underground, causing Hinata to stumble and glance around to see what was going on. Then it stopped as quickly as it had happened, and again things were quiet. The cloud of dirt and debris still hung in the air obscuring everything within it, though it was beginning to fade and sunlight was starting to shine in, giving the whole scene an eerie feel of desolation.

Hinata walked back to the hole and looked in again. This time however, she leapt back as a white hot beam of energy, tinged with red, burst out of the crater and shot into the sky. Naruto, glowing with a crimson light jumped up, landing only a few paces away from the Hyuuga girl.

"This should be fun," muttered Hinata.

Naruto ran forward and slashed at Hinata, who rolled to the side and retaliated by jabbing her fingers into Naruto's calf. The blonde genin sank to one knee but jumped back up as red chakra burst from his leg, unblocking the Tenketsu. Hinata struck again, lightning fast, catching Naruto in the chest with her blow, but again Naruto just undid the damage with a burst of fiery chakra.

Seconds passed as the two dueled relentlessly. It was incredible to listen to the battle. Both were sweeping around so fast the wind was whipping around them in a gale, as the ground at their feet was being slashed by the speed of their movements, throwing more debris into the air.

"Where are they now?" Sakura asked quickly, glancing between Sasuke and the chaotically swirling cloud of dust below.

"Hard to say," said the Uchiha, glaring into the fray with his sharingan. "They're not staying in one place any longer that a tenth of a second at most, and the cloud isn't helping any."

"Is Naruto alright?" asked Ino, pressing her hands together.

Sasuke looked harder, trying to get a feel for what was going on, using his intuition as much as his eyes. "I don't know. I won't be able to see clearly unless I open the Mangekyou and I can't afford to waste the chakra."

Ino looked back down into the arena, wringing her hands. "I had no idea Hinata was this strong," she said worriedly. "She always seemed so timid back at the academy."

Sakura looked up at her, a subtle grin on her face.

"Naruto didn't tell you?" asked Sakura.

"Tell me what?" Ino was hesitant.

Sakura glanced at the battle raging below. Red and orange flares of energy were routinely bursting out of the cloud. Chaotic chakras were entwining in midair and searing the ground all around. The battle was not unlike the scheme hatching in Sakura's mind.

"I can't believe he didn't tell you?" Sakura asked finally, drawing out the words like she was dreading speaking them.

"Tell me what!?" Ino practically yelled, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Ino," Sakura said slowly, "That's not Hinata-Chan down there. Naruto's fighting a demon possessing her."

Ino was speechless, and whirled back to look at what was going on. The cloud was beginning to clear up just enough to see, and Ino could occasionally catch glimpses of Naruto and Hinata, or… what had been Hinata, exchanging blows with chakra clad fists. The silence was maddening for Sasuke and Sakura, who were both wondering what was raging in Ino's mind.

"Why did he tell you…" mumbled Ino, a deadly cold edge in her voice, as she turned back to Sakura, "But not me?"

Sakura froze, but then shrugged her shoulders. That had been the question she was hoping for. "I assumed he did." The pink haired girl then turned around and pretended to watch what was unfolding beneath, though in truth, she was calculating her next move. "After all," she continued after a moment, "What reason could he possibly have for telling me something but leaving you out of the loop?"

For just an instant, Ino's jaw dropped and her eyes pouted like she might cry, but then she immediately turned on her heel with a hardened glare on her face. "What reason indeed?" she growled before she started walking off into the infrastructure of the arena.

"What was that about?" asked Sasuke tentatively, once he was sure Ino was out of earshot.

Sakura turned to him with a quizzical look on her face. "What?" she asked.

"You know he only kept it from her because he didn't want her to worry, and he directly told us both of us not to tell her. What are you trying to do here?"

Sakura just shrugged and smiled, leaning down to rest her chin on the railing. "Sasuke, you have got a lot to learn about the way girls operate to get what they want."

The Uchiha just shook his head. "I suppose it's pointless to interfere, but this is disgustingly immature."

Sakura didn't answer.

Down in the clash below, both Hinata and Naruto were showing signs of wearing down. The Uzumaki boy was breathing heavily and dripping blood from the corners of his mouth, undoubtedly due to the strain of using so much demonic chakra. While Hinata, battered and bruised from finding herself on the wrong end of numerous blows to the face and using so much Jyuukin, was bleeding from her nose the tips of her fingers.

"I've got to end this," muttered the demon girl, "he's too resilient and this body isn't handling well."

Hinata looked around for something she could do to end the match, but the only thing that came to mind was the audience. If she "missed" with some kind of attack and wound up obliterating a few of the observers, then there was a good chance the officials would call off the battle.

Naruto closed in with another Rasangen, hoping to end it there, but Hinata summoned up what little strength she had left and struck at him, slamming her open palm into his chest and nearly bursting his heart with the attack. With her other hand however, Hinata took aim at a random bystander in the crowd and unleashed a blue spike of chakra.

The bolt of energy sizzled through the air and slammed into the pink haired woman's chest, knocking her to the ground and killing her instantly.

The crowd screamed and instantly scattered away from the victim, and Naruto looked up to see what was happening. This was just the distraction Hinata needed, and she flipped up, kicking Naruto in the jaw and sending him spiraling away from her.

In the panic in the stands, Sakura turned, wondering when she heard the screams, and paled. She burst up from her place, running towards the action as fast as she could. "Mother!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Naruto was just getting up, when Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma all appeared down on the wrecked battlefield between Naruto and Hinata. The Uzumaki boy immediately sealed up the demonic chakra again, and Hinata straightened herself up.

"That's enough from both of you," Gai said sternly, "especially you." He glared at Hinata who just smirked back at him.

Gai looked as if he was about to say something more, but didn't have time before a thunderous boom echoed through the air on the perfectly clear day. Everyone looked up towards the West where a plume of smoke was rising into the air. A second later cries and screams drifted in on the breeze.

"This is trouble," said Kakashi, "We're under attack!"

All five ninja on the battlefield turned around as a giant purple barrier shot into the air around the VIP section of the stands, sealing in both Sarutobi and the Kazekage, who were by this time the only two still in that section.

"This is even worse," growled Kakashi, as Asuma and Gai disappeared in poofs of smoke. "Naruto, go find the rest of the team and head straight for the Western Gate. Something tells me the Town Guard is going to need all the help they can get…"

Naruto nodded and leapt up into the stands and began scouring about for Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino, while Kakashi, darted off towards the giant purple force-field.

"Looks like I'm off the hook," said Hinata.

"Not quite," said a voice from behind the Demon.

Hinata turned around to see Hiashi, Neji, and nine other Hyuuga warriors standing behind her. Each and every one of them had activated their Byakugan and were marching to surround her. "It's time we put an end to this," said Hiashi.

* * *

AN: Feels good, knowing this is finally building towards the grand finale, but not quite as good as getting another chapter up and running. Well at any rate, here you go. I hope you enjoyed, so please review! 


	26. The Only Constant

So we've all survived up until another chapter… except those of us who died of course, but oh well. They probably don't really care anymore but that's beside the point. What isn't beside the point is that I bring you two things here. One is of course a new chapter, full of what you've all come to expect and then some, but the second thing is something you'll have to find out in the next note! Enjoy!

* * *

The One Constant

"This is bad," Naruto mumbled.

All around him were fires raging uncontrolled through the buildings. Pillars of smoke billowed high into the air. Most if not all of Konoha's Western Quarter was engulfed in flame. The roar of the firestorm was almost so loud as to blot out the screams and cries of the battle.

Dozens of ninja were scattered about. There were only a few that wore Konoha's symbolic leaf, and most of those that did were Town Guard or Chuunin engaged in fierce hand to hand combat with multiple invaders that carried the Sound's insignia embossed on their uniform.

The Uzumaki boy had arrived on the scene alone, unable to find his team, and instantly thrown himself into the heart of the fray. He fought like a man possessed, but the enemy outnumbered him dozens to one at least.

Naruto spun around to smash a hooded nin in the face, spattering bits of brain, crushed skull and a sound forehead protector across the ground, then turned and flung a kunai into the chest of another nin dressed in black with the same loyalties as the first. Neither one of the victims had seen their fate coming as Naruto had come at them from the side, but now that his advantage in surprise was gone, Naruto quickly found himself swarmed by the hordes of enemy ninja jumping into the city through the gaping hole in the wall.

"Look out!" Ino shouted to Naruto.

The boy in the black ANBU suit ducked as Ino's specialty shuriken whizzed over his head and slashed open the neck of another invader. The two genin were at each other's sides instantly.

"Where have you been!" shouted Naruto angrily, whirling like a dervish and whipping his swords from their sheaths.

"Trying to stop this," Ino retorted as she unleashed a volley of missiles at the breach in the wall, taking down a handful of the enemies pouring in. "And how about you? Off flirting with Sakura I'd imagine."

Naruto winced, but recovered in time to slash an attacker in the face, then roll over Ino's back, as she ducked for him, to drive his blade into the next victim's heart.

"Is this about the shadow clone thing?" he asked tersely.

Ino didn't answer, but instead jumped at Naruto, knocking him to the ground and out of the way of a fireball that roared by overhead. "That's part of it," she hissed, "and you lying to me about Hinata-kun being a demon."

"I didn't lie," said Naruto, wrapping his arms around Ino and rolling both of them to the side as a sound ninja landed within striking distance of where they'd been a second before, "I just left that out."

"I love you," Ino said curtly, though with a glint of genuine and compassionate worry in her voice, "But we're going to have to work on this whole communication thing."

Both the genin leapt to their feet as more reinforcements from the Town Guard began to arrive and the battle's tempo really picked up. The well-drilled Konoha ninjas immediately broke off into smaller forces and concentrated on taking back the devastated quarter of Konoha one step at a time.

Naruto and Ino cut a bloody swath through the sound nin, dodging and weaving around, hacking and slashing through anyone in their way, acting less like two ninja and more like one mind, and soon Konoha's forces had seemingly gained the upper hand. The price was high though.

As Naruto paused just long enough look around at the carnage he saw that the dead on both sides were nearly the same. For every sound nin slain, there was a leaf ninja right beside him. The fighting had degenerated into chaotic individual combat; two ninja would square off, fight for just a second, one would die in a blast or flash of blood, and the survivor would charge off to the next encounter. Nonetheless, Konoha was winning, driving the sound nin back towards the breach.

BAAM!!!

The earth shook and the air filled with dirt and debris as another massive section of the wall collapsed into rubble, leaving the original breach nearly three times as big. But it wasn't the hole that was the horror, it was the eighty foot tall snake that had smashed the stone to bits and slithered into the city.

A solitary leaf ninja screamed in fear and pain as the serpent swooped down and snatched him up in his jaws. Skewered on a massive fang and hanging half way out its mouth, there wasn't much the nin could do but wail until, with a loud snap the snake bit him in two and swallowed the lower half.

Ino yelped as the truncated corpse fell at her feet and some of its blood sprayed across her boots. Naruto looked up and grabbed the platinum blonde girl, pulling her away just before the snake smashed by, crushing a house in its way.

"How are we going to stop that thing?" Naruto growled.

"Leave that to me!" shouted someone right beside him.

Both Naruto and Ino jumped, whirling around to see a tall boy in a green jumpsuit standing next to them. Even in the extreme situation, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the boy's bowl cut and unnaturally thick eyebrows. They looked like bushes in desperate need of a psychotic gardener.

"I will be the one to defeat this menace," shouted the boy in green, pointing a bandaged hand at the snake, fire flashing in his eyes.

"Uh," Naruto stuttered, "who are you?"

He turned to face the Uzumaki and grinned. His teeth were literately blindingly white, and despite the fiery light all around reflected a perfectly colorless spark. "Rock Lee is my name!" he shouted just before jumping straight at the snake.

To both genin's amazement, Lee sprinted up the polished scales of the monster at a breakneck speed as easily as if he were on a flat sidewalk. He jumped up to its head and grinned that stunning smile again before rearing back as if to punch. Lee bellowed and slammed his fist down into the snake's skull with a resounding crack and a shockwave that visibly rippled through the reptile's skin. The snake whipped around madly, trying to throw Lee off, but the nin in green locked his iron fingers around a fold in the serpent's skin, holding on tight.

"Don't worry about me!" Lee shouted almost jovially as the snake whipped him about like a cheap ragdoll. "I'll be fine! You go and keep fighting on!"

"That guy's crazy," mumbled Ino from Naruto's side.

"Crazy or not, he's dealing with the biggest threat here. Let's go."

"Where?" Ino asked as the battle lulled just a bit.

Naruto pointed off towards the East and nodded. "We'll head farther into the city and try to clean it up there."

"We're abandoning this side of the city?"

"We have to," Naruto said, jumping up and taking Ino by the hand, "Look around. The Sound Nin are still pouring in and our forces have been whittled away to nothing. The wall is all but gone and we're outnumbered. The only edge we have is our knowledge of the terrain and we need to use it as much as we can."

Ino nodded and followed Naruto, both of them running deeper into the city, stopping in an intersection a few blocks away from the breach in the wall. There was blood and hardened clay everywhere, along with a dozen or so mutilated bodies of Leaf Nin lying in the street.

"What happened here?" wondered Naruto.

Ino jumped and screamed as one of the ninja on the ground reached out and grabbed at her ankle. She clutched at her heart and then immediately stooped down by the raven haired man, seeing that some kind of blade had ripped his stomach open. He wasn't going to live long.

"Run," said the man, "He's a god damned demon."

"What happened? Who did this?" asked Naruto.

"That red haired boy from Suna… he turned on us and killed everyone, then went and opened the North gate for the rest of those desert betrayers to rush in and start killing."

"Suna betrayed us?" Ino exclaimed.

The dying ninja nodded. "Everyone else is done for; the Jounin are being cut down as quickly as the town guard, but you have to stop the red haired boy before he destroys us all. They're using him as their greatest weapon, both the sound and the sand. Stop him and the invasion will crumble."

The Nin closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

"He must be talking about that Gaara character," Naruto mumbled.

Ino set down the body and stood up, crossing her arms in front of her and glaring at Naruto sternly. "Don't even think about it," she barked, "Everything I've ever heard anyone say about Gaara makes him out to be absolutely lethal."

"You heard the man, who's going to stop him if not me?" Naruto asked. "Do I have a choice?"

"Yes," Ino growled, "You don't have to rush off and hunt him down. You'll get yourself killed."

"Maybe," chuckled Naruto darkly, "But who's to say I wouldn't take him down with me and be a hero?"

The hard look on Ino's face finally broke and tears welled up in her eyes. She walked over to Naruto without a word and put her arm around him. "Please," she whispered. "Don't go, not there."

"How can I call myself a true ninja if I'm not willing to risk a little danger for the sake of my village?"

"Don't you see?" Ino hissed, pain in her voice, "This isn't just a little bit of danger. You could be and probably will be seriously hurt if not killed if you go off and do this. You're still weak from fighting Hinata with all of that demonic chakra, and you can't use much more without killing yourself."

Naruto was stunned, but his grip around her tightened around her. "You knew about that?" his voice broke.

"From the beginning," she muttered, smiling. "But I can't hold it against you, not telling me something like that. I was never going to ask…"

"Ino," he began, but couldn't finish.

"No," she said kindly, "don't say anything just yet. I know the whole story. My grandmother told me, but don't think for one second that it changes anything. I love you and I always will no matter where you are. But please, don't make me let you go."

Naruto was speechless, all he could think to do was pull her closer. For a moment there was a silence between them as the fires of the battle spread closer and closer to their spot beside the big stone wall, and the screams of the dying grew a little louder with each passing second.

"But then again," Ino muttered after a moment, "I'm tearing you in two, aren't I…?"

Naruto didn't answer, but instead just set his forehead on her shoulder and closed his eyes. Ino could feel the few warm tears slowly seeping through her outfit onto her skin. She reached up and put one hand on the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair.

"I don't want to lose you," she continued, "but I don't want to divide you either…"

There was another pause. The roar of the battle nearly doubled in intensity as, apparently, Konoha recovered from the betrayal and ambush, and started to bring its forces to bear. The explosions and flashes of chakra and fiery jutsus were illuminating the sky, while deafening roars of thunder were ripping through the air.

"Naruto?" Ino whispered.

He looked up, eyes gently red, and tears lingering on the corners of them. His lips pursed like there was something he wanted to say but the boy couldn't quite bring himself to utter whatever it was.

"I'm not going to make you choose between me and Konoha," she whispered. "I'll be waiting at the celebration when this is all said and done. Don't you dare not be there."

Naruto grinned weakly, but didn't loosen his grip even a little. "I'll be there. Same goes for you."

"Go," she mumbled, her heart aching as she said it.

He nodded and slowly let go, then took a single step backwards. But there he stood.

"No matter which way I go," he whispered, "I'm coming back to you."

Ino smiled and held her hand up in front of her chest, trying to catch her breath. And then Naruto was gone. He disappeared in a blur of speed, sprinting off to the North.

Naruto charged forward, trying to avoid the fights that had broken out in the streets. He knew he had to conserve his energy for what was ahead, but at points the war was unavoidable. He'd get caught up in a fierce dogfight and have to blast one of the enemies with demonic chakra to clear a path, but each use of the fiery energy wore on him a little more than the last.

In all reality, he had no idea where Gaara was, but he remembered the Ninja mentioning the North Gate, so that was where he was going. With any luck, or perhaps none at all, he knew that's where he would find his enemy. The sounds of the battle were getting louder and he heard the screams of the dying drawing nearer so he knew he must be getting closer to something.

Suddenly the vast majority of the screams and battle cries ceased, replaced by the roar of wind and a booming explosion.

As he rounded a corner, his fears and hopes were confirmed. There, directly in front of the open gate, were Sasuke and Gaara, surrounded by mounds of dead bodies from all sides of the conflict. Sasuke's left arm hung uselessly at his side, dripping with blood from a grievous wound on his shoulder.

Gaara looked unconcerned, his face a mask of apathy as he glanced between Sasuke and this new, blonde nuisance. After just a second of studying them Gaara looked up laughing and spoke.

"So you must be the vessel for the Kyuubi-no-Kitsune," he said.

Sasuke turned to see Naruto and jumped back, away from the sand demon and landed beside Naruto. The raven haired boy clutched at his badly bleeding arm as if he were trying to keep it from falling off.

"Careful Naruto, this thing is a monster," growled Sasuke.

"I figured as much," responded Naruto, looking at Sasuke's arm. "What happened to you?"

"He got a grip on it and I've been… fighting off more than one opponent at a time, but I'll be ok."

"Good," said Naruto, "Go and find Sakura. Make sure she's all right and if you can, then find Ino and keep her safe for me."

"You don't have to do this by yourself," muttered the Uchiha, "Let me help."

"Sasuke," said Naruto soberly, his eyes still locked on Gaara who was just waiting patiently, "Don't make this any harder. If you stay here you're going to be killed. If I fight him on my own I can focus entirely on it, rather than needing to make sure that you're ok, and I might stand a chance."

"You're already tired though."

"I'll be fine," Naruto grinned and looked toward Gaara, trying his best to look like he was ready for the near at hand fight. "Don't worry about a thing."

Sasuke nodded once. "Be careful. He has some uncanny power over sand. It protects him like armor at times but then he'll just turn around and use it as a weapon."

"I understand," said Naruto, "now go. If anything happens to Ino or Sakura I'm holding you responsible."

The raven haired boy grinned and turned on his heel, not waiting for another word and darted off into the city.

Naruto watched him go, then turned back to the patiently waiting Ninja standing about thirty feet in front of him.

"I'll admit that I thought you'd be a little more imposing," said Gaara, "But nonetheless, I'd still like this to be over quickly. There's work to be done here."

"Why?" Naruto asked, "Why do this? Suna and Konoha have been allies for years. Why the sudden betrayal?"

Gaara shrugged. "I'm just following orders and killing every leaf nin I see. It's as simple as that."

Naruto sighed and decided that trying to talk the enemy nin out of the fight was not going to work. He hadn't thought he could, but it had been worth a shot. The blonde nin closed his eyes and immediately began summoning up demon chakra; enough to fuel some jutsu and augment his muscles but no more. He could already feel the strain on his body.

_I'm going to have to end this quickly. If there's a prolonged fight this chakra is going to rip me apart faster than he is. Dammit, I've used too much already against Hinata_

Naruto opened his eyes, as the red mist began to swirl around him, and glanced around at his surroundings, knowing the game had officially begun.

Gaara made the first move, lashing out with a whip-like length of sand, snapping at Naruto who jumped out of the way with a split second to spare. The blonde circled around, dodging the small needles of sand Gaara was flinging out like shuriken, and started circling faster, adding in spontaneous decreases in pace. The result of the indiscriminate bursts of speed and slow was an apparent host of Naruto's circling around Gaara.

The optical illusion seemed to give Naruto an edge, as Gaara's attacks started becoming more and more random. Naruto saw that it was working and started closing in his circle like a noose. He held took a kunai in his right hand and closed in even more, he was less than two yards away. He would aim for the throat and end it quickly.

The ground beneath Naruto's feet shattered as he exploded in a blinding leap towards his enemy. The air wasn't allowed time to scream as the metal blade cut through it and continued towards Gaara's neck.

There was a dull thud as the blade connected with something hard as iron. The kunai ripped from Naruto's hand and hurled off to the side just as the sound of the splitting air caught up. Naruto jumped back just in time to dodge a blow aimed at his head from the pillar of sand that had jumped up to stop his attack. The pillar didn't stop but instead shot through the air towards Naruto like a huge javelin.

The boy jumped to the side as the weapon crashed into the house behind him. He looked up to see grains of sand swirling through the air around Gaara while the red haired boy was grinning maliciously.

_What is this guy? _Naruto wondered. _If that wall is just going to jump up and defend him then attack me every time I get in close… I'm screwed._

"Is that all?" asked Gaara, "I'll admit it was less than impressive. Perhaps if I take my turn now…"

Gaara lifted his head as a cloud of sand moved to engulf fragments of stone left behind from the destroyed houses around him. Naruto grimaced as the stones within the cloud lifted off the ground and began to vibrate in the air. It produced an unnerving, low-key humming. With a sudden, loud crack the stones shattered and pulverized, breaking down into sand that quickly added to the swirling cloud of sand.

"Oh shit," Naruto mumbled.

A wide grin split Gaara's face as he began running through a series of hand seals. Naruto considered leaping in to attack, but didn't want to jumping not only into the wall of sand, but into some other kind of massive attack. There seemed no better option than to simply wait and react to the next move.

Gaara finished the seals and a flash of energy shot through the cloud of sand, and immediately it began to fall to the ground, swirling and coagulating into gelatinous shapes. Naruto's mouth dropped open as the masses of sand began to form themselves into what looked like a duo of scorpions and a trio of snakes.

With a crunching and grinding sound the sand hardened and formed the skeletons of what were definitely five very large animals. The scorpion's tails rose nearly eighteen feet off of the ground, and their bodies stretched out half that length. The snakes were no shorter than fifteen feet long and as thick as Naruto's body. Each animal was a sandy brown and looked like it was made out of stone.

Gaara's hand twitched and the monsters jumped forward with astounding speed. The snakes were all around Naruto in a flash while the scorpions lumbered towards him a little more slowly.

Naruto jumped in the air, avoiding a strike from one of the snakes by a hairsbreadth, only to be caught in mid jump by one of the scorpion's massive pincers. The air rushed out of his lungs as the claws closed around his stomach like a vice, the serrated edges cutting through his ANBU suit and slicing into his skin.

Naruto's voice choked in his throat, stifled by shock and pain. There was some burning on the edges of the pincers, some poison or acid. Pain exploded all throughout his arm as one of the serpents sunk its fangs deep into his wrist, injecting untold amounts of venom.

"What the hell is this?" Naruto growled.

Gaara grinned wickedly. "Dessert warriors," he sneered, "I thought you might enjoy them."

Naruto groaned, not from the poison or the wounds, but from the realization. This was not going to be over quickly unless he unleashed more of the demonic chakra than he should. He wasn't going to be able to beat Gaara unless he flooded his body with the power, but if that were the case than it wasn't likely that either of them would survive the fight.

_No choice,_ he thought, visualizing the ocean of red energy in front of himself… and diving in.

Red chakra exploded out of Naruto's body, casting a bloody light over the whole scene. The scorpion's claw melted to glass in an instant, as did the snake latched onto his wrist, then both shattered away in a blast of shrapnel. Naruto glared at the three remaining sand animals and a grin crossed his face.

The red chakra swirled around him, shaping itself by its own accord into a rough outline of spiky fur and claws more than a foot long. A tail like that of a fox coalesced behind him, sweeping side to side and leaving trails of fire through the air in its wake.

Naruto pointed a single finger at the one remaining scorpion and flicked a blinding beam of energy at it. The scorpion exploded in a burst of sand and glass. Naruto whirled around and disappeared in a blur, materializing between the other two snakes. The struck at him but Naruto snapped out and caught them by their throats. With one twist of his wrists both snakes snapped in two as if they were as brittle as granite, falling to the ground and disintegrating into dust.

Glaring furiously, pain etching itself on his face, Naruto turned to Gaara and growled. The red haired boy grimaced. Obviously he hadn't expected Naruto to reveal this much of his power, but now that he had, both knew that nothing was barred.

"If you really want to destroy this whole city, then we could go on like this. I'll unleash Shukaku, you use more of the Kyuubi's chakra, we'll destroy ourselves and everybody dies. Is that what you want?" Gaara asked with a smirk.

Naruto turned his eyes down and stared at the ground for just a second, thinking. Gaara cocked his head off to one side and glared at Naruto.

"Actually," said the Uzumaki, "I don't plan on fighting you here at all."

Gaara didn't have a second to think before Naruto was suddenly right in front of him. The wall of sand was on it's way up to absorb any damage Naruto might try to inflict, but it was too late. Naruto slammed his fist into Gaara's stomach, propelling the sand nin high into the air.

With a burst of fiery energy Naruto jumped up after him and caught up in an instant. Gaara spun in midair, blocking the punch Naruto threw at his face, then retaliated by jabbing at the blonde's neck, his hand encased in a sheet of razor sharp sand.

Naruto took the hit, his skin splitting beneath the blade. It sent his blood splattering across Gaara's hand and shirt, but bought Naruto the time he needed. The blonde reared back, red energy swirling like a tornado in his hand, forming into a fiery dervish.

With an ear splitting roar Naruto shoved his hand forward, the Rasangen whipping the air all around into a firestorm. Gaara cringed as the attack impacted his last layer of defense, the iron hard shell of sand he kept around his body at all times, and tore, punched right through.

Blood exploded from Gaara's mouth as the Rasangen ripped into his stomach, tearing him apart from the inside out and shredding his innards. Then, Naruto released all the energy from the attack at once in an explosion of evil chakra. The shockwave burst out of Gaara from every angle and sent the two nin, both still hanging in midair, hurdling in opposite directions.

Gaara was propelled like a bleeding comet beyond the walls of Konoha, while Naruto was thrown violently to the ground just outside the great stone wall in a cloud of dirt.

Naruto glanced around dazed. The explosion had been much more powerful than he would've guessed possible, though from what he could tell Gaara was still mostly in one piece, which meant this fight wasn't over. But he couldn't move.

"Damn," muttered Naruto, rolling off his back and onto his stomach in the small crater he'd left from his landing. "I used way too much chakra for that stupid Rasangen… Jiraiya said it would take a lot out of me if I used it full power… but I didn't think he meant all of my energy."

Naruto struggled for a minute, trying to work his hands under his chest to push himself to his knees. With a groan he shifted his weight and crawled to the edge of his crater, then pushed himself to his feet. He glanced around, his vision spinning, trying to find some trail that would lead him to Gaara, but there was no obvious hint. There was however, a smell. Naruto could sense in the air some trace remnant of the sand nin that was stronger off towards the west.

"I can't let him get away… Got to make sure this is over…"

Hobbling, barely able to make himself drag his feet along, Naruto began to push through the underbrush and crawl towards where the evil scent was strongest. He didn't have to search long for his quarry. Lying face down next to a blood red fern, was the sand nin Gaara. The ground all around him was soaked in his blood, though his back was nearly unblemished, making him appear asleep. His eyes were clenched shut though there was no pain on his face.

Naruto walked cautiously up to the body, wondering if he was dead, but stopped cold when he saw the dirt around him stirring. Grains of sand were rising to the surface, coming together to form small tentacles that writhed around as if they couldn't decide whether to go left or right.

"Well, it ended quickly," muttered Gaara into the dirt.

"It's not over," whispered Naruto.

"Oh," sighed the sand nin. "I see. You've come to make sure I'm no longer a threat."

Naruto didn't answer.

"I'm not going to beg," said Gaara, his voice quiet but measured. "but before you finish me off… no. I won't ask. Just get on with it."

"Go on," said Naruto. "I've got some questions you're going to answer first so I might as well answer one of yours."

Gaara groaned, the first audible sign of the pain he was in. "Who do you fight for?"

Naruto flinched.

"Is it for your village? Your family? What drives you? Your mentor, perhaps you want to win his approval."

Naruto leaned against a tree, not sure how to answer. An image of Ino flashed behind his eyes. He knew he was fighting to protect her and make sure she would be happy in the end, but at the same time he was fighting for Konoha. He had left her alone to defend the village. Then much to his surprise, Sakura appeared before him, or an image of her at least.

"For my friends," Naruto mumbled, shaking the picture from his mind.

Gaara turned his head and cracked one eye open to look at Naruto. "You're friends…?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'd do anything for them."

"Must be nice," said the sand nin.

Naruto nodded. "Now, Why would you betray Konoha?"

Gaara closed his eye, resigning himself to what he knew was coming. "I suppose there's no harm in it," he said, "it was by order of the Kazekage. He's recently been having meetings with the Sound Village who, as you know, hate Konoha. I don't know how but the Kazekage was … persuaded to join in on the invasion. I thought it was out of character for him to betray so quickly, but it's not my place to question orders… only follow them."

"So you think the Kazekage was being manipulated?" asked Naruto.

Gaara turned his head and looked straight at Naruto. "No," he said very quietly but as clear as day, "I think he was killed."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, "I saw him at the exams. He was alive then."

"I don't think that was him…" mumbled Gaara, "The leader of the Sound village: the man with the white face and the yellow eyes, after he came to the village, ever since then the Kazekage hasn't been quite right. He's always smelled different somehow… almost like slime."

"Slime? White skin and yellow eyes?" repeated Naruto.

"The leader of the sound village," Gaara continued, "I think he killed the Kazekage and took his place. But I can't be sure." And then he looked at Naruto with a smirk. "And your friend, the one with the black hair and funny red eyes, he smelled just like the Kazekage."

Naruto froze, pondering some question he didn't voice.

"I suppose we'd best get on with this," groaned Gaara.

Naruto thought silently for a second, and then turned away from Gaara.

"I'm not going to kill you," he mumbled. "How can I?"

Gaara didn't answer.

"We're not too dissimilar, you and I," Naruto whispered. "just on different sides of the fence."

Gaara was still quiet, and Naruto turned to see that his eyes were closed and he couldn't tell whether or not the sound nin was breathing. There was so much blood on the ground that Naruto couldn't tell whether or not the blood was still flowing.

A sigh escaped Naruto. "It's too bad," mumbled Naruto. "None of this was your fault. You were just doing what you were told… and it's not really even Suna's fault if you're right."

Gaara looked up again, his eyes glazing in stark contrast to the dark circles surrounding them. "Isn't it funny," said the sand nin, "the way demons have a way of finding each other?"

Naruto looked back down, surprised that Gaara was still alive. "What do you mean?"

"Can't you smell it?" asked Gaara, "All of the demonic energy flowing from the city over there? It's delicious."

Naruto looked back towards the village and sniffed the air. He didn't smell a thing aside from the smoke of burning buildings.

"That little girl with the funny eyes," said the sand nin, "She's really running amok from the sound of things, and I know as well as you do that she can't be stopped by anyone less than yourself."

Naruto looked down at Gaara again, trying to figure out what the nin was thinking.

"There's only one constant in this universe," said Gaara, "and it's a simple one. The only thing that can defeat power, is more power. That's why there is no shame in losing to you. You were simply more powerful than I and there was no way to avoid it, however… even you may not be more powerful than that girl."

Naruto flinched and looked up and off towards Konoha.

"I think you're wrong," Naruto muttered under his breath. "The one constant in the world is that everyone suffers. There's no escaping it and there's no justice in it, but everyone suffers…"

Gaara looked away and pondered Naruto's words for a moment, then turned his attention towards Konoha as Naruto did.

"She's growing more powerful by the minute. It would seem that the demon inside of her is beginning to truly manifest itself."

The breath caught in Naruto's throat. "I've got to stop her," he mumbled, "before no one can…"

Gaara grew impatient. "Would you hurry up and get this over with then? There may be no shame in death here but if you could just make it quick."

"I told you I'm not going to kill you," said Naruto, "You haven't committed any crime. But as for now I can't save you either. I've got to go."

Naruto turned around and started off towards Konoha, pumping some of his own chakra, not the demonic brand, into his body and muscles, trying to heal them as well as he could on the run before he needed to fight again. He left Gaara where he'd found him.

"I won't forget this," said the sand nin, "not in a hundred years."

SC

Ino slashed through an attacker, spattering his blood on the ground at her feet, then took the still crimson knife and flung it into the throat of another ninja from the sound. She ducked under a sizzling bolt of lightning that shot straight over her head and rolled for cover, landing behind the rubble of what had at one point been a street vendor's cart.

"This is getting crazy," she gasped, "There's too many of them and I'm almost out of energy."

Just then she looked up to see a sound nin leaping over her hiding place. He'd seen her and was rearing back to strike. This was it, she was caught off guard and knew it was over.

The enemy nin looked shocked and hesitated, but lurched in midair and hung there, a hand protruding from his chest where his heart had been a few milliseconds before. The hand was shining like the sun and the lightning enveloping it was shrieking. Sasuke jerked the corpse off his hand and threw it to the ground and offered his clean(er) hand to help her up. She accepted it and got to her feet, as Sasuke motioned for her to follow.

"Thanks for that back there," Ino gasped as he pulled her off to one side and into an alley away from the fighting.

"No problem," muttered Sasuke, "actually I didn't see you there when I killed that ninja, but I'm glad I could help."

"Nonetheless, I owe you one. Thank-" she cut herself off as she got a good look at him for the first time.

Sasuke looked at her confused, then grimaced. "Oh, I keep forgetting," he began slowly, reaching up to touch the dark marks that encircled his lower neck, like a tattoo of a chain-leash.

"Sasuke… that seal," she whispered, concerned.

"It's nothing," he spat out each word like poison. "Please, don't tell anyone," he said, pulling up the edges of his collar to hide the seal again. "I've been drawing power from the seal to keep up with all of these invaders."

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" she whispered, suddenly afraid.

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know, but it's only going to get worse if anyone else becomes involved. Especially Naruto. I don't want him getting mixed up in all of this. It … wouldn't be good for either of us."

"If you're sure that's what you want," Ino said, trying to keep her voice calm.

"It is," but as for now you should probably fall back to the inner parts of the city where we still have a foothold. The battle has turned in our favor up North, no doubt thanks to Naruto, but to the West we're losing ground again. I'm headed that way to do what I can."

"Let me come with you," Ino blurted.

"No," Sasuke cut her off.

Ino looked at him surprised that he was turning down help. Sasuke had always seemed more practical than that to her.

"I promised Naruto I'd find you and get you out of harm's way, but I can't do that if you're following me off to the thickest part of the fight. Please, fall back."

"Why now?" Ino asked, skepticism thick in her voice. "You've never been too concerned with keeping people safe…"

Sasuke flinched, like the question physically stung him and closed his eyes. He looked at her a second later, his Mangekyou Sharingan fierce in his eyes, though there was no unkindness on his face.

"These eyes were a horrible accident," he muttered. "Fate saw fit to force them on me but it wasn't without a steep price."

"I don't understand."

Sasuke closed his eyes again and deactivated the bloodline.

"A little girl, innocent as an infant, had to die for me to get these eyes," he groaned. "I didn't send her home when I had the chance, and not three hours later she was killed in an attack on my position… I killed her Ino, because I didn't send her away when I SHOULD have…" his voice was trembling but his face was stoic. "If I could take it all back I would without a second thought. This power, as amazing as it is, cost too much."

"Sasuke," Ino muttered, "I had no idea this was weighing on you so much."

Sasuke's face, for a brief instant, broke and lines of pain carved themselves into his features before he hid them away behind a mask of apathy. "There's only one person I would wish this kind of … thing on and he'll be dead soon enough. But that's beside the point. You mean a lot to Naruto and he's … my friend. So for his sake, please fall back and be safe."

Ino looked down, images of Naruto rioting through her mind. "I will," she whispered, "But Sasuke…"

He looked up at her, his face back to its normal, uncaring façade.

"Naruto loves you like a brother. I know it doesn't come across that way sometimes, but he really does."

Realization flickered across Sasuke's face, and he nodded, before turning to leave.

"But answer me one question," Ino said, stopping him again, "Why are you throwing yourself in harm's way like this? It's not like you."

Sasuke grinned a hollow smile. "Exactly," he muttered, "It's not like me. That's why I have to do it… because if I'm tired of this. I want to be … different. Take it to mean what you will, but I'm not going to be remembered as a bastard or a monster. Even if it means dying here, I'm not going to be like this. You can tell Naruto that if you wish, and that we may as well have been brothers these past few months."

And then Sasuke was gone.

Ino looked around pondering what he said. What did he mean he wasn't going to be remembered as a monster or a bastard?

"Sasuke's never been the kind to want to do the right thing for its own sake… Is he planning on dying… or worse…"

Either way it didn't matter. There was nothing that could be done about it now, and the only thing left was to keep a promise. Ino darted out of the alley and started sprinting towards the Hokage's office. It was far enough away from the battle she thought.

SC

The buildings around him were a blur as he charged down the main road, following the scent of death that he could now detect with ease. The killer intent radiating from the base of the monument to the Hokages was all too obvious, and Naruto knew that's where he would find Hinata.

He saw the massive edifice, the four stone face, rising into the sky above him in seconds and raced under one of the large arches, jumping up the flights of stone stairs to get to the high rise balcony that encircled the memorial.

He stopped cold for a second when he saw a blood soaked body laying in his path and bent down to see who it was. He rolled the corpse over and knew from the strange lavender-white eyes that it was a Hyuuga. It was no one he knew personally and he thanked his luck that it wasn't Neji.

Naruto could hear the sounds of battle from atop the monument and started his trek up again with renewed vigor, noticing that he passed four more bodies on his way. Each one wore the same white robes as the first body he found.

"This is bad," he mumbled as he sprang to the platform atop the stone edifice. In front of him were three shapes, each one a Hyuuga.

Nearest him, his back turned to Naruto was Neji, his arms hanging at his sides and his robe soaked in blood. There were rip and tears in the cloth that allowed Naruto glances at what looked like puncture wounds all over his body that were the source of the blood.

In front of Neji was Hyuuga Hiashi, the head of the clan and, arguably, the most powerful man in Konoha aside from the Hokage. He was standing calm, and seemingly unharmed aside from a few scratches and scuffs in his robe. Naruto guessed that Neji had taken more than a few blows for him.

Across from Hiashi, standing in the darkest shadows of the clouds of smoke billowing above, was Hinata. Everything about her was nothing short of demonic. Her hands, especially her long and deadly sharp fingernails, dripped with blood, and her eye's shade matched the crimson liquid. Most notably though, was her skin. All over her body were glowing red runes etched in black. The smoldering seals seemed to be crackling and smoking like the fire that burned in her eyes.

Neji turned around to see Naruto at the same time that Hiashi and Hinata did. The clan leader looked surprised by the boy's presence, but then smiled slightly. The Hyuuga boy jumped back and landed by Naruto, still in as defensive a stance as he could muster.

"Glad you could make it," Neji muttered as Hinata and Hiashi faced off. "This is going to get really ugly."

"What are those marks all over her?" asked Naruto.

"Seals," Neji muttered, "Each one cost the life of one of the warriors Hiashi-Sama and I brought, but each one seals up almost a tenth of her power."

Hiashi stepped forward and Hinata exploded towards him, whirling in midair to strike out. Her fingers were burning with an orange fire, but Hiashi nimbly knocked her hands aside and struck her in the neck with two fingers. Then, as quick as lightning, the man twisted and ducked around her, jamming her twice more with Jyuukin, then four times in the back, then eight times in the chest. Despite doubling the strikes, each attack took the same amount of time as the one before it.

Naruto was staggered by how quickly the Clan head was moving. Even **his** eyes were having trouble keeping up.

"The highest form of Jyuukin," said Neji, "the 'Strikes of the Many' that Hiashi-Sama can take to the seventh tier of attacks. Each move takes less than a second." Even as Neji spoke, Hiashi lashed out again, striking Hinata another sixteen times, then effortlessly hit her thirty-two times, then sixty four, then … he became a blur of white and blue, and Hinata was thrown into the stone wall with a thunderous crash.

"And yet for all of this," muttered Neji, as Hinata picked herself up off of the ground and grinned at Hiashi, "Even with nearly eighty percent of her power sealed away, even with Hiashi-Sama's uncanny ability to read the near future, Hinata-Sama is unfazed."

"And within ten minutes," shouted the demon girl, "I will be rid of these pesky tattoos and you will see what the hordes of Hell are truly capable of."

Hiashi didn't seem worried. His face was perfectly peaceful.

Hinata charged forward and attacked Hiashi head on, only to receive the same treatment as before, pummeled by hundreds of hits by the Master of Jyuukin, and being thrown a dozen meters back into a stone wall. She, however, just as before, got back up. The only difference in the scene was that Hiashi's eyes were a little more clouded by fatigue.

_How can I hope to stop this? _Naruto screamed at himself… _I don'__t stand a chance unless I…_

Hiashi turned to Naruto and looked him over carefully before speaking. "Boy," he said flatly, in the voice of a man looking death in the face, "Even with this sacrifice, it will be your life for hers… Two are going to die after I." and then he turned back to the demon staring at him through his daughter's eyes.

Hiashi put his hands together and formed the seal of the ram, then the bird, then the horse, until Hinata charged forward to stop whatever he was planning. Hiashi however jumped into the air, not hesitating in his seals, ending on the ram again. Hinata looked up and roared as the man who had been her father flashed with a brilliant lavender light. Everyone had to look away from what seemed to be a second sun in the sky.

Hinata was the first to look up at the silhouette of a man in the sky that seemed to be made of light, illuminating the darkness cast by the clouds of smoke in the air. The fiery angel in the sky swooped down with inhuman speed and passed through Hinata as effortlessly as one would walk through the mist, disappearing after it left her body.

She crumpled to the ground, shaking, her body smoking with blue vapor.

"Run!" Naruto shouted to Neji, leaping through the air towards Hinata, exploding with red chakra as he did.

Neji obeyed and began to back away as the fiery energy rolled off of Naruto in waves and the boy was enveloped in it.

Naruto's eyes immediately widened into the red, slitted eyes of the Demon whose power he was drawing on, and as he landed by the girl, the demonic chakra was choking the air all around. Hinata looked up as Naruto's fist closed around her throat and tried to growl as he lifted her into the air, his muscles fueled by the hellish amounts of chakra.

Two tails of demonic energy formed behind Naruto, as the ethereal fur and claws coalesced over his body and hands. Each tail was nearly the length of a house and thrashed uncontrollably behind him, tearing up the stone tiles of the monument's platform. He growled, held his free hand back, and the cloud of energy began to churn into his hand. The spinning mass of chakra shrunk to the size of a baseball, but burned wildly and swirled like a typhoon.

Hinata struggled and kicked at him, pumping her own chakra into her hands and trying to burn Naruto's wrists into letting her go, but it wasn't working. Naruto's grip was unbreakable.

"Time's up," Naruto growled, even his voice was thick with the demonic chakra.

In a furious motion, he rammed the unearthly Rasangen into Hinata's stomach. She screamed. The wind all around was whipping and boiling with the energy and chaos of the raw power in the air.

Hinata's eyes were incensed as she glared into Naruto's. She opened her mouth and roared even above the bellow of the Rasangen, grabbing Naruto's attacking hand and wrenching it away from her with inhuman strength. Naruto tried to shove it back into her to finish this, but Hinata's hand, charged by her own demonic energy, met the Rasangen half way, stopping it in its path.

The two demons raged, the Rasangen between them roaring like a hurricane as they both tried to force it back towards the other. The skin on Naruto's hand began to ripple like water in the wind as the forces dueled in his palm, threatening to tear the flesh off his bones, while the palm of Hinata's hand had been stripped of any skin at all, exposing the muscle underneath. Even then however, she still pushed.

"You don't have control of it!" Hinata screamed over the wind, "My power is limitless!"

"So is MINE!!" Naruto roared, another tail of red chakra exploding behind him. The boy's eyes widened to fiery yellow orbs, and he shoved the Rasangen back towards Hinata with a strength no one had ever witnessed before.

The ball of energy tore through the girl's arm, shredding it into oblivion before it passed effortlessly through her shoulder, disintegrating everything in its path.

Naruto released the attack with a burst of red chakra, propelling it hundreds of miles into the distance in an instant, where it exploded. The red fireball hung in the sky for a trio of seconds, blotting out the Eastern horizon, before the shockwave reached Konoha. The air heaved forward and rolled like searing waves in a storm with the force of the explosion, shattering windows and igniting fires in the higher trees throughout the city.

SC

Ino raced up the marble stairs, feeling like the world was ending.

The whole village was in chaos. The sudden blast and the heat had shaken the resolve of all three armies within the city, and the sand invaders had even been thrown into full retreat. It was wonderful news, despite the grievous damage the city was sustaining, but there was only one thing on Ino's mind now.

She knew exactly what was going on. She's felt this energy before in the stadium. She didn't know what she could do, but the mission was clear. She had to do whatever she could to help Naruto, no matter the cost.

She cleared the top of the stairs and gawked. It was a scene straight from the portraits of Hell. Some being of fiery red power, three tails of energy wreaking havoc behind it, was standing over a crumpled, but not defeated monster glowing with orange light. She couldn't tell who was who, simply because of how thick the two auras of chakra hung in the air.

"NARUTO!" she screamed, petrified and irrational, fearing that Naruto was the figure on the ground clutching at the stump of a missing arm.

The figure looked up. It wasn't him but Hinata, and instantly Ino felt a fiery pain at her throat. Hinata had appeared behind her in a blur of speed and now had her around the neck, her long claws positioned so that if either of them moved, Ino's throat would be sliced open.

Naruto whirled around and froze. Hinata was grinning wickedly and Ino had just now caught up with the panic. Fear was in both girls' eyes as they stared at Naruto.

"**LET HER GO**" Naruto's voice boomed, sounding more like a demon than a twelve year old boy.

"I don't think so," Hinata cackled, glancing down at the fear on Ino's face, "That man with the yellow, snake eyes didn't release me just so I could die at your hands. If you want the girl back, you're going to step back slowly and…"

Hinata hesitated as a sizzling sound raced through the air. She glanced down at her arm and saw that the Hyuuga's seals were fading rapidly. Already three of the eight seals had faded away. By the time she realized that much, two more had vanished, and as Naruto registered what was happening, the last of the seals was completely gone.

A grisly laughter pervaded everything as Hinata looked up at Naruto, her eyes burning like coals. "Never mind," she said, "it doesn't matter now."

Before Naruto could act, before he could even think, Hinata had shifted, and driven her claws up through Ino's back. The bloody talons were protruding through the girl's chest as Ino looked down at them in horror.

Ino shifted her gaze to Naruto and stared into his eyes in shock, just before Hinata jerked her hand and sent Ino's body tumbling across the floor.

"**NO!!** **FUCKING BITCH!!**" Naruto screamed, "**I'm going to-**"

Naruto stopped short as Hinata's hand slammed into his chest, sending razors of energy directly through his heart and sending him flying back like a tossed scrap of cloth. Before he could land Hinata materialized behind him and smashed her elbow into the back of his neck.

Blood erupted from Naruto's mouth even before his attacker whirled and crushed him to the ground with a ferocious kick.

Naruto lay there stunned as Hinata glowered over him triumphantly. Her heavy foot pounded down onto his chest and held him to the ground. He could hear his ribs cracking under the weight, but couldn't move to stop her. His world was spinning. Nothing made any sense at all.

"naruto…" he heard his name weakly whispered, but all he could see was Hinata standing on him and howling with laughter as the whole world seemed to burn down around him.

"naruto" the voice called again, no stronger than before.

The boy turned his head and saw Ino, slowly bleeding out through her chest and back, leaning up against a wall to look towards him.

"please," she muttered almost silently, though somehow he heard her. "please don't die. please don't. please. I love you. don't leave me alone."

Tears welled in Naruto's eyes and streamed down his face. He choked on the lump in his throat, reaching one hand out towards Ino. He wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms.

"Is it going to cry?" Hinata mocked, grinding down on Naruto's chest and breaking the last of his ribs away from his sternum. "I think it is."

Naruto did cry, but it was only as Ino closed her eyes and slumped back. The tears rolled freely down his face. The demonic energy faded from around him. Though the tails remained, the aura faded and his hands fell useless at his sides.

"Not like this," he choked, "How can it end like this?"

Hinata bellowed with laughter and leaned down, picking Naruto up by his collar and holding him at eye level.

"Life is cruel," Hinata whispered into his ear, just before she kissed him insultingly on the cheek, "but at least you're going to have one hell of an afterlife to look forward to. Oh, don't worry, I'll make sure that when I get back to Hell that I find you and make sure you're never bored. But the best part of the deal is that first," she glanced over her shoulder at Ino, "I'm going to devour her soul."

Naruto cringed, but his eyes flew open wide.

"She won't even get the benefit of seeing you down there," Hinata laughed, "she'll be rotting in my belly for all of eternity. Doesn't that just sound like so much fun?"

She dropped Naruto and sauntered over to Ino, and jerked her arm, flinging the mortally wounded girl to Naruto's side. Ino didn't open her eyes or even flinch when she landed. Hinata walked back over and picked up the blonde girl.

"I want you to see this," she muttered, opening her mouth, revealing two rows of incredibly sharp teeth.

"**NO!!!!**" Naruto roared, fiery chakra exploding out from his body at every angle. He stood up and slashed at Hinata, who dodged easily, but tossed away Ino in the process.

"Haven't you learned your lesson yet you pesky little fox?" she chuckled.

Naruto arched his back and reared up to his full height as another three tails of fiery chakra appeared behind him and the air all around instantly burst into flame. Naruto roared again, this time with all the fury of a Demon-Lord, and glared at Hinata, absolute hatred burning behind his scarlet eyes.

The demon girl blanched when she saw the sixth tail emerge, but didn't even have the time to turn around before Naruto's claws, now more than two feet long, hacked her other arm from her body. It fell to the ground even as the enraged Naruto moved too quickly to be seen and rammed his claws through Hinata's stomach and jerked her towards him.

For an eternal second he glared into her eyes, and she stared into the very blackest pits of Hell, knowing exactly what fate awaited her.

"**I'll see you soon**" he hissed into her ear, "**And when I do, this will all seem but a fond memory of your life on earth.**"

Naruto ripped his claws out of her belly and reared back, a billionth of a second before the same claws drove into Hinata's face. Her skull shattered instantly from the wave of energy that followed, and the decapitated body fell backwards onto the ground.

Dead.

Naruto turned, and only then realized that he couldn't feel his body. His will shattered and the demon tails, as well as the last of the red chakra passed away from sight. The air was again clear and clean, but dark from the clouds overhead.

He fell backwards and lay there for what seemed like hours, but managed the strength to roll on his side. He wanted desperately to see Ino, to suddenly wake up and find that she was alright. But when he saw her body lying unceremoniously off to one side, his heart broke and, as far as he could tell, stopped beating.

"Ino," he called out weakly.

She didn't answer, and again, the tears welled up behind his eyes.

"Ino!" he screamed, his voice breaking.

Still, she was quiet.

Working against the numbness that started in his heart and was quickly spreading outwards, Naruto crawled towards her, using the one hand he could find the strength to lift. Each movement spread the numbness further, but Naruto was beyond caring. He didn't care if it killed him, he was going to see Ino one last time before oblivion claimed him.

He reached her side and collapsed there, unable to crawl closer. The last of his strength was gone and he could feel his world fading. He managed to slide one hand up to stroke her cheek. It was cold and she didn't flinch.

The tears spilled out of his eyes and he wept. Moments passed, and the only thing that kept him alive was the will to weep over her. Finally though, the crying stopped and Naruto laid his head down next to hers.

"Naruto!" a voice from the distance shrieked.

But Naruto didn't hear it. He had already closed his eyes.

* * *


	27. Gambling Again

AN: Hello everyone. I'm glad to see that you all made it through that last chapter, though I'm not going to say you're all unscathed given some of the reviews I got. But that's beside the point. What matters is that _The Gambit _is winding down. There are a very few chapters until the bitter end, however this is not to say that it will be the end of this story. Some of you already know, but I'll say it officially for those of you who don't yet. I'm making this a trilogy. There will be two more books after _The Gambit_. All I'm going to tell you about them now is that they will center around Naruto and his adventures. As for now, ON with the Fic! Ps. A big shout-out to Darkslyde24, wind797, and skymaiden.

* * *

Gambling Again

"Has there been any change?" mumbled someone.

"Not yet. But I've been too busy cleaning up the village… or what's left of it at least, to be here and monitor everything," a second voice said.

"Why not just ask her? Surely she's been keeping an eye on him, hasn't she?"

"She's just the same as he is; they both just lay there, too shattered to move. The only difference between the two of them is that her body's still intact even if her spirit isn't. **His **body's just as broken as his heart."

The first voice hesitated, then began again in barely more than an undertone, "If that were the case, I don't think there would be anything left."

Naruto didn't move. He was still and just started at the wall with soulless eyes. He could hear the sounds the two men were making in the room beneath his, just as he could see the wall a few inches from his face, but he understood neither. His mind interpreted nothing. All he knew was that he was very, very cold.

SC

Kakashi walked silently through the streets of ravaged Konoha. He kept his eye on the ground and didn't look up as his path wound randomly by the construction sites that had sprung up all over the village. In the week since the Sound and Sand were driven out of Konoha, nearly every citizen left alive, as well as all but a few of the most snobbish ninja, had begun volunteering massive amounts of time to aid in the reconstruction of the village.

The sounds of hard work were everywhere; indigenous contractors, all of whom were willingly donating their time and money, were shouting out orders to the work forces over the thuds of hammers on wood and the grinding of saws. Everyone, men and women alike had taken up tools to try and rebuild, and even children were helping to run lighter supplies of food and materials between the numerous sites.

None of these acts of charity however were enough to cause Kakashi to look up. His gaze was riveted to the ground, just as it had been for the past six days that he'd aimlessly walked about. Occasionally he'd mutter something under his breath, but never more than a few words at a time, and rarely anything less vague than "failure," or "lost."

He turned when he heard a yelp of fear from one of the buildings, followed by a loud crash and the sound of splitting timbers. A large bit of scaffolding had collapsed and smashed to the ground in a large pile of destroyed wood, and people were gathering around it, calling out for someone named Ichica.

Kakashi jumped over to the scaffolding and began tearing through it, ripping up whole beams and tossing them to the sides. There was a grunt of effort, and one of the heavy beams rolled to the ground as the person trapped beneath it stood up.

It was, of all people, Haruno Sakura. Her red dress was torn and covered in dust and dirt, but she looked unharmed. She was curled around some large bundle, and Kakashi realized it was a small girl, no older than ten or eleven, that the young ninja had her arms wrapped tightly around. Sakura stood up straight, and released the child who immediately took off running towards a woman in the crowd.

The child ran into her mother's arms, crying something about the pink-haired angel, and Kakashi couldn't help but smile beneath his mask.

"Are you alright?" asked the copy nin.

Sakura turned and surprise shot across her face. "Oh, Kakashi-Sensei. Yeah, I'm fine. I just heard the girl scream and thought… I couldn't just let her, you know."

Kakashi nodded approvingly, and said that she'd done well, then looked her over more thoroughly. It wasn't just her dress that had been dirtied. Her hands and arms were covered in sawdust and dirt. Her hair was pulled back in a tight pony-tail, and was equally as dirty. The crude leather belt around her waist looked just a little too tight, and displayed several well-worn hammers and other various tools.

"Been busy," she said, guessing his thoughts.

"Obviously," stated the Jounin, noticing the calluses and blisters that covered her hands. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were a laborer and not a ninja."

Kakashi meant it as a joke, but Sakura looked off towards the destroyed scaffolding and grimaced.

"I deserve less than that," she mumbled, her voice quivering.

The copy nin cocked his head off to one side, looking at her quizzically. It was several minutes though until Sakura noticed he was still there, and when she looked at him again, there were tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Never mind," Sakura said, a little too much cheer in her voice, forcing a smile. "I guess I'll just see you around Kakashi-Sensei."

She turned around to leave, but Kakashi caught her arm gently and spoke quietly. "What's the matter?"

It was another long while before Sakura spoke. "You haven't seen him have you? Naruto I mean."

The copy nin looked down and let go of her arm. "No, I've seen what little bit of him is left."

Sakura squinted, trying to contain herself, but a few tears spilled down her cheeks before she hurriedly wiped them away. "He's completely broken…"

A third silence fell over the two of them, neither one knowing what to say. It wasn't until the ruined scaffolding settled with a loud creak and some snapping timbers that either was roused from their thoughts.

"How long did you stay with him?" Kakashi asked, guessing her actions.

Sakura winced. "The first two days I just sat there in his room. I slept on the floor by the bed. I was afraid that if I left that he might…" her voice broke and trailed off, "that he might not be there when I got back. But on the third day I got up and made breakfast. I took some to Mrs. Yamanaka, and she ate a little. But Naruto… He just laid there."

"You missed your mother's funeral," Kakashi mumbled. It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.

Sakura donned that all-too-fake smile again but the tears returned to her eyes. "Mother… she never liked the idea of a funeral. She was always too happy with life, and it was just one of those mass burials anyway."

Kakashi nodded, deciding not to breach that topic again. "How was Mrs. Yamanaka?"

Sakura shook her head. "She tried to be happy when I brought her breakfast and thanked me, but she wasn't herself." Sakura shivered. "Her eyes were so empty."

"Ino meant a lot to her…" Kakashi muttered.

This time, Sakura couldn't hold back the tears, or even try to hide them. Her face broke and a quiet sob escaped her chest. She whirled around to face away from the Jounin, trying to compose herself.

"I hated her," whispered the girl in red, "I really did. That witch had everything I wanted and she didn't even have to work for him either. Naruto just fell right into her lap. But… as much as I hated her," Sakura's voice, though it was barely more than a whisper, broke again, "I never would have wanted Naruto to go through this. Seeing him so hurt… I never would have thought bad of Ino if I knew it would hurt him so much."

Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder and stepped beside her. "Not many girls your age are this mature."

"But don't you see?" she choked, "I'm not. I tried to drive a wedge between them. Tried to make him choose me over her. I tried to make her hate him so I could… I'm not mature, I was stupid and … I was just such a little bitch."

"Don't blame yourself;" whispered the Jounin, "You couldn't have changed what happened to her." Kakashi winced as he referenced his past student.

"It's not about what happened to her," groaned Sakura, "It's about what I tried to do. I was… evil." Pain was permeating her words now, so much so Kakashi was struggling to keep himself composed.

"Listen," said Kakashi, "what's done is done. What you did, or tried to do was not right. But that's behind now…" suddenly realization struck the Jounin. "You've been working nonstop since you left the Yamanaka's haven't you?"

Sakura nodded.

"And when you threw yourself under the scaffolding to try and save the child…" he trailed off.

"I was more hoping it would crush me than I was hoping to save the girl," Sakura admitted, wiping the tears from her face. "But I'm glad she was alright."

Kakashi shook his head. "Do you really want Naruto to suffer more?" he asked quietly. "Do you know how much you and Sasuke mean to him? You're really all he has left and if something happened to you or Sasuke…"

A fresh wave of pain rolled across Sakura's features. "But how can I live like this?" she whispered, looking down, "Knowing that I…" she stopped.

"The same way I live with myself," Kakashi muttered, "knowing that I was risking this by putting them on the same team. I knew that something like this could happen, but I did it anyway… but I have to keep telling myself to just move forward. Sakura," he addressed her with tenderness in his voice, "you have to just keep going…"

"I can't make any promises," the girl droned.

"For Naruto?" he asked.

Sakura looked up at him, her eyes bloodshot. "Only for him…" she whispered.

Kakashi nodded. "That's all I'm asking."

"I'm…" she hesitated, "I'm going to go clean up and head over to the Yamanaka's again. She may need things done around the house, and my place doesn't matter now, so…"

"That sounds like a good idea. I'm sure Mrs. Yamanaka will like that."

Sakura nodded and turned to walk away. This time Kakashi didn't stop her and soon she had rounded a corner and was out of sight. The copy nin groaned. His conversation with her had broken him out of his own self-loathing, but he wasn't sure he liked exactly what he saw now that he was awake.

"I should-" he didn't get to finish his thought.

"Kakashi," called a deep voice.

The copy nin turned around to see Jiraiya, standing tall in his red and white robes a few paces away. The Sanin had his arms crossed and was looking at Kakashi with some combination of worry and annoyance.

"Can I have a word with you please?" asked the Sanin.

Kakashi nodded and turned fully around to face him fully.

"What can I do for you, Hokage-Sama?"

The hairs on the back of Jiraiya's neck bristled at the name, but he kept his face under control. "First," he said quietly, "You can stop calling me that. I've decided to decline the position. Leading a village would be too much for me. And second of all, you can follow me."

Jiraiya turned briskly around and began to walk away. Kakashi's eye brightened just a little as he jogged to catch up and walked beside the Sanin. The two men moved in silence for several minutes, passing all of the construction until they were in a quieter section of town. Jiraiya stopped and leaned against a wall, arms still folded in front of his chest.

"The rebuilding is going well," the man in red pointed out.

Kakashi nodded uneasily. "Everyone is doing their part, and then some."

Jiraiya paused, and then exhaled deeply. "I'm not going to shoot the shit with you Kakashi," he said bluntly. "The trouble is far from over." Jiraiya's face was completely composed, but there was deadly edge in his voice, venom.

Kakashi was taken back, but didn't flinch. "How so?"

"Last night I was rummaging through some of the Third's old documents, when an ANBU black-ops, Nara something, walked into the office and reported to me that there were four ninja sighted on the borders of the Fire country. He said they were moving towards Konoha, and when he infiltrated their campsite to learn what was going on he discovered that they were sound nin and they wanted something from Uchiha Sasuke."

Kakashi froze.

"I did a little digging," Jiraiya continued, "and spoke with Sasuke. He was still recovering from the injury he received from that Gaara person, and didn't know anything special. There was one thing I couldn't miss though."

"What was that?" asked Kakashi, worried.

"The smell," Jiraiya said, completely serious. "He smelled like Orochimaru."

Kakashi paced and shifted his weight uneasily. "Do you think our old friend made contact with him?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I don't know. Sasuke wasn't evasive, but he wasn't very helpful. Kakashi, I want you to keep both your eyes on him from now on. If anything funny happens, ANBU will be there in a flash."

"I can do that," Kakashi said, "but what exactly are you worried about? I understand the urgency of the matter, but what specifically do you think is going on?"

"I don't know," Jiraiya said again, "But I think that maybe Orochimaru is trying to get Sasuke to defect to his side. We both know how desperate Sasuke is for revenge on Itachi. If Orochimaru can convince him that he can give Sasuke that kind of power, then…"

"And you think that these sound ninja are the entourage of that message." Kakashi guessed.

Jiraiya nodded. "If Sasuke's struggling with the idea of defecting as is, then a visit from the sound might push him over the edge."

"I'll be wherever he is from now on. And ANBU will be watching him every second of every day." Kakashi said.

"Good, but before all that," said Jiraiya, "how's Naruto doing?"

Kakashi winced again. "He's still … not well."

"Losing Ino was hard on him."

Jiraiya nodded sympathetically, closing his eyes and crossing his arms in front of himself. "That would be the understatement of the millennia. Do you expect him to recover any time soon… if at all?"

Kakashi shook his head, "no way to know for sure. I'm hoping that Sakura can break him out of it a little…"

"You're gambling again," muttered the Sanin. "You lost the last time you staked his feelings. Are you really willing to do it again so lightly?"

"Not lightly," Kakashi said, struggling to keep his voice even. "My last gamble was a disaster. Naruto lost everything. I'm hoping that just maybe this will bring him back to us."

"As you will," said Jiraiya. "I'll keep this in my thoughts and do what I can, assuming Naruto ever comes to."

Kakashi was silent.

SC

"There you go," Sakura said pleasantly, setting a tray in Mrs. Yamanaka's lap. The bowl on said tray was filling the room with the scent of apples and cinnamon, as the piping hot soup sent billows of steam up into the blonde woman's face.

"Thank you Sakura dear;" said Mrs. Yamanaka, sitting up in bed just a little and forcing a smile, "Though I wish you wouldn't go to all this trouble."

Sakura stood back and rubbed the back of her head, ruffling the white bandana tied up into her pink hair. She grinned warmly and made a dismissive motion with her other hand. "It's nothing at all," she said. "Or at least it's the least I could do to say thanks for letting me use your shower."

"Even so," said Mrs. Yamanaka, leaning back down on the ample pillows and turning to stare out the window.

Sakura waited patiently for a moment, then glanced down at the soup. "Would you like me to take it back to the kitchen?" she asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Oh," said the woman, just realizing that Sakura had brought her dinner. "No, no. I'm sorry. I was just a little… distracted."

"It's alright," said Sakura "I'll put it in the oven to keep it warm. Or I can make you something else if you like." She leaned down and picked up the tray.

"Sakura," said Mrs. Yamanaka, "I'm not really hungry. But I do appreciate this." The woman's face was drawn, sort of stretched; a mask. "Really, I do. But you don't need to worry about me."

Sakura set the tray on the nightstand and stood up straight, waiting for her to continue, but Mrs. Yamanaka was quiet for a long time, just staring out the window at the sunset. Still, Sakura waited quietly.

"Please," the woman sighed, "please don't pity me because Ino is dead and I'm left to go on."

It was a good thing that Sakura had set down the tray, or she very well may have dropped it. "But I - I mean, I want to help however I can," she stammered, amazed at how she could speak so matter-of-factly about Ino.

A smile creased Mrs. Yamanaka's tired face, but it was a hollow and joyless gesture. She turned to look at Sakura, her turquoise eyes dim and soulless.

"I know you do," the woman said quietly. "But there's nothing you can do for me. Ino is dead and I'm not too far behind her. No parent can bury their last child without … without…" she trailed off and a single tear fell onto the blanket across her knees. "Without digging their own grave in the process."

"Don't say that," said Sakura, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to her.

"It would be a lie to say anything else," said Mrs. Yamanaka. "I've buried my son, and my husband. And now I've taken in both of their killers."

Sakura drew back, shocked, but not willing to let it hurt her.

"The Kyuubi that lives in Naruto killed my son," Mrs. Yamanaka continued, "And yet I took him in and loved him like a son. Then you killed my husband - don't worry, I don't hold it against you at all, it's just the irony of fate- and I invite you in as I would a dear friend. And finally, another demon has killed both Ino and Naruto. Another demon took away the last of my children, so what am I left with? I've dug all of their graves, so what's one more for me?"

"Naruto needs you," Sakura mumbled, turning away.

Mrs. Yamanaka shook her head. "No dear, he doesn't. When I found him on that battlefield next to my Ino and that monster, he didn't respond to me. He was already dying inside. There's nothing I can do for him."

"What can I do for him?" asked Sakura.

For the first time in a week, a genuine smile crossed Mrs. Yamanaka's lips. It was nothing more than the very corner of her left cheek twitching upwards, but it was real and it was warm. "You can show him that his life isn't over."

Sakura grimaced and stood up. "But he won't listen to me," she whimpered. "I was there with him for two whole days. I was constantly talking to him, constantly begging him to wake up, but he didn't hear me."

Mrs. Yamanaka relaxed back into the pillow and breathed a deep sigh. She closed her eyes and began breathing regularly. For a moment Sakura thought she was asleep, and turned to pick the tray back up. She was at the door, ready to walk to the kitchen when she heard the woman's voice again.

"Would you like the house?" Mrs. Yamanaka asked quietly. "I don't have anyone left to leave it to, so you can take it if you want. The deed's is in the strongbox, and the key is under a board in the living room."

Sakura turned and smiled at her. "That's very kind of you. But I think Naruto deserves it more than I do, so I'll keep the place in good working order for him. How's that?"

Mrs. Yamanaka didn't answer, so Sakura turned and left, shutting the door behind her."

"I'm sure Naruto would like that," whispered the blonde woman, "especially know it was you."

Sakura walked to the kitchen, running a mental list of things to do in her head as she dumped the bowel and rinsed it out. _Okay, cleaned the living room, cleaned the dining room, cleaned the kitchen and laundry-room, and the halls on both floors. I tidied up Naruto's room… six times, and took out the garbage. I took care of the bathroom… _the list continued on until Sakura was convinced that she had the whole house absolutely immaculate.

"Nothing left to do," she muttered, "even the garden is taken care of."

She went to the living room and sat down, not sure what to do from this point on. It wasn't long until she started to fidget and couldn't get comfortable on the plush couch. She laid back on it, sat up, rearranged the cushions, and finally stood up.

"This isn't working" she groaned.

Sakura's thoughts turned to Naruto, and her stomach did a cartwheel. She was suddenly aware of just how quiet the house was; like a crypt. There was really no life here, and her incessant cleaning only made the house look more sterile, more devoid of life.

She turned slowly around and began ascending the stairs into the hallway that made up almost a third of the second floor. She looked at the doors, one leading to Mrs. Yamanaka's room, the other leading to where Naruto was resting, and sighed. Sakura carefully stepped up to the latter of the tow and rapped it gently with her knuckles. She knew there would be no response, and there wasn't.

Slowly, Sakura turned the knob and opened it up. The room was a deep lavender, strangely dark for the sunset shining in. She almost gasped when she saw Naruto lying on the bed in his black shorts and T-shirt. He was no different than he was the last dozen times she checked on him, but the sight still made her breath struggle to pass the lump in her throat.

She walked silently to the bedside and sat on the edge farthest from him. Naruto was, as always, huddled right up against the edge of the bed that touched the wall. He looked so gaunt and thin. It wasn't right, Sakura thought, for anyone to be this way. Only then did she notice the tiny tremors that were running through him. He was shivering in miniscule little bursts that had been imperceptible before. Also, he looked inhumanly pale.

"Naruto," she whispered, reaching out to touch his hand. Almost by reflex her fingers recoiled from his skin. Naruto was as cold as ice. His alabaster skin, trembling as it was from the shivers, was like a corpse.

"My god," Sakura muttered. "Naruto, please… I know you probably can't hear me… but I-" she stopped herself in mid sentence. "I know you're hurting, but there are people here who still care about you. It may not mean much, but losing you would… I don't think they could handle it."

Not surprisingly, Naruto didn't answer. He didn't even flinch.

Sakura grimaced, then without a second thought laid down next to Naruto and scooted up against him. Immediately she began to shudder from the cold, but nonetheless, moved in directly up against his cold frame and twined her arms around his chest.

"Sorry Naruto," she said, managing to keep her teeth from chattering, "But you don't get to curl up and die. A little selfish of me? Probably, but it's awfully selfish of you to think you can just give up like this."

Minutes ticked by slowly and Naruto didn't respond, though Sakura could feel him start to stop shivering as their temperatures began to even out a little. She reached over the edge of the bed and grabbed the comforter from its place on the floor, disturbing the week's worth of dust that had settled on it, and pulled it over herself and Naruto.

It was about at this point that Sakura's mind caught up with what she was doing. She shook her head and despite telling herself that it was completely fine, and not awkward or anything like that, to curl up with someone to keep them warm, she soon found herself blushing furiously.

She buried her face into his chilled shoulder, hoping the cool would do something about the crimson in her cheeks. It didn't, but even so she was enjoying the contact so she didn't move, instead electing to pull the blanket up farther over both of their heads.

Time rolled by unnoticed. The crimson light from the sunset began to cast its shadows higher up the walls and onto the ceiling as the sun sank lower into the West. The warmth slowly began to creep back into her arms and chest, so Sakura knew that Naruto must be considerably warmer now, and she smiled to herself. If nothing else she was making him more comfortable and that had to count for something.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear, "for everything I ever did to make it hard on you. I can't say I never wanted to hurt you, but I was so wrong. I'm sorry Naruto and I hope you can find it in you to forgive me. I don't know what you're thinking, but I want you to know that we … I … need you to come back."

Sakura felt her heart began to suddenly beat faster and faster until it was fluttering like a frightened bird in her chest. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and tried to shake herself out of the fear threatening to silence her.

"Please," was all she could manage to whisper. Abruptly she had become very tired, whether from the stress of trying to bring someone back from the brink of hypothermia, working ceaselessly for days, or some combination of the two, she didn't know. All she could tell was that she was quickly running out of energy.

Sakura set her forehead against the back of Naruto's shoulder and closed her eyes. It seemed now that he was the warmer of the two of them and that Sakura was the one shuddering to keep warm. All the more reason, she thought, to press up against him even more. Soon, she was asleep, dreaming of nothing.

SC

It wasn't until the first rays of the sun came streaming in through the window and filtered by the thick blanket over her head, that Sakura realized she was awake. She rolled over, stretching widely and pulled the comforter off of her face. Something was missing though.

She looked down at the bed and nearly screamed. Naruto was gone.

The pink haired girl leapt to her feet, too startled to shriek, and ran to Mrs. Yamanaka's room. The bed was neatly made, but the blonde woman was missing too. Now she gasped. Was this a nightmare? Had she really gone to sleep at all or… Sakura had no idea what was going on, but managed to sprint down the stairs, calling out Naruto's name with every breath. She bounded into the kitchen and froze.

"Oh, you're awake," Kakashi said, turning from the sink, where her was rinsing out a bowel, to look at her.

"Uh," Sakura managed. Kakashi was the last person she expected to see. "Have you seen Naruto?" she asked, the panic quickly returning to her voice.

Kakashi nodded. "Just a few minutes ago actually. He thought you might wake up soon so he asked me to wait for you."

"Now I'm confused," the pink haired girl said. "How long have I been asleep? What's been going on?"

The masked nin grimaced. "Two days," he said quietly, "since we talked last at least."

"Two days!" Sakura gasped, "I slept away a whole day!?"

Kakashi nodded. "You were very tired. But quite a bit happened while you were sleeping."

Sakura was hesitant. "Like what? Where're Naruto and Mrs. Yamanaka?"

"Mrs. Yamanaka…" Kakashi's voice trailed off for just a second, "passed away last night. And Naruto is headed off on a mission in just a few minutes."

This was too much to absorb all at once, and Sakura's face reflected the sheer panic in her mind.

"Listen," Kakashi said, reading her mood, "There's a lot to explain because a lot happened, but if you want to see Naruto before he goes after Sasuke, you need to leave now and run for the North Gate."

"Sasuke!" Sakura nearly screamed, "what happened to-"

"Just go!" Kakashi barked, "There'll be time to fill you in later but Naruto's leaving in-"

Sakura didn't wait for him to finish. She turned around and bolted straight out the door, not bothering to close it behind her. She ran as fast as her sore muscles would allow and b-lined for the Northernmost gate into Konoha. Dodging and weaving between the thick crowds of people, she made her way past the construction sites until she came to one of the larger roads which she knew would lead her where she needed to go.

Turning left and sprinting all out, Sakura soon burst into forum surrounded by houses that lay in front of the massive wooden doors. She scanned all of the dozens of faces, hoping desperately to see Naruto's, but he wasn't there.

"Damn," she cursed, running towards the open gate.

She sprang to the entrance and looked down the road, but saw no one she recognized.

"Dammit," she muttered again, "I missed him…"

"Missed who?" asked a scratchy voice from behind her.

Sakura turned to see an older gentleman, probably in his late sixties, leaning on a cane behind her. His bald head was reflecting the sunlight like a mirror into her eyes, so she shifted around to get a clear look at him.

"A friend of mine," Sakura sighed, crossing her arms in front of herself and fighting off a shudder. "You didn't happen to see him did you? He was a short blonde with spiky hair and blue eyes, probably wearing a black combat suit."

The old man thought for a second, tapping his cane on the ground as if to set a beat to his thoughts. To Sakura, whose face was beginning to turn red with impatience, it seemed like he would shrivel up and blow away before she got an answer out of him.

"Oh yeah!" blurted the man abruptly, swinging his cane up and nearly hitting Sakura in the side of her head. "I know who you're talking about."

"Please," growled Sakura, "I don't have much time."

"He left the village not a minute before you showed up, and as far as I could tell he was heading North-East. If you head that way you might catch him. He was on his own but he looked to be in a hurry."

"Thank you!" Sakura shouted over her shoulder, already halfway to the gate.

"Heh," laughed the old man, a wide smile on his face, "No problems."

Sakura ran down the road taking long strides and soon found herself following the trail into the forest. Her eye caught a flash of movement rounding a corner ahead of her and leaving the path.

"Naruto!" she called out, hoping it was him.

There was no answer, but she jumped to the point where the other figure had left the trail, and stared off into the dense undergrowth. Sure enough, standing about five meters into the forest, was Naruto. He was wearing his black ANBU suit and staring off into the distance.

"Naruto!" she yelled again, a smile on her lips as she ran up beside him.

"Sakura," he said quietly without looking at her. It was more of an acknowledgement that anything else.

"I'm glad you're up and around," she said, trying to sound cheerful. "I was worried sick about you."

Sakura could see the corner of his mouth twitch up just a little, but other than that he didn't react. "I'm sorry," he said under his breath.

Sakura faltered. She had known he wasn't going to be well, but she never guessed that he'd be quite this distant. "Naruto," she said, letting her façade fall, "Don't make me beg. Come back with me."

For the first time, Naruto turned to face her, but she couldn't meet his eyes. Sakura just stared at the two feet of so of dirt between them. Shortly though, she felt his hand on her chin and he lifted her head to look in her eyes.

There were no words she could say. Sakura couldn't stand to look at his face, knowing that it would be painted with bold strokes of pain and that she had, in some way, contributed to that, so she closed her eyes. "Don't be angry with me," she whispered, "please. I'm so sorry."

"Look at me Sakura," he said, not unkindly.

Sakura opened her eyes just enough to see the rough outline of his face, but stopped there. For nearly a minute they just stood there, neither one speaking, until suddenly Sakura found herself caught up in his arms, a gentle embrace.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said, "but time is running out."

Sakura's eyes snapped open and she looked up into his. They were exactly the way she remembered; sharp blue and shining like sapphires in a furnace. His face however, was different. His normally bright grin was completely gone, replaced by drawn lips. The furious battle, the massive use of chakra, and the week without eating had stripped his cheeks of any baby-fat, leaving his features harder and more defined, not adult yet, but not childish either. He looked too weary with age to be only twelve.

"I'm so sorry," Sakura nearly cried, throwing her arms around him. "I didn't ever want to hurt you."

She felt Naruto's grip on her loosen, then fall away as he put his hands on her shoulders and held her back at arm's length. "We can talk once I bring Sasuke back," Naruto said flatly, "but like I said, time's running out."

The tears were streaming down Sakura's face, but she held his gaze and spoke evenly. "I'll be waiting for you when you get back. Please… hurry."

Naruto nodded, and turned around. He started to run but stopped a few strides away from her and hesitated. For what seemed like an eternity Naruto looked at the dirt while Sakura stared at his back.

"I'm not sure what's going to happen today," Naruto said quietly, barely loud enough for her to hear, "but there's no use waiting up for me anymore."

And then Naruto was gone. He disappeared in a blur of speed into the gloom of the forest canopy.

Sakura waited for several long minutes, staring off after him, wanting desperately to follow him, to beg his forgiveness again, to offer anything in return for his happiness. It wasn't until she noticed a chill wind blowing through the forest that she woke from her thoughts, turning to Konoha and dragging her feet as she slowly made her way back. She wasn't crying. She had long since run out of tears, despite having none of her questions answered or any of her fears alleviated. This was the closest thing she could think of to Hell.

"Sakura?" Kakashi's voice asked as the pink-haired girly reentered the village, "how are you doing?"

Sakura didn't even bother to look up at him, but instead just stopped and rested her back against the cold stone of the wall."I've been better."

"He just left didn't he?" asked Kakashi.

Sakura nodded. "In more ways than one," she muttered to herself.

"That's what I was afraid of," said the copy nin. "I guess you want to know what's going on?"

"Sure," said the girl in red, too numb to really care one way or another. She glanced at her teacher then off towards the distance where she imagined Naruto, and prayed he'd come back. A chill ran down her spine.

"Well," Kakashi began, "long story short, Sasuke has decided to defect to the sound."

Sakura raised an eyebrow in response, though she was far less worried about what Sasuke had chosen to do over Naruto's safety.

"Last night I went to check on Sasuke, fearing for his safety, and he was gone. The ANBU I'd posted outside his home were missing, so I immediately went to Jiraiya to see if he knew what was going on. Jiraiya didn't but while I was speaking with him, Nara Shikamaru came into the office and reported that he'd spotted Four Sound Nin leaving Konoha with Sasuke in their company. According to Shikamaru, Sasuke wasn't resisting."

Sakura gulped. "And Naruto's going out there… alone… to bring him back."

Kakashi nodded. "There wasn't time to put together a team, so I went to the Yamanaka's, hoping Naruto was breaking out of his … stupor. Luckily enough, he was, thanks to you no doubt, so it didn't take much to convince him to help us chase after Sasuke."

"But you sent him out alone," Sakura protested.

Kakashi put his hands up as if to defend himself. "I offered to go with him, but he insisted on going in solo. I don't know why, but I know he can handle it and … well it might be good for him, considering-"

"Maybe," Sakura muttered, cutting Kakashi off, toxin in her words. "Or he could wind up dead and not come back at all."

"Don't worry," said Kakashi, putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

She grimaced. "I just don't think I could stand seeing him hurt any more than he already is."

Kakashi nodded, "Naruto's a strong person, no doubts there, and I'm sure that if we give him some time, eventually he'll heal."

"Everything's just moving so fast," said Sakura, "everything's changed over the course of just a few days, and I feel like I'm lost in it all."

"We all are," said the copy nin. "But sooner or later, things will settle down."

"I hope so…" Sakura looked up towards the Western sky and sighed, her breath shaking.

There was a long pause between the two of them, until Kakashi finally broke the silence. "Did you tell him how you feel?"

Sakura closed her eyes and her head drooped. "How can I?" she whispered. "What kind of monster would I be if I just swept in to try and take him after he lost Ino? How could I live with myself?"

"It may just be what saves him," the copy nin uttered.

"From what? If anything I'd just wind up hurting him more… and… I just can't."

"Sakura," said Kakashi smoothly, "Naruto's not holding anything against you. You need to forgive yourself."

SC

The roar of the waterfall was a magnificent thing. It thundered above any other sound in the massive valley-lake that is plunged into, filling the whole basin with the sounds of crashing waves and the brilliant sparkle of hundreds of tiny rainbows. Even more spectacular were the two massive statues, carved from the very stone of the river's walls as they met the edge of the cliff.

There was a reason this was called the valley of the end. The tow monuments were of Konoha's Hokages. Each one watching the other to mark the edge of The Fire Country; these statues were, in essence, the symbolic guardians of the nation. But more than that even, this was where everything had come to a head. This was where the crux was to be seen.

On one of the massive statues, stood Naruto. His black suit was a stark contrast to the startlingly white light reflecting from the monument. He was reared up to his full height, a light breeze wafting his hair from side to side as he looked on in dread at the figure across from him.

Standing atop the second monument, was Uchiha Sasuke, glaring back at Naruto with eyes tinted yellow. The once collar-like seal around his neck had now crept down his shoulders and arms, forming intricate manacle tattoos around his wrists. His face was adorned by a cockeye grin, exposing unnaturally white teeth.

Sasuke looked between Naruto and the valley below, then back at Naruto and stood up straight. He flexed his arms and back like a cat and strutted around atop the statue like he was trying to make a tough decision.

"Why not do this the easy way, Naruto?" he called out in a voice to slick to be his own. "Just let me go to Orochimaru-Sama and neither of us have to die. Is that simple enough?"

Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head. Jiraiya had warned him about this part.

"No," Naruto answered loudly, pain raking his voice. "It's that seal. Orochimaru's messing with your mind, influencing your thoughts. It's written all over you; you even have **his** eyes now. You have to fight him." Even as he spoke them, Naruto knew the words sounded overdramatic and useless, but what else could he say.

Sasuke just began to chuckle a little. "Why would I fight him? He can give me the power I've always dreamed of."

Naruto winced. "You used not to care so much about power, Sasuke. You were over your obsession with revenge. You were almost happy…"

Sasuke now burst out, almost in a fit of laughter. "If you say so, but one thing you never seemed to notice was that I never once did anything that didn't bring me closer to killing Itachi. This is just my biggest step in that direction."

"Sasuke," Naruto growled quietly, dropping his head just a little. "I'm not going to just let you leave. You have two options-"

"Ooh, an ultimatum," laughed Sasuke, "You've changed, that's not like you."

Naruto continued, undeterred. "You can either fight Orochimaru, or you can fight me. It's up to you now."

Sasuke stopped laughing for a moment and mockingly pondered decision. Slowly he reached around his back and pulled out kunai. He pointed it at Naruto and grinned.

Naruto closed his eyes, but put his hands on the grips of his two wakizashi.

* * *

AN: Reviews for me please! 


	28. A Symphony of Fate

AN: Well… Some of you seemed a bit miffed. And for those of you who aren't already mad at me, the truth is that Ino is dead. I can't think of a way to say it kindly so there you have it. However, before you go and drop this from your alerts or favorites, I have one thing to mention. Up until chapter 27, almost every review I received was a positive one. Most of you thought I was doing a good job, so here's the thing… trust me to keep a good thing going, and you'll get your happy ending. But if you're reading this looking for something unworkable, then this isn't a story you want to read. I write things realistically. People die, there is suffering in life, it isn't fair, but it's the way things are. But what's more is that every day, people live on. They heal and recover. The question is now, will Naruto, dealt a hand more horrible than most, be one of those people, or will he ultimately give up? You'll just have to find out.

* * *

A Symphony of Fate

"You're looking surprisingly well, Naruto," Sasuke shouted over the roar of the waterfall. "I would have thought that after a week in bed, with no food, and no training that you would have barely been able to stand up. Must be a result of the demon chakra, right? Are you going to tell me the Kyuubi is what's keeping you going?"

Naruto didn't so much as shift his gaze away from Sasuke's yellow eyes, not wanting to present an opening or drop his guard. "I'm not sure," he said calmly, in a hollow voice, "That might be part of it."

Sasuke grinned, pondering for just a second before he spoke again. "Or is it that you're just too numb to feel the pain and the fatigue?"

Naruto winced. That was a definite possibility.

"I guess it doesn't matter anyway," Sasuke said, standing up a little straighter and lowering the kunai. His voice was not at all mocking. "I am sorry for what happened to her. I do wish things could have turned out differently in that respect. She really did seem to make you happy."

A growl rumbled up in Naruto's chest, escaping from between his teeth as a quiet snarl. "Don't talk about her."

Sasuke's eyes darted away, down into the valley, before he looked back up at Naruto. The yellow tint was less noticeable but still plainly there. "Naruto," he said, his voice icy cold but less serpentine, more his own, "let's not do this. I want to go to Orochimaru, but I don't want to fight my way through you. Don't make me."

"You can't have both," Naruto said, his words barely short of trembling, but still imposing, "If you go to Orochimaru, it will only be because you cut through me to get there."

"Why?" Sasuke groaned. "Why make me do this? I just know that I'm going to do what I want, regardless of who gets in my way. Why can't you just let me go?"

"Sasuke," said Naruto, looking down, no longer caring about his guard, "You know good and well why."

"Enlighten me," muttered the Uchiha, the color in his eyes flickering like a candle battling the wind.

"If it is the seal tapering with your thoughts, then this isn't what you really want."

Sasuke grimaced "there's more to it than what Kakashi told you might change my mind. I don't feel like listening to you regurgitate what he wanted you to say."

Naruto nodded. "No, … I never told Kakashi or anyone about the seal. I didn't want to muck up your personal life. I … Sasuke, you're…" Naruto paused before steadying himself and continuing, "You're all the family I've got left. Rival or no, you're the closest thing I've ever had to a brother, and I'm not going to just sit by and let you destroy yourself. Even if it means I have to break every bone in your body and rip that seal off by myself I'm not going to just let you go. Please… Come back to all of us."

Sasuke turned away, putting his back to Naruto.

For a long moment there were no sounds other than the roar of the relentless waterfall. Naruto watched Sasuke carefully, not for treachery or an attempt at escape, but rather hoping that the boy could manage the strength to fight off Orochimaru's influence. Naruto almost stopped breathing, the anticipation choking him as he waited. Either way, this would be the last exchange before the end began. If Sasuke accepted the offer then he could return with Naruto and there would be no harm done. If however, Sasuke decided to keep going, then there would be no other option…

Minutes ticked by and neither moved. Naruto was dying to see the look on Sasuke's face, be it hateful or hurt, though he didn't let his impatience show. Sasuke wasn't moving. He was as still as the statue on which he stood, and very well could have been a part of it.

"Forgive me," Sasuke said, in barely more than a whisper. He turned around, revealing his raven eyes ringed in fierce yellow flame. Tears were streaming down his face, but his voice was steady and calm. The seal all over his body seemed to have gone from dark to a midnight black, its lines more defined against Sasuke's skin. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I'm going to Orochimaru."

Naruto closed his eyes and growled inwardly, as the red chakra began to bubble up around him.

SC

"I still don't think you should have let him go alone, Kakashi," Jiraiya mumbled in an undertone. "He can't be recovered yet."

Kakashi closed his visible eye and leaned more of his weight against the wall in the Hokage's office. "His body is absolutely fine," said the copy nin, "Somehow, I'm not sure of the way it works yet, the Kyuubi's chakra is molding with Naruto's natural energies. This hybrid chakra seems to be what's powering his body, even when he's been starved half to death. Also, this new energy seems to be more potent when it comes to healing and preserving his body. I can't be sure, but… There's evidence to show that Naruto's taken a turn for the better, physically at least."

"You got all this out of watching him lay there in a coma for a week?" asked Jiraiya.

"No, I noticed it a long time ago. It first started occurring in the Wave, when Naruto and Sasuke fought Zabuza I noticed the chakra wasn't fully Kyuubi's but neither was it Naruto's, but it wasn't until this last week when it became more prominent, no doubt because the state his body was in forced him to adapt. But at any rate, physically I can assure you he's in top condition."

"I'm not so worried about the physical," said the Sanin, standing up and walking away from the desk, visibly relieved to be out from behind it.

Kakashi opened his eye and straightened up as Jiraiya passed him, making for the door. The Jounin followed Jiraiya without a word as he left. The two of them walked down the long flight of stairs in front of the Hokage's complex, winding around to the back of the massive buildings.

In front of them was a long, but narrow stretch of shaded lawn between the wall of the complex and the stony base of the Monument to the Hokages. It went on for about fifty yards or so, and was about ten feet thick at the widest. The dappled turf was a beautiful emerald green, and at even intervals, maybe every four feet, there was a small spire of blue stone resting against the wall of the complex. Each stone was two feet thick and ten feet high, presenting a flat surface to the cliff face opposite it.

"Look familiar?" asked the Sanin.

Kakashi nodded.

Jiraiya took a step forward to the first stone. "Each one a family, each one a monument to sacrifice, and each one a weight around the heart of anyone who reads the names. Do you know how many stones there are here?"

Kakashi shook his head as they walked down the line, "I've made a point not to count."

"Too many," muttered Jiraiya. "Hyuuga, Nara, Akamichi, Kabakchi, Uzumaki, Dordei, Haruno, Sarutobi, Inuzuka, Aburame, Yuhui… the list goes on. Each stone is a family, and each name is a loved one who's life has cut short in service to Konoha. Shikamaru's grandfather is here. So are several of the Hyuugas. More recently Sakura's mother was added, and our beloved Third."

"There aren't many people who didn't know someone on one of these stones," said Kakashi.

"Yes," Jiraiya said, stopping in front of one of the stones in the middle and turning to face it, "but do you know who knows more of them than most?"

Kakashi was silent, starring at the ground.

"Yamanaka Shobi," Jiraiya read from the monument, "died in the battle against the Nine-Tails, Loyal beyond reproach and kind. Yamanaka Inoichi, died in dutiful service to Konoha, upright and honorable. … Yamanaka Ino, died in the First Sound invasion, a beauty struck down long before her time."

"You carved the more recent epitaph yourself," Kakashi noted.

Jiraiya nodded. "I did… I thought it appropriate, considering the circumstances. Do you have any idea how much Naruto's lost? How much he stands to lose if you keep gambling with his life? Look at all of this. Orochimaru killed the Third, Hinata killed Ino, Mrs. Yamanaka is dead."

"So what would you have me do Jiraiya? Just let Sasuke, one of the few people Naruto has left, abandon him? There's no way he could take another hit like that. His mind is fragile enough as is." There was poison in Kakashi's tone.

"No," growled Jiraiya, "I would've had you go with him at the very least. You know the condition Sasuke is in. He can't fend off Orochimaru's influence anymore. He's crumbling to it. In short, he really does think that he needs to go to that monster and he'll fight his way through anything in his way."

"But," Kakashi interrupted, "Sasuke CAN break through this. I sent Naruto after him alone so that Sasuke could see that Naruto still cared and that they need each other. With his help, Sasuke might just be able to break that snake's hold on him… whereas if I went with Naruto it would look less like a rescue and more like an attack."

Jiraiya was silent for a long moment. "And what if Sasuke does ultimately resist?"

"Then Naruto will fight to make him see the truth." Kakashi answered without hesitation. "And if Sasuke sees that Naruto is fighting for him it may be the encouragement he needs to get free."

"You're taking a long shot and you know it," said Jiraiya. "If it gets out of hand, and we both know that's more likely than not, then one of them could end up killing the other. And then what will we have? If Naruto kills Sasuke that boy will break down. He'll never be the same. If Sasuke kills Naruto, unlikely I know but still, then we still lose both of them."

Kakashi waited for a moment before he answered. "I don't think that will happen… unless Sasuke really does value power over friendship…"

"You know he may." Jiraiya uttered.

"I can't let myself believe that …" said Kakashi. "I have to hold out that he's better than that."

"It's not a matter of how 'good' Sasuke may be, Kakashi. It has everything to do with just how evil and manipulative Orochimaru is."

Kakashi didn't answer.

SC

Sasuke skirted along the surface of the water, running at top speed, dodging and weaving toward Naruto. The raven haired boy was covered from head to heel in the intricate design of the black seal, and his skin looked like marble in contrast. His ebony eyes were locked on Naruto, who stood silently atop the lake about eighty yards away.

The blonde genin was crouched and poised to strike, the water around his feet bubbling and reflecting the faint red aura that surrounded his body, as he waited for Sasuke to come within striking distance. His wakizashi were held down in a defensive stance, as he shifted his weight from side to side to counter Sasuke's movements.

In a blast of spray the water beneath Naruto erupted in a geyser of tiny droplets as the genin in black exploded forward, one arm back the other up high. Naruto roared and hacked at the Uchiha, his blade slicing though the screaming air. Sasuke disappeared in a blur, as he opened his sharingan just in time to read the move and dodge away. With a rush of wind he vanished into the spray behind Naruto.

The Uzumaki stopped and whirled around, throwing up his left arm, which held the darker of his two swords, in defense. The valley rung with the sound of metal clashing on cold metal for just an instant. The kunai in Sasuke's hand shrieked and split in two at the hilt as Naruto's defending blade cut it cleanly.

Sasuke jumped back as Naruto retaliated, and back-flipped a few yards away from his adversary, but Naruto was too fast. In a mad dash the blonde charged forward and tackled Sasuke. The two of them lost their concentration on the water, and plunged under the surface, sinking far too fast and far too deep into the sapphire abyss.

Naruto was pushing them deeper and deeper, bringing his demonic chakra to bear and propelling them down. The water soon became so cold that the fiery haze around the blonde didn't heat it enough to bubble or roll, and no matter how hard Sasuke struggled, he couldn't shake Naruto's deathly grip.

"If you won't listen to reason," Naruto gurgled, "I'll just wait until the water in your lungs keeps you from fighting and carry you back to Konoha myself."

Sasuke tried to growl and kick at Naruto's leg. The result was nothing more than what little breath he had left bursting from his lungs and heaving up to the surface as a small bit of foam.

"I can hold my breath a lot longer than you," Naruto sputtered, though by now they were so far down that his words were instantly lost in the water.

It was pitch dark by the time Sasuke's back plowed into the sandy bottom of the lake with a puff and a storm of debris. Any light from the sun was swallowed up by the immense depth, which could have been no less than one, maybe two thousand feet, far deeper than one on the surface would've guessed the lake to be.

Sasuke's head was spinning in the blackness. His lungs were starved for air, and he was unbearably far from the nearest source of it. He struggled and fought but couldn't break Naruto's grip. He closed his eyes and gathered the last bit of his strength for one last move.

There was an icy blast as chakra exploded from the seal all over Sasuke's body. Sweet relief flooded the Uchiha's lungs, though he still wasn't breathing, and Naruto, caught off guard by the sudden wave of energy, was sent tumbling away from Sasuke.

In the dark, there was no way to tell exactly what was going on, or to see where anyone was, even the light from the chakra aura was quickly swallowed up by the gloom, but Naruto could suddenly feel a presence much colder than the water all around. Bubbles erupted from the sides of his mouth as he growled quietly. An odor was floating through the water, one he hadn't smelled since the Forest of Death. It smelled like a dying snake.

_Do I stay here and fight him blind where neither of__ us__ would have an edge? _Naruto asked himself, _I could find his approximate location through smell, but… If I can't see him then it'll be harder to not kill him._

Pain exploded in Naruto's stomach as what felt like a stone fist slammed into his belly. He slashed at the water, but touched nothing. A new pain rocketed through his thigh as something pierced his trousers and sliced into his skin. He sheathed his amber blade, freeing his right hand and reached down. He jerked the blade out, guessing by the shape he could feel that it was a kunai, and tossed it to the side.

A new smell floated through the water: blood. The kunai must've cut into a large vein or artery, as Naruto could suddenly taste his own blood all around. It was drowning out Sasuke's smell. The metallic scent only intensified as another blade tore into Naruto's shoulder, spilling out even more blood. Naruto cursed uneasily. It wasn't as if the damage was at all serious, but it was enough to completely blind his last working sense.

_On the surface then_Naruto decided, jumping off the bottom of the lake and flying up. He began to pump more chakra into the wounds in his shoulder and thigh, closing up the gashes in a matter of seconds.

Acting on sheer instinct, (it was still too dark to see,) Naruto propelled himself to the side with a blast of chakra, just as a searing bolt of energy tore through the water. It missed him by mere centimeters, and instantly flash boiled the freezing liquid, making Naruto blink and sputter with surprise. In that one second when his guard was down, Naruto felt his left hand blasted by a bolt of chakra identical to the one he'd just evaded. The blow completely numbed his hand, but not before he could feel an iron grasp wrench his midnight wakizashi from the afflicted hand.

Naruto reached around faster than the resistance of the water should have allowed, and unsheathed the golden sword, whirling around to where he could feel Sasuke approaching, and held out his arm in defense. Scalding energy surged through his body as the black and gold metals collided in the water, and Naruto gasped.

When the two weapons touched, a strange, violet light erupted from their edges and illuminated the water like twilight, though the surface was still a hundred feet overhead. There in the gloom, was Sasuke, his eyes as black as midnight in Hell, and his face so pale that the ultraviolet light made it glow as if he were a spirit.

And then the light was gone.

Naruto could feel Sasuke swimming away, he could hear the swish as Sasuke's shape cut through the water at an amazing speed, and he immediately abandoned swimming up and pumped as much chakra as he dared into the soles of his feet. Naruto immediately began to sail through the water, and he followed the Uchiha's scent.

It was amazing, how attune Naruto had become to tracking by aroma, or stench, alone. The trail Sasuke left in the water led Naruto after him flawlessly. It was almost like the Uzumaki could see an invisible trail that traced Sasuke like the tail of a comet. Naruto could tell that he was getting closer, and fed more energy into his speed, closing the distance to less than thirty yards. The trail took a sharp cut to the right and Naruto followed it perfectly. It cut again, hard to the left this time and he turned the corner without any trouble.

Sasuke's scent began to plunge downward, spiraling clockwise back towards the bottom, and Naruto followed it like a raptor diving after a fleeing bird. The death spiral began closing in like a noose, tighter and tighter as it wound closer and closer to the bottom. Naruto could nearly taste the scent it was so close. The spiral was closing in on itself to quickly that the bubbles left in Naruto's wake were almost a solid circle in the water.

IMPALED

A burning edge sliced through Naruto's left arm, glancing off the bone but nearly rending the muscles free of his frame in the process. Blood spat from the wound in massive columns as his heart beat frantically with shock and pain. The blue flash of chakra from the midnight blade as it made contact was just enough to show Sasuke's form already fleeing upwards.

Naruto gasped, flooding his lungs with the stinging salt water, just as the shock wore off and the agony of the wound set in. He wretched and clutched at his arm, literately holding the reaved flesh to the bone, instinctively pumping chakra into the muscles to solder them back where they belonged.

_Damn, _he thought through the pain, _god damn that was clever of him._

Sasuke's tactic had worked flawlessly. He'd drawn Naruto into the farce of a chase, and closed the spiral till the two genin had formed concentric circles, then the Uchiha timed it perfectly, striking out just as he passed Naruto's interior flank. The move would have no lasting repercussions, but it had bought Sasuke time; time to flee to the surface and plan his next move while Naruto had to take the time to heal.

Naruto's eyes popped open wide. _He could've killed me just now. _Naruto realized, as he finished mending the wound a minute or so later. _That hit__ was too perfect to be random. The point__ slid directly between my biceps and the bone, __then__ ripped the muscles away from my elbow. A perfect shot to cripple me. He had to see to aim it, but if he can__ see that clearly__ then why didn't he just finish me…_

Naruto pondered the question as he swam, almost slowly back to the surface, taking the time to cough the last of the water out of his lungs. Once he broke the surface, Naruto took his first real breath of air and stopped filling his lungs with the healing chakra. He climbed to his feet and looked around.

It didn't take long to spot Sasuke, standing about fifty paces away and facing Naruto. He was holding the midnight blade in his right hand, gently running his fingers over the razor's edge, and tracing the design embossed in the metal.

"A beautiful sword," Sasuke called out to Naruto in a serpentine voice. His eyes were once again, yellow. "Orochimaru just finished telling me it must be from Maibu, given the perfect, no… inhumanly faultless craftsmanship. He also says you've been a fool not to take these weapons far more seriously and that you should have unlocked their full potential by now…" Sasuke laughed when he saw Naruto glance around nervously, then continued "Don't' worry," he said to the Uzumaki, "Orochimaru-Sama is nowhere near here. But he and I can communicate over any distance now."

"Really," Naruto growled, his arm still stinging, "What else have you two talked about while I was gone?"

Sasuke's face instantly hardened and the color faded from his eyes, leaving them a deep raven, though the seal all over his body pulsed with black energy. "He asked me why I didn't just take your head off when I had the opportunity just a minute ago," Sasuke said, completely serious. "He was really quite annoyed that I chose to give you such a minor… well, minor for you anyway, wounding."

Naruto looked almost shocked, but quickly recovered and lowered his weapon. "I was just wondering that myself," he muttered.

Sasuke groaned, not in disgust or anger, but with what sounded like heartache. He closed his eyes and put his free hand over his chest. "I told you earlier," said the Uchiha, in barely more than an undertone, "I do not want to kill you. I don't want to hurt you... Fuck, I don't even want to fight you. I just need you to let me go to Orochimaru-Sama."

"I can't do that Sasuke, and you know damn good and well why," said Naruto. "Konoha needs you back."

Sasuke chuckled emptily. "Konoha," he muttered. "Konoha has nothing to do with this and you know it."

Naruto looked down at the water. It had been a thinly veiled lie and he knew it. "Fine," he said, sounding defeated. "Sasuke … …" there was a long pause, but Sasuke waited patiently for Naruto to speak. "Sasuke, you and Sakura are all I have left. You two are family, not just my friends and…" he stammered again, but still Sasuke was silent, waiting. "And," Naruto continued, his voice breaking, "I'm not going to let you hand yourself over to the devil. He'll never give you back."

Sasuke closed his eyes and lines creased his face. "Naruto," he groaned, "please. I understand what you're saying, and I see where you're coming from, but I need you to see what I'm saying and understand me. Revenge is what I'm alive for. I can't be truly free until Itachi is dead, and Orochimaru can give me that. If I have to trade a few years of freedom for a lifetime of it, then I will."

"But don't you see!?" Naruto shouted, "Orochimaru will never give you your freedom back! You'll be his till the day you die! He's just making you think this to draw you further into his trap."

Sasuke flinched and turned around, closing his eyes. For several long minutes, a brooding silence passed between the two of them, and Naruto could see the binding seal, that wretched thing, pulsing with its malevolent black power.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said, not facing Naruto. Purple energy was beginning to materialize all around his frame and roll off his shoulders like waves of deadly miasmas. "But it seems we're at an impasse." Sasuke turned around, his eyes scarlet, the Mangekyou Sharingan open wide, ringed in yellow. The blade in his hand was reacting violently to the evil chakra, the metal seemed to be bubbling and frothing… the blade was growing steadily longer, and spikes were sprouting like teeth opposite the edge of the blade.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke repeated, "But I am going to Orochimaru." He crouched down and pointed the blade, now a wickedly sharp and imposing sword at Naruto. "And if you stand in my way, I will kill you. That or you'll have to kill me."

Naruto closed his eyes and scrunched his face to battle back the tears. The wind began to whip around him as fiery red chakra, far more substantial than what he had been using, almost like fog, bubbled up from all around his frame. His grip on the wakizashi tightened. His knuckles paled and the bone showed easily through the skin. Such a grip would have shattered any normal sword.

The red chakra howled like a gust of wind as Naruto's eyes burst open. His irises were as bright as the sun, but red like blood. They seemed to churn with energy, and his pupils had lengthened into cat-like slits. The marks on the boy's cheeks deepened into ravines carved through his face. Strangely though, the chakra refused to take on the form of a fox. It remained a cloud of fire around Naruto's frame.

"I'm not letting you go to Orochimaru," growled Naruto in a voice more the Kyuubi's than his own, as his own blade began to boil not unlike the sword Sasuke held.

"Then I hate to say it," muttered Sasuke, his own purple chakra roaring like a beast and thrashing about in response to Naruto, "but one of us will die here."

SC

"The list of casualties, Jiraiya-Sama," said Akamichi Chouji, the recently promoted Lieutenant of the Konoha Guard, handing the Sanin a manila envelope. "The complete list that is."

"Thank you," Jiraiya sighed, reaching over the Hokage's mahogany desk and taking the package.

The man in red flipped the lid open and shifted his weight uneasily as he pulled out the few pages of white copy-paper. He spent just over a minute scanning through the leaves. His eyes got steadily wider as if there was some mistake.

"This is it?" he asked Chouji. "Are you sure this is the **complete **list of Leaf casualties? There aren't more than six dozen names here."

The Guard just grinned. "We were off to a rough start, but once the city got its defenses moving properly, there wasn't anything that could stand in our way. We took the town back one step at a time, and took the enemies apart one piece at a time."

Jiraiya smiled as Chouji pulled an open bag of potato chips from his vest and began to munch on them. That boy had changed so much, thought the Sanin. Being moved to the Guard had visibly toughened him up, a fact that was only reinforced by Chouji's recent eight-inch growth spurt and decision to make the segmented armor of Konoha his typical attire.

"So, how does it feel to be a Lieutenant?" Jiraiya asked slowly, but not unenthusiastically. "Especially when you're just now thirteen?"

Chouji grinned again and swallowed a mouthful of the chips. "I like it," he said. "People are surprisingly nice. At first I thought they'd be stupid and mean just cause I was young, but even the older guards are fine with my promotion. And Dad is really proud so I'm happy with it."

"I like the new hairstyle," Jiraiya said, noting that the Guard had elected for a standard forehead protector and spiked back hair, rather than the two pillars he'd worn only a short while ago.

Chouji laughed. "Shikamaru did too, said he was glad I'd finally taken the panties off of my head."

Both of them laughed at that and Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively. "Thanks again for the report. It's nice to finally have all of the nin missing in action accounted for. I never would have guessed that our numbers were so much better off than the Sound and Sand."

"It was almost a ten to one loss once we got things moving," said the Guard. "We slaughtered them."

"How many did you get?" asked the Sanin.

"Personally? Eighteen of the Sand nin," said Chouji, "And twenty six of the Sound. But all the credit should go to my unit. We all worked really hard together."

"I'm sure you're not giving yourself enough praise. If you were, you'd be bragging about the promotion."

Chouji didn't answer, but just shifted around a little, not wanting to appear arrogant.

"Thanks again for the list," said Jiraiya, "You're dismissed."

Chouji saluted him and turned around, opening the door of the office, and nearly bowling over Sakura as the two of them tried to walk through the open door at the same time. Chouji stopped short and tried to back up, while Sakura tripped and fell forward as Chouji stepped to the side and lost his balance completely. The result was both of them tumbling to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Chouji stammered, getting to his feet as Sakura stood herself up.

"No problems," said the pink haired girl, all but ignoring the Guard as she focused on Jiraiya. "Jiraiya-Sama, can I have a word with you?" she glanced at Chouji, trying not to be rude but probably failing. "Privately?"

"Of course," said the Sanin, he glanced at Chouji, "congrats again on the promotion," he addressed the Lieutenant.

Chouji saluted once more and left the room, closing the door quietly after himself.

"Now," said Sakura, "has there been any word on Naruto?"

Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow and looked at her. "He's only been gone a few hours," said the old man, "give the boy some time to complete his mission."

"That's just it. There's something," she hesitated, wondering if it was really her place to reveal the secret of the seal.

Jiraiya's probing glance was more a question than Sakura needed and the young girl cracked.

"Sasuke's been sealed with some kind of black mark!" she blurted, the secret just punching its way out of her.

"What do you mean?" asked the Sanin, an edge creeping into his voice as he leaned forward onto the desk.

Sakura drew a breath to steady herself, then began to give Jiraiya a brief synopsis of the events that transpired in the forest of death. "And then," she continued, "After Orochimaru took his fangs out of Sasuke's shoulder, there was some kind of black seal there… That's what Naruto said."

Jiraiya stood up from the desk and paced to the girls side. His words were quiet, but crisp and incredibly clear. There was obvious fear, if not outright panic in his voice. "Tell me," he said, "What did the seal look like? Be as exact as you can…"

"It was like three little snakes," said Sakura. "They were each curled up into spirals and in a triangle shape… What does that mean?"

Jiraiya didn't wait or answer her question. He instead ran his thumb over the sharp edge of the mahogany desk, drawing blood, and flashed a few hand seals. He slammed his hand on the ground and a poof of smoke erupted in the room.

When the cloud faded there was a bright orange toad, about knee high to Sakura, standing next to the Sanin and looking up at him with liquid black eyes.

"Go!" Jiraiya barked at the toad, "Find Hatake Kakashi at once and bring him to me as soon as you can."

The toad nodded and leapt out the office's east window in a single bound. Sakura turned to Jiraiya who was now busily pacing the room with a worried look on his face.

"What's going on?" she asked, "What's the problem?"

"It would seem that Orochimaru is not leaving Sasuke's fate to chance," said Jiraiya "and that Naruto is in as much trouble as I feared."

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"Just Let Me Go!" Sasuke shouted, hacking madly at Naruto, both hands pulling the weapon down in a deadly arc.

The blonde, glowing with the angry light of the Demonic Chakra roared, swung his golden sword like a battle-ax and knocked the midnight blade aside. Naruto screamed and threw his shoulder into Sasuke's chest, forcing him to tumble back.

"Stop asking me that," growled the Uzumaki in a guttural rumble. "I told you, if you go it'll be through me."

Sasuke regained his balance, wiping a thin line of blood away from his split lip with the back of his tattooed hand. He stood himself up on the waving surface of the lake and eyed Naruto's sword with his sharingan warily. The amber metal had twisted forward into a long and exceptionally elegant shaft. The edge was thin and glinted in the sun, casting an array of yellow tinted rainbows across the lake. There were no spikes on the lighter sword, nor any gems or intricate patterns embossed in its side. It was simple, but beautiful.

"I wonder," said Sasuke, his tone indicating a change in the subject, "why this sword has chosen me." He held his midnight weapon up in front of his face. "It is after all, aware of itself and can decide who is allowed to hold it."

"Maybe," Naruto said quietly, "we're enough alike, you and I."

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't think that's quite it," he said somberly. "I think it's that you've changed." Both boys' eyes narrowed as Sasuke paused. "I think it's that, to this sword, you died in the battle a week ago, and it's chosen a new owner."

Naruto didn't say a word.

"Let's face it," said the Uchiha, "You've not exactly been yourself since," his voice trailed off as lines of pain shot across Naruto's face. "I'm sorry," he continued, diverting his gaze.

"You didn't…" Naruto dropped his head and stared at the water. "You weren't the one who…" he stopped completely as his voice broke and he fought the fury bubbling in his heart.

Sasuke's face softened, the yellow almost completely gone from his eyes as he watched Naruto. "You have no idea," he said, "how much I wish I could offer you some kind of comfort… You're right after all. Rival or no, we were like… But now that Ino's gone I…" he stopped, then shuddered.

"Sasuke," said Naruto, all pain gone from his voice, replaced by stony ice. "This is your last chance. Come back with me, or I'm going to keep coming after you. I don't want to talk anymore; not about her, not about anyone, not about anything."

Sasuke groaned. "I was hoping to avoid this… but I must end this quickly, for both our sakes."

The Uchiha boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then instantly convulsed and fell beneath the top of the lake. He began to writhe as the seal expanded out like ink all over his body until he was nothing more than a silhouette in the water, a black shape twitching beneath the surface and sinking deeper.

Naruto didn't move. He didn't even breath as he waited to see what was going to happen next. "Sasuke…" he muttered, "how can you be so blind?"

For a long minute there was silence until slowly blackness began to cloud the water. An almost ethereal shadow was permeating the lake like a cold night rolling in over a village, but this blackness came from beneath.

Naruto grew uneasy as the darkness, now a midnight haze crept towards him, and as it touched his feet he shuddered as if the heat was literately drained from his body. He felt not only colder than before, but sick now.

"Here," Sasuke's voice said from behind Naruto, causing the boy to flinch. He hadn't heard his rival emerge, but he slowly turned around to see what he assumed was Sasuke standing a dozen yards away.

It was about Sasuke's height, and wearing his clothes, but that's where this creature ceased to resemble the Uchiha. His skin was the color of un-tanned leather, a sickly and puce laced brown. His light blue hair fell to the center of his back and spiked away from his body, and the black spike across the center of his face was all that remained of the original seal, the rest now formed his very flesh.

Naruto stared into the Mangekyou eyes and his breath caught. "Sasuke," he whispered, "What have you done to yourself?"

Sasuke smiled, any compassion in his demeanor gone, replaced by arrogance. "I've evolved Naruto," he said, "far beyond the point where you could do anything to stop me. Orochimaru-Sama has… brought me around to see things the way he does, and I now see myself as what I am, a power given form. Naruto," Sasuke nearly laughed, "With his help, I'll grow even beyond this. I'll shed my mortal coil and gain true power."

"You've gone insane," Naruto muttered, not moving.

Now Sasuke laughed. He threw his head back and bellowed before straightening himself out. He continued in a biting tone. "Not insane Naruto. I see now that Orochimaru-Sama has give me back my sanity. You are the one who lacks sense, you and all of Konoha. You don't see that power is the currency of the universe, and the only thing that can defeat power is more power."

Naruto flinched again, remembering Gaara's words.

"I will have ultimate power," Sasuke continued, "I will transcend everyone and I will kill Itachi. When I do, it will be complete. It will all have come full circle. More power will have defeated less power, as is proper, and I will have my reward in vengeance and blood."

As Sasuke laughed again, Naruto lowered himself to the surface of the water. The words pouring out of his friend's mouth were biting and painful, but an assurance. Sasuke had just shown his colors, shown his loyalties. And there was only once path open.

"No choice," Naruto said quietly and emotionlessly as he resigned himself to the task. The red chakra that, until now had been drifting around him harmlessly began to swirl around his form, slowly condensing into the shape of two fox's tails behind him. "whether or not it's that seal doesn't matter now, and I've got just one goal now."

Without a second thought, Naruto exploded forward. He'd reached Sasuke and swung the blade at his throat before the water behind him had even rushed up in the wake of his single, powerful stride. Sasuke's ebony sword was however, already there to block the strike and the two blades rung with an almost musical, albeit deafening, note that echoed off the valley walls as the water behind Naruto rushed up in a giant column.

Sasuke twisted and jabbed his sword for Naruto's stomach, but flipped around at the last second to evade a parry and slashed open the center of Naruto's left pant leg. The blonde had flipped around just as the blade moved, so his clothes would take the beating as opposed to his body.

The Uzumaki boy spun around, bringing his sword in close and twirled his wrist creating a wall of metal between him and the blow Sasuke had tried to slip in-between the blonde's ribs. The maneuver also gave Naruto an edge in speed, allowing him to swipe at Sasuke's legs.

With a hiss escaping his throat, Sasuke leapt back, blood dripping down the front of his exposed legs. There was a thin red line drawn horizontally across his thighs, mere fractions of an inch above his knees; any lower and the boy would be bleeding out at the bottom of the lake now.

Neither face betrayed a single though. Naruto, despite the turmoil in his heart and mind, was a stone façade on the exterior, and Sasuke, despite the pain shooting through his legs displayed nothing.

_So, _Naruto mused, _He may have that Sharingan, but he lacks experience. He may be able to see something coming, but that doesn't mean he'll know what to do or have the speed to react. I have him there at least, but I don't know what this seal lets him do…_

Sasuke grinned across at Naruto. "It's obvious I've yet to grow into this new body," he said, "But don't worry, I'll get used to it quickly, and it's sure to house a few secrets. I think I may even-"

Naruto whirled around to block the attack. Sasuke had stopped in mid speech to swing around Naruto's flank and take aim at his throat. The valley rung again with the musical clash of the swords as the flat of Naruto's blade smacked him in the forehead. He'd not been expecting an attack and didn't have time to parry properly.

Sasuke took full advantage of Naruto's distraction and struck again. Naruto tried to dodge, but this time the blade was too quick and slipped through his guard, slicing open his left wrist.

Naruto cursed, but performed one quick seal. Immediately Sasuke's vision of his rival was blotted out by a tremendous fireball roaring towards him. The Uchiha gaped but leapt to the side as the attack burned harmlessly by him into the lake.

Naruto and Sasuke were now standing a few strides apart, glaring at each other. Naruto's eyes were darting between Sasuke's sword and his badly bleeding wrist. He was pumping chakra into it, as much as he normally would to close a wound that size, but the skin was refusing to seal up. Sasuke on the other hand had ripped off the sleeves of his shirt and was tying the fabric around his legs like a bandage.

"I'm guessing," said Sasuke as much to himself as to Naruto, "that wounds from these blades are not going to heal well… if at all. You seem to be having as much trouble as I am."

Naruto gave up on trying to heal his wrist and spat into the water. _All the more reason, _he mentally groaned, _why I should just end this… why can't I…_

"No more words," growled Naruto.

In a flash they were at it again. Naruto and Sasuke were darting around the lake's basin like angry hornets locked in a dance. The ring of the ancient metal blades clashing together was growing more and more constant and loud. Soon the rings were becoming deeper and more intense as each competitor pushed their bodies to greater lengths.

To describe the action blow by blow would be a book in and of itself. Lightning flashed from the water's surface as Sasuke struck out with a Chidori and Naruto rolled to the side avoiding it by mere inches. Fire roared as the demonic chakra all around Naruto began to take on a life of its own and lash around with the two tails. If Sasuke tried to feint and get behind Naruto he'd instantly be driven back to a forward assault by the thrashing whips of chakra.

Explosions rocked the lake and sent tremors throughout the massive stone walls behind the two boys, soon followed by the clash of the swords as each tried to throw the other off balance and move in for the killing blow. Firebolts ripped through the sky as Sasuke leapt through the air and Naruto tried to pick him off with blasts of the demonic chakra. Each shot missed by the width of a finger as Sasuke's Mangekyou gave him the slightest advantage over Naruto's attacks of raw force.

Sasuke landed about thirty feet behind Naruto and spun, unleashing a torrent of shuriken enveloped in white fire racing for Naruto's back. The blonde spun around, sweeping his foot across the water's surface to kick up a wall between him and the missiles.

The shuriken cut straight through the water slowed by only by the smallest degree and still burning with Sasuke's fire, but that slight change in speed was all Naruto needed. He fell backwards onto the water and dove underneath as the missiles buzzed by overhead.

The blonde straightened himself out and kicked madly, propelling himself towards Sasuke like a torpedo, using the water all around that his chakra was flash boiling to mask his approach. He sped underneath the unsuspecting Uchiha and burst up behind him. Naruto roared and slashed ferociously down on Sasuke, knocking the midnight blade from his hand and catching him completely off guard.

Sasuke cursed as Naruto gripped him by the collar of his shirt and spun around. Naruto flung the Uchiha into the air and jumped up after him, flipping backwards and kicking him in the stomach as the sounds of snapping bones rung in both their ears. Sasuke soared even higher.

Naruto fell back to the surface of the lake, landing gracefully and looked skywards where he could see Sasuke, nearly one hundred feet up, was still moving upwards. The blonde dropped his hands to his side and closed his eyes as the demon chakra coalesced in the palms of his hands.

The energy spun in a vortex, forming into two bloody Rasangens that cast their angry red light all throughout the valley and turned the lake into blood. Naruto roared, a single tear escaping his eye as he flung the two attacks up after Sasuke. Like spears flying towards a wounded bird they left fiery tails in their wake. At the same time, Naruto concentrated on Sasuke as he performed a lightning fast series of hand seals. The gravity technique would ram him into the Rasangens like a meteor and it would be over, Naruto told himself.

Sasuke opened his eyes and clutched his ribs. Naruto's kick was monstrously powerful, but the blue haired boy had bigger problems to worry about over a few pulverized bones. He could feel Naruto's special jutsu making him infinitely more heavy than he should be, and by the look of the two fiery Rasangen rocketing towards him, Naruto meant to end this quickly.

"Shit!" Sasuke spat, putting out his hand as the chidori's blinding lightning screamed to life.

Naruto looked away as an enormous fireball erupted in the sky, blasting the water's surface and propelling every cloud out of the sky. The valley's walls were bleached as white as bone from the intensity of the heat as the fireball began to fall to the surface, burning itself out until there was nothing left but a giant cloud of superheated smoke looming in the air.

He coughed once on the smoke that was now permeating the air, but Naruto made no other movements. For several minutes he could neither hear nor smell Sasuke for the rumbling and choking smoke. He could see nothing that wasn't directly in front of him, and after a long silence, he turned to walk away, hoping to find one of the valley's walls so he could climb out.

"Mission accomplished," he muttered emotionlessly.

Suddenly, all the breath was knocked out of Naruto and a searing pain ripped through his chest. As he glanced down he could see a dark spire protruding from the direct center of his torso, covered in his blood and smoking with purple chakra.

He could feel the blood spray from the wound as his heart seemed to burst in a violent convulsion and he could hear it spatter and drip into the lake. The attack however had come from behind, and while he could feel that something cold had completely run him through, entering just beside his spine, passing through his heart, and exiting out his sternum, Naruto couldn't see the hands that held the midnight blade.

Naruto gasped in pain as the blade wrenched him off his feet and carried him up into the smoky air. For what seemed like hours Naruto could feel the life draining out of his body, but could still see nothing but billowing clouds of blackness. The warm blood dripping down his front and sticking his clothes to his skin was unnoticed in the face of the pain that rocketed through Naruto's body every time he pumped his blood a little longer with chakra alone acting like a pseudo-heart.

Suddenly he was made to blink. He had broken through the smoke and was two hundred feet up in the air. He looked down and his head actually spun from the height and he watched the stream of blood drip down like a tiny fountain before it disappeared into the gloom.

Naruto again groaned in pain as the blade he was hung on twisted around, bring Naruto face to mangled face, with Sasuke. The Uchiha was fuming, his face wrenched by both wounds and a glare. The brown skin, or patches of it, had been ripped away from his face, exposing Sasuke's normal pale complexion underneath.

Naruto glanced down and Noticed Sasuke was holding him up with one hand. His left hand was completely gone at the wrist, and his one good arm was crushed and barely usable from the looks of things. All in all, Sasuke had not fared well in the face of the Rasangens. The difference Naruto was too dazed to notice however, were the two enormous leathery wings that had emerged from Sasuke's back and now kept the pair suspended in the sky.

"Mission accomplished?!?" hissed the Uchiha, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!?!"

Naruto's head lolled back as he lost the energy to keep himself upright. The amber blade slipped from his hand and fell back into the cloud.

"I should have known you were only here to kill me," growled Sasuke, "All that bullshit about family… But now, there's nothing to stand between me and my destiny." Sasuke wrenched Naruto's body free of the midnight sword and just watched as the blonde fell into the cloud of choking debris. Though by now the cloud had thinned enough that Sasuke could actually see the surface of the lake and watch as Naruto fell towards it.

It was only a few seconds of freefall. Naruto marveled at how quickly he was losing feeling all throughout his body as he ran out of strength to keep his blood flowing. The cold water seemed to race up and slap against his back as he crashed into it with a splash.

Sasuke hovered above the translucent cloud of smoke as he watched Naruto bob a few times in the water before sinking beneath the waves. "Fuck it," he cursed, his eyes wildly darting between Naruto and the Northern Horizon. He started to dart off towards the North East once or twice, but both times he stopped to look back at where Naruto was falling into the gloom. "God damn it," he growled angrily as he reached into his pocket folded his wings.

Naruto knew it was useless to try and heal the gaping hole in his chest. Even if he could, he had still lost so much blood. He wouldn't have the strength to swim to shore. Sinking beneath the waves, which he could see were taking on a reddish tint, he just let the water have him. Naruto closed his eyes and almost welcomed the cold.

_Maybe it's better, _he thought to himself, _to feel nothing at all rather than all of this…_

A splash rippled through the water as something dove in above him. A few seconds later, an icy hand grasped Naruto's shoulder and began pulling him towards the surface. As an arm curled around his stomach and his head broke above the waves, he could feel some kind of warm energy being forced into the hole in his chest. The wound wasn't closing up, but what little blood he had left was pumping again and some kind of pill was being pushed into his mouth.

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Kakashi raced through the dense forest, Sakura hot on his heels with a medical kit slung across her back. The two of them had been running for nearly two hours by this point, not counting the few minutes they stopped to examine the battle-ripped clearing a few miles back. They had found four bodies there, each one wearing a tan tunic with a purple sash, and the Jounin recognized the corpses as some of the ninja who had helped Orochimaru attack the Third.

_"It looks like Naruto caught them by surprise," _Sakura remembered her master saying as he examined one of the destroyed corpses. _"And he made very short work of them all, judging by__ the proximity of the bodies__ to one another. From here he must've chased Sasuke towards the border."_

Sakura couldn't help but smile when Kakashi had said that Naruto made short work of the dead sound nin. She knew those bastards were the ones who sealed the Hokage's fate by keeping any help from reaching him, though it bothered her to no end that Naruto was pursuing Sasuke to the edge of the country, a point nearly beyond any aid.

"We're almost there," said Kakashi, looking at his student.

"Almost where?" asked Sakura, "to the border?"

Kakashi nodded, "the Valley of the End. It's the most extreme edge of the Fire Country's territory, and I'm sure it's where we'll find Naruto and Sasuke."

"I hope so," Sakura swallowed hard. "I hope they're both ok."

Kakashi didn't answer as the two ninja broke through the trees. They were standing on the edge of the cliff overlooking the enormous lake at the bottom the roaring falls, and could easily see that things were not right. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto were anywhere to be seen, and the surface of the water was clouded and murky.

"Follow me," said Kakashi, "but keep your eyes open for any trouble at all."

Sakura nodded and followed Kakashi down a narrow and winding trail that lead to the thin beach surrounding the lake. The trip down would have been perilous for anyone less than a ninja. The path was little more than an outcropping of rock, and the beach below was covered in small stones as opposed to sand.

"Oh my god," Sakura gasped, "there!"

Immediately the pink haired girly took off at a run towards a small boulder protruding from the side of the cliff. Kakashi was beside her in an instant as they arrived at the rock. The blonde ninja laying beside the projection of stone was easy enough to miss, but the light of the sun glinting off the edge of the amber blade laying beside him was more than enough to catch anyone's attention.

"Naruto," barked Kakashi, kneeling beside him as Sakura stood beside them, nearly crying, "Naruto! Can you hear me?"

The boy didn't answer, so Kakashi tore open his shirt and began to look over his injuries.

"Impossible," muttered the Jounin, looking at the slitted hole that ran all the way through Naruto's chest, "There's no way he should be alive."

But somehow, Naruto was breathing. He was pale and unmoving, but he wasn't dead.

"There's a wound running all the way through him," said Kakashi, examining the situation quickly, "Sakura, we have to bandage this up, but before that we need to make sure his heart is going to last until we get him back to Konoha. I need you to-"

Sakura was one step ahead of him. Her hands were trembling with fear, but she had worked through the horror and rummaged around in her pack for the clotting agent and the gauze she knew her mentor was asking for.

"Thank you," said the Jounin, taking the supplies from his student and setting to work to stabilize Naruto's condition.

As Kakashi worked, Sakura stood by protectively and watched over Naruto. There was a harrying desire in the back of her mind to clutch him up and cry for him, but she knew that this was no time for tears. Her first priority was to get him back to Konoha, and she was going to see it done.

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AN: Well, there you have the conclusion of Chapter Twenty-Eight. Twenty-Nine isn't going to be so much a chapter as it is an Epilogue for Book One, which will also lead into Book Two. Look for the Second installment, _ShaddowDawning_, after the posting of the Epilogue. And before you say anything, yes Sasuke's character was waffling a little bit between Orochimaru and Sasuke. Maybe that will come into play later ;)

Thanks for reading, and Reviews for me please!


	29. Book One Epilogue

AN: I'd like to thank people like Archer and pdorn1 for their… vehemence where this story is concerned, but the long and short is that this story is what it is and that's not going to change.

Thanks for reading and hope you all enjoy!

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Epilogue: Cherry Blossom

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Kakashi asked. He was leaning against the doorframe, watching Naruto pace back and forth in the dimly lit lavender room. "Once you start, there's no turning back."

"Positive," said the blonde, not looking his teacher in the eye, as he made his laps between the dresser and a small backpack lying open on the bed. With each trip, the pile of clothes beside the backpack, mostly orange jackets and pants, grew steadily larger. "Besides," he continued somberly, "the old pervert and I can always turn around and come back if there's trouble." There was no humor in his voice.

"Are you sure you're ready to leave then?" asked the Jounin. "I'm sure we could find some way to make you useful here."

Naruto paused and glanced between Kakashi and the backpack.

"Sensei," he said, "I've got to get away from here for a while. I need to see more of the world, meet new people and learn new things. You know what I'm saying." The suppressed enthusiasm in Naruto's voice was almost convincing. Naruto even went so far as to try and sound like he was holding his anxiety back, but Kakashi had no trouble seeing through the rouse.

The copy nin waited as Naruto looked over his wardrobe. The blonde seemed to be struggling with what exactly he should pack and what he should simply abandon, as the silver haired Jounin pulled a small box wrapped in packing paper out from behind his back.

"If I can't convince you to stay," said the copy nin, "then the least I can do is to give you something useful for the road." He opened the lid of the box, revealing a black interior laden with a three pairs of pants, and three shirts. Each set of clothes was identical to the ANBU suit Naruto had worn up until a few days ago, when it was ruined in the valley.

"Sensei," said Naruto, accepting the box as Kakashi offered, "you shouldn't have. These are expensive."

Kakashi raised a hand as if he were offended. "Absolutely not," scoffed the Jounin, "They're nothing but hand-me-downs; the uniforms I wore back in my ANBU career. You'll be getting nothing more than that from me."

A flicker of a smile crossed Naruto's lips as he thanked his mentor… it almost looked genuine.

"What can I say?" asked Kakashi, raising one shoulder to the rhetorical question, "I figured you could use something like this. Each suit is bi-weave, so you'll wear out before the dye or the seams, plus I reinforced the joints myself. Another perk is that they're super easy to clean and you can wear each one for a week before it starts to stink."

Naruto thanked Kakashi again as he packed the ANBU suits into his backpack and zipped up the main compartment. He kept the grey t-shirt, black pants, and brown jacket he had on, and set the pack aside as he opened the drawer that held his more dangerous equipment, and began to set out an array of kunai and shuriken. His amber sword was set delicately and ceremoniously across the top of the chest of drawers.

"So you leave tomorrow morning," Kakashi said. It was not really a question, and there was a hint of sadness in the Jounin's voice.

"Yep," Naruto nodded.

"Just like that?" Kakashi probed. "No goodbyes or farewells?"

"I hadn't really planned on making a big deal out of it," Naruto shrugged.

"Tsunade-Sama might be a little disappointed," said the Jounin after a brief pause. "After she went to all the trouble of coming back on such short notice with Jiraiya to heal you, the least you could do is say goodbye."

"She'll understand," said Naruto flatly. "She's going to be neck deep in paperwork seeing as how she agreed to be Hokage. She won't even notice I'm gone, plus I'll be back anyway."

"In three years," Kakashi muttered, his feigned happiness finally receding. "Naruto, there are people here who are going to miss you. Some of those people will be very hurt if they don't get to see you before you leave. Some of them might even be crushed."

"Is this about Sakura?" Naruto asked without looking up from his collection of weapons.

Kakashi didn't answer right away. He was instead trying to read Naruto's face, but in the seven days following the valley of the end, Naruto had become a stone wall. Depending on the situation he could fake an appropriate emotion, and most people were readily fooled by his act. To most people he seemed to have made a full recovery, both physically and spiritually. There were however a few who could see through him. Kakashi was one.

Sakura was another.

"She didn't leave your side once during the operation," said Kakashi. "While Tsunade-Sama was working to repair your heart, Sakura refused to be shown away. She cried the time when the operation went bad and you almost died, but she was overjoyed when Tsunade brought you back."

Naruto hesitated. It was barely anything, but the slight twitch in his moves and the infinitesimally brief pause thereafter as he went to put his kunai away was the first time in a week Naruto's façade had so much as waivered, and Kakashi didn't fail to notice.

"How's she doing anyway?" Naruto asked, rebuilding his wall quickly.

Kakashi shrugged. "Alright I suppose. She doesn't really want to go through with it, but she did after all agree to be Hokage when Jiraiya adamantly refused. I guess you could say she's adjusting well, despite how Jiraiya suddenly appeared in front of her on the road and basically dragged her back here for you."

"No," Naruto said quietly, "I meant, how is Sakura doing?" His voice was measured, but faulted when he mentioned Sakura.

Kakashi suppressed grinned beneath his mask. He had known exactly what the young blonde meant, but he wanted him to say her name, hoping beyond reason that it would somehow get through to him.

"She's worried. I spoke with her today" Kakashi mentioned casually, "she still doesn't know you're leaving yet and thinks you're just trying to avoid her."

The zipper nearly snapped off in Naruto's fingers as he stammered, trying to pull the pack open. Naruto faltered for a second before he pulled the backpack into a sitting position and began to pack a random assortment of small items into the rear pockets. Naruto's hands weren't trembling and his breathing was measured but Kakashi sensed there was something going on behind the perfect face.

The Jounin sat on the bed next to the pack, making it more difficult for Naruto to avoid looking at him. The blonde however, kept working until without any apparent reason, he just stopped and stared at the pack.

"I've run out of things I should take," Naruto murmured. "The clothes are neatly in place, the weapons are secured to the suits and the smaller compartments, and the assorted gear is all accounted for."

Kakashi didn't hesitate, leaping on the opportunity, but maintaining his poise. "She's still staying at her house off Main Street, and her father is gone on business for the next two days," said the copy nin in a nonchalant tone. "And seeing as how you're done here, there's nothing stopping you."

"I wouldn't want to drop in unannounced," said Naruto, his face unaffected but his voice a little higher than before.

"I don't think she'd mind the visit at all," said the Jounin. "In fact, I'll guarantee that she'll be happy to see you when you go."

"I really should get some sleep though," Naruto countered.

Kakashi shook his head. "You don't have to stay the night. You could just drop in, say goodbye, talk for a bit, then leave. There's no harm in that is there?"

"I suppose not," Naruto said, turning for the door, and walking past Kakashi.

"Naruto," the Jounin called after him.

"Yes Sensei?" asked the blonde, stopping and turning around. There was a brief pause between them as Kakashi stared at Naruto with his visible eye. The blonde couldn't tell what his master was looking for, but finally Kakashi relented and smiled.

"Nah, never mind," said the copy nin.

Naruto forced a grin, and turned around, leaving the bedroom and walking down the stairs into the living room. He didn't glance at all of the white sheets that had been thrown over the furniture and decorations as he strode across the room and opened the front door, letting in a rush of the unusually chilly night air.

"Nice weather out here at least," Naruto muttered.

He walked slowly, for a ninja at least, down the street with his hands in his pockets, passing no one on the road. The wind was blowing just enough to ruffle his golden hair, giving it an almost wild appearance, but not enough to cut through his jacket and cause him to shiver. He walked the long road without hesitation, not by memory but simply by knowing where he needed to go, and turned onto a little residential path.

He meandered through the neighborhood, navigating by the evenly placed street signs, and seeing by the light of the crescent moon, as there were no lamps to light this street and most of the residents had turned in shortly before. Naruto was likely the only waking soul in the area.

He turned onto another, smaller residential road and stopped to look around. He knew where he was, but still didn't know what he was going to do.

The street was lined with small, uniform houses. They were nothing like the larger homes and apartments that made up the bulk of the houses in the Yamanaka's district of town, but they looked comfortable and warm if nothing else. Every fourth or so house, and a few in-between, displayed lit windows and Naruto counted the houses on the left side of the road to Sakura's home. Hers was one with the lights off.

With a sigh the Uzumaki started to turn around as if he was going to return to his house, but he paused and waited at the intersection. He stared down the east path of the crossroad and thought for a moment. There were no lights that way. He turned and looked down the road leading to the west. There were no lights that way either. Everyone must have decided to go to bed. It was, after all, almost midnight.

Naruto turned around and looked back down the street as a sudden lack of light caught his attention. Another two houses had turned off their lights, leaving the road a little darker.

"What am I doing?" he groaned to himself as he turned almost involuntarily towards the eighth house on the left side of the street and walked along the sidewalk. He turned onto the house's approach and stepped silently up the three stairs onto the weather-battered porch.

Naruto took a deep breath, suddenly needing to steady himself. He couldn't explain exactly why it was so difficult, but so necessary to reach up and knock four times on the door, but he did. He didn't know why he found himself unable to turn and leave, but he stayed firmly rooted to the porch.

After a moment he heard footsteps in the room behind the door, and the light in the curtained window flipped on. The light from the peephole in the door was momentarily obscured as someone peered through it, but no one answered yet. There was a long pause as Naruto waited for the door to open or to be told to leave.

"J-j-just a second," came the almost timid voice from beyond the door.

Naruto waited patiently as someone bustled about on the other side, apparently tidying up the room, until the door's handle rattled and the entrance slowly opened up.

"Naruto," said Sakura, the surprise still in her voice as she stood in the doorway. "What are you doing up this late?"

Naruto stood quietly for a minute, not sure exactly what he should say, but shook his head and stammered. "I was in the neighborhood and decided I might drop in for a visit. We haven't spoken in a while and I figured we should catch up." His words were unduly cheery, but Naruto stopped when he could tell by the puzzled look on Sakura's face that she knew there was more than what he was telling her.

"Would you like to come in?" asked the girl, smiling and stepping forward onto the porch to make room for Naruto to move by her.

"I don't think I should," said the blonde, noting that Sakura was standing before him in nothing more than a red silk bathrobe. He guessed there was little or nothing beneath the garment. "It might not be quite… appropriate, seeing as how it's after midnight."

Sakura's grin faded for just a second, before she immediately smiled again. "Well," she said, "I guess you won't get any of the tea I just put on the stove. It's cherry." Her smile widened just a little.

"Sakura," he said quietly, not wanting to make this any more complicated than it already was, "I just dropped by to tell you that, …" he hesitated. The whole way here he'd been trying to come up with the best way to let her know that he was leaving, but he just now realized that he hadn't thought of anything. "I wanted… thought you should know that I'm leaving tomorrow morning for a trip with Jiraiya."

_Maybe I should just be direct. _He thought to himself.

"Oh," said the girl, curiosity in her voice. "Where are you two going?"

Again, Naruto couldn't quite find the words. "All over the place," he stammered. "We'll be going everywhere from Suna to some country way up north. From there Jiraiya hasn't decided where to go next, but I think he's leaning towards going to the Mist."

Panic streaked across Sakura's face and she instinctively took a step closer to him.

"How long will you be gone?" she asked in a quivering voice.

…

"Three years."

The panic on the girl's face rushed to her eyes as Naruto's words sunk in fully. She didn't answer, but stayed standing still, her hands clutched up in front of her. Naruto didn't move either. He really hadn't wanted this.

"I realize it's kind of late notice," said the blonde, "but I still wanted to say goodbye."

Sakura nodded and looked up into his eyes. She hesitated for a long while before finally saying anything, but there was genuine compassion in her voice. "Is there any chance you'll need a companion for the road?" she asked.

Naruto was almost dumbstruck. He had been expecting her to get angry or sad or both that he was just up and leaving, almost without saying a thing. But the first words out of her mouth are an offer to come with him?

"I don't think," said the boy, "That Jiraiya really had that in mind when he planned this. It's supposed to be some kind of training journey."

"I could train with you," Sakura said, her voice still wavering but more calm than before. "After all, I need to get stronger too if we're going to get Sasuke back."

Naruto shook his head. "It's not that simple," he said. "This could be dangerous. Not everywhere we'd be going would be too friendly to ninja from Konoha. Trouble isn't just a possibility; it's a probability where we're going, and if things go from bad to worse… I don't want you getting caught up in all of it."

"So?" said Sakura, stepping out fully onto the porch in her bare feet. "That's just part of being a ninja. Taking risks is just what we do and being a ninja means you're willing putting your life in harm's way. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm just going to sit on the sideline and watch while you do all the really dangerous work. I want to be there to help you get through the bad parts, and fight to get you out of the worst."

"What about your family?" asked Naruto. "They're not just going to let you go are they?"

"What family?" Sakura countered, becoming more vigorous. "Mother died a while ago. I don't have any brothers or sisters, and no extended family that I know of anywhere. I have about as little reason to stay here as you do."

"Sakura," Naruto groaned, both stung and annoyed by her words, "What about your father? If you disappeared-"

"He wouldn't even notice," Sakura cut him off, frowning and clutching the edges of her robe. "He's never cared or … all he wants is for me to stay out of his way. If anything he'd be glad you took me with you."

Naruto turned around. He could see he wasn't getting anywhere with this, but he didn't want to just tell her to stay.

"Why can't you just let me come with you?" asked Sakura. "Honestly, I really want to and I could have anything I needed to take ready in an hour or two at the most. I wouldn't be a burden, I promise. If you wanted I could be so quiet you wouldn't even know I was there."

Naruto didn't answer. He just turned and watched as the crescent moon fell behind a thick cover of clouds, banishing almost all of the remaining light on the street from sight.

"Or," Sakura hesitated, her voice was quiet and shaking again, "you could at least tell me the real reason you want me to stay behind."

Again, Naruto was silent. A million excuses began racing through his mind. He could tell her that he didn't want her to get hurt, or that if something happened to her it would destroy him. For an instant he considered telling her it was so he could come back to her as a hero, but that one seemed to melodramatic. Those were some of the nicer answers; the ones that he didn't think would crush her spirit.

He also considered telling her that he simply wanted nothing to do with her, or that he couldn't stand being around her for a few minutes, much less years. He could always tell her that she meant absolutely nothing to him so she could come if she really wanted to, but that would probably just egg her on to follow him.

It was a dilemma. Naruto was grasping at every answer that invaded his mind, clutching and hoping that he might find something viable. They were all the same however, the excuses. They were all lies and each one was just an attempt to hide the more painful and far more pathetic truth.

"How long are you going to keep making yourself miserable?" asked Sakura, stepping up directly behind him and resting her cheek on his shoulder.

Naruto's face waivered for a minute between pain, fury, and relief that she'd seen through his act. He closed his eyes and tried to speak, but as seemed to be happening more and more often, he was lost for words.

Silently, and with barely any movement at all, Sakura slid her arms around his neck and embraced Naruto from behind, still holding her face against his shoulder. "I don't want to see you unhappy Naruto," she whispered, "and it's killing me that you are. The only thing worse is that there's this wall around you that's keeping out anyone who could help…"

"What more do I have?" asked Naruto, his voice perfectly measured. "If I let the good through then that means that just as much bad is going to flood in too."

"It doesn't have to be that way," she said quietly. "You don't have to have neither or both. Just because you let me in doesn't mean I'm going to hurt you."

Naruto flinched. She'd guessed it. He'd known she would, but that doesn't alleviate the unease of having your defenses surmounted.

"Sakura?" asked Naruto, his voice more human that she'd ever heard it before. "I'm going to ask you a question, but before you answer, think about how I'm answering it right now."

"Alright," Sakura nodded.

Naruto took a deep breath. His voice was slow and somber, but at the same time somehow pained. "Is it better to be heartless, or heartbroken?"

Sakura didn't answer at first. She mulled the question over in her head, knowing exactly what he was really asking.

"I think," began Naruto, "That it's better to feel nothing at all."

Now Sakura shook her head. "You don't really believe that," said the girl. "If you did then you wouldn't be here right now."

Naruto didn't speak, but Sakura let go and moved to stand in front of him. A chill wind blew down the street and buffeted them both.

"I'm not going to win here, am I?" asked Sakura.

"You're not going with me," Naruto said conclusively.

Sakura closed her eyes, but leaned forward and put her head on his chest. "Fine then," she said, her voice calm but warm.

"I'm glad we've got that worked out then."

She smiled, and looked up into his eyes, tears just barely beginning to form in the corners of her own. "But I'm going to be waiting right here when you get back."

The tops of the trees rustled as the wind began to pick up. It was surprisingly cold for this time of year, especially in Konoha, and that coupled with her thin robe, was enough to make Sakura shiver. Without a second thought, Naruto shook out of his jacket and draped it lightly over her shoulders, stepping just close enough that Sakura could reach up and hold his arms around her.

"See," said the girl, "Is this really so bad?"

Naruto shook his head, "You're cold and need to go inside." He said flatly.

"I'm fine right here," Sakura responded. "Besides, it's nice to know that you care."

"I-" He stammered. "Why are you being so difficult?"

Sakura's smile faded as she looked back into his eyes. "Because I care too," she said. "Naruto… I know it hasn't been very long since… you know, but you're not helping yourself by sealing yourself away from everyone. I want to help. Please, how can I make you see that?"

Naruto looked up and away from her. "I know you want to but I don't think you can," he muttered, dropping his arms. Sakura almost protested, but Naruto raised his hand and put it on her back, turning her towards the door.

"I'm going to try," Sakura whispered to him.

A very small, but very real smile spread across Naruto's lips for just an instant before he caught himself and replaced his façade, but Sakura noticed, and she could tell that he hadn't faked that one.

"I really don't need any pity," said Naruto, "or patronizing as far as that goes."

Sakura grinned a little, and stepped to the side again, gesturing for him to walk through the open door and in out of the quickly cooling air. "You'll get none from me," said the girl, "now please, I'd be insulted if you didn't join me for breakfast."

"Fine, fine," Naruto said, his voice only slightly exasperated as he stepped over the threshold, "but only if it will get you to stop pestering me to come in."

"It will," Sakura promised, "for now."

SC

There was no crowd gathered at the East Gate the next morning. No fanfare announced the two figures sitting silently against the stone pillars of a decorative overhang. None of the lights in the houses were on yet, as it was still almost an hour before daybreak and no one was up yet. The whole village seemed to be quiet and at peace as Kakashi and Jiraiya awaited the new day to dawn, and for Naruto to arrive.

The Uzumaki boy however was still several minutes away from the gate. Both he and Sakura meandered one slow pace at a time towards the Eastern Entrance, silently. They walked with about two feet of distance between them, neither one really looking where they were going. Naruto was staring off towards the faint light just beginning to show atop the wall, while Sakura was glancing between the ground and the buildings they passed as the time ticked by.

Both genin stopped short of entering the square and glanced around, finally seeing each other. Sakura smiled weakly and stepped closer to him. The blonde waited for a second, before clearing his throat and shifting around.

"Well," he stammered.

"Well?" Sakura responded, the tired smile still on her face.

"I guess this is it."

The pink haired girl nodded. "I guess so."

Naruto turned around and took a step into the square, but stopped. Sakura remained where she was and looked over his form in the twilight.

"I'm coming back," Naruto said, turning his head to look at her again. His voice was soft and collected, but also strangely warm.

"I'll be waiting," was all she could manage to say. The lump in Sakura's throat fell into her heart as she realized all over again that he very well may not be coming back, and that if he did he may not be Naruto anymore.

Naruto's face betrayed nothing, but he turned back around and strode into the square, shifting the pack across his back a little higher as Kakashi and Jiraiya got up to meet him. The three ninja spoke for a bit, but Sakura couldn't make out what they were saying. Naruto and Jiraiya had their backs to her and Kakashi's mask didn't allow for much lip-reading.

Soon though, after maybe four or five minutes of fighting back the tears, Sakura watched as the blonde and the Sanin walked towards the big wooden gate and Kakashi disappeared in-between the unlit houses. Her heart skipped a beat as Jiraiya opened a small side door, and she stopped breathing as both ninja walked outside the village and passed beyond her line of sight.

The door closed silently and Naruto was gone.

"Goodbye," Sakura whispered. Her voice was low, and level, but the tears she had fought so hard against while Naruto was here finally broke free and streamed down her face. Sakura stared wide-eyed at the gate as the tears flowed. She didn't know what else to do. This seemed like the end.

"Goodbye," she mumbled again, her voice breaking on the word this time.

Sakura turned around and took a few steps, but tripped over her own feet and fell into the dirt. She shifted around and sat her back against the wall of a shop, but didn't get up. Instead she pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her face as she did.

Footsteps wafted by on the breeze just before someone turned the corner and walked up, stopping in front of Sakura. She didn't look up to see who it was.

"So, he just up and left?" said the woman's voice.

Sakura recognized the loud but fluid voice from the operating room a few days ago. It was Tsunade's.

"Well," continued the Hokage as Sakura looked up, catching the woman's eye, "I suppose there's no cure for this."

"For what?" asked Sakura, wiping her eyes.

Tsunade made a quick hissing noise and put her hands on her hips. "For what you're going through. There's nothing anyone can do to fix that."

Sakura looked back towards the gate. "One person could," she whispered.

The Hokage reached down, picked Sakura's hand off her knee and stood the girl up in one quick motion. The pink haired girl stared at the woman for just a second, before asking what that was for.

"He's going to be back," said the Hokage, "Jiraiya will make sure no harm comes to him. But until then, moping isn't going to do you any good. You need to actually get around and do things."

Sakura nodded slowly, thinking it ironic that Tsunade was giving her similar advice to what she'd told Naruto last night.

"I suppose." Sakura said.

Tsunade crossed her arms. "I thought you might be like this," she said. "Given the way you were hanging on his every breath in the operating room I guessed it'd be bad for you when he left. I see I've got no choice."

Sakura looked over at Tsunade with a curious glance as the Sanin stared her in the eye.

"Haruno Sakura," said the woman, "What would you say if I offered you a position as my apprentice?"

Sakura stammered for a moment. Despite a restful night's sleep, she suddenly felt heavy with fatigue.

"I realize this all may be a bit much for you to process, given everything that's happened lately," said Tsunade, "but what I'm offering you is a chance to study medical jutsu and Ninjutsu under my watch. You don't have to answer right now, just think it over for a bit."

"Right," said Sakura. "I'll give it some thought, but right now I just really need to go to bed…"

Tsunade smiled and uncrossed her arms. "Go home then. Just drop by my office when you come up with your answer. I'll be there all day… for the next several days."

Sakura nodded and bowed respectfully, then turned and began to walk down the street as Tsunade watched. The Hokage rolled her shoulders and glanced around from her place by the entrance to the alley next to the shop.

"You really think this will be good for her?" Tsunade said under her breath after Sakura turned a corner and disappeared.

"Definitely," said Kakashi, stepping out of the shadows of the alley and standing next to the Hokage. "She needs to get her mind off things, and what better way to do that than by engaging her mind on something challenging."

Tsunade nodded. "You said that she'd make a great apprentice but I have to warn you that I won't go easy on her just because she's a little broken up. If anything I'm going to make it harder so she toughens up a bit."

"By all means," said the copy nin. "She really does need the challenge to keep her focused. And I told you earlier that she'll be able to handle anything you can throw at her."

"I hope so," said the Hokage.

"Trust me," Kakashi said in a confident voice. "There's something about the genin of Team 7. Something tells me we haven't but scratched the surface of their potential."

The End

* * *

AN: Well well, I see we've finally arrived at the end of _The Gambit_. It feels like it's been forever since I started, but oh well. It's finally done and I'm sure most of you are glad for that at least. At any rate, this is the point where you can either stop reading this storyline entirely if I've turned out nothing but drivel, or, if you like, continue on to Book Two, _Shadowdawning_, which should be hitting the site sometime within two weeks to a month. Check my profile for it sometime soon. Anyway, Sayonara for now and thanks again for reading! 


	30. Sunrise

ShadowDawning

AN: Greetings everyone. Welcome to _Shadowdawning_! Some of you have been with me from the beginning, some for a few months, and a few of you are brand new to this whole thing. To everyone I'd like to give a big shout out and a thanks for reading.

Now to the real deal. I've decided that, for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to begin posting Book Two at the end of _The Gambit_. I ran this idea by several of the readers towards the end of what I had posted for SD and most seemed to like the thought so I'm giving it a try.

The schedule I think you'll all approve of in that I will be posting one chapter every week, as this will give me time to get ahead and give everyone a more steady flow of updates.

Now don't think for a moment that this will be the exact same SD I had originally posted since I will be taking this time to clean things up and perhaps even add some sub-plot (wink wink.)

So without further ado, here is Chapter One of Book Two.

* * *

Sunrise

"I need a room for the night," said the gangly old man to the inn keeper sitting on a stool on the other end of the counter. "I've got a long way to go, and I'm very tired."

The pudgy landlord scanned the vacancy book on the oak counter before him with swarthy eyes, then looked back at the elderly gentleman. He didn't bother to look the man in the eyes, but rather took notice of the rags across his back and the lack of a coin-purse at his belt.

"Sorry," said the inn keeper tersely, his breath as thick with cigar smoke as the air in the Inn's crowded bar room "but I don't give out charity. It's going to cost you two silver pieces for the night and I won't take anything but silver; not in this rural part of the country anyway, can't trust anything but hard currency."

The old man's shoulders drooped. "I can't pay that," he said quietly. "Is there any way you could spare me an empty room just for one night?"

"No," said the Inn keeper flatly, "You're welcome to stay in here, but unless you can pay, a seat at the bar is the most you're going to get."

The old man leaned a little heavier on his cane and turned away. "I suppose that's better than nothing," he said as he walked over to one of the tables and sat down in an empty chair.

The main room of the Inn was packed full of people huddled around little circular tables. It seemed as though everyone had a smoking cigarette or cigar in their mouth, and the air was a sickly charcoal color. The orange light streaming in from the sunset outside caused strange shadows to dance on the floor and walls while the smoke in the air shifted as the people moved around.

The fireplace in the corner was dead and piled high with ashes. Its services would be unnecessary anyway, as all of the bodies packed into the room raised the temperature to near eighty degrees. The smell of sweat and body odor was only a little less prominent than the smell of cigarette smoke.

"Now what?" the old man asked himself in a raspy voice that was swallowed up by the drunken racket all around him. He reached up and ran a hand over his bald scalp, tracing his fingers over the knotted scar that twisted across his skull, thinking.

"Something wrong?" asked an almost wraith-like figure sitting motionlessly beside the man. "You seemed to be having a bit of a disagreement with the proprietor here."

"You could say that," he answered, his voice still quiet. "Bloody vultures of barkeeps. No sense of charity," he laughed a little to himself.

"What's your name?" asked the figure.

"Hashimara Kige," said the old man, "burned out old architect at your service. How about yourself?"

"Just a wandering ninja," he replied, his voice a little muffled by the black cloak over his head.

"Really," said the old man. Kige turned to the figure sitting beside him. The Ninja was wearing the strangest black clothes: the suit looked almost like tight fitting leather armor, but the rough and rigid material was jet black and more like incredibly stiff cloth than leather. Several seams traced across the material, triple-stitched, adding to the segmented look. Across the left shoulder it looked as though some kind of embossed insignia had been removed from the suit.

"How did you get that scar, Hashimara-san?" asked the Ninja, his icy blue eyes not shifting from the untouched malt beer in front of him.

"My last job was a little hazardous," said Kige in an amused tone. "I was working in the Wave about three years back building that big bridge to span the channel. There was some mob boss, I can't remember his name but he's long dead now. He wanted anyone working on the bridge dead and sent a little army to see it done…"

Kige stared off into the distance as old men often do when telling stories about their past that they're proud of. His voice was fuller and a little less scratchy as he recalled all the blow by blow details of the night. It had been freezing cold and pouring rain. He could remember thinking he was going to die when the mercenary's sword skimmed across his scalp, and every memory wound its way into the story.

The ninja in the hood listened. He turned his head just a little and golden spikes of hair edged from beneath the hood. He quickly and subtly tucked the locks back out of sight.

"And," Kige said, his voice a little deeper as he reached the height of the story. By now he'd drawn a small audience from those around him. Some were listening with cynical humor at the ramblings of an old man, while others seemed to soak in the bard's tale.

"Just as we thought it was over, the Ninja who had come to protect us flashed red and destroyed all of the enemies. He set their boats aflame and burned them to ashes with his fiery red light. It was like heaven itself was coming to our defense, and we won."

Kige settled down a little bit and sank into his chair, his story finished. "I have a bit of an appreciation for all the things Ninja do for us," he said under his breath. "Even those from another country are so willing to come to our aide."

The Ninja in black waited silently until the chatter had died down around him. When the last direct rays of the sun fell behind the horizon and were blocked out he stood up slowly and without a sound. With a quick and fluid motion he pulled out of his pocket a small but fat black pouch and dropped it onto the table in front of Kige. Coins rattled in the velvet folds as it landed and a single gold piece popped out of the top.

"What's this?" asked the old man, looking between the Ninja and the coin-purse.

"There were four," he said quietly and with no emotion in his voice, "that night on the bridge. You have an appreciation for Ninja, and I value that. Call this compensation."

Kige shifted around and caught a glimpse of the Nin's face. Immediately recognition streaked across his own along with shock and gratitude. He mouthed a silent thank you as he slowly put the purse into his tattered cloak.

The Ninja turned and glided between the tables and people like a ghost. His steps were noiseless and his motions were so fluid one might've thought him a wisp of smoke as he opened the door and disappeared into the twilight outside. He turned onto the dirt path and began to walk 

quickly down the side of the road that wound along the edge of the forest. Any civilization aside from the Inn was a day's walk away but despite this and the encroaching night he walked on.

"Any luck Jiraiya?" asked the Ninja flatly in the dark.

The dirt moved just a little as a large man in a red robe walked out of the forest and stood beside the Nin in black.

"None," said the man. "You?"

"He wasn't at the Inn," said the Ninja, throwing his hood back and letting his golden hair fall into its usual spiky disarray. "and I couldn't pick up the trail anywhere near here. I think he doubled back and got away. Knowing his luck he's probably already out of the country."

"Too bad," said Jiraiya as they turned and began to walk through the woods. "but maybe just as well. Even if we did manage to catch up to him, Orochimaru might have gotten the better of us."

"But what was he doing this close to Konoha?" asked the blonde Ninja.

"Who knows Naruto," Jiraiya sighed, his voice laced with worry. "But whatever the reason, we'll need to report this to Tsunade when we get back into Konoha tomorrow."

"Right," said Naruto flatly. "I'll make sure to file a report."

Jiraiya eyed his student as their pace picked up and they began to run between the trees. "You sound riveted to be getting back," said the Sanin. "We've been gone three years, and we've had no contact with them for eighteen months, and you can't think of anything more exciting to do than file a report?"

Naruto grinned; quickening the run to what would be a sprint for any normal human. "I can think of a few things," he said. "But first things first."

"Don't worry about that," said Jiraiya. "I'll make sure to get all the necessary details to Tsunade and I'll take the heat for cutting off communications. Damn she's going to be furious about that," there was genuine anxiety in his voice. "You, however, I want to focus on just getting readjusted. Go around on the town. Pick up a few girls and buy a nice house or something."

"Do you think I'm made of money?" asked Naruto.

Now Jiraiya smiled. "Three years as a top dollar mercenary and body-guard, working for an ounce of gold per day; I'd think you can afford the nicety of a comfortable home."

Naruto shrugged in mid stride. "Maybe I will. But let's not make a big entrance. I'd much rather it be as subtle as possible" he said, ending the conversation.

SC

They ran silently and swiftly all through the night without tiring. They left no tracks or marks of their passing, despite covering dozens of feet with every stride they took. It was almost dawn, and the first rays of the sun were just edging over the Eastern horizon as the two Ninja crested a hill and looked down into the forest surrounding Konoha.

The Village didn't seem to have changed much. The massive holes in the wall, memories of the Sound invasion, were nothing more than memories themselves now and were completely and seamlessly filled in. The houses inside seemed a little more clustered as a few more apartment complexes had been added.

"Look at that," said Jiraiya, pointing towards the greatest change in the village. "They got Tsunade's ugly mug up on the mountainside."

Both Ninja chuckled and stared down at the village.

"Shall we?" asked the Sanin, gesturing towards the gate.

Naruto shrugged an affirmative and they quickly made their way down the shallow slope. Before the sun had gained any noticeable altitude, both Ninja were standing in the shadow of the large portcullis covered gate as Jiraiya pulled a small bronze key from the folds of his clothes.

He quietly unlocked the nearly invisible side door craftily laid into the gate and opened it just enough. Naruto passed through followed by the Sanin. Jiraiya let the door swing back closed with a heavy 'click' as the locking mechanism reactivated. There were only a dozen or so people in the square behind the gate, but none of them seemed to notice as the two Ninja entered.

"I'm off," said Jiraiya, turning on his heel, "If you need me I'll be at the Hokage's office. If I need you I'll come find you. Until then though, just enjoy being back."

Naruto just nodded without really answering as the Sanin walked off down the sidewalk. He looked around for a moment, not sure exactly what he should be doing, until a realization hit him square in the gut.

"I'm hungry," he murmured, "and Ichiraku isn't far from here. I wonder if they still have that breakfast special going on." And with that, Naruto turned down the main street and started to wander back into the city. "Probably not."

It was a pleasant stroll. The Village had yet to fully wake up, and thusly there were very few people up and about. Naruto walked with his hands in his pockets, taking in the familiar surroundings until he came to the slight bend in the road that marked the turn to Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto followed the bend and caught sight of the shack by the edge of the road. He walked up and pushed the shades out of the way.

"Naruto!" a familiar voice immediately squealed.

The blonde Nin glanced around, catching sight of the cute and always bubbly hostess of the ramen bar. "Good morning Ayame," he said matter of factly, stepping in and taking a seat on one of the stools.

Ayame faltered, expecting Naruto to be a little more… up-beat, especially after she instantly recognized him. "Where have you been? What have you been up to? Rumors were going around hat you were dead. What can I get you?" she rambled after a second's pause.

"What would you recommend?" asked Naruto, ignoring all but the last question as a small grin curled his lip.

"Well," said the woman in the apron. "What would you like? Business has been good lately, so we took the chance to update our menu with all kinds of new and exotic flavors," she gestured to the large white sign hanging on the wall. It boldly displayed their ramen options in big red and gold letters. "Personally I think the Tabasco is pretty tasty."

Naruto nodded. "I'll have a bowl of that then."

Ayame bowed just a little and turned around, opening the cabinet and taking out a brick of ramen with one hand while firing up the fryer with the other. "So where have you been all this time?" she asked pleasantly. "A lot of people around here seemed worried when you disappeared three years ago."

_Tsunade must've kept my trip with Jiraiya under wraps, _Naruto thought. _That makes this a lot easier._

"I just thought it would be nice to get out and see the world a bit," said the blonde Ninja in a cordial tone. "I traveled out of the country and toured around with a few… different groups of people."

Ayame nodded, wanting more details as she dropped the ramen into the boiling oil. "Well," she said, "it's nice to have our favorite customer back. Are you going to stay with us for a while or do you plan on heading out again anytime soon?"

"I'll be back for as long as people will have me," said the Ninja shrugging.

"Good," said the hostess after a moment, pulling the noodles out of the oil with some tongs and dropping them into a bowl of broth. She sprinkled a few spices over the top of the meal and dumped in some of the contents of a red bottle. Then with a smile she turned around and set it on the bar in front of him.

"Thank you very much," said Naruto as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the small bucket of them on the counter.

"Absolutely no trouble at all," said Ayame. She leaned back against the cupboard and crossed her arms. "So where all did you go?"

Naruto had to pause and swallow the mouthful of noodles he'd already shoveled between his teeth. "I went to Suna for the first few months," he said, then took another bite. "…did a little work with them to help improve village relations."

The hostess nodded politely.

"After that I just dropped off the map," continued Naruto, not really wanting to reveal too many details of his journeys. "Toured around with a few friends mostly," he said.

"Well," said Ayame, leaning forward just a bit, "at any rate it's good to know you're alright. After everything that happened before you left no one was sure if you'd ever come back."

Naruto flinched and looked down at the bar.

"I'm sorry," Ayame said quietly, instantly regretting that she'd brought up that particular turn of events.

"No... No, you're fine," said Naruto smiling. "No harm done."

Ayame smiled back, just as another customer, a tall man in a brown suit walked through the curtain and sat at the bar. Before the hostess could even greet him another man, this one in a white t-shirt, jeans and followed by a pretty blonde woman strolled in and sat down.

"That would be the morning rush," said Ayame casting a sidelong glance at Naruto just as the customers all began to order simultaneously. Another two women walked in with a teenage girl behind them and, without even glancing at the hostess, began making their orders too.

"On the house," said Ayame to the blonde Ninja.

Naruto nodded, standing up and watching as Ayame took all of the sudden and hectic business in stride. "Sure," he said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a large silver coin. He casually set it on the countertop while Ayame wasn't looking, then 'accidentally' knocked it over the bar so it landed on the tile floor by the fryer. By the time Ayame heard the metallic clink Naruto had already left the shack.

* * *

AN: Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Hmmm. I can't really say I have anything groundbreaking or earthshaking to say in this particular note, except that I hope you move from here to the whole thing. I'm going to say Sayonara for now and see you next week. Hope to hear from you all soon and reviews for me please!!


	31. Clouded Horizon

AN: Well hello hello again everyone. No real notes here. Just a quick reminder to review please!

* * *

Clouded Horizon

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Tsunade shouted in her office.

Shizune sighed as she leaned against the anteroom wall and listened to the noises erupt through the thick oak door beside her. She, along with most of the rest of Konoha she was sure, could easily make out every word Tsunade was bellowing at Jiraiya in her office.

"Do you have any idea how many rules of protocol you broke when you cut off communications?!" screamed the Hokage. "I can't think of one good reason why I shouldn't have you drug out and flogged! This is by far one of the most stupid things you've ever done!"

Jiraiya rested his weight against the wall and tried to look like he wasn't afraid of the fuming woman before him. He didn't speak; mostly because he knew that to interrupt the Hokage would have severe repercussions, and instead just let her scream herself out… he just didn't realize how long her lungs could hold.

It was nearly half an hour before Tsunade finally stopped pacing and began to calm down, during which time she smeared Jiraiya with a few dozen names like icing from a sewer trap, some of which would have caused the paint to peel off the wall if she'd managed to say them any louder. Eventually though, she had run out of obscenities to hurl at him (that or she'd run out of breath) and Tsunade merely glowered at her old team mate with her fists locked down at her sides.

"Good to know you missed me," said the man in the red robes.

"The last thing I missed," growled the old woman, "was your impeccable technique for pissing me off."

"Even so," said the hermit shrugging, "Is it my turn to speak now?"

"Only if you're going to explain yourself," responded the woman.

"Fine, fine," said Jiraiya. "I cut off communications because the last letter I sent was intercepted by one of Orochimaru's spies and I didn't want to risk any important information leaking."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"Because I had Naruto follow the messenger."

"And?" probed Tsunade, her voice a little quieter but her eyes still furious.

"And, Naruto watched as the messenger was attacked by a Ninja from the Sound. By that point I'd suspected for a while that Orochimaru was tampering with the letters I was sending back, and after Naruto confirmed it I had no choice but to stop sending them at all."

"You could've sent them through a more secure route," said the Hokage.

"Such as?" Jiraiya asked rhetorically, "If one of my toads can't get through then I doubt any of the more conventional methods would suffice."

Tsunade didn't answer.

"But," said the hermit, "all this is really beside the point."

"Right," growled the Hokage. "Just get on with your report. You've got more than a year to cover and I don't have time to waste."

"Sure. In the last letter I sent," said Jiraiya, "I told you that Naruto and I were going to be heading North to investigate a string of murders we heard about from Kazekage Gaara while we were in Suna."

"Yes, I remember that," said Tsunade. "Gaara visited about a year ago to attend a wedding and he spoke fondly of you and Naruto; mentioned that you'd helped his guards clean up some kind of insurrection. He didn't clarify though."

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes, there was some trouble with renegade Sand Nin trying to defect to the Sound, and Naruto was more than happy to deal with the problem."

"Good," said Tsunade, her voice not quite as angry as before, "anything to spite them and help Suna. But go on. You were headed to investigate."

"Gaara had told us about a series of murders in a northern village and Naruto wanted to check it out so we did. What we found when we reached the city was that eighty six people had been killed. They were all murdered in their homes, with their bodies fairly mutilated. The city officials had no idea what was going on but were managing to keep the trouble mostly behind closed doors."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and waited for Jiraiya to go on.

The old man paused for a few moments, as if he were trying to think of the best words to describe some unbelievable story. "In a nutshell," he continued, "Naruto and I worked with the Town Guard to patrol the streets and rooftops for a few nights. We followed the guard, gave them some basic pointers on what to do… in exchange for adequate compensation."

"Of course," the Hokage sighed, turning around and sitting in her chair.

"For the first week we didn't find anything and four more people turned up dead. On the eighth night however, we hit a break. I was out with one of the mercenary Ninja the town had hired on as guards, when we saw a dark man break into a house via a third story window. We followed him in and chased him out just before he killed the woman of the house. It ended up being a chase that took us all over the city."

"Were they a Ninja?" asked Tsunade.

"Not officially," said the other Sanin, "but it was obvious that they had had some kind of training because he dodged me at every turn. At any rate, Naruto intercepted him. After some convincing he revealed that he had indeed been a Ninja… under Orochimaru."

"Not surprising," groaned Tsunade. "Did he mention why he was murdering random people, or were the murders random at all?"

"Oh they were very random," said Jiraiya. "The killer was completely insane. Orochimaru had been doing some experimenting on him with a new cursed seal and it was too much for his mind to handle."

Tsunade bit her lip as Jiraiya paused to let her process the story thus far. "Was it the same kind of seal he put on Sasuke?" asked the Hokage.

"Yes," Jiraiya said solemnly, shaking his head, "the exact same, but we couldn't get anything more out of him…. After the psycho told us that much he degenerated into meaningless drivel; ranting and raving about how he existed to kill and destroy."

"And?" asked Tsunade, "what did you do with him?"

"We…" Jiraiya paused. "We decided it was best to remove him as a threat."

"So you killed him in other words."

"On the spot."

Tsunade shifted in her seat and shuffled a few papers around on her desk. Any anger had left her face. Now she just looked worried and thoughtful. For several long minutes neither one spoke. Jiraiya sat down in a chair opposite the desk, while the Hokage leaned forward and rested her chin on her knuckles.

"I suppose you mean to say," said the woman in a melancholy voice, "that Naruto killed him on the spot."

Jiraiya nodded. "The boy's developed an acute sense of justice. If he sees someone suffering under 'injustice' he'll go far out of his way to 'correct' the problem. If that means killing someone causing harm then it's fine with him."

"I don't mean to get off topic," said the woman, almost uneasily "but how's Naruto doing? Is he recovering from the incident?"

"He looked to be getting better for a while," said the Sanin in red. "I could see the humor … the genuine humor, not that artificial shit he so often sold people, starting to seep back into him. After he ran into the murderer in Suna's territory though, he began rebuilding his walls. I tried to get him to loosen back up, but Naruto wouldn't have any of it. He began to become completely absorbed in his training, so much so that he was mastering jutsu as fast as I could teach him. He never became anywhere near as distant as he was right before we left three years ago, but he's still not his old self at all."

"Is he emotionally stable?" she asked coldly.

"Um… define stable."

Tsunade sighed. "Answer my question. You know exactly what I mean."

The old man re-crossed his arms and frowned. "He's not going to head off on a murderous rampage if that's what you're asking. And frankly I don't give a damn if you are Hokage, don't insinuate anything about Naruto. You haven't been there to watch him." There was a thinly veiled venom in Jiraiya's suddenly defensive words.

"I wasn't trying to insinuate anything about your student Jiraiya," Tsunade said, putting her hands up in a placating posture. "But it's a simple fact that Naruto was, for all practical purposes, temporarily insane after Ino died. As leader of the village, I can't risk anything that would put Konoha in harm's way. I had to ask." She watched as her visitor's face hardened.

"Fine," said the other Sanin, "I can guarantee that he's far beyond that … condition now. He may not be completely over it just yet, but he is in no way a threat to anyone loyal to Konoha."

"Good," said the Hokage. "That's what I needed to know. Now, back to your report."

Shrugging, Jiraiya uncrossed his arms. "After we left Suna, things got pretty boring really," he said. "If you want I'll put all of the details into a written report, but nothing particularly major happened for almost two years."

"Summarize," demanded the Hokage.

"Wow… you're the same old Tsunade alright," said Jiraiya sarcastically. "This job hasn't changed you at all."

"Just get on with it."

"Fine, fine, after we left the village the two of us made our way east and North with no real destination in mind. Naruto continued to train like mad, mastering everything I threw at him. We made our way from village to village for a month until we ran into a group of elite mercenaries called the Crane Organization. Long story short we went into business with them because they were currently under a contract to hunt down and kill Ninja known to be affiliated with the Sound."

"Wait," Tsunade interrupted. "I know about the Crane Organization. They're neutral in all international affairs and always have been. Unless someone was paying them with the world on a platter they'd never attack any affiliated Ninja. Who the Hell hired them?"

"Nobody knows," said Jiraiya. "Even the organizations leaders didn't know the party's real name, but the going price was… generous to say the least, and Naruto and I worked for a King's salary, so we decided to give it a try."

"And?"

"We spent months on end stalking and killing spies. It was almost fun at times. The only requirement was that we get the target while they were alone and have no witnesses."

A small grin flitted across Tsunade's lips. "And you were under the Crane's umbrella so there was no need to worry about politics."

"I guess there wasn't," said the old man, mirroring Tsunade's smile. "so that's where we amassed our fortune and the work took us all over the continent. There were times we were within a few miles of the Sound's borders, and there were times we were hundreds of miles away. Then, about four weeks ago we ran across the trail of our old friend Kabuto, not three days journey from here."

Tsunade just raised an eyebrow and shifted in her seat.

"Needless to say we followed it. The only trouble was when his trail crossed Orochimaru's and we decided to change course to follow the bigger game. We trailed him as he went about almost randomly within our borders, but yesterday the trail went cold just south of the Arbura forest. So, we decided it was time to come home anyway, and here we are."

"The report is noted," said the Hokage in an official sounding tone. "I'll be waiting for the written version."

"I'll make sure to get the book to you as soon as I get time," said the old man, leaning back against the wall, a bit more relaxed. "How's it been here while I was gone? Things didn't go to pot too quickly did they?"

"Officially," said Tsunade, "things are fine. Our military is at one hundred percent, the economy is booming, and taxes are down."

Jiraiya looked out the window. "And unofficially?"

"Things are going to hell," said Tsunade, setting her hands on the desk and leaning down to rest her chin on her knuckles.

"Oh? How so?"

Tsunade looked up at him and shrugged. "The political scene is a total mess Jiraiya," she groaned, rubbing her temples. "Suna is on the verge of war with the Mist over old treaty violations, the Sound is threatening to attack Suna either side declares war, and if that happens then I'll have no choice but to join in on Gaara's behalf since they're our best ally. I have no idea how the Third managed to keep the peace."

"He didn't have Orochimaru and the Sound to deal with," pointed out the Sanin in red. "I didn't know things were this bad."

"Three years is a long time. A lot can happen and it only looks to get worse." Tsunade sounded exasperated now, like she was discussing a bitter subject with herself as much as politics with an old friend. "Most of the other villages are trying to stay neutral and avoid contact with Suna, Orochimaru, Mist and Konoha all together, but my spies and ambassadors alike are reporting increased military buildup in every other hidden village: no exceptions. Shikamaru, one of my best agents, just returned from some of the southern powers and informed me that their sentiments lie with the Sound."

Both of them were silent for a long moment. Tsunade stood up and walked to the window. Crossing her arms behind her back she stared out it towards the sun, still hanging low in the morning sky. Jiraiya simply stared at the floor.

"Do you really think it will come to war?" asked Jiraiya.

Tsunade didn't answer for several minutes. She looked out the window, the same way she had hundreds of times before and gazed at the shadows the buildings cast into the streets. She'd memorized the inky images long ago, and she knew exactly what they would become as the sun rose into the noonday hours.

"I'm not going to let that happen." Tsunade's voice was hard and cold.

The old man stepped up beside her and looked out into the street. "And what if it does? I was deaf to the politics, but I'm not so blind as to have missed how each country was building its forces. A war this massive would rip the world apart at the seams. Everything as we know it would be changed forever."

"I know," said Tsunade, closing her eyes. "And it's up to me to preserve it all."

"You'll have help," said the old man smiling, "Shizune will be there to make sure nothing bad happens."

"Heh," Tsunade chuckled, stifling a tear, "Good old Shizune… How well do you think Naruto would do if he were in command of an army?" asked the Hokage, changing subjects with all the subtlety of a boot to the face.

Jiraiya grimaced, knowing exactly what the question meant. "If things get out of hand," he said, "Naruto would be my first choice for a captain; maybe not commanding general, but put him in charge of a few squads and he won't disappoint you. The boy's a tactical mastermind."

"I'll remember that," said Tsunade, "You're dismissed. I'll send for you in a day or two though to discuss … a few things."

"Right," said Jiraiya, "I'm off for now then."

The old hermit turned and crossed the length of the room in a few short strides, then opened the thick and nearly sound-proof oak door. Without a glance back, he exited quietly and disappeared.

"You can come in now," said the Hokage solemnly after Jiraiya's footsteps had faded.

After a moment, Shizune's head appeared through the door just before the woman walked into the office in her customary blue robes. "You sounded stressed," said a smiling Shizune, closing the door behind her as she entered fully and watched the Hokage. "What can I do to help?" The lock on the door clicked shut as graceful fingers rolled around the little knob.

SC

"Well this is impressive," mumbled Naruto as he stood in front of the massive cherry-wood gate to the Hyuuga's estate. The large wooden doors were encircled by a lime-washed gatehouse, fifteen feet high, which connected to an equally white wall that encircled the grounds. "They've been a little busy," commented the blonde as he reached out and knocked twice.

A small window, disguised to look like part of the gate, slid open revealing a double mirror (the kind the person on the inside can see through but the one on the outside can't.)

"And just who are you?" asked a calm voice from over the gate.

"Uzumaki Naruto," said Naruto, "I was hoping to see Neji. Do you think that could be arranged?"

"Neji-Sama is a very busy person these days," said the voice, "but he does try to entertain guests who won't waste his time. What's your business?"

"I've recently come across some information that I think he'd like to acquire and pass along to his superior."

"Sounds like a scam," laughed the voice on the other side.

"It very well could be," said Naruto, shrugging, "but if it's not then … well I'm not sure what your leader would do if I took this somewhere else."

There was silence from the guard across the gate for just a moment. "Fine, but if he can't see you then you're just out of luck," said the guard as the gate slid open on well oiled hinges.

Naruto stepped through, greeted immediately by two identical Hyuuga Ninja, each more than six feet tall, and wearing lavender robes to match their eyes. The guards carried short swords across their backs, which is needless to say, unusual for the Hyuuga. Also, they wore around their necks, small bronze pendants like twisted roses on gold chains.

"Thank you," said Naruto cordially, "do you think one of you could show me the way though? I don't know where to find him."

"Just follow the main corridor," said one of the indistinguishable guards, pointing down the marble walkway towards the mansion's elegant ebony doors. "at the end is the primary chamber, and you'll find Neji-Sama's personal study on the east end of it."

"Thanks again," said the blonde.

_Neji-Sama?_ Naruto wondered to himself, mulling the honor-filled term around in his head. He passed along the white stone sidewalk quietly. The Cherry blossom trees lining the walk swayed just a little as the wind picked up, scattering a few of the pink flowers across the lawn.

His sandals clacked as Naruto stepped up the stairs. He reached out and pushed open one of the large ebony doors with the flat of his hand, revealing a beautifully decorated hall running down the center of the complex. The alabaster walls were trimmed in gold leaflets and separated by a reflective, lacquered hardwood floor running between them. Chandeliers hung along the ceiling at even intervals, casting a bright but not blinding light all throughout the hall. The beautifully whitewashed walls were contrasted occasionally by mahogany doors and framed pictures. The only things missing were the people.

As Naruto strode down the hall, stricken by the decorum, he was equally taken back by the complete lack of people. The hall was empty and silent. Even by the time he reached the richly decorated doors at the end of the hall, he hadn't heard so much as the stir of a mouse.

He pushed the doors open and stepped inside the unoccupied main chamber, expecting to see a room equally as grand as the hall. But as he looked around and the door closed of its own weight behind him, all he saw was a simple, thatch-panel floor and unadorned lathe walls. The windows were simple and let in just enough of the morning sun that one could see clearly the single piece of furniture, a table, in the center of the room..

"Who's there?" called a voice from a side room before Naruto could speak.

"Uzumaki Naruto," said the blonde. "Is Neji anywhere around here? I was hoping I could have a word with him."

Naruto looked towards the door-less arch leading to what he would normally thought was likely a kitchen as he heard the sound of a chair's legs sliding along the thatched floor. A second later a tall man in a white robe walked quickly out of the arch. His exceedingly dark hair was pulled back into a shoulder length ponytail, though his bangs hung down to frame one side of his angular face. He was different, but Naruto instantly recognized him as Neji.

"Naruto?" the Hyuuga asked, his lavender eyes flickering with surprise. "When did you get back?"

"Just this morning," said Naruto, "Good to see you again. How have things been while I was gone?"

"Uhm, not horrible," Neji stammered, still not recovered from the surprise of the sudden visit, "but I don't want to be rude. You've been gone a long time. Come into the study. I've got an extra seat and some sake, we can talk there." He gestured towards the door.

Naruto nodded as he and Neji crossed the distance to the arch and walked through into a small room, not larger than a middle class bedroom, with the same lavish decorations as the previous room: none. There was a simple desk up against one wall, with the two walls on either side covered in floor to ceiling, scrap-board bookcases. In the center of the room a white bottle sat atop a low, plain table, and two cushions sat next to the table on the floor.

Neji walked to the desk, which was covered in open books and unfurled scrolls, and closed one particularly large, leather bound volume. The aged leafs of the book crackled as they folded over on themselves and Neji pushed the volume a little farther back on the table.

"So," said Naruto, kneeling on one of the cushions as the Hyuuga took a small pair of stone cups and set them on the table, "I'm guessing there have been some changes in the way the Hyuuga Clan operates since I left."

Neji knelt down opposite Naruto and poured one cup of the rice liquor. "What was the first cue?" he asked with a minute grin on his lips.

"Well for one there's the fact that the guards referred to you as Neji-Sama, and that you've got a 'private' study, which makes me think that you've done a considerable amount of climbing on the social ladder around here. And seeing as how that's hard for the branch family to do it makes me wonder."

"Did you study under a detective while you were out?" asked Neji good humouredly.

"Part of being a Ninja" replied the blonde.

"Yes, there have been some changes in the inter-family politics," said Neji, "for one I'm, for all intents and practical purposes, the current Head of the Clan."

Naruto flinched. He hadn't expected the changes to be quite that drastic. "How did you manage that?" asked the Nin.

Neji shrugged. "It's a long story. Suffice it to say that there was some dissention in the Clan after Hiashi-Sama and Hinata-Sama died three years back. Members of the family in both houses were torn on what to do. Some wanted Hanabi, the next in the direct line to govern, to take over immediately. Others wanted someone else to be head, as Hanabi was too young."

"And you decided to compromise," said Naruto, seeing where the story was going.

Neji poured sake into the second of the two cups and took a measured sip from his before answering. "You'd be amazed how bull-headed some of these people can be," said the raven haired Hyuuga. "The two factions, head members and branch members on both sides, were about ready to declare war on each other, and Hokage-Sama knew that if she intervened it would leave resent and frustration with everyone, so she stayed cautiously neutral."

"Which side were you on?" Naruto asked, ignoring the drink before him. "Did you want someone else to take over for Hanabi?"

"No," said Neji as he set the cup down gingerly. "I was utterly against the idea, so I stayed behind my cousin the whole time. I wanted her to be the Head of the Clan, seeing as how it was and is her place. But not everyone else saw eye to eye with me on that one."

"And of course no one would listen to Hanabi," said Naruto, "seeing as how one side would say she was too young to know what was right and the other would say she was just being manipulated."

"Exactly," said Neji, "and she saw this so she decided to remain quiet in the matter and let everyone else argue it out."

"Awfully astute for a little girl," commented Naruto, "She must have done some quick growing up after her father died."

"She did, interestingly enough. Honestly I expected her to become more greedy and selfish, but to the contrary, she became more tactful and discreet. This had all taken place within a year of your leaving, and over the next six months relations between the two sides degenerated even more. It got so bad that Tsunade-Sama finally had no choice but to step in and 'offer' to be a moderator."

"And it didn't go over well," predicted Naruto.

"Correct," said Neji. "Both sides were furious that someone from outside the family was trying to dictate policy, but when Tsunade-Sama threatened to expel the whole clan from Konoha, a very risky move on her part to be sure, everyone finally stopped fighting over who should be the Head of the Clan just long enough to wonder if they should just split the family and leave the village."

"Damn," mumbled the blonde. "They were really thinking about leaving Konoha?"

Neji nodded. "I wasn't joking when I told you they were… and are, stiff necked. But as fate would have it, the new debate bought Hanabi-Sama just enough time to come up with an idea."

"And?" probed Naruto.

"By now it was almost nineteen months after you left, and Hanabi-Sama approached one of the more respected head family members on the side that wanted her to rule. She asked, knowing that he'd be loyal to her, for him to go before everyone and suggest a compromise."

Naruto grinned, "so I was right."

"Quite," said the Hyuuga. "It was proposed that the clan would elect someone to serve as the ruling party for the family for seven years, during which time Hanabi would be Head in name only. After the seven years though, Hanabi would take her place as the true Head, while the one who had been serving up to that point would step down and become the 'second in command.' It was a good idea really, and was met with cautious applause from both sides."

"And you were elected as the second?" asked Naruto.

"I was" Neji nodded, "despite that I'm not really that much older than Hanabi-Sama. And that was really the end of the matter. Sure, there were people on both sides who were dissatisfied, but they were outnumbered so they couldn't really complain."

"So Hanabi has no real political power?" asked Naruto. "That has to be frustrating."

"It's not that she has none," said Neji, "I've appointed her to be part of my advisory staff, and I listen to her often. She's smarter than anyone else her age, and her mind has come to work logically. On top of that she's creative, which allows her to come up with interesting ideas. My only mistake was giving her free reign over the decorations of the complex."

"So that's why everything has transformed into some kind of palace," Naruto mused. "Well, you must admit that she has taste."

"Expensive taste," muttered Neji, "but at any rate, that's why things seem to be a little off around here."

"Because you're renovating?" Naruto joked.

Neji laughed, "that too."

A chuckle escaped Naruto as he pushed the Sake aside and rested one hand on the flat wood surface of the table. "Wow. A lot more than I thought has changed around here. What else have I missed?"

"Not too much has happened within the village," Neji shrugged. "Lots of housing developments have sprung up like wild grass, and Tsunade-Sama's face is up on the monument, but that's about it. The political scene is a mess but that's a whole other story."

"Politics," Naruto emphasized a melodramatic grimace at the word, then looked out the window. The morning sun had risen just a little in the sky. "I think it's just about time I got going," said Naruto, standing up.

Neji got to his feet as well, "Sorry to hear, you just arrived but I'd imagine that you have some kind of business to attend to."

Naruto nodded. "I do have one question though, and thank you for your hospitality."

"Of course," said the Hyuuga, "what do you want to know?"

"When I first got here," Naruto began, "there were two identical Ninja with swords at the gate to greet me. Normally I wouldn't bat an eye at the swords, but I've never before seen a Hyuuga carry a hand to hand weapon and I was wondering if something else had changed."

Neji grinned just a little. "I wouldn't say anything has really changed, but we have expanded our styles of combat."

"You still use Jyuukin though?" Naruto asked.

"Absolutely," said the Hyuuga, making his voice clear. "Jyuukin is still our ultimate weapon. It's just that, what with all the recent military buildup, I decided a while back to recruit every able Hyuuga into a combat force. The whole clan essentially fights as Ninja on active duty for Konoha now. The best warriors in the family were taken and formed into an elite fighting unit called the Keen. When it comes to open combat they're the deadliest fighting force in Konoha and they carry swords as a symbol of their position."

"You sound proud of them," said Naruto.

"The whole clan is," said Neji as he and Naruto walked out of the study and into the main hall. "The children look up to the Keen as something like a superhero. There are only six of them so to be accepted into their ranks is considered an honor."

"Hmm. They're that good eh?"

"Would you like to meet them?" Neji asked. "If you have time."

Naruto paused, then grinned and nodded. "I can spare a little while longer."

SC

"Konoha's best," said Neji, a taste of pride in his voice as he gestured to the six tall Ninja standing along the marble sidewalk outside the main Hyuuga complex. "Each one trained to be a master of Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. Three specialize in Genjutsu and the other three specialize in complex summons."

Naruto crossed his arms and let the approval show on his face. Each of the warriors was about the same height, nearly six feet tall, and they stood at perfect attention. Their exposed forearms looked like chiseled sandstone as the muscles shone with perfect definition beneath their skin, and it was obvious from their carved faces that there was no excess fat on any of them. The twins nodded towards Naruto in recognition, once they saw that Neji approved of him.

One of the twins, the farthest to the right stepped forward. He was slightly more muscled, Naruto noticed, than his brother and had especially toned arms. Like the other his cheekbones were set high on his face, so when he looked towards Naruto, his gaze was piercing.

"Neji-Sama," said the Nin, turning to the Second in Command.

"Speak," said Neji.

"Sir, if I may, I would like to apologize for my behavior earlier. I did not realize Uzumaki-San was a friend of yours." The twin then turned to Naruto, bowed, and repeated his apology.

Naruto wasn't sure how to react, but nodded and put one hand up to waist level. "No regret necessary, you were just doing your job."

"Thank you sir," said the Nin as he stepped back into line.

"Well?" asked Neji. "What do you think? "

"Impressive to say the least," said the Uzumaki. "If I ever get into a bind I think I'll come to you guys. But I've overstayed and need to get going."

"Well then I won't stand in your way," said Neji with no cynicism in his voice. "Though it's good to have you back and if you ever need anything, you're more than welcome here."

"Thanks," said Naruto, "I'll keep that in mind, but as for now… I think I'm off to find a house."

The blonde bowed slightly, then turned around politely and began to walk away. The six Ninja of Keen dispersed and seemed to disappear into the quiet complex as Neji watched Naruto leave.

"Try looking south of the market district!" shouted the Hyuuga commander as Naruto pushed the gate open, "I hear the houses there are nice but reasonably priced!"

"I'll do that," Naruto shouted back as the heavy gate closed behind him.

SC

It was a stark contrast to the warm day outside: the cold. The sunlight and warmth of midday couldn't hope to penetrate the hundreds of feet of earth and the stone ceilings of the massive underground complex. To any sane person it would seem impossible that life could exist so far underground, but there were indeed people, working and waiting patiently beneath the earth. A side effect of the secure location was the frigid temperature. Invisible diamonds of ice seemed to hang in the crystal clear air, which was just perfect for the work being done in the complex.

The steady and rhythmic beat of the heart monitor beeped in the gloom, the only constant sound in the small, undecorated room. Occasionally the drip of an IV would shatter the silence, but not often so it seemed all the more world shaking when the door opened.

A man with silver hair and a medium build walked into the room on quiet feet, his circular glasses reflecting the light from the various computer screens in bursts of white. His Sound forehead protector seemed to be almost florescent in the dark as he stood over the sheet draped bed.

"Are you awake?" he asked in an almost serpentine voice.

The cadaver shaped mound beneath the sheets stirred. A pale hand reached up from beneath and the body pulled the covers away from its face. The teenage boy lying on the bed looked more ghostly than most corpses. His white hair was only slightly paler than his complexion, broken only by the dark rings around his eyes.

"I was dreaming," said the one on the bed.

"Oh?" asked the one standing up as he walked to the cabinet beside the bed and took out a syringe. "What were you dreaming about Kimimaru-San?"

"Fire," said Kimimaru. "And Konoha. The leaf was burning to the ground. I think it was a prophecy Kabuto."

Kabuto smiled as he put a needle on the syringe and bent over the bed. He stuck the needle in Kimimaru's arm and began withdrawing blood. "I wouldn't call a plan a prophecy," 

said the Ninja. "After all it won't be to long until Lord Orochimaru's plans begin. And then Konoha will be nothing but a bad memory."

Kimimaru slowly shook his head. "It must be a prophecy, either that or the ramblings of a fevered mind."

"Why do you say that?" asked Kabuto, removing the needle and sealing off the syringe.

"Because I wasn't the one who set the fire that burned the village down," said the man on the bed.

"Rubbish," scoffed Kabuto. "Now that the disease is in remission, it won't be more than a week before you're healthy and then things can begin. And besides, you may not be the one planned to house Lord Orochimaru, but you'll still be the one to expedite his plans, you and the Uchiha brat I mean."

"Konoha will burn without a doubt," said Kimimaru, "but I'm beginning to think that neither I, nor Orochimaru-Sama, will be the one to destroy it."

"You must still be tired," said Kabuto, "go back to sleep. I'll check in on you again tomorrow and see how you're doing."

"I feel fine," said the Kaguya warrior, "But perhaps you are right. Now leave me if you'd please."

Kabuto nodded, slipped the vial of blood in his purple robe and exited the room, closing the door behind him. He didn't look back in, but instead began walking immediately and quickly down the narrow, cold, and featureless concrete hall. It was a short while before he reached a bend in the hall and turned to the single iron door beyond the corner.

The Sound Nin reached out and pulled on one of the heavy metal rings, opened the door, and walked through. He was now in another room, this one colder than anywhere else in the complex, and much larger than Kimimaru's room. In truth, not a room, it was a laboratory, with numerous steel tables scattered about it, each one supporting a vast array of lab equipment.

Kabuto skillfully navigated the maze of tables, being careful not to bump into any of them or knock over any of the sensitive instruments. His destination was the far corner of the large room, where a solitary figure hovered over a table illuminated by a strange purple light overhead.

The figure in the gloom was working on something shrouded in a blood spattered linen cloth. He turned as Kabuto approached. It was Orochimaru, his white skin glowing under the black light above him, and the folds of his usual robes trailing over his shape.

"Kimimaru-san is doing well," said Kabuto matter of factly as he reached the corner, "he should be fit to take command of the forces in a week, two at the most."

"Good news," said the Snake Nin, "I'll make a point to visit him within the next day or so, but I'm afraid that my work here takes priority."

The silver haired Nin nodded and took out the vial of blood, then set it down on a table behind Orochimaru. "Speaking of which," asked Kabuto. "Any luck with this?"

Orochimaru smiled wickedly as he turned from Kabuto and glanced at a large wooden box laying beside the table. It was shaped like a coffin and held shut by no less than a dozen thick locks. The heavy wood was carved with numerous black seals. "I'd say it's going quite well," said the Sanin. "I've finished the first, or should I say the Forth, and now I've only got one more to go."

"Wonderful," said Kabuto, "and seeing as how you've already got the closest thing to the original body to work with it should go much more smoothly."

"Not necessarily," said Orochimaru, "rebuilding a body from scrap parts isn't too difficult, but the subject's soul could prove thorny. The first subject's soul wasn't complex, relatively standard even, but the second… I don't know how her unique spirit will react to being reborn in a rebuilt body."

"I wouldn't worry about it," said Kabuto. "After all, I doubt it will be something even minorly troublesome to you."

Orochimaru smiled again, "We'll have to see. Thank you Kabuto."

Kabuto bowed and turned to leave as Orochimaru went back to work. The Snake Nin bent carefully over the table, but as he reached out to grab a knife from a stand of razor sharp implements, his loose sleeve caught on a frayed end of the sheet and jerked it. The linen fell away from the body beneath just enough, and a long lock of platinum blonde hair fell from its place to cold table below.

AN: Yes, I know I said one chapter a week, but what the heck. I'm not much for recycling chapters and I already had the first SD chapter posted here, so here's number two. Review please!


	32. The Times

AN: Well, so much forkeeping a steady stream of updates... but it's not my fault I swear! Things were completely out of my control for longer than I would have liked (it was my girlfriend's birthday for one) but I couldn't update on time. Sorry!

* * *

The Times

"And how would you like to pay for all of this?" asked the bald man in the tattered three piece suit, a lithe grin on his face.

"What kind of transaction would you prefer?" Naruto responded.

"Well that depends on exactly what we decide on for the final price," the man countered.

The Ninja and the real-estate agent had been swashbuckling back and forth all afternoon over price, homeowner's insurance rates, and property taxes. In fact, they'd been debating fiscal matters longer than the tour of the house on the edge of the city had lasted. The bald agent had spent all of thirty minutes, from twelve thirty to one in the afternoon, showing Naruto the interior of the house before the blonde decided he was ready to buy, but ever since then the two had been haggling out the fine details, and it was now almost six o'clock.

All in all it was a comfortable, albeit small, house for one person, maybe two. It had only one story above ground, but the basement was finished and nearly as large as the first floor. The house had a total of six rooms: a kitchen and dining/living room on the ground level, along with a public bathroom, and in the basement were a small living room, another bathroom, and what was likely to become Naruto's bedroom.

"Well to be perfectly honest," said the real-estate agent, tapping his fingers on the table in annoyance, "if I had my choice I'd like you to pay in cash. I don't mean to be cliché but coin, not credit, makes the world go round."

Naruto didn't miss the little glint in the man's eye the second cold hard money was involved. "You really shouldn't be so greedy," said the Ninja as he slowly pulled a black leather wallet out of his ANBU jacket's pockets, and opened it up just enough for the agent to see numerous, very large bills within its folds.

"Business is business," said the agent, looking Naruto square in the eye. "I may come across as a little avaricious at times but I can assure you that I do my business well. No one who buys one of my houses is ever dissatisfied with what they get for the money. It's only common sense that if I gouged my customers they'd spread stories about me and I wouldn't be in business very long."

"I'll have to take your word on that I suppose," said Naruto calmly as he withdrew another cloth pouch from the confines of his clothes. This one jingled. "But like you said, business is business, so let's cut the fat and get down to it."

"Yes, yes of course," said the elderly man, the light from the sun shining in the kitchen window and reflecting off the mahogany dome of his skull like a well polished mirror. "Earlier we were discussing the houses in the surrounding area and how they were going for between twelve and fifteen thousand, so now if I may be so bold as to offer an asking price… twelve thousand. I'll offer you the low end of the range seeing as how you work for Konoha and I'm a bit of a patriot."

"Nine," Naruto countered without hesitation, "If the house were fully stocked I might be willing to pay ten."

"That's a real miser's bargain," scoffed the swarthy agent, "I think you're forgetting who's holding the house as a bargaining chip. Shouldn't a Ninja know that?"

_I know, I know,_ Naruto thought to himself, inwardly enjoying the minor contest. "What if I refused to go any higher than ten thousand five hundred?"

"Then I would refuse to go any lower than eleven thousand," smiled the agent.

Naruto sat back in the cheap pine chair, feigning frustration. "Is a mere five hundred really worth losing a sale?" asked the Ninja.

"I could ask you the same," retorted the real-estate agent. "Is a piddling five hundred really worth losing a good quality home?"

"I can be stubborn," said Naruto.

The agent rolled his wrists, popping the joints, and went on to crack his knuckles. "Obviously, but an idea just struck me," his grin widened just a little. "if you'd be willing to pay eleven, not only will I personally fill out all the mundane paperwork that would otherwise fall to you, but I'll also ensure that any repair or aesthetic work that you want done, within reason of course, will be done for half price."

Naruto mulled the offer in his head for a few moments, trying to look like he wasn't sure if it would really be worth it. In all reality he'd already made up his mind to pay the asking price, it wouldn't really dent his fortunes but if Naruto had learned anything from Jiraiya over the past three years, it was how not to handle money, and he wanted to see if the agent would come down a little more.

Neither spoke for a minute, and Naruto decided this was the best deal he was going to get. He pulled the mouth of the coin bag open and emptied the contents, no less than thirty gold coins, onto the table. As the agent watched every move of Naruto's fingers, the Ninja slowly counted out the cost and set the coins in a neat little stack, then pulled a few bills out of his wallet and laid them next to the valuable coins.

"All yours," said Naruto, sitting back from the money.

"A pleasure doing business with you," said the agent as he reached out and pulled the money towards the edge of the table. "I'll have the paperwork filled out by this time tomorrow. I'll need you to stop by my office at some point and verify that everything is correct, but for now, enjoy your new house."

The agent pulled a manila envelope from the confines of his old suit and handed it to Naruto with a grin. "The title and deed," he said, "I had a feeling when I saw you that you'd be the one I was going to sell this house to."

"Thank you," said Naruto, taking the envelope as the agent scooped up the money and pocketed the cash, "but like I said earlier, I've been out of town for quite some time and the layout of the place has changed a little. Can you direct me to a store that sells furniture and basic house supplies?"

The agent thought for a moment as he stood up. "I'd have to point you to the market on 5th street, down not far from the bakery. You're on Stone Street now so just head West until you hit 5th and turn right from there. You can't miss the market." he said, scratching his beard. "They're not expensive at all, but you get good quality merchandise. What all are you looking for?"

"Just the essentials," said Naruto, getting to his feet, "a bed, a refrigerator, some cabinets and a bookshelf or two; just some stuff that will turn an empty house into a habitable place but nothing fancy."

"Definitely the market on 5th then. But if you'll excuse me now I've got to finalize the sale."

The agent turned around and began to hobble out towards the front door, which was easily visible from the kitchen, but stopped short as he put his hand on the knob as if something had just struck him.

"How do you feel about neighbors?" asked the elderly man without turning away from the door.

"I don't really care one way or the other," answered Naruto as he opened the manila envelope and peeked in to ensure that the title and deed were actually there. They were.

"Alright," said the agent as he pulled on the brass handle and let in the flood of evening sunlight from the westward facing door. "That's good because you aren't likely to have many… if any for quite some time."

"Why would that be?" Naruto asked, looking up from the papers.

"There aren't enough people coming into the city," said the old man, "ever since a few months back, all of the immigrants coming to Konoha, who we built all of this housing for, have just stopped coming. I don't know what the problem is, but lots of houses are just sitting empty."

"Tragic," mumbled Naruto, not too concerned with the housing market, then began a little louder "Well, if there were anything I could do I'd offer my help but unfortunately… that's not my business."

"I wouldn't ask it of you," said the old man, stepping outside, "but I really do need to be on my way, stop by my office tomorrow at about this time for the finalized papers. Goodbye."

"See you then," said Naruto, but the door had already shut behind the agent.

The blonde Ninja turned the manila envelope up on its top and gave it a quick shake. A small silver key fell out onto his hand and he put the envelope away into his trouser's pocket. Naruto weighed the large old style key in his hand, wanting to become familiar with its weight, about a quarter of a pound, before he slipped it into a concealed pocket on the underside of his sleeve.

"Now," he said, turning to scan the near barren state of the first floor, and seeing that the only furniture in the house was a table in the kitchen and two pine chairs. It wasn't going to take a whole lot to make the house livable, just a few rudiments and a stackable washing machine, but he was also wanting it to be somewhere someone could be moderately comfortable. "Where to begin?"

He walked out of the kitchen and turned the corner to go downstairs, then walked into the private bathroom. He pulled open the tan wash-closet doors and nodded with approval. The construction crew, as they often do in new housing development, had left a small stash of cleaning supplies. It wasn't much at all, just a mop, bucket and broom, but it was enough.

"Ah yes," Naruto said to himself, "three less things I need to worry about buying."

He walked back up the steep flight of stairs, counting twenty-three between the basement and the first floor. That was one of the things that had sold him on the house, a deep basement where it would be cooler during the summer, and warmer during the winter which meant lower heating and cooling costs. Of course the real-estate agent had mentioned that during the tour but Naruto had already known about the benefits of using the ground as insulation.

Casually he reached the top, walked to the front door, and left the house. Naruto removed the key from his sleeve and locked the door securely, both of the deadbolts, and slipped the key back into its hiding place. It was now about six twenty, and the sun was beginning to descend in the sky. There was still plenty of light for Naruto to see that his street was nearly empty.

The blonde Ninja had purchased a house built right up against the eastern wall of the city, on a street of houses that were identical on both sides, producing a very uniform, very sterile appearance. On Naruto's side however, there was the reddish sand-colored wall to contrast the white walls of the houses. _A nice effect_, Naruto had thought as he was searching through the listed housing developments.

Naruto's sandals clacked a bit as he stepped down the sidewalk and onto the cobblestone road. This neighborhood, or lack thereof, had a very different feel than the one he had known during his earlier years at the academy. There were no children playing on the small lawns to watch longingly, and no parents standing about to feel threatened by. The only sound was a lawnmower being run off in the distance. It was a kind of quiet that made Naruto's lip twitch up at the corner.

He walked a decent pace down the street memorizing every minute detail about the area, until he reached the first intersection, paused, then kept walking farther. Really it was only an intersection because of a small side street running off to a dead end a little farther out into the city. He could see a few people now towards where the road widened to allow for increased traffic, and he swallowed. He had started at about twelfth street and had walked almost mindlessly as far as seventh, which was where the business sector of this part of town really began.

He was passing people now, men in business suits, women in dresses, children darting about randomly, and occasionally a parent chasing madly after one of those children. By the time Naruto reached the bakery, the area was already getting thick with people of every kind.

As a quick flash of movement overhead caught his eye, Naruto looked up just in time to see an ANBU scurrying along the top of the wall at top speed, running in the same direction Naruto was walking. He lead the ANBU to see where he was going but his eyes suddenly locked on a thin plume of smoke rising from an apartment complex. Only then did the Ninja notice that all of the people seemed to be walking away from that direction, making traffic seem far more congested than it actually was.

"Hmm, fire" Naruto said to himself nonchalantly, running thorough a list of jutsu in his mind. "Better see if anyone needs help," and with that he jumped towards a nearby balcony, and with one arm swung himself up onto the terrace. Another jump and a few flips in midair later he was up on the shallowly sloped rooftop of a four story building. From here he could see clearly that the smoking homes was about nine blocks away and the pillar of smoke was considerably larger than it had looked from the ground. Rather than smoke pouring from just one kitchen window it was being belched out of nearly every window and door on a whole side.

The blonde Ninja began to sprint off towards the fire, a slight sense of urgency pushing him now that he could see just how much damage was being done. As he leapt over the gaps between homes and buildings he closed the distance between himself and the fire to less than a block in less than two minutes.

Now it was plain that the city's own fire fighters were proving ineffective at combating the blaze. No matter how much water the two dozen men sprayed from the fire hydrants into the building the blaze kept burning. There was even a trio of ANBU combating the fire. The three figures in black were casting water jutsus in much the same way as the fire fighters but were having similar luck.

Naruto jumped down amidst the chaos of the quarantined city block, and immediately found the fire chief. He approached the large man in the yellow, fire retardant suit who was barking out orders to all of the lesser fire fighters.

"Anything a Ninja can do to help?" Naruto shouted over the blaze, wanting to get right to it.

The fire chief whirled around to see who had addressed him, and glared at Naruto. Obviously the burly man was not having a good day. His lips were split and bleeding from the 

intense dry heat, and his face had been darkened by the suit of the work. His dark eyes though were not angry, they were more pensive and focused.

"Not unless you can fix the goddamn gas main!" yelled the chief, pointing towards the building. "The bastard broke on us when we tried to shut off the natural gas! That wouldn't have been so bad if it had broken in the 'off' position, but it broke open!"

"And now the fire is acting like a pump, pulling the gas out of the line and fueling itself!" Naruto guessed.

"Exactly!" shouted the chief, "We're lucky it hasn't exploded yet, but there's no guarantee it won't! And until the main is shut down there's nothing we can do except try to contain this mess and hope the building doesn't collapse or blow up on us!"

The chief and Naruto both had to duck and shield themselves as a pillar of fire exploded out of one of the windows and roared by them like a freight train.

"Goddamn," growled the chief, recovering and shouting for one of the firemen to cover that window more thoroughly.

"Where's the gas main?" asked Naruto.

"In the fucking basement!" the chief yelled back. "The stairs are actually just on the other side of that window there!" the chief shifted to draw Naruto's attention to a large, broken out window not far from where the ANBU were working.

A pang of disgust rolled through Naruto. "Who the hell put it there, and why can't you just shut off the gas to this whole block?"

"Don't know who put it there," responded the chief, "but the reason I can't shut down the block is because the main in the basement is the main for the block! That's why the building is made of concrete!"

"Idiots," mumbled Naruto.

"Tell me about it!" yelled the chief as he finished shouting out another set of orders, "but I'll be honest. I ain't got shit in the way of an idea of what to do!"

"Think I might," said Naruto, as he ran over to where the three ANBU were working. The one in the bird mask was performing a water jutsu to whip up a good spray, while a second in a hare mask was conjuring up a cloud of dirt that he was throwing into the stream of water, creating a muddy flow that the third, the one in a bear mask who was not ten feet from the building was directing through the windows. It would have been a perfect method if not for the near unlimited fuel the fire had at its disposal, and even the thick river of mud wasn't enough to quell the blaze.

"**Hey**!" Naruto shouted to get their attention.

Bird looked towards him and cocked his head off to one side as if to ask what he wanted.

"I think I know what to do but I need your help!"

Bird stopped his jutsu, immediately drawing the other two to look on and see what was happening.

"What can we do?" asked the avian ANBU, pulling the mask and showing himself to be none other than Nara Shikamaru.

Naruto couldn't help but grin when he saw his old friend, but wasn't about to waste any time. "I need you three to do that mud jutsu again, but a lot bigger with a little less dirt. If you can get a huge flow of mud going and aim it towards that window," he pointed towards a large gap in the wall where a large pane of glass had once been, "then I think I might be able to get in and get to the main!"

"Good luck," said the bear, walking up beside Naruto and Shikamaru. His mask was charred black from proximity to the fire. "That place is a fucking inferno, at least eight hundred degrees and it would be hotter at the source. You'd fry before you took one step!"

Shikamaru looked between Naruto and the bear ANBU. "We could super-cool the water," he suggested to Naruto. "We weren't before just because we weren't going to be able to affect temperature enough to help the fire. But if we do lower the water to below zero, it might buy you another couple of seconds."

"Do it!" shouted Naruto, "I'm not worried about a minute or two in the fire!"

"You sure?" asked Shikamaru, "This is kinda off the cuff."

"Positive!" Naruto grinned.

"Okay… Man we seem meet under the most troublesome circumstances," Shikamaru mumbled as he ran through a quick progression of seals.

There was a quick rumble as a hole two feet across burst up from the ground and a jet of high pressure water just as thick sprayed off towards the broken window. Without missing a beat the ANBU with the hare mask whipped up a cloud of dirt and began flinging it into the water stream, creating a slurry of mud.

"Keep it freezing!" Shikamaru barked to the bear.

The Ninja in the charred mask charged up next to the window, where the flame was searing hot and ran through a lightning fast set of seals, then reached out for the stream of slurry as it rocketed towards him. The pillar of mud seemed to roll through the air like a thick ribbon, and twisted around the bear ANBU, gushing in through the window.

"Go!" Shikamaru yelled.

Instantly, Naruto leapt from his spot beside the avian ANBU and dove into the stream of mud, almost disappearing except for a lump in the frigid slush that the three ANBU watched fly easily through the window.

"Keep it coming!" yelled Shikamaru. "More dirt!" he yelled to the hare, followed by an order to the bear to keep cooling the water to sub freezing temperatures.

For the first ten or fifteen seconds, nothing changed. The fire chief, oblivious to what was going on with the Ninja was continuing to shout his demands to the fire fighters, and try to get the crowd gathering along the sidewalk to move back for their own safety. The firefighters were continuing to scurry about almost uselessly trying to contain the blaze.

_I wonder how long Naruto has been back_, Shikamaru wondered to himself. _It couldn't have been more than a day or two or I would've known about it. Man, on his first day back he's already risking life and limb… what a guy._

Shikamaru's musings were cut off by a loud hiss that seemed to be coming from somewhere within the building. The fire erupting from the flared out extremely high and hot for just a second before the tongues of flame started to recede and shrink. The firemen began to bustle about more excitedly as the fire shrank back. Some even cheered.

"Awesome," said Shikamaru as he saw the progress, "Keep it coming!"

The three ANBU stepped up their efforts and worked confidently, watching as the blaze kept shrinking back farther and farther, until like a candle blown about by a strong wind, it just went out all together.

Without wasting a second, Shikamaru ran to broken window and peered inside. There was surprisingly little smoke, but the room was still clouded with suit hanging in the air. Shikamaru could easily see though that there was literately nothing left in the room. All the furniture and anything aside from the concrete walls was utterly gone.

"Naruto!" the ANBU called out, "Naruto are you in there!?"

"I'm here, don't worry," called a voice in the gloom, followed by a loud cough.

"Are you alright?" Shikamaru asked, still unable to see the Ninja.

There was another cough followed by few footsteps as Naruto rounded a corner. He was absolutely filthy, covered from head to heel in both a thick caking of mud and on top of a layer of suit.

"I'll live," said the blonde as he ran a hand over his head, though his hair was so full of muck he looked like a solid brunette. He walked up to the window and Shikamaru helped him over the edge and out into the light. The ANBU didn't pay any attention to the faint red aura that faded from around Naruto as the Uzumaki Ninja came closer. "But getting to that main and sealing it off wasn't quite as easy as I thought."

"How did you manage to get in there anyway?"asked Shikamaru with a grin on his face.

"I used a jutsu I learned in the Earth Country to use that mud you made to make myself a protective coat, and walked down to the basement. From there I used another jutsu I picked up in Iwa (Hidden Rock Village) to mould the main into a closed position."

"Well I'm impressed," said Shikamaru as his two team mates arrived next to them. "As soon as we get you cleaned up drinks are on me."

"Wouldn't think about it," said Naruto coughing to clear his lungs out, "I wouldn't want to be a black mark on your budget and I've got a little shopping I need to get done." _And a shower to buy, _Naruto realized. He hadn't thought of that little item until now.

"My budget," Shikamaru said uninterestedly, "wouldn't mind a round of drinks. But then again, if you prefer to avoid alcohol I'd understand."

The ANBU in the blackened bear mask leaned forward and whispered something in Shikamaru's ear. Shikamaru nodded without saying a word and immediately the other two ANBU black ops disappeared in a blur of speed.

"You guessed it," said Naruto, ignoring the departure of the other two Ninja, "but it looks like the fire chief is headed our way… think we should get out of here?"

Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder at the big burly guy in the fire retardant suit who was making his way towards them. He looked jovial enough.

"He probably just wants to thank us for our help," said Shikamaru, "but I don't think he realizes just how intricate of a role we played."

Naruto shrugged but before he could say anything the fire chief caught up to them.

"Howdy gentlemen!" bellowed the chief, a huge grin on his face, "I think we owe you two and your friends a huge debt of gratitude. I saw you fly into the building and thought you were crazy, but whatever you did it worked and the fire department owes you big-time!"

"Don't worry about it," said Shikamaru.

"It's part of being a Ninja, helping to protect the village however we can," said Naruto.

"Well," began the chief, shifting his weight and crossing his arms, "I wish more of your little Ninja buddies had the same attitude. A lot of 'em like to think that they're too good to help out the little guys. But I'm not going to rave about that. Tell me what I can do to thank you. At least let me buy you dinner."

Both Ninja shook their heads. "I've already got plans, thanks," said Shikamaru, "but the simple gratitude is enough for me."

"Likewise," said Naruto, "we're just glad we could help."

The fire chief looked flabbergasted. "Well you two are something else," he said, "risking your lives to help out and asking for nothing in return."

"Part of the job," Naruto said with a little grin on his face.

"Well I feel bad just letting you go without reward after what you did, but if you're sure you don't at least want a medal or something…"

Both Ninja nodded respectfully.

"Okay then. I gotta get these guys going then," said the chief. He saluted them once, turned around, and began shouting at his men like a drill sergeant.

"What was that about?" asked Naruto once the chief was out of earshot.

"What?" Shikamaru asked.

"He seemed so thankful," said Naruto, "He was acting like he'd never gotten any help from a Ninja before."

"He probably hadn't." Shikamaru seemed disaffected.

"Why?" asked Naruto. "I thought it was standard procedure for Ninja to run around helping the city. I can remember when Kakashi-Sensei would lecture me for not picking up a bit of litter on the side of the road."

"Konoha's declined a bit since then I guess," said the ANBU with a shrug. "Anymore it's become the dominant Ninja attitude that it's the Ninja's job to defend the village from outsiders and let the little guy handle the little things."

Naruto crossed his arms. "That's not right," he said indignantly. "A Ninja's job is to do whatever he can for the village."

"Part of the times," said Shikamaru. "With war looming on the horizon everyone has been on edge these past few years."

"War?" Naruto said, "So there's more to the rumors than just lies?"

Shikamaru nodded, "I didn't tell you that though. ANBU aren't supposed to share knowledge they're privy to. But yes, every day looks a little more like war, and Naruto, its going to be a big one."

Naruto took a few steps towards the street where the firemen were packing up and almost ready to leave. The people of the village were still passing by the scene, minding their own business as Shikamaru kept pace with him.

"I had been hearing rumors that war could break out between Suna and Kiri, and that Sound might become involved at some point along the line, but I didn't think anyone really though it would come to it," Naruto said as the reached the street and turned East.

"Neither did I," said Shikamaru, "but then I was sent to spy on some of the smaller villages and they were all secretly getting ready for a fight. The Waterfall, the Rain, the Grass, they're all marshalling their forces."

"You know you don't have to tell me this," said Naruto.

"I think you have a right to know as a Ninja of Konoha," said the ANBU, "It's common knowledge among the Jounin anyway. Asuma and Kurenai have been fretting over it for months because they just got new squads of genin since Shino and Kiba made it to Chuunin in the a while ago."

"How is everybody doing, from the old teams?" asked Naruto.

"Pretty well," said Shikamaru, changing gears since it seemed Naruto didn't really want to discuss politics. "Kiba and Shino like I said made Chuunin recently and have started taking on some tougher missions together. Chouji and I are climbing our respective career ladders. I'm in charge of three of the thirty, three man squads that make up ANBU. Chouji was promoted up to colonel in the town guard, so he's officially a pretty big wig now. Though Sakura's probably the most successful of any of us now."

"Why would that be?" Naruto asked after a brief pause.

"You are a little behind the times," said Shikamaru as e and Naruto turned onto fifth street. "She's been Tsunade-Sama's personal aide and apprentice for going on three years now. She's rich, extremely well trained and rumor has it, single. Scratch that actually," the ANBU grinned, "Extremely wealthy, probably the best Kunoichi in Konoha excepting Tsunade, and very single."

"Is she just not interested in men?" asked Naruto.

"Not that I've ever seen. Granted, there have been dozens of people over the past few years who've tried to get an in with her, but she's sent them all away with their tails between their legs."

"So she's cold then," mused Naruto as he and Shikamaru neared what looked to be a market.

"Only if you try to date her," said Shikamaru. "Where are we going anyway? No offense, but you don't look quite ready to go out to dinner."

Naruto looked himself over. His black combat suit was still completely brown and flaking from the mud/dirt caking him. His hair was almost as bad as his suit, and he was leaving a train of dusty/muddy footsteps wherever he went.

"Ironically I was going to go house shopping," said Naruto. "And the items at the top of my list are a stackable washer and dryer, and a shower."

"Just bought a house?" asked Shikamaru.

"I've been the owner for about two hours," said the Ninja.

"Well congratulations," muttered the ANBU. "This is the place for you then, 5th street market. And I've never been much for shopping, so if you don't mind, I'm going to head off now. I need to file a report on the fire so I can get paid for the work."

"By all means," said Naruto, "I'm not going to be offended."

"Thanks, I'll make sure you get a top review in it," said Shikamaru turning around and walking off with one last wave over his shoulder.

"Now," said Naruto as he watched Shikamaru disappear into the crowd that filled the market, "where can I find a shower to deliver on demand?"

Naruto walked through the market which was laid out much like a bazaar from the east. There were shops lining the street where vendors shouted out the name of their merchandise and how it was such a wonderful product that everyone needed to buy. Spaced periodically between the street shops were traditional store buildings with glass fronts to proudly display the produce for sale.

As he went on, Naruto noticed more and more of the buildings and fewer of the street vendors with their stands. The store fronts were also displaying more practical goods such as furniture and clothes, so he figured he must be going in the right direction.

"Excuse me," said the Ninja, reaching out and tapping n elderly woman on the shoulder to get her attention.

The woman turned around and looked like she stifled a laugh when she saw Naruto and how dirty he was. "What can I do for you young man?" she asked good naturedly. "Need a Laundromat?"

"Close," said Naruto, "can you point me towards a store that sells bathroom fixtures like showers and tubs?"

The old woman laughed a little but composed herself quickly. "Right that way," she said with a smile. "Just take that side street down there; the one marked 'Lane' and it will lead you right past 'Super Plumbing Plus.' They're a good store."

"Thank you," said Naruto just before he jogged to get to the right side of the street.

The crowd was getting thicker now, perhaps because of the rush hour shoppers, and Naruto was finding it hard to move at any acceptable speed without bumping into or jostling some innocent bystander. It didn't help that the simple merchant stands were gone, replaced by a solid wall of store fronts to his right.

The blonde Ninja found it easiest if he kept to hugging the wall to his right since few people walked so close to the fronts of the buildings, and for a while it did make for faster going, or at least until Naruto came to within a few seconds of turning onto Lane. There the people were as thick as flies and it made it extremely hard to maneuver.

"Forget this," Naruto muttered as he muscled past a man in a business suit and forced his way around the blind corner. "I'll just have to-"

Naruto ran solidly into someone as he turned the corner. Both gasped at the sudden impact, and the one with whom Naruto connected muttered an expletive in a woman's voice as she hit the ground. Naruto was too caught off guard to make any kind of effort to catch himself, and a collection of various groceries spilled out over the sidewalk as the woman dropped the brown paper bag she'd had in one hand.

"Why don't you watch the hell where you're going!" shouted the woman angrily.

Naruto had fallen backwards onto his hands and hindquarters but managed to reach out and catch one red apple by reflex before it struck the ground. "Sorry, sorry," he said. "I was in a hurry and I'll pay for this."

"Damn straight you will," said the woman, standing up and dusting off her red dress. "I have half a mind to beat the living… Naruto?" she suddenly stuttered any anger in her voice gone as abruptly as it had come on.

The blonde looked up. The woman in front of him stood about an average height, wearing a form fitting red dress. Her distinctly pink hair was done up in a bun with shiny senbon throwing needles and there was nothing short of shock and surprise in her emerald eyes.

"Naruto is that really you?" she asked, her voice quavering.

"Sakura?" he asked in response.

* * *

AN: I really hope the fact that I cleaned this chapter up a bit makes up for its lateness. Sorry again. Review please! Also, be on the lookout for my newest fic sure to hit the site soon!


	33. Expedite

AN: So things are off and rolling now. And I even updated on time!

Anyway, Reviews for me please!

* * *

Expedite

Ten piercing shrieks rang out through the cold dark. There was a brief silence before the air split in the wake of another set of ten shrieks followed by the thud of something diamond hard striking a concrete wall. At one end of the nearly lightless room a metal plate almost six inches thick leaned haplessly against the wall, twenty finger sized holes punched clean through the cold iron. Lined up perfectly with each hole was a small white projectile imbedded in the wall.

Fifty yards away Kaguya Kimimaro flexed his hands but stood otherwise motionless. His breathing was impercievable under his perfect composure, until with no warning his eyes burst open. Before the frigid air could whirl around him he had spun fluidly whipping his arms in an invisibly fast arc. With a flick of his wrists Kimimaro pointed his hands toward the iron sheet and taken aim. As the air began to whine in response to Kimimaro's motions the Ninja had finished spinning in a perfect circle and ten more holes had appeared in the metal sheet.

It was another fraction of a second before the metal shrieked from the tears Kimimaro's attack had ripped in it, and almost a half second longer before the air slapped back together from being split by the finger bullets. Again, Kimimaro flexed his hands as the bones regenerated in his fingers.

"Faster than the speed of sound, Kimimaro-kun," said a voice like frozen oil as the door to the room creaked open and Orochimaru stepped in without the sound of a foot fall. "You've improved even in your illness. Before you struggled to even approach such velocity."

"And still too slow Orochimaru-Sama," said Kimimaro coolly as he turned around and got on one knee. "The bones fly faster than the eye can see, and I can spin faster than the speed of sound to propel the attack to supersonic speeds, but it still doesn't do enough damage to a single target."

Orochimaru grinned and put a hand on the Kaguya's shoulder and stood him on his feet. "And who do you think is capable of surviving such an attack? Surely none of the Ninja you're to confront."

"None of the Ninja I am to confront are our greatest enemies," said the white haired Nin.

"Kimimaru you shouldn't complain," said the Sanin, walking forward to examine the perforated plate of armor-grade metal. Kimimaru followed his master. "Thirty deadly shots; any one of the would be fatal to anyone less than Tsunade, Jiraiya … or a few other select individuals."

"The first two are the ones you've specifically forbidden me from engaging," commented Kimimaro. "Orochimaru-Sama, you yourself have said I would match a Kage on the open battlefield. You've said that strength for strength and skill against skill I'm above even Gaara of the Desert, so why not let me make full use of my talents in your service? Why not let me attack Naruto head on and remove him from our path? My life would be a small price to pay for his."

"Wrong," said Orochimaru flatly, turning around. "Activate the seal to level two as fast as you can."

Without a second thought, Kimimaro leapt off his feet and flipped backwards in the air. His form went black as pitch as a seal rocketed over his skin. By the time he landed on his feet less than a second later a tail had sprouted from his lower back and his skin had turned a quiet purple.

"Reduce the sheet of iron to a hundred and fifty different pieces," ordered the Sanin casually.

Immediately Kimimaro charged forward faster than any normal human's eye would be able to register, as bones like the blades of swords erupted from his forearms and wrists. He twirled through the air like a dervish and landed next to the plate of iron, and spun around once more though this time he was an invisible roar of wind.

As the wind caught up to him, Kimimaro stepped back and the sheet fell apart along dozens of perfectly clean seams and dropped to ground like an emptied out coin purse. The white-haired Ninja glanced at Orochimaru and waited for his next order. None came for a long minute as the Sanin studied his servant. The seconds ticked by but Kimimaro didn't let the bones recede back into his body. Instead he lengthened them subtly in case he needed to perform some other task to impress Orochimaru.

"I could pit you against any of our greatest enemies," said the Sanin smiling wickedly, "Tsunade, Naruto, or even perhaps Jiraiya and rightly expect that they would not survive the encounter, however, neither would you and at this point your life is more valuable to our cause than their deaths. You have much more potential while alive than dead."

"But someday it may be desperate enough that I'm required to commit such an act," said Kimimaro, "and should that day arrive, I'll welcome it."

"Why so gruesome?" asked the Sanin turning around to face the Nin. "You should be dwelling on how best to use your life rather than how best to die. Just remember that you can best serve me alive."

Kimimaro winced, chastised. "I'll remember that Orochimaru-Sama."

"Good, now come with me. I would like you to be present at a very special summoning in case something should go wrong. I don't expect things will get out of hand but on the off chance it would be nice to have someone reliable there."

"What are we doing?" asked Kimimaro respectfully as the bones receded into his body. He left the seal active at level two though. "What kind of summoning?"

"You'll see," said Orochimaru in a tone like how one would expect a snake to sound if snakes could speak. "But I think you'll be impressed with how clever I'm being."

Kimimaro nodded as he and the Sanin exited the room and the door closed behind them. The two Ninja walked down the featureless and dimly lit concrete hall. Their breath looked as visible as an extension of their bodies from the cold until the air abruptly warmed as they turned a bend in the passage.

The Kaguya recoiled at the sudden spike in heat. For years he'd been used to temperatures below freezing at the warmest.

"This isn't too much for your constitution is it Kimimaro-kun?" asked Orochimaru. "It was after all only yesterday that Kabuto told me you'd need a week to fully recover and I don't want to put you at risk."

"I'm fine," said Kimimaro, straightening himself up. "Just caught off guard a little."

"I knew you'd answer something like that," said the Sanin unaffectedly as they reached an abrupt end in the hall. There appeared to be no door in the wall. "Here we are now."

The Kaguya watched as Orochimaru waved his hand over the wall and a black seal in the shape of a gigantic fiery bird appeared all over the wall. A crease shot down the exact center of the rampant phoenix and two massive slabs of stone, each one weighing no less than two tons, slid back silently like a well oiled door.

From the new entrance a strange and faint green light emanated. In short pulses it would change from emerald green to a sickly purple, to some strange and darkly tinted turquoise. The light somehow seemed to pervade not only the air but everything from the concrete floor and ceiling to the sound of the Ninjas' breathing. It set Kimimaro, a seasoned veteran and ruthless warrior, on edge and nothing escaped the sense of anxiety it brought with it. Orochimaru noticed the miniscule change in the Kaguya's demeanor and saw how he lowered to an ever so slightly defensive pose. It made the Sanin grin.

"Smells like death doesn't it?" asked Orochimaru, almost giddily. "It's a wonderful thing."

"If you insist," said Kimimaro, his composure still mostly firmly in place. "What in the Hell is it?"

"Just that."

Kimimaro looked quizzically at the Sanin.

"I told you it was going to be a very special summon," said Orochimaru. "You're not backing out on me now are you?"

Kimimaru didn't answer but stood resolutely, determined to show no more fear.

"Go in," said the Sanin, "if you really want to serve me then walk in boldly."

Kimimaro didn't so much as grimace but took a long stride through the door and into the glowing hallway beyond. He strode down the narrow corridor with his shoulders back and his cloak open to expose his chest. Though under his purple skin, the bones were ready to leap to his defense at less than an instant's notice.

With every passing step the light grew a little brighter and the hall grew a little tighter. It wasn't ten strides before Kimimaro, who could sense Orochimaru on his heels, couldn't see anything at all, but sensed with clarity that the hall had ended and he was now in a relatively large room with a low ceiling.

"Give your eyes a moment to adjust," said Orochimaru as he stepped up next to Kimimaro in the silently pulsing light, "it should only take a couple of seconds."

Kimimaro waited but his eyes didn't want to acclimate to the seemingly extreme light. Though it was intensely bright, the light didn't hurt his eyes even if he looked directly into its source which was located in the far corner of the room. Despite his best efforts, Kimimaro couldn't maintain a stone face when he looked into that corner. There was something, some presence there and it made the usually unbreakable Ninja uneasy.

There were a few footsteps in the room and Kimimaro felt another presence approach. This one he immediately recognized as Uchiha Sasuke, Orochimaru's latest prodigy.

"You'd be amazed at how quickly it's progressing," said Sasuke. "What should take days is taking hours."

"Which is why I brought Kimimaro-kun" said the Sanin. "How far along is it?"

"I'd say about eighty percent. The summon should be nearly complete in just under an hour. Personally, I'm not sure I want to be here when it wakes up. The last I saw of this thing was an absolute monstrosity."

"You've seen it before?" interrupted Kimimaro, taking advantage of his seniority over Sasuke to get a word in, "what exactly is going on here?"

"We're trying again," said Orochimaru.

Kimimaro could practically hear the grin in his master's voice, but as he looked around the room he realized that his eyes were beginning to adjust. He could clearly see the outline of 

Sasuke's form. The Uchiha's Sharingan was watching Orochimaru who was rubbing his hands together in front of him.

"Trying what again?" asked the Kaguya, drawing the attention of the others to him. "Enough riddles."

Before anyone could answer him, Kimimaro felt a tremble run through the ground that silenced the room. No one spoke as a dull hum began to resonate from the light in the corner. Orochimaru positioned himself between Sasuke and Kimimaro and put his hands together in an unusual seal.

"Sasuke, this is where you come in," said Orochimaru as the humming grew louder.

Kimimaro glanced over at Sasuke and saw that he had activated his Mangekyou and was staring into the light. The Kaguya could feel an icy energy flowing from Sasuke's eyes into the light and he could almost taste the tension building in the humming air.

"The process is increasing at an exponential rate," said Sasuke calmly, "thirty seconds until advent."

"This is where the fun begins," said Orochimaru, glancing at Kimimaro with a grin. "Just sit back and enjoy the show. Nothing can stop it now."

"What's going on?" asked the Kaguya, "what are we summoning?"

"Twenty seconds," said Sasuke, an edge creeping into his voice.

Orochimaru shifted into a lower stance and began running through a complex series of seals Kimimaro had never seen before. Purple energy began to swirl around his hands and drape down to the floor like a curtain.

"Sasuke," said the Sanin, "make sure that when it arrives you quell its hunger as best you can until we make sure it's properly contained."

Sasuke nodded as the humming in the air began to roar like a hurricane. The ground was trembling now and the light from the corner of the room was as intense as the sun. There was no movement of the air, indeed the air felt heavy and stale but the roaring was growing louder and louder. Kimimaro saw that he Orochimaru and Sasuke had stepped forward and formed themselves into a loose column around the corner.

"Orochimaru-Sama," Kimimaro shouted over the bellowing filling the room, "What the hell is going on?"

Orochimaru grinned as he spoke calmly. "Three years ago Uzumaki Naruto, in a fit of rage, managed to draw on nearly half of the power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and kill a demon I'd unleashed on Konoha-"

"Ten seconds," interrupted Sasuke, hunkering down.

"Unfortunately the Hyuuga girl who was to house the demon lacked the physical constitution and conditioning to properly augment the demon's enormous, no, supreme might. I'm hoping the unique traits of this new vessel will perform better."

"The Hyuuga demon!?" shouted Kimimaro just as all hell broke loose.  
Before anyone could answer, the light exploded. Everything was silenced but Kimimaro felt his body impacted by a massive shockwave. If not for his unusual skeleton, he was sure, he would have shattered beneath the blow. As the invisible and inaudible wave of energy rolled by the boom caught up to it and Kimimaro's head nearly imploded under the massive pressure of the explosion of sound. It sounded not so much like an explosion, but an unearthly wail, high and piercing but at the same time low and rumbling. Everything was shaking, from the concrete floor to the walls, to Kimimaro's very bones. The Kaguya raised his hands up in front of his face as 

the light became too much to look into. It was wildly flashing green, lavender, and turquoise like a nova.

"Hold it stable!!" Orochimaru screamed at Sasuke.

"Orochimaru-Sama!" shouted Kimimaro.

And then it was over.

In an instant the noise, the shaking and tumbling, it was all gone. The room was utterly silent. Kimimaro ventured to lower his arms and glance towards his companions. He could see by a dim glow that Orochimaru was standing up straight, a purple glow flowing around him like a robe. Sasuke looked to be in a daze. His posture was high and inflexible, but his eyes looked empty and tired without the Mangekyou or even his normal Sharingan.

"Perfect," muttered the Sanin, staring at the corner of the room, "We couldn't have hoped for that to go any better. You did a good job Sasuke."

With the slightest disdain evident in his stance Sasuke nodded patronizingly. "My pleasure." The scorn was completely unveiled in his voice. Orochimaru ignored the blatant disrespect from his understudy but Kimimaro couldn't help a slight twitch in his lips to bear a particularly sharp set of teeth. He was not pleased with Sasuke's behavior.

"Don't even think about it Kaguya," said Sasuke, his face smeared with a wide grin.

"You didn't even have to read my mind," said Kimimaro, straightening himself up and turning to face Sasuke. His whole body would have been rigid with anger if not for his perfect self-control. "Watch your mouth you little mongrel pup. If not for Orochimaru-Sama I would have put you to sleep a long time ago."

Orochimaru grinned as the two squared off.

"Do you plan on picking a bone with me?" The raven haired boy laughed at his own bad joke as he cynically mocked Kimimaro. "You're to sickly to even serve your master properly."

Kimimaro's lip twitched up again but his composure held, despite the slight tremor that ran through his bones. The Kaguya glanced to Orochimaru, a silent question burning in his eyes. The Sanin chuckled a little but shook his head slightly from side to side. Kimimaro immediately took a step back: the dispute temporarily quelled.

"It doesn't matter anyway," said Sasuke tersely, crossing his arms. "You're the stronger for now but I'm too important for Orochimaru to let you have your way just yet."

"You shouldn't be so pretentious Sasuke-kun," said Orochimaru quickly but in a controlled voice. "You're not so important that I trust you to be the one to lead my armies in war. You should know that I handpicked Kimimaro even while he was still ill for that position, over you."

"You and your wars," interrupted Sasuke. "What does it matter to me?"

"It should mean the world to you that Orochimaru-Sama even considers you worthy to stand in his presence you little dung shoveling cockroach," growled Kimimaro "show the proper respect."

_Our little Sasuke-kun is still fighting that seal,_ mused Orochimaru casually to himself. _Even if he is incapable of disobedience, he still insists on disrespect. I wonder if his mind ever gets tired of the futile, albeit, constant resistance…_

"Children," Orochimaru said amusedly, "Enough of this bickering. Look at this," he pointed towards the corner of the room. "We came here for this, not to bicker like brats. Continue your feud later."

All eyes followed Orochimaru's gesture to where the blinding light had once been. Kimimaro saw that the glow in the room came from what looked to be a coffin laying up against 

one wall. It was carved with deep, dark runes and seals that took on the shape of some kind of bird rising into flight. Though, where the grain should have run there was not wood, but flecks of light, like stars embossed in ebony. At the head of the box there was a red seal in the form of a ring around a black field. The field was streaked with lines as red as blood that spelled out boldly, "Fear Here Abides."

"Is this… what it should be?" asked Kimimaro carefully.

"You know what's inside," said Orochimaru walking forward and laying a hand on the unsecured, but immovable lid of the coffin. "The Hyuuga demon is back in play… a pawn for a queen in the most literal sense."

"The Hyuuga demon needs a vessel," said Sasuke, "It can't exist on our plane without some kind of container and it would be useless to house it in a box. Who's the lucky human?"

"That's a surprise I won't spoil just yet," said the Sanin, tracing his fingers over the seals like an artist would admire a fine sculpture. "But we should leave this place now. All is secure but the chakra rolling off of this … magnificent specimen might overwhelm the both of you. Besides, Kimimaro, I'd like to show you the troops."

The Kaguya bowed low as the seal quickly receded into his body, leaving his skin nearly as pallid as the bones beneath. "As you wish Orochimaru-Sama."

"I'll be more than happy to take my leave then if I'm no longer useful," said Sasuke tersely.

"Oh one thing before you go," Orochimaru called after him as Sasuke walked quickly up the hall out of the room. "Since things are moving more quickly than the initial plan I'd like you to track down Kabuto, he's sure to be around here somewhere. Tell him to send the message to the Mizukage in Kiri. Let him know that in two days, time will be up."

"I'll do that," Sasuke said flippantly waving his hand as he left.

SC

Naruto scrambled to regain his balance, a lost cause due to his position on the ground on his backside, but nevertheless he managed to reach out and start scooping some of the scattered groceries.

"I'll pay for the damages," he reiterated quickly, "sorry, I should've been watching where I was going."

"Don't worry about it," Sakura answered just as fast, kneeling down and picking up some of the spilled produce that didn't look like it was beyond saving. "It's not a huge problem." Her voice was quaking just a bit.

Naruto got up on his knees and scanned the sidewalk in front of him, avoiding Sakura's eyes. The paper bag the Kunoichi had been carrying split open as soon as it hit the ground and dropped all of its contents. There were several juicy fruits and vegetables that had smashed themselves irreparably against the concrete walk, along with a gallon jug of milk that had split as quickly as the bag of groceries. All in all it was a superb mess that he'd made of things.

"… I was in a hurry," Sakura was saying. "But at any rate…"

Naruto realized that while he had been surveying the damages Sakura was saying something that he guessed was an apology since she wasn't cursing loudly. He looked up and tried to look sorry, but he had trouble mustering an apologetic face rather than a blank stare. Sakura was down on one knee staring at a smashed apple on the sidewalk and dithering on about something Naruto didn't quite catch.

_She doesn't seem like quite the ice queen Shikamaru mentioned her to be,_ thought Naruto as his stare wandered down her exposed shoulder and arm. _She's been working out like crazy,_ he noted when he saw just how defined she looked.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," he said, looking up to her. "Sorry, I was tallying up how much I owe you."

Sakura grinned awkwardly but didn't say anything. For a minute or two neither one spoke as they both tried to avoid the other's gaze. People kept walking by, not paying them much, if any, attention, as the two Ninja began to move and slowly get to their feet.

"So, …" Sakura stammered as she stood up and put one hand behind her head and looked away. "what do you say?"

"Uh, what?" Naruto asked, caught off guard again.

"You didn't listen to a damn thing I just said did you?" Sakura asked, her frustration flaring.

"Well," Naruto stammered, "I wasn't expecting to run into you like this. Do you think you can cut me a little slack?" His tone was meant to come across as funny, but Naruto judged by the grimace on Sakura's face that he'd only managed to be abrasive. "I'm still trying to get used to being back in a real village," he quickly added.

As Sakura quickly checked her temper she reached down and offered him a hand up. "I wondered if you'd want to get a late lunch and talk," she said smiling. "You've been gone a long time and it'd be nice to catch up."

Naruto grinned and took her hand, getting to his feet. "I'd like to, but," he said, looking down at himself and his mud-caked clothes. "I'm a little less than presentable. Actually I was just on my way to shop for some stuff to clean up with when we ran into each other."

Without stepping back Sakura gave Naruto a quick once over, just now realizing how covered in dried mud and grime he was. "Oh," she muttered, knowing that there wasn't a restaurant in town that would let Naruto in given his hygiene. "I wondered why you were a brunette," she added jokingly.

"Funny. Besides," Naruto said, "it's a little late for lunch isn't it?"

"Umm," the pink haired Kunoichi thought for a minute, "well we could have dinner at my place. Even with all of this," she gestured at the mess on the ground, "I've still got enough to serve something decent."

Naruto acted like he was going to say something but thought better of it and paused. For a few seconds he went back to examining the damages to Sakura's groceries. _This wasn't supposed to happen,_ he thought to himself, his attitude almost indifferent, but bordering on anxious. _I was hoping I could delay seeing her for at least several days, and not under circumstances anything like these._

"I wouldn't want to get your house dirty," said the blonde Ninja, "and all it would take is one step in and I guarantee that the place would never be clean again."

"Don't be silly," said Sakura tersely, obviously struggling to keep her temper in check. "I'm offering to let you clean up at my place so I already know things would get a little dirty. If I didn't expect it I wouldn't invite you over, and since you're walking around in public this filthy you must not have anything to clean up with at your house. Also you mentioned not having what you need to wash up meaning you've really got no convenient options other than me. I'm offering and you're accepting, now let's go."

"Wow," Naruto hesitated, surprised, but not bothered, by just how tactless Sakura had become. "When did you turn into Tsunade?"

"When I started studying under her three years ago," said the Kunoichi, crossing her arms.

"Oh," Naruto was again taken back. "We definitely have a lot to catch up on it seems."

"Looks that way," said Sakura, "so what do you say?"

"What can I say?" asked the blonde, shrugging his shoulders and trying to come across as playful, but again only managing abrasive.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "We'll stop by your house so you can pick up a change of clothes and I'll throw something together once we get to my house."

SC

Naruto had to admit, Sakura's well heated indoor plumbing beat his plan of bathing in the river. The accommodations weren't bad at all either. Sakura had moved out from her small childhood home and settled into some new development and was now living alone. Apparently she'd been busy garnering fair amounts of money while working under Tsunade as evidenced by her house.

The two-story home sat in one of the more quiet, but still properly populated, parts of town. It had a spacious living room, dining room, bathroom, two spare rooms (one of which had been converted into a study with a massive bookshelf on every wall), and a kitchen on the first floor, while the second story consisted mostly of a master bedroom suite, an office, and a pair of rooms Sakura was currently using for storage.

The pink haired Kunoichi hadn't exactly given Naruto a tour, rather leading him through the house quickly to minimize the mess he was tracking about, but many of the doors in the place had been open and Naruto had instinctively taken mental notes on everything around him. Three years training under Jiraiya hadn't left him with nothing after all.

Naruto stood in the large shower of the master suite on the second story. He'd not seen the whole house, Sakura had taken him straight up to the bathroom to minimize the amount of dirt he'd track, but as he soaked in the hot water it dawned on him just how tidy everything he had seen was. The house, even the high-traffic areas like the kitchen and living room, were absolutely pristine before he'd arrived.

_It must be driving her insane that I'm in here making a mess of everything,_ Naruto thought, _but at least she hid it well._

The blonde continued to rinse off, scraping the bits of hardened muck from his skin and vigorously running his fingers through his hair and over his scalp to remove any unsightly residue. Even with the aid of the steaming water and a large bar of soap, it still took nearly twenty minutes for the Ninja to completely rid himself of the mud and grime.

He reached out and turned off the water, but stood there in the middle of the shower for a minute as the fountainhead over him continued to trickle and drip. His blue eyes were clear as he looked up through the smoky glass of the shower door, though he still hadn't moved to get out.

"It's been almost two years since I had a real shower," he mumbled. "And god it beats cold lakes and rivers. I don't care what Jiraiya says about refreshing… But even so, this could take a lot of getting used to… even once I get my own place up and ready."

Naruto slid the door open and stepped out into the big bathroom, grabbing a towel off of the rack and throwing it over his head. He began to rub it through his hair and then over his muscled frame, drying himself off. He then through the towel around his waist and stepped up to the vanity and mirror. His amber sword and sheathe and one of the ANBU combat suits Kakashi had given him before Naruto left Konoha with Jiraiya sat neatly folded next to the sink.

"Maybe not quite appropriate for a formal dinner," said the Ninja, picking up the outfit and holding up the shirt section to examine, "but it should do for something casual."

His eye caught his reflection in the mirror and he began to look himself over, or more accurately, stare grudgingly at the scar that slithered down his left arm. The twisted knot of skin was one of only two mementos that any fight had ever left on his body, and ironically enough, it was from a weapon that had once been his. The Ninja glanced at the golden sword laying longwise across the vanity and grimaced, wondering what exactly had become of its partner.

Naruto moved his arm just enough for the muscle beneath the mark to shift as he refocused his attention on himself. He didn't know why it refused to heal properly though he guessed it had something to do with either the properties of sword that had slashed him open, or the chakra of the one who wielded said sword. As he relaxed his arm his eyes traveled to his chest where the second of his two marks resided; a blotchy and colorless patch of skin in the shape of a long scratch directly over his heart. It was, again, a token of his fight with Sasuke that even Tsunade had been unable to remove.

With a grunt Naruto shook his head and pulled on his pants, then through his long sleeved shirt over his head and pulled it down, concealing both of the unsightly scars. At first he'd worn them almost proudly, like he heard war veterans do with their battle scars, but as time went by, he'd grown to dislike how obvious they were whenever he bathed, and eventually, to hate them: little reminders of treachery and failure.

"Oh well," he muttered under his breath, putting it all out of his mind and fastening the sewn in belt on his pants. "It's not like there's anything that can be done about it now anyway."

Looking back into the mirror once he was dressed Naruto made sure he looked as presentable as he could in a suit made for combat, then opened the bathroom door and walked into the master bedroom. He couldn't help but admire the décor. It was very simple, but not quite minimalist. There was a comfortable looking bed setting on dull burgundy carpet, a cherry-stained nightstand, and a simple picture of cherry blossom trees on an otherwise unadorned white wall. The dresser was small, about waist high and sat in a corner next to the bed.

Wondering exactly how long dinner was going to last, Naruto strolled through the room and exited into the plain white hall. He reached the end and the stairs in a few of his unusually long strides. Instinctively he counted each step as he went, there were twelve, down into the living room.

"Almost done," he heard Sakura say from what he guessed was the door to the kitchen. "Give me about five minutes."

Naruto glanced from his place at the bottom of the stairs into the dining room; probably the most expensively furnished room in the house with a table that looked like it could easily seat four maybe five people, and an upholstered chair at each of table's corners. The walls were painted a quiet tan hue that matched the Berber carpet nicely. Also there was a small bookcase against one of the walls. Why there was a bookcase in a dining room he wasn't sure.

"Which chair do you want me in?" Naruto asked loudly enough for her to hear from the kitchen, trying to make small talk more than find out what she really thought.

"You can sit anywhere you want," Sakura called back. "Or you could wait in the living room if you like."

"Thanks," said Naruto, pulling out one of the chairs by the table and sitting down. The seat was more comfortable than he'd expected, though it didn't really ease the tension of having to wait on dinner in a strange house with nothing to do but sit, so he began looking around. He 

turned behind himself and immediately saw the bookcase. Deciding there was no harm in a simple investigation, began scanning over the titles it held.

_The Histories of Ancient Combat, A Complete Reckoning of Ninja Tactics, Weapons and their Given Uses, The Effects of Genjutsu, A History of Ninjutsu, Senbon Needles and How to Use Them, _Naruto began mentally listing off the books stacked on the shelf. The vast majority of the forty or so of them dealt with either combat, or the history of combat, though there were a few who's titles hinted at their being about Ninja techniques.

_Aren't single girls supposed to keep trashy romance novels around the house? _Naruto wondered, _Or is that just Kakashi…_

He continued scanning the books for another few seconds, just making a point to remember the titles, and not really taking interest in any of them until his eyes reached the bottom shelf.

"Maibu and a Summation of Konoha's Involvement," Naruto mumbled the title of the last book on the bottom shelf, strangely curious now. "You look ancient."

He leaned back in his chair and reached out, picking up the red-leather bound volume. The materials of the book crackled with age in his hand, but he gently set it down on the table and opened it up to the first page. He figured Sakura wouldn't mind. She was after all running a little behind but he didn't mind.

"It's been thirty years now since the First Hokage and Uchiha Madera, the last soldiers of the long gone village of Maibu, dueled in the Valley of the End, the edge of the Fire Country's territory" Naruto read quietly to himself surprised by the mention of Maibu, the original home of the amber sword slung across his back. He read on, "and since then no one knows what has become of the missing head of the once mighty Uchiha Clan one can assume his demise. Some say he faded into oblivion, while some think he still operates out of the shadows to this day. Still some assume he died of the grievous wounds the First Hokage inflicted on him, but the fate of Uchiha Madera is likely never to be known.

"What can be conclusively stated now though is that with the Death of the First Hokage, and the disappearance of Uchiha Madera, the last remnants of Maibu are gone, and thus, the last legacy of Konoha's past are left to the historians now. (True, there are rumors that the Namikaze Clan is descended from the Lords of that village, but this can be neither proven nor disproven.) I say this not to discourage those who know of the greatness of the village of Maibu, but rather to point out that a new age has begun, and that the Leaf Ninja, the descendants of that Village, have a legacy that for the sake of the known world, they must live up to.

"For you see, I'm writing to tell you, dear reader, that when you study the ancient past you will undoubtedly be struck by the reality that hundreds of years ago, the world was a far less mild place. Great Ninja-like warriors, hundreds of times as powerful as any Kage today, battled demon invasions from the most monstrous fortresses of Hell. Such battles literately tore the land apart and left utter desolation in their wakes. It was in this world, plagued by horrible monstrosities, that arose the first nation of -"

"Naruto?"

The blonde Ninja started, and set the book down on the table. Looking up he saw that it was Sakura who had broken him out of his reading, and that she was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, holding a plate in either hand.

"Oh, sorry Sakura," Naruto said composing himself. "What did you say?"

"Did I scare you?" she asked, a playful smirk on her lips.

"Not really," he said, closing the volume and setting it aside on the table, "I was just reading one of your books. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," said the Kunoichi, walking forward and setting the plate, piled with sliced strips of steak, and seasoned rice in front of him along with a set of chopsticks and a napkin. "Which one of my little library of combat were you reading?"

"Uh, the one about Maibu and the First Hokage," Naruto said, "I didn't know if many other people knew about Maibu."

"Oh, that book," said Sakura, a slight bit of enthusiasm showing in her voice. "I suppose not many people do."

"Have you read it all?" asked Naruto.

"Cover to cover," said Sakura. She sat down opposite Naruto and placed her plate, identical to Naruto's in front of herself.

"What exactly was it about?" asked Naruto.

"Myths mostly," shrugged the Kunoichi. "The Second Hokage's youngest brother, an avid but … questionable historian, wrote it shortly after the Second came to power."

"Questionable historian?" probed Naruto, taking a bite of the steak and mulling on it for a second. "What do you mean by that? Delicious by the way."

"Glad you like it," said Sakura smiling. "I'll need to restock tomorrow, but as for the Second's brother, he makes a lot of allocations in there that we don't have any record of. He claims to have gotten them out of text's from the Uchiha he'd come across, but none of those documents have ever been found."

"Hmm," mumbled Naruto, "what kind of things does he say exactly?"

"He claims that a long time ago, like well before any of the villages today were formed, there were enormously powerful demons that could pass between our world and hell as easily as we walk out of a door, and that these demons hunted humans to the brink of extinction. Then some kind of super powered beings, the predecessors of what are Ninja today, came on the scene and drove them off. Then these warriors began forming villages, intermarrying with lesser people, you get the idea."

"Sounds interesting," Naruto said.

"Yeah, I liked it at least. Even if none of it turns out to be true, it still makes for an interesting story," said Sakura. "You can have the book if you want. I don't really need it."

Naruto finished another few bites of the steak before he glanced over at the red book and back at Sakura. "I wouldn't want to just take it from you," he said, "If it's as old as you hinted at it being then it's got to be valuable."

"Value is subjective," said Sakura with a shrug. "Besides, I understand how old it is and you're right, it is quite valuable. Still, if you want to read it you can have it."

"Maybe I'll borrow it from you," said Naruto grinning. He didn't want to come across as rude and refuse a potential gift, and he was interested in reading it, but at the same time he didn't want to just take something that he had no right to and no real need for.

"It's whatever you want to do," said Sakura. "You might be interested to know he goes on to talk about the Kyuubi no Kitsune."

"Really?" Naruto said hesitantly. "I'll bite. What exactly did he say?"

"I won't spoil it for you," said Sakura, "but I will say that according to the book, no one in Konoha properly understands Bijou and especially the Kyuubi."

"Now I'll have to read it," said Naruto, throwing up a fake but almost believable smile.

"Yeah," Sakura mumbled, looking down and taking another few bites of the sliced up steak.

Without saying anything else the blonde Ninja finished the last bit of his rice and began to set into the steak in earnest. After a few bites he realized that Sakura hadn't actually said anything which lead him to notice that neither had he and that the two of them had slipped into an un-awkward silence.

"This is absolutely delicious. And it really is good to be back in Konoha," Naruto said.

"It's good to have you back," Sakura said grinning and looking up. "And I'm glad you like the food. I'll be honest, I've never been much to cook. It's so much easier to just throw something together."

"Do you know how long it's been since I had a real meal, like something more than a bowl of rice with river water to drink or some cheap gruel from a run-down inn?" asked Naruto.

The Kunoichi cocked her head off to one side quizzically.

"Almost two years," said Naruto with a sigh. "Not since Jiraiya and I left Suna. We always had to eat something incredibly quick on the go or we were too far from civilization to really sit down and enjoy things and it's nice to be able to do that now."

"I'd guess you also denied yourself some of the luxuries while you were out," Sakura interjected. "You've never been the kind to wildly indulge anyway."

"True," said Naruto hesitantly. "I did make a habit of putting the job above anything else, but even so. You see what I'm saying."

Sakura nodded. "You're glad to be back, and it's good to have you back."

Naruto nodded. "How were things while I was gone?" he asked.

With a shrug, Sakura sat back from her half finished plate. "A lot's changed, and not necessarily for the better. I'm sure you've heard that Suna and Konoha are essentially staunch allies?"

"Yeah," acknowledged Naruto, "I was in when the alliance was finalized. It was good news."

"It's about the only good news." Sakura shook her head and crossed her arms. "But all that's really changed around here's the politics. Do we really have to talk about politics?"

"We can talk about whatever you want," Naruto said with a smile though he regretted the words as soon as they'd left his lips.

"Well what about you?" Sakura asked.

"What about me?" Naruto responded.

"Can we talk about you?"

"Only if you like being bored," Naruto said, finishing up the last bit of rice on his plate. "Nothing fascinating about me to discuss really."

"Of course," said Sakura smiling. "A hero goes off to train with a legendary Ninja for three years. They go all over the continent and have all kinds of untold adventures. You're right; nothing interesting there at all."

"Well what about you?" asked Naruto amiably. "You've been studying under Tsunade you said. There have got to be some interesting stories there."

"Not really," said Sakura. "But I'll make you a deal."

"What is it?" asked the blonde Ninja.

"I'll tell you about my time with Tsunade, or at least the synopsis of it, if you'll give me the condensed version of what you did with Jiraiya. Tell me some of what happened out there. What's the world outside of Konoha's territory like? What are the other villages like?"

"Well," said Naruto, giving in, "Konoha's definitely one of the more civilized Ninja Villages. Don't get me wrong, Suna is all right if you like laws regulating everything there is to regulate about water, and the Cloud is fine you don't mind brutal police forces, but Konoha's by far the easiest place to live." Naruto sat back and chuckled as much to himself as anything as he recalled something.

"You should have seen how the Sand Guards in a village outside of Suna reacted," said the blonde Ninja grinning, "when they walked into Jiraiya's little rented house and found him in a home-made hot tub with two of the Mayor's daughters on either side of him."

"Two of the Mayor's daughters?" Sakura noted, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto nodded, still chuckling, "and when they found his third daughter on the couch in the living room, passed out with a bottle of sake beside her, I thought they were going to try and kill the old pervert."

"Did Jiraiya often have girls over to where the two of you were staying?" asked the Kunoichi.

"More often than not," said the blonde. "He was always, and I mean always, trying to pick up some girl a third his age. Most turned him down with a slap, and while he actually liked that part, he would still manage to find a few in every village who like to party. Though sometimes I think he cheated and used some kind of mind trick."

"And were you at any of his parties?" asked Sakura.

"Normally I was out around the village. Remember we weren't often in towns or cities and when we were I tried to stay about and learn as much as I could."

"So you didn't hang around the wild scene and get drunk and fraternize with the teenage and twenty something's your teacher had brought home?" Sakura asked with all the tack of a war hammer.

"Absolutely not," Naruto answered calmly. "First of all I don't drink anything even mildly intoxicating, and secondly most of the time I got back to wherever we were staying and all the 'guests' were already passed out on the floor and Jiraiya was scribbling away in a book with his 'information.'"

"Good," said Sakura, her temper showing in a slight rosiness in her cheeks.

"Why do you ask?" Naruto inquired.

"Just wanted to know."

"Fine," said Naruto, "Now I've kept my end of the deal and told you a story, now why don't you tell me something about what happened here while I was gone?"

"The deal was for you to tell me all about what happened while you were gone," said Sakura with a smirk.

"Right," said Naruto, glancing out the window. "Well, it's kind of a long story."

"I've got time," said Sakura, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table.

"If I tell you the whole story," said Naruto, "Then you have to promise me that at some point you'll tell me about your apprenticeship under Tsunade."

"Deal," said Sakura.

"Good," said the blonde with a grin. "Where do you want me to start?"

* * *

AN: Another chapter done. I already went back over these for mistakes, but please let me know if I missed anything, and you all know I keep an open door policy so if there are any questions you've got, let me have 'em.

Please Review! There's no reason not to so do it dammit! (lol)

Oh, and as most of you know, I'm posting on a schedule to keep a little ahead of demand while I work on not only the trilogy, but also a set of entirely new sagas and one-shots. Just as a progress report, the chapter I most recently finished in SD was entitled "What Can Conquer Death" and marked the point exactly 2/3 of the way through the story. I just thought that was kind of cool.

Peace!


	34. Spearhead

AN: Hmmm. Nothing to say here except review please! Or I'll stop writing haha! (j/k) Enjoy!

* * *

Spearhead

"After we left Suna Jiraiya and I began to head North. We didn't know exactly where we were going, but we knew that eventually we'd run across some trail of Orochimaru's," Naruto said, leaning back a bit on the comfortable couch. "For a while we meandered around the Wind's villages just living day to day life like a couple of vagabonds."

Sakura turned around and sat down next to Naruto on the couch, inwardly delighted that her guest had gone for the idea of moving to the living room to talk and catch up. It was easily the most relaxed room in the house, with a trio of chairs circled around a coffee table, and the couch against the eastern wall, facing the big window on the western wall.

The girl made a point not to sit too close to Naruto, not wanting to make him feel at all uncomfortable, but at the same time, after she'd sat down Sakura subtly shifted just a little closer. Naruto didn't seem to either notice or take offense to that as he simply went on with his narrative.

"The whole time Jiraiya was teaching me all kinds of techniques. Most of it was offensive Ninjutsu, you know like moves to really take the fight to the enemy and end it quickly. But there were times when he would totally shift gears and train me in how to use some pretty advanced Genjutsu too."

"Like what?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well there's this one where I create an illusion that it's foggy and there's a lot of mist. And while that's going on I'm actually casting a mist jutsu and combining it with a technique that creates wind," said Naruto. "The result is that the real mist starts whipping around in the wind while the fake mist is just kinda floating around."

"And…" Sakura stammered, confused, "what good does that do?"

Naruto grinned just a little as he took a sip from the glass of water Sakura had brought him a few minutes before. "It's hard to explain what it looks like," said the blonde, "but when Jiraiya demonstrated it to me, it was very strange… The 'layered Genjutsu' as he called it is incredibly disorienting."

"I'll have to take your word on that," said Sakura with a shrug.

"And that was one of the more simple ones," Naruto continued. "Jiraiya knows illusions that are five and six layers thick. Granted he can't perform them well but he knows the concepts and theories. At any rate, after we'd been wandering about a month we ran across a lead on a Sound spy running around in the Earth Country, so we headed off in that direction. We got lucky and found one of the Earth's Ninja in a bar, who had recently been tracking the spy we were after. Fortunately the Nin thought we were just harmless travelers, and as he was drunk at the time so he didn't hesitate to divulge some of the secrets of his operation when Jiraiya had me test out one of the new Genjutsu on our friend.

"Long story short we picked up the chase and soon caught up to the spy. For the sake of inter-village relations though Jiraiya said we had to wait until he actually did something illegal before we could take him down and question him."

"So you sat around and spied on a spy?" Sakura asked, sounding a little irritated.

"Basically yeah," shrugged Naruto.

"Sounds frustrating."

"It was," said Naruto, "but as seemed to happen a lot, Jiraiya and I got lucky again. After we'd been watching him for a few days, a mercenary Ninja attacked the spy and took him out in a flash."

"Why?" asked the Kunoichi, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm getting there," said Naruto with a grin. "That's exactly what Jiraiya and I wanted to know when we revealed ourselves and asked the mercenary what his business was. At first he hesitated to tell us anything, especially after the old pervert mentioned that we were actually Leaf Nin, but as soon as I mentioned that we were on the trail of one of Orochimaru's servants he instantly warmed up to us."

Sakura sat back and crossed her arms, staring intently at Naruto. "Okay," she probed, "Why did he like hearing that?"

"Turns out that he was an affiliate of the Crane Organization, an elite group of Ninja mercenaries that work in secret for the highest bidder, and let me tell you, they don't work cheap."

"I've never heard of them," said Sakura. "What did they have against Orochimaru?"

"Nothing personal as far I know," Naruto shrugged. "They work for money, not personal convictions or vendettas. Someone, apparently someone obscenely rich, hired the Organization to track down, question, and eliminate Sound Ninja."

"And what did the three of you do with this particular sound Nin?"

"We persuaded him to tell us what he'd been doing in the Earth Country, who he was spying on, and things like that. It was nothing worth pursuing. The Mercenary did most of the work, and after it was all said and done he invited Jiraiya and I to follow him to his superior officer for a 'chat' as he put it."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Really…"

"We decided there was no harm in following him, and traveled to the nearby village of Kedahiaz, the Crane's base of operation in Earth. Now the Crane Organization makes no secret of their work if someone asks them a direct question, but they do make an effort to ensure that no one knows enough about them to ask a direct question," said Naruto. "They're a relatively quiet bunch but when we arrived in Kedahiaz the Mercenary we'd met earlier, by now he'd said his name was Indo, took us to meet his boss of sorts, the head of the Crane in Earth."

"Just like that?" asked Sakura, "seems sudden. I thought you said they were a secretive group of people."

"I did, and they normally are, but according to the boss, our reputation as elite Ninja who had a bone to pick with Orochimaru had preceded us. The chief offered us a position within the Crane then and there."

"Were they desperate for personnel?"

"No," answered Naruto casually, "as it turns out the Crane had actually been carefully following Jiraiya and I since Suna as potential recruits, or so the chief told us. He said that as soon as we entered the Earth Country his spies had spotted us and immediately identified Jiraiya. Whether or not the chief was being honest I don't know, but regardless, he somehow knew that the old pervert was at odds with Orochimaru, and that was enough for him to want to hire us.

"Like I mentioned, the Crane had been hired to attack Orochimaru's network of spies and Ninja, and since that was one of our goals anyway we joined up with them."

Sakura leaned back and crossed her arms. "You hired yourself out as a mercenary…" she said, a hint of distaste in her mouth.

"Yep," said the blonde disaffectedly. "It was mostly for political reasons. As Ninja of Konoha, if we openly attacked Orochimaru's Ninja it could start a war. As members of the Crane Organization, a group of mercenaries, granted an international and very organized group of mercenaries, but hired blades none the less, no one could tie our actions back to Konoha with the current international laws. Everything we did while under the umbrella of the Organization was technically for the Organization alone. Mercenaries are considered rogue unless they've been hired by a recognized country. Otherwise they're 'terrorists,' and the Crane assured us that their client wasn't a recognized country." Naruto's voice trailed off just a bit at the end of his speech, looking out the window like he was trying to recall something.

Sakura grinned just a little. "So Jiraiya found a loophole thanks to vague international laws," she commented. "Nice move."

"Actually," said Naruto, "I was the one who found the obscurity in the books."

For just a moment the Kunoichi sat on the couch and looked at Naruto dumbly. "You've studied international law?" she asked. "I had no idea you were interested in that kind of thing. When did you have time? After all, there are literately hundreds of volumes of it."

"Really I could care less, and I didn't read all of it of course, just enough," said Naruto. "I thought it might come in handy to know at some point. It looks like I was right." He smirked just a little.

"And this was all within a month of leaving Konoha?" Sakura asked, still surprised.  
When did you find the time to … I mean weren't you busy training or something?"

"It was something to do just randomly when I got the chance… like when Jiraiya had a bunch of adolescent girls over. I did it in small increments" Naruto responded, taking another sip of water. "Along with studying few other mind numbingly boring subjects."

Sakura didn't answer and Naruto began to wonder if he'd offended her somehow. "I'm sorry," he said, "did I say something wrong?"

"Not at all," Sakura stammered, "You just never seemed the type really make yourself study rather than have fun. Don't get me wrong, I mean that in the best way, but even so. You always hated to read in the academy."

"Actually I loved to read," said Naruto, keeping a grin off his face. "I was really quite the history addict. Iruka and I would always discuss some old text or history book when he took me out for ramen or when none of the other students were around."

"I never knew that," said the Kunoichi, feeling herself blush with embarrassment.

"You never asked," said Naruto. "But then again neither did most other people so it's no big deal."

"It's interesting," said the Kunoichi.

"Not really," said Naruto, either not noticing or not caring as Sakura scooted in a little closer.

"I think it is," she said in a slightly lower tone.

"You're strange," said Naruto, bearing a grin.

Sakura shrugged. She didn't answer, but decided that it wasn't worth getting angry about having just been insulted. Granted, she'd just accidentally insulted Naruto, but it wasn't the same. Nevertheless, she didn't answer but rather just watched him for a moment, wondering what he was thinking.

Naruto shifted on the couch but didn't move any farther away or closer to the Kunoichi. "Should I go on?"

_Why does she keep scooting closer? _Naruto wondered. _Please don't tell me she means this to be a romantic encounter… How awkward._

"You can if you want," said Sakura, her eyes locked on Naruto either on purpose or by instinct.

_Enough,_ Naruto thought as Sakura leaned just a little bit closer to him.

"What do you want?" he asked in response, his voice sudden but controlled, and uncharacteristically smooth. It made her blush.

The Kunoichi couldn't decide whether the grin that flitted across Naruto's lips was sultry or innocent, but the sudden break in pace made her sit back up straight. Before she could answer though, Sakura was interrupted by a loud knock on her front door. She turned to Naruto and looked at him before glancing back to the door again.

"Should I just pretend we're not here and hope they go away?" asked Sakura as whoever it was knocked again.

"You should probably answer it," said the blonde flatly.

_This has the potential to go south quickly,_ Naruto mentally kicked himself but didn't show anything outwardly._ It's too early to even guess at anything, but has she been trying to win me over romantically this whole time? Probably not… But if that does turn out to be the case that would be bothersome…_

"Fine," said the Kunoichi, a little disappointed as she got to her feet and crossed the living room.

"Miss Haruno, are you in there?" asked a voice nervously, just as Sakura pulled the door open in an unnecessarily quick motion.

"Oh," blurted a nervous looking teenage boy, probably around thirteen or fourteen years old, standing in Sakura's door. He was about a foot shorter than Naruto and about even with the Kunoichi. "I didn't realize you had company," he said, glancing warily at Naruto, not sure what to make of the dangerous looking stranger.

"Let's have it," said Sakura levelly. "What is it Armura?"

Naruto glanced between the new comer and Sakura, wondering if he should say anything or just sit quietly and observe. There was obviously no real threat from the boy, but three years of training don't just fade overnight. Judging from the look of fear in Armura's eyes, Naruto guessed the boy was actually afraid of him.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," said Armura, scratching his brown hair. "But Tsunade requested you. She said it was of the utmost importance and if you weren't there in twenty minutes there… there was going to be hell to pay. Those were her words not mine," Armura stuttered to clarify quickly.

"Thank you," said Sakura curtly, as she stepped back and closed the door in the boy's face with a loud slam.

Memories of how Shikamaru described Sakura suddenly sprung into Naruto's mind as he watched her interaction, if one could really even call it that, with the page, and the shift in her now stiff posture as she walked back to the couch and picked up Naruto's glass of water while he watched passively.

"Care to join me?" asked Sakura over her shoulder.

"I suppose I could," said Naruto as Sakura disappeared into the kitchen. _After all I'd rather not inflame one so prone to mood swings._

"Good," said the Kunoichi as she set the solitary glass down in the kitchen sink. "I was hoping you'd say that."

SC

Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Gai, and several other Jounin along with no less than ten ANBU, including Shikamaru were all gathered in the Hokage's office by the time Sakura and Naruto arrived. Most of the Jounin were standing with Tsunade around her desk, and the ANBU had stationed themselves around the less than massive room, making the office seem even more crowded. Also, Naruto noticed immediately, Chouji and two other Ninja in Town Guard Uniforms were there, standing off behind Tsunade.

Everyone seemed to cast long shadows in the unusually dimly lit room as the whole gathering turned to face the new arrivals. Shikamaru and Chouji nodded to Naruto. Both looked glad to see him, though Chouji also looked pleasantly surprised.

_Apparently_, Naruto thought, _Chouji hadn't figured out I was back, and seeing as how he must've known Jiraiya was here he didn't know the two of us left together. I wonder how quiet Tsunade kept our mission…_

Kakashi also looked over from his place beside the Hokage's desk and acknowledged Naruto with a covert smile under his mask. The Copy Nin didn't look quite right though. There was some type of anxiety on his face that Naruto had never seen there before, but he couldn't place it. The whole room he noticed seemed painted with that same unease.

There was a very low, dull hum as the room buzzed with several different hushed conversations. A few of the ANBU were speaking with the Jounin who weren't gathered around Tsunade. Chouji was speaking with the other guards, and Kakashi looked to be having a very delicate conversation with Jiraiya. Strangely enough, Gai was the only one among those gathered that stood silently by himself.

Tsunade looked up from a large spread of papers and what looked to be a map on her desk, and glanced between Naruto and Sakura for a moment. Looks from annoyance to gratitude flitted across her face, though it was more than obvious that there was something on her mind.

"Not that I'm not glad to have you back Naruto," the Hokage said with fake pleasure in her voice, "but you weren't invited. This is a meeting for all the elite Jounin and top members of the Special Tactics and Forces Unit."

"Jounin?" muttered Naruto, turning slightly to Sakura.

"You didn't ask," she whispered back, before she turned to address Tsunade. "It was my idea Hokage-Sama. I invited him along."

Tsunade looked sternly at Sakura for just a moment, then turned to Jiraiya who didn't return the gesture, but rather stared down coldly at the map on the desk. "He can be here though," said the Hokage. "Actually I should be glad you brought him along. This does partially concern him after all."

"How so?" asked Naruto, interrupting.

"We'll talk about that later," said Tsunade, cutting Sakura off before the pink haired Kunoichi could say anything, "but right now I need to have Sakura over here. Naruto, feel free to … entertain yourself. Just don't leave, I'll need a word with you in a few moments."

Naruto nodded with a slight bow of respect. Sakura did likewise and walked over to Tsunade's side. Instantly she was submerged in the quiet conversation taking place.

Seeing nothing better to do, as everyone else seemed busy, Naruto walked to a corner and set his back in it. He glanced around the room, hoping no one would pay attention to him, but not really caring that a few of the ANBU were stealing quick glances his way. He wondered if he was the subject of some debate of theirs.

"Good to have you back," a very smooth but hushed voice said from right beside Naruto.

"Good to be back, Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto, not so much as flinching. "I get the feeling something's wrong, seeing as how everyone is on edge and whispering. What's going on or is it any of my business?"

"Oh it's most definitely your business," said Kakashi quietly, not looking away from the Hokage's crowded group. "And if it's not now it will be in the very near future. As for everyone being on edge, you might be to if you were in our position."

"And just what is OUR position?" asked Naruto. "Trouble with Sound?"

Kakashi turned and looked around the room at all of the solemn faces. "If it were just that simple no one would be this grim. No, Orochimaru isn't helping the situation at all, but the real issue is with the Water, the Lightning, and the Wind Countries."

"War?" asked Naruto bluntly.

"That's a distinct possibility," muttered the Copy Nin.

"I knew there were rumors of war going around like wildfire and I heard relations were bad between Water and Wind. I also heard and that Sound would take Water's side if war broke out, but what's this about Lightning?"

"The Raikage just came out and announced today," began Kakashi with a cynical tone in his voice, "that if Sound enters any conflict on Water's behalf, he is going to launch the Cloud's armies in a joint strike with Kiri against Suna."

"Three on two," said Naruto, already adjusted to the idea of international conflict, "that is assuming that we would still come to Suna's aid."

"Everyone knows we would instantly take Suna's side. Together we'd have a nearly impregnable defensive force" said Kakashi. "and the Earth country would be neutral, so there's no issue there. The problem is Orochimaru. With him involved there's no hope of ever resolving anything with politics. Meaning that if it really does break out it could stretch on longer than any of the past Ninja Wars."

"What does anyone stand to gain?" asked Naruto. "If we could sort that out and figure a way to compromise with everyone we could stop it before things start."

Kakashi nodded towards the Hokage's group gathered around the map. "That's basically what they're working on," said the Jounin. "But the problem is that Kiri is demanding that Gaara step down as Kazekage and that Suna agree to pay massive reparations to Kiri for the last war. On top of it all they want the Wind to give up thousands of square miles of land for the Water to set up forts around Suna."

"That's absurd. Why would they ask for that?" asked Naruto. "They were allies in the last war and Gaara hasn't done anything to Kiri."

"Because it will never happen," groaned Kakashi. "Remember Orochimaru is involved here. He's the one pulling the Mizukage's strings, we're sure of it, and he wants a war. Also, I think Orochimaru has control of the Raikage's cabinet of advisors. I'd bet my new edition of _Icha Icha Purgatory_ on it… well no actually I wouldn't but you get the idea."

"Yeah," muttered Naruto. "I get it. So when you said war was a distinct possibility you meant it's going to happen."

"Maybe, maybe not," said Kakashi. "What Tsunade hopes to do is convince the Cloud that a war would destroy them. Our sources know for a fact that Orochimaru has the Mizukage in his back pocket, so there's no real way to convince the Water not to do whatever that bastard snake tells them to, but if the Raikage backs down or takes our side, then it would make things a hell of a lot easier. It might even force Orochimaru to delay his plans, whatever they are."

"Do you think we can convince the Raikage to back off?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi hesitated for a moment. "Personally… No," he said solemnly, "So war is looking more and more probable…"

"Unless we take out Orochimaru," muttered Naruto.

Kakashi flinched. "Do you think we're not considering that?" asked the Jounin. "That was one of the first things Tsunade's advisors suggested. The only problem is that we haven't had the opportunity or the power to strike directly at him… not since you and Jiraiya left."

Naruto grinned feraly. There was a sudden spark in his eyes that lightened his whole countenance. "I think I like where this is going," said the blonde genin in an undertone.

_That doesn't sound like Naruto at all,_ thought the Jounin.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," said Kakashi. "Our first defense is always diplomacy. Right now we need to do everything we can to prevent a war, not start one. No matter how useless I think it may be, we need to work on securing the Cloud's loyalties."

"Unless Orochimaru has the Raikage paid too well too." Naruto groaned. "In which case we're wasting valuable time."

"Tsunade doesn't think so," said Kakashi. "The Raikage is too set in his ways to change his personal beliefs. Remember that he was Konoha's supporter during the last war before he came to power as a Kage. The Cloud's advisory board however is a major political power in that part of the world, and that's why we think they're the ones under Orochimaru's control, not the Raikage. But even so, he may be willing to listen to them over his own reason."

"Hmm. Not a good situation, in any case" mumbled Naruto. "What about some of the lesser Ninja villages? There are several springing up in the south and west of the Earth Country. Whose side are they on?"

"Sound," said Kakashi, "a budding Ninja village needs money, and Orochimaru apparently has a lot of it. He's buying himself alliances."

"Where is he getting all this capital?" asked Naruto. "Building armies, paying off Kages and politicians, buying alliances… this has got to be an expensive business."

"Officially we don't know, but everyone who knows about the current situation has their own theories."

"What's yours?" asked Naruto.

"Personally?"

"Yeah," Naruto clarified

"I can't help but wonder if he's being financed by the Crane Organization." Kakashi said. "I've never trusted them. They play dirty and aren't afraid to ignore the law to accomplish their ends."

"Impossible," said Naruto. "Jiraiya and I worked for the Crane Organization."

"You did?" Kakashi said, surprise obvious in his voice though he physically displayed nothing.

"For more than two years," said the genin. "They were being paid massive amounts of money to hunt down Orochimaru's Ninja. I personally killed some of his best agents while under the Crane's direct orders."

"There goes that theory," muttered the Jounin. "But I guess it doesn't matter at this point. Things are too heated right now and even if we could cut off his supply of money it would only serve to make him push his plans harder."

"Without knowing Orochimaru more intimately than I do, I can't say," said Naruto. "But … wouldn't it be funny if the one's financing Orochimaru's effort are the same ones contracting the Crane to harass his lines."

"What makes you say that?" asked Kakashi.

"Nothing really Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto said shrugging. "I just thought it would be interesting if there was someone in the background trying to pull all of the strings at once, then cover their own asses with even more string pulling that counteracted their earlier actions without totally undoing them."

Kakashi was silent for a moment, then, "I don't think there's anyone capable of that. They'd have to be enormously powerful, and unearthly rich as well as incredibly skilled to hide all of their actions."

"Probably right, but I was just throwing it out there as an interesting 'what if.'" said the blonde Ninja, effectively ending the conversation.

_Perceptive,_ thought Kakashi. _An interesting theory to be sure… I might request that Shikamaru's unit be sent to the Sound again to try and follow the money trail._

The two Ninja leaned silently against the wall for a moment or two, just watching everyone around them, though Naruto took careful notice of everything Sakura did. It was strangely captivating how she twirled her bangs as she listened to Tsunade's hushed voice, or how when something was said that obviously bothered her she would shift her weight to her left. By the time he realized how closely he was watching her, nearly a quarter of an hour had passed.

"Naruto," Tsunade called from across the room, shattering the relatively quiet atmosphere that had been building for the past twenty minutes. "Come over here."

Kakashi watched silently as Naruto stood up straight and calmly walked over to the Hokage's inner circle. The boy didn't greet any of the Jounin, and ignored the ANBU, except for Shikamaru who he nodded to as he passed. The blonde arrived without saying a word and just stood next to the wall.

All of the gathered Jounin, plus Jiraiya turned to watch Naruto carefully. At first it just seemed like they were curious, but after several minutes had passed and no one had spoken, Naruto began to wonder what they were all thinking, or if this was some kind of test.

"Anything I can do for you?" he asked flatly, but not mockingly.

Tsunade was the first to speak, walking out of the midst of the gathered Ninja and positioning herself next to Naruto to face her subordinates. "This meeting is over," she said sternly. "All of you are free to go back about your business, but don't talk to anyone about anything that was discussed here. You know your duties."

On that note the Jounin began to slowly make their way to the door, and it occurred to Naruto that while Tsunade had been dismissing them the ANBU had already left. Soon it was only the Hokage, Naruto, Sakura, Jiraiya, and Kakashi left in the office, and they were all glancing around at one another. All except Naruto, he stood perfectly calm.

"I wasn't lying when I said it was good to have you back," said Tsunade, walking around her desk and sitting in her chair. "I would've been more polite, but frankly I've become so tired of pleasantries these past months that I no longer even bother to use them."

"Understood," said Naruto, wanting to get right to the point. "You had said you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes I did," said the Hokage. She looked between Kakashi and Sakura, then addressed them directly. "Would you be so kind as to let us to our business? The three of us have important matters to discuss."

Kakashi nodded immediately and turned to leave, but Sakura didn't move.

"With all due respect Hokage-Sama," said the Kunoichi, "I'd like to be here."

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder as he crossed the room but stopped at the open door. He watched as Tsunade eyed her student warily and finally nodded. Sakura took a seat in one of the chairs opposite Tsunade while Jiraiya and Naruto remained standing. The Copy Nin breathed as sigh of relief as he quietly closed the door behind him and left.

"I don't need to explain the situation to you do I, Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"I think I have the general idea," said the blonde. "Between Kakashi, Sakura, and Neji filling me in on little bits and pieces, and everyone I hear whispering about war I can guess that things are stressed right now."

"Then I won't bore you with overviews," said Tsunade. "The Mist and Cloud are allying themselves with the Sound. They're readying to attack the Sand and draw us into a war, that's the gist of the matter anyway."

"And if that happens then a lot of people are going to die," Naruto interrupted. "Innocent people…"

"Yes," said Tsunade, checking her irritation. "And with Orochimaru involved and orchestrating everything," said Jiraiya to Naruto, "there's no chance that politics do anything. Negotiation is worthless at this point. The Mist made that perfectly clear."

"Kakashi already told me this," said Naruto.

"But we have to keep face and look like we're trying to maintain diplomatic relations," said Tsunade. "Otherwise it will come across that we're warmongers and the other villages, the smaller ones might side against us. At the same time, though we have to begin preparing."

The pink haired Kunoichi's eyes narrowed as she listened, her ears taking in every last mark of stress in the Sanin's voice. Her fingers were carefully tousling a single lock of hair that draped down across the face.

"As fascinating as this is," said Naruto, "it still doesn't explain why you wanted to see me. Could we get to the crux of that matter as it's a little more immediate?"

Sakura bit her lip, watching Tsunade carefully.

"Fine," said the Hokage, tonelessly, "Naruto, Jiraiya has told me that over the past three years you've developed into an elite Ninja, equal to if not greater than any of the Jounin in Konoha. Not only that but he tells me that you have a masterful understanding of tactics both in open combat and in covert operations. Given my trust in Jiraiya's opinions and for those reasons I'm offering you an immediate promotion to the level of Jounin."

"Accepted," said Naruto without hesitation, "but there's more to this than simply advancing my rank."

"You're right," said Tsunade. "Consider yourself promoted, and now that you're a Jounin, I can bring you totally up to speed on the situation. You see there are details that no one except the Jounin are allowed to know, or to tell to anyone else."

"Pretty secret," commented Naruto.

"They have to be, and as a matter of fact what I'm about to tell you hasn't even been revealed to anyone outside this room with the exception of Shikamaru, and that's only because he was the one who risked his life to find out."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Orochimaru has resurrected the Fourth Hokage," said Tsunade, staring directly at Naruto.

The boy didn't flinch, but he did cross his arms. For a long minute the room was engulfed in silence. Tsunade and Naruto seemed to be trying to stare one another down, while Sakura and Jiraiya merely looked off into space. It was obvious that both the Hokage's and the newly 

appointed Jounin's minds were racing. Thoughts that ran along similar veins burned behind their eyes.

"I wondered why you looked so bothered," said Naruto to Jiraiya finally. "I guess this is the reason?"

"Yeah," the Sanin in red nodded. "Tsunade told me the news about an hour before the meeting started… there's more to it than this, but … it'll be obvious soon."

"How do you think the public would react if they knew the Fourth was back and on Orochimaru's side?" asked Tsunade.

"Well they probably wouldn't take it too well," said Naruto sarcastically.

"This isn't the time to joke," said Jiraiya. "Can't you see this is a serious matter?"

"It's not that big of a deal Jiraiya," said Naruto, "we all know that Orochimaru's re-birthed puppets are barely a shell of their former selves. This fake Fourth can't be any different, so what's the issue? He's sure to be easy prey for someone like you. Hell, I'll bet even I could take him with a little luck."

"This isn't the same kind of cheap copy you're used to, Naruto," said Tsunade. "Orochimaru hasn't just sealed the Fourth's soul into some ramshackle body. He's been working tirelessly these last three years, and actually reconstructed the Fourth's body exactly. It's like he never died. The Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato is back at full strength and he's our enemy."

Naruto hesitated and three sets of eyes fell on him.

"How's that possible?" asked the blonde. "The Fourth's soul was consumed by Shinigami. There's no way…"

"Orochimaru struck a deal with Shinigami," said Jiraiya. "Shikamaru couldn't uncover the details, but suffice it to say that the evidence is irrefutable."

Naruto froze. A cold chill ran down his spine at the same time that a bead of sweat broke out on his brow.

"And it only gets worse," said Jiraiya.

Sakura glanced between Naruto and the Hokage for just a second before speaking up. "You didn't tell me any of this," said the Kunoichi, "but how can it possibly get worse?"

"Naruto," said Tsunade, "You remember the events leading up to and following the Chuunin Exams three years ago, I don't doubt," her voice lowered as if she were afraid the walls might somehow betray the secret. "The release of the Hyuuga demon and your battle with Hinata?"

"I make every effort not to think about it," said Naruto, his voice suddenly uneasy and quaking. "But yes…"

"Then as much as it may pain you to hear it, Orochimaru has brought back the Demon, or is at least trying to if he hasn't succeeded already."

The room fell quiet. Deathly silence draped over everything like a burial shroud as Naruto turned to face away from everyone. None of the Ninja could see Naruto's face, but neither did they miss that his hands were balled into white-knuckled fists. From Sakura's perspective, as she sat nearest him, it seemed that Naruto's skin seemed stretched, like too little fabric over too large a frame.

"Then in that case we're all screwed," said the boy quietly.

Sakura's breath caught in her throat. Naruto's voice had suddenly become… dark. Less human and more animal than she'd ever heard it before. There was even a hint of an echo in the words that seemed so pronounced to her ears, despite the small, carpeted room.

"Maybe not," said the Hokage. "For all this, we have two advantages left to us still."

"Which would be?" Naruto asked, the bone chilling echo still pervading his voice.

"First," said Tsunade, raising one finger, "we know of all of this in advance. Due to Shikamaru's efforts, and supreme abilities as an infiltrator, we have access to knowledge that we would otherwise be dangerously unaware of. Knowledge is power, and we now have a general idea of what Orochimaru plans to hit us with."

"And?" Naruto pressed.

"And secondly is Sasuke," said the Hokage bluntly.

Again the room slipped into silence as she let Naruto and Sakura digest the implications. Jiraiya glanced at his old teammate as if to impart some kind of cautionary warning, then went back to his thoughts and staring at the cluttered documents on the desk.

"What about Sasuke?" asked Sakura hesitantly.

"Apparently he's fighting Orochimaru's control and has been for the past three years," the Hokage muttered. "We're not sure to what extent he is capable of deviating from Orochimaru's will, but we do know that he hates his master."

"How do we know?" Naruto asked, his voice controlled again.

"How do you think I managed to survive in Orochimaru's complex?" a somber and somewhat nasal voice echoed from the corner of the room opposite Tsunade.

Naruto turned around to see a tall figure, dressed entirely in black, excepting a white bird mask, sitting in a chair. His legs were crossed and there was an unlit cigarette in his left hand. With his right, the figure reached up and removed the ANBU mask. It was Shikamaru.

"I've been here the whole time," said the ANBU Ninja, "and I didn't even use any Ninjutsu or Genjutsu to hide my presence; just simple silence and avoidance of attention. However even my skills would not have been able to get me into Orochimaru's complex without help."

"I'll let Shikamaru explain," said a calm Tsunade.

The ANBU Ninja leaned forward, uncrossing his legs and resting his elbows on his knees. "Simply put," he began "I was assigned to spy on Orochimaru directly. Tsunade was confident in my abilities so I went for it. When I arrived in the Sound, which has grown into a large village by the way, I found the entrance to Orochimaru's base with minimal difficulty. Sneaking past the guards and alarms was easy enough but once I reached the inner complex, where he himself works, I began having to rely on my most advanced tricks just to remain hidden, much less find anything out.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before I was caught. After all, Sasuke could see me with his Mangekyou, and despite my invisibility jutsu Orochimaru would be aware of me if he ever got near, but luckily I avoided close proximity.

"Then my luck ran out, or so I thought. I was watching Orochimaru work on what I had determined to be the body of the Fourth Hokage, when Uchiha Sasuke appeared right in front of me. He looked me right in the eye and grinned. That's when I knew it was over."

Sakura listened intently, as did Naruto.

"But he didn't do anything," said Shikamaru. "Sasuke just turned around and began talking to Orochimaru. Then out of nowhere a shadow-clone of the Uchiha appeared and announced that he was communicating with me through a genjutsu. He told me all about Orochimaru's plan to raise the Fourth and the Hyuuga Demon, along with some unidentified, deceased Ninja who was to serve as the Demon's vessel.

"Sasuke's clone said he didn't have much time and he couldn't keep Orochimaru from noticing his unusual brain activity for long, and told me to run back to Konoha. I told Sasuke through shadows on the floor that I wasn't leaving without proof.

"Sasuke then said he'd lead Orochimaru from the room and that I could take all the proof I needed. Almost instantly, the Genjutsu faded and I found myself alone in Orochimaru's labs. Sasuke had lead him out."

Sakura stood up and walked over beside Naruto. She leaned up and whispered something in his ear that none of the others could make out, then went back and sat down in her chair.

"So you're saying Sasuke is on our side?" asked Naruto after a moment.

"Yes and no," said the ANBU, leaning back in the chair. "No in the sense that he can't disobey Orochimaru's direct command, and he doesn't have a choice but to do everything he's told to. Yes in that if Orochimaru's concentration wavers enough or breaks, Sasuke will have a window of opportunity to completely free himself of Orochimaru's influence. He'd come back to Konoha in a heartbeat if he had the chance I think."

"He skewered me through the heart," said Naruto flatly.

"And then saved you," countered Tsunade.

"He works for Orochimaru now," Naruto persisted.

"Against his will," said Shikamaru.

Naruto bit his lip. "Even so. I don't think it would be wise to trust him."

"I don't disagree with that," said Tsunade. At this point he is still an enemy and should be treated as such. However, what we're saying is that there's a slim chance that Sasuke might defect back to Konoha in which case we could forcibly remove his seal. What's more, he might even turn on Orochimaru."

Naruto thought it over for a minute before he answered. "If it comes down to war, which it looks to" he said, "You can bank on the fact that I'll be on the front lines. If I run into Sasuke, I will kill him."

Everyone was silent, staring at Naruto and the hard lines that suddenly appeared on his countenance.

_Naruto,_ Sakura thought, _That isn't like you at all…_

"I wouldn't ask for anything different," said the Hokage. "Unless Sasuke directly attacks Orochimaru or surrenders and asks to be brought home, I expect that you kill him if you get the chance. He's not an ally until that seal is either taken care of, or Orochimaru is killed."

"But you must admit," Jiraiya chimed in, drawing all of their attention, "It would be nice if we didn't have to kill Sasuke. Bringing him back to us would be so much better for everyone I think."

Tsunade and Sakura nodded in agreement, but Naruto didn't respond. Rather, he turned to stare out the window into the quickly darkening sky. The strangely thick whisker lines across his face deepened just a bit as a grimace crossed his face.

_Keep it under control,_ he thought to himself. _You don't need yet another complication…_

"Our greatest advantage still," said Shikamaru, "Is that we know. Now that we see what Orochimaru plans to throw at us we can plan for it, counter it, and perhaps even turn it to our advantage."

SC

"Hey, Taoiri, pass me some of that would you?" asked one of the three Ninja sitting around a small camp fire.

"Sure thing Namatsu," said the silver haired Ninja, reaching over and handing the rather stocky but still well built man a can of soup.

It was a relatively calm night in the forest just outside the Fire Country's southern border. There was no wind to speak of and the only noise in the woods besides the cooking fire was the hooting of summer owls in the distance. Three Ninja, each wearing a Leaf Insignia on some part of their uniform sat around eating out of ration cans and talking about their last mission.

Taoiri, evidently the youngest and also the shortest of the group was busy wolfing down a can of pork and beans while Namatsu, the largest in stature there, ate quietly on some fruit. The third Ninja was by far the most average, not exceptionally tall or unique, with drab brown hair and hazy green eyes. He was quietly leaning up against the base of one of the massive oak trees that surrounded them.

"Hey Nagamata," said Namatsu, "aren't you going to eat? I'm probably not going to finish this. If you're still hungry and want the rest you can have it."

"Nah, no thanks but I appreciate it," said Nagamata quietly. "I think I've lost my appetite."

"Understandable," said Taoiri, "It's not every day you have to make your first kill for the sake of a mission. But you did good. That Sound Bastard never saw it coming, and since there were no witnesses no one can pin it on Konoha."

"I guess," said Nagamata, leaning back and staring at the sky. "Still I wish there had been some other way. Killing people just seems so… so wrong."

"Then you're in the wrong profession," said Namatsu. His voice was understanding but he was pointing his fork at the third Ninja. "That can be a big part of this job at time so you need to get used to it."

"I know…"

The three of them concentrated on finishing eating, until Nagamata stood up and set his unopened dinner on a nearby branch. "I'm going to have a quick look around," said the Ninja, "just to be on the safe side."

"Fine, do what you want," said Taoiri, leaning over and throwing a handful of dirt on the fire to lower it. "But nothing ever happens as far south as this so don't get your hopes up for any action."

Nagamata nodded and jumped off into the darkness.

"That must've been really hard on him," said Namatsu when he was sure their companion was out of earshot.

"The first kill always is," said Taoiri. "But he really did do quite well."

Nagamata scanned the forest carefully as he silently raced through it, taking note of everything around. Before long he had done no less than five laps around their campsite, making sure that there was nothing within nearly a kilometer of their position. All he had found were owls and a few other silent animals. Everything seemed perfectly still in the forest.

The Leaf Nin stopped in a tree about forty feet above the ground, perching like an eagle and staring blankly down into the undergrowth. "Maybe I should head back," he mumbled to himself. "I wouldn't want them to-"

A quiet rustle silenced Nagamata, and immediately drew his attention to a small break in the trees a few meters to his left. As quietly as he could, given the dense, coarse moss growing all over the tree's branches, the Nin slunk to the edge of the limb and reached out to part the leafs, which grew unusually thickly for this time of year.

Nagamata leaned forward and peered through the break in the leafs, and found he was hidden on the edge of a small clearing in the forest… a clearing occupied by no less than eighty people, all dressed in blue fatigues and sitting around, among four or five dozen small, camouflaged pup-tents. No one in the camp was speaking, just silently waiting.

"What the hell?" wondered the Ninja, craning his neck to get a better look. "Who are all of you now?"

Nagamata decided to risk a small jutsu, and performed a few quick seals, concentrating the newly molded chakra behind his eyes. The Leaf Nin's vision quickly focused and like a telephoto lens, zoomed in on the encampment. He scanned the faces of those gathered, but the vast majority were wearing masks of one kind or another, and those that weren't had their faces painted with dull camouflage.

"Kiri Nin?" Nagamata blurted when he caught sight of one forehead protector, boldly emblazoned with the Mist's insignia. "What are they doing this far-?" he cut himself off as realization flooded over him. "Fuck," hissed the Leaf Nin, his hands shaking, "I've got to warn the others. Kiri is on the warpath already. We're out of time."

Nagamata quietly but quickly let go of the branches and they silently slipped back into place. The Leaf Nin turned around, snuck to the trunk of the tree and lowered himself down to the ground. He cast a simple silencing Jutsu on his feet and then he ran as fast as his legs would allow. The wind slapped around him as he sped back towards his team's small camp.

"Guys, guys," he gasped, breaking through the brush less than a minute later. "We've got serious problems. Kiri is…"

There was no one there. The little camp was empty. The stones surrounding their little cooking fire were still in place but they were cold and the flames had been extinguished. There was no sign of either Taoiri or Namatsu in the gloomy dark.

"This isn't the time for joking," hisses Nagamata. "There's big trouble and we're right in the middle of it."

"Yes, you're right," said a deathly voice that seemed to emanate from all around the Leaf Nin.

Nagamata froze. His eyes widened and his muscles locked up as the overwhelmingly powerful, and evil, aura of chakra overloaded his mind, making escape nearly impossible.

"And you're right in the middle of it."

All Nagamata saw as he forced himself to look around was a flicker of platinum blonde, and a flash of white hot energy, before nothing at all.

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AN: Hope you enjoyed. Review please!!


	35. Deep Breath

AN: Before anyone asks, I can't remember the night I wrote this one so I'm guessing someone spiked my drink and I was high as a space cadet or something. Nonetheless, I think it turned out well enough. It kinda has that 'Nam' feel to it. Oh well. Review please!!

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Deep Breath

It was a quiet night. There wasn't a sound to be heard in the forest running South West along the Fire County's border, even as the squad of seven Ninja clad in black and dark grey camouflage raced through the pitch black undergrowth. Their feet fell silently, and the bushes seemed to part without a sound as they passed by like wraiths in the gloom. They ran in a loose triangular formation, one leader taking point with three other Nin on either his right or left with about ten meters between any of them.

ANBU's usually bone white masks had been replaced by veils, as dark as any cloth could be, wrapped around the Nin's faces and covered by a hood woven to blend into bushes by looking like tree bark. Instead of silver forehead protectors they wore black patches embossed with a leaf on their right shoulders. Metal bracers, black with firing, coiled around their forearms, and swords of a like composition were grasped firmly, unsheathed and point upturned in their hands. The seven wore no cloaks, as the flapping in the wind of a cape might compromise their stealth. Even the breeze passing over the skintight fabric they did wear made Shikamaru, the point of the spear, uneasy.

_Six of the finest_, Nara Shikamaru thought to himself, _handpicked from the deadliest assassin's in Konoha's arsenal. Each one more than able to run for days without tiring and to cross the continent in less than a fortnight without detection; together with me they're the deadliest fighting force in the Nation, aside likely from Neji and his Keen. Yet for all this skill…_ he found his pulse racing, and not from the fatigue of a night's journey, _for all this I still fear we may be outmatched. If we're discovered and forced to face Sasuke or Orochimaru, rather than run, it will be the end for us…_

Shikamaru didn't have time to finish contemplating the weight of his mission. The squad had reached the southernmost point of their journey; a passing road that ran between a line of cliffs and the edge of the massive forest that made up most of the center of the continent. With a quick jerk of his hand, Shikamaru pointed towards the East, and one of the ANBU instantly disappeared down the road.

_That should give us some warning, _thought the head of ANBU's Special Tactics and Forces Unit. "Set the charges and the mines," he then hissed. "Ten meter spread between the mines with those farthest West on the road rigged to go off given a five meter proximity, chain the triggers of rest of the mines to the initial mines with a quarter-second delay."

Without nodding or acknowledging the orders in any way, the remaining ANBU each silently pulled two dozen small scrolls from their uniforms. Unfurling them revealed a single message written on every one, "summon, explode." The Ninja rolled the scrolls out along two or three feet of earth, with ten meters between each scroll, then began covering the scrolls with dirt.

_Those Kiri Nin are going to be in for one nasty little surprise when they pass this way, _thought Shikamaru. _The head of their group will activate the traps farthest forward, by which time the rest of the victims should already be within the blast radii. The scrolls will activate, summon twenty five shuriken each, and then explode, propelling the shuriken through the air at lethal speeds. The whole process should take less than a third of a second._

Tsunade's plan to preemptively set mines and other deterrents along the routes the Kiri Ninja were sure to follow on their way to Suna, routes that all passed near Fire's borders, seemed genius enough. After all, the Hokage knew that Kiri's forces were taking a course in the southern Fire Country to get to their destination in the Wind, and while war had not yet been declared officially, so setting mines directly ahead of another nation's forces was a violation of international law, there was no way to trace the traps back to Konoha. That is, unless Shikamaru and his team were caught.

_Even if we are captured, and the start of the conflict is blamed on Tsunade, _Shikamaru thought, _I doubt she really cares how history remembers her… I'll give it two days before shit really starts to hit the floor, no, three days. And by then it will be too late for Tsunade to be remembered as anything other than a good leader. No one will have any proof this was by her order._

"Sir," one of the ANBU whispered, his voice barely audible in the calm night, "The traps are set and ready."

_Good,_ thought the leader, nodding his approval.

Before anything else could happen, another ANBU appeared at Shikamaru's side.

"Sir," the new arrival uttered. "Kiri Nin coming up the road; Ninety-six of them moving at a fair pace. They'll be here in two and a half minutes."

"How densely packed are they?" asked Shikamaru, his voice perfectly level.

The other officer grinned under his veil. "Plenty, with any luck this little trap will wipe them all out."

_Fools…_ Shikamaru nodded again. "Good, move out in the Delta formation, west by north-west. Seven locations down, but we've still got six more to hit before sunrise. Then we move to intercept and join up with Jiraiya's unit."

In a flash Shikamaru and his team disappeared into the dark. Again they were racing though the forest at breakneck but still silent speeds. Every ear was tuned precisely, listening in the distance for the unmistakable sounds of explosive scrolls going off.

_Anyone not killed in the blast directly,_ Shikamaru mused, _will be ripped to shreds by the shuriken. I'll put the body count at eighty of the ninety-six, by conservative estimations. If we get lucky they'll all be killed._

Two minutes went by, then another twenty seconds. The air was still silent. Another ten seconds, then ten more. Shikamaru was beginning to worry that they'd set the traps wrong, or that the enemy had changed direction. The worst possibility of course would be if the Kiri Nin discovered the mines and noted it on a map, since then they'd be suspicious of every course they chose.

Just as their leader's fear began to reflect in all of the other ANBU, the air filled with the sounds of distant explosions and blood curdling screams. The seven Ninja all breathed an inward sigh of relief as the explosions echoed away, and the screams faded to the nearly inaudible moans of the dying. From the sounds of things, no one had escaped the mines without mortal injuries.

_Ninety-six down,_ thought Shikamaru. _Only Hell knows how many left to go… at least luck was on our side._

SC

"Do we know how long we have until Suna comes under direct assault?" Tsunade asked tersely, not taking her eyes off the map in front of her or beginning to move away from the mahogany desk in her darkened office. It was a question she'd asked a half dozen times by now.

"Not exactly Hokage-Sama," said Kakashi as he re-re-read the scroll a Sand courier Nin had brought to Tsunade the night before. "But according to this, Gaara's spies believe that Kiri has been slipping forces into the Wind, through our territory, for over a month and dispersing them with orders to converge on Suna sometime within the next four days."

"Damn," said Tsunade. "But that at least gives us some time to actually get a relief force to Suna before the other three armies arrive. If all goes well Kiri, Kumo, and Oto will all strike at the same time, hoping to overwhelm Suna's defenses, and we'll arrive from North of the village in time to catch them from behind as Suna presses from the village's front. As for Kiri sending their troops through Fire's territory, it's a shame we hadn't discovered that weeks ago."

_At least Shikamaru's unit has been harassing the stragglers since yesterday's early hours_, thought the Hokage. _That boy's become invaluable these past several months._

"Nothing ever goes that well," said Kakashi. "Kiri is going to come at Suna from the South East, and odds are that Kumo and Oto will strike from the North and North-East. If that happens the best we can hope for is that our forces wipe out one of the armies and together with Suna drive the other two off which wouldn't leave us uninjured. If we can manage that much it will only be the first battle of what's likely to be a very bloody campaign."

"Or a series of campaigns," said the Hokage. "There are three villages whose surrender we'll have to force. If we win at Suna then we'll have to strike at three villages in three simultaneous assaults with three surprise attacks. Otherwise this war will just drag on and on and we'd have to try to win by attrition."

"Even if all goes well in this first battle, we won't be able to count on Gaara's help for some time. This first fight is going to be hell on earth and the Sand is likely to take massive damage and casualties." Kakashi said quietly.

"I know. That means that our attacks on Oto, Kiri, and Kumo will have to be all the faster and harder. We'll be trying to do with one village's army what we should be attempting with three separate forces."

Kakashi grimaced.

"If we can't conquer the others in a blitz we'll have to hold out and do as much damage as we can until Suna can recover enough to help us. If we can last that long our combined forces should have the muscle to overwhelm the villages one at a time."

_So many 'ifs'_ thought the Jounin.

"At any rate," said the Hokage, "Everything is in motion now and we can't stop it. Diplomacy has failed, though it was worth a shot, and we've been forced to rely on less civil options." Tsunade rolled her neck, then stood up straight and faced Kakashi directly, ignoring the map on her desk. "All the preparations have been made," she said. "I've arranged for my authority to be temporarily transferred to you in accordance with your position as Steward until I return. If something should happen to me, Jiraiya is to be the next in line to be Hokage, whether or not he likes it, and if he doesn't survive this… well then you know what to do."

"Right," Kakashi nodded, his voice full of doubt as the Hokage rolled up the map and tucked it away in a nearby bookshelf.

Tsunade reached to a coat rack and pulled off pitch black cloak. In one quick motion she threw it over her armor clad shoulders and fastened the strings into a loose knot. The dark metal plates comprising the thick, exoskeleton-like suit glided on flawless joints that in no way restricted the Hokage's movements. It was more like a second skin than a bulky armor, and it didn't so much as clank or creak as Tsunade crossed her carpeted office in a few long strides, heading towards the door.

Kakashi followed her without question as she walked out into the hall that ran through the Hokage's main complex of offices. The two Ninja were both absorbed in thought, not paying any attention to the other; Kakashi followed her mainly out of a sense of protocol, since he knew there was nothing more he needed to be briefed on.

_Even so,_ thought the Copy Nin, _This just doesn't feel right. Then again, I guess war never does, uncertainty and doubt have a way of clouding the moment._

Tsunade threw open the doors at the end of the elaborate hall and strode out into the early morning twilight of Konoha. She walked tall and strong; and there was a feel of pride about her, despite the darkening situation. Her armored boots, while heavy, were also thickly padded and made no more noise on the stone sidewalk than a pair of running shoes, only adding to the sense of foreboding that seemed to hang in the air like a dense fog.

"Hokage-Sama," said Kakashi.

"Yes, what is it?" asked Tsunade, her voice somewhat distant. She didn't slow her pace or turn to look at her follower.

"Are you sure Naruto is old enough to handle this kind of situation? He's barely sixteen: barely more than a child."

"Jiraiya has complete faith in him, which you know is a feat in and of itself" said Tsunade. "That's reason enough for me to trust him. And you have to admit that even three years ago he was a formidable fighter and cunning to boot."

"Yes, but does he have what it takes to … to take over?" Kakashi's voice wavered. "I was his teacher for some time, but I'm not sure he could've matured enough to properly deal with what would be asked of him, even with my guidance."

"We'll only have to worry about that if both Jiraiya and I die out there," said Tsunade, her voice reserved again, "and I don't think that will happen."

"I know," Kakashi muttered.

"You need to stop worrying, just focus on what you know needs to be done" said Tsunade, changing the subject and turning to the Jounin. Her voice was suddenly intense, but not uncaring. "The army has already moved out and as soon as the first assault on Suna is made, we will officially be at war. There's nothing that can be done to stop it now, so just keep your mind on defending Konoha.

"We have twelve hundred Ninja moving towards Suna in groups of between thirty and fifty Ninja, with orders to engage any enemy Nin they encounter along the way," continued the Hokage, "that's going to leave you with six hundred to defend the village."

"I'm not sure about that either," said Kakashi. "I'd feel better if you left Jiraiya here to head the garrison, rather than..."

"I'm confident in your abilities," said Tsunade quickly. "The Fourth trusted you with his life during the war with Earth, so I'll trust you with Konoha's safety while I'm gone. You'll have Naruto at your disposal at least."

Kakashi hesitated. "Speaking of the war with Earth," he said, "the thought occurred to me that if Kiri was going through Fire to get to the Wind, Oto and Kumo would have to have gone through, or at least very near Earth's territory to get towards Suna without our network of patrols picking up on their activities. Can we be sure of Iwa's neutrality?"

By now the two Ninja were walking quickly through the empty streets, passing by closed up shops and homes with darkened windows. Everyone in the village, it seemed, needed no official statement by the Hokage to know what was coming.

"Like I said at the tactical meeting a few days ago," said Tsunade, "We can be almost positive of Iwa's neutrality. The last time they went to war against us it almost cost them everything. The Fourth razed so much of their territory that the Earth is still trying to recover fully. They're still not our friends by any means, but they know it would be foolish to attack us."

"I know that, but I still don't trust them for anything" said Kakashi, "I'd rather it be Jiraiya who stayed to defend the village in case anything happens. But if you insist…"

"I do insist," said Tsunade. "You're the best for the job aside from Jiraiya or me, and frankly I need all the firepower I can get on the front line in case Orochimaru shows his face."

"Understood Hokage-Sama," said Kakashi as the duo reached the open courtyard behind Konoha's West Gate. "Don't worry then. I'll ensure nothing happens to your village while you're out." The Copy Nin grinned.

The Hokage grimaced as they walked fully into the courtyard. "My village," the words tasted bitter in her mouth. "Kakashi, that's the last mindset I ever want any Hokage to have. Oto is Orochimaru's village. Konoha is OUR village. Never forget that."

"It was only a joke," said Kakashi. "Sorry Hokage-Sama." There was no fear of Tsunade in his voice, just fatigue. "I was trying to lighten the situation."

"I understand," said Tsunade, pinching the bridge of her nose and squinting as though she were trying to stave off a headache. "My unit is about two leagues West of here and moving towards Suna via the free road that will lead through the River Country."

"River has agreed to let us pass then?"

Tsunade nodded. "They value their neutrality and as such keep open borders with everyone. And even if they didn't they wouldn't have the strength to stop us. I'll see you in a couple of days."

Kakashi nodded as Tsunade jogged off towards the little-known door hidden in the side of the gate. In a flash she'd opened it, disappeared through, and shut it silently behind her. The silver-haired Jounin couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever see her again. He knew it wasn't a good idea to think like that, pessimism never serves any purpose but to demoralize, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Tsunade was wrong, or that things were far worse than she let on.

_Why else would she leave 600 behind?_ he thought, turning around and walking farther into the village. _Konoha could hold against almost anything with a garrison half that size… Was she just being precautious, or am I reading too much into things? Maybe it's just paranoia…_

By now a large portion of the village had been long awake, but people were just beginning to emerge into the streets. The Copy Nin couldn't miss how sullen and somber everyone looked. The rumors of war had only intensified when Tsunade put the city on full alert the day before yesterday, and when she marshaled the army, calling up Ninja and militia who'd been off active duty for months or years, it was all the warning everyone needed to know that danger and struggle was inevitable. Plus, news that the Raikage couldn't be dissuaded from marching with Orochimaru had disheartened the whole community, for indeed, it was common rumor among the masses that Kumo was allying with the Sound.

"I'm a damned Jounin," said Kakashi as he wandered almost randomly between the buildings in Konoha's Western districts, "And I still know so little about what's going on."

He wandered a bit longer, trying to get a handle on the thoughts swimming through his head. For nearly half an hour he simply walked autonomously, and thought to himself.

"What am I doing?" he blurted, suddenly shaking his head violently. "There's work that needs to be done!"

The Copy Nin jumped up to the tops of one nearby house and scanned the city, or as much of it as he could see, then took off running back towards the Hokage's offices.

_600 strong Ninja left in my charge… Likely I'll have a handful of Jounin and Special Jounin, with the rest made up of Chuunin and a surplus of genin._ Kakashi began running over possible defensive strategies in his mind as he neared the offices. _Protecting the village citizens will be the top priority so if we come under attack everyone will need to know to get to the catacombs beneath the city. That way the rest of us will have to worry about hitting innocents less often. Damn there's going to be so much to do…_

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AN: Ok, what did I miss... um. Can't really think of anything except that I really want more reviews. Review please and check out my profile for some cool updates!!


	36. Fevered

AN: Well, I guess my requests for reviews have fallen on deaf ears. Oh well, it could be worse. I mentioned this in my other story, Death God Walking, but there is actually a very small chance that sometime in the relatively near future, I will become unable to continue any of my stories. Just a heads up for anyone who reads the ANs. Umm. I can't really think of anything to say here so we'll get on with things.

Read, Enjoy, Review!

Oh and as an answer to collegeman, I'm not threatening anything. Circumstances are out of my hands at this point. It has nothing to do with not getting enough reviews. Sure I like to get lots of reviews, but if I based whether or not I continue writing on the number of reviews I receive per chapter, I would have quit with this whole ordeal a long time ago, so please don't accuse me of something without knowing the full situation...

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Fevered

Two Days Later

"Quick, get away and from him before he kills you!" the child's voice shrieked. "He's a demon! Look out!"

Naruto turned around to look, hearing the frightened child crying out in terror, but saw nothing. As near as the blonde Jounin could tell he was very alone, standing in the streets of Konoha in the late evening. This in and of itself was surprising as Naruto had no memory of how he got there.

"There he is! Run away!" the voice echoed again in high-pitched terror.

Naruto turned around, looking for the source of the trouble. Confused or not, he reasoned, there was something wrong that he needed to correct. But, again all he saw was the empty street. He couldn't find a child or anyone for that matter. The wide street was deserted, aside from the stray paper bag blowing like a poltergeist in the wind.

"Who are you?" he called into the dark. "What's wrong?"

"See?" a tiny, disembodied voice said. "He wants to kill you. He was a monster then and he is now. He is a monster now and he always will be. Don't let him see you. Don't let him see you."

Naruto walked silently down the sidewalk, his mind racing with possible explanations to this mystery. The thought that this was all a dream crossed his thoughts, but it seemed far too real. The cement under his feet was too firm and the wind tossing his hair about was too real to be a dream.

_Is this some kind of Genjutsu? _he wondered.

Acting on instinct alone as a chill ran down his spine, Naruto reached his right hand around to his back and groped for the handle of the ever present amber sword, as a bead of sweat broke onto his brow when his fingers failed to find the blade. The familiar texture of the ancient wrappings around the hilt, and the weight of the laden sheath were always something he could expect to find in times of trouble, but without them, or more accurately, as soon as he realized that they were gone, the night seemed to deepen and darken.

Naruto took another step forward, approaching the corner of an alley he knew would be a dead end. Though there was no apparent danger, the Ninja knew that appearances are never to be trusted in the world he lived in. Trusting appearances was the fault of fools and the insane as far as he was concerned.

"Leave us alone," he heard the voice cry again, a little louder than before.

"Hush," said a second voice, this one deeper than the first, but still belonging to a child. "Be quiet and he might go away."

Another chill ran down Naruto's spine, this one seeming to pierce his limbs with tiny flecks of bitter cold. He shivered, but couldn't alleviate the cold and the numbness that was quickly seeping into his hands and feet, making him heavy. He couldn't see his breath, but Naruto knew it must have been freezing cold. Given the shivering that originated in his core and shook every part of him out to his fingers, it had to be.

Naruto set his back to the entrance of the alley and breathed a sigh, trying to steady himself. Some deep-seated and morose sense of malice hung in the air. It was stifling, and immediately Naruto knew why there was no one around. He knew that anyone aside from himself would have succumbed to the atmosphere, curled up on the spot, and waited to die. The feeling had set in so quickly. Like a tiny but infectious splinter, this one in his mind, he hadn't noticed it until it was too deep to remove, and until he was shaking nearly uncontrollably with either fear or cold or both.

_This is stupid,_ he tried to tell himself. _I'm a Jounin, no, better than a Jounin. I'm better than a damned Kage. I shouldn't be acting so childishly… but…_

Even as he squinted to keep his eyes from shutting, Naruto whirled around and planted his feet firmly in the mouth of the alley. His fists were clenched into iron hard knots, white knuckled, and his eyes were wild and feral.

The alley was dark enough that any normal person would simply see a wall of black between the two tall buildings, but Naruto's icy blue eyes were focused like an animal's and sensing every detail of the lane with inhuman clarity and precision. He could see every pore on every brick of the two walls of the alley just as easily as he could pick out the details of every individual hair on the two children's heads, who cowered before him.

One was a boy, maybe ten years old, wearing scrappy cloths that served as a poor excuse for a shirt and trousers, and the other was a girl, half the age of the boy, wearing the finest tailored gown Naruto had ever seen. The boy shrunk back, pulling the girl to whom he clung defensively farther from the stranger, and both children looked at him with utter terror carved into their pallid faces. The boy's brown eyes stared widely, while the girl squinted, but failed to pull her sparkling emerald eyes away from Naruto.

"Don't let it kill us," the boy gasped, his fiery red and shaggy hair shifting as the girl buried her face in it.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Naruto growled between clenched teeth, the frigid cold clinging to every inch of him locking up his jaw.

"Not you, not yet," said the girl, her voice quavering.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto, mustering the strength to take a step forward.

The children cried out in fear as he approached. The little girl wailed and cried, locking her arms in a death grip around the boy's neck as he clutched at her tightly. "Get away, get away, before you kill us!" she cried loudly.

"Hush Sonya!" hissed the red-headed boy, "before it hears you. Immediately the crying faded to a dull whimper, muffled by tightly pursed lips and a little hand covering her mouth.

"I'm a Ninja of Konoha," Naruto said tersely, forcing every word. "Let me help you, I can keep you safe if you tell me what's going on."

"No you can't! Get away, get away, get away!" shrieked Sonya. "Rodya, he's going to kill us!"

"I'm here to help!" shouted Naruto, his feet still frozen to the ground. "But I need you to tell me what the hell is going on! I'm here to save you!"

"You killed them all!" yelped Rodya, "Every last one of them, and now you're going to kill us too!"

As the wind picked up and blew the girl's pale golden hair about Naruto felt the breeze cut right through his skin and bone, penetrating down to his madly beating heart. Any wind more chill would have instantly ended his life, but this one merely drove Naruto's frantic heart to thrum like swarm of maddened hornets. He would have clutched his chest to hold himself together if the control of his hands had been his own.

"Enough!" howled Naruto. Sweat was pouring over his face, only making it colder, and his face was red with fury and fear. "What's wrong with you! I haven't done anything wrong! Stop making jokes and tell me what's going on!" His eyes were nothing short of rabid.

"Just leave us alone!" screamed Sonya. "If you're not going to kill us then you're just going to hurt us. Please Rodya, don't let it hurt us. Make it go away. Make the bad go away! It's evil. He's evil and I want him to just go away!"

Naruto's ears nearly burst with every rush of blood in his veins. The deafening pulse was unending and incessant. Even when he closed his eyes to block out the horrid image of the children his vision flashed red as his heart drove the blood on like a river.

"Go away before you kill again!" cried the little girl. "Just go away and die!"

A peal of thunder roared through the air, sending shimmers through the alley walls, as lightning flashed through Naruto's eyes. Another layer of shadow fell over the already bleak alley, deepening the darkness that seemed to fill every crevice in the street.

"Just die!" Rodya howled. "If you're dead you can't hurt us!"

Naruto clenched his fists and closed his eyes. His blood throbbed through his veins as the wind picked up and ripped through the alley like a gale, tossing Naruto's blonde hair about and whipping through Rodya's rag clothes.

"Die!" shouted Sonya.

"Shut up!!" Naruto screamed as he charged forward. He reared back and called on the familiar demonic power that had so long been his deadliest weapon. In a flash his sizzling claws ripped downwards. Naruto had been aiming for the children though his eyes were closed so he couldn't tell who he hit. Someone however screamed so Naruto knew he'd struck one of them a mortal blow.

The Ninja opened his eyes and saw that the little boy lay dead on the ground, his skull cloven like a ripened fruit, blood and brains smeared across the concrete and beneath Naruto's black sandal. The girl had fallen away from the corpse and now huddled against the wall, crying and screaming uncontrollably. Naruto took a step towards her, intentionally stepping on the dead boy's remains and further crushing his skull. A sickening crunch echoed through the alley as bits of gore flung out from the carnage and landed as far away as on the girl's once sparkling white dress.

"I told you I was here to help!" bellowed Naruto, bending down and picking Sonya up by the throat. He held her up in the air, his glowing fist sizzling like a pan of hot grease and charring the tender flesh it wrapped around. "But you insisted on prolonging the problem!"

There was a loud crack and Sonya suddenly fell silent and stopped struggling against him. Her legs stopped kicking and her emerald eyes washed over with blood that spilled down her cheeks in a rivulet of crimson tears. Slowly her tiny mouth dropped open.

Naruto glared into her eyes furiously as her chest stopped heaving. Suddenly his own eyes burst open wide and the red chakra instantly vanished into thin air. He didn't let go of the little lifeless body he still strangled, but his mouth fell open and clear tears began to flow down his face. Slowly he loosened his grip and the body dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

"What is this?" Naruto asked, his voice shaking. "What is this!? What kind of devilry could…!? Surely I didn't actually. I'm not capable of-"

The blonde stumbled back, his balance suddenly abandoning him, and he landed hard against one of the alley walls. His head was spinning like a dervish and his stomach was retching at the sight, smell, and taste of the carnage, for he could indeed taste every texture of the metallic odor of blood.

"I told you you'd kill us," Naruto heard a little voice say. "See, I told you."

Naruto, crouched on his hands and knees to fight the revulsion, whirled to his feet and pressed up against the wall in horror. There before him, Sonya's lifeless eyes were staring at him. She'd turned her head despite her broken neck and pursed her lips into an innocent smile.

"Monster!" Naruto cried, pressing up against the wall and wishing the bricks would just swallow him. "You're a monster!"

Sonya's smile widened. "But look what you've done… monster."

Instantly Sony's and Rodya's bodies burst into flames that raced over the bricks of the alley and up to the roofs of the buildings, but left Naruto untouched. The infernal fire burned through the whole of the abandoned village in seconds, setting everything ablaze. Naruto could only watch as all of Konoha burned down around him.

"What have I done!?" Naruto screamed above the roar of the hell he found himself in, his lungs burning with the fiery air as his mouth belched out smoke with his words. "What have I done!!"

Everything blacked out, though Naruto's scream still echoed throughout the room as he bolted up in bed, his head wrapped in the thick comforter he'd taken to sleeping in. In a fit Naruto tore, grabbed and pulled at the bedding, untangling it from around his face and threw it against the wall. His breaths were coming in long, deep gasps that made his sweat-soaked body tremor. Every muscle shook with every beat of his heart.

For a long minute he sat there against the headboard, merely trying not to break down and scream again, but as time began to slip by and the tremors didn't stop he realized sitting around wasn't going to aid in the recovery from that… nightmare.

He stood up, his muscled and tan frame illuminated and brought into stark detail by the sunlight streaming in from his bedroom door (on bright days the light from the living room windows could easily reach down the stairs and into his bedroom), and Naruto staggered from his bed to the door to the house's private bathroom, and nearly fell through it. He leaned up against the corner of the shower for support and reached out to turn on the water.

After a moment the stream spraying from the chrome nozzle began to steam and sputter with heat. Naruto looked at it pensively for a moment, and then turned the control handle as far to 'cold' as it would go. He wore nothing to take off, and stepped into the shower without hesitation. In his own mind, the biting water was a nice reminder that he was still alive.

_What the hell was that?_ he wondered, as he rested his forehead against the cold tile wall. _I wonder if that's how my victims felt when I used some of Jiraiya's Genjutsu on them… brutal._

Naruto ran through his mind what a normal bathroom routine would be and quickly set to work on it, showering in the frigid water and then brushing his teeth with a towel draped over his hair, trying not to think about the nightmare.

"Maybe I'm just paranoid," he mumbled after rinsing the last of the toothpaste out of his mouth. "I just finished furnishing my house, after having just gotten back to Konoha, after having just found Orochimaru's trail near the village… After just having finalized my plans." He glanced up in the mirror and checked his face, for what he wasn't sure. "Naruto, you've had a full plate lately."

His brief monologue was interrupted as he heard someone knocking on the door upstairs.

"And it only looks to get fuller…" he groaned.

After shouting for his visitor to wait a moment, Naruto threw the towel around his waist and checked to make sure he was as decent as possible be given that he was essentially naked, then walked upstairs; doing everything he could to seem composed.

"Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura," Naruto said, minorly surprised when he opened the door and found the two Jounin standing on his small porch. "Something I can do for you?"

"Yes," said Kakashi matter of factly. "Though you may wish to get dressed first; I need to talk to you at the Hokage's office as soon as you can find time."

"You mean your office?" Naruto asked, an edge of sarcasm in his voice. "Tsunade did leave you in charge after all."

Kakashi grunted bitterly. "So the news is already getting around, but no, it's not **my** office. I don't want it and I pleaded for the job to fall to someone else. Now get dressed and come with us."

"Right, right," mumbled Naruto, turning around and walking through the living room and back down the stairs.

Kakashi glanced over at Sakura slyly. "You can stop staring dumbly now," said the silver haired Jounin, snapping Sakura's attention away from Naruto's less that fully clad form.

"Well this should prove interesting," Naruto mumbled, pulling the black ANBU shirt over his head and fastening the jet bracers around his forearms. He reached over to the nightstand by the bed and picked up the sheathed amber sword and fastened it to his back. As a last step of getting ready he pulled a thick, black leather belt out from under his bed and fastened it securely around his waist. The leaves embossed in the belt wound through the leather in a continuous vine.

He sprung back up the stairs, his padded boots silent on the carpet. "Ready when you are," said the blonde, finding that Kakashi and Sakura hadn't moved from their spots on the porch.

"Good," said Kakashi.

SC

Tsunade roared and lunged forward, slamming her fist square into the enemy Ninja's jaw. The air resounded with a loud snap as the bones in his face splintered like balsa under the crushing blow. The Nin flew back through the air until a tree stopped him dead in his path. Before the first opponent had even fallen to the ground, Tsunade whirled around, raised her leg over her head, and ferociously roundhouse kicked another assailant in the chest.

"No mercy!" shouted Tsunade as she leapt behind another Ninja wearing a Kiri forehead protector, wrapped her arms around his neck, and jerked her body around, breaking his larynx. "Don't let any of them get away!" The Hokage glanced around, seeing that her entire unit of ten Chuunin and a Jounin were engaged in combat with no less than thirty Kiri Nin.

In one fluid motion Tsunade both stomped the throat of the Kiri Nin on the ground at her feet, and leapt into the air. She reached out and grabbed the leg of an airborne enemy, spun around and flung him into a nearby tree. No one had time to decide whether the loud cracking was the unfortunate Ninja's bones or the tree breaking, but the tree looked unharmed.

Tsunade herd a metallic ring and felt an impact on her back. She whirled around, grabbing with her bare hands the sword that had harmlessly struck her armor. The enemy Ninja could only watch in horror as the dangerously beautiful Kunoichi ripped the blade from his hands, twirled it in her bleeding fingers, and drove the tip through his eye.

Tsunade groaned and balled her wounded hand into a fist as the last of the hostile Ninja fell backwards, his own sword protruding from the hole in his skull. The Hokage looked around to make sure the fight was indeed over, but there were only Nin with Leafs on their uniforms standing, so she didn't worry.

"How many dead?" asked the elder Kunoichi.

The ebony-haired Jounin looked around and performed a quick body count. "Thirty-two Kiri Ninja dead," he said, his voice strained but even. "But it looks like they killed Umbro and Taki."

"Bastards," mumbled Tsunade. "We're not even out of the god damned Fire Country and we're already running into units of Ninja. Kigisan, go ahead and scout the area. Make sure we won't be walking into another ambush."

One of the Chuunin bowed low and raced off into the forest. His clothes were basely dark green, but spattered with patterns of olive and even dark brown. This effective camouflage made it nearly impossible to pick him out in the underbrush as Kigisan ran, clinging to the shadows of trees and tall bushes.

"I thought all the Kiri Nin would be in the Wind Country by now," said the Jounin. "What are stragglers doing this far back?"

"I don't know," said Tsunade. "But don't you think it odd that they seemed just as surprised to run into us as we were to find them? Do you think this was an ambush at all or just a chance meeting?"

"Hard to say," muttered the Jounin. "But I can't see what they'd be doing this far from where the battle is supposed to take place unless Kiri is holding some of its forces in reserve. Or maybe they sent this team to wait until you left Hokage-Sama, with orders to stalk us."

"Maybe the Mist is waiting until the battle actually starts to move in all of its forces," said one of the Chuunin sheepishly. "If that were the case then they could catch us off guard and on all sides once we get to Suna."

"It could be any number of things. At any rate," said Tsunade, "standing around talking about it isn't going to get us any closer to where we're needed. It doesn't really matter why they were this far back, just that they're all dead now. For the present we need to keep-"

"Hokage-Sama!" Kigisan yelped, jumping through the brush and landing next to Tsunade in a huff.

"Catch your breath," said the Hokage, turning to the Chuunin. "What's the matter?"

"I ran back here as fast as I could. There's- Up ahead in the forest," said Kigisan, pausing for breath.

"An ambush?" asked the Jounin.

Kigisan shook his head. "No, I found one of our units, or what's left of it at least. There's a clearing up ahead where there was some kind of massacre."

"Massacre?" asked Tsunade.

"Just come and see," said the Chuunin. "It's not far."

"Lead on," said the Hokage.

Kigisan nodded, then turned around and bounded off into the brush, followed immediately by the eight Chuunin, the Jounin, and Tsunade.

"I apologize for Kigisan," said the Jounin quietly to Tsunade. "He's still young for his rank and he tends to get carried away."

"Don't worry," said the Hokage. "He's able-minded enough and his uncanny ability to be stealthy more than makes up for his inexperience."

The group of Ninja came to the sudden break in the forest and broke into a sunlit clearing. Everyone gasped. Scattered throughout the copse were nearly six dozen dead bodies, each one wearing some form of the Konoha insignia. Each corpse had a look of terror frozen in its face as it stared up at the sky through empty eye sockets. Their skin was stretched tight over their bony frames like fabric over wooden skeletons.

"Spread out," ordered Tsunade, "I want a body count and an explanation before we move on. Suna can wait a few minutes."

The Hokage watched cautiously as the remaining Nin slowly made their way between corpses, giving them a quick once-over and then moving on to the next. The Jounin stood at her side with his arms crossed across his chest. The shuriken in his hand was twitching as his eyes scanned the field.

_This is bad,_ thought Tsunade, looking at the dead bodies. _They look like they've had all the blood, all the moisture for that matter sucked right out of their bodies. What could have done this?_

"Ryukuzu," said Tsunade, catching the Jounin's attention.

"Yes ma'am," he responded immediately.

"This is unlike anything I've ever seen," said the Hokage. "Look at their faces."

"I know," said Ryukuzu. "What do you think did this?"

Tsunade glared out at all of the dead bodies. "I have no idea, but whatever it was attacked them all at once. And it looks like the deaths were either instant or incredibly fast. Look at how they're laying… the bodies are still in their delta formations and not one of them has drawn a weapon. Also, where are the signs of a fight? There are no burn marks, no slashed up trees, no blast marks…"

"An ambush it would seem," said Ryukuzu.

"That much seems perfectly clear," said the Hokage, "But a trap that instantly killed so many Ninja… This was the largest battalion we sent out."

One of the Chuunin walked solemnly up to Tsunade and Ryukuzu. "There's not a mark on any of them," he said gravely. "None of them have any apparent wounds."

"An attack on the spirit or mind?" Ryukuzu theorized.

"My thoughts exactly," said Tsunade. "But to strike at a single mind, much less seventy minds, with an instantly mortal blow would take inhuman amounts of chakra, and to control the assault would require absolutely flawless control. To do something like this, even for a large squad of ambushers, would take years of precision training."

"So there's a team of elite Shinobi out there," said Ryukuzu, "who specialize in attacking the mind? That's comforting…"

"I don't think even Orochimaru would be capable of something like this kind of assault," said the Hokage. "Not against all of them at once as the position of the bodies suggests. They must've used a Genjutsu to hold them in place."

"A Genjutsu that large would take as much chakra as the attack itself," said the Chuunin.

"I don't know," Ryukuzu groaned, "but we can't stand around and muse about it all day. What are your orders, Hokage-Sama?"

Tsunade turned away from the Jounin and looked over massacre, and the Chuunin standing in a line off to the side of the grove. "We'll continue for Suna. We'll be needed there as much as anywhere. Dispatch a note back to Konoha warning them about a possible strike team in the area, and tell Kakashi to keep the guard vigilant at all hours of the day. We've come too far to waste time turning back to hunt these bastards only to turn around empty handed and make for Suna after the battle's already over."

SC

"So what's this about Kakashi-Sensei?" asked Naruto.

The Copy Nin walked around the large mahogany desk in the familiar office of the Hokage with measured steps, his hands clasped behind his back. To Naruto and Sakura both, their former master seemed unusually pensive and quiet, though little about his actions had changed and the perceived shift was more a feeling than a provable fact.

"Naruto I thought you should know, well, actually you have the right to know what plan Tsunade has in the works for you should something happen to her."

"Oh?" probed the blonde. "What kind of plans are we talking about?"

"Large ones," Kakashi muttered. "Tsunade suggested that I not tell you about this unless the situation arose and it became necessary, but I think that the simple fact that such a contingency exists is reason enough that you should know of it… Naruto, Tsunade left very specific instructions that if both she and Jiraiya die in the near future, that you are to be made Hokage. As such, you have my fullest backing on anything you deem necessary to do in the upcoming months…"

Naruto's eyes widened just a bit, and he failed to say anything. Sakura as well seemed stunned and glanced continually between Kakashi and Naruto for just a moment before chiming in.

_Well,_ thought the blonde, _it would seem things are a little more desperate than the old woman let on initially, meaning the war is likely to get heated on every front unless I totally misjudge Tsunade's actions._

"That's awesome," the Kunoichi said happily, a smile on her lips. "Congratulations Naruto."

"I'm not quite through yet," said Kakashi before Naruto could respond, drawing the attention of both genin back to himself. "There's a reason I brought you along for this Sakura…"  
"Why's that?" asked the Kunoichi.

"That should be obvious," said Naruto quietly, a noticeable lack of enthusiasm in his voice. "If he just made me next… well, third, in line to be Hokage, he wouldn't bring you along just to watch." He turned from Sakura to Kakashi, "you're going to make her next for some kind of position of authority, right?"

Kakashi nodded, crossing his arms and closing his visible eye. "Not many people know that during times of war, the Hokage appoints a village 'steward,' someone left in charge of the village while the Hokage leads campaigns out in the field. Well, as little as I wanted the position, Tsunade appointed me steward, and as such it is my right to choose a successor should something happen to me."

Naruto glanced over at Sakura with a little smile as she stared at their former teacher. He saw exactly where this was going.

_So Sakura could wind up being my boss for a while… _thought Naruto. _That could be useful if Kakashi were to die before something happened to Tsunade and Jiraiya. I wouldn't lose the support of the steward._

"Sakura," continued Kakashi. "It is my opinion that you should become steward if something should happen to me before Tsunade returns from Suna."

"I- me?" the girl stammered, taken back. "But…"

"I'm not going to force the decision on you," said the Copy Nin when it became apparent that Sakura was going to take a second or two to answer. "But I wouldn't offer you the position if I didn't think you were the best option."

"Why not some other Jounin," said Sakura. "Not that I'm not grateful but wouldn't Gai, Kurenai, or Naruto be a better choice?"

Kakashi uncrossed his arms and put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "There are lots of powerful Ninja who could effectively protect the village from danger in the Hokage's stead," 

said Kakashi, "but there aren't many who show your administrative abilities and your prowess, both physically and mentally. If you'd rather I could go to someone else but I feel that you would be best for the job."

"I don't know," said Sakura.

"I think you should go for it," said Naruto, plans swirling in his mind.

Sakura glanced over at him, unsure of exactly what to say.

"Besides," Naruto grinned. "You deserve the position, you're the best for it, and it looks like Kakashi realizes that. He wouldn't say so unless it was true."

"Naruto's right," said the Copy Nin. "If I didn't honestly think you had the potential to be great I wouldn't offer it to you."

"Why do you think I should?" asked Sakura, turning to Naruto quizzically.

Naruto grinned again, doing his best to seem as genuine as possible. "I want what's best for Konoha," he said. "And that's you. Besides, odds are that we won't see any action at all and you won't have to take over as steward. As good as you'd be at it though, I'd rather it not be necessary," he glanced at Kakashi who looked at him warily but nodded in agreement.

Sakura crossed her arms and looked at Naruto cautiously, though there was some bridled happiness in her eyes. "You really think I deserve it?" she asked.

"Absolutely," said the blonde without hesitation.

As a smile crossed her lips, the Kunoichi smiled and let her hands drop to her sides. "I'll do it then," she said.

"Good," said Kakashi, "It's official then. But really you don't need to worry Sakura. Naruto's right and we probably won't see any fighting here in Konoha. I just wanted to make sure all the bases are covered."

"Understood Kakashi-Sensei," said the Kunoichi. "And I do appreciate your confidence in me."

"It's been earned," said the Copy Nin looking between his students.

Sakura smiled to her teacher, and then turned to Naruto. "So," she said. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in letting me treat you to lunch?"

"I don't know," said Naruto, taking a step back and attempting to act like he hadn't caught the flirtatious tone in Sakura's voice. "I had planned on running a few patrols, by myself, around the village."

"Not a bad idea," said Kakashi, "but why not go to the Keen and ask if one or two of them wanted to run patrols with you? It would give those overly-trained Hyuugas something to do, and Neji himself might even want to tag along."

"Well, the idea was to go alone to keep things quiet," said Naruto crossing his arms.

"Alright," said the Kunoichi, a somewhat defeated tone in her voice.

Naruto smiled inwardly to himself, then turned to Sakura after putting on a condoling face. "But if Sakura wants to go to lunch," he said, "I suppose that would work too, though I wouldn't even think of letting her pay for anything."

The joy was almost tangible as Sakura grinned and faced Naruto happily. "I'd love to," she said without any further invitation. "Where did you have in mind?"

"I hadn't thought about it," said the blonde casually, "but anywhere you wanted to go would be fine with me."

"You should probably be off then," said Kakashi smiling though his mask, "but Naruto, I should need to have a quick word with you in private if you don't mind."

"Of course Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto. "Sakura you go on ahead and I'll meet you outside."

Sakura nodded, then left the office and closed the door behind her. Kakashi's smile instantly faded, and Naruto turned to face his teacher.

"You shouldn't encourage her if you have no plan to actually return her affection," said the Copy Nin darkly, not looking Naruto in the eye. "What are you doing?"

"Is this conversation strictly off the record Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto asked flatly.

"Of course," said the silver-haired Jounin, looking at Naruto with one eye. "Nothing said here will be known by anyone aside from us unless you divulge it."

"Good," said the blonde. "Because what I'm about to tell you may come across as a little… odd."

"Go ahead then."

"Kakashi-Sensei, you mentioned that I would have your full backing in the upcoming conflicts correct?"

"I did say that," said the Copy Nin.

"Which means that I won't be sitting back with the garrison at home for much longer I'm guessing. You plan to implement me in the field at some point."

"I'm going to be perfectly honest and totally open with you because I trust you Naruto," said Kakashi. "It's been the plan, ever since it was evident that war was unavoidable, to have you spearhead the vast majority of our offensive maneuvers. Tsunade will be leading the army, but you will be our greatest weapon."

"Then my perceptions have been right from the beginning," said the blonde. "Which makes it all the more clear to me that desperate measures are going to become necessary to end this war in our favor, unless by some miracle Tsunade completely crushes the enemy at Suna in the next few days."

"You're probably right," said Kakashi. "No one is so naïve to think that this war will be over quickly… not with Orochimaru, the Fourth, and the Hyuuga Demon in play."

"Orochimaru isn't going to play nice," said Naruto. "He won't fight with any kind of honor or dignity because he'll be too preoccupied with trying to destroy us by any means necessary… and I think it will only be fair if someone on our side returns the courtesy."

Kakashi's eye narrowed just a bit. "And you want to be the one to fight Orochimaru using his own dirty tactics…"

"Not at all," said Naruto. "And I'm only saying this much because I have your full backing and trust. I don't want to fight dirty, but I think I'm the only one who will be willing to. Jiraiya is too set in his ways, and Tsunade is too concerned with politics to do what is necessary, which leaves me to take the fight to the enemy's people…"

"What are you saying?" asked the Copy Nin.

"I'm saying," said Naruto carefully, "that if I feel it is necessary, I won't hesitate to strike directly at the heart of the enemies war effort. I won't be afraid to sneak in behind their borders and burn their villages, civilian and Ninja alike, to the ground along with everyone inside them. Obviously that might … compromise my popularity, which is why I'm acting this way to Sakura."

"You think that if you do what you have to, to end the war that it will make you look bad and so you want someone as powerful as the steward on your side to back you up," clarified Kakashi.

"Exactly," nodded Naruto. "And you said I had your full support, which means that as long as you're here I'm in the clear, but if something should happen to you, pardon if I sound cold, but I want someone who I know likes me to take your place. Sakura has obviously infatuated herself with the notion that she and I can become romantically involved, which makes her the perfect one to take your place, though I'd rather that not become necessary. Granted, it will have to be a gradual process, but I don't doubt that with a little encouragement, her infatuation will blossom completely."

Kakashi closed his eye and chuckled to himself for a minute as Naruto leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Damn," muttered the older of the two Jounin. "Damn Naruto, what happened to that innocent little kid who left Konoha three years ago?"

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. "He grew up and realized that the world doesn't fight fair. Three years hunting Orochimaru will teach you that real quick. It shows you that if you really want to protect anything worth protecting, you have to be willing to get dirty in the process."

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "I don't know whether or not I should be disgusted with your attitude Naruto," he said. "But regardless, I know exactly what you're saying. I tried to tell the Fourth during the last war exactly what you're telling me now, but because he wouldn't listen, and insisted on fighting properly, the war dragged on longer and longer and a lot of innocent people died."

"So do I still have your support?" asked the blonde levelly.

"Absolutely," said Kakashi. "I may strongly disapprove of playing with another person's emotions, but sometimes evils are necessary to accomplish greater goods. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I would," said Naruto. "But if you'll excuse me, I'm late for lunch with Sakura."

"By all means," said the Copy Nin as Naruto crossed the room and opened the door and walked out into the hallway. "However Naruto I must warn you, if I feel your endangering Konoha with your actions…"

Naruto stopped short of closing the door behind himself. "You'll stop me," he said quietly.

The Copy-Nin nodded once. "By any means necessary. But unless we reach that point, I'll support you."

"Understood," said Naruto, stepping out of the room and shutting the door.

Kakashi waited until he was sure that both his Jounin students were nowhere around, before he walked around the desk and collapsed in the chair. "Hell," he muttered, "Desperate situations do indeed call for desperate measures, but why did it have to come to measures like this? Stabbing people in the back, fighting using dirty tricks, manipulating people's emotions…" he ran his fingers over the mahogany top of the desk. "But then again… Tsunade doesn't realize just how dire things are likely to become very, very, soon, and if she did she wouldn't have the heart to do what it takes to win at all costs…

"On the other hand, Naruto has just shown me that he has the will to act, and a loyalty to Konoha above everything else. Perhaps he does know what he's doing after all.

"Naruto very well may be just the kind of person we need to lead us to victory," he continued musing to himself, "If he can lead an army half as well as he can manipulate we may still have a shot at this… we can win this and save hundreds or thousands of innocent Leaf and Sand lives if he's allowed to fight Orochimaru on his own terms."

Kakashi stood up, new energy beginning to flow back into him. "That settles it then. Naruto has to have my support. He has to have Tsunade's support, and most of all, he needs to 

have the freedom to do what s necessary, no matter how underhanded it may be. No matter what he chooses to do, as long as it's for the good of the village," Kakashi was more fervent now, pacing back and forth, "Naruto has to have the freedom to act, and I need to secure him that freedom… This may be a long shot, but it might just be worth it."

Standing outside in the hall, motionless, perfectly still and not so much as daring to breath, Naruto pressed his back to the wall and listened intently to every word Kakashi was saying. A small grin crossed his face and when he heard his old Sensei set busily to work writing on a scroll, he turned and began walking down the hall.

_Finally,_ thought Naruto, closing his eyes and letting a wide grin split his face from ear to ear, bearing his sharp teeth like a predator. _Finally I can go after that fucking bastard of a snake the way I have to. Finally I can rip out his heart and make him watch as it stops beating. I can at last make him suffer so much he'll beg for the relief of Hell…_

Naruto couldn't stop himself. He began to laugh, a deep and rolling chortle that grew steadily louder until he had to cover his mouth to muffle the volume for fear of someone hearing. The blonde held his lips firmly closed and pressed one hand up against his belly, trying to suppress the laughter that forced him to blush.

"Finally," he said once the laughter had calmed enough for him to speak. "It's finally time."

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AN: No Note here. Just review please!!


	37. Kakashi's Gambit

AN: Well here we are again. Sorry I was late with the update but I had to work tonight which prevented me from making it perfectly on time. At any rate, here you go!

Read, Enjoy, Review!!

* * *

Kakashi's Gambit

"Naruto, I shouldn't let you be the one to pay for all of this," said Sakura, grinning and blushing just a little bit as she set the empty wineglass down on the table. "Will you at least let me pay for dinner?"

"Absolutely not," said the blonde with a convincing smile, noting that Sakura had indeed picked up some of Tsunade's less slightly habits, including not being able to tell when she'd had a bit too much. That had been her second glass. "I said I'd take you out to lunch as congratulations so I'm not going to let you spoil my treat by paying for anything."

"Fine, fine," Sakura said, looking between Naruto and the barren dinner plate in front of her. She grimaced as she realized there was nothing on it, but then remembered through the slight fog hovering around her mind that it had been an incredible steak.

"It's about time someone finally picked up on your talents," said Naruto, as much to himself as to Sakura, pushing the untouched little cup of sake away from himself.

"What was that?" asked Sakura.

Naruto grinned. "Just nice to see talent rewarded," he said.

Sakura smiled widely, taking what he said as a major compliment. "I just hope I can live up to everyone's expectations."

"I'm sure you will," said Naruto, setting one hand about half way out on the relatively narrow table. "I don't see how you couldn't, given how well you're doing now."

Sakura smiled again and leaned back in the comfortable booth. She glanced around the dimly lit restaurant at all the other customers and smiled. The waitress had been ready to give the two Jounin a table in the center of the busiest section of the place, until Naruto had slipped her a tip and bought them a secluded booth in the corner.

"Well, thank you," said Sakura. "You're the one who should feel proud though, being chosen to be the next Hokage after Tsunade and Jiraiya. Next to that being steward is nothing really."

Naruto suppressed a smile. _It's good that she underestimates just how much power the she could wield. I shouldn't mention just how often the Steward is likely to be in control in the next several months._

"I don't know about that," said the blonde, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "But oh well. Congrats again."

Before Sakura could respond, a tall man in a nice white shirt and black slacks approached the table carrying a small black binder and a tray of chocolates. "Your check," he said, handing Naruto the binder.

"Thank you," said Naruto, taking the binder, paying the bill, and handing it back to the waiter.

The waiter went over the figures in his head for just a moment before looking at Naruto. He looked back down at the money in the binder and beamed. Setting down the tray of candies and picking up the finished plates the waiter glanced between the two Ninja with a smile. "Compliments of the kitchen and staff" he said merrily, before turning and walking away.

Sakura looked down at the chocolates with a look of mixed pleasure, knowing full well that the serving staff at this particular restaurant were only supposed to leave one candy with each patron. "How much did you tip him?" she asked.

"Enough," said the blonde, reaching out and picking up one of the seven chocolates. Popping it into his mouth he looked quizzically at Sakura as if to wonder why she was abstaining. "Indulge," he said. "You might as well."

"Not like I have a girlish figure to preserve," said Sakura, picking one up and taking a bite.

Naruto waited to finish his piece before responding with a grin. "Maybe I was implying that your figure is so girlish that a few candies couldn't possibly do any harm at all."

Sakura smiled. The slight buzz in her head it seemed would make everything he said into a compliment. Her cheeks burned a bit. "If I hadn't had that bit of wine I'd tell you that sounded just like what I found in a greeting card once."

"Strange," said Naruto, "that's just where I found it. I'm afraid I sometimes have to supplement my wit."

"You seem just fine to me," said Sakura, leaning forward and propping her hands up on her knuckles.

It took Naruto a moment to smile when he recognized the look in her eyes as the same she'd had when they were on her couch and she was making subtle attempts to be romantic with him. When he did though, Sakura saw it in his eyes and couldn't help but feel a little heart-struck and it showed in the blush that crept over her cheeks.

"Thanks very much for lunch," said Sakura, looking up at Naruto. _It's still hard to make myself believe he's really back,_ she thought to herself, _and that he's taking me out to lunch... on a date._

Naruto's gaze shifted away from Sakura for only a split second to catch a glimpse of the large clock on the wall. The mahogany-plated time piece read, strangely enough, all twenty-four hours of the day, and around the outer edges, had a ring of days and dates. The whole piece was essentially a mechanical calendar, displaying not only time of day, but also day of the week, day of the month, and month of the year.

_Buying this seat from the waitress was well worth it, _thought Naruto, looking out over the crowded floor of the restaurant. _If I were anywhere else, especially in the center of the crowd I might not have been able to tell the time and we'd leave either too soon or not soon enough. Hmm, twenty minutes exactly now until the action begins. Kakashi should still be somewhere around the Hokage's office, meaning that all I need to do now is lead events that way since Sakura will still be slightly inebriated…_

"Sakura" said Naruto abruptly.

The girl looked up almost anxiously, a quizzical look on her face.

"I was planning on going from here to have a walk along the Northern wall, and enjoy the view. I thought it might be a little lonely, or I …odd, to go alone and… well I'd like very much if you'd come with me."

For a moment Sakura mentally stammered, and she couldn't stop her hands from slowly clasping in front of her, though the dazed made every effort unconsciously to try and be subtle about it. Her cheeks almost burned for a brief moment as she realized that for a normally calm and collected Naruto to sound almost apprehensive, he must have something, some kind of surprise in store.

"I'd love to Naruto," said Sakura, barely managing to contain her alcohol stimulated excitement. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well," said the blonde, putting a hand behind his head, "just a walk mostly."

"Anything else?" asked the pink-haired Kunoichi, leaning forward with her best attempt to look like she was subtly flirting.

"Well," said Naruto, a bead of sweat breaking out on his forehead, "we'd just have to see what happened."

"Of course," Sakura began, "I'm ready, for anything, whenever you are."

Naruto smiled and stood up, Sakura instantly mirroring his actions, and lead the kunoichi to the front of the restaurant, through the crowds of people, and out into the warmth of the mid-afternoon sunshine. He smiled at one of the waitresses who raised a hand to delicately wave at him.

_This is almost too easy,_ thought the blonde once they were outside and he saw just how innocently Sakura was smiling at him.

"So where did you say we were going?" asked Sakura playfully.

"I was thinking for a walk on the wall where we could see the city," said Naruto, stepping closer, reaching out and taking Sakura's hand carefully in his. "Just the two of us where the city couldn't see us."

For a brief… seemingly brief to Naruto (it was an eternity to Sakura) moment, the kunoichi found that she had stopped breathing and forgotten how her lungs worked. Her cheeks flushed yet again, but she shook her head and looked back at Naruto.

_This is almost too easy, _Sakura thought to herself. _It's like he's not even real… Maybe he finally thinks I'm worth-_ her mind refused to continue, and she had to fight herself to restrain a squeal of girlish delight.

Naruto began to lead Sakura down the street towards Konoha's North wall. Neither said anything as they wove between the crowds of people in the streets. Sakura was too busy memorizing the feel of Naruto's hand around hers, and Naruto was preoccupied taking note of the girl's every action. It didn't escape his notice how enthralled she was that he was simply holding her hand: a boringly mild gesture of affection.

_She must have completely abandoned any kind of romantic interests when I left,_ Naruto mused, _focusing instead all her attention on me and hoping that when I returned I'd seek her out as a love interest… how fortunate. I'd anticipated on having to work around Kakashi or Tsunade to get what I wanted… but this will make things so much easier. And with Sasuke playing right into my hands the last pieces are falling into place._ A small grin crossed his face, a grin not unseen by Sakura, who instantly interpreted it as a sign of his happiness to be with her.

She smiled in return.

SC

"Naruto this is wonderful," said Sakura, almost dreamily as she looked out over the city that sprawled beneath her. "It was a brilliant idea."

The view really was fantastic. The wall's walkway was more than one hundred feet above the ground, higher than most of the buildings on the North side of city, and provided an uninterrupted view out over the village's residential districts. The battlements lining the walkway had been largely unused since the sound invasion three years ago, and were now overgrown with vines, lichen and moss that provided a leafy bed for wildflowers. Even the heavy tan stones that made up the walkway itself were covered in a very thin layer of lichen that crunched under Sakura's feet and released subtle scents of flora into the air.

"It's like a little garden path," said the kunoichi, reaching out and plucking a pink flower from the waist-high battlements.

Naruto smiled subtly. _Perhaps some poetry…_

"Ever tall and over-grown, behold the seeds that war hath sewn. Let us now build up the walls, not for shields but garden stalls," chanted Naruto rhythmically. "Drought and famine come and go, but ever do the seeds we sow, grow again and bring the glee, of springtime joy and reverie."

Sakura looked over at Naruto, a spark of wonder in her eyes.

"Battles ever plague the land, but let us all together stand. For we shall seeds of peacetime sow, and as the sands of time do flow," Naruto continued his voice deep and rich and full, but also quiet and level, "Pains brought on by dark of night, shall vanish as we spread the light. Come now my love and stand with me, for if you come you'll surely see, that I am yours and you are mine, and together we'll make the world shine. We'll clean the smears refresh the soil and through all our sun-baked toil, we'll bring about a golden age, a perfect shining crystal age."

They walked on in silence for a moment, Naruto holding out one hand to brush with his fingertips, the moss and flowers growing on the wall, and with his other hand, holding Sakura's fingers between his own. The kunoichi didn't take her eyes off him for a second, though he looked straight ahead as though he were trying to stare into the future.

"Naruto," she whispered, "that was gorgeous."

The blonde smiled, and turned to look at her. "I'm glad you liked it," he responded.

"I didn't know you wrote poetry."

"It was something to do when I wasn't busy working for the Crane or reading," said Naruto. "That was actually a piece of one of my longer ones."

"I'd like to hear the rest of it," said Sakura, stopping and holding firm to Naruto's hand.

The two Jounin stopped walking and merely stood there for a moment. Naruto's face was unreadable, but Sakura thought she saw a hint of happiness in his eyes, though she wondered if it was merely her own reflection she glimpsed.

"Did you write it for anyone in particular?" Sakura probed.

Naruto shrugged. "I wrote everything for someone or another."

"And…" she pushed.

"And," Naruto said, not unkindly, "If you want to know who that one was for you're just going to have to figure it out for yourself."

"I don't mean to leave this alone," said Sakura, taking a step closer to him.

Naruto smiled and didn't move away. _Any minute now. _"I'd expect nothing less from someone as… arresting as yourself."

Naruto took another step, but Sakura didn't move, and as she hadn't let go of his hand, the blonde again stopped and turned to look at her in silence. Sakura was smiling again and easily within a single step of him.

"It's so good to have you back," said Sakura, closing the distance even more.

Naruto grinned and put his free hand on her shoulder. When Sakura made no move to stop him he leaned in a little closer until he was looking directly into her eyes and there was almost no distance between them.

"How do you do that?" Sakura asked quietly, like she was out of breath.

"Do what?"

A tremor ran down her back as Sakura felt Naruto's breath on her cheek. "That," she said, clenching his hand just a little tighter.

"I don't know," Naruto whispered, "Maybe we should see just what else can happen."

Sakura's already tenuous breath caught in her throat as Naruto leaned in even closer.

Crashing thunder filled the air. The wall seemed to roll beneath them with a loud roaring crack, as the ground shook with a missive shockwave. Naruto and Sakura were pitched to their hands and knees as everything around them trembled violently. Bricks and stones from the battlements broke off with loud bangs and crunches and rolled over the edge of the wall, falling to the streets below.

"What the hell!?" shouted Naruto, leaping to his feet and running to the precipice of the battlements. Sakura was beside him in an instant. As another shockwave ripped through the wall, the Jounin saw hundreds of dark shapes sprinting out of the forest and running towards the village. With a thunderous crash a section of ground at the foot of the wall and about a hundred meters away from Sakura and Naruto caved in, and massive stones began to fall as the wall crumbled downwards like an avalanche.

"Run," Naruto shouted as the collapsing sections of Konoha's defense began to rush at them like a tidal wave.

Both Jounin sprinted as fast as their legs would move, barely keeping ahead of the destruction pursuing them. They were too high up to jump to the ground below without risking injury, and the stairs they'd used to scale up were now lying underneath thousands of tons of rock a hundred feet below.

"There!" yelled Sakura, pointing towards a nearby tower that served as a patrol post along the length of the wall. "If we can make it to the-" she was cut off as Naruto scooped her up in his arms and ran even faster towards the tower, fueling his muscles with chakra. Naruto jumped and kicked fiercely at the heavy wooden door. It fractured with a loud crack and Naruto, carrying Sakura, leapt through the open entry in a shower of splinters.

The two Ninja crumpled inside in a heap as the roar of the collapsing wall rushed up to the threshold of the tower door, then abruptly stopped.

"These towers are built separately from the wall," Naruto puffed, "and their foundations run much deeper underground."

"We're under attack," growled Sakura. "We've got to do something."

"Agreed," said Naruto, pointing towards the stairs, "stick close to me and both of us should be able to handle anything."

"Right," said Sakura as both Jounin got to their feet and rushed down the winding, windowless stairwell. They reached the ground floor in seconds, bursting out the door and finding a section of the wall no less than a hundred and fifty meters long lying in utter ruins. Shinobi dressed in dark cloaks and camouflaged fatigues were rushing over the rubble into the city. Smoke was already filling the air as fires broke out in nearby buildings and the sounds of battle had erupted in a chorus of frenzied chaos.

Not wasting a second, Naruto's hands flew together in an unrecognizable series of seals. He drew in a deep breath and blew out a wide, conical stream of searing hot flames that engulfed some of the enemy nin so unfortunate as to be close enough to Naruto. Instantly the air filled with the putrid smell of burning flesh as no less than ten Ninja were incinerated in the wave of fire.

"Now that I've got your attention," said Naruto, whipping the amber sword from its sheath and twirling it around his head like a dervish, "the real work begins! Sakura, fall in behind me and keep as many of the as you can from getting past us until help arrives."

Sakura nodded and followed about twenty feet behind Naruto. Despite her years of training under Tsunade, she was finding it hard to concentrate on the fight. Most of her opponents were simply fodder, poorly trained Ninja sent into the fray just for the sake of added numbers, and Sakura's fists were dashing their skulls to pieces and sending them hurdling into the air, but her movements were more sluggish than what she thought they should have been.

Naruto pulled ahead just a little bit, dodging and weaving in the ranks of the invading Shinobi. It seemed that wherever he went, death and flashes of blood followed immediately. The blonde was a whirlwind in the street. No sooner would he dispatch one enemy, then would he have begun to whirl on the next. Fire and bursts of red chakra danced wherever he pleased and all around him the screams of the dying erupted. He'd leapt into the fray already prepared for it.

Puffs of smoke signaled the arrival of a dozen shadow-clones, and suddenly twelve more Narutos joined in on the fight, hurling themselves at the enemy with no heed for their own survival.

"Don't let any into the city!" shouted the real Naruto. "Hold them all here!"

The clones responded happily, hacking and slashing and dodging and twirling. The rubble covered road that ran parallel to where the wall had once been became a veritable hell. Fire's exploded from the clones, and the invading Shinobi responded in kind. The jutsus used by both sides became increasingly violent, prompting Naruto to summon two dozen more copies of himself.

The original Naruto charged up the side of the small hill of rubble, determined to hold the enemies at bay, plaiting about and ramming his sword into anyone who came close. He ducked down to the ground, and slammed his heel up into an attacker's jaw, snapping his head back with a disgusting crunch. The Nin fell back dead.

_Damn why did I drink so much? _Sakura berated herself as she caught a Ninja's punch, and flicked her wrist, breaking his arm at the elbow with a loud snap. _I shouldn't have had any at all. Now I'm just going to be holding Naruto back. _Sakura reared around and slammed a Nin in green in the stomach. The mask across his face caught most of the blood he spat up, but some still spattered Sakura's dress.

The Kunoichi took advantage of a slight lull in the battle to look around. She grinned; relieved to see that Naruto's army of clones was cutting back the invading Shinobi. Here and there white puffs of smoke would signal the demise of one of Naruto's outnumbered warriors, but for the most part, the tide of enemies flowing into the city had been stemmed.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted.

The pink haired Kunoichi turned towards the source of the voice. A hate filled mug snarled at her, the enemy Nin was literately right in her face and Sakura didn't have time to react. The Nin reared back and swung a sword at her just as Sakura gasped in shock.

The sound of slicing flesh filled Sakura's ears just before a gurgled cry erupted from her attacker. Naruto stood directly in front of her, his own amber sword burning like a brand in the sunlight from where Naruto had slammed it, point first, into the enemy's throat. The blonde wrenched the handle of the blade, cutting through his opponent's spine like cardboard and jerking the sword back.

"Are you all right?" Naruto asked, turning quickly to Sakura as the enemy Nin's corpse fell backwards, the head toppling to the ground before the trunk, and without the sword.

"Fine, thank you" said Sakura. A flicker of red caught her eye and she looked down at Naruto's hand. "You're hurt!" she gasped, seeing that his badly bleeding fingers were still clutched around the blade that had very nearly killed her.

"Don't worry about me," said Naruto, turning when he heard a battle cry from within the city. "Looks like the cavalry is here!"

Sakura turned and saw no less than forty Konoha Ninja, the Leaf proudly emblazoned on their chests, charging out from between the buildings. Akimichi Chouji was at the head of the onrushing Ninja, and didn't hesitate when he saw how outnumbered his men were, but rather threw himself at the nearest invader and crushed him to the ground with a monstrous hammer-fist.

"Hey Naruto!" yelled Chouji. "Thanks for holding things down until we got our act together! We can handle it from here but you're welcome to stay for some of the action if you want. I'd be happy to who's got more kills at the end of the day!"

Naruto grinned, pulled out a kunai, and flung it at a Ninja just coming over the wall of collapsed rubble. The supersonic missile rocketed between his eyes, ripping through the front of his skull and bursting out the back in a shower of blood and brains. With a dull look in his dead eyes the Nin fell backwards and tumbled down the rocky hill.

"I'm at ninety-six!" yelled the blonde.

Chouji didn't answer, grabbing an invader by his neck with one hand, breaking his larynx with a single squeeze, and tossing the body aside.

"Let me take a look at that," said Naruto, reaching out for Sakura's cheek.

"What?" asked the kunoichi, but as she felt his fingers brush her skin, a hot stinging twanged across her cheek and she suddenly became aware of warm blood trickling down onto her neck.

"Nasty cut," said Naruto.

"I hadn't even noticed," said Sakura, pulling a little gauze out of a fold in her dress and dabbing away the blood. "But it's nothing. I can still fight."

"I wasn't going to tell you not to," said Naruto. "Frankly I need your help. C'mon."

_He actually needs me to help him?_ Sakura mused almost happily as she and Naruto returned to the forefront.

By now Chouji's guards had drawn up a line of defense along the rubble, and were holding it securely. The waves of lower class Shinobi, none of which wore forehead protectors or any distinguishing marks, threw themselves futilely against the line. Once Naruto arrived and laid into the oncoming army, the tide, which till now had looked bleakly against Konoha, quickly turned.

Naruto charged forward ahead of the line, abandoning any façade of staying on the defensive, and cut a bloody swath out of the forward ranks of the enemy. Every move he made seemed to be followed immediately by the choking cries of his victims as they were cast aside into bloody piles of bodies. The blonde Shinobi didn't seem to use chakra at all. The violently powerful jutsus he had been using were no longer present. Naruto would simply disappear in a blur of speed, reappear behind or beside an unlucky ninja, hack them and all around them to pieces in a deathly spiraled spin, and disappear back into the chaos he was sewing in the ranks.

For a moment, it seemed that the whole invading army was focused on simply surviving Naruto, and the assault on Chouji's guard lulled. There were still dozens of Ninja making it past Naruto and throwing themselves against the line, but those that did fought with little resolve. Most broke on the line and tried to flee, turning back towards the forest outside Konoha, from which the army was still pouring, and retreated. Most of those that did were easy prey for the flickering Naruto.

_C'mon you bastard,_ Naruto growled as he disemboweled a nameless assailant with a twist of his amber blade. _How many of your pawns do I have to destroy before you show yourself… patience Naruto, patience. It's all happening just the way it should. Soon they'll _

_attack on another front, they have to in order to draw me away from here and then the real prize will show up._

SC

"Oi, Haruka-kun," barked Kimimaro.

Kimimaro stood atop one of the massive trees outside Konoha, perfectly balanced on the tip of the tallest branch. All around him he could see down into the forest, and before him was the Hidden Leaf Village. He saw his armies had successfully destroyed a large section of the wall via sappers, and the untrained novices attacking the line of guardsmen holding the ruins. Beneath he could see the cannon-fodder troops he'd ordered knowingly to their deaths rushing towards the village. _They're expendable,_ he thought, _and it's unlikely I'll ever run out_.

"Yes sir," said the tall, dark haired Ninja appearing on a branch beneath and next to the Kaguya.

"You see that?" Kimimaro pointed off towards the battle as the screams and cries floated in on the wind.

"Sir?" asked Haruka, "what aspect of it sir?"

"Look at the head of the columns we've sent in."

Haruka took a closer look, immediately spotting the source of the trouble in Kimimaro's voice. "They've sent in a taskforce. They're butchering the men."

"That's one ninja," said Kimimaro, his pale skin gleaming in the sun.

"One?" gasped Haruka, looking again. "But there must be at least ten Ninja marauding through our troops. I can't even tell how many there are they're moving so fast."

"There's only one," the Kaguya repeated. "And he's moving at one hundred and ninety-seven percent of the speed of sound… almost three times faster than the human eye can detect by normal means."

"Is it one of the Sanin?" asked the captain, glancing nervously at his general. "I thought Tsunade and Jiraiya were at Suna fighting Orochimaru and the Mizukage."

"No," said Kimimaro, glaring down into the battlefield, "Uzumaki Naruto. Orochimaru-Sama warned me about you…"

The Kaguya took several minutes, watching Naruto massacre the unmarked and nameless sound troops. _Such grace,_ thought Kimimaro. _I've never seen anyone fight with such finesse, let alone with such strength and determination as well. Uzumaki Naruto… I think it may be time to move against you._

"Haruka," the Kaguya general said calmly. "Move the Kumo division in from the West and have them sapper the wall the way we did here. Take a third of the Oto brigade North East and hit Konoha again at the same time as the Kumo division moves in. Make the hits fast and hard. We need to end this before the Leaf can recover enough to go on the offensive."

"Sir," acknowledged Haruka. "What do you plan to do sir? We do after all have them outnumbered more than fourteen to one."

"No," said Kimimaro. "They have Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi. We have Orochimaru's progeniated troops and me. The odds are almost even. This push on our part will either win or lose this battle. I will engage and kill Naruto with a sneak attack as soon as the opportunity presents itself."

"Yes Sir!" shouted Haruka, dropping down beneath the canopy of the trees.

SC

"Nooooo!" shrieked a masked Shinobi as he turned tail and fled from Naruto. "I don't want to die! I don't- Gaah!"

The Ninja fell to the ground and Naruto jerked his sword out of the Nin's back, making sure to sever his spine as he did. "Too bad," mumbled the blonde, wiping some of the caked blood from his face and disappearing into another whirl of chaotic speed.

"Naruto!" shouted Chouji from the defensive line the Town Guard, now fifty men strong, still held. "Naruto!"

Naruto turned at the call of his name, and saw the Lieutenant Guard waving him down. In an instant he was back at the line. He smiled convincingly when he saw Sakura standing, safely, behind the guards.

"Naruto," growled Chouji. "Shit's really going down all over the village. Cloud troops broke through the Western Wall and Sound Troops are assaulting from the North East as we speak. I've ordered reinforcements of guards and Chuunin to support the positions, but with as thin as we're being spread I don't know if we'll be able to totally hold them out. Cloud Nin are already leaking into the city and I don't have the men to hunt them all down."

"The citizens have been moved to the shelters by now," said Naruto, assuming protocol had been folowed. "So we don't need to worry about them. Where do you need me the most?"

"I can handle things here," said Chouji, looking out over the carnage. As soon as Naruto left the fray the unmarked warriors had renewed their assault on the guard, but the line still didn't waiver. "Kumo is the biggest threat right now so I'd ask you to head West."

_Good, Kakashi should be somewhere in that direction,_ thought Naruto.

"I can do that," he said turning to Sakura. "Care to join me?"

"Absolutely," said the Kunoichi.

"Then let's not waste any more time," said Naruto.

Turning to the village and with Sakura right behind him, Naruto ran down one of the streets he knew would lead him straight to the hot zone. Numerous buildings were damaged or on fire, and the streets were littered with dead bodies. Most of the cadavers the Jounin passed were either unmarked or Kumo Nin, but a few were either Town Guard, or Konoha Nin.

"It's just like three years ago," muttered Sakura, "hey, what are you doing?" she asked as Naruto stopped by a pair of bodies and turned them face up. "Don't we need to hurry?"

"Chouji's guards can hold out a minute longer," said Naruto. "I need to confirm something…"

Sakura stepped up next to him and saw that the two Nin were the unmarked ones, and just like all the rest, they wore nondescript dark cloaks and masks that covered most of their faces. Naruto set them shoulder to shoulder and pulled the cloth away from their faces.

The Nin on the left was nothing extraordinary. He was pale, but nothing about his mid-set cheeks or dull brown eyes was out of the normal. His jaw was not particularly square, nor were his lips either too large or too small. On the whole he was perfectly average aside from a tiny tattoo just below his brown hairline which read, in tiny font, '012987.'

"Now that's just sick," said Naruto, an edge of disgust in his voice, "very clever, but sick nonetheless. Orochimaru's outdone himself this time."

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura. "I don't see anything strange."

"Look here," said Naruto, pointing to the face of the second man… which was identical in every respect to the face of the first, aside from the tattoo beneath his hairline which read '012875.'

"Twins?" asked Sakura.

"No," said Naruto, "copies."

"Copies?" Sakura said, unsure what Naruto meant. "You mean like clones?"

The blonde nodded subtly. "After I killed about three hundred of these copies out on the field it occurred to me that they were all starting to look alike. Then I realized that it was because they all did look alike, and they were all identical for that matter."

"Sound is a very small village," Sakura said, realization dawning on her. "There's no way it could support an army of more than a few hundred."

"And there are thousands of Ninja attacking us," said Naruto. "I don't know how he's done it, but somehow Orochimaru has found a way to … clone soldiers."

"And he's probably been growing them for years."

"Luckily," said Naruto, "he couldn't have had this kind of technology for more than three years or he would have used it against us in the first Sound invasion, which he didn't. And from the looks of it he either hasn't taken the time, or doesn't know how, to train the clones. They're all pathetically weak, designed to take up space between and shield the Ninja who actually know what they're doing."

"So what do we do now?" asked Sakura.

"Do?" muttered Naruto. "The same thing we were doing before. We keep right on tearing them apart until Konoha is safe. Then we take the fight to Orochimaru and make sure he never gets the chance to figure out how to effectively train them."

"Lead on," said Sakura, "I'm beside you all the way."

"I wouldn't want you anywhere else," said Naruto as they resumed running through the village.

As they neared the Western Wall and the sounds of battle began to grow louder and louder, Naruto glanced up at the top of the wall a few blocks away and saw a solitary figure standing there. Even from the distance he could clearly make out the figure's tall frame, and strange purple skin. The long tail flicking about made it perfectly clear to Naruto that things were going exactly the way he wanted them.

_So you've finally come out of hiding,_ Naruto mused. _Bout time. I was beginning to get bored. Unfortunately I'll have to play dumb until you make your move, but oh well. Once you do it will all be over very quickly._

"Look out!" shouted Sakura, charging ahead of Naruto as a Kumo Nin leapt out of an alley and hurled a lightning Jutsu at them. "Kai!" she hissed, and the lightning dissipated directly in front of her face, leaving Sakura with a clear shot. She rushed in and slammed the palm of her hand into the stunned enemy's chest. Cracks filled the air as the massive pressure of the hit broke every rib away from his sternum and probably collapsed both his lungs.

Sakura looked to Naruto proudly as the Nin fell to the ground, convulsed once in a retching gasp at breath, then died.

"Uh… thanks," Naruto stammered.

"We can settle that later," said Sakura with a wry smile as the two of them moved on.

From his spot on the wall, Kimimaro, with his activated cursed seal at level two, glared down at the battle. The Copy Nin Kakashi had appeared on the scene a minute before and was giving the Kumo Nin hell. Kakashi wasted no chakra and turned his intimate knowledge of the terrain to his advantage, using stealth and quick attacks to dispatch Kumo genin with ease and either severely wound or cripple Chuunin or careless Jounin.

_I don't think I can take them both,_ thought Kimimaro. _That girl with the Uzumaki is no threat, but Naruto and Kakashi might be too much for me to handle on my own. I should probably make the attack as quickly as possible, killing one and leaving the other as a less _

_dangerous target… maybe I should go for the girl; try and separate them all so I can't get a close shot at Naruto…_

The Kaguya grinned and ducked behind a bit or ruined battlement as he saw Naruto arrive on the scene and quickly make his way with Sakura to Kakashi's side. The three Jounin gathered close together without clustering, and began coordinating strikes to hold the Kumo Nin at bay.

_These enemies are far less numerous, _thought Sakura, _but more dangerous that those copies._

"Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto, reeling around from slashing a Kumo genin in two. "Orochimaru's attacking the Northern front with cloned warriors."

"Clones?" barked Kakashi, glaring at Naruto with his sharingan. "I didn't see that coming. Can Chouji hold them off?"

"Absolutely," said Naruto. "They're cannon-fodder at best."

"Good," said the copy-nin, "Things here aren't so great." He paused to dodge a burst of lightning hurled at him by a Kumo Nin and retaliate with a flurry of kunai. The enemy disappeared in a puff of smoke and the knives fell harmlessly to the ground. "These bastards aren't experts, but they've been decently trained."

"We've got the home field advantage," said Naruto, flinging a shuriken out and slashing open an enemy genin's throat. "And the dreaded Copy Nin Kakashi is on our side."

"Indeed," said Kakashi, his voice exasperated.

Naruto, acting on instinct, dodged to the side. "Damn it!" he yelped as some small projectile ripped into his left arm, piercing his skin and shattering his brachia like rotten wood. Blood spat from the wound and landed on the ground in copious little puddles as Naruto clutched at his wounded arm.

"Fuck, Naruto are you all right?" yelled Sakura.

But Naruto was gone.

"Naruto!" shouted the Kunoichi almost in a panic. "Naruto where are you!?"

"He's the least of our worries," growled Kakashi, knocking Sakura to the ground as red-hot little missiles shrieked through the air and missed her by mere fractions of a millimeter. The projectiles thudded into the dirt with little poofs. Kakashi whirled around, drawing out a scroll as Kimimaro charged forward blindingly fast and seemingly out of thin air.

Naruto pressed his back against the cold brick wall and dared to glance out of the alley's shelter. He could see that the Kumo Ninja had all but stopped invading from the breach, their flow reduced to a mere trickle that he could easily clean up later. The main action was Kakashi dueling with who Naruto assumed was the Sound general.

_Perfect,_ thought Naruto smiling. _With Sakura still slightly hazy from drinking Kakashi will be off guard trying to protect her from the Sound general. Once that battle's over I can sweep in and kill the general. I'll have won it all._

Naruto couldn't stop a grin from creeping over his face. _All according to plan_, he thought, letting go of his wounded arm. Already the gash was closed and the bone regenerated.

"I don't know who you think you are," said Kakashi resolutely, tossing the blood smeared scroll to the ground. "But you don't stand a chance against us!"

The scroll exploded in a massive cloud of smoke, hiding Kakashi, Kimimaro, and Sakura from view. There was a flicker of movement and Kimimaro leapt from within the cloud to the top of a large nearby roof. He put his hands together in a quick series of seals and then drew in a deep breath. The Sound Nin flung out his arms and belched out a wave of bones. Hissing filled 

the air as razor sharp spines exploded from all over his body and the densely clustered swarm of bones from his mouth raced down into the cloud. The spines thudded into the ground and the sound of yelping and screaming dogs ripped through the village.

_Too easy,_ fretted Kimimaro.

A strong wind blew through the street and twisted the cloud into strange and exotic ribbons, revealing the street below. Kimimaro frowned when he saw a half dozen or so large dogs, most dead, but a few still whining, pinned to the ground by his bones.

A loud shrieking chirp ripped through the afternoon and Kimimaro turned around just in time to see Kakashi falling out of the sky, an intense ball of lightning crackling in his left hand. The Sound Nin rolled to the side agily as Kakashi slammed into the rooftop, driving the Chidori down through the shingles and plywood with a loud bang.

Kimimaro swiped his tail, unleashing a volley of bones that ripped through the Jounin's vest and peppered the Copy Nin. Kakashi cried out in pain, the air still filled with the screaming of the Chidori, but then disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Gaah!" grunted Kimimaro as another Kakashi charged out of the shadows, a Chidori in his hand, and drove the lightning attack into the Sound general's leg. If Kimimaro hadn't tried to jump away the Chidori would have buried itself in his heart for sure. Kakashi didn't hesitate, but threw his hands together in a frenzied sequence of seals. Lightning shot from his fingertips and impacted Kimimaro in midair, charring his right shoulder and tossing him twenty yards through the air and slamming him forcefully into the side of a brick building.

"Nice," commented Naruto from the alley. "He's using up a lot of chakra though."

Kakashi charged forward, hoping to catch Kimimaro before he had a chance to recover. Leaping into the air the Copy Nin flung a wave of shuriken to counter the skeletal missiles his enemy shot out, and performed another series of seals.

The air hissed and roared as a massive jet of flame rocketed from between Kakashi's hands towards Kimimaro. The General put up his arms to shield himself but the column of fire plowed into him like a freight train, sending Kimimaro tumbling along like a fish caught up in a strong current. The pillar of flame slammed into the same building and punched through the wall like a wrecking ball, carrying Kimimaro with it. Fiery tongues exploded out the windows and sent shrapnelized glass everywhere.

"Now to finish this," grunted Kakashi as his sharingan eye spun wildly. His hands were a blinding blur as they performed the set of necessary seals. "Augmented Mass!"

Kakashi pointed his hands toward the burning building and peered through his fingers at the weakened structure. A ripple of energy rolled through the air, impacting the building like a hurricane hits a palm tree, causing the edifice to shift backwards and buckle under some incredible weight.

_Four soldier pills and the Akimichi pepper pill, _thought Kakashi as the large building moaned and began to collapse. _I am going to feel this tomorrow, but it was worth it. Increasing the building's weight four-hundred fold will completely crush that bastard._

Kakashi grunted and another wave of energy rolled through the air just like the last one. This time however, when it struck the building, whereas before the structure shifted back almost sluggishly, the change was nearly instantaneous. In less than a split the whole building came completely apart. Every last brick separated from those around it as the mortar simply pulverized. The structure collapsed to the ground with a thunderous boom, and an earth-shaking rumble.

Sakura looked up from where she stood, over a duo of very dead Cloud Nin, and saw Kakashi standing victoriously on the rooftop as a column of dust and debris floated into the air.

"Kimimaro-Sama," one of the Kumo Nin muttered as all the rest stopped and followed Sakura's gaze. "Kimimaro-Sama is dead! Fall back! We need to regroup and retreat!"

A near panicked cry went up from the remainder of the Cloud Nin as they all began to turn around and run out of the city. Most had witnessed Kakashi's battle with their general, and all of them had seen the climax, but none were willing to face what they were quickly beginning to perceive as some kind of demon after seeing it all.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief, and nearly collapsed as he sat down on the roof to take a brief respite. Sakura appeared at his side quickly, asking if he was ok. Kakashi waved his hand dismissively, muttering that he was only a little fatigued from using so much chakra and that he wasn't injured.

"Where's Naruto?" asked Sakura. "He just disappeared after that Ninja shot him in the arm. Do you think he's all right?"

"Naruto's probably fine," said Kakashi. "He knows how to handle himself and I'm sure he took off to help elsewhere once he gathered that I had things under control here."

"But he just up and left me," said Sakura, her voice carrying a tone of despair.

Kakashi grimaced beneath his mask but didn't let it show. "Naruto wouldn't have left if he didn't think you were capable of taking care of the situation," said the Copy Nin. "You should take it as a compliment actually, if nothing else. Besides, there are people who need his help elsewhere in the village."

"Right," said Sakura, renewed just a bit. "Now there's only one front left to fight on and we need to go there to finish this. We may even run into him on the way."

"True," said Kakashi. "Let's go help Naruto."

"Actually," said a cold voice, "Neither of you will ever see him again."

Both Jounin turned and saw the rocks of the collapsed building shifting and tumbling down the mound of ruins. A single hand, white as a ghost, burst up from the stones, followed by a second arm. Kimimaro, covered in what looked to be plates of white metal, dragged himself up from the rubble and stood up straight, his armor clad tail shifting around in annoyance.

"I can secrete a liquid calcification from my skin, which hardens into a substance more durable than any material on earth," said Kimimaro through the wicked mask that covered his face. "If not for that, you would have had me Kakashi-san. I was impressed, but it looks like your time… and your chakra, just ran out."

From his hiding place, Naruto watched as Kimimaro leapt from his place among the rocks, a twisted white sword in his hand, and landed on the rooftop. He observed for just another moment to make sure things didn't go awry, then charged forward and raced through the streets at blinding speeds.

_Here's where I come in,_ thought the blonde, leaping up to the rooftop, finding Kakashi lying in a pool of blood about five yards from Kimimaro. Sakura was standing between the two Ninja, tears streaming down her hard face. As he was sailing through the air, Naruto held out his right hand and tapped the familiar red chakra. The fiery energy swirled in his hand like a maelstrom, drawing Kimimaro's gaze, and coalesced into a perfect sphere of pure and chaotic energy. "Rasangen!"

Kimimaro tried to dodge to the right, but Naruto read the simple maneuver and let a burst of chakra out of his feet, and intercepted the Sound general. He shoved the Rasangen into Kimimaro's chest. A sickening screech shredded the afternoon calm as the bone armor tried 

desperately to stave off the attack. Splinters of white began to rip away from the strange metal and Kimimaro, paralyzed by the energy rocketing through his body, was tossed around inside the shell like a rag doll, unable to do anything.

With a deafening shattering, the armor gave and Naruto's hand drove the Rasangen home. It dug into Kimimaro's chest, ripping apart his sternum, and drove his body into the roof of the building. The general's limbs shook convulsively but he refused to cry out. The swirling energy mass roared and pounded into Kimimaro's chest like a jack-hammer, vibrating the whole roof and tearing up shingles as far away as every corner of the building.

Then it was over.

Kimimaro stopped moving and the Rasangen faded along with all the noise it had brought. Naruto stepped back and surveyed the damages. He couldn't see the general's face, but it seemed obvious that Kimimaro was exceedingly dead.

"Naruto!" Sakura shrieked.

The blonde turned and saw the Kunoichi kneeling next to Kakashi, holding her hands over his torso and pumping wave after wave of chakra into the gash torn through his chest and left lung, trying to heal him with no results. The Copy-Nin was still gasping for air as Naruto rushed to his side and fell to his knees, forcing the tears to flow down his face in sorrow.

"Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto mumbled.

The Jounin opened his eye and looked up at Naruto and Sakura. He smiled beneath his mask, and took Sakura's hands in one of his, stopping her futile attempts to preserve his life. With his other hand, he reached out and firmly grasped Naruto's fist.

"I see I did the right thing when I made you Steward," said the Copy Nin to Sakura.

"Don't talk like that," said the Kunoichi through a veil of tears. "I can save you. I just need a little time to build up enough chakra and-"

"Don't be so cliché," said Kakashi. "You're above that. You know what's happening and that nothing anyone can do would buy me more than a minute or two… Sakura, you've grown up so much in the time I've known you. I'm proud to say that I was your teacher, and I hope I've made you proud to be my student. But now… I need a word alone with Naruto."

"Of course," said Sakura, the tears now flowing more freely and unchecked down her cheeks with every sobbing breath she took. "I've never been so proud of anyone in my whole life."

She got up and walked, trying and failing to hold her tears in, to the edge of the roof where she couldn't hear anything Kakashi or Naruto would say even if she had wanted to.

"Naruto," said Kakashi.

"Yes Sensei?" responded Naruto, now completely calm.

"That was a wonderful show you put on for Sakura," said the Copy Nin with a cheeky smile. "I've made arrangements. When Tsunade returns, you'll be given your choice of seventy of our best Ninja to form your personal strike force. I still don't approve of you manipulating Sakura like this, but I can see now that it's what you have to do. Especially now that I'm dead, you'll need someone to support your decisions, no matter how dark they may seem, and she's the girl to do it."

"You've done well Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto, his voice low and barely audible. "Sakura is just the woman for the job. Honestly, her feelings for me make her more fit to help me in my campaign than even you."

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi gasped, pain searing through his chest.

"I'm sorry I bailed on you and Sakura earlier, but I warned you that I was going to fight dirty, and you happened to be the one standing in Sakura's way to stewardship. Oh Kakashi-Sense, I'm sorry but saying that you'd stop me if I stepped out of line just made you too much of a threat. Don't worry though, I'll make sure to use your death to rally everyone to my cause. They'll all beg to help me destroy Orochimaru and his servants once they hear how they murdered you in cold blood."

Kakashi's eye went wide with realization and horror. "You… you somehow knew the invasion was coming? You warned no one, and then lead Sakura and the general straight to me so Sakura could take over once I was…"

"Shh," whispered Naruto, "Sleep now Kakashi-Sensei. You're part is done and you played your role heroically. I'll make sure your death seals my plans to forge a stainless world, a world without crime or pain. It's only a pity that you won't get to see it."

Kakashi was silent. His chest stopped heaving but the look of dread remained frozen on his face and his mask hid no details.

He was dead.

"I thought you should know," said Naruto as he reached out and closed his Sensei's eyes and then removed his forehead protector. He set the etched bit of metal and cloth over the Jounin's heart and stood up, pausing for a moment to force the tears to start dripping from his eyes, then walked over to stand behind Sakura.

"He's dead," said the Kunoichi. Her voice was spiritless.

"He is."

Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around herself as the tears stopped flowing and a fell wind blew in from the village, carrying with it the sound of battle from the East.

Naruto turned briefly back to look at Kakashi's body, only then noticing that indeed all he saw was Kakashi's corpse. The Sound general was gone.

_Damn it,_ Naruto mentally kicked himself. _Damn he was quiet… I knew I should have made good and sure he was dead… but it doesn't matter much now. Other than that everything is flowing perfectly. Kakashi's death may have been a recent addition to the plan but it should prove highly beneficial._

"I'm so sorry," said Naruto, reaching around Sakura and pulling her into a firm, but gentle embrace from behind. "I don't know what to do now… Kakashi was always a mentor… a guide and a wise man who I could always turn to. Without him I don't know where to go."

Sakura turned slowly in his arms. She looked up into his eyes, her own burning with passion. "Fight with me," she said, her voice like iron.

Naruto looked down into her sparkling green eyes and saw the fire there. "But…" he began until Sakura pressed a finger to his lips to silence him.

"We're going to take this fight to Orochimaru," said Sakura with an icy edge in her voice. "And you're going to be the one to lead the war. Tsunade will listen to me and give me the power to let you do whatever you need to, even if I have to drive a sword through her heart to make her. You're going to kill Orochimaru. I don't care how you do it, but you're going to kill that fucking snake."

"Sakura," said Naruto, his voice stronger now, but still unsure. "I don't know what to say."

A long pause passed around, but not between them. Naruto watched her mystique dissolve before his eyes, as her body loosened but began to shiver. Her eyes nearly closed once or twice as she teared up once again, but she forced herself not to look away from Naruto.

"Say I'll be yours," Sakura whispered, her own voice quieter now, but no less full of steel as an emotional wall she'd been building for three years suddenly collapsed. "Say that you'll have me by your side forever and I'll do whatever it takes to ensure that you'll have more power than a Hokage could ever dream of. That is what all great men want right, power?"

"Only to destroy the evil that plagues this world," said Naruto. "Our world is infested by Orochimaru and his brood. I want to cleanse it, but I can't do it alone…"

"Then say that I can be yours for the rest of eternity. Say that you'll let me follow you to hell or heaven or wherever you go, and I'll help you purge this world of whatever you think needs to be wiped out."

Naruto slid his hand up the back of Sakura's neck, running his fingers through her hair, and turned her head up so she couldn't look away from him. "Do you really want to do all this for me?" he asked quietly, leaning in just a bit. "Help me change the world into a shining place without evil no matter what the cost?"

"I've wanted to ever since you came back," she groaned, feeling herself melting away as she closed her eyes. "I've been dying to do whatever it takes since you left. Let me stop pretending now. If you want to cleanse the world, I'll put everything through a trial by fire for you. If you want to destroy the world, I'll tear it all down with my bare hands for you…"

_She really has been lonely,_ Naruto noted._ I'd bet my life that the affection she was fostering for me before I left turned into a full obsession. She must have fooled herself into thinking that I'd come back, accept her on a whim, and we'd live together for the rest of our life…_

"It will be a long, slow process," said Naruto, "a lot of people are going to die and even more are going to be hurt. No one will get out of this unscathed… not you, not me, no one. Are you really willing to go to whatever lengths it takes?"

"Anything," said Sakura. She could feel her heart thumping faster and faster, pushing the hot blood through her. "Whatever it takes, I'm beside you the whole way."

"Sakura," he whispered, his breath caressing her parted lips as he stepped closer and ever so gently brushed her lips with his, "Help me build a shining world."

She didn't answer, but found the strength to hold her head up and close the gap in the kiss.

_Sakura,_ Naruto thought,_ you may be getting ahead of yourself, letting yourself believe you can become that particular part of my life, but nonetheless, you will become the vanguard of a new world. You're the one who's going to be the conduit for everything I'm going to do…_

"Naruto…" she groaned, feeling his hand sliding down her back.

* * *

AN: Oh boy. Please don't kill me!


	38. Setting the Beat

AN: Wow, I ... People hate me. Why does Kakashi strike such a chord with everyone? Oh well.

Read, Review, Enjoy!

* * *

Setting the Beat

Naruto felt Sakura's breath quicken as he pulled back just enough to separate his lips from hers. She followed him; but he slid one hand up her back again gently took some of her hair in-between his fingers, making sure not to pull but simply hold her in place. When Sakura felt that she couldn't prolong the touch, she opened her eyes and stared up at him. She was smiling.

"Is that a yes?" she asked in a whisper, her green eyes sparkling.

Naruto didn't respond for a minute, weighing exactly what he should say.

"I need you," he said quietly, the words sending wonderful little chills down Sakura's spine. "Though right now there's still so much work that has to be done. One thing in particular requires your special touch."

"Anything," said Sakura, letting go of most of her weight and pressing in against him. She felt his arm tighten around her waist as his hand released her hair.

"If you feel well enough," Naruto began, "I need you to go to Chouji. Tell his men to go on the offensive and take the fight to the enemy's camp in the forest. If they hurry they can catch Oto off guard with minimal casualties and crush the camp now that their general has been gravely wounded. We need to finish this fight before we lose too many more men or we won't have the resources to attack the other villages. After that, I want you to fall back into the city and do what you can to hunt down any straggling enemies."

"Consider it done," said Sakura, not letting go of him. "Where will you be?"

Naruto grinned. "I'm going after a somewhat bigger game."

"The Kumo camp?" Sakura guessed.

"That's the idea," said Naruto. "I'll drive them off, and then, if Chouji hasn't finished with the weakened Oto forces, I'll make my way to help him crush the bastards."

Naruto released his grip on her, and Sakura let her hands drop to her sides as she continued to look up at him. "I don't need to tell you to be careful, do I?" she asked smiling.

Naruto forced a convincing grin, then taking her chin in his fingers, leaned in and trailed a kiss up and along her jaw line. The quick, light motion gave her goosebumps. "I'll be fine," he whispered in her ear. "Just make sure that you stay safe."

"Can do," said the Kunoichi, trying to remember to breathe this time.

"Good," said Naruto, stepping back and disappearing in a whirling blur of rushing wind.

_I've got to be dreaming…_ thought Sakura, despite the situation.

SC

"But first," said the blonde Ninja, materializing at the end of a dark alley, nearly halfway across the village from where he left Sakura, "a little business to attend to."

He reached into the folds of his tight black vest, and after sifting around for a moment, produced a small, white piece of paper that had been folded in half several times. Flicking his wrist, Naruto opened up the note, and then began scanning through the hastily scrawled penmanship.

"Two-thirds of a league West of Konoha," the blonde read to himself, letting the hand holding the paper fall to his side. He snapped his fingers and the scrap of note instantly caught fire and disappeared in a puff of black, pungent smoke.

In a flash, Naruto was gone again, running through the now deserted streets of Konoha. He leapt quickly and easily over the bodies of nameless warriors Chouji's secondary guards had piled up in the street and continued, uninterrupted on his way to the breach in the Western Wall.

_If I ever happen to see Sasuke again,_ thought the blonde, _I'll have to remember to thank him for warning me about the invasion before I kill him. And to think that at first I almost didn't trust that Shadow Clone he sent the other day. It's a good thing I found it before someone else did… otherwise things might have been considerably less favorable._

The crumbled ruins of the Western wall passed underneath Naruto like a graveyard as he sailed over them and rushed out into the small field that separated Konoha from the dense forest beyond. The trickle of Kumo Nin had ceased completely, and all throughout the field there were nothing but a few dozen dead bodies that marked where Kakashi had earlier ventured beyond the walls to strike at the Cloud ranks from behind.

_They must have totally panicked,_ thought Naruto. _I'll bet that once they saw Kakashi's fight with their leader that they just scattered and ran away. Still, it wouldn't be wise to go on recklessly._

Naruto ran forward, quickly but cautiously, scanning the fast approaching trees for any signs of danger. The wall of the forest slapped around him as he darted into the trees and began fighting through the underbrush. The Amber sword was shimmering like a golden icicle in his hand as he wove between the massive trees.

With a grunt the Jounin leapt up into canopy high overhead and began jogging through the branches silently, scanning the forest floor for any Ninja so unfortunate as to have gotten themselves into a spot where he could catch them. There weren't any signs of battle or even of human presence as he passed about the treetops. His nerves began to wear.

_Patience,_ he told himself. _You'll get there soon enough and there's no need to hurry. Chouji is more than capable of handling things from here, and even if he's not then that's only one more minor annoyance I'll have to clean up._

With a scattering of leaves Naruto broke through the canopy and rushed out into the empty air over a clearing. He dropped to the ground, nearly a hundred feet below and landed, crouched and unharmed with a quiet 'thud.' He knew he was exactly where he needed to be, two thirds of a league West from Konoha, but only the grass stirred as he landed. The clearing was full of tents and small circles of rock marking long dead cooking fires, but no people to speak of. It was as silent as anywhere in the forest.

"How odd," Naruto muttered, walking down one of the evenly spaced rows of pup-tents bedded down in the tall field-grass. "No body's home I guess."

He picked one tent at random and crouched down next to it, peering inside. He reached in and dragged out three bedrolls, each one overlapping on the one next to it, and set them out on the grass. Next he removed a small carry-bag from one corner of the tent.

"They must've been in some kind of hurry," said Naruto, dropping the contents of the bag on the ground and sifting through it, "to have left this behind."

In the bag were all the standard items one would expect to be in a Ninja's survival kit: a small first aid kit, half a week's supply of soldier pills, sewing materials, spare kunai, and a bag of shuriken… But one item in particular, a small, leather bound book, caught the blonde's attention. He pulled out the book and flipped through its blank pages.

"Damn," he muttered. "Not one note, nothing. No clues."

He tossed the book aside, stood up and started to walk away. But he stopped and looked back at the miniature volume. _It's just a dumb book of blank pages,_ he told himself, looking away. _But there could be some secret,_ he responded to himself looking back towards the book. _Or it could just be an empty waste of space,_ he retorted. _Then again it could hold some kind of hint to the Cloud's plans,_ he argued, walking back to the tent, picking up the book and slipping it into the folds of his augmented ANBU suit. _But I'm not going to waste time sifting through blank pages that are really blank._

Naruto's head snapped to the left and he jerked down, crouching in the tall grass as a rustling off to his side caught his attention. He could see nothing through the grass but he smelled blood. There was someone there. In a rapid series of seals Naruto cast a quick and simple jutsu to muffle his tread as he snuck through the grass towards the source of the sound.

"Shit," he heard someone mutter. "Where is everyone…?"

Naruto reached out and separated the grass with his hands. There, not a whole foot from his fingertips, stood a Kumo Nin, frantically looking about the camp.

"Haruka-Sensei!" called the Ninja, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hands. "Haruka-Sensei! It's me Kakmaro, are you out there!"

Naruto could practically feel the panic in the young Ninja's voice. _This is going to be too easy,_ thought the blonde, reaching up and putting his hand over his forehead protector. A little bit of chakra and some silent movement underneath his palm quickly erased the Leaf Insignia, leaving the metal plate blank and smooth as glass.

Without any sound at all, Naruto lay back in the grass and sheathed his sword across his back. He pulled a flap fabric sewn into his uniform up from his collar which he tied around his face above the nose to conceal his features. He spread his hands out in the field and closed his eyes.

"Hey kid," Naruto muttered, his voice raspy and aching. "Kid!"

Kakmaro jumped at the sudden breaking of the calm and whirled around, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a kunai. "Who's there!" he shouted, a bead of sweat rolling off his forehead and dripping onto his white-knuckled fists. "Show yourself!"

"I'm right here," groaned Naruto. "What's going on? Who are you?"

The short, but well proportioned Kumo Nin stepped cautiously forward and stared down at the dangerous looking man laying face up in the grass. "Who are you?" he asked, making no effort to hide his fear as he pointed the knife towards Naruto in a threatening posture. Naruto grinned beneath his mask, amused by his would-be attacker.

"I'm one of the mercenaries the Raikage hired for this raid," said Naruto. "Last thing I remember was charging into Konoha from the breach in the wall, getting nailed in the chest by some kind of energy wave, then waking up here. What's going on? Where are the rest of the men?"

Kakmaro didn't move and his face didn't relax. Still more sweat condensed on his features as he continued to hold the knife at Naruto. "I don't believe you," he said. "All the mercenaries were killed in the first wave. They were the first ones in and that silver haired Ninja killed them. How did you survive?"

"I thought I was dead," Naruto explained. "My unit was part of the group that was ordered to attack the city. We charged in and got a ways into the city before we ran into the guard and things went bad." Naruto clutched at his side and groaned. "Something hit me hard and I went down as the rest of my unit was retreating. I think they carried me back here."

Still Kakmaro didn't move.

"I'm not going to bite, kid," said Naruto, seeing that the Ninja couldn't be older than twelve, thirteen at the most. "My name's Burondo. What's yours?"

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Naruto groaned again, this time as much out of exasperation as out of thespianism. "Look, if you don't believe me then kill me, but I'm struggling to breathe, and half paralyzed laying in the middle of the abandoned Cloud base with a blank forehead protector and a pouch of coins that your Kage, that's the Raikage gave me as payment to attack Konoha. There's nothing I can do to prove I'm not really lying, but I'm asking for your help. Now will you please help me up?"

It was a very juvenile trick, but Kakmaro seemed to be a juvenile Ninja, and Naruto expected that he would quickly fall for the façade.

Slowly, very slowly, Kakmaro bent down and put away the knife. His raven hair drooped down beneath his eyebrows as he grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled him up to his feet. "I'm Kakmaro, a Cloud Genin" he said, wrapping Naruto's arm around his shoulder to support the badly injured Mercenary.

"Kakmaro," said Naruto, shifting a little more of his weight onto the Ninja and limping on one leg. "Where do you think everyone is?"

"I'm not sure," said the Kumo Nin hesitantly. "But Sensei said that if the mission went badly that he was going to give the order for everyone to retreat to the Alpha-Site."

"Alpha-Site?" probed Naruto as he and Kakmaro began to stumble off towards the edge of the woods. "I never got orders concerning anything like that…"

"It's where we attacked from," said the Cloud Nin. "We gathered our forces there and established an underground bunker about a month ago where we could send out raids against Konoha."

_Perfect,_ thought Naruto, beaming beneath the mask. _But how did our spies miss activity like that? No matter, this way I get an even bigger prize._

"How many of us do you think are there, Kakmaro-San?"

The black haired Ninja shrugged, eliciting a feigned groan of discomfort from Naruto. "Whatever's left of the army plus the garrison, I think. Raikage-Sama ordered two-thirds of the whole Kumo army to mass at the Alpha-Site, and from there two hundred Ninja were left as a garrison to hold the bunker. I don't know for sure but I think that there's probably between four and five hundred Ninja there."

"So we should be safe?" Naruto asked worry in his voice.

"Probably," said the Genin. "Haruka-Sensei said that the bunker is the safest place for us outside of Kumo. It's completely sealed off from the world with only one way in that only opens inwards and one way out that only open to the outside. It's a complete secret."

"Where's the entrance?" asked the blonde. "My unit was brought in just in time for the battle and I've never heard of this bunker. I think they were all expecting the mercenaries to be the first group wiped out."

"It's about a mile West by North West of here," said Kakmaro, grimacing.

_How fortunate_ thought the Konoha Ninja as the two of them reached a large tree.

"Hold on," Naruto groaned. "I need to rest for a minute."

"Alright," said Kakmaro, setting Naruto easily against the trunk. "But we should hurry, I don't want to be anywhere near here when Konoha recovers and comes looking for us."

Naruto nodded. "Just need to catch my breath a bit. Whatever his me really knocked me cold… by the way, how are we going to know where to the entrance to the bunker is?"

"Haruka-Sensei said the camouflaged door was set in a large oak tree and that the right tree would have a green ribbon strung somewhere in its lower branches. How are you feeling Burondo-San?"

"Better now," said Naruto, making an effort to breathe harder than he normally would. "I'll be ready in just a minute."

Kakmaro glanced warily around the camp from the edge of the clearing, not noticing as Naruto silently stood up behind him.

SC

"Well I hope this was worth all the trouble," Naruto mumbled, pacing around the base of the massive oak growing beside a small river. He glanced up at the small green ribbons tied into the lower branches, nearly laughing at how easily he would have missed them if he weren't looking for them.

Naruto did a lap around the tree, finding the door-shaped indentation quickly. He decided he was in no real rush and walked to the nearby water-bank kneeling down by the river and washing his hands in the flow. He rubbed the crimson from his skin and watched as it wafted downstream.

"Now to work," said the Ninja, walking back to the door and pressing his palm to the rough, bark-like exterior. He pressed against the door to test its strength, then pulled back when a brown seal activated and held the door stiffly shut on hidden hinges. Naruto pressed more forcefully and the seal glowed more brightly.

_Well fine then,_ thought the blonde, readjusting his mask and pressing both hands against the door. "Kai," he grunted, pumping a sudden burst a chakra into the door. The seal glowed bright purple and sparked, then disappeared in a flash of red energy. The door swung open revealing a broad stair that spiraled down into a black well.

Naruto stepped forward, feeling around with his left hand for a rail to guide him down. When he found a bit of rope strung between two poles that acted as the guardrail on the open end of the stairs, Naruto reached out with his right hand and shut the door, sealing himself in the blackness, and deciding that it would be best not to create any light that might give him away.

Step by step he silently began descending the well. It was absolutely lightless and Naruto had to test his footing before every move he made. There were no torches on the wall, no lamps hanging from the ceiling, nothing. _This is rather strange, _thought Naruto, after nearly slipping on an uneven step. _One would think a passage like this would be well lit so the troops using it wouldn't slip and hurt themselves… are they trying to avoid giving off any kind of energy or heat signature?_

Abruptly, Naruto came to a landing after he'd counted one hundred and three steps. Exploring it with shuffling steps he determined that he had indeed come to the bottom of the well. Three of the landing's walls were perfectly smooth and on the wall directly opposite the base of the stairs, a heavy wooden door with a rusted iron latch stood closed.

Naruto tested the latch, making out that he could get it open silently if he was careful, and began to slowly pull on the handle. The door creaked once, settling, and he stopped, then began to pull again more lethargically. As soon as the tiniest crease appeared in the wall, a stream of dim light poured into the blackness and Naruto inched his face closer to the crack and peered through.

Beyond the door, which was nearly eight inches thick, Naruto could see what looked like a checkpoint, a large room, devoid of any furniture except a desk along the far wall, beside yet another door that Naruto assumed lead into the main complex. Sitting at the desk was a single man dressed in tan fatigues, on whose sides stood five Ninja wearing black outfits and Kumo forehead protectors. None of the other Ninja seemed to have noticed that Naruto was watching them from a miniscule crack in the door.

_Perhaps it would be best if I didn't cause a ruckus just yet, _Naruto mused, kneeling down and pressing both of his hands to the floor. _Poison will work just as well as power._ A dim, almost imperceptible red haze began to form around Naruto and seep into the floor. Carefully, the blonde pumped more and more of the gaseous energy into the ground and guided it beneath the Ninja in the other room. After a few moments he had a massive store of the demonic chakra hidden away beneath its soon to be victims, and Naruto began to loosen his grip on the energy. It lost its color and started floating up.

When he felt that he'd distributed enough of it through the room, Naruto sat back and waited, giving up control of the now invisible energy and feeling it seep up through the floor and pervade the room like a mist. He watched and suppressed a grin as the first of the Ninja shivered upon feeling the demonic energy. Within a minute they'd begun to talk amongst themselves. One threw up on the floor, his stomach convulsing and his face raked by sickly expressions. To Naruto it was obvious they had no idea what was going on.

The Nin in the tan clothes had just gotten up when one of the Ninja in black fell to the ground and wretched once. The other Ninjas rushed to his side as Naruto began to reach out with invisible chakra and concentrate all of the deadly energy around those gathered by the body. They all fell to the ground after just one breath and stopped moving.

A panicked yelp went up from the Nin in tan as all of the demonic energy rushed to where he stood and condensed into hazy red cloud surrounding his face. He fell to the ground almost immediately, his eyes running red from bursting blood vessels.

Naruto stood up and opened the door fully, strolling silently out into the checkpoint room. He passed by the dead bodies and the desk, making sure that all of the eleven Ninja were indeed dead, and upon confirming that, reached out and took hold of the intricately carved handle on the door.

Explosion

The heavy door exploded in a cloud of shrapnel that peppered Naruto's face and arms with flecks of wood. Searing pain shot through his body as he flew back. Ten holes were ripped through his chest as some unknown missiles, red hot and moving at supersonic speeds passed through him effortlessly.

Naruto collapsed to the ground several yards away, blood pulsing from the wounds punched into his body, and clutched at his torso. He had no idea how extensive the damage was, but he could feel hot liquid flooding his lungs. Naruto tried to roll to his feet, but his body was in such shock he merely flopped once on the ground, landing on his stomach. His legs pistoned one time before his chest heaved and he spat up a mouthful of blood.

An icy cold wrapped around Naruto's neck, nearly crushing his larynx, and lifted him off the ground. The bony hand's nails were sharp as knives and dug into the flesh around the back of Naruto's throat. The blonde opened his eyes enough to see a pale face framed by white hair staring back at him.

"Uzumaki Naruto," said the Sound General as footsteps filled the room and dozens of Ninja in black masks rushed in around Naruto and his assailant. "My name is Kaguya Kimimaro. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"You?" Naruto gasped, the single word belching up more blood from his flooded lungs. "An ambush?"

"You're too easy," said Kimimaro, as a thin spine slithered out of his hand. "I'd thought getting you here would be a challenge, and then to reveal yourself so plainly with that chakra earlier… You walked right into it. Though it is a shame I had to sacrifice Kakmaro to you. He was so trusting."

"Bastard," growled Naruto, pumping chakra into his wounds, closing them up. "Son of Gaah!"

Kimimaro had barely flickered, but his hand was pressed up against Naruto's stomach, a thin bone with a razor sharp point protruded from the blonde's back. Blood was pouring from the fresh wound. The Kaguya grinned.

Kimimaro's arm began to flash forward and back as he reared around, and slammed the bony spine into Naruto's chest, ripped it out, and plunged it back in again, a dozen times in a split second. Naruto barely felt the piercing. It was actually far less painful than when the hilt of Kimimaro's weapon (the butt of his palm from which the spine extended) rammed into his chest or stomach.

A sinking sensation began to overtake Naruto's thoughts and make his mind hazy as the blood rolled out of the wounds and congealed on the floor in a puddle all around the blonde Jounin. Kimimaro didn't grin now, but just stepped back, still slashing and jabbing at Naruto, to move his exposed toes out of the red pool. Every other Ninja in the room watched with guarded satisfaction as the Champion Leaf Nin was nearly hacked to pieces.

"How much of this shit do you have in you?" asked Kimimaro, stopping his attack and looking down at the large puddle on the floor. "And how much more can you take I wonder?" The Kaguya let one side of his lip twitch up as two more bones protruded from his wrist.

_Ram, boar, serpent, horse, _Naruto thought, his left hand twitching at his side. _Please work one-handed…_ _RAT!_

The crimson pool around the Kaguya's feet swirled instantly turning dark brown. "What?" was all Kimimaro could gasp, before he was driven back and up into the air as a mud-colored spike shot out of the swarthy blood pool and rammed into the General's shoulder. Kimimaro's grip on Naruto slipped and the blonde collapsed to the ground as the General rocketed back, the spike ripping through his shoulder and continuing on its path out the other side, carrying the general with it.

Kimimaro only stopped when the spike, nearly twenty feet long, buried itself in the far wall and pinned him to it. He clutched at the spear and jerked wildly, trying desperately to get it out. "Fire!" yelled the Kaguya. "It's fiery! Cut it off!"

The room fell into chaos. No sooner had Kimimaro been pinned, than had four more spikes raced out of the puddle and impaled four more vulnerable Ninja, thrusting them against the wall and holding them unwaveringly. One had been skewered straight through his throat and was now helplessly convulsing, gasping for air as his feet kicked nearly a meter off the ground. Another was unlucky enough to have been hit in the groin and now hung upside down against the wall like a mounted trophy, flailing and screaming out in pain and hate.

A sword-like bone punched through Kimimaro's hand as the General hacked at the thin pillar holding him fast to the wall. The blade sunk halfway into the spine and Kimimaro chopped at it again, breaking it. He fell to the ground, landing gracefully even under the circumstances and looked around.

"Goddamn it!" he growled. "That little bastard."

Naruto was gone.

"He can only get out from the other exit!" Kimimaro shouted, "block it off and capture him! No, Kill Him!"

All of the Ninja in black who weren't bleeding out against the wall raced out of the room through the shambles of the door Kimimaro had shattered. Some were silent as the moved, while others shouted orders or curses.

_Clever Naruto, very clever, _thought the Kaguya. _You knew your regenerative abilities would sustain you until you'd readied your distraction. And, if it weren't for Kabuto-San's sharing his own abilities with me… _Kimimaro removed his hand from his shoulder, revealing that any evidences of Naruto's attack were gone; _I might have been killed by it too._

The Kaguya took off running, hands behind him and feet silently navigating the path ahead, into the complex. For several minutes, until Naruto was sure that no one was around, the entry room was silent aside from the dull moanings of the last Ninja left, alive, pinned to the wall.

Once that man stopped his complaining and died, most likely of blood loss, Naruto let the first layer of the Genjutsu dissipate; unveiling the three seals he'd quickly smeared on the ground in blood. After that he dropped the second layer, revealing the two shadow clones who were casting a moderately powerful concealing technique on Naruto himself. Naruto then dispelled the clones, on whose strength the inaudibility seals were drawing. The last of the Genjutsu was gone and Naruto stood visible exactly where Kimimaro had dropped him.

"Holy shit," Naruto groaned, collapsing against the heavy, one-way door at the entrance of the complex. "Kimimaro's a regenerator just like that Kabuto bastard? No wonder he survived the Rasangen…"

The blonde reached up and wiped some of the blood smeared hair out of his eyes and rubbed his neck. _I can heal these wounds all day long, _he mused, relieved that he'd already recovered from Kimimaro's vicious assault, _but I'll eventually overuse the demonic chakra and then it's over… I've got to get out of here._

SC

"We wiped the bastards out!" Chouji's victorious bellow carried all throughout the forest, ringing like a massive bell, deep and loud. "Don't ease up on them!" he shouted as the eighty Konoha Ninja raced around him, pursuing the broken and fleeing Sound army, pushing them farther from Konoha by the second, "Run them to the river and then drive them into it!"

The Akimichi Lieutenant rumbled through the woods like a tank, faster than anyone his size should have been able to move. He rushed to the head of the ranks, and leapt on top of a straggling sound Nin like a tiger, driving him to the ground and crushing his skull under a heavy metal boot.

"A good day's work," said the Lieutenant, stopping for a breath and a look around. The woods were echoing with explosions and battle cries. He'd been skeptical when Sakura arrived with orders to go on the offensive, but it was plain as day to him now that it had been a brilliant maneuver. _Going up against superior numbers with more skilled warriors gave us a chance to plunge straight into the heart of the army, _thought Chouji, glancing over his shoulder at the completely ruined Sound base in which he stood.

"Chouji-San," said Sakura, appearing beside the guard. "What's the status of the battle?"

The Guard turned around grinning. "We've completely broken the enemy," he proudly announced. "There was minor resistance at first, but once we killed a few of their better warriors, the rest of them just started to scatter like frightened birds."

"Good," said Sakura, "Naruto will be pleased."

"Speaking of which, where is our newest Jounin?" asked Chouji. "I thought he would have wanted to be here for a victory this grand."

"He was going to go take care of the Kumo base," said Sakura. "He's probably already wiped them out."

"He went alone?" asked Chouji.

"Yes, why?"

"Don't you think that might have been kind of foolish? After all, he is only one man," the Guard said.

"Careful," said Sakura, an edge creeping into her voice. "Naruto may be just one man but he's quite easily the most powerful Ninja in Konoha."

"I meant no offense," said Chouji, detecting her mood. "I merely meant to say that I'm surprised you didn't go with him; just in case something went wrong. Even the most powerful can get caught off guard. Even the worst Ninja among us can get lucky once in a while, and in battle it only takes one mistake or one slip up."

"I think he'll be fine," said Sakura, the iron-clad confidence beginning to fade from her voice.

"You're probably right," said Chouji. "But if you'll excuse me, I have an enemy to exterminate."

"Dismissed," said the Steward.

Chouji nodded and charged back off towards the now distant sounds of fighting, while Sakura stood in the forest and pondered. _I don't even know where the Kumo base is, _she thought, _Damn I should've asked Naruto before he left… then again I was a little… distracted at the time being. Well, there's no way to help now. I might as well go back to Konoha and clean things up there. We've won here anyway._

For her whole run back to the Hidden Leaf Village, Sakura's stomach was busy tying itself in knots while she worried about Naruto. When she cleared the forest and neared the village, her gaze instantly snapped to a group of about fifty Ninja standing atop the rubble of the ruined wall. She recognized the man at the head of the column: Jiraiya. He looked furious and horrified.

SC

"That goddamn fucker!" roared the Sanin in red. "He took full advantage of his superior numbers to attack Konoha while Tsunade and I were fighting in Suna!"

Sakura shifted her weight uneasily; she'd never seen Jiraiya angry before, much less incensed like this. "It's better than it looks," said the Steward. "The battle's already won. Chouji's guards cleared out the city and wiped the Oto base off the map. Even and as we speak Naruto is dealing with Kumo. We've suffered minimal losses and dealt a severe blow to the enemy."

"Some good news at least," said the Sanin crossing his arms. "It seems like things here might have gone better than they did at Suna… But you mentioned that Kakashi was dead."

"Yes," muttered Sakura. "Kakashi-Sensei is… dead, but he didn't die meaninglessly. He and Naruto killed the Sound General. And alone Kakashi held off most of the Kumo Nin. He was instrumental in our victory here."

"We'll all miss him," Jiraiya said solemnly. "But we don't have time to mourn him now. I need to debrief you and some of the other Jounin on the situation that unfolded in Suna. Things have taken a turn for the worse. Where's Naruto?"

"Like I said," replied Sakura, "He's dealing with the Kumo Ninja."  
"When did he leave?" asked Jiraiya.

"About half an hour ago."

"He should have been back by now," said the Sanin to himself. "Did he say where the Cloud base was?"

"I… neglected to ask him," said the Steward.

"Shit, we have to find him," Jiraiya cursed. "He might be in trouble… But I don't see anything we can do for him except send out scouts and a party to look. Sakura, I'll head out to look for him and collect anyone I run into along the way. You stay here and finish cleaning up this mess. You know what to do."

"Yes sir," said the Kunoichi.

"Good," Jiraiya muttered, turning to the column of troops following him. "You men are under Sakura's direct command until I get back."

A simultaneous 'yes sir' went up from the Ninja and without further word, Jiraiya ran off towards the forest.

"He sure is in a combat mode," said Sakura, her mind plagued by a suddenly more acute fear for Naruto's safety.

_Please be all right, _the Kunoichi begged.

* * *

AN: Review Please!


	39. Even Ground

AN: Hooray! Another Chapter! Ok, here you go.

* * *

Even Ground

"Post an additional twenty men along the breach," said Sakura, waving her hand towards the tremendous hole gaping in Konoha's Northern Wall. "If those sound bastards come back I don't want them getting through. You there, get off your lazy ass and work!" the Kunoichi shouted at a man leaning against a boulder, snapping him to.

The scene of the recent battle buzzed with activity. Already Sakura had ordered the noncombatants and the civilians to leave the shelters and begin a damage assessment throughout the village. It had been less than an hour since Sakura took up control of the situation after Jiraiya left to find Naruto, but already the Steward had forcefully settled herself into her position, breaking out squads of laborers to the breaches in the wall to clear away rubble. The air was already filling with a cloud of debris stirred up by the workers.

Survey teams had appeared and were setting up instruments and mapping out charts on hastily constructed work stations, writing down notes about the damage on pages of dust covered parchment: all by Sakura's order.

"Yes ma'am," replied Chouji, his heavy plate armor clanking as he and Sakura walked along the road running parallel to the collapsed wall.

"Have the teams of your guards searched through all the houses around the battlegrounds?" asked Sakura.

Chouji nodded. "Every last one of the houses in the North and West sectors has been searched and cleared and my men are quickly making their way through the center and spreading down into the Southern sector. There were only a few remnants of the Cloud or Sound armies. The village is clean."

"Good," Sakura said, her face relaxing only slightly. "But keep your teams on constant watch. We can't afford any slip-ups. I want you to redouble the patrols. And if you can find him, arrange for your engineer friend to begin reconstruction on our fortifications as soon as possible. I want this wall back up within a two and a half months." Sakura's gait quickened. She began taking strides that were longer and longer as she barked out orders; passing a ninja here and commanding him to straighten up on his patrol, or spotting a cluster of guards and ordering them to move along with their duties.

"I'll have him get right on it," said Chouji, keeping pace with the smaller Steward. "But the wall took almost four months to repair the first time. I doubt we can mend all this damage in seven or eight weeks. Plus there's all the damage to the city that we didn't have to repair during the first Sound invasion. It will take a lot of manpower, Sakura." Chouji looked around at the broken and battered buildings lining the street.

Without missing a beat, Sakura slowed just enough for Chouji to walk directly beside her. "Manpower isn't a problem Chouji," said Sakura. "We have thousands of people here who are perfectly capable of working."

"People have lives," countered the guard. "Everything you want done is going to require a masses people to give up a lot of their time. And they're not going to want to work for free. Don't you think money will be an issue?"

Sakura stopped walking and closed her eyes. Pinching the bridge of her nose she spoke calmly, though her posture was a bit rigid. "Chouji, I think you're missing something very, very important here."

"Oh?" asked the Lieutenant, noting just how much Sakura resembled Tsunade.

Sakura turned to him and set her hands out at her sides, palms open. "We're at war," said the Steward.

Chouji blinked once.

"Things are going to be a little different from now on," Sakura intoned. "First of all, people are going to have to realize that, while they may have a life outside of taking care of the village, if they want to continue to live that life happily, or at all for that matter, they will be required to give up some of their free time to make sure the village survives. In war people have to make sacrifices for the higher good."

"What about payment?" asked Chouji. "People aren't going to work for free."

"You've completely missed it," said Sakura. "Money won't become an issue because we'll tell the people that they're being paid with security."

"I don't get it," muttered the guard.

"Chouji, I respect you and all that you do for Konoha, but you have to work with me here," said Sakura. "I don't have time to explain this step by step."

"Summarize," said Chouji.

"Fine… The Ninja protect the village. The village protects the people. The people provide resources for the Ninja. It's a nice little triangle of economic and militaristic stability. The village is not going to pay the people to maintain it when the village is the one already protecting the people."

The guard thought for a second. "I see," said Chouji. "It's like the village is paying the people to keep it running by having then Ninja keep them safe. It would be like paying the people twice if it compensated them with money for maintaining it."

"Exactly," said Sakura.

"People aren't going to like it you know."

"The public aren't going to like a lot of things," said the Steward, "But they're going to put up with some temporary inconveniencies; if they want to continue living in a place like Konoha where they'll be able to maintain as much freedom as possible."

Sakura resumed walking; Chouji on her heels, and strode up to one of the tables set around the site. All four men clustered around the wooden work-station looked up from the dusty charts, graphs, and maps that had been hastily drawn up.

"Busy gentlemen?" asked Sakura, putting her hands on the table and leaning on it a bit, her face fixing on them one by one.

"Not so much that we can't speak with you ma'am," said one of the men, evidently the head of the group.

"Good," said the Steward. "Status report."

They looked around at one another for a moment before the leader turned his head back to Sakura. "Well," he stammered, "We've not had time to properly assess the situation just yet, but we're one of the teams called in to survey and estimate how much material will be necessary to rebuild this particular section of the breach and how long it will take to gather all of the supplies. We're handling part of the logistics basically."

"And there are seven teams like yours out here, right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And what do you calculate your section will take to rebuild?"

The head of the group hesitated for just a second, unsure how to respond to the steely woman before him. "Well, our conservative estimates are about eighty metric tons of triple reinforced concrete for the foundation, and nearly four-hundred metric tons of stone for the actual wall, given what we've seen here. But all those estimates are really quite preliminary." He sounded nervous.

"And?" the Steward probed, raising one eyebrow.

"And," the man continued hesitantly, a bead of sweat forming on his sun-battered forehead. "We're estimating that it will take approximately nine weeks, give or take a few days, to acquire the resources." A silence fell over everything. Sakura looked down at the maps and charts, not really going over the numbers or figures, but staring intently enough at them that everyone got the impression she was running them through her head. She looked up.

"You have twenty-eight days," said Sakura without any feeling in her voice, not dropping her gaze from the man's eyes. "Have all the materials assembled on site for construction to begin by then, and I'm holding your team personally responsible for any failure to do so."

"… what?" the head of the group stuttered. "Twenty-eight days? There's no way we-"

"And spread the word to the other teams," said the Steward, interrupting him. "I want every last scrap of rock we need to complete these projects inside this village within twenty-eight days, or there will be Hell to pay." She was calm. There was no malice in her words; only fact.

"But ma'am," said the man, his face paling, as the other workers around the table grumbled and droned amongst themselves "It would take an act of fate to gather all that."

"Then hope fate is on our side," said Sakura, looking around and then up at him; speaking quietly but forcefully. "Because the Sound Alliance isn't."

The men around the table just looked at her dumbly.

"The Sound Alliance attacked us twice," said the Kunoichi, her voice rising slowly as she stood up straight. "They're more than capable of doing it again. Those Sound bastards are relentless; they want to kill you… and the one thing standing between them and you is what you're going to help us build here. If you don't pick up the slack, it will end up costing you and everyone else in the village their lives. Think about that for a second."

Everyone was silent.

_She hasn't changed a bit, _thought Chouji. _Still pushy, demanding, and cold._

"Understand?" asked the Steward. "You're not just doing this because it's your job. You're doing this for the sake of not only yourself but everyone else in this village."

"Yes sir," said the man slowly in a low but firm tone, looking down from her eyes at the charts on the table. The shadow of his dark hair fell over his eyes as his hands clamped hard on the edge of the table. "I'll make it happen."

"Thank you," said Sakura, her voice veiled with approval. "Make it happen and spread the word to all of the other collection teams: twenty-eight days at the very latest."

The man looked up at her, iron in his eyes. "Twenty-eight days is the very latest. My team will have it in half that if we can," his voice and face were both edged with anxiety and a silent dread, but also with resolve. "We won't stop until our part is done."

Sakura smiled just a little and nodded, then turned around and left the table. No sooner had she walked a few paces, than she heard the voices of the men start up again as they poured over the charts with fresh motive, seeking desperately to trim precious hours and minutes from the collection time. One of the men, under instruction from the head of the group, literately ran from the table towards another work station, where he quickly relayed Sakura's orders.

"That went well," said Chouji, catching up to Sakura and walking beside her.

The Steward took a noticeably longer stride to pull ahead of the guard so he couldn't see as a large smile crossed her face. "You just have to tell them how it is, and set deadlines," said Sakura, her voice reflecting the smile in no way at all. "Once they know that they're in charge of defending themselves just as much as the Ninja are, things fall quickly into well working order."

"Well," Chouji muttered, "My men have their orders and I'm getting bored. What do you need done?"

"Help cart the rubble away," said Sakura without a second's hesitation. "It'll keep you near here until you're officers can report back to you for more orders."

"Good idea," said the Guard. "It'll give me something to do."

"Work hard and fast," said the Kunoichi. "I've got some business elsewhere to attend to."

"Where will you be if I find something to report?" asked Chouji.

"At Nar- the Hokage's office," she said calmly.

"Understood," said Chouji.

Sakura walked quickly away, taking long steps and closing her strides in rapid succession. Her trek down the road towards the Hokage's complex, Konoha's nerve center, was wracked by her stomach turning over on itself as she worried about Naruto. She hadn't at first feared for his safety, knowing he was more than capable of handling himself, until Jiraiya had suddenly appeared and planted all kinds of doubts in her mind.

_Why is he back at a time like this? _She wondered. _He mentioned that things hadn't gone wonderfully in Suna, but if that were the case what was he doing back so soon… Things must have taken a turn here that we don't yet know about._

Sakura arrived at the complex and bounded up the stairs, walking quickly by the rows of evenly spaced doors until she came to the Hokage's personal office, where all of the most important matters in Konoha, emergency meetings of the Jounin, ANBU debriefings and the like, were held.

_I hope Jiraiya doesn't try to exert some kind of authority over Naruto or me,_ Sakura thought as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. _As long as Tsunade is out I'm the Steward and he knows that. But will he try and use his prowess or experience as grounds to make decisions in my place? I hope for all our sakes that this isn't his intent…_

Sakura pulled open one of the file cabinets behind the Hokage's mahogany desk and began thumbing through the graduated papers inside. There were files on the Jounin, past missions, low-security intelligence. Sakura knew that all of the need-to-know information was elsewhere in the complex, but that's not what she was looking for.

"Here we are," she said, pulling out an especially thin file labeled 'Steward.' Inside there was only one sheet of paper, but it was covered in tiny, albeit, immaculately pristine handwriting: Kakashi's final instructions. This was the file where the Hokage could go to find sensitive messages left by the Steward concerning matters of village security and upkeep. It was hidden in such a place since very few people, before now, even knew a position of Steward existed, and fewer still knew about this file.

Scanning the document, Sakura quickly ensured that Kakashi had been perfectly clear when he named Sakura as his heir to the administration and defense of the village in the Hokage's stead. The Copy Nin had even gone so far as to point out that, aside from Tsunade herself, no one had more authority than Sakura.

"Good," said Sakura as she read on a little farther. "So Jiraiya will have no choice but to allow for my command and through that Naruto will still be untouchable. Wait-"

A small grin crossed Sakura's face as she read the closing paragraphs of the document. Carefully, she slipped the paper back into the file and shut the drawer. "So Kakashi-Sensei saw his demise coming and decided to preempt our biggest hurtle." Sakura's gaze softened just a bit as she mentally thanked her Sensei. "And to think I was worrying about exactly how to ask Tsunade to give Naruto control of his own force."

SC

It was dark in the corner. The cool, moist air stung the raw flesh of the wound Naruto so delicately cradled as he crouched there in the blackness. He tightened his grip over the gash in his side and pumped a little more chakra into it, sealing it partially.

_Ok, so he's too quick to catch off guard with a Rasengen,_ Naruto noted mentally. _But I knew that already. The Rasangen is too slow for anything but a finishing blow anyway._

Naruto sank a little lower to the ground, invisible in the darkness. He was being careful not to give away his position with the healing chakra. It seemed that Kaguya Kimimaro was especially sensitive to any disruption in the surrounding flow of energy and Naruto meant to give his enemy no more advantage than he already had.

_I'm fighting him on his terms, _thought the blonde. _He has dozens of Ninja at his disposal and knows the terrain intimately, whereas I'm alone and lost in this place. _Naruto thought for a minute, crouching in the corner of the dead end hallway, trying to come up with some way to turn the situation to his favor. _I've knocked out the power to most of the complex, so they're running around mostly blind, but with that regenerator's ability to sense chakra I'm at just as much of a disadvantage as they are now._

The wound healed, Naruto stood up and walked on silent feet towards the end of the hall where it met a larger passage in a 'T' shape. He couldn't hear anything but that didn't necessitate that he was alone. The enemy could just be using basic genjutsu to muffle or completely silence their footsteps and in the pitch black they were invisible anyway.

_I don't smell anyone,_ Naruto reasoned, stepping out into the hall and turning right. Keeping his back close to the wall and his body low to the ground, he walked with the amber sword clenched tight in his hand. _But that's all I've got working for me…_

No sooner had he thought there was no one in the area, than Naruto instantly smelled something, an acrid and burning odor that seemed to come out of nowhere. He darted into a nearby doorway and pressed his shoulder to the jam to fit in as much of his shape as he could. Soon footsteps accompanied the smell and Naruto distinguished three distinct rhythms moving his way.

_Garlic? _Naruto thought as he recognized the smell. _This has got to be a trap. No one is stupid enough to sneak around with that on their breath._

The three sets of quiet footsteps moved by him without incident. From the sound of their tracks, Naruto guessed that they were wearing thickly padded boots. Likely they'd wrapped cloth around their feet to muffle the noise. _Even if it is a trap, _thought Naruto as he slipped out of the door and slunk up behind the group, _I have to draw out the general._

The blonde stood up a little and reached out with his empty left hand while with his right he poised the tip of the amber blade at what he guessed was the middle back of the person on the far left of the group. His fingers tensed as he moved in, ready to cover the victim's mouth.

In a dark flash he moved. The sword jabbed forward and met almost no resistance as Naruto's palm jerked back in the gloom. There was a muffled slap as he grabbed the Nin's throat, and thinking quickly, left his sword in their back and reached up with both hands to throttle the Nin from behind before he could scream.

_Damn, missed. _He cursed mentally as the victim fell back against him without a sound. _At least it was quick and quiet._

His fingers groped for the handle of his sword as Naruto laid the corpse back on the ground. He knew he had to move quickly if he wanted to get the other two before they noticed the lack of the third's footsteps, and after quickly removing his blade from the body he caught back up to the other two, navigating the black hall by sound alone.

"Who's there?" one of them, a man with a deep voice, asked suddenly.

_Shit_, Naruto growled. He swung out and slashed at neck level. The sword met some metal object, probably either a sheath or a sword, with a loud clang.

The air whined as small missiles, moving nearly the speed of sound, rocketed through the darkness. Lacking time to get out of the way, Naruto let out a burst of fiery chakra, illuminating the hall and incinerating the bullets speeding towards his chest. The other two Ninja though screamed out as they were torn open by the blaring projectiles.

The burst of fiery light threw Naruto's shadow in all directions, plastering it against the walls and stunning his eyes. Through the light though, he saw Kimimaro charging at him faster than a striking snake. Naruto jerked his hand forward and pitched out a ball of white hot and dazzlingly bright chakra straight at Kimimaro.

The Kaguya dodged to the side, but the attack had its intended effect. After an hour in total darkness the blinding light shattered Kimimaro's focus and sense of direction, causing him to stumble and trip. Naruto swung his sword for Kimimaro's neck as he raced by, out of control, but the Kaguya recovered quickly, jetting a bone from his arm and blacking the would-be mortal blow. No sooner than the blades made contact, Naruto spun and slammed his knee into Kimimaro's chin.

The Sound General's head snapped back but he already knew exactly where Naruto was and, even as Naruto kicked his feet out from beneath him, Kimimaro lashed out with his right hand. Petrified bones shot from Kimimaro's wrist and ripped through Naruto's thigh, passing through it effortlessly and bursting out the side.

Through a muttered curse Naruto moved in even closer and drove the amber sword home, slicing the point through the General's ribs and skewering him horizontally through and through. Not to be out done, Kimimaro exchanged one crippling blow for another, kicking up fiercely. A bone jutted out from his shin and whipped across Naruto's front, slashing a deep gorge cleanly from his right hip up to the blonde's left shoulder. The bones of Naruto's chest split without contest.

Both Ninja pulled their weapons from the other and leapt back. They could both see each other from the faint red glow that emanated from Naruto. The blonde whipped his sword towards the ground, splattering droplets of blood from it as he watched his opponent carefully. Kimimaro began to glow very, very dimly with grey chakra.

"You've killed most of my men throughout all of this," said the Kaguya. "None of them are willing to face you in secret, much less openly. The Cloud Nin are also fearful of you."

"They should be," said Naruto, pumping more chakra into his wounds so Kimimaro could watch as they closed before his eyes. "To them I'm nothing short of a goddamn Shinigami. It might help though if you didn't keep using them to lure me out."

Kimimaro watched with guarded interest as Naruto's injuries, which would have been fatal to all but a few other people, sealed themselves in a matter of seconds. "I can do that too you know," said the Kaguya, pulling open his cloak so Naruto could see that where the puncture wounds, the ones from Naruto sliding his sword between both sides of Kimimaro's rib cage, were nothing more than dark patches of skin now. "And I can heal these as easily as I can control my bones."

"Kabuto taught you that one, right?" asked Naruto. _I need to buy a little time to lower his guard even the slightest bit._

Kimimaro nodded. "More accurately he modified my genetic structure. He created a 'regenerator gene' tailored to my anatomy, using his own abilities and a retro-virus." _I need to get him talking so I can think of a way to finish this, _the Kaguya thought. "He gave me the virus which spread the regenerator gene through my body, not only modifying my entire genetic structure but also endowing me with Kabuto's sensitivity to the nearby flows of chakra."

"And you regenerate by pushing chakra into your damaged regions?" probed Naruto.

"No, it's a genetic ability. My body does it almost subconsciously."

"Scary," said Naruto flatly as an idea struck him. "But useful I'd imagine."

"It serves its purposes," said Kimimaro. "Much like my instinctive control over my skeletal structure is useful since it's merely a reaction in many cases. I assume your healing is a bit more… active by nature?"

"It's almost an unconscious thing," Naruto half-lied. "Really I can turn it off for a while but that's about it." He shrugged, keeping one eye on the Kaguya and noticing that his feet seemed oddly rooted to the floor. "But at any rate-"

Naruto leapt back and Kimimaro whirled around as a thunderous ruckus shattered the near silence of the complex. A white spire had burst up from the ground at supersonic speeds on a course for Naruto's head, and a golden streak had burned through the air towards Kimimaro's neck. There was a loud snap and a puff of Ninja smoke as Kimimaro destroyed the Shadow Clone that had snuck up behind him, and Naruto kicked out, breaking the bone spike off at its middle.

The Kaguya glared at Naruto. He reached up and pressed his hand to his throat, stemming the trickle of red from the scratch across his jugular as the flesh mended itself. Naruto, using one finger wiped away a small spot of blood from his jaw, the only evidence left by the Kaguya's attack.

_If I'd reacted any slower he would have taken my head off, _Kimimaro fretted.

_If I'd been any slower that spike would have driven into my skull,_ Naruto worried.

_This has to end! _they mentally roared in unison.

Both Ninja charged forward, the air whipping around them as they ran. Kimimaru disappeared in a blast of smoke just before he would have barreled into the blonde. Naruto whirled around, anticipating the move, saw his enemy materialize behind him, and flung out a volley of shuriken. Kimimaro's finger bullets intercepted each missile in midair, knocking all of them down in a clattering of bone and steel.

Naruto charged in behind the failed volley, the edge of his sword glowing brilliantly and splitting the concrete like hot wax as he ran the deadly point along the wall and hacked at the Kaguya.

Kimimaro vanished in a blur of speed, reappearing beside Naruto in the large passage, his white skin shimmering like a bed of gemstones in the chaotic light that danced along Naruto's blade. The General reached out for Naruto's neck, the bones, razor sharp, already erupting from his wrist.

Naruto reeled around and caught Kimimaro's hand with his own and pulled the Kaguya off balance. The blonde Ninja leapt into the air and spun, still hanging onto the Kaguya, and kicked fiercely for his enemy's skull.

Kimimaro's free arm shot up to take the impact. He felt his unnaturally strengthened bones crack under the blow, but ignored the searing pain that rocketed up and down his nerves. 

He wrenched his hand free and swiped at Naruto, a torrent of miniature bones shooting out the tips of his fingers: point blank range.

Naruto felt the projectiles rip into his chest. He ignored it. The Amber sword screamed as it sliced through the air and Kimimaro's flesh. Blood sprayed from both Ninja; from Naruto's chest and Kimimaro's thighs. A half dozen holes appeared in the blonde, each spurting crimson with every heartbeat, as a deep incision rent open Kimimaro's legs.

With a loud crack Naruto's fist connected squarely with Kimimaro's jaw. Simultaneously Naruto's femur snapped under a massive pressure as Kimimaro's foot smashed into the blonde's upper leg.

Kimimaro didn't waste a second. A long sword wrenched itself free of his arm, and the General plunged it at Naruto. The blade passed through the Jounin's left shoulder, and continued on into the wall. Kimimaro pinned Naruto against the cold concrete and drew back for a death blow, spines lancing his wrists to escape.

_Noting vital, _Naruto sneered, _got you now!_

Red chakra swirled in his hand quickly, causing Kimimaro to hesitate. The general tried to pull away but found himself pinned, Naruto's sword slammed down through Kimimaro's foot and nailed him to the ground.

Naruto swiped forward with the Rasangen, aiming for Kimimaro's face. The General bent backwards, avoiding the chakra ball by a hair's breath, and jerked his foot free of the sword, tearing the appendage nearly in half. Kimimaro jumped back and flung out a massive volley of finger bullets.

The Jounin had pulled himself off the spike holding him to the wall and blitzed forward, bloody Rasangen still roaring in his hand. He took the bullets in the skull and disappeared in a blast of smoke. But the sound of the Rasangen didn't fade.

_Not again,_ thought Kimimaro, swiveling around.

Naruto charged out of a blackened corner, a fiery vortex of energy in his palm, and lunged at Kimimaro.

The Sound General dodged, caught Naruto by the shoulder, using his own momentum he flipped Naruto towards the wall, where the Rasangen exploded, scourging the air with thousands of tiny blades of wind. Scraps of concrete and dust were torn from the walls and floor and ceiling and whipped around in a storm of chakra fueled wind that tore into everything, blasting the combatants in opposite directions.

Everything went black as the red and grey auras of chakra faded in an instant. Both Ninja disappeared, again, silently back into the dark of the complex. The smell of blood was everywhere.

SC

Jiraiya raced through the forest, his heavy sandals crushing the grass and fallen leaves beneath his feet. He hadn't found anyone along the way, but the air was thick with the aura of demonic chakra. Naruto had to be close, and judging by the concentration of the aura, but the lack of an apparent source, the Jounin was underground.

_But for the chakra to feel this strong and be still underground, Naruto must have been using insane amounts of power._ Jiraiya thought. _This doesn't feel right._

The Sanin reached a small glade and peered through it. The sun was shining brightly, lighting up the clearing like a painting, but the atmosphere was dark and heated. Jiraiya felt as though he were in an oven the stifling demonic chakra was so thick.

_But where is he? _growled Jiraiya.

Wandering quickly about, Jiraiya came to a large tree on the edge of the glade. He thought it odd that there were ribbons, green ones, tied up in the lower branches. Anyone less perceptive than Jiraiya would likely have missed them all together. On a hunch the older man circled the tree once, examining it closely.

His guess was right; set in the side of the trunk was the rough outline of a door. _Now we're getting somewhere, _thought the Sanin, reaching out and pressing on the door. It didn't budge. He pushed harder, the door didn't move and there was no handle on the outside so Jiraiya guessed it was meant to open outwards.

_Meaning that there's an entrance somewhere around here, but I lack the time to find it._

Jiraiya lunged forward, blue chakra burning in his hand, and slammed his fist into the door. A seal appeared on the barky surface and flashed white, trying to absorb the energy. Jiraiya slammed the door again and forced more chakra into it. The seal flickered dimly, then faded and a seam appeared along the door's edge.

"About time," said the Sanin, grabbing onto a minute protrusion in the bark and pulling the door open.

An explosion shattered the calm, ripping through the glade and filing the whole clearing with a cloud of sooty smoke. Jiraiya leapt away from the door and into a nearby tree just above the dark cloud, unharmed and scanning the glade quickly. He saw nothing. The smoke was too thick. He was just preparing to send a wind jutsu in to clear out the cloud, but with a loud crack the branch he stood on shattered and splintered. Something had struck it with inhuman strength.

Quickly, the Sanin leapt to a higher limb, but a blue wave of energy shot from the cloud and sliced cleanly through the branch, toppling it to the ground as Jiraiya leapt away again. He reached up, and pressed his hands together in the seal of the ram and concentrated some chakra in his lungs.

Another wave of blue chakra whirled out of the cloud and straight at Jiraiya. The Sanin ducked out of the way, avoiding the blade. He turned back to the glade and roared out the chakra filled air from his lungs like a bellows.

A loud gale rushed from Jiraiya's mouth and blew through the glade, clearing out the smoke and dispersing it thinly throughout the surrounding forest as a faint misty haze, giving the whole place an unearthly and alien feel. The glade was now empty.

Jiraiya bit his thumb and threw together a quick series of seals. Slapping his hand on the bough at his feet, the Sanin summoned a trio of large, armor-clad toads in a quick puff of ninja smoke. Each one carried a sword across its back and a thick wooden shield on its arm.

"Spread out," said the Sanin. "hostiles are in the area. Bring 'em down."

"Sir," the toads acknowledged, jumping nimbly off into the trees, vanishing almost instantly into the canopy. Jiraiya waited for just a moment, hearing nothing but the sound of the toads leaping from branch to branch in search of the enemies.

_That should buy me a second, _thought the Sanin, dropping down to the ground and breaking for the hidden door on the other side of the glade. _Those elite toads should keep them busy long enough for me to get to the-_

Three loud poofs sounded simultaneously from three different parts of the forest, while at the same time, a volley of shuriken thudded into the ground before the door Jiraiya was fast approaching. The Sanin could see that the missiles were wrapped in a sparking paper.

_Shit! _he cursed, leaping to the side and rolling away just as the shuriken caught fire and exploded not ten feet away from him. A shockwave of dirt, mud, and bits of metal ripped through the clearing and slammed into Jiraiya, knocking him to the ground but doing no serious damage. The Sanin picked himself up and jumped quickly away from the door as another wave of shuriken, these not wrapped in the explosive tags, thudded into the earth on which he'd stood not a second before.

"Where are you," Jiraiya growled, looking through the trees but seeing no one. _I can't fight what I can't see._

The Sanin pressed his hands together and a cloud of Ninja smoke burst from his red robes, clearing quickly and revealing a total of ten identical Jiraiya's that all charged forward towards the door. _I've got to get inside where I might be able to know who I'm dealing with_, thought the real Sanin.

A flicker of purple and gold caught Jiraiya's attention, just before a blurred figure appeared in the midst of his group of clones as they ran. Before any of them could do anything, the figure spun and unleashed a searing wave of raw chakra, impacting the clones and ripping them to shreds in poofs of smoke.

The real Jiraiya was not so inexperienced to be caught in the wide-ranged attack and disappeared in a blur, retreating to the edge of the glade opposite the secret door, and starring intently at the figure who blocked his way.

"Impossible," muttered the Sanin, straightening up but looking on dumbly.

The short purple tank-top and skirt were common enough dress, but the waist-length platinum blonde hair, the alabaster complexion; delicate facial structure, illustrious gaze and extraordinary turquoise eyes were unmistakable.

Yamanaka Ino stood defiantly in Jiraiya's way.

"But-" the Jiraiya stammered, half dumbstruck. "How … is this… possible."

Ino didn't respond. She merely stood and waited, staring at him with cold, beautiful eyes.

"Did Orochimaru do this to you?" asked the Sanin loudly. "Is this all his fault?!"

Still Ino didn't respond as Jiraiya glared back, wracking his brain for answers. A whole minute passed in silence before the calm of the afternoon was broken again.

"I'm back," said Ino, a smile spreading across her face.

The Sanin felt a chill race down his spine. Her voice had been … icy and distant, like an echo in a cave. Several tones at once were laced through her words and her voice was darker than any Jiraiya had ever heard before, even Orochimaru's seemed warm by compare. Those two syllables were enough to make his hair stand on end.

Ino took a single step forward and let her hands fall to her side. A dark energy began to swirl and flicker around her. It was green, orange, and turquoise all at once, flickering in the daylight, and making the grass sway in the slight breeze that wafted off of Ino in all directions. The glade filled with the scent of rain.

Dread spread across Jiraiya's face as he looked into the girl's eyes and recognized the same glassy appearance he'd seen years ago. He remembered the arctic voice from another time. Realization dawned on him like the day of a funeral.

"The demon," he muttered as much to himself as Ino as he looked on in disbelief. "Orochimaru brought it back… That son of a bitch brought it back."

"Brought me back," said Ino, her words filled with a second voice, a malevolent undertone.

_I can't allow this, _Jiraiya resolved, crouching down and narrowing his gaze. _This is bad on so many levels._

Not waiting a second, or broadcasting his moves at all, Jiraiya charged forward in a blur, the tips of his right-hand fingers glowing with blue light. _I'll seal it away!_

Ino disappeared into the canopy as Jiraiya shot by beneath. She pointed her hands at him and formed a series of four, lightning fast seals. Jiraiya dodged agily as a torrent of blue flame burst off of Ino's fingertips and slammed into the ground with the force of a meteorite, tearing up the grass and turf. The Sanin ducked away behind a tree as a volley of kunai thudded into the wooden trunk.

Jiraiya spun around the trunk, his hands flying through the seals, and spewed a hyper-pressure jet of oil out his mouth. Snapping his fingers, he ignited the stream as it shot towards Ino. The kunoichi whirled out of the way and dodged the fiery geyser. She wove around the glade as the fire danced on her heels, never catching up but never falling behind. The Sanin tried to capture her in the searing blaze, but Ino was always one step ahead.

"Enough play," said the Kunoichi, disappearing. "I have business to attend to," she sneered as her form appeared behind Jiraiya.

The Sanin glanced over his shoulder as Ino neared, her hands glowing blue with hot chakra. Jiraiya wrapped his arms around his waist and leaned forward. Ino stopped at once as the man's long white hair burst out in a bramble of sharp spikes, covering him in a dense armor of spines.

Jiraiya slammed his palm down on the ground and immediately the grass rippled in a wave around him, turning dark as tar. Ino leapt into a nearby tree as the black grass congealed and bubbled, becoming a murky mire that radiated out for no less than fifty meters around the tiny island on which Jiraiya stood. Ino jumped away as her tree buckled and began to sink quickly into the supernatural swamp.

Jiraiya's hair returned to normal as he stood up and surveyed his surroundings. Almost the entire glade had sunk beneath the dark bog, and many of the trees around the clearing had sunk in up to their higher branches. All of the smaller trees had been completely consumed in an instant. Even as he watched the trees continued to sink as the swamp not only expanded, but also dredged deeper and deeper. He spotted Ino immediately and jumped after her.

The blonde Kunoichi grinned as he approached and dropped into a crouching stance, her hands out in front of and behind her. Blue chakra began to radiate out from her fingers and elbows as Jiraiya jumped through the dropping branches towards her.

_What is she doing? _he wondered, pulling a scroll out of his robes.

The Sanin in red opened the scroll, flinging it out in a broad sweeping motion. The seal covered paper flailed out to a length of nearly thirty feet. Jiraiya's pre-sliced thumb glided along the paper, smearing a thin trail of blood along its length as he whipped it past him.

In a quick and controlled poof of Ninja smoke, a dense wall of white needles, point up and very long, appeared all along the length of the scroll as it snapped through the air like a bullwhip. Ino didn't move. The scroll twined in on itself, facing all of the needles towards Ino. Still the Kunoichi didn't move.

_What's she waiting for? _Jiraiya wondered. He hadn't seen her use a substitution, and even if she had, he could still feel immense amounts of power flowing out of the kunoichi: demonic energy. He jolted a burst of chakra through the scroll.

The edge of the steel covered paper caught fire, and in a massive explosion, the flame raced along the scroll and flung all of the needles towards their target. Still the Kunoichi didn't move or alter her strange stance.

Until the first of the near supersonic missiles came so close to Ino that she could have reached out and touched it, she didn't move. Then as soon as it came within arm's reach, the Kunoichi exploded in a whirl of movement. The needles, as soon as they came within her finger's striking distance, rang like bells and fell aside as Ino's hand shot up and slapped them away with a burst of blue chakra.

The kunoichi was a blur, spinning like a top and striking out dozens of times per second at the needles, batting them easily out of the air. The metal spikes began to fall like rain, plopping down in the swamp beneath, even as Ino's tree continued to sink sluggishly into that same mire.

Jiraiya's mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide as he watched from a safe spot high up in one of the larger trees. For no less than four whole seconds, enough time for Ino's tree to shorten an additional foot, the Kunoichi was a continuous whirl of tornadic activity.

_Jyuukin…_ he thought, amazed and stunned, but secretly admiring. _But she doesn't have the Hyuuga's Byakugan does she? _He watched for a second longer as she continued to deflect the tail end of the needle volley. _No, she doesn't have the Byakugan, she doesn't need it to simply emulate the style. Even so…this is dangerous._

Jumping out of the tree, Jiraiya let a burst of chakra from his feet propel him towards the kunoichi as the last of the needles dropped uselessly into the swamp below. _This will test just how adept she… it is in the art of Jyuukin. _The Sanin reared back, his hand glowing with blue chakra.

Like a serpent, Ino lashed out, leaping from the branch and passing beside Jiraiya before he could react, she slammed her index and middle finger into the center of his glowing palm, shooting a wintry bolt of chakra up his arm to his elbow, numbing his hand and leaving a red puncture wound. As she moved by, she whirled around and kicked the Sanin in the middle of his back, throwing him off balance as he landed and stumbled forward.

Jiraiya reacted quickly, dropping down and pivoting on his weight bearing leg, throwing his hands into the Tiger seal as he did. A burst of white chakra shot from his wounded hand and fire exploded from his lips, enveloping a huge conical section of the sinking canopy of trees and incinerating it nearly instantly as Ino disappeared again.

_Damn she's fast, _thought Jiraiya. _I could keep this up all day but without a lucky hit she's just going to keep skirting my attacks._

* * *

AN: And Ino is back! That's why it's not a Naru/Saku. Hope you all liked!


	40. Revelation

Revelation

Naruto stumbled as the complex all around shuddered. "Earthquake?" he wondered in a whisper, stumbling as the whole room shook again and the ceiling ten feet overhead loosed some rubble and dust.

The blonde, pulling out a kunai that had buried itself up to the hilt in his thigh, glared at Kimimaro, who stood opposite him in the large, slightly rectangular room full of bunk-beds. The sound General panted, a deep gash in his side that had punctured his lung closed up as the blood dripped from Naruto's sword.

"Did you do that?" snarled Naruto.

"Did you?" Kimimaro shot back coolly.

Neither had time to answer.

Black goo began to drip from the ceiling through a large rift that appeared with a thunderous crack. By the time either Ninja noticed it, the break had widened into a yawning gap and the slime was rushing down in waterfalls spilling out of yet more holes in the ceiling. As Naruto looked up, a huge tremor shook the complex and brown tendrils, the roots of a huge tree fell through the roof with a crash.

Naruto and Kimimaro both cursed, swirled up in the torrential downpour of swampy slop that rushed in and quickly filled the room to its capacity. The blonde kicked up, trying to swim as he sheathed his sword, but the liquid was as thick as syrup and far stickier. It was much like trying to push through reed-choked mud, and Naruto quickly sank to the bottom. He could only hope Kimimaro was having as much trouble. Naruto's lungs began to burn for air.

_It's alright_, he told himself, drawing on minute amounts of demonic energy. _I can keep my body going with chakra. The pain is just a useless sensation._

Naruto reached up, trying to pull himself up through the muck, but doing so only served to get his arm stuck above his head in the stuff as the swampy slime got thicker and thicker. _Enough!_

Naruto's red chakra burst out in an aura around him as he fueled his muscles with it, leaping off the bottom and sloshing a few inches off the ground. He stuck there, less than a foot from where he jumped. _This is unbelievable!_ He mentally growled. _Jiraiya must really be bored to make the underworld swamp this thick and deep. With any luck though that sound bastard will drown in it._

With a jerking motion Naruto reached out and found what he was looking for: the root of the tree that had fallen through the roof. He grabbed hold of it and pulled himself slowly up, dragging himself through the sticky goop. Hand over hand, move after move, he slowly ascended the tree, pumping chakra into his lungs to satisfy his craving for air. When he ran out of roots to climb, he jammed his fists into notches in the bark and drug himself that way.

He felt himself clear the concrete roof (a jagged spike of the rocky material scraped his back) and he climbed with renewed fervor. The higher he got, the less pressure was on the swampy glue, and the less it gripped him. Soon he could vaguely make out the sunlight radiating through the top of the murk, and his next reach broke the surface. He grabbed a tree-branch and jerked up to the air, sputtering as he did.

The blonde was inside a small cove created by the trees and floored by the swampy muck. _This is crazy,_ he nearly laughed, running a hand through his hair to comb out, along with a bit of his shaggy hair, most of the gunk that plastered his scalp.

The sound of explosions and clanging metal filled the air as Naruto peered out of the shelter provided by the leaves. Once his head cleared the still slowly sinking canopy, he could see just how extensive Jiraiya's jutsu had been. The forest for hundreds of yards all around was a bed of the stuff, the tops of trees just barely poking out of the surface. He could see Jiraiya darting through the trees, battling someone, but the second figure was moving too quickly for Naruto to detect accurately.

"Time to fight I guess," he said, freeing himself fully from the goop and standing up on one of the branches. "Looks like my friend didn't make it out… what a pity."

Naruto leapt through the air, watching Jiraiya for clues as to where the purple blur was going to appear next. Neither Nin had detected him yet, so as Naruto closed to within ten yards of the distracted Jiraiya, he carefully read the Sanin's moves and struck out on instinct.

Naruto's fist connected solidly with a loud crash as the purple blur sped in front of him. The Ninja rocketed through the air and into a nearby trunk.

Naruto didn't waste a second, but summoned the demonic chakra and hurled a red bolt of raw energy at where the Nin had slammed into the tree with a flurry of splinters. The bolt crackled through the air and impacted the tree, sending it up in a superheated blaze and cloud of smoke.

Jiraiya looked up just as Naruto landed beside him. "Miss me?" asked the blonde, feigning playfulness.

"Not now Naruto," said Jiraiya, turning to face the pyre in the tree. "We have… issues here."

"Issues?" Naruto asked, following the Sanin's gaze.

A dark shape coalesced in the fire, then with a flick of her wrists and a small whirl of blue chakra, the kunoichi in purple stepped out of the flames and looked around.

Naruto stared, confused for just a second, then his face went utterly blank and his shoulders slumped.

Ino scanned the forest for just a second, and then her turquoise eyes met Naruto's empty ones. A wide smile split her face and she reached up and waved joyfully at him.

"Naruto-Chan! Naruto-Chan!" she called out beaming. "Long time no see Naruto-Chan! I've missed you so terribly."

Jiraiya glanced down at Naruto. The boy was nonreactive, but the Sanin's teeth were grinding in anger. _Naruto,_ thought the Sanin, _I'm so sorry I couldn't get rid of her before you arrived…_

"Naruto-Chan!" Ino called out in a girlish yell/giggle, "what's the matter? Aren't you glad to see me too?"

Naruto's breath began to come in short bursts, and his eyes closed. His hands clenched into iron fists as blood dripped from between nails. The whisker marks deepened, but Naruto didn't move.

"Well I'm back now!" called the Kunoichi, "we can finish what we started all those years ago and be together forever! Granted, you'd have to join Orochimaru-Time, but that's a small price to get this body back, right?" She spread her arms to display her well developed and slender figure. "After all you seemed to enjoy it plenty before it was destroyed last time."

Naruto shook as if someone had struck him across the face but didn't do anything. He simply stood there with clenched fists and closed eyes. Jiraiya made a move to form a seal, but Naruto's hand reached out and caught his wrist in a vice like grip. "No," the blonde whispered, his voice deep and rumbling.

"Or maybe you've lost interest in this body," Ino taunted, "You'd like to finish the fight we began on that roof three years ago right?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open. They were blood red and a sea of red chakra churned behind them like a storm. He bore his teeth, long and sharp and white; a predator's fangs.

"It was sort of inconclusive and I had a weak vessel last time, but now that I have a container like this one, it might be different. You've improved too so it would be fun. C'mon. That Hyuuga girl was no fun for you. Try yourself against me!"

"Where's Ino you bastard?" asked Naruto, his voice almost indistinguishable from the low howl of the wind moving through what was left of the forest. His blood was still dripping from his hands into the black muck below.

"Temper, temper lover boy," said the Kunoichi. "I may be a demon, but you shouldn't use such language in the presence of a woman. Your whore is in here somewhere, like an annoying buzz in the back of my mind. Orochimaru-Time couldn't rebuild her body exactly without bringing back her soul too. Ah," she said, holding up one finger like something occurred to her, "there she is, calling me all kinds of nasty names and begging for you to be safe." The demon threw its head back and laughed. "How pitiful. Three years in hell and you're still all she can think about."

"Naruto?" Jiraiya whispered, looking down at the blonde to see what he was going to do.

"**FINE!**" Naruto bellowed, his near demonic voice shaking the trees still poking up from the swamp. "**You want to finish our fight! Have it your fucking way! I'll send you straight back to Hell!**"

Red chakra exploded from Naruto's form, whirling into the shape of a fox as three fiery tails exploded from his lower back. He rushed forward, invisible with speed and blind with ostensibly irrational rage. The bloody chakra swirled in his hands, and he threw out a bolt of the energy towards the Hyuuga Demon.

She laughed and jumped out of the way, orange lines tracing across her face as some kind of hellish seal manifested itself. Naruto followed her up, throwing fiery missiles of chakra and whipping out his golden sword. The blade was boiling and frothing with power and energy as it left a fiery arc in the air.

The metal screamed as it swiped out for its enemy. But the Demon was too fast and ducked under the attack. She flowed around Naruto, his movements slowed by his fury, and struck him squarely in the back of the skull with her open palm. Blue chakra lanced his neck and head. Blood dripped from his nose. Instantly the demonic aura began to fade.

_Shit,_ thought Jiraiya, performing a few lightning fast seals and slapping the surface of the swamp with one hand. A tidal wave of energy swept over the muck, and transformed it into a thick brown substance: oil. Almost immediately, another figure burst up from the now thinner substance.

Kimimaro leapt from the lake of oil and landed on a treetop about five feet above the surface. Immediately his eye caught the fiery Jounin falling out of the sky.

"So that bitch finally showed up," said the Sound General. "Bout time."

Naruto's eyes closed as he both fell down towards the oil, and slipped into unconsciousness. Jiraiya jumped up to try and catch Naruto before the Demon finished him off, but it seemed he would be too late. The Demon sped toward Naruto like a bullet, chakra burning in her hands.

"No!" Jiraiya shouted as the Demon reared back to strike, but she didn't lash out. She couldn't. A red bolt of sizzling chakra exploded from Naruto's back and struck the Demon in the chest, sending her hurdling dozens of yards into the air like a firework.

Jiraiya caught Naruto and skirted along the treetops, running for Konoha as fast as his legs would carry him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the Demon land in the oil. The Sanin clacked his teeth and spat a spark into the oil. Immediately a wave of fire leapt up and raced along the surface of the lake, enveloping everything in its path in a curtain of smoke and a pillar of fire.

Jiraiya jumped especially hard and landed on solid ground, hundreds of yards from the center of the now blazing lake. He held an unconscious Naruto in his arms and looked out over the lake of fire. "This changes everything," he said, looking at Naruto and turning to run towards Konoha.

It was days before giant pit of fire that had once been a lush forest stopped burning.

SC

"He's not badly injured," said the blonde nurse, holding the clipboard up in front of her chest. "But his nervous system took quite a hit. It could be a few hours before he wakes up"

"No internal or brain damage?" asked the Sanin in red, crossing his arms and looking down at the sleeping Naruto laying in the hospital bed.

"Not that we can detect," said the nurse. "He should be just fine, given his unique healing abilities."

Jiraiya's large stature towered over the nurse and Naruto's bed. His mere presence seemed to make the already small room seem tiny. The Sanin however, had never felt smaller, but the room only got even more crowded when the door burst open and Sakura, the village's steward rushed in gasping for air.

"What happened?" she half shouted, rage bubbling beneath the surface of her voice. Her eyes flitted over Naruto. "Who the fuck did this to him?"

Sakura stopped beside Naruto's bed and stared down at the blonde Jounin. She reached out like she was going to take his hand, but stopped, then brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes. His face and suit was still marred by the swampy muck and some of it had plastered Naruto's hair to his face.

No one answered her. The nurse quickly and silently left the room.

"Jiraiya," said Sakura coldly. "I'm ordering you to tell me who did this to him."

"Sakura," said the Sanin, not unkindly. "Only Tsunade can order me to do-"

"I'm the damned Steward and you know it," growled the Kunoichi, tears welling in her eyes. "Now tell me what happened."

Jiraiya hesitated for just a second. "Things are worse here than any of us would have ever guessed. The Hyuuga demon attacked us and it's more powerful than ever."

Sakura's eyes widened as she turned to face the Sanin.

"And what's worse," continued Jiraiya, "Orochimaru has revived Ino to serve as the Demon's vessel."

An icy tremor shot down Sakura's spine and radiated throughout her form as her pink hair raised up on its ends a bit. "What!?" she nearly screamed, hysteria evident in her voice. "Ino!? She's back!?"

"And she's working for Orochimaru."

Sakura whipped around and looked down at Naruto. She clutched up his hand in hers as tears began to drip down her cheeks. "This can't be happening," she whispered, kneeling down 

and pressing Naruto's hand to her cheek. "Not now… not now. That girl is going to be the end of everything."

SC

The dark expanse seemed to stretch on forever without any bounds or end. The lightless interior of Naruto's subconscious was utterly devoid of warmth and it was also empty, at least mostly. The sole occupant of the seemingly infinite room was Naruto himself.

He sat on the ground, back to one invisible wall, one leg resting on the floor and curled beneath the other knee on which his elbow rested. The hand supported by his upright leg was resting its knuckles against the blonde's chin. Naruto was staring off into the infinite darkness, his crimson eyes unblinking as his thoughts slowly churned about. Occasionally his fingers would flex and close back together, but other than that tiny movement, he was as fixed as a granite headstone.

For what seemed like days he sat and thought. His face never betrayed what his mind was doing, though a grimace, a furrowing of the brow in ager seemed set upon the Jounin's face. Naruto's breath came in slow drawls, never deep enough to disturb his motionlessness, as his red eyes remained fixed on some point in the immeasurable blackness.

Slowly, over the course of an hour or two, the dark floor began to shift beneath the curtain of a slowly rising transparent mist that appeared from everywhere uniformly. As Naruto continued to watch eternity, the mist migrated towards him and took on the slightest hue of red. The closer it came to the blonde, the more pigment appeared, and soon the floor around Naruto was steeped in the faintly glowing, blood red mist.

"**Fool**," uttered a quiet but reverberating voice in the darkness, the same voice that had been infused with Naruto's when he'd confronted the Hyuuga Demon. "**Do you seek death? Or are you truly just that stupid?**"

Naruto didn't answer. His gaze didn't shift as a ghostly image of a cage, massive in scope and dimension phased into existence a few hundred feet to the boy's left. Inside the cage, was the avatar of a giant fox. Slowly the apparition took form and shape, and Kyuubi sat before Naruto for the first time in three years.

"**Well?**" growled the demon lord.

Naruto was silent. His thoughts were still his own.

Kyuubi sat silent for an hour or so, starring at the blonde before he spoke again. "**I've not come to pity you**."

Naruto looked up at the Demon, his eyes burning like coals. Still he was silent.

"**But** y**ou really are quite foolish.**"

Kyuubi shifted in his cage when Naruto didn't respond in even the smallest way. Neither entity spoke, but rather they stared at each other with crimson eyes.

"**Fine**," the Fox growled. "**We can skip the chit-chat. But what are you doing here? Have you come to seek my advice or my help? Do you want me to rush into rescue you from this new threat?**"

"No," Naruto, his voice toneless. "I just wanted a quiet place where I could sit and think for a long time."

Yet another awkward silence began to settle over the bleak interior of Naruto's mind, until Kyuubi looked up and sniffed the air. "**You've been moved about out there, your body has,**" said the Demon. "**They've taken you out of that tiny little room and had you transferred into a somewhat more sizable one higher up in the hospital.**"

The ice broke.

"That's probably Sakura's doing," said Naruto, his voice colder than before. "She's always trying to find ways to suck up to me."

"**Your toy?**" Kyuubi clarified.

Naruto nodded.

"**I assumed something like that. We both know you feel nothing where she is concerned, but you don't seem to be discouraging her efforts to appeal to you.**"

"She's useful as long as she's happy," said Naruto. "And keeping her happy is simple. All I have to do is give her a kiss here or there and make her feel wanted and needed; it's a woman's tragic flaw to want to be approved of by a love interest… Sakura just happened to receive that flaw in spades."

"**What do you plan on using her to do?**"

Naruto looked up at the demon, a tiny but real smile crossing his face as his red eyes narrowed. "Has the big bad demon lord been lonely with no one to talk to? Is that why you're so talkative all of a sudden?" asked Naruto. He spoke condescendingly until he saw Kyuubi's jaws parting to bear his teeth.

"Ah never mind," said the blonde, his voice unreadable once again. "There's no harm in telling you... Sakura's purpose is two-fold. First, she is going to be the one to endear me to the people of Konoha. She'll make me their champion, and convince them that whatever I do is right and for their own good. And second, She will be the conduit for the Hokage's power to flow directly to me. This way, Tsunade, a great warrior, will still be in play fighting my enemies, but her political power will be left with Sakura, since the Hokage is always leading the wars in the field, and through her, me. Doing this makes me just as powerful as a Kage, but I don't have the face to maintain. I'm just a nameless captain on the battlefields who doesn't have to worry about being perceived as a ruthless butcher. All that trouble falls on Tsunade, my 'superior,' and I'll already have her under control."

"**How will you manage that?**"

"Easily," said Naruto. "the people of Konoha will be on my side. The people's favor is ultimately what determines policy in Konoha, and who are they going to love more? Me, the one who the Steward is constantly proclaiming a hero who saves them and protects them daily by doing what needs to be done, or Tsunade, an ever-absent leader who never has the courage to take the fighting to the extreme levels necessary to win wars?"

"**Not a horrible plan kit, and the more you say, the more I like the way you think; it's like the way I think. But you have to realize this all hinges on two factors do you not?**"

"Tsunade being willing to accept the propaganda Sakura throws out, and Sakura's loyalty to me?" Naruto preempted Kyuubi's thought process.

"**No**" said the Demon. "**Sakura's loyalty is not in question here. The first hinge is Tsunade allowing the propaganda, yes, and the second is you being able to follow through on all of this.**"

Naruto didn't respond immediately, instead letting the thought mull itself over in his head. "Tsunade will accept it because it will be initially calm and controlled. The first days... or maybe weeks will just be Sakura passing it along to everyone that she admires me and loves what I'm doing. Then when things pick up, it will slowly turn into her promoting my ability to lead, and in the final stages, she'll tout me over even Tsunade. It will be like boiling a frog: if you drop the animal into boiling water it will jump out immediately, but put it in warm water and slowly turn the heat up until the frog sinks to the bottom to get cool, and soon the frog will have nowhere to go as the water boils. And yes, I will follow through. There's no doubt there."

"**Will you**?" asked the demon. "**Now that your vixen has reappeared are you sure? You seemed… rattled earlier today when you saw her again. You did after all strike at her in a completely blind rage."**

Naruto dropped his head and trembled once, then looked back up at the Demon and began to quietly laugh. "So I fooled a Demon Lord?" Naruto asked once he'd stopped chuckling. "I'm a better actor that I'd ever thought." Naruto laughed again. "Perhaps once this is all said and done I should take it up as a career."

"**That… was an act**?" Kyuubi wondered.

Naruto nodded and stood up straight, dropping his hands into his pockets. "Did you honestly think I'd be so stupid as to let Orochimaru's piddling attempt to throw me off balance work?" asked Naruto his tone almost condescending again.

"I began to anticipate that possibility quite a while ago. Ever since Shikamaru told the Hokage that Orochimaru had brought the Fourth and the Hyuuga Demon back I expected that the bastard had also resurrected Ino to serve as its vessel. It's just like something he'd do to try and get to me. He knows I'm coming for him." Naruto began to speak more and more freely, letting his voice take on a lecturing color as he divulged his thoughts to the one creature in the world who was incapable of passing on the Jounin's secrets.

_**These humans… no, this human is indeed a marvel, **_thought Kyuubi. _**I never would have guessed that he'd go this far, or that anyone besides the owner of Hell was capable of going this far.**_

"**So, you have no desire for the vixen any longer? Is this still all about revenge on Orochimaru for killing her? You even spoke to yourself about that before the invasion.**"

"You've missed it all," said Naruto shaking his head. "It's been about killing Orochimaru from the very beginning. Ino's death was what really sparked my desire to kill Orochimaru, but ever since I met him in the Forest of Death I've been hatching this scheme to destroy him."

"**But why?**" asked Kyuubi, his demonic mystique faltering as his questions became more genuine and less about alleviating boredom.

"You really are dense if you haven't seen this from the start," said Naruto. "I am good. Evil is a lack of good, like a vacuum that good naturally flows in to fill, effectively destroying the evil. You see it's just the nature of the universe that evil be destroyed, and Orochimaru is pure evil."

"**So… you're wanting to destroy Orochimaru because he is evil and you view yourself as good.** **But… aren't you employing evil means against him?**"

"Absolutely," said Naruto, his red eyes flickering. "But I'm not evil. I'm the only one not afraid to fight fire with fire if you'll pardon the cliché."

"**I see now,**" said the Demon. _**This child is either enlightened or insane… maybe both. **_"**The ends justify the means to you. But you didn't answer my question… Is the vixen of no value to you?**"

"Ino means the world to me, I'll say it flat out and you know I have no reason to lie to you. You're incapable of sharing any of this with anyone but me." Naruto said calmly. "She was the most wonderful thing in my life, and I wanted to make her my life. When she died it really did almost destroy me, and as much as I hate to admit it; I didn't expect her to die. Though, now that she's back I still want to make her my life if she can be saved, but I'm not going to let that personal desire stand in the way of what needs to be done."

_**Perhaps more insane as far as humans go,**_ thought Kyuubi. "**So you will take steps to save her?**"

"I'll try," Naruto responded. "Absolutely, and I think I know how to do it. However, destroying Orochimaru comes first. Though given how powerful Ino has become, she could be a great asset in that fight. Orochimaru pissed me off by 'killing' Ino through the Hyuuga Demon, but that's become less and less of a major concern. Now that she's back and there's a chance to save her, you might even say that Orochimaru has accelerated my plans by setting them back. Ino is stronger now than she ever was before."

A deep rumble echoed throughout the expanse as Kyuubi's chest rolled in deep laughter. "**You are truly fascinating, Uzumaki Naruto. I don't know whether you're a lunatic or a god, but you've truly peaked my interest. I'll be interested to sit back and watch what you do.**"

Naruto strolled up to the edge of the cage, thinking to himself for the whole, long walk, and peered in. "Don't get comfortable yet you stupid fox," the insult was sugarcoated in a joking and near jovial tone. "You're going to be instrumental in the procuring of that asset."


	41. Playing the Game

Playing the Game

* * *

"Doctor, doctor I think he's waking up."

"Where the hell am I?" Naruto asked groggily, trying with little effort to sit up. Some hand held him to the bed.

"You're in the hospital's recovery wing," said a familiar voice: Sakura's. She was sitting on a chair beside Naruto's bed with her hand on his bare chest. "You gave us a real scare. Don't try to sit up yet."

Naruto opened his eyes, saw her sitting there, and smiled. "I'm fine," he said, his voice a little stronger. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Nearly seven hours," said a tall man, walking into the larger-than-usual hospital room. He wore a white coat over khaki slacks, a stethoscope around his neck, with his red hair slicked back. Naruto couldn't help but think that this man looked very unlike a doctor. "You couldn't have picked a more convenient time to disrupt my dinner break." The doctor chuckled and grinned.

Naruto didn't look away from Sakura. "That would mean it's well after midnight," said the blonde, "have you been here the whole time?"

Sakura blushed. "I wanted to make sure, personally, that you were all right."

"She's been ordering around my entire staff all night," said the doctor. "You'd think she was delivering a baby."

Sakura's blush deepened. "I wasn't that bad," she defended.

"Yes you were," the doctor interrupted quickly, but not unkindly.

Naruto gently moved Sakura's hand from his chest and sat up against the headboard, letting the sheets fall to his waist. "Thanks," he said quietly. "That means a lot to me Sakura. But I'm fine, really."

"We know that," said the doctor. "Your unique healing abilities have us all amazed. You've been fine and napping peacefully for hours. But you took a pretty hard hit earlier so as a formality I'm going to have to ask you a few questions just to make sure your story lines up with your friends." The man nodded his head off towards the door, where Naruto saw Jiraiya leaning against a wall in the hall.

"Ok," Naruto said calmly, "what do you need to know?"

"All right," said the doctor, taking a pad and pen from one of the deep pockets in his coat. "First of all I need you to recount, as clearly as you can, the incidents leading up to the time at which you were injured, starting sometime during the invasion earlier."

"Umm." Naruto stammered for a moment, looking away like he was thinking very hard. "It's kind of a blur… I remember finding Kakashi-Sensei dead on the roof," his voice dropped off in feigned sorrow for a moment. Sakura looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Then I chased the Sound General into an underground base. We fought for a while… then something happened and I had to swim out of some kind of cavern. Then I got to the surface and blacked out. I don't remember anything after that."

"Nothing?" the doctor probed, a hint of disbelief in his voice. "Absolutely nothing at all after you broke to the surface?"

Again Naruto went silent for a minute, glancing between Jiraiya and the doctor. He could feel Sakura's eyes boring holes into the side of his head. "Jiraiya used his Underworld-Swamp!" Naruto burst out. "That was it, he used the Underworld-Swamp which dissolved the roof of the base and I had to fight my way to the top where I found him fighting someone."

Jiraiya peered through the door at Naruto. Worry streaked across his face at the same time that Sakura clenched her hands in her lap.

"Do you remember who Jiraiya was fighting with?" asked the doctor.

Sakura had to fight to keep her breathing even and unsuspicious.

Naruto didn't let any emotion show on his face. He had everyone exactly where they needed to be. "No," he shrugged. "I don't remember a face at least, but I do recall getting slammed by some kind of sharp chakra-based attack." _Their reaction should tell me everything I need to know,_ thought the blonde.

A near tangible feeling of relief flooded the room as Sakura relaxed and Jiraiya's stiffened posture gave way. _Perfect,_ Naruto mused happily.

"Hmm," the doctor mumbled, scribbling on his pad. "Some minor short-term memory loss… Can you remember any of the techniques the assailant used on either you or Jiraiya?"

_Saying I was oxygen starved and so I wouldn't know wouldn't work,_ thought Naruto. _Jiraiya would immediately know I was lying. I'll just play dumb and let them come to the conclusion that my mind is blocking out the trauma._

"Not really," said Naruto. "There was a lot of fire."

"All right," said the doctor. "I think that's about all I need. Oh, are you feeling any sharp or stabbing pains?"

"No."

"How about numbness or tingling?"

"No."

"Aching?"

"No."

"Dizziness?"

"No."

"Nausea?"

"No,"

"Cranial discomfort?"

"No."

"Discomfort in the bowels?"

"No,"

"Unexplainable urges to kill?"

"Doctor," said Naruto, forcing a smile. "I feel fine. The medical staff," he threw a quick glance at Sakura, "did a great job."

Sakura grinned as the doctor cleared his throat.

"In that case," he said, "I guess we're pretty much done here. I'm sorry if this seems rushed, but I have a lot of patients to see, and some of them are in bad condition. We did after all just repel an invasion."

"Oh," said Naruto. "By all means, go, go. We'll be fine here."

"Right," said the doctor. "Feel free to sign yourself out." He got up and walked out of the room, nodding respectfully to Jiraiya as he disappeared down the hall.

Jiraiya uncrossed his arms and pushed himself away from the wall. Examining Naruto as he slowly walked in, the Sanin pulled a small scroll out of his robes and stood next to the blonde on the bed.

"How are you feeling Naruto?" he asked.

"Were you not listening to the doctor and me?" Naruto joked.

"I'd really prefer you to be a bit more serious right now," said the Sanin, handing the scroll off to Naruto, who took it hesitantly. "For once…"

"What's this?" he asked, breaking the wax seal on the scroll and beginning to unroll it.

"It's from Tsunade," said Jiraiya emotionlessly. "She's called a special meeting of the highest Jounin, the heads of ANBU, and myself to discuss the recent invasion and where we take the war from here."

"Tsunade's back?" asked Naruto, unrolling the scroll completely and scanning through it. "I thought she would be in Suna for a while longer."

Jiraiya shook his head. "She's on her way back as we speak and should be here in just a few hours. These scrolls came ahead of her with a courier Nin dispatched before she actually left Suna."

"The meeting is set for six tomorrow morning," said Sakura.

"Wow," said Naruto, "short notice. Everything is accelerating…"

"Not really," said the Sanin. "So I'd suggest you sign yourself out and get ready for the meeting. Odds are that Tsunade is going to hand out assignments. And Naruto, if I were you I'd anticipate getting something big."

"Why's that?" asked the blonde, resisting the urge to glance at the pink-haired kunoichi next to him.

Jiraiya re-crossed his arms and looked out a window. "Because of what you did here," said the Sanin. "Sakura told me how you lead the counterattack against the Oto AND the Kumo armies and drove them both out of Konoha. That's not something the Hokage is going to overlook when she's deciding who has the skill to handle the bigger jobs."

_Really it was Chouji that drove out the Sound and I just lead the initial defense_, thought Naruto, _But since Sakura already told him it was me…_ he grinned.

"Well," said Naruto, "it wasn't that spectacular."

"Indeed," said the Sanin, sounding tired and annoyed. "I'm proud of you for that Naruto; just make sure you're at the meeting. Tsunade will kill us both if you're late. Now please excuse me."

Jiraiya turned and left the hospital room quietly, following the same course the doctor had taken and dropping out of sight down the hall.

"Who shoved a stick up his ass?" asked Sakura caustically. "He's been a total jerk ever since he got back…"

"Really?" asked Naruto. "He didn't seem that bad to me."

"I think he's trying to act nice in front of you," said the kunoichi. "Whenever I or anyone else tries to talk to him he just acts like he wants to be left alone. I don't know what the old man's problem is."

Naruto thought for a second until an idea occurred to him. "Did Jiraiya mention how the battle at Suna went?"

"He said it wasn't a total victory," said Sakura, "but then again no one expected it to be."

"Did he say if the Fourth was there?" asked Naruto.

"No," the kunoichi muttered, yawning and stretching a bit. "He didn't mention anything about that. Why?"

"Just a theory," said the blonde, sitting up more, causing the sheets to fall a little lower. "Umm, Sakura," he muttered, looking down and only then fully realizing that he was not only shirtless, but completely in the nude, "have you seen my clothes."

"Maybe," said the kunoichi, grinning widely. "Why do you want to know?"

Naruto sighed and shot her a semi annoyed look without saying a word.

"I'll get them," said Sakura disappointedly, standing up and walking to a small dresser on the other side of the room.

SC

"So what exactly did you tell Jiraiya about my escapades today?" Naruto asked as he and Sakura walked down the dark side street. It was exactly one in the morning according to the tolling bell in the distance, and a cool breeze was sweeping through the city, carrying with it the sound of construction all around. Naruto seemed to have chosen the only silent street in the village to lead Sakura down.

"Just what I saw," said the kunoichi, a wry smile on her lips. "You courageously and heroically mustered the village's defense in a hopeless situation and drove the enemies off almost singlehandedly."

Naruto grinned and walked a little closer to her. "You know it wasn't as grand as all that."

"Yes it was," said Sakura. "I said it was, and I'm the Steward. And if you ask any of the Town Guard, even Chouji for that matter, who fought with us on that line yesterday, they'll say exactly the same thing; that you fought fearlessly and held the enemy off."

"Making me into a hero, are you?" asked Naruto, taking her gently by the hand.

Sakura smiled and stepped closer to him so her bare shoulder would brush his arm as they walked. "You already are," she said, reaching up and holding onto his arm with her free hand. "And everyone in this village should know it… would you rather I didn't say things like that?" her voice was hesitant.

"No, no," said Naruto, sensing the uncertainty in her voice and immediately assuming a comforting tone. "I'm honestly glad you are and I don't want you to stop. I appreciate it and … I well, I'm glad you are."

"Then I'll keep it up for you," said Sakura happily, giving his arm a little squeeze. "I'll make sure everyone in Konoha knows just how much of a hero you are."

They walked on in silence for a minute, until Naruto slowed down just a bit and turned to her. "No matter what I do?" he asked quietly.

Sakura looked up at him and clutched at his arm, holding his hand tightly. "I don't care if you wind up burning a whole village to the ground. I'll make you look all the better for it."

A few minutes passed quietly as they walked on. They were passing fewer and fewer commercial buildings now and more residential homes and apartments with dark windows. The distance between street lights was growing and the road was getting darker. Naruto squeezed Sakura's hand, feeling her fingers with his and inwardly grinning when she responded in like manner. He could tell she was getting a little worked up over their proximity and solitude. He knew she couldn't have missed the fact that they were moving towards his house.

Sakura slowed just a bit until they were barely walking at all and more just meandering down the road. She held on to him and rubbed his arm. "Why would you ask me something like that? We've talked about this," she said.

"Do you trust me, Sakura?" Naruto asked, not looking at her.

"Absolutely," said Sakura without a second's hesitation, "no matter what."

Naruto smiled and closed his eyes in forced relief. "Sakura, I haven't told this to anyone at all yet, but I know I can trust you with it…" he stopped talking and quickened their pace just a little.

"What…?" Sakura asked cautiously, an edge of worry in her voice when he didn't continue after a moment. "What is it Naruto? You know you can tell me anything and I'll do anything for you. I'm here for you and always will be."

"Thank you Sakura," Naruto said quietly. "You have no idea how much that means to me… but you may not think so after this."

"Just tell me Naruto," she whispered, her voice unsettled.

"I'm going to do things that a lot of people are going to think are entirely horrible," said Naruto. "This war will become unprecedentedly bloody and brutal. This initial invasion is nothing. The war with Iwa is going to look like a civil debate by compare. You see, Orochimaru will break all the rules of war and I plan to fight him on his own terms. Sakura, we're going to win this at all costs and nothing is going to stand in our way… but a lot of people aren't going to like it. They'll think it's bad that I'm fighting like one of the enemy but-"

"It's the way it has to be," Sakura interrupted. "You don't need to say another word. We already covered this… and since then I've done a lot of thinking. Why are you bringing this up again…?"

"I just," Naruto stammered, "When we first spoke of this neither of us were all together. Kakashi had just died and it was in the heat of the invasion and … other things. I just needed to know, for my sake and yours that we both know exactly what we're getting into."

"I know the risks Naruto," said Sakura. "I love you and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make you love me. To that end, I went over everything we talked about to myself and I realized that this is the right thing to do all the way around. I see clearly that you're right. Sometimes evil has to be done to get rid of evil."

_She's practically thinking my thoughts after me,_ Naruto thought to himself.

"And furthermore," said Sakura, "to make sure that you win, I'm going to give you personal and total command of a seventy man strike force."

"What?" Naruto wondered, nearly caught off guard.

"You heard me," said Sakura. "I've made arrangements for you to have authority over a unit of seventy elite Ninja. They'll be under your direct command and all of you will be able to operate autonomously. You won't need orders to take any action you see fit, but … I couldn't arrange for you to be free of authority entirely. You'll still have to take orders from either Tsunade or myself, but I won't be making demands and I can convince Tsunade to do the same."

_Taking credit for Kakashi's work,_ Naruto nearly laughed. _She doesn't know that he told me about that before he died… and here she is trying to play it off as her idea. How clever of her._

"Sakura," he whispered, "that's wonderful."

"I'd hoped you'd like it," she said, nestling into him a little more as they stopped in front of the stairs to his porch. "It gives you a lot more freedom to do what's necessary."

"Where would I be without you?" he asked quietly, standing in front of her and putting his hands on her shoulders.

Sakura began to blush furiously and reached out to wrap her arms around his neck, locking her fingers behind him. He didn't resist.

"I don't know," she said smiling, "probably better off."

Naruto chuckled a bit and moved in closer. "I don't think so…"

After just a moment of quiet, Sakura looked away for a second, her cheeks still a vibrant pink even in the dark, and then glanced almost timidly back up into Naruto's eyes. "You know we still have five whole hours until we're supposed to be at your future – I mean Tsunade's office" she said quietly, not letting any particular tone color her voice.

"I know," Naruto said, smiling.

"And we're conveniently right here at your house," she added.

"I know that too," said the blonde, his voice a little lower as he stepped in close to her and slid his hands down into the small of her back. "What are you implying?" he asked as he began running his fingers in small circles, pulling her against him.

"I don't know really," she whispered into his neck, resting against him. "What do you think I mean?"

She stood up on the tips of her toes and leaned into him, hovering her lips a paper's width above his neck as she rubbed his shoulders through his black ANBU suit. All the blood rushed to her cheeks as she closed her eyes and dropped just enough to trace a kiss across his neck. She could feel her core beginning to warm.

Naruto smiled, he'd already won. "I suppose I couldn't convince you to stay for a while?" he whispered in her ear.

Slowly, Naruto's hands wandered down the sides of Sakura's legs, sending a tingling all throughout her, then around to the backs of her thighs where he ran his fingertips over her subtle curves. He felt her breath burst against his neck as he did, and he slowed his efforts. He took nearly two whole minutes to run his hands up over her hips to her ribcage when he slowly wrapped her in his arms and pulled her fully against him. All the while she'd been gently kissing his neck and holding his shoulders.

"I don't know," she responded in a trembling voice. "You'd have to ask nicely."

As Naruto moved her close, Sakura slid her hands around his back and leaned her head back instinctively, a motion Naruto did not miss. He leaned in and stopped, just as she had, holding a kiss just beyond her skin. His hands wound up her back to the zipper that ran down her dress along the spine, and played with the tiny metal tag, not pulling it down far at all before he'd playfully pull it back up. It sent a message though and Sakura slid her hands under his shirt in the back.

"Don't make me beg," he said in a measured tone.

As she began rubbing his back, Naruto whispered against her neck, his words warm and sweet, how she made him happy and complete. The Kunoichi's breath jerked as his lips found the nape of her neck and gingerly worked up to just beneath her ear where he whispered again. She couldn't make out the words this time, they were too low and quiet, but she did however feel the little shiver that Naruto sent shooting down her spine.

Naruto ran his hands up and down her back once, twice, gently pressing his fingers against the dress. Sakura groaned very quietly and moved up against him even more, pressing her chest to his.

"You don't have to be so careful," she whispered.

"But what else would I be for you?" asked Naruto, his voice even and slow but warm.

"Whatever you wanted to be," said Sakura, moving her hands up to hold him to her. She was staring into his eyes, her expression star-struck. The dim light from the far off lamp was barely enough for them to see by, which only made it all the more intense for Sakura.

"Isn't it a bit chilly out here?" asked the Kunoichi, whispering in Naruto's ear.

"Are you cold?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Just a little", she responded, shaking as his hands slid down her back from her shoulders to her thighs.

He pulled her legs a little so she had no option other than to let her pelvis fall against him a bit as he caught her. She immediately felt a surge run through her. Pulling her off her feet, Naruto held Sakura up against him, her face level with his. She didn't protest as he kissed her, but rather wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed herself up to him.

"Still cold?" he asked, almost playfully as he felt her moving against him.

"No," she whispered, dropping her forehead down on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck. Her breathing was coming in hot draws, and would jerk with delight whenever Naruto's hands found her legs or sides.

"We can fix that," Naruto said, reaching up with one hand and pulling her dress's zipper halfway down her back, sliding his fingers ever-so-slightly over her bare skin.

"Naruto," Sakura whispered, looking up, her eyes nearly glazed over.

"Hmm?" Naruto mumbled, a grin crossing his face as they pretended to maintain innocence. He noticed she still hadn't stopped moving her hips against him, only slowed.

Sakura's thoughts were racing, but one phrase kept recurring in her mind. _Please don't wake up._

Naruto's hand slid farther down, carrying the zipper with it as his fingers began working along her skin, making her groan. Soon the little metal tag was as far down as it could go and Naruto clearly saw Sakura's alabaster skin. The dress had folded forward, hiding only Sakura's more private details.

"What are all these," he asked tracing his fingers over the three or four long dark lines that wound across Sakura's back.

"Just… nothing really" Sakura stammered, leaning up as her eyes locked on his. She was suddenly self-conscious and moved one hand around her back like she was going to zip her dress up. "Old wounds, that wouldn't heal all the way" she muttered, looking down and praying he hadn't been revolted by the scars.

"What's the matter?" Naruto asked, catching her hand in his before she could close up the back of the dress. His free hand slid along the inner length of her thigh, making her tremor as his fingers grazed a little circle on her bare skin. "Why so jumpy?"

"I thought you might be… I don't know," she mumbled wrapped up in his touch.

"That I might be?" he probed, tracing his fingers up higher on her leg till they vanished under the folds of her dress.

"Nothing," Sakura nearly gasped, closing her eyes and letting her head fall forward a bit. "Forget I said anything."

Naruto smiled and leaned into her, brushing her lips with a soft kiss. She didn't open her eyes but reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck again, as her legs closed tightly around his waist.

"But you did say something," Naruto whispered, pulling back just a hair's breadth. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me?"

Sakura let out a very quiet moan as Naruto's hands slid under the back of her dress and began caressing her through a hidden layer of silky lace. "Please don't ask me to," she groaned.

Sakura nearly jumped as she felt the slick fabric being slid aside by strong hands. A sudden fire lit itself in her hips, thighs, and everything in-between. The surge rushed up, throwing her mind into chaos and igniting everything along its path. Her legs squeezed around Naruto more tightly.

"Naruto," Sakura gasped as something inside her spun.

"Do you want me to stop?" asked the blonde quietly, trailing the words along her jaw to her lips where he kissed her before she could answer. Naruto didn't pull back after playing with her a bit more but, but deepened the kiss as her chest began heaving against him. He held her close with one hand, while the other still remained hidden beneath the deep red dress that flowed straight down, exposing most of her legs.

"No," she whispered, pulling away long enough to take a deep, shuttering breath before leaning forward and setting herself to his neck. "Don't ever stop."

Naruto grinned, taking a few cautious steps forward and setting Sakura's back against the wall next to the door of his house. He let his hands drop since now she was supported, and began moving his fingers over every exposed inch of her legs. She'd groan with approval when he rubbed her calves, resist the urge to giggle as he tickled behind her knees and gasp as he ran his fingers along her thighs, all the while kissing and gently sucking on her shoulders and under her jaw line.

"Care to get the door Sakura?" he asked playfully.

Without a second thought the kunoichi reached out and fumbled at the knob with blind and trembling fingers, at which point Naruto redoubled his efforts on her legs. Again his fingers pushed up underneath the dress, finding the silk an instant thereafter. Sakura groaned and let her hand drop.

"No no no," said Naruto warmly and slowly, making it into a game. "You have to get the door open. Hurry up now."

Sakura reached up for the knob again, but as soon as she touched it, she gasped as Naruto's hand found its way past the lacy fabric. Her head leaned back and she held off a moan, but still she tried for the door. Her fingers wrapped around the handle but clenched into an immovable fist as Naruto's fingers played.

"Don't you want to go inside?" asked the blonde Jounin.

Sakura let her hips slide forward. A smile broke on her face even though her eyes were clenched shut. Naruto mirrored the grin and let her move freely, but at the same time reached up with his other hand and caressed her neck. He leaned closer and kissed her lips gently, then her cheek, then her neck, then her shoulder. In slow, fluid motions he traced a series of kisses back up to her lips where he began.

"Are you going to make me get the door?" asked Naruto quietly.

Sakura nodded. "You win," she groaned.

"But I don't want to win," he said, pulling his hand from beneath her dress.

Sakura rolled her hips forward and grasped at his shoulders. "I want you to win," she said, her voice sultry.

Naruto smiled and kissed her again. _I already have,_ he thought, reaching out, turning the door's handle, and opening it.

SC

In the bedroom, where there were no windows, the darkness was total and all-encompassing. Even if he had been looking for any of the signs, Naruto wouldn't have been able to see the bed's comforter tossed wildly to one side of the mattress, or the random articles of clothing strewn chaotically about the floor. The only thing he could see was the blackness. The only sound was Sakura; her breathing deep and constant from her place beside him.

Naruto lay on his back, his head resting on an ample supply of pillows, with one arm underneath those pillows. His other arm was wrapped around the deeply sleeping form next to him. Really Sakura was closer to being on top of him than simply next to him, curled up against him. The sheets were loosely tossed over them both.

_Two more hours_, thought the Ninja. _Two more hours until we need to get ready to go see Tsunade… That's enough time for her to get a nap I suppose._

_**Plenty of time indeed I'd guess. Have fun kit?**_ Kyuubi's voice echoed in the back of Naruto's mind.

_I'm not going to say it was unenjoyable_, responded Naruto, annoyed. _I'd rather that than talk to you at least. What do you want?_

_**Nothing world-shaking,**_ rumbled the fox. _**Mostly I wanted to ask what you think is going to happen at this meeting in a few hours.**_

_Suddenly you're so talkative. I thought demons were supposed to be solitary and a quiet bunch… I'm not entirely sure, but it will be interesting if nothing else._

Sakura shifted in her sleep and mumbled Naruto's name, cuddling a little closer to him. He moved one hand to her temple and combed out her disheveled hair with his fingers, putting it into something more resembling order.

_**Why, if I may ask, did you seduce the girl like that? **_asked Kyuubi _**You don't strike me as the type who's overly concerned about passing on your genes. But neither do you seem like a lecher.**_

_She wanted sex,_ Naruto mentally shrugged. _So I gave it to her. There was no real reason to withhold physical pleasure from her since all it would do is shore up her loyalty even more. Besides, it makes her happy… plus her hormones at this stage in her physical development are probably beginning to become a factor in her decision making processes. This might calm her down a bit._

_**Or just make her seek satisfaction from you all the more often now that she knows what it feels like.**_

_That's a possibility. I suppose it might foster some kind of appetite in her._

_**And you wouldn't complain**_, Kyuubi said, his odd chuckling resonating in Naruto's mind.

_I wouldn't deny her, but at the same time I'm not going to make many, if any, conscious efforts to seduce her like tonight. That's not to say though that I'm not going to refrain from enticing her to try and seduce me._

_**You can't tell me you wouldn't want this as often as you could get it. From what I've observed over hundreds of years, humans are fascinated, perhaps overly-so, with fulfilling their sexual desires.**_

_Not all humans are run by their libido Kyuubi. Just some. _Naruto grinned condescendingly at that.

_**Indeed, but I was beginning to think your vixen here was never going to be still. To incite a girl to make those kinds of noises you must have-**_

_Would you just can it already,_ Naruto growled. _Shut the hell up if you don't have something more productive to talk about then sex._

_**Temper, temper kit. I was giving you a compliment, something I rarely do.**_

_Generally speaking compliments aren't meant to be insulting._

_**Alright, I can see we're getting nowhere with this conversation.**_

_We'd get farther if you just told me what you wanted._

_**Right we'll get to the matter immediately,**_ Kyuubi said, a pretentious air about his voice. _**I think you should resume studying under my guidance.**_

_Can we talk about this later?_asked Naruto. _I agree that you've got a good idea but now probably isn't the best time to discuss something that important._

_**You have a lot to learn about survival kit**_ Kyuubi growled. _**There are warriors out there much stronger than you that you're eventually going to have to face and if you want to stand a chance against any of them you'd be wise to accept my generous offer. You won't have time to recover from your nightly adventures in the future when there are important decisions to be made. We do need to talk about this; hammer out what you need to learn and what you're now capable of.**_

_Fine fine,_ thought Naruto as Sakura stirred. _But later… I actually have a lot of questions concerning the ancient village of Maibu and the First Hokage._

_**What about them?**_ Kyuubi asked, surprised by the statement.

Sakura turned over again and opened her eyes, looking around the room. "Naruto?" she whispered. "Are you awake?"

_I said later,_ groaned Naruto. "Yes," he answered softly. "Good morning beautiful."

_**We will speak of this later kit,**_ said the fox before Naruto felt the consciousness recede from his own.

Sakura yawned, smiled, and sat up letting the sheets slide off her shoulders and fall in a heap by the comforter. She reached out and felt along Naruto's chest in the dark until her hands came to his neck, then from there she searched up to his face. He didn't move but let her explore him again. He heard the mattress ruffle a little as she leaned over on top of him and kissed him tenderly.

"Good morning," she said quietly but happily. "What time is it?"

"You slept for about half an hour," said the blonde, reaching up and setting his hands on her shoulders.

She smiled and swung one leg over Naruto, straddling him and resting her elbows on either side of his chest. She leaned down to kiss him again and lowered herself until her form was just barely hovering above his.

"We should probably get ready to go," Naruto said, exaggerating the smile in his voice. "We don't want to be late."

"Do we have to?" Sakura asked, her voice playfully whiny.

"Yeah, I think so," said the blonde, reaching over to the nightstand and flipping on the lamp.

Sakura blinked in the light and leaned back as Naruto sat up. The blonde shifted and sat on the edge of the bed as Sakura stood up, trying to look disappointed. Naruto however stayed seated and leaned back, resting on his elbows and just watched her move.

"What are you looking at?" asked the Kunoichi, smiling and turning around to both give him a better view of her front and side while hiding the scars across her back.

"You," he said, letting his eyes wander over her nude figure.

Sakura grinned and walked slowly back in front of the bed, kneeling down in front of him and putting her hands on his knees. She leaned up and brushed her cheek against his as she let her breasts press up to his chest. "Which part of me?" she whispered in his ear just before kissing him.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he responded playfully, kissing her back "But, I think it's time we got ready," he said, holding up her bra.

"But why so early?" she asked, glancing at the clock on the nightstand. "There's plenty of time for-"

"I'd like to be there a little early to make a good impression on Tsunade," said Naruto.

Sakura pouted just a bit but stood up slowly. "Fine," she said, taking her bra from him and turning around.

Naruto got up and watched as she started to get dressed. He then reached down and picked her panties off the ground and held them behind his back. The Kunoichi turned around, looking for the underwear and saw standing there trying to look innocent. She smiled but then quickly hid the joy behind a façade of resentment.

"I'm going to need those," said Sakura.

"Nope," said Naruto, walking up next to her and tossing the silky lingerie onto the dresser. "I think I'm going to hang onto these for a while."

Sakura didn't even try not to grin as she moved beside him and looked over his muscled form. "So you want me to walk around without any underwear?" she asked.

"The dress covers you well enough. Besides," he said, reaching down and twirling his index finger in a circle a few inches below her navel. "This way there's less between you and me if we get a moment alone and decide to make good use of it."


	42. Eve of Destruction

AN: Hey all, 50cal here. I don't really have much to say in the way of development on the story, but I did want everyone to know that as of next chapter, I will be posting all additions to the story on Friday nights as opposed to the current Wednesday schedule. Thanks all!

* * *

Eve of Destruction

Naruto and Sakura arrived at the Hokage's office forty-five minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin. The door was locked and the door-lined walkway on one the higher floors of the complex was devoid of people. The only light came from the street lanterns below, as there was no one in any of the offices yet who'd turned on the walkway lamps, leaving the two Jounin almost completely eclipsed; a happenstance Sakura attempted to take full advantage of. The Kunoichi clung tightly to Naruto's arm, both her hands twined around one of his. Holding herself to him, she rested her cheek on his shoulder.

Naruto hadn't been completely unaffectionate in return. He didn't complain when she'd nuzzled in as close as she had, only pointed out that when people began to arrive that they'd need to assume a more professional persona. Sakura had at first begun to protest, but quickly gave in and decided it was best to enjoy what time he allowed her to be as close as she was.

They stood in silence for nearly half an hour and still no one was appearing. Naruto hadn't disallowed for the possibility of people being untimely, but he'd thought at least Shikamaru or one of the other ANBU heads would have been early.

_No mater, _he told himself, glancing down at the Kunoichi who looked as though she could be asleep on his shoulder. _There's no rush. Things are perfectly on schedule. All I need to do is convince Tsunade to send me on towards Kiri and everything will be set. Maybe…_

"Sakura," Naruto whispered. "You awake?"

"Hmm," she answered happily, not opening her eyes.

"How do you think this debriefing is going to go?"

Sakura loosened her grip just enough to look up at him sleepily. "I don't really know what to expect," she said quietly. "But I'd guess she's going to give us some details about the situation in Suna and from what Jiraiya said she might hand out assignments… Naruto…"

"Yes?"

"You don't think Tsunade is going to send you off anywhere too dangerous… do you?"

Naruto thought quickly, measuring a dozen different possibilities of what to say in his head, deciding on one in a second. "I kind of hope she does," said the blonde. He felt Sakura's grip on him tighten slightly. "If she does then it will mean I'm somewhere where I can do a lot more good than I could in a safe place like Konoha."

"So you don't think you'd be useful back here with me?" she asked.

Naruto immediately saw the course towards which she was steering the conversation; he didn't think anyone could miss it. "Sakura," he said comfortingly, reaching over and rubbing her shoulder with his free hand, "Honestly, I'd like to stay beck here, but there are going to be battles to fight as far away from Konoha as Kumo and Oto… maybe even Kiri or Iwa, and if so, don't you want the best out there making sure we win those fights?"

"I do," said Sakura, "But there are going to be wars to fight on the home front too."

_I've got to change her focus,_ thought Naruto.

"Those are going to be political battles Sakura," said Naruto. "I may be out on the battlefield, but you'll be the one deciding what happens on a much grander scale, and through you, me. You're going to be my voice in the council chambers and my will at the ambassador's table. And I know you're ready for anything."

Sakura nodded. "Absolutely," she said. "But… I really don't want you to go off and do anything that might get you…"

"Killed?" asked Naruto in a low voice.

The kunoichi just nodded and Naruto inwardly grinned. "Sakura," he said, "that's a necessary risk. Chances right now are very, very high that I will be dead within a month or two, given what I'm likely to need to do for the cause."

Sakura looked up at him in utter horror. "How can you say that?" she hissed. "How are you supposed to change the world if you're dead?"

"I can't if I'm dead, but I have to try and change the world which involves putting myself in those kinds of situations," said Naruto, confusing her. "If I die trying then I guess you might say it's all over."

Sakura's terror showed on her face as she stared up at him. "Naruto…" she whispered.

_**You don't really plan on doing anything reckless or foolhardy do you?**_ Kyuubi's consciousness burst into Naruto's like a thunderbolt. He could feel the Demon Lord's anxiety.

_No, no, not at all,_ said Naruto cajolingly. _But I need her to think so._ _In chess the pawns die first, not the king or the queen. And this war will be no different. Sakura will stay back and head what needs to be done here, while I oversee the battlefield. You forget my means Kyuubi._

_**Good… I was going to have to intercede if I thought otherwise.**_

_And what would you do?_ Countered Naruto. _But don't fool yourself. I'll fight more than my share of battles, however I'll always win. I never attempt something I can't do._

Naruto quickly felt Kyuubi's consciousness recede again as Sakura looked down at the ground. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Nothing," she whispered. "Do what you have to…"

Naruto smiled to himself. _Now for one quick suggestion._

"But don't think I'm just going to sit back here and let you die out there," Sakura said before Naruto could respond. "If you're sure to be out fighting this war, I'm going to make sure it's as short as possible."

_Wow,_ Naruto thought. _I didn't have to say a word and she latched onto the idea almost psychically._

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Naruto, you're smarter than that," said Sakura bluntly. Naruto could sense a cold wall building up around her "Don't be stupid. I'll be doing everything I can politically to make sure that you're in harm's way for the least amount of time possible. I'll force the other villages to surrender with subterfuge."

"Sakura," said Naruto, surprised but pleasantly so by the edge in her voice. "It's like you're thinking my thoughts before I can say them."

Naruto quickly leaned down to her level and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle but firm kiss. The wall melted instantaneously and her face softened as Sakura kissed him back. She grinned and pressed up against him a bit, running her tongue along his lips playfully.

"Careful," said Naruto, standing up but leaving one arm around her shoulders. "Now's not the time for that kind of behavior."

"Fine," said Sakura, "but it will be later."

"Maybe," Naruto said half-heartedly.

"Oh trust me," said the Kunoichi, "I think I can convince you."

"Alright, but seriously," said the blonde, "You're right about the politics. One of your jobs will be to do everything it takes to force the other village's hands into surrender if at all possible. I'd rather not exterminate half the continent."

"One of my jobs?" probed the kunoichi, "Did you have something immediate in mind?"

"I do have one assignment for you during this debriefing," said Naruto. "But I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"I won't," said Sakura, "anything for you."

Naruto nodded, pleased. "I need you to convince Tsunade to send me and my strike force to Kiri."

Sakura gulped, but nodded. "Alright, I can do that. Why though?"

"Kiri is going to be completely off balance after the fight in Suna," said Naruto. "And I think that if I can strangle the village then it will throw off Orochimaru's entire war effort. All he'll have left are his own worthless troops, and Kumo, which we beat the shit out of here."

"Define strangle," said Sakura, "I'll need to know what to convince Tsunade to let you do. You may have the freedom to move without orders, but she can still curtail that if we're not careful and I wouldn't have the authority to get it back for you without… maybe going so far as to kill Tsunade."

"We don't need to talk about that," said Naruto quickly. "I'm not going to ask that of you."

"I'd do it for you in a heartbeat," said the Kunoichi. "I'm just saying."

"Don't worry. All you need to do is convince her that Kiri needs to be restrained. Tell her that you think it wise to send me down there to cut off their supply lines and paralyze their infrastructure."

"That's manageable," said Sakura. "I'm not even going to ask what you really plan to do, but I promise you, as soon as news reaches me, and it WILL reach me before anyone else in the village, I'll spin it into an act of fate and make everyone love you for it."

"Thank you. And also, this will give you leverage over the other villages in any upcoming ambassadorial meetings."

"So it's going to be big then?" asked Sakura.

"When Kumo and Oto hear about what I'm going to do they'll piss their pants for fear that I'm coming after them next."

"I can use that," said Sakura.

"Good," mumbled Naruto. "Now let's be quiet, someone's coming."

Sakura turned as she heard footsteps coming up the stairs in the dark. Naruto very quickly bent down and gently kissed just beside her lips. The Kunoichi turned for a brief second to return the gesture, then the blonde stepped aside, leaving a few feet between them.

"It's a matter of principle," Naruto heard a deep voice, Jiraiya's, say as a mound of spiky white hair poked over the top of the stairs, followed immediately by both the Toad Sanin and Tsunade. "I'm not going to send him into a situation where-"

Jiraiya froze when he saw Naruto and Sakura standing by the Hokage's door, then quickly composed himself. "Good morning you two," said the Sanin.

Tsunade looked up from a large scroll she was reading, and smiled when she saw the Jounin. "Naruto, Sakura, I'm glad to see you."

The two Jounin bowed respectfully but didn't answer as Tsunade and Jiraiya approached. The Hokage reached into her new green robes and pulled out a tiny key which she inserted in the lock. Tsunade opened the door and quietly beckoned everyone inside, shutting the door behind them.

"We've got a lot to discuss," said the Hokage once they were inside the office. They were the only four occupants, which left Sakura and Naruto looking around in fake anxiety.

"What about the rest of the Jounin?" asked Sakura.

"And the ANBU black ops," said Naruto. "Aren't they going to be here for this?"

Tsunade walked to her big mahogany desk and sat down in the leather-backed chair opposite it. "Yes," she said, "But not for a little while longer, and I'd like to talk with the two of you first, so it's good you were early. It keeps me from having to waste time keeping you later."

"What can we do for you?" asked Naruto, leaning against the wall as both Sakura and Jiraiya took seats on either side of Tsunade's desk.

"Let me preface this by saying Jiraiya told me about what you did in the battle," said Tsunade, throwing a glance to the other Sanin. Jiraiya just stared down at the floor. "And I'm extremely impressed and proud to say you're one of mine," continued the Hokage, " that's why I want you out in the thick of the battle's we have to fight, and I've arranged for you to do just that."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked, resisting the urge to look over at Sakura since he knew where this was going.

"Naruto," continued Tsunade, crossing her arms and looking directly at him. "Do you know what a Kage-Jounin is?"

"No," Naruto lied. "I've never heard of one."

"I'm not surprised," said Tsunade. "Much like the position of Steward, the Kage-Jounin is an office rarely spoken of because of its shady nature. In short, during times of war, the Hokage can appoint one Ninja of any rank or age, to act as a kind of personal enforcer: the Kage-Jounin. This Ninja is immediately elevated past any other rank or regulation in the village, capable of doing whatever they deem necessary for the good of the village, and answerable only to the Hokage and Steward."

"And…" Naruto probed. "You want to give me that title?"

"Yes," said the Hokage. "I read the reports on you, listened to Jiraiya when he spoke about your skill and cunning, and I've concluded that you'd be excellent for the job. I personally disapprove of anyone having the kind of power I'm offering you, but I see that it's necessary if we want to get through this war alive. As of this moment, you are the Kage-Jounin of Konoha, bound by no authority but mine and Sakura's directly. Understand?"

"Yes," said Naruto humbly. "I do."

Sakura looked over at the blonde approvingly. She knew things were going exactly the way he wanted them… and thusly, exactly the way she wanted them.

"Good, I'm glad that was so easy" said Tsunade. "Furthermore, I've arranged for you to be given command of a strike force of seventy Ninja of your choosing. They will be under your direct command, and your impunity to the law will extend to them when they are acting under your order."

"Are you sure this is wise Hokage-Sama?" asked Naruto, "Do you think anyone should have this kind of power?"

"It's necessary," said Tsunade, pinching the bridge of her nose. "And the mission will always come first. It will be your responsibility to protect the village however you see fit; nonetheless, you must always operate only for the good of the village."

"I'll do my best," said Naruto.

"I trust you will," the Hokage responded. "After the meeting I'll see that you have an opportunity to choose your forces."

"Actually," Naruto interrupted. "About that…"

"Yes?"

"If I may, I've only got two requests. First, I want Nara Shikamaru on my team, and secondly, I want him to assemble the force."

"Done," said Tsunade as there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she hollered.

The door clicked open and four tall figures, each in a typical ANBU cloak and mask strode in, taking up dispersed positions throughout the room. One of them reached up and quickly pulled off his mask when he saw Naruto and Sakura.

"Glad to see the gang's all here," said Shikamaru, hanging the bone-white bird mask at his side on a nearly invisible hook. "So we can finally get things underway."

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura. "Aren't there supposed to be more?"

"Not really," said Shikamaru, grinning.

"I said I was assembling the highest ranked Jounin in the village," said Tsunade, "And you and Naruto are them. Who would be higher than the Kage-Jounin and the Steward," she asked rhetorically. "Anyway, Naruto… It's ironic that you would request Shikamaru directly as one of your men, simply because I was going to assign him to you from the beginning."

Shikamaru grinned and glanced over at the blonde. "I was looking forward to working with you," said the Nara, "this whole war thing is really troublesome, but I knew that you might be able to make some good of it."

"I can certainly try," said Naruto. "Glad to have you aboard."

"These are going to be your personal guard," said Tsunade, gesturing at the three other ANBU, all standing silently as statues about the room. "They've been trained specifically to operate under the orders of the Kage-Jounin."

"How long have you been planning on giving me the position?" asked Naruto.

"About a week now," said the Hokage. "But these women have trained since they graduated the academy to take on this kind of role… just in case. We knew war might break out and a Kage-Jounin might be called up so we trained them for just such an occasion."

"Women?" said Sakura in an undertone, glancing back at the ANBU.

The three figures each reached up in unison, their robes falling away from their petite forearms, and grabbed their masks with slender fingers. As the masks left their faces, the sound of Sakura's jaw hitting the floor was nearly audible. All three of the women looked to be in their early twenties or later teens, and all had similar facial structures, (Naruto guessed they might be sisters), but that was where the similarities ended.

One had fiery red hair with black streaks and a complexion as pale as the moon. Her lips were full and as red as rubies, matching the color of her eye-shadow. The redhead's fingernails were painted black and matched her dark eyes.

The second was the tallest of the group, nearly even with Naruto, with hair so deeply brown it could have passed for black. Her nails and lips were both painted blue, and she stared intently at Naruto with pale green eyes from under her cheek-length bangs.

The third however was the one Sakura couldn't stop glaring at. Her shoulder-length hair shone so brightly blonde it was nearly white, contrasting sharply with her tan complexion and icy blue eyes. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and grinned at Naruto, seemingly making a point to completely look over Sakura.

"Pleased to meet you Naruto-Sama," said the three women in unison, their voices almost musical.

"Those are his **personal **guards?" growled Sakura, wide-eyed and pointing a finger at the three strikingly beautiful women. "What exactly does **personal** entail?"

"Exactly what it sounds like," said the red-head, stepping across the room and positioning herself next to Naruto, who crossed his arms and looked impassive. "We will be the ones to ensure that no harm comes to him." She smiled at Sakura, even as her dark eyes narrowed. "We'll be keeping an eye on him at **all** hours of the day and night."

Sakura was about to erupt and say something about how those three wouldn't be capable of doing anything other than getting Naruto killed, but she first caught a glimpse of Naruto shaking his head subtly at her. The pink haired Kunoichi swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at him a minute longer as Tsunade stood up.

_Don't worry,_ Naruto thought, trying to impart to her with his eyes what he was thinking. _They're just guards. They're nothing more than that._

Sakura nodded as though she had somehow received the message.

"The sisters" Tsunade began, "are each trained to perfection in two Ninja arts. Trina, the redhead, specializes in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Karenna is the brunette with blue lips and focuses primarily on Genjutsu and Taijutsu. And Alicia has trained her entire life to master Taijutsu and Summoning Ninjutsu. Separately their each lethal fighters, but all three together represent one of the deadliest groups in the nation, probably rivaling Neji and his Keen. You might say they're our secret weapon."

Trina, the redhead, turned to Naruto and stood a little closer than what was called for by the situation. "And we're yours to command," she said.

Sakura crossed her arms and looked away.

"I appreciate it," Naruto responded, smiling.

"Indeed," said Jiraiya grumpily. "Tsunade, why don't you get more to the point of this debriefing and fill these two in on what happened at Suna? That way we can get on with things."

"Agreed," said Tsunade, sitting back down and resting her hands on the desk. Trina, Karenna, and Alicia all walked to Naruto and stood beside him. Naruto however shifted to his feet and took a step forward, standing behind Sakura's chair. "The battle at Suna went better than most of us expected," continued the Hokage, "But the situation is still far from good. While Oto and Kiri initially had the upper hand, Konoha forces quickly swept through the battlefield and crushed the combined enemy army.

"We drove them from Suna and wiped out sizeable portions of their armies, but then the battle turned on us. To make a long story short, Orochimaru and the Fourth, who'd both been absent up until that point, appeared on the field and began to decimate our forces. Suna was crippled and we lost many of our better Ninja. Jiraiya engaged the Forth alone, while I attacked Orochimaru with the help of Mito Gai and Sarutobi Asuma. Together, the four of us managed to distract those two long enough for the combined Konoha and Suna armies to utterly route the Kiri and Oto forces."

"Sounds like we kicked ass," said Sakura.

"We lost a lot of good men," said Jiraiya, "and we didn't manage to kill that bastard Orochimaru or the Fourth." His voice was bitter. "Which is why I'm not about to call it a victory."

"It was far from a glorious win," said the Hokage, "but it did provide us with a valuable opportunity." She turned to Naruto. "Suna was, as I said, crippled and will be unable to aid us in any kind of offensive for some time. It could be weeks or months before they muster the strength to do anything productive. At the same time though, Kiri, Oto, and Kumo are completely off guard. They were expecting to wipe us out quickly, but when we repulsed their attacks it shattered their momentum. They're open and vulnerable, all three of them.

" You," she said, pointing at the Kage-Jounin, "Have a golden opportunity to put your strike force to good use here in the next day or two."

Both Naruto and Sakura turned their full attention on the Hokage. "What did you have in mind?" asked the Kage-Jounin. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well," said Tsunade. "Right now there are several options open to you. I'll be taking the bulk of our forces to strike at Kumo directly while they're off guard, and I'll be leaving as soon as the Ninja for the assault can be organized. My personal suggestion to you would be that you set up a perimeter around Oto and try to snare any important Nin in a trap. If you could kill the generals then it might give us an edge in the future."

"I have been dying to get a shot in at that Kimimaro fucker," said Naruto. "He got the jump on me here and nearly did me in. He was also the one who killed Kakashi-Sensei and that alone is unforgivable. I think I might just do that Tsunade."

"You'd be good for it," said Jiraiya. "Seventy Ninja aren't enough to assault a village directly, but it's a perfect size force to set up a net for VIP's."

"I agree," said Shikamaru.

"No," said Sakura, drawing every eye in the room to her. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Everyone was silent for a moment until Jiraiya spoke up. "Why not?" he asked coarsely. "It would give us a chance to take out a Sound General or two."

"It's a bad idea," said the Steward, leaning forward and resting her hands on Tsunade's desk. She scanned the faces looking at her without emotion and then continued. "It would spread the strike force out too thin. For Naruto to set up an effective net he'd have to separate his men and rush about on a moment's notice to wherever a general or VIP was spotted, heightening the risk of them getting away and blowing the cover. Also, it would make our forces all the more vulnerable just because they're waiting in ambush and so spread out."

_Good girl,_ thought Naruto. _Just keep that up._

"And finally, if Orochimaru and the Fourth were to show up, I doubt that Naruto or… the sisters," the word sounded caustic on her tongue, "would be able to survive an encounter with them directly, especially if Orochimaru caught them alone and fought them one on one."

The room was silent as everyone ruminated on what she'd said.

"What would you suggest, Sakura?" asked Naruto in a soft voice.

The Steward leaned back in her chair, resting her head just an inch to the right of Naruto's thigh. She looked as though she were thinking very carefully to burn a little time and give people time to reach the same conclusion she and Naruto had already come to.

"Kiri," she said finally. "Naruto should go to Kiri and harass their supply lines and logistically important sites. He could move in and use guerilla tactics, drawing out the Mist army and then attacking it with small groups that can easily retreat and disappear into the surrounding terrain. It would not only hold Kiri at bay and keep them off of Tsunade's ass while she dealt with Kumo, but it would soften them up for a full scale invasion later on."

"That could take time," said Shikamaru. "It's not a bad idea but we can't afford to stretch this conflict out any longer than a week or two. Without Suna to provide support we only have the resources to maintain a full scale war for a month at most. Harassing supply lines is fine for a siege, but it only weakens them gradually."

"And setting up a net for VIP's could take even longer," said the Kunoichi. "We'd only get one shot at any of them before cover was blown, and if we wasted that it would have been completely useless. If Naruto's strike force moves to strike at Kiri with guerilla tactics it would give us a chance to completely cripple the one force Orochimaru has left that's in reasonably sound condition."

"I agree with the Steward, Hokage-Sama," said Karenna. "Naruto-Sama's forces would be much better suited to operating in covert situations to deal damage to the enemies on a larger scale than to wait for an opportunity that might never come."

"It would be better to move for an opportunity that we ourselves make than to wait and react to an action our enemies may never take," said Alicia, the blonde.

"Naruto?" asked Tsunade. "Ultimately you can do what you want. The decision I'll pass to you."

Naruto looked between everyone gathered and slipped one hand down Sakura's chair just enough to touch her shoulder with the tips of his fingers. "I'll take them to Kiri," he said resolutely. "Alicia, Karenna and Sakura are all correct. It would be better to act ourselves than to wait on Oto to make a mistake. Pressuring Kiri will ensure they can't attack you while you're at Kumo, and if the opportunity presents itself, I might even get a shot at the Mizukage."

"Settled then," said Tsunade. "Naruto will go to Kiri with his strike force and hold them down there. I will take the majority of the army to Kumo and try to subdue them, but that still leaves the issue of Oto and Orochimaru. We have the advantage in might over any one village, but the enemies' alliance puts us at a severe disadvantage now that Suna has been removed from the picture. We can't spare the men to both attack Kumo effectively and hold Oto at bay."

"Orochimaru is forcing us to spread ourselves out thin in order to even have a chance," said Shikamaru. "A clever move you must admit."

"It was," said Naruto, "but I think Orochimaru overlooked one crucial factor. I think all of you are overlooking one crucial factor that might just be what it takes to decide between ultimate victory and defeat."

Everyone turned to look at the newly appointed Kage-Jounin. "And what would that be" asked the Hokage.

Naruto just grinned and looked over to Jiraiya, then between Sakura and Tsunade. "The Crane," said Naruto.

Everyone was silent, but after a moment a look of realization dawned on Jiraiya's face. "That's right," said the Sanin in red. "There's the Crane Organization to consider. They might be willing to provide some kind of service given the circumstances."

Tsunade glanced between the recently returned Ninja warily. "What are you suggesting?" she asked, "that we hire out a band of mercenaries?"

"Why not?" said Naruto. "It would be a win-win situation for both us and them. After all, we need the men and have the money to hire them, and fighting Orochimaru would go right along with their current contract to attack his forces. I may not be willing to hand the key to the city over to them but all we'd be doing is paying them to act as a reinforcement garrison for Konoha. That way you could take a larger force to hit Kumo while Sakura and Jiraiya would have more men to defend the village."

Tsunade turned to Jiraiya. "Do you think you could arrange that?" she asked hastily. "We'd need them here within two days, three at the most."

Jiraiya straightened up. "Not in three days," said the Sanin. "I'd have to go to the Earth Country since their only home base that I know of is in a small village there. Then there's the problem of convincing them to actually take our side and getting their Mercenaries here in a timely fashion."

"They're incredibly well organized," said Naruto. "If you could strike a deal with them we'd have their full military support within a fifty-two hours. It's convincing them to openly fight for us that would be a problem. The Crane has never blatantly taken sides in any kind of large-scale conflict."

"Money is a non-issue," said the Hokage, a trace of excitement in her voice. "We'd pay whatever they wanted for The Crane's full support and cooperation. This could be the last measure we need to turn this fully to our advantage."

"I'll do it," said Jiraiya. "But I can't promise anything. They might not be willing to help but we can at least try…"

"Go, go," said Tsunade. "We don't have time to discuss that any farther. Gather an escort if you want one and leave as soon as you can."

Naruto almost couldn't stop himself from grinning as Jiraiya stood up and straightened his robes a bit. "I'll travel alone," said the Sanin, walking for the door. "Thank you, Naruto, this was a wonderful idea." Jiraiya opened the door and left silently into the early morning.

"When should we leave for Kiri?" asked Naruto as soon as the door shut, not wasting a second.

Tsunade got up and walked around the desk to a cabinet. Pulling it open with a loud creak she removed a large book made of yellowed parchment and set the volume on the desk. "As soon as you can afford to," she said, opening the large book and flipping through the pages.

The volume was a roster of Ninja currently on active duty in Konoha. Tsunade found what she was looking for and turned the volume so Naruto could clearly see the names written in neat rows down the pages. "These are the Ninja I would recommend you select from for your force, Naruto," said the Hokage. "You can have anyone you want, but these are some of the best."

Naruto turned to Shikamaru and beckoned him over. "Shikamaru, I'll leave selecting the force to you. You're a better at matters like this than I am, and you know everyone and their strengths."

Shikamaru nodded and quickly picked up the book. He ran his finger down the columns mouthing the names silently to himself. "Can I take this for now, Hokage-Sama?" asked the ANBU specialist. "I'll return it immediately once I'm done."

"Of course," said Tsunade. "Do what you have to."

Shikamaru bowed respectfully and turned back to Naruto. "I'll assemble the troops and meet you outside the West Wall construction zone in four hours. Is that enough time for you to prepare sir?"

"Four hours?" asked Naruto.

"Four hours," Sakura mumbled almost inaudibly, looking down at the floor.

"I can be ready in one," continued the Kage-Jounin. "But is four enough to assemble everyone we need?"

"Absolutely," said Shikamaru. "Like you said, I know the men and I already had a list of candidates I was going to recommend to you for the positions. I'll just collect them and meet you there."

Naruto nodded and Shikamaru left the room, half running, half walking with the volume under his arm. Tsunade shifted and looked between Naruto and Sakura, crossing her arms.

"You certainly know how to clear a room," said the Hokage.

"I try," said Naruto. "I just hope Jiraiya can get the Crane to cooperate."

"Indeed, they could be instrumental." Tsunade glanced out the window at the lightening sky. "If we can secure their loyalty it would free up enough men for this offensive to cover a full Eastern front."

"That's the idea," said Naruto, looking down at Sakura,

Karenna stepped forward and stood directly next to Naruto. Her sisters quickly joined her ringing in the Kage-Jounin. "We're behind you the whole way," said the woman.

"And in front of you for that matter," said Trina. "Don't worry we'll be there to protect you."

"I appreciate that," said Naruto. "But I'll be relying on the three of you for other things. I can handle my own personal security. You'll be busy elsewhere I'd imagine."

"Whatever you say," said Trina flatly. "What do you-"

"Actually," Naruto interrupted, "I'd be thankful for it very much if you three went to help Shikamaru round up the troops. Track him down and do whatever he tells you."

Trina, Karenna and Alicia all glanced about at one another, then Tsunade before turning back to Naruto and nodding. "Yes sir," they said in unison.

SC

"So when do you think you'll be back from Kiri?" asked Sakura hesitantly, her voice masking a hint of anxiety. "You won't keep me waiting too long I hope."

Naruto gave her hand a squeeze as they strolled slowly down the sidewalk. The two had been wandering almost aimlessly for an hour since the meeting let out shortly after Shikamaru left to gather Naruto's forces.

"I'd say six days at the most," said Naruto calmly. "If we leave on time and travel at maximum efficiency my men should arrive at Kiri by six tomorrow morning. We'll spend that day resting up and staking out the village, then I'll put my plans into action that night. It should take most of the night and we'll leave the next morning: quick, clean, and effective."

"That's only four days," said Sakura. "What are you going to do with the other two?"

"You never know what may come up," Naruto shrugged. "I'm just allotting for unexpected turns of events."

"Oh."

"No need to worry," said Naruto. "I'll come back as soon as I can and I'll be just fine."

"You'd better," said Sakura looking up at him and forcing herself to smile widely. "If you don't I'm going to put you back together, then break you in two again."

Naruto laughed convincingly. "I said don't worry." He paused and looked up at the sky. "I'm hungry," he said turning to Sakura. "Let's go get lunch."

"Alright," grinned the Kunoichi, "my treat of course."

"Absolutely not!" Naruto gasped with exaggerated urgency and a cheesy look of horror. "That would be completely unacceptable. A damsel like yourself paying for lunch: grotesque!"

Sakura chuckled and put one hand up to cover her mouth, mocking fear.

"I couldn't let something so obscene happen," Naruto growled, his tone righteously indignant. "It would go against every natural order of things. Any offender of such an egregious crime must be stricken from the dinner role!"

Sakura laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said happily. "What in the world could I do to make it up to you? Anything at all?"

"Well," said Naruto, pondering the question.

Quick as lightning he swept down, wrapped Sakura in his arms and kissed her fierily. Then just as quick as he'd struck, and before Sakura could even respond, Naruto drew back and was again just holding her hand as they stood on the sidewalk. "We can call it even now," he said with a smile.

"Yeah," said Sakura, dazedly. "But now you're going to have to make that up to me."

"What?" asked the blonde.

"You can't just leave me hanging with a kiss like that," said Sakura. "It's not fair."

"Sure I can," said Naruto jokingly. "And I plan to."

"That's so mean of you."

"I know."

Sakura grinned and looked away, then glanced back up at him as they resumed walking without a course. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but remained silent and just enjoyed the quiet.

_I've missed my true calling. I should have taken up acting,_ Naruto thought to himself. _Now all I have to do is hope the message got through._

SC

"What in the fucking hell were you thinking!?" Orochimaru roared, his face streaked with fury as he reared back. The Sanin swept forward, balling his hand into a fist and struck Sasuke full in the face with the crushing blow. "Are you trying to undo us all!?"

Sasuke took the hit unflinchingly even as he rocketed back and thudded against the cold stone wall. Bits of dust fell from the ceiling as he collapsed to the ground and Orochimaru, garbed in bloodstained robes stalked over.

"Just because I have to do what you tell me doesn't mean I can't do something if you don't tell me not to," growled the Uchiha. Sasuke got to his feet and faced the Sanin as Orochimaru approached. "Now why don't you lay off until you find some kind of concrete proof."

"Kabuto saw your clone leaving the complex," hissed Orochimaru. "That's proof enough now that we know Naruto knew the invasion was coming and positioned himself perfectly to counter us. And now a letter turns up between you and the enemy!"

"Circumstantial bullshit at best," muttered Sasuke, wiping his bleeding lip and smearing the blood on his black sleeve. "Tell Kabuto he can go fuck himself… unless you'd rather." The Uchiha spat on the ground at Orochimaru's feet.

"You little ingrate," said the Sanin, whirling away from Sasuke and looking to Minato who stood calmly next to Kabuto by the door with his arms crossed. "I give you more power than you could ever dream of and this is how you repay me?"

"Get a clue," yelled Sasuke. "I didn't ask for this! I don't want this! I never asked you for your goddamn seal and I am going to get free of it! And when I do," Sasuke's voice lowered to an undertone as he strode forward and nearly whispered to Orochimaru. "When I do get my freedom, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you slowly and painfully and you're going to stay dead like a good little corpse."

"Silence," said Orochimaru.

Sasuke reared back like someone had struck him, but shook his head, recovered, and continued. "And when you and your allies are all dead, I'm going to go to Naruto. He'll help me kill Itachi and all of Akatsuki for that matter, and I'll have had absolutely no use for you!"

"Enough," Orochimaru growled.

"No," said Sasuke. "I've had enough of your orders! Go to Hell you goddamn bastard and let me free!"

Orochimaru spun around, hacking at Sasuke's face with his claws. The Uchiha didn't budge as his master's nails dug into his skin, ripping four troughs through his cheek and over the bridge of his nose. Even as Orochimaru followed through and prepared to strike again, Sasuke didn't move.

The Sanin hesitated, looking at Sasuke with hateful eyes. "What a pity," said the snake coolly, straightening up and rolling his shoulders. "It looks like I've damaged my future body. Oh well, maybe some scars will add personality."

"Like you need any more," said Sasuke. "You're already a spirited little dick."

"Kabuto," said Orochimaru, catching his lieutenant's attention immediately. "Take Sasuke-kun to your laboratory and give him another dose of the serum. See if you can't tame his tongue a bit and crack that troublesome wall he's built up around his remaining free will."

"Yes sir," said Kabuto, stepping forward hesitantly and putting his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Let's go Sasuke."

"Bite me," said the Uchiha. Blood was dripping down his face and staining his clothes.

"Go with him Sasuke," said the Sanin firmly.

Sasuke closed his eyes and growled with frustration, trying not to give in, but soon surrendered with a pained breath and glared at Orochimaru.

"Good boy," said Orochimaru. "Now go."

Kabuto and Sasuke turned, slowly making their way out of the room. Just before stepping over the threshold, Sasuke turned back and smiled wickedly over his shoulder at Orochimaru. "I am going to kill you," said the Uchiha. "You can stake anything on that."

"Whatever," said the Sanin as Kabuto closed the heavy steel door behind him, leaving Orochimaru and Minato alone in the empty concrete room deep underground.

"He's growing more rebellious by the day," said the Fourth. "Are you sure we can still trust him?"

Orochimaru took a deep breath and wiped the blood off his nails, then turned to Minato and shrugged. "Actively, there's very little Sasuke can do to physically hurt us." Orochimaru groaned. "He's still, and always will be, incapable of disobeying me. The only harm he can do is leaking information out like he has been doing by sending out shadow-clones that are under the control of the free part of his mind. He can be as vocal as he likes though."

"How does he do that?" asked the Fourth. "How does he keep part of his mind free from your control?"

"It's a trick of the Mangekyou," said the snake. "His seal works by allowing me into his consciousness so I can reorder the way he perceives things. For it to work perfectly though, I have to dig through his memories and thoughts and his desires so they can be reorganized, but when I tried to take over his mind the first time he used his Mangekyou to perfectly memorize every detail about a simple pebble and burn the image onto his mind. Whenever I try to get in, he senses it and focuses on that pebble, or some other image he's memorized, to the exclusion of all else. Essentially all I can see when I'm in there is a big wall of pebble. Thus I can't make him think about his memories so I can't see them to reorder them."

"Strange," said the Fourth, shrugging and stretching a bit.

"Only an Uchiha," muttered Orochimaru. "Anyone else would have been completely susceptible… but not those damn Uchihas with that wonderful Sharingan. The worst part is that, for all the memories I changed, Sasuke has a 'backup' of everyone of them in the secure section of his mind… It's bothersome, but I'll get it eventually."

Minato grinned. "You know, really I should probably be fighting you," said the ex-Hokage.

"Yes, but…" said Orochimaru. "You have absolutely no choice. Your soul literately belongs to me, so you don't get to complain."

"I know, but it was interesting fighting Jiraiya. He's improved since I died."

"At any rate," Said the Sanin, ending that conversation, "did you read over that letter Sasuke received from Naruto earlier today?"

"I did. It was rather vague. There were lots of what I guessed were codes and passwords that I couldn't decipher, but Naruto said very clearly that he'll be out and alone scouting near Kiri in five days so he and Sasuke could meet."

"Foolish little children," said Orochimaru. "We'll send Ino to intercept him on his way back to Konoha. Jiraiya won't be there to protect him this time and she'll have him for sure."

* * *

AN: Please read the brief note at the top.

Thanks and please review!


	43. Refugees

Refugees

Even the weather reflected Naruto's thoughts. Thunderclouds swirled overhead, regularly flashing with an inner light and resonating with terrific clashes and booms that shook the air. Raindrops fell from the sky like volley after volley of frigid darts, pummeling the surface of the sea and churning up the froth as the seventy-five Ninja skirted across the tumultuous water.

Naruto lead at the head of the column, his black cloak wrapped tightly around his waist so it wouldn't flail about in the gale-force winds that raked the sea. Shikamaru beside him kept perfect pace with the Kage-Jounin, and behind those two were two rows of thirty-five Ninja, all dressed in identical black and blue-green camouflage uniforms. At the rear was Naruto's personal guard, the three sisters.

Lightning streaked through the sky directly overhead the column of Ninja, illuminating them all for a brief second before the flash faded and the troops fell back into the gloom of the inky sea. The clouds were so dark that noon may as well have been midnight, and it was already after eight in the evening. The troops had been running all day across the sea. Thunder shattered the drum-roll of the rain, drowning out all sound but the constant howl of the wind.

"We should be coming up on the first of the islands near Kiri!" Shikamaru shouted over the gale. "I'd recommend we stop there and wait for the storm to break!"

"Negative!" Naruto shouted back. "We can take a brief respite but I don't want to stop for the night until we're within ten minutes of Kiri! Tell the Hyuuga to scan the island for resistance!"

"I'll bring him up," said Shikamaru, falling behind as the Uzumaki forged ahead, catching sight of the island in the distance. The strike force Nara had put together met with Naruto's utmost approval, and included one Ninja from Neji's clan, five from the Nara family, and a dozen Akimichi's.

Shikamaru reappeared by Naruto's side a second later with the Hyuuga.

"What can I do sir?" asked the Nin, his pale skin contrasting with the black uniform he wore.

"Scan that island up ahead," said Naruto, pointing towards the shape in the gloom. "I want to know exactly how many Ninja we can expect to encounter once we make the beach."

The Hyuuga Ninja nodded and pressed his hands together as they ran. "Byakugan," he muttered as veins bulged beside his eyes. He peered out and squinted as the column came nearer and slowed their approach.

"I count six," said the Hyuuga, staring straight ahead. "The island is a hundred yards or so across and there are six enemy Ninja scattered about the undergrowth. It looks like they're on patrols and don't expect any kind of trouble."

"Shikamaru," said Naruto, raising one hand and stopping the column's advance. All the troops just crouched on the surface of the frothing water, maybe a dozen yards from the beach. "Take them out."

"Sir," Shikamaru acknowledged, silently running onto the sand and disappearing into the underbrush of the densely overgrown island.

"Down to five," said the Hyuuga Ninja less than a minute later.

Naruto looked back over the column of troops, grinning to himself when he saw how ready for action they were. Crouched low to the water, hands at the ready, eyes scanning the surroundings for danger and watching the men around to make sure all was well… they were professional and looked it. He caught the eye of his redheaded guard; she was watching him carefully while her sister's gazes darted around defensively. He nodded and in an instant, all three sisters sprinted to his sides.

"Four… Three," said the Hyuuga, struggling to speak over the wind without being overly loud. "Shikamaru-san is making quick work of them."

"Ladies," said Naruto, "Very soon I'm going to need your help."

"Whatever we can do," said Trina.

"We're here to help," said Alicia.

"Shikamaru-san just got the last of them," said the Hyuuga.

Naruto nodded to the sisters, who without a word turned and dispersed themselves among the column of troops, directing them silently onto the island beach. _Good, _thought Naruto as he stood and watched his men slip onto the sand, _the discipline among these Nin is wonderful. Shikamaru did an impressive job picking them out, but then again I guess it's his job to be the spine of the operation._

The blonde Nin glanced up at the black sky and smiled. _I can only hope this weather lasts the night, _he thought as he joined his troops, running up onto the beach. Already the men were standing or at least breaking off into their pre-assigned groups of three, five, and seven man teams, waiting beneath trees and against rocks hidden among the inland undergrowth.

"Naruto-Sama," said Trina walking up to the Kage-Jounin. Her fiery hair was tied into a tight ponytail to keep from whipping in the wind. "What are your orders?"

"Bunker down for a bit," said the blonde. "But go fetch your sisters. I need to speak with the three of you as soon as you find a spare minute."

"Absolutely," said Trina, turning around and jogging away.

_What a wonderful night for a mission… _Naruto mused as he walked down the ranks of Ninja, smiling at some and nodding to others who either dipped their heads or bowed slightly to him. _If all goes as planned, this mission and the aftermath will solidify everything. My victory will be sealed here in these next few days._

Naruto glanced behind him and saw Shikamaru walking briskly up to him. The shadow Nin was grinning just a little which, combined with the soaked black hair clinging to the sides of his face, gave him a somewhat manic look.

"Just the man I was hoping to see," said Naruto, walking up to Shikamaru. "Could I have a quick word as soon as the sisters get here?"

"Of course," Shikamaru said over the wind.

"Do you still have that map of Kiri's territory?" asked Naruto, "Including the village schematics and the layout of the surrounding islands and villages?"

"As a matter of fact I do," said Shikamaru, reaching around to his vest's side pocket and producing a medium-sized scroll. "I even went to the trouble of having it laminated in case of weather like this."

"Good thinking," said Naruto, trying to hide his patronizing tone.

"It's why you keep me around," Shikamaru laughed.

"We'll see… there they are," said the blonde, turning to see the sisters jogging up. They all stopped beside him and moved so the five Ninja were standing in a roughly semi-circular fashion, with Naruto at the center.

"What's the plan sir?" asked Karenna, the brunette. Her voice was unexcited.

"Shikamaru," said Naruto, holding out his hand for the map which the Nara gladly handed over. Naruto unfurled the slick parchment and kneeled down, setting it on a patch of dense moss. The others quickly mirrored his posture and looked down at the map.

Scrolled across the parchment was a series of inked islands that made up the Water Country's central population center. There were four major villages, with Kiri being the largest and farthest north. The other three villages were labeled as civilian centers and positioned in an ascending line pointing towards Kiri. Scrawled in neat, small numbers beside the village farthest south was "1,300": the number of civilians. Next to the next village up was "2,200." The village just south of Kiri was numbered at "6,200," considerably larger than the other two, and Kiri was listed to have right at 10,000.

"We're here," said Naruto, pointing to a small dot on the southern edge of the map. "And we know from reports at the Suna battle that about seven hundred Kiri Nin escaped the conflict so we can estimate that the Mizukage left a garrison of somewhere between three and four hundred ninja behind to guard the villages, if he followed the standard rules of engagement. That means we're up against roughly eleven hundred trained soldiers in Kiri right now" he tapped the village with his index finger, "and there are about twenty thousand civilians standing between us and those ninja in these villages here," he said, swirling his finger in a circle around the collection of four villages. "This wouldn't be so complicated if the Kiri Nin didn't have all the noncombatants to hide behind."

"Civilians aren't a problem," said Trina. "We can go through them easily enough to get to the real targets. If they get in our way it won't be a problem to kill all of them."

Naruto grinned as Shikamaru and the other two sisters frowned.

"That's not what this is about," said Shikamaru. "This is a mission about harassing the armies, not killing civilians."

"Shikamaru's right," said Naruto quickly before Trina could say anything more. He motioned for none of the sisters to say anything. "We need to focus on hurting the military, not civilians, which is why Trina, Shikamaru, I'm hoping you two would be willing to undertake a small mission within a mission on my behalf."

"Name it," said the Kunoichi, her dark eyes lighting up with a flash of excitement.

"What did you have in mind?" asked Shikamaru.

"Well," began Naruto. "Before we left, I had a letter written up and 'signed' (I forged it) by one of the Mist generals we captured in the battle at Suna. According to the letter, he escaped from prison and is now laying low in a small village a few miles east of Konoha and can't leave because the Leaf patrols are too thick for him to slip by. He's requesting a small contingent of Kiri Nin be dispatched to take out one patrol and escort him home so he can give valuable information to the Mizukage about the state of affairs in Suna."

Shikamaru and the sisters grinned.

"The letter will draw some of the forces out of Kiri so we can get a clear shot at them," said Alicia, her voice a stark contrast to the gloomy weather. "That's clever."

"I thought so," said Naruto. "But the only problem is that the Mizukage won't be apt to believe just anyone saying he should pull some of his men out of his capitol city after just having lost a battle. That's why Trina and Shikamaru need to be the ones to deliver the message. Trina, you're a master of Genjutsu and could convince anyone that this is the real deal, and Shikamaru," he turned to the Nara "You have the political know-how to pull this off. Meanwhile, myself and the rest of the strike force will be waiting outside the village to wipe out their 'relief squad.'"

"Sounds good to me," said Trina.

"I'll do it if you really think it's a good idea," said Shikamaru, an undertone of unease in his voice. "But this might be just a little dangerous, given the state Kiri's security forces are sure to be in right now."

"Which is why I need you and Trina there to make sure everything goes smoothly," interrupted the blonde. "We can capture some of the Ninja they send out and interrogate them. Information they divulge could make it that much easier for us in the future."

"I suppose that makes sense," said Shikamaru hesitantly. "Though I'm not big on the idea of being captured I'll do it."

"Good," said Naruto, taking a small white envelope from a fold in his ANBU uniform. "All you have to do is deliver this to one of the Mizukage's aides and convince them it's the real deal."

Trina took the envelope from Naruto and slipped it into her uniform before Shikamaru had a chance to pick it up. "I still think it would be better to just directly assault the village and kill everyone in our way," said the Kunoichi, earning the disapproving glares from her sisters. "But it's whatever you say Naruto-Sama."

Naruto stood up and the others mirrored his action. "We'll be ready to move in after things are set up," said the Kage-Jounin. "And don't worry, if you two are captured we'll smash our way in and do whatever it takes to get you out. You're too valuable to lose and if you're not back in three hours we're coming after you. But I seriously doubt anything will go wrong. It's not a horribly difficult mission. The stakes are just high. That's all."

Shikamaru looked away. _Something's not right here,_ thought the Nara.

"When should we leave?" asked Trina.

"As soon as you can, the strike force will be right behind you and moving into position" said Naruto, "But first, Shikamaru, I'd like you to thank the Hyuuga for me for his services earlier. And good job yourself."

"Um," said the shadow Nin, not sure how to respond. "Sure, I can do that."

"Tell him I'll personally tell Neji he did well. As soon as that's done, take off."

"Sir," said Shikamaru, nodding to Naruto and jogging off into the gloom.

Naruto turned to Trina. "Can I have a quick word with you," he asked, his voice becoming harsh. "Alone?" he added, throwing a glance over his shoulder at the other two sisters.

Karenna and Alicia glanced at each other once and immediately began to walk after Shikamaru, passing by Trina and Naruto as they did.

"You shouldn't have said we should kill the civilians," said Alicia to her sister in an almost spiteful tone.

"Sorry about her," said Karenna to Naruto.

Trina glanced after them as Naruto crossed his arms and glaring at her. She swallowed hard but hid the insecure gesture behind a placid and easy face. "What do you need sir?"

"Why would you suggest something like that?" asked Naruto.

"Sir?"

Naruto's glare hardened. "Why on earth would you even think to kill innocent civilians? That's not our mission and it's not why Tsunade sent us here…"

Trina stiffened just a bit. "Naruto-Sama, may I speak absolutely freely?" she said icily.

"Go ahead."

Trina took a breath and looked at him sternly. "This is a war," she began, "not a political conference. Karenna and Alicia may disagree with me, and I'm sure you and Shikamaru do, but if we want to win this war we need to hit the enemy where it hurts, and that's right below the belt."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"If we can take out their work force, the civilians, and their political nerve center, the civilians, and their food production, the civilians, then the enemy won't be able to fight back. If we burned Kiri to the ground and killed everyone inside the walls then it would cripple more than half of Orochimaru's war effort. It would give us a real chance sir."

Naruto fought to hold a straight face. _I am so incredibly lucky,_ he thought to himself. _So many people are already of like mind with me. I don't even have to convince most of the people I need to control that what I want to do is necessary._

"So you don't think we have a chance as is?" asked Naruto.

"Frankly, no…" said Trina. "I may not like it, but I think that totally breaking the enemy in every way is the only way to win this conflict. And, unfortunately that means taking out civilian centers. Call it 'morale-bombing' like what Kakashi did back during the war with Iwa."

"The Fourth nearly court marshaled Kakashi for that," growled Naruto.

"It worked," said the Kunoichi bluntly.

A silence passed between the two of them for a moment.

"Trina," said Naruto in a low tone, barely audible over the wind. "We are not going to harm innocent people here… unless you and Shikamaru are captured. If… if… if however that happens, I won't hesitate to rip into that village like a saw-blade, and kill everyone inside the walls. Trina, I'll reduce Kiri to a smoldering ruin and not one of its citizens will get out alive... if you and or Shikamaru are captured…"  
For a moment the Kunoichi didn't answer. Her face twisted with a quizzical expression… until it hit her Trina looked at the Kage-Jounin, half awed. Surprise was flashing in her eyes, but at the same time a thought, a dark thought that she knew couldn't possibly be true was brewing in the back of her mind. He made it sound almost as if he waited for an opportunity to attack.

"Of course once Kiri was destroyed," continued Naruto, "It would only follow that all of the surrounding villages would have to be eradicated. This would, effectively, wipe the Water Country off the map as any kind of power. The Mizukage would have died in Kiri, I could ensure that much, and the seat of the Water's power would be utterly destroyed…"

"What are you saying?" asked Trina slowly.

Naruto grinned and stepped in very close to her, setting his hands on her upper arms and leaning his head in until his lips were merely an inch from her ear. His voice was hushed. "Make sure Shikamaru is captured," whispered the Kage Jounin.

Trina half stepped, half jumped, backwards, putting a few yards between herself and Naruto in an instant. She stared at him through the rain, shock on her face. They stood there for a moment, locked on each other's gaze, until slowly, Trina's amazement faded and slowly a smile, identical to the one on Naruto's lips, crept across her face. She relaxed a bit and her grin widened as did Naruto's. After a second, the same light of excitement was in Trina's eyes that flickered in Naruto's crimson irises.

"Yes sir," she said quietly.

"Good girl," said the blonde. "Now, be on your way. Oh, and do make sure that you keep this little talk between us."

SC

"You'll have to forgive Trina," said Alicia, her voice level at its unusual cheeriness even as she crouched and huddled with her back to one of the moss covered trees. "She tends to be a bit… excessive."

"Yes," said Karenna. "Even in her academy days she was never known for being particularly kind to people she perceived as enemies. I hope she didn't upset you Naruto-Sama."

Naruto sat on the ground, his waterproof cape pulled tightly around his frame to hold out the battering rain, and leaned his back against the same massive tree as Karenna and Alicia. The two sisters sat on either side of him, holding their cloaks around themselves in the same fashion he did. All around them, Naruto's strike force was broken off into their groups and huddled beside bushes, under the canopy of trees, and beneath the underbrush that covered the island less than a mile from Kiri.

The rain was a constant deluge that rolled over the Ninja like waves attack a beach, and the spray of water felt colder than any ocean froth. The only thing worse was the wind, howling ceaselessly and driving the rain against Naruto's Ninja, cooling the water even more. Shikamaru failed to predict weather this bad. Naruto thought it was perfect for the task.

"It's all right," said Naruto, holding off a sneeze. "I respect her opinion even if I don't agree with it… she does have a point though."

"What do you mean?" asked Alicia. "You can't be implying you'd be willing to slaughter an entire village."

Naruto paused, pulling his hood down lower over his face to try and hold a little more heat within the folds of his cape. "I don't know," said the blonde Ninja. "If Shikamaru or your sister is captured… I seriously doubt they will be; both are far too well trained for that, but if they are, we'll have to go in after them because they're some of our best. That would completely blow our cover and we'd have no choice but to wipe out the village. Kiri has far too many troops for us to succeed with anything less than a complete surprise attack and if we give them a chance to mobilize we'd be outnumbered too badly."

"I don't think I like that," said Alicia.

"But either way Naruto-Sama," said Karenna, countering her sister, "you can count on us. We'll follow your orders without question."

"Absolutely," affirmed Alicia. "I was only saying…"

Naruto smiled and glanced at them both. "If worse comes to worst, I'll be counting on you three."

Alicia just smiled in return and Karenna nodded her respect and support. Naruto turned to stare out over his men through the storm as lightning flashed overhead, and utter thrill, unimaginable exhilaration burned behind his eyes. His moment was so close. The sealing of his victory was in sight. A new world was almost born. It was tangible.

Slowly, Naruto felt a presence taking shape in his thoughts: the familiar sensation of a Demon's thoughts touching his own.

**You seem unduly excited kit,** said Kyuubi. **How will conquering this one village seal everything up for you? Don't get me wrong, I'll be happy to help you slaughter the masses, to soak the streets of a human village in the diluted blood of victims helpless before me, I quite look forward to it actually. **The demon sounded strangely jovial, Naruto didn't actually know demons could be happy. **But how will this do anything but remove one more enemy?**

_Simple, _responded Naruto, looking down so neither Karenna nor Alicia could see the wicked smile crossing his face, or the red hue that seeped into his irises. _Kiri is all that stands between me and Orochimaru. The Crane Organization is sure to send copious numbers of Ninja to Konoha, that much is certain given their mission to hurt Orochimaru. They'll probably even try to start some kind of militia with Konoha's civilians which will free up enough Ninja for Tsunade to attack Kumo directly and wipe them out before Oto can send reinforcements._

_After Kiri and Kumo are gone that will leave no one to fear except Orochimaru and we can focus all our efforts on Oto. The village will fall quickly before a completely unified Konoha Army. I will be at the head of the army, you will be my right hand, and together we'll wipe the bastards out. Orochimaru, the Fourth, and even that Kimimaro bastard will be powerless to stop us. After that, all that will be left for me to do is bring Iwa under Konoha's control and that will be the end of the matter. On top of it all, I'll have Ino back within a few more days… You'll see Kyuubi. Everything… everything is right on schedule and going exactly as I planned._

**How do you plan on retrieving your vixen kit?**

_You'll see, _thought Naruto. _All you really need to do is be yourself and you'll know what to do when the time comes… which should be within the next few days if all goes as planned; which it will. _Naruto grinned.

He heard Kyuubi's distinctive chuckle, a combination of short growls and an almost purr-like sound, from in the back of his mind. **You amuse me kit. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how this plan of yours unfolds. Given our previous encounters with the Hyuuga demon, I've come to believe that you, with my aid of course, can handle the conflict. That creature is far too arrogant and predictable, especially now that it thinks it beat you easily last time, to pose any kind of threat once we face it directly.**

_I agree. But I'm not going to underestimate it. The whole plan hinges on this battle here though, so be prepared to give me all you've got when the assault begins. Our first target will be the Mizukage's complex where you and I will take out the seat of government and the Kage himself before the real attack begins. Once the Kiri Nin are leaderless they'll be thrown into panic and disarray. We'll take minimal casualties and they'll be wiped out._

**How many of your men do you anticipate losing? **asked Kyuubi. **I could care less just as long as you slaughter the whole village.**

_Don't worry. You'll get to do plenty of killing. Now I'm not as geared towards this as Shikamaru, but I'm guessing we'll lose seven, maybe eight Ninja here while Kiri's losses will be total._

**So few? How do you plan on doing so much damage with so little loss.**

Naruto grinned wider as he heard frenzied footsteps rushing through the rain towards him. Karenna and Alicia stood up as Trina burst through the bushes and charged up to Naruto, breathing hard and stopping beside him. _By letting you have as much fun as you please, my little demon friend._

Kyuubi growled and laughed, pleased as Naruto stood up. **I'm beginning to like you kit. **Said the Demon as he receded into Naruto's mind to watch and listen. **And I can't wait to play…**

"What's the matter?" asked Karenna quickly, looking around. "Where is Shikamaru-san?"

"I thought… caught…" Trina gasped between breaths.

"Slow down," said Naruto, feigning concern. "Catch your breath and tell us what happened."

Trina rested her hands on her thighs and looked up at Naruto, her dark eyes full of fear and anxiety. "Naruto-Sama," she began. "The mission went south. Shikamaru was captured when one of the Kiri Nin realized he wasn't one of theirs. Shikamaru pretended to break down 

and began begging them to spare him, telling them he was spying on them alone and he'd reveal secrets about Konoha's operations in Oto if they didn't kill him."

"Fuck," muttered Naruto. "How did you escape?"

"I used an invisibility jutsu to follow behind him while they carried him to a prison. The whole time he was feeding them false information in fake hopes that they might let him go."

"Damn it," growled the Kage-Jounin. "Goddammit. I guess that's it then… We don't have a choice but to go in after him."

"Not good…" whispered Alicia.

SC

"Okay, here's the plan" began Naruto, kneeling down in the moss and hovering over the map of Kiri. All around him were Trina, Karenna, Alicia, and the leaders of each of his squads. Everyone was watching him for directions with rapped attention. Naruto tapped on the series of buildings making up the Mizukage's residence and offices. "I'll slip in here as all of you set up positions around the city and avoid detection. I can kill the Mizukage quickly if I catch him off guard and then I'll destroy the complex, leaving the Kiri Nin disorganized and leaderless.

"After I take care of that I'll send up a red flare for all of you," he gestured to everyone around him, "to move in and begin razing the village. Keep in mind that our goal is to get Shikamaru out alive, so Alicia will be leading her group to the prison: here," he tapped a building on the map. "The rest of us will be giving her as much cover as we can… by essentially burning Kiri to the ground. While I take care of the Mizukage the rest of you will be sneaking up to the village and when you see the flare move in.

"The Kiri Nin will be completely thrown off guard, and we'll have a perfect opportunity to knock them out of this war for good, so we're going to take it." Naruto stood up and looked around at all of his Ninja, making eye contact with each of them and trying to convey the urgency of the situation.

"This is our chance," he said loud enough for all of them to hear and beginning to walk among them. "It's our chance to stop this war in its tracks. If Kiri is destroyed it will ensure that Tsunade has her shot at Kumo. From there a unified Konoha can march on Oto and Orochimaru won't stand a chance… but it all hinges on us here. We have to neutralize Kiri as a threat. I hate to put it this way, but I have to be blunt and concise… If we want to win this, we have to kill everyone and destroy everything within Kiri's walls."

Some of the Ninja around Naruto looked down at the ground and grimaced. Some clenched their hands at their sides into fists and trembled in the cold rain. Naruto could see plainly that none of his troops liked what they knew they had to do, but the resolve was there. They just needed a little more incentive.

"It's them or us," said Naruto coldly, nearly shouting for everyone to hear. The lightning flashed overhead and lit up the trees, casting long and eerie shadows over everything. Naruto's hands were balled into white-knuckled fists. "Suna is out of the war. If we leave now, Kiri, Oto, Kumo, they'll all come against Konoha and we'll be wiped out. They'll kill all of us. They'll kill everyone who doesn't submit to Orochimaru. This is no longer just a war over territory," Naruto's voice hardened and sparks flashed in his eyes as he glared out into the faces of his Ninja. "This is a madman's play at genocide!"

Naruto saw many of those looking down look up to him now. He grew louder. "Orochimaru doesn't care about just taking Konoha's land," the Kage-Jounin continued. "He doesn't want our riches or homes. He wants us all dead! He's fighting to annihilate us! Orochimaru has disregarded honor and he's working tirelessly to kill us all! We have no options. 

We have only the choice to fight back or die! We can't afford to play nice here! Unless you want Orochimaru and Kiri to wipe Konoha from the face of the earth, killing everyone in his way, we have to stop him here! If that means bloodying our hands then so be it! If you don't want to fight then leave. But if you give a rat's ass about Konoha or anyone but yourself then stay and do what needs to be done."

Trina stepped forward, grim-faced but resolute and spoke quietly to him. "Naruto," she said. "We're behind you all the way."Naruto looked up and saw that all of his commanders were staring at him, stone faced. Every Ninja's eyes were on him and every face was chiseled with resolution. No one was looking away.

"We'll wipe the bastards out!" shouted one of the Ninja to Naruto's left.

"No one messes with Konoha!" answered a Kunoichi from a group of five.

"Naruto!" yelled a tall Ninja, shaking his fist in the air. "Lead on! For Konoha!"

"Naruto for Konoha! Naruto for Konoha!" a cheer went up from one of the groups of seven. "Naruto for Konoha!" The cheer echoed again. "Naruto for Konoha!"

The Kage-Jounin smiled widely as the whole strike force began to chant his name and demand the destruction of Konoha's enemies. _I didn't even think it was that good of a speech,_ Naruto mentally chuckled.

"You have your orders!" Naruto said. The cheering silenced immediately and all watched him. "Now move out!"

In a massive rush of wind that shook the bushes and underbrush, Naruto's entire strike force burst away in a dozen different directions. Every leaf on every tree shuddered for a split second then went still. There was no evidence of any Ninja in the forest, leaving Naruto alone in the howling wind and pounding rain.

_Oh Kyuubi,_ he laughed uproariously in his mind though his body was motionless. _Can you feel it? Can you taste it?_

**You mean the promise of bloodshed: the inevitable destruction, the utter ruin of an entire village? I can sense it kit.**

_I may not revel in death like you, however, the promise of victory is… intoxicating._

Naruto disappeared in a blur of speed, rushing North along an invisible path. The trees whipped around him then abruptly cut off. Waterlogged sand squished beneath his feet, and an instant later, Naruto was sprinting across the surface of the water, pumping perfectly controlled chakra through his feet to hold himself up.

As he ran, not disturbing the water in the least, Naruto set his left thumb to his front teeth and sliced the skin in a quick jerk of his hand, drawing blood which he let drip onto his right palm. Quick as a thought he slapped his hands together and performed a series of quick seals.

Blue chakra whipped between his fingers, and immediately the sound of his stride on the water, the slight huffing of his breath went silent, though neither one ceased. He was utterly soundless. Naruto pressed his fingers together in another set of six seals and more chakra sparked from his hands.

Quickly a faint blue haze seemed to rush over Naruto and collect on his figure like mist, though as soon as the tiny droplets of energy made contact with him, Naruto began to disappear, becoming fainter and fainter and blurring into the background, until, as the walls of Kiri came within sight, the blue mist and Naruto were all together invisible.

"_The Moonless Mist" technique may not be a true invisibility jutsu, but it will mask both me and my chakra signature until I actually use any other kind of chakra based technique. Combining it with the "muffled step" and a little caution means I'll be utterly undetectable until I strike, at which point it will be too late._

Naruto made the beach and rushed about ninety yards inland to the base of Kiri's wall. Said wall stood almost as high as Konoha's, breaking one hundred feet at the battlements, which Naruto would need a chakra fueled jump to clear and that would break his cover. But he knew the main gate was sure to be somewhere around here, and he could slip through any kind of detection system since _The Moonless Mist_ rendered him completely undetectable, or nearly so.

The blonde Jonin raced around the base of the wall and broke around a sharp corner, where he spotted the gate he'd been looking for, standing wide open and practically inviting him in. Granted, no less than fifty Kiri Nin of the meanest looking sort stood guard and watched the entrance, but Naruto wasn't worried. There was a stream of people moving out of the city's forest perimeter and pouring into Kiri. He ran for the gate, not disturbing the mossy carpet that coated the island as he ran.

In the darkness of the fast approaching night, hiding amongst the people crowding into the city and shrouded by his technique, Naruto slipped by the guards unnoticed, despite their vigilance. He heard one of the guards shouting out over the storm and the noise of the crowd making for the city, but couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, so Naruto snuck closer.

"All Water Citizens arriving from the surrounding villages are to report to the residential district immediately!" Naruto heard the guard bellowing as he neared. "By order of the Mizukage, you will receive lodging accommodations and food supplies until the current crisis is over!"

_The Water Country is signing its own death warrant,_ Naruto thought, turning his back on the man and jogging past the gatehouse, into the dank city streets. _They're bringing everyone from the surrounding villages into Kiri as refugees in hopes of protecting a concentrated mass of people rather than try to defend a number of outlying villages and communities._

**To attempt a maneuver like this, the Water Country must have suffered losses at Suna greater than we thought.**

_Yeah, they must feel they lack the forces to adequately defend all of their borders, obviously true seeing as how easily my strike force got in, and now they're making a play to defend less land._

**Does this make you think they're less of a threat? **Asked Kyuubi.

_Not in the least, _responded Naruto as he stopped in the middle of the street to look around. _This is a move classically preceding an offensive maneuver. They're trying to defend less land so that they can free up more men to take the fight to the enemy._

**My thoughts exactly**, confirmed Kyuubi. **And it would be a good maneuver too, if there weren't a Demon, specializing in mass destruction among them.**

Naruto nodded affirmation as he looked around to get his bearings and take in the city. All around him there were people in dirty, dingy clothes, carrying heavy looking suitcases and bags, trudging through the city's muddy street as the rain continued to cascade down. All of the refugees, men women and children alike, wore similar expressions of gloom as the hundreds and possibly thousands of them walked all in one direction towards what Naruto knew must be the residential district.

Lining the streets were homes and large, very tall apartment complexes that crowded each other and blocked out most of the skyline or horizon. Every window was dark and barred, and Naruto saw no one inside any of them, though he quickly spotted the numerous people sitting or sleeping around the buildings. They massed together with their luggage under awnings, next to walls and on porches, anywhere they were shielded from the rain and wind.

**Pathetic,** muttered the Demon, **packing so many people into this kind of space. Look at them, they're huddling like rats and dogs in a storm.**

_They are rats and dogs in a storm, _Naruto scoffed. _And this is one tempest none of them are going to escape._

Naruto resumed his run, following the tide of people for a few blocks North, but abruptly he turned to his left and broke down one of the side streets. Even here he saw people sitting in doorways and under any kind of cover, but he ignored them. His pace more than doubled when he came out onto another main road and saw the tall edifice of a tower, the Hokage's complex, only a half dozen blocks away.

_Finally,_ he muttered. _Now things get interesting._

SC

"Where are they all coming from?" asked Alicia, glancing at her sisters, then turning to look out of their hiding place up among the trees at the huge flux of people. They were all walking slowly along paths that converged at Kiri's main gate. "There must be thousands of them."

"The Mizukage is emptying all of the other villages," said Karenna. "He's dumping their citizens into Kiri…"

"How sad," said Trina, staring down at the people and grinning very slightly. "Looks like we won't have to go after all the others individually."

Alicia glared over at her sister. "How can you be so fucking cold?" growled the blonde, her voice dark. "Those are living, breathing people down there. Trina I don't understand you at all."

"I'm not complex," said Trina, not looking away from the crowd. "I want to win at all costs. I may not like how I win, but that won't stop me from doing what it takes."

"The ends justify the means," simplified Karenna disinterestedly.

"Exactly," said Trina.

Alicia turned away from Trina and shook her head. "Not always," she muttered.

"Just follow orders," said Karenna. "Naruto-Sama is your commander."

"And a genius," added Trina. "He knows what it takes."

Alicia shook her head again. "I'll obey him without question. That's my duty, but I think he's a monster."

"Aren't we all?" laughed Trina quietly.

With a loud plop and a splash, one of the tree's large leaves gave way under the weight of the rain, and dumped a pitcher's worth of water onto Alicia's head as she squeaked in surprise.


	44. Shadow's Dawn

Shadow's Dawn

"The garrison can't hold out with less than four hundred Ninja," said one of the men gathered around the long wooden table. His white and silver robe, identical to the nine other robes gathered in the room signified him as one of the Water's chief tactical advisors. "There are just too many people to defend otherwise. Mizukage-Sama, it's a good move to relocate most of the Country's non-combatants into Kiri itself, but if we're going to properly defend 30,000 people, in a city built to hold 20,000, we need more men."

A half-dozen or so wooden tables filled the large rectangular room and each table was occupied by an average of four or five people. At the table nearest the back of the room stood the recently appointed Mizukage. His tall frame, draped in a long white and blue cloak, was leaning over a particularly large and detailed map of the continent. He rested his hands on the edge of the table and glanced up to look between the tables other six occupants.

"I told you," he said in a voice far too young, deep, and strong for anyone claiming to be a Kage. "We don't have them to spare. How many times have I warned all of you that if we don't do as Orochimaru says, we'll be wiped out."

The Mizukage looked up, his youthful face creased with lines of worry. Naruto, standing invisibly in the corner of the room and listening to ten conversations at once, guessed the man couldn't have been older than twenty-five, or perhaps like Tsunade he used Genjutsu to mask his true age.

"So you'll obey Orochimaru even though it may cost us everything?" growled one of the advisors. "Sir, with all due respect, it would be lunacy to try and defend 30,000 people with 200 Ninja while you take the rest of the army and move against Suna. While I agree that it would be best to finish off the wounded Sand, we don't have the manpower to go from there and defend ourselves properly against the fresh Leaf troops."

"Why is it," asked the Kage calmly, "that whenever anyone says 'with all due respect,' they really mean 'kiss my ass?' Now listen, if we don't move as Orochimaru tells us to move, then we forfeit his protection and allegiance, and Orochimaru doesn't take kindly to treachery. He doesn't need armies to wipe us out, he'll just come here personally with his monster and then we're all screwed."

**What are you waiting for kit? **asked Kyuubi impatiently. **The Mizukage, his advisors, and half of Kiri's commanders are right here and we could kill them all in one attack. It doesn't get more opportune than this.**

_I want to hear this,_ Naruto responded quickly. _I want to know what the Mizukage is so afraid of._

**Do you think he means your vixen?** Asked Kyuubi.

_Maybe… if he says Orochimaru has a demon, then I'll know he means Ino but if Orochimaru has some kind of secret weapon then I want to know what it is._

**If he had one he'd have used it already.**

_Unless it was a last ditch effort he wanted to keep hidden until the bitter end._

"What of the old alliances?" asked one of the advisors. "Orochimaru may pay well, but money and his promises of glory are of no use if we're all dead. Go to Konoha sir. For Kiri's sake, ask for help against Orochimaru. The Leaf may be willing to forgive if we show that we are truly penitent. Our pride is worthless if we're all lying face down in a pool of blood."

Kyuubi chuckled in Naruto's mind. **He has no idea.**

_Indeed,_ said Naruto impassively. His thoughts sounded almost troubled.

The Mizukage stood up straight. "You know we can't do that. We declared war on Konoha and attacked their Hokage. If we surrender then it's over. Konoha will place such heavy sanctions, tariffs and regulations on us that Kiri will collapse. It will be the same as losing a physical battle."

"And if we don't surrender then we will be destroyed!" shouted another advisor, drawing the attention of the entire room on himself. "Mizukage-Sama, it would be better to surrender and throw ourselves on Konoha's mercy than to die fighting them… perhaps we could even win back the Leaf's and the Sand's favor if we allied with them and fought with them against Cloud and Sound."

"You're lucky I don't throw you out of the village for that kind of treasonous idea," the Kage interrupted tersely, his mood as dark as the dimly lit room. "If we surrender then Orochimaru will come here himself and manifest his demon… If that happens, no one will be able to stop him. It's better that we fight with him in hopes of winning rather than throw any chance we have to the wind."

_Manifest his demon?_ Naruto wondered as the two men began to argue over whether or not Kiri should ally with Konoha.

**An odd way to refer to your vixen for sure**, noted Kyuubi. **But what else would he mean…**

_I'm not sure what else he _could_ mean. Alright, I've heard enough._

The Mizukage groaned and sat in a chair, sinking into the plush cushioning, completely unaware of the invisible figure looming behind. "Gentlemen," said the Kage. "I realize I'm much younger than almost any of you here, but frankly, I am the Kage and I am the head of this village. The last time I listened to all of you, my esteemed advisors," the Kage didn't hear the masked metallic ring as a sword slid from a sheath, "I made this deal with Orochimaru because he promised to line your purses with money and power."

"He lined yours too!" shouted one of the men in the white and silver robes. "Don't act like your hands are clean in this! We may have advised you to make the deal with him but ultimately the decision was yours!"

"I know," said the Mizukage in an exasperated sigh. "I know. But we don't have a choice. We have to stand with Orochima- Gaah!!"

He never finished his sentence. With a dull thud and a crack a long golden brand, burning with red chakra and boiling like molten metal, burst through the back of the chair, into the Mizukage's back, and now protruded from his sternum. Blood pulsed erratically from the wound as the man's slashed heart spat and heaved in desperate spasms.

Everyone in the room leapt to their feet as the Mizukage's scream ripped from his throat and a wicked laugh rumbled from behind the victim's chair. Naruto's layer of invisibility boiled away like flaking paint in the face of the red chakra that now burned around him like an aura. Two red tails of the demonic energy swirled into existence behind Naruto and thrashed around with a will of their own.

Naruto, grinning maniacally to terrify all those present, ripped his sword from the Kage's back and chair and fiercely kicked the piece of furniture. The Mizukage's corpse toppled to the ground where blood ran freely from the gaping hole in his chest. The fiery Ninja sped forward with blinding speed and hacked at one man's neck. The victim's head rolled from his shoulders and plopped onto the ground before his white-robed body had even shuddered from the blow.

Naruto landed on one of the many tables as the room erupted into chaos. "**DIE!!**" he bellowed, catching sight of one of the (obviously) more seasoned Jounin in the room performing a frenzied series of seals. The Kiri Ninja disappeared in a flash of gore as a red explosion of chakra, right in front of his face, ripped him to pieces.

"Call the guards!" shouted a Ninja. "We're under-" the Nin disappeared in a column of white hot chakra that burst from Naruto's hand.

The Demon-powered Naruto charged forward with fiery hands and lashed out like a viper at the still dumbstruck Ninja in the room. Before any had time to register exactly what was going on, less than three seconds since the Mizukage was skewered, Naruto had attacked again. A Jounin in a green mask found himself hoisted up in the boy's deathly grip. He screamed for only a second before his body burst into flame.

Naruto discarded the burning corpse and whirled on another Nin approaching him from behind. A third tail burst from his lower back and Naruto disappeared in a blur of speed, just in time to dodge a pillar of boiling water the Nin had spat at him. The Nin didn't see the red demon as it snapped him in two at the waist with a whip of its ethereal tail.

Two of the advisors, their robes flailing wildly, rushed to the room's large double-doors, and pulled frantically at the handles. The door creaked but didn't budge. Behind the two, the screams of terror-filled and dying Ninja echoed about in the room. Explosions, crackling shots of lightning, sprays of superheated water, and super-sonic kunai flew about the room and shook the foundation of the complex.

"It's jammed!" shouted one of the advisors.

Silence settled over the room.

A single drop of liquid splashed down in a puddle, shattering the quiet.

"**Oh, don't be so hasty**," growled a deep voice from behind the two men.

They both turned and saw the figure of a man wreathed in an opaque armor of crimson chakra standing before them. Behind it, its tails began thrashing about and tore at the walls and floor. The floor was soaked in blood that ran from the thirty mutilated corpses and pooled in the crevices torn the marble. One corpse mutilated beyond recognition, was skewered on a high chandelier and dripped blood onto the floor. "**I went to special lengths to make sure no one could get out before the finale**."

"Spare us!" shouted the man on the right, his voice quaking.

"**Nope,**" scoffed Naruto, lunging forward and pinning the man to the wall with a red claw of energy.

"Ahh, please! Please!" cried the second man, half sobbing with fear. He clutched his hands in front of him.

"**Please what?**"Naruto growled, wrenching the claw from the dead man's stomach and letting the body drop. It fell to the ground with a pitiful dying moan.

"Don't kill me," he begged, dropping down to his knees, staining his robe in the standing blood. "I have a wife and a daughter living at home. My son's wife is expecting a child any day now and … please don't kill me."

"**Life's a real tragedy,**" said Naruto. "**At least yours is over.**"

The Ninja reared back in a flash and swept forward. His sword struck the man in the skull and passed out of his body through his groin, too fast to allow the bone to splinter. The two halves of the copse fell in opposite directions to the floor.

"**Now for the real work**," growled the Ninja, raising his left palm and pointing towards the ceiling. Naruto's hand jerked under the pressure as a beam of red energy burst from his palm and smashed through the ceiling, flying into the air with a sizzling glow and carrying with it flaming bits of debris. The torrential rain began to flood through the gap as Naruto looked up when he heard a scream above him and saw his flare had burned through six levels of the complex before reaching the open sky. Along its course, some unlucky fool had been in the flare's path and lost a limb or two.

Naruto walked to the door and kicked it as two of the three demonic tails faded away. The wood splintered in a flurry of debris and fell open on broken hinges. The buzzing and shrieking of alarm bells sounding all throughout the complex poured into the room and Naruto could tell Kyuubi was smiling.

**This was wondrous kit. I haven't seen carnage like that in far too long.**

_You did decently yourself, _responded Naruto, his voice colorless. _Snapping a Nin in half with your tail like that was impressive. I didn't know you could actively control your chakra without my direct consent._

**Don't make me blush,** the demon said with no lack of cynicism. **I have a small say in everything done with my chakra now…** **Just get to it.**

Naruto nodded in agreement and pressed his hands together.

In a large puff of Ninja smoke, no less than fifty shadow clone Narutos, each one with fiery red eyes and deeply carved whisker-marks exploded into existence and glared at him. Some snarled feral smiles while others paused quietly for instructions, but each one was ready and waiting.

"You know the drill," said Naruto, his chakra armor fading as his voice returned to normal. "Destroy everything and kill everyone in the complex. Then move out into the city."

The clones nodded and quickly charged away. A few went out the door Naruto had kicked open, but most jumped up to higher levels of the complex via the hole blasted up through each of the ceilings. Naruto stood for a moment, and soon heard screams tearing through the building, just a loud as the alarms.

**This is fun kit,** Kyuubi rumbled. **I can see everything your clones are doing and I love it!**

"I'm glad you're enjoying the display," said Naruto, uncaring as he rushed out the open door into the hallway beyond. There was no one in sight, but the Kage-Jounin quickly spotted a trio of corpses lying face down on the floor a few meters away: work of his clones no doubt.

**The copies are tearing into everyone mercilessly. One of them just hacked one the Mizukage's aides across the chest. Her office is a wonderful spatter of gore and blood, and another just incinerated a Chuunin. These Kiri Nin are pitiful. **

"They're completely off guard and nearly defenseless. Just don't let it all distract you," said Naruto, spotting a woman peeking out of an open door. She was horrorstruck and immediately darted back inside the room upon spotting him. The door slammed shut and Naruto heard a heavy bold locking it securely. "We've still got a lot of work to do."

Naruto rushed up to the door, leaned back and kicked it open, ripping the bolt from the stud in the wall with a loud crack. He didn't even bother to look for the woman inside the finely decorated office, but just pointed his hand at the center of the room. A sphere of demonic energy erupted from his palm and collided with the plush carpet, exploding in a tremendous ball of fire. As he turned and ran from the building, Naruto heard the woman scream, but he knew he didn't need to go back. The fire had engulfed the office quickly and cut off her only escape route.

Outside was utter chaos. Dead bodies lined and clotted the sides of the streets, soaking inches into the sopping mud as the rain continued to cascade from the sky and further dilute the muck. The refugees had been absolutely unprotected against his onslaught.

Fires had already begun to burn in almost every building surrounding the Mizukage's complex and the sounds of screams were everywhere. Naruto walked calmly outside and surveyed the work as Kyuubi laughed with utter thrill.

"Where are all the Kiri Ninja?" asked Naruto. "Surely fifty simpleton shadow-clones didn't wipe them all out…"

**Of course not kit, **Kyuubi said. **But** t**he Kiri Ninja are playing just as you predicted. Killing the Mizukage was cutting off the head of the snake, and now the enemy don't have anyone to take orders from. My guess would be that they're trying frantically to organize and get the people to some kind of shelter: easy targets.**

"Of course," sighed Naruto in a manner similar to a student who just found his own oversight on a simple math problem. "I suppose it-"

The ground rumbled and shook as a massive explosion rocked the city. Naruto glanced up and to the south as he saw an enormous pillar of smoke, fire, and debris plume up into the sky through the rain, carrying with it large chunks of rock that had formerly belonged in Kiri's wall.

"Looks like the sisters got their act together," said Naruto, looking away from the explosion and pressing his hands together. "So the war has finally begun in earnest."

Naruto flashed with red chakra. A cloud of Ninja smoke exploded from him and enveloped nearly everything with a dozen yards of the Ninja, but the wind and driving rain quickly whipped the haze away, revealing the clones. There couldn't have been less than a hundred of them, every single one burning with red chakra and growling through clenched teeth. Naruto didn't say a word, but the clones each jumped away and sprinted down the city streets, one hand clenching a sword and the other sizzling with a readied burst of chakra.

**So many clones**, noted Kyuubi. **There won't be any left for you.**

"Oh well. The clones will act as shock-troops and suicide bombers, coupled with my strike force they will be more than capable of breaking this city down to nothing." Naruto said quietly. "There's no need for me to exert myself killing insects like this when I can just sit back and let your infinite chakra do the job. And you don't seem to mind."

**Absolutely not. It is my chakra so I can see everything they do and if you want to turn control of them over to me I'd be happy to clean this up even faster.**

"Knock yourself out," said Naruto as another explosion rocked the ground. He turned to the west to see another huge cloud of soot and rock flying up into the sky: a second breach. "Just don't kill any of my men."

**Whatever,** growled the demon. **Just give me control. Hurry up. I haven't had a chance for some real fun in ages.**

"Just remember that I have to watch all this too," Naruto sighed and formed yet another seal. Without any smoke, but in several dozen flashes of red chakra ninety more clones, these even more feral than the rest, appeared. They all snarled and huffed in deep breaths, spewing bloody vapor from between their sharp teeth and glared all around with wild, scarlet eyes. Deep trench like marks were torn into their cheeks and flickered with sparks of light. The clones, all on one unspoken order, burst into motion, sprinting around corners, though doors, and down side streets.

"How much chakra did you give them?" asked Naruto. "Those clones look more like you than me…"

Kyuubi laughed wickedly. **If you were to use as much of my energy as each individual one of them has, you'd vomit from the exertion. These clones are going to have only one thing they want… blood, and copious amounts of it. They'll butcher and kill and destroy for the mere joy of it. But don't worry, I'll keep them away from your Ninja.**

Another wave of clones appeared in a burst of flame; a hundred more ready for the fight.

SC

The old man breathed heavily, despite his best efforts to conceal his terror as he hid in the dark beneath the stairs of his two-level home. His wife, a woman looking to be in her middle fifties crouched beside him. They heard the sirens begin to go off several minutes before and had immediately run down into their basement for shelter, rather than looking for a Ninja to escort them to a bunker. Given the screaming and explosions outside, they both guessed it had been the right decision.

They huddled together, not saying a word but holding each other tightly as the old man's breathing began to become labored and his face reddened in the gloom. The woman looked up to him, worried, but he just smiled, deepening the lines on his weathered face.

"Taki," hissed the old woman, terrified. "Can you breathe?"

The man instinctively clutched his chest, still taking in deep, rasping breaths. "I think I'll be fine love," he whispered in a dry voice. "It's nothing…"

"Do you need your medicine?" she said. There was very little question in her voice once she saw just how her husband struggled.

"Don't be silly," said Taki, his aged face looking at her with worry even as his chest rolled. "Stay here- where it's- safe."

"Taki, you need your medicine." Her voice was level. "It's only in the kitchen."

The old man wasn't going to argue. He knew she was right, but he couldn't let go of her hand even as she stood up. "It's too dangerous," he whispered, trying to sound much stronger than he was.

"I'll only be away a minute," she smiled, squeezing his hand.

"Amita," he said in a labored and fearful tone. "I love you."

The woman's eyes sparkled. Even after fifty years of marriage, her heart still jumped every time he said that. She never really had grown past the teenage dating stage of their relationship, and she never wanted to. "I love you too, Taki" she said, leaning forward and kissing his forehead.

Moving more quickly than a woman her age should have been able to, Amita stood up and half walked, half jogged around their staircase and began climbing the steps as fast as her weakening legs would allow. The sound of explosions outside, combined with the driving rain on the roof and walls was still a constant drum-line as she raced from the hall into the kitchen.

Amita looked out the window above the sink for a quick glance around the couple's front yard. "By the gods," she gasped as she caught sight of no less than twenty corpses, some charred black, others cut nearly in two, but all very dead scattered about the lawn. "What kind of beastly people could do this kind of-"

_**CRACK! **_Amita whirled around to her left as the front door flew off its hinges and slammed into the parlor wall. A dark shape rushed into the house as she screamed in fear. The black figure turned and glared at her with crimson eyes. It ran towards her.

Amita dropped to her knees in utter horror as the shape sprinted past her. She turned as a choking gargle filled the room. The figure, who she could now tell was a Ninja in a black cloak, had slammed his sword into the chest of another Ninja, this one in light green. The victim gasped and fell from the end of the assailant's sword to the kitchen floor in front of the large kitchen window he'd entered through. The Kiri insignia on his stomach was now stained red.

"**Now," **said the living Nin. **"I could have sworn I saw someone else in here."**

He turned to face Amita who had scooted back and pressed her shoulders into the corner of the room. She was desperately clutching a small bottle. "Please," she begged. "Please, why can't you just leave us alone?"

"**Because you have to die,"** said the Ninja, his jagged blonde hair swaying in the current of his red chakra as he walked up in front of her.

"But what did we do to you?" she cried.

"**Blame your leaders." **The Ninja laughed.

Amita was too frightened to resist as the Nin reached down and picked her up off the ground by the neck. His fingers dug into the flesh of her throat, drawing droplets of blood as her feet left the floor. She gasped, and dropped the bottle which fell to the ground and shattered with a tinkling crash, spitting a liquid content all over. Her fingers locked around his wrist as she tried to pry herself loose. The Ninja laughed. Red energy flashed in his eyes as the marks on his cheeks deepened.

"**I'm having far too much fun!"**

"Let her go!" screamed a deep voice.

The Ninja in black turned just as a heavy wooden walking stick came crashing down on his forehead. A crack filled the room as the staff shattered into pieces and the Ninja's skull broke in beneath the blow. His hand released Amita who fell to the ground in a heap with a thump. The Ninja disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Amita!" wheezed Taki, dropping the broken cane and sinking to his knees by his wife. "Amita are you alright?"

"Taki," she whimpered, grabbing hold of her shin. "I think I broke something."

"The bastards," he gasped, clutching his chest but not looking away from her. "You're safe now… He won't bother us again."

"**Guess Again!" **yelled a wickedly pitched voice from the doorway. **"None of you can escape ME!!" **

Amita and Taki turned and saw the same Ninja, or one who looked just like him, spiky blonde hair, red eyes, and a black cloak, standing in the doorway of their home. He held up his hand and a crimson sphere of energy began to burn and swirl in his palm.

"Just go away!" screamed Amita as Taki crawled defensively in front of her.

"**Have it your way… no fun at all," **said the demon-possessed clone, turning and walking from the house, the glowing orb of energy still crackling in his hand.

"W-What?" gasped Taki, collapsing to his hands and knees, rasping for air.

"Taki," Amita nearly screamed, dropping down beside her husband. "Taki-"

The couple looked up as a screaming wind flied the room. The red ball of energy flew through the open door and dropped to the ground just in front of Taki and Amita. The house's walls exploded outwards in a shower of brick, fire, and debris, as the roof incinerated almost immediately in the blaze.

Naruto's clone just sprinted away towards the next house on the street. All but two or three of any of the other houses in sight were either ablaze, piles of rubble, or some combination of the two. A nearby apartment complex had been reduced to a smoldering ruin and the sky was utterly choked with smoke and rain.

_**I feel sorry for whoever has to count all these bodies**_, thought the clone, sidestepping a literal pile of six and a half bodies. Identical mounds of corpses or parts thereof were filling the streets and lining the sidewalks.

SC

"Get away you bastard!" the woman screamed, her blue eyes streaked with furious tears. She rushed out of the living room, away from her husband's body and the invading Ninja in black, throwing herself in a nearby doorway. The sound of an infant screaming tore through the house as the woman positioned herself between the assailant and her child.

With electrical power cut off to nearly the entire city by the invasion, the couple of eleven month's home had truly become a hellish scene. Blood spattered the walls of the living room, the kitchen was a twisted bramble of stray knives and utensils. The fiery Ninja in the black garb, wreathed in flame and stalking towards her, completed Yamako's nightmare. She knew that she should run to preserve herself. Her husband had fallen trying futilely to hold off the Ninja. And the invader seemed to Yamako very much like a painting of Hell itself. She knew it would kill her.

Yamako glanced over her shoulder into the nursery as the clone neared, walking slowly to toy with her. Her son lay screaming in his cradle, crying and reaching up for the ceiling... the demonic aura was making him sick. The woman clenched the steel knife in her hand tightly behind her back.

In a mindless rush of fury and instinct, Yamako whirled on the clone and charged it, raising the knife and screaming. She swiped down, eyes clenched in rage, trying to drive the knife into his heart and kill him. For her son she struck at him with all a mother's fury.

The clone caught her wrist in his hand and broke it with a flick of his fingers. Yamako didn't scream but stood there staring into his eyes as tears dripped from hers. She struggled even through the broken bones, trying desperately, throwing all the weight her slender frame offered down on her wrist in hopes she could even drive the tip of the blade into the Ninja's shoulder.

Instead the clone laughed as he twisted his hand, wrenching Yamako's wrist apart and bending the front half of her forearm it back on itself with a loud crunching as the carpals snapped away from one another. Yamakao still didn't scream. Even as the Ninja stepped in close, near enough that their faces were a mere inch apart and her frame brushed his, even as he smiled wickedly down at her and twisted her hand so the tip of the knife she still held pointed back at her, she didn't scream.

"Leave my baby alone," the woman hissed, a viper's warning in her voice. "Do whatever you like to me but you're not going to touch my baby."

The clone grinned all the wider and inched closer to her. Yamako's eyes widened in shock as the tip of the knife came to rest against her abdomen, barely touching her skin an inch below her navel through her nightgown.

"I warned you," she growled, her beautiful face hardened. The clone was moving slowly closer, pressing the knife against her skin. The steel passed almost effortlessly into her, driven slowly by the clone's steady and inhuman strength, and slipped steadily deeper as Yamako's mouth dropped open. The front of her white nightgown began to run red.

"**You warned me**?" probed the clone, just as the last bit of the twelve-inch blade disappeared into the woman's stomach. His chin was now resting on her shoulder they were so close.

Yamako refused to make a noise. She stood, impaled and in shock, wide-eyed and dying, but silent. She wasn't going to give the bastard the satisfaction of hearing her scream. Even as her head spun and she fell backwards, now soaked in her own blood from the hips down, Yamako didn't scream as the clone let go of her and let her fall. She only lay silent, on her back, on the floor, with her own kitchen knife protruding from her stomach.

"**Now,**" said the clone, stepping over Yamako's unconscious body into the nursery. "**Time to shut this brat up**."

The cradle, the source of the screaming was covered by a draping cloth. The clone glanced over at the woman's body as the blood pooled around her, and pointed his hand at the cradle. He'd had his fun and it was time to finish cleaning up. A bolt of sizzling red chakra shot from his palm like a missile and blew the cradle apart in a flurry of fire and debris.

SC

"Kiri came under our direct assault only thirty minutes ago," said Karenna, glancing over towards Naruto, who stood beside her surveying what had been a middle-class home a few minutes ago. Now it was an unceremonious showcase of shattered stone and mortar. It was one of the less annihilated buildings on the block. "But thanks to you, their leaders were dead before they realized they were under attack. The Kiri Ninja were completely unorganized and easy prey for us."

Naruto looked over to her impassively and saw what he thought was the first smile he'd ever seen on her lips. Granted, it was a tiny one, and it was obviously fake, but it was there. "Good," he said, his voice emotionless.

"Sir," said Karenna, she stopped faking the smile and frowned. "We've won. The Kiri Nin are wiped out and the village is completely destroyed."

"Where are your sisters?" asked Naruto. He took a step towards one building, the only one in sight that was still standing and his boot sank a full three inches into the muck. Blood the color of puce gurgled up from sludgy mud. Still it rained and poured.

"Um," droned Karenna, trying to remember exactly where each one had been headed and following Naruto as he walked. "Alicia sent a messenger saying she had successfully retrieved Shikamaru and was escorting him out of the hot-zone."

"That's good," said Naruto as he stopped in front of the building. "And Trina?"

"She took a contingent of Ninja and said she was going to … clear out the tunnels beneath the city where the non-combatants are… were taking shelter."

"You mean she was headed to the bunkers to kill all the survivors?" probed Naruto.

Karenna hesitated. "Yes," she said, sounding sick at the word. "All the thousands of them. She's probably done by now."

"They won't stand a chance against trained Konoha Ninja, even if there are any left," continued Naruto tonelessly. "Their guards are dead in the street and all that's left are the civilians."

"Yes Sir," said Karenna.

Naruto looked over to the woman and grimaced. "All this bothers you."

"Sir," she said indecisively.

"You can't tell me all this killing doesn't turn your stomach," said Naruto.

Karenna paused for a second, looking up at the building, possibly the last standing structure in the whole city. It's siding was blackened by fire, the roof was missing a quarter of its shingles, exposing the tar paper beneath, and the windows were all smashed in, but it was more or less intact. The sign above the door read "Kiri Children's Home."

"How many men do you think we lost here?" asked Naruto.

"Sir?" Karenna stammered. "I don't know, but Trina took no less than forty down to the tunnels and there were a dozen or two more running about the streets looking for hiding Kiri Nin. We couldn't have lost more than ten; and probably less than that. Your clones did almost all the… work."

"Ten Konoha men," answered Naruto, musing. "Would you say that's better than ten thousand?"

Karenna didn't answer for a moment. She thought she knew where he was going and didn't particularly want to talk about that. "I understand Sir." She said. "I know it's better that we lose ten men here by doing… all of this, then it is to lose ten thousand by not …"

"That's not where I was going," said Naruto. "I was just asking if you'd rather ten men or ten thousand men die."

"Well ten of course," said Karenna, glancing warily up at the sign above the orphanage door.

"I would agree with you," said Naruto, his voice somber, almost mournful. It was a wonderful act. "If I could sacrifice these ten Konoha Ninja and no one else from either side to end this war, I gladly would… If I could sacrifice myself and no one else… I would," his voice was now unmistakably hurt and sad.

Karenna looked up into his eyes and saw pain. "Naruto…" she didn't know what to say.

It sounded so genuine.

"But," continued the blonde Ninja, "That is not an option available to us. Karenna, we're driven to extremes like this by bastards like Orochimaru." He gestured to the hundreds of bodies, men women and children all laying in the street, in gutters, and in the mud. "Please, don't dwell on all of this death. You didn't kill these people. I didn't kill them. Even their leaders don't bear responsibility…"

"It's all Orochimaru's fault," Karenna finished his sentence, looking down into the mire.

"And we have to stop him before this happens again," said Naruto, putting a hand on Karenna's shoulder. "If we don't stop him this will happen again and again. He's not going to stop and neither can we. He's not going to feel remorse so neither can we."

"Understood," said Karenna coldly. "But the job here is finished at least. All that's left to do is gather the troops, go home, and leave this carnage for Orochimaru and his men to find… right?"

"Not quite," said Naruto, throwing a glance to the building before them.

Karenna looked between Naruto and the building once, twice, and a third time before it finally registered what he meant. "You mean… we need to destroy-" she stopped.

"Every last living thing in Kiri," said Naruto.

The brunette Kunoichi looked for a moment as though she might vomit, but straightened herself up and looked at Naruto, though the trembling was still in her eyes. "Is it really necessary?" she asked in an uneasy voice.

Naruto nodded once.

For no less than a minute, Karenna looked around the street. It was still pouring rain and the sewers were backing up. The mud was now a sludge-like soup and bodies, countless corpses, each one somehow maimed or burned or otherwise destroyed beyond repair or recognition, lay in the filthy pottage. She turned her attention to the ruined skyline, or lack thereof. No building aside from the orphanage was left standing more than a single story high. Every last structure was blown out, burned out, and utterly ruined. What had been apartment complexes a dozen stories tall were now gigantic heaps of broken cement and mortar. Nothing was intact.

"Alright," she whispered, her breath staggered as she drew out a single kunai. "I'll do it myself."

"I-" interrupted Naruto, "I can do it myself if you'd rather. You don't have to-"

"No," said Karenna. "No, I should do this… I should. Orochimaru isn't going to stop, so we'll have to make him or he'll destroy everything… Naruto, did you know that Trina, Alicia, and myself are essentially virgins to this kind of business?"

Naruto shook his head. "Tsunade told me the three of you had been trained for anything," said the blonde.

Karenna took a steadying breath. "We are," she said. "However, this is really the first time any of us has been called on to do anything near this … destructive. Little missions can't prepare someone to do something so horrible, but I can see just how necessary it is now that we stop Orochimaru; so he can't do this to Konoha. Which is why I need to be the one to … finish this."

"I don't follow," said Naruto.

"We may be called on to do more horrible things," said Karenna. "And if we are, we all need to be steeled for it. We can't hesitate or show mercy: the enemy wouldn't… You've already prepared yourself mentally for the worst, but I haven't. I need to. It may cost me my soul, but that's something I'll trade to defend Konoha."

Naruto fought back a grin. "This battle really changed your outlook." He commented. "An hour ago you would have berated your sister for talking like that."

Karenna shrugged. "I said we were virgins to this kind of mission. We've never been in a real war before. Seeing all of this, it has changed the way I look at things a little… Is that bad Naruto?"

The Kage-Jounin hesitated. "I'm not sure anything is bad," he said. "There's only what we do. Good and Bad are only constructs people attach to things they do or don't like."

"I see," Karenna nodded stepping up onto the porch of the orphanage and peering into the door, obviously bewildered. She saw no one. "That makes sense I guess. Or at least it makes all this a lot easier to swallow."

Without another word, the ANBU Kunoichi disappeared inside the orphanage and Naruto let a grin spread across his face.

_And thus another pawn falls under my direct control. _Naruto's grin faded, but his joy was no less real. _Now all I have to do is wait a few days for Ino to show up and from there it's all downhill to victory._

**This, Kit, **Kyuubi rumbled, bursting into Naruto's mind, **was absolutely wonderful. The carnage, the destruction, the utter and total decimation of an entire village; No feeling quite compares!**

_Glad you enjoyed yourself,_ Naruto thought. _You seemed to be having fun with those clones._

**Oh yes. Having the freedom of movement again to slaughter and maim was exhilarating. We must do this again sometime.**

_We may not have to, _Naruto responded. _And to be honest I'd rather not._

**Why? **asked Kyuubi.

_I want to rid the world of evil Kyuubi, not people. Wiping out the continent isn't my aim. The only reason Kiri had to go was because it was the most convenient example to make for the other villages. Now that Kiri is wiped out it will completely demoralize Kumo and maybe even Oto. Frightened enemies are no enemies at all, they're prisoners of war. If we can scare our enemies enough we might not even have to kill them, which would be kind of nice and save us a lot of effort._

**So… **Kyuubi mused. **You don't really buy what you told that Karenna vixen: about how good and bad don't exist?**

_I told her exactly what she needed to hear to do what is necessary, _said Naruto, glancing up at the orphanage. _She's right, this will steel her for what she may have to do later, and I don't need people unprepared to do the necessary. Remember Kyuubi, I'm not afraid to use what some people would call 'evil' means to accomplish what I see as 'good' ends._

**I see,** rumbled Kyuubi in his chuckle. **Kit, you really have become quite entertaining. You're insane, but I find it all amusing.  
**

A child's scream erupted from the orphanage.


	45. The Alpha's Omega

AN: Ok, I know I'm posting sooner than scheduled, but I've finished writing Shadow Dawning and I figure 'what the hell, why not?' It's not like letting it sit for a week before posting is doing anyone a whole lot of good. Plus this way we get to the good parts all the sooner! Hope you like it!

Read, Review, Enjoy!

The Alpha's Omega

Three Days Later

"Naruto… stop it." Sakura mumbled, turning over in her sleep and clutching at her pillow. "This is too much."

The Kunoichi tossed onto her side and kicked the thick comforter off herself and the bed. Riotous images danced around her mind, making her twitch. Thoughts of Naruto suddenly appearing in front of her as she stood on a dark plain, then disappearing just as quickly only to whisper something undecipherable behind her back paraded behind her eyelids. The unconscious ideas seemed to have no real direction or aim.

She dreamed for a while she was reliving the Chuunin Exams, sprinting through the forest of death, watching Naruto fight Hinata in the arena, then her mind jumped and she saw the Demon Brothers, those mysterious Ninja to whom she'd thrown herself in an attempt to save Naruto so many years ago, darting towards her in an otherwise blank void. The Ninjas vanished as she raised her arms, both in the dream and in her bed, to shield herself.

She lay like that for a minute or two, drifting between dream and reality, before slowly opening her eyes to the gloomy bedroom. Nothing had changed since she went to bed; the ceiling fan was slowly making its rounds, disturbing the air only enough to cool the room by the tiniest bit; the analog clock on the wall opposite the door was steadily ticking away, and outside the open window there wasn't the subtlest hint of light. The only illumination in the room came from the crack in the bathroom door, she'd left the nightlight on in there and it cast just enough light for Sakura to see.

"Great," muttered the pink-haired steward. The clock's ticking was a reminder that it was now 5:10 in the am. She needed to be up in twenty minutes and had only gone to bed two hours before. "How perfect is this…"

Groaning, Sakura sat upright and readjusted the thin strap of her silk sea-foam nightgown, pulling the fabric up from where it had slipped over her shoulder, and stood up. "Not a word," she muttered to herself, looking down at the nightstand as her head rocked with an aching hangover. The smell of wine still perfumed the air, the source an open bottle, half empty, and a drained glass by the bed.

"I warned you it would give you a hangover," Sakura chided herself as she walked to the bathroom door.

"I said not to say a word," Sakura grumpily reminded herself, walking into the bathroom and sitting down on the edge of the tub. "Besides, how else am I supposed to sleep knowing he's not safe?"

"I don't know," she answered. "But going sleepless for two days, then getting drunk and finally passing out in bed after-"

"I get it I get it," Sakura said, cutting herself off and flexing her hand once. "Just shut it. I'm still not totally together…"

The Steward shook her head, eliciting a scream of pain from her skull as the hangover flared up. She groaned again and turned on the water to the coldest setting, watching disinterestedly as the tub filled. Her thoughts began to wander aimlessly, but snapped to quickly as the chilly water ran in the bathtub and lapped at her hand.

"Oh," she sighed, reaching out and turning the nozzle.

The water stopped flowing and Sakura looked at it for a minute. "He's fine," she reassured herself, standing up and undoing the solitary button that held the robe closed. She let it fall open, then reached up and brushed it off her shoulders, letting the silk fall to the ground with a quiet slither.

For a moment she didn't move, but just looked herself over in the mirror opposite the tub, then groaned disapprovingly and turned back. She raised one leg, holding onto the wall for support, and let her foot down in the water. The frigid liquid sent pin pricks racing up and down her calf. She hissed reflexively as she stepped in and slowly sat down, immersing herself. The water reached to her breasts once she was sitting fully, then crept up to her neck as she leaned back and rested her head against the back of the porcelain basin.

"Damn that's cold," she muttered, forcing her eyes shut and shivering as her heart pounded in her chest. She instinctively closed her legs and rubbed her feet together in the cold water though she let her arms sink at her sides. "I haven't had a cold bath like this since before the first Sound Invasion …" she slowly recalled the incident, half fondly as it involved Naruto. _That was when I'd run into Naruto… and Ino at Ichiraku ramen. _Her stomach jumped as she recalled the Yamanaka's name.

_I was so depressed back then, about Naruto, about Sasuke, about Mom and Dad and everything. But out of all of those, all I have left is Naruto and with…_ She twitched, thinking back to the hospital room when Naruto had woken up and not remembered that it was Ino who had nearly killed him. The thought that the Yamanaka girl was back…

_What will happen if he runs into her? _Sakura fretted. _What would he do? What would she do? What would I do…? Surely he wouldn't try to bring her back. He couldn't. She's too far gone. But if he tried… would she lead him on so she could catch him off guard? He's too good for that but if he still has feelings for, no he couldn't. But does he?_

"Naruto," Sakura quietly moaned. "Please be safe…"

She let herself seep down in the water, pushing her knees up past the surface as her head sank lower, until only her nose and eyes were above the water. The cold temperatures and her racing heart were pushing the fog of the alcohol out of her mind and sharpening her senses, but also sharpening her worries that something might be going wrong with Naruto's mission.

_He's already had ample time to do what he was going to by this point,_ she thought, remembering back to Naruto's plan, _but he hasn't sent back any kind of message. And why would he need so much extra time? What's he really planning…_ She sat up straighter in the water and ran one hand through her hair, untangling a few knots as her mind worked.

_There's no way his sole goal is to neutralize Kiri… He would never do anything so ostentatious without having a much more subtle aim in mind._

Sakura continue to let her thoughts brew. She knew for a fact that Naruto had become a much more tactical and practical person since returning with Jiraiya. She knew he would never do anything high-profile without aiming to have it flush something- or someone, out of hiding, or to get himself into a good position to make a more surgical move.

_Is he laying a trap? _She wondered. _It makes sense, he could use all of Kiri as bait… but what's the trap for? Who could he be hoping to… _Sakura's form twitched and not from the cold.

"Stop worrying," she whispered to herself, her voice strained. "Ino belongs to Orochimaru now. There's no way Naruto could get her back and he wouldn't try… …You don't have any reason to suspect that. He's not setting a trap for her and even if he is it's only to kill-"

She jumped, splashing some water out of the tub as a loud knocking from the first floor shattered the still of the early morning. Someone was at the door. She reached up and put one hand over her thumping chest as her breathing jumped. There was another knock.

"Just- Just a minute!" she shouted loudly, surprised by the volume of her own voice.

The knocking ceased as she stood up, bent over, and pulled the plug on the drain. The water in the tub began to disappear quickly while Sakura reached down, picked up her robe, and slid it on, grabbing a length of cord from beside the tub at the same time and tying it around her waist to better hold the flimsy fabric closed. She couldn't hold back a chuckle when she saw how little detail the silk hid when she was cold.

Sakura walked quickly out of the bathroom and crossed the bedroom into the hall. Passing by the several doors on the upper level of the house she almost broke into a run to and down the stairs when she realized that this might be some word from Naruto. Sakura skipped down the last step and arrived at the front door in an instant.

With fumbling fingers she undid the latch, both dead-bolts, and slid the bar from its place and opened the door. Her heart sank.

"Good morning Sakura-Sama," said the bright-eyed, brown-haired boy standing in her door. "I'm sorry to bother you so early."

"It's alright Armura," said Sakura, glancing at the boy's clothing. It had been a while since she'd last seen him but Armura's physical appearance had changed dramatically in the past few weeks. The most noticeable change was the muscle that had sprung from nowhere to fill out his shirt. "You joined the Crane Garrison I see."

Armura grinned widely and spread his arms to show off the uniform, though he was also secretly trying to showcase his new physique. It was a deep red shirt and pants of indistinct make with black stripes, like jagged clouds or a tiger's marks wrapping around his arms, legs, and trunk. His forehead protector was tied around his head as with most other Ninja, boldly displaying the Leaf insignia, but the white cloth to which said protector was bolted was a tell-tale marker that the uniform and the boy in it was worn by were affiliated with the Crane Organization.

"Do you like it?" asked Armura. "The Crane pays really well even if you're only working with them for a short time, and joining the garrison now that the Crane took control cooperatively with the Town Guard means that I get to work, train, and fight with both. It's a great deal and the training, even for civilians is amazing. We-"

Armura cut himself off, suddenly looking away from Sakura's eyes as his own glance suddenly caught what she was wearing.

"I know," said Sakura, partially annoyed at the boy, as was her habit. "I'm the one who organized the new defenses and integrated the Crane Troops with the Town Guard, remember? If anyone would know it would be me. Now what did you need Armura?"

"Oh, right," said the boy quickly, reaching around into a concealed pack on his back and pulling out a scroll. "A Ninja from Naruto's Strike Force arrived at the West Gate a few minutes ago. He handed this scroll to my commanding officer and said it needed to go directly to you, then ran off."

Sakura's heart jumped. "A message from Naruto?" she asked. "Let me see that."

Armura turned over the scroll without question and Sakura grasped it tightly. "I don't know what it is, just that it's yours now," he said, stealing a quick glance down Sakura's figure, particularly at her exposed legs. "Anyway, I should get back to my post."

"You do that," said Sakura, stepping back and inside.

"Have a good day Sakura-Sama," said Armura happily, as he jogged off into the pre-dawn gloom.

Sakura stood there for a minute before answering. "You too," she said after he was well out of ear-shot. She closed the door and walked to the couch, dropping down into it with a muffled thud.

Sakura's fingers were motionless on the scroll. _He wouldn't wait this long to send word unless things had taken longer than he anticipated,_ she thought. _Why else would he…_

The wax seal snapped and Sakura unfurled the scroll, it was maybe ten inches long and four wide, covered in small font: a paragraph at the top followed by what looked like a long list.

"Sakura," it read at the top. The Steward's heart thumped. "I left specific instructions with my messenger that this note be delivered to your Armura friend. He's naïve enough to trust, and I knew he would deliver this to you rather than send it through the proper channels. By the time you receive this, Kiri will be nothing but a bad memory and my men will be focusing on razing the rest of the villages in the Water Country. My campaign has been a total success, and victory is almost assured now. There's only one final piece that needs to be moved into position, but for this to work I need you to trust me implicitly and without question. I need you to spread the word in Konoha that I've been forced to attack Kiri when they found us out. I destroyed the village with only seventy men and killed the Mizukage. What follows is a list of the battle's statistics for you to use, though I'd prefer if you kept hidden how many non-combatants were killed (I included that only so you would know the truth and could use it in the diplomatic circles. The public can find out later once we've already won.) I should be back in another two days or three at the most. I miss you terribly Sakura, and I can't wait to see you again."

The girl stopped reading before she went on to the list, closing her eyes and folding the scroll in her lap. "Naruto," she mumbled, half-smiling. "You're safe after all. Thank goodness."

Quickly Sakura picked the list back up and unfurled it. "Don't worry, I'll get the story out to the public."

"Eight Konoha Ninja dead," she read, quickly scanning through the names. She recognized a few and committed them to memory. "Kiri Ninja killed: estimated six-hundred thirty. Kiri Civil Defense Officers killed: eighty-three. Kiri Citizens killed: nine thousand nine hundred sixty. Water Country non-combatants killed…

"Thirty-two thousand…" Sakura muttered, awestruck. "Water Country Military losses: estimated 99.6. Water Country Civilian losses: estimated 99.4."

The list continued on to detail where Naruto thought the remaining Kiri survivors were hiding and how he planned to find them, but Sakura didn't read the rest. The scroll dropped out of her hands and plopped into her lap as she stared blankly off towards the window.

"Naruto…" she muttered in a quaking voice. "How… I didn't really think…" She closed her eyes and folded her hands over the letter. "It doesn't matter," she said more firmly. "You did what you had to do and I'm behind you the whole way."

Quickly she began planning. "I'll only tell everyone that he destroyed the armies, not the village itself. I'll save that for more diplomatic circles."

SC

The rain had finally stopped. For two days the sky had done nothing but rumble and flash with lightning and thunder. The clouds had poured countless gallons of water out all over Kiri and the surrounding villages, but surprisingly, the ground was already beginning to dry. There wasn't a raincloud in the sky and the mid-morning sun was shining brightly.

As Naruto walked along the top of Kiri's wall, which he had left standing as a means to stifle the spread of diseases sure to breed among all of the rotting, waterlogged corpses in the ruined city, he could no longer see the massive puddles, more like small ponds, that had sprung up all over the landscape. The low places in the land which had been lakes a day before were already absorbing the excess rain water leaving little more than patches of wet grass and lichen.

"This went off too well," Naruto mused as a sea breeze wafted in from the coast a few miles away, carrying with it the smell of salt. He looked out over the forest sky-line to the south. From his vantage point a hundred feet above the ground, Naruto clearly saw the five pillars of smoke off in the distance, billowing hundreds of feet into the air, though the forest effectively hid the burning villages and communities beneath the canopies.

"The sisters should be almost finished with those hamlets by now," he said to himself. There was no real joy in his voice, only fact. "Granted, there can't be many, if any, people left in them. Most of the non-combatants were evacuated to Kiri, but it will still send a message to the rest of the continent if an entire country is devastated. This should be worth it."

Naruto turned as footsteps clapped on the cobblestone walk behind him, and saw Shikamaru walking towards him. The ANBU Officer's head was still bandaged around his left eye from where one of the Kiri guards had struck him during the interrogation, and his arm hung useless in a sling across his chest, but the Nin still walked tall.

"Shikamaru," Naruto greeted him, inclining his head a bit. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I was yesterday," said Shikamaru. "My head still hurts though. It's good to see you though, even if it has only been less than forty-eight hours."

Naruto nodded. "I'm sorry," he said. "If I had known they were waiting for us-"

"We didn't have any warning," said Shikamaru, standing next to Naruto. "They were already suspicious of spies and when Trina and I tried to pass ourselves off as Kiri Nin… it was just bad luck really. You couldn't have known they were watching for us."

"Yeah, but I still wish it hadn't had to be this way."

"Don't we all," muttered Shikamaru, looking down into the ruins of Kiri. "What a mess this turned out to be. But if nothing else… I suppose I owe you big time for saving me back there."

Naruto just nodded and acted a perfect smile. "What else could we do," said the blonde. "You and Trina are two of our most valuable assets." Naruto shifted and glanced back towards the pillars of smoke in the distance. "Besides, you're a friend."

"I really do appreciate it," said Shikamaru, wiping a lock of hair out of his face with his good hand. "How much longer do you think it will be until we return to Konoha?"

Naruto cracked his neck once and stretched his shoulders before answering. "I'd say two more days," he said. "We'll be leaving Kiri today for sure, I'm sick of it here, but we need to be as thorough as possible."

"You mean cleaning up the remaining villages," clarified Shikamaru.

"Something like that," said Naruto. "You sound uncertain… Something you'd like to say?"

Shikamaru hesitated for a moment. "Permission to speak freely?" he requested at last.

Naruto turned to the ANBU head and smiled subtly. "Absolutely," said the Kage-Jounin. "Shikamaru when it's just me and you, it's all free. You don't need to ask to speak your mind with me."

"That's generous," sighed Shikamaru. "But to be blunt, I don't agree with what you're doing here. All this slaughter is completely unnecessary."

A pause settled over the two Ninja.

"Maybe," said Naruto, turning away. "But what else would you have me do?"

"Give mediation a chance," said Shikamaru without hesitation. "Sakura is a seasoned diplomat. Don't you think it would be better to try and hold off Orochimaru until we can convince his allies to abandon him? Butchering an entire country is too much."

"What makes you think I'm not giving diplomacy a chance?" asked Naruto, thinking quickly.

"Well the fact that we just killed some thirty-five thousand people for one," said Shikamaru, forceful but also carefully, ensuring his tone wasn't abrasive. "How do you think the other villages, Iwa and Suna mainly, will view our actions here? Don't you think it might alienate them, make them fear us more than they respect us?"

"Yes," said Naruto bluntly as another salty wind blew in over the wall and ruffled his hair. "It will make them fear us, but that will keep them in line."

"Or it could make us a target," said Shikamaru. "If they fear us too much they may look to Orochimaru as someone who could save them from us. It may be a little extreme to look at it that way, but what we've done here is more than a little extreme."

"I see why you'd be worried," said Naruto, "but now you're not the one giving diplomacy a chance. What we've done here is horrible yes, but think about what someone who knows how to speak well in public could do with it. Think of how Sakura could spin it into a political machine that might force our enemies' hands."

"I have looked at it that way but I don't think there's any way for someone to put a positive spin on this." Shikamaru stepped up next to Naruto and spoke calmly. "The most we can hope to do with this is make the other villages worry that we'll do it to them too."

Naruto didn't respond immediately. He crossed his arms and looked down into Kiri. The bright sunlight illuminated just how much things had changed over the past few days. Weeds, crabgrass mostly but also dandelions had begun springing up in the streets that had been choked with muck. It was almost pretty. The seedlings of vines and ferns had sprouted at the base of the ruined buildings that lined the streets.

_Gardening must have been a major industry here,_ thought Naruto. _Just three days without people to hold back the weeds and plants and nature is already starting to take back the village. I wonder how many people were employed by the city to keep the wild flora in check._

"Look how quickly everything grows here," said Naruto, pointing down into the village. "It's only been a few days and the streets are already fighting not to be overgrown."

"Kiri does have an almost tropical climate to it," said Shikamaru quietly. "It probably won't be more than a week before vines completely take over the ruins. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Think about how the spies Orochimaru will send in a few days to find out why Kiri has cut off communications will feel about what they find. They'll see what happened here, how quickly Kiri was reclaimed by the environment and they will be afraid. Word will spread and we- I will be infamous. People will look at me as a butcher and frankly they'd be right. But now think about what Sakura and our other diplomats could say about me."

"They would describe you as a monster who doesn't have to fight by the rules and wouldn't even if it was required of you," said Shikamaru, following Naruto's reasoning. "And we could say that if the other villages don't surrender they'll be the next ones to face you, but again, that will only make them fear us. Do you really want that?"

"Yes," said Naruto in an undertone. "Their fears will be what holds them back."

"Or spurs them on," countered Shikamaru.

"Fear is crippling Shikamaru," said Naruto.

"It can also be a drive to act."

"Then they'll act, but irrationally," said Naruto. "We can count on their fear to blind them and make them easy targets."

Shikamaru didn't answer.

"What would you have me do about it now?" asked Naruto. "It's obvious you don't approve, but the deed is done. I did what I thought was right and can't take it back."

"I'm not asking you to take it back," responded the dark-eyed ANBU.

"Then what?" asked Naruto, his voice bearing an edge of exasperation.

"I don't think it should happen again," said Shikamaru, turning to Naruto with an expression of resolve. "I'm your subordinate and I'll follow your orders, but at the same time, I can also…" He cut himself off. It wasn't like Shikamaru to not finish a thought.

"You can also relieve me of duty," said Naruto, finishing the sentence.

Shikamaru nodded.

"I know," said Naruto. "But would you?"

"Only if it becomes necessary," said Shikamaru. "If I feel that your actions are endangering Konoha I will."

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled. "Good," he said.

"You're going to say that I should be willing to do that," prompted the ANBU. "You're thinking that I need to have that mindset even though I know I couldn't hope to survive relieving you since if I did it would mean that you had proven yourself so firm in your convictions that you wouldn't let me carry out my duties since you would see that as impeding what you saw as best for Konoha," said Shikamaru, just as much to defend himself as guess Naruto's thoughts.

"You read my mind," said Naruto, grinning to himself.

Shikamaru let a smile turn up one end of his mouth. "I put some thought into this."

"Obviously, and frankly I wouldn't want it any other way Shikamaru. I need people who care that much about Konoha with me."

"Which is why I didn't relieve you of duty," said the ANBU Specialist.

"Because keeping you around, knowing full well that you are one of three people who can relieve me of my command, proves that I care enough about Konoha to do whatever it takes to protect it; even at the risk of both our lives and positions," Naruto finished Shikamaru's thought.

"Now my mind's been read," said the other man. "But I don't mean this as a threat Naruto. Please understand that."

"I know Shikamaru." Naruto's voice was calm and warm. "You're only informing me of what you will be required by your station to do if you feel what I'm doing endangers Konoha. Again, that's why I want you here; you care more about Konoha than you do either of us, as do I."

"It's also why I'll serve you unfalteringly," said Shikamaru. "You and I are identical in that respect. We both love our home more than each other or ourselves, so I can count on you to do what you feel best for the village. But at the same time I will tell you exactly what I think is best for the village."

"And you can be sure I will ensure that you know what I think is best for the village," said the Kage-Jounin. "We both need the other's advice and approval if we want to work most efficiently."

"I agree, which is why I told you that I greatly disapprove of this slaughter and don't think it should happen ever again."

"Good," said Naruto. "That's very good and I like it that way. The fact that we can communicate even in the face of differing opinion is the sign of a healthy relationship. Even if we are in disagreement on this particular matter it doesn't hold any consequence right now. But trust me when I say that I took absolutely no pleasure in doing this and if it can be avoided, I will not do it again in the future."

Shikamaru looked back down over the ruined village and grimaced. "I would make one exception though."

"Hmm?" asked Naruto turning to stand beside his friend. "What do you mean?"

Shikamaru bit his lip and then took a deep breath. "If you wanted to completely destroy Oto, I would endorse it fully."

Naruto's eyes narrowed incredulously in surprise for only a split second before he recast his perfect façade of innocence. _Is this a political ploy to try and regain my favor after that little argument?_ wondered Naruto. _No, Shikamaru knows that Sakura and Tsunade know that if anything happened to him it would have been me who removed him for my own benefit. He knows he's safe from me… Could he be genuine?_

"I thought you disapproved of slaughter like this," said Naruto, feigning surprise now. "What makes Oto's people special?"

"Think Naruto," said Shikamaru. "You read my mind just a second ago, something I'm not used to and hate, so I thought it would be best to lay out all the cards right here and now. If you want to exterminate Oto I would support the decision because it would cripple Orochimaru and possibly kill him. It would be best for Konoha…"

_So that's your game!_ Naruto's mind exclaimed, though his face hid the shock. _You're trying to get me to agree with you immediately and thus prove my bloodthirstiness so you can remove me from command… Shikamaru, that's wonderful but for now I have to diffuse that little scheme._

"I don't know," said Naruto slowly. "I agree that it may be best for Konoha, but don't you think it would be better to catch Orochimaru alone rather than attack his village to get to him? That seems a little… bloodthirsty." Naruto put a little more emphasis than necessary on his last few words.

Shikamaru's cheek twitched. He looked away. "Yes, but since the battle at Suna he hasn't left Oto."

_So know he knows he's been found out,_ Naruto thought.

"I know," said Naruto, "but that doesn't mean I can't draw him out. And he might leave to attack Tsunade at Kumo which would give the Hokage a clear shot at him and thus spare us from having to attack Oto."

"That's a possibility," said the ANBU Specialist.

The two were silent for a moment. A third breeze from the sea, this more salty than the other two, blew up and broke over the wall, rustling in the two Ninja's hair.

"I like that smell," said Shikamaru, effectively ending the debate. "It's refreshing."

"Agreed," replied Naruto. "So… where do we go from here? We've both agreed that we need the other to move effectively."

"Yes, and that's all I came to tell you," said Shikamaru. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to the camp and change these bandages."

Naruto nodded as Shikamaru turned and began to walk away. "How's your eye?" he called after the raven-haired ANBU.

Shikamaru stopped for just a minute, then resumed walking. "If Tsunade had been here I'm sure it could have been saved," said Shikamaru. "A detached retina is a nasty business, but at least I've got a spare."

Shikamaru turned with the walkway as he reached the tower in the wall and pulled open the heavy wooden door, passing through and shutting it behind him with a muffled thump.

"Naruto," muttered the ANBU once the door was shut and he was alone in the darkness of the tower. "Well played… It's almost too much to believe that you would become so… evil. Can your sense of justice really have fallen so far? … … I can't allow this darkness to come to any more power in Konoha."

The Kage-Jounin turned away from the tower and breathed a sigh. "So now there's Shikamaru to worry about," he mumbled. "I suppose it had to be this way. His sense of justice is the price I have to pay for his brilliance. Unfortunately it will be quite a chore to match his cunning."

**So there's finally a thorn in your side,**Kyuubi chortled, seeping into Naruto's consciousness. **And it's someone you can't simply dispose of on a whim.**

_It could be worse,_ thought Naruto. _And I prepared myself for this, though to be perfectly honest I didn't know if he would ever go this far. Shikamaru's sense of justice is as inflated as mine. He really does care about Konoha, and he really will serve me because he must, but he also feels I'm a threat to Konoha so he'll wait until I do something that directly threatens the village, at which point he'll sick Tsunade on me. If it comes to the point where Shikamaru can openly speak out against me then the old woman will have no choice but to relieve me, and Shikamaru's justice will be satisfied. Unfortunately he and I must have differing opinions on the acceptability of certain actions in war. He must really hate that so many people agree with my methods._

**So you must simply avoid giving the runt any ammunition with which to prove that you're threatening Konoha. That is annoying. It means no more slaughtering villages.**

_I hadn't planned on that anyway, not for a while at least. The only threat Shikamaru poses is if I commit direct treason, which I won't, and he knows it._

**Then why try to ensnare you?**

_Because he feels he has to for the sake of the village. Call it over-protectiveness or something, but for now both Shikamaru and I are safe from each other, and now he knows that I know his motives which only adds to the insulation between us. Right now there's effectively no threat._

**So that exchange was nothing more than a warning shot.**

_Something like that. He really had nothing to lose by employing a tactic so simple. If he caught me then he'd win and if he didn't then the worst that could happen would be my figuring him out, which would only further protect him from me since by knowing his motives I would realize that to remove him would be a fatal mistake._

**This reminds me of chess,** Kyuubi laughed. **And the legendary Shikamaru has never lost a game of strategy.**

_I know, but he's never played me. Besides, I need his tactical brilliance for now even if he does want me removed for the sake of his own idealistic view of Justice._

**Understandable, though it is quite ironic; the only real tactical threat to your plans, which isn't much of a threat at all, is someone whose mind works almost exactly like yours, only aiming at a different end. At any rate kit, don't you think it's time we got moving? You did say you had a plan to execute today and I'm curious as to what it is.**

_Absolutely, _responded the blonde,jumping down from the wall and landing gracefully in the grass a hundred feet below. _It is almost that time isn't it?_ Without another word Naruto charged off across the plain separating Kiri's ruins from the surrounding forest and disappeared among the trees.

SC

Back in Konoha, at the Hokage's complex more precisely, Jiraiya stood in front of Tsunade's mahogany desk, holding an exceedingly thick folder in his hands and glancing through the hundreds of papers it contained. Though the comfortable leather high-back behind the desk was vacant, and he'd been standing for nearly three hours reviewing the paperwork, Jiraiya refused to sit in, or even look at the chair. The room was empty except for the Sanin, just as Jiraiya liked it.

"Participated in the Second Ninja War, accumulated nearly forty battlefield kills, achieved the rank of Jounin before being honorably discharged at the age of twenty-five from Suna to work for the Crane," Jiraiya spoke to himself, reading over the profile page near the bottom of the stack in the folder.

The profile consisted of the Ninja's picture, name, sex, age, height, weight, specializations, training experience, and a short biographical description; just like the other five hundred ninety-nine profiles in the folder the Crane Organization had given to Jiraiya when they arrived in Konoha.

A knock on the door broke the Sanin's concentration and he closed the folder with a muttered groan. "Come in," he said loudly.

The doorknob turned, making the latch catch noisily as the door opened. A quiet-looking girl, maybe fifteen, poked her head in the room and stepped in, keeping the door open with her foot.

"Um, excuse me," she said timidly, her brown eyes looking around uncertainly. "Is this where I sign up for the Guard?"

Jiraiya tossed the folder down on Tsunade's desk and looked at her incredulously. "I'm sorry," he said, his tone grumpy. "But the Town Guard is by selection only. You can put your name on their recruitment list but there's no guarantee they'll recruit you."

"Oh… I'm sorry, I wasn't clear," she responded. "I meant is this where I sign up for the Crane Organization's Volunteer Militia?"

_Ever since Sakura allowed the Crane to merge with the Town Guard there have been a flood of volunteers for the militia,_ thought Jiraiya. "No, their recruiting office is down by the West Gate."

"Thank you," said the girl quietly, stepping out and shutting the door.

Jiraiya looked back down at the folder and groaned. "Why do I bother?" he sighed as another visitor knocked on the door.

SC

"All right! Everyone be quiet and pay attention to me!" shouted the tall man, his voice booming out over the crowd of eighty people. "If you'll all come to order we can get started here!"

The Crane Recruiter stood atop a small stage set up in the center of the field just outside Konoha's Northern Gate. His red and black uniform matched those of the two men standing on either side of him, but the Recruiter's higher rank was made obvious by the golden chevron pinned to his right shoulder.

Everyone in the crowd stopped murmuring and turned their attention on the man standing before them. The recruiter was silent for a second as he eyed the crowd of fresh recruits. _Not a bad turn out,_ he thought to himself.

"You've all taken a big step today!" shouted the recruiter. "This is the first time in association history that The Crane Organization has openly recruited people such as you, with no military background to form a village militia. Congratulations!"

The crowd erupted and cheered until the Recruiter raised his hands for quiet and silence fell back over the gathering. "I'm glad you all have such feelings and that you're eager to defend your village! Now to get down to business!" the man continued, "The way this is going to work is simple! All of you have signed up for a six-month post, meaning that through the Crane Organization, you will be actively employed in the Konoha Militia for six months, for which the Crane will compensate you with a percentage of the money used to employ us.

"The first two months of your post will be basic, but grueling training. During this time you will be taught how to fight as a cohesive unit in an urban setting. The training will consist of twenty hours a day spent learning city defense tactics and going through physical training. Be forewarned that it will be a miserable, mind-numbingly wretched, but worth wile effort. We're not promising to turn you into Jounin-Level warriors, some of you can't even use chakra, however what we do promise to do is make you better able to defend yourselves, your family, and your home."

Again the crowd burst out cheering. With memories of the Sound invasion still fresh in their minds, people leapt on the chance to make a concise effort to defend Konoha from further damage. Many of the people gathered before the stage threw their fists in the air and chanted 'Konoha' over and over again. The Recruiter waited another minute for the cheering to subside, and then continued.

"The Crane has been hired to act as a secondary garrison for Konoha, and to help accomplish that end we, the organization, have in turn hired you as a militia to augment the 600 Ninja sent by our affiliation to bolster the Konoha garrison. For the next six months you will serve the Crane which is serving your village. At the end of your post should the war persist, you can either renew your post for another period of time, or you can resign and resume normal activities, but we promise you that as long as Konoha asks it of us, the Crane Organization will dutifully serve!"

As the Recruiter clapped his hands in finality, the eighty recruits, all born and raised in Konoha began to clap also and resume their cheering.

Several hundred yards away, Sakura stood atop the wall surrounding the Leaf Village, looking out over the field and smiling approvingly at the success of her efforts to bolster the Town Guard. There were five camps in all, small towns of tents pitched in clean rows and surrounded by wooden palisades, set up evenly in the field. Each pup-tent housed three recruits, each row of tents held twenty tents, and each camp held twelve rows of tents. Every recruit was going to be trained in advanced self-defense, basic chakra use, and large-group tactics. Any recruit that couldn't use chakra would be taught additional self-defense.

_Konoha is a village made up of thirty-six thousand people,_ Sakura mused, _and now ten percent of our total population is being taught to defend the village with their lives… This should have happened years ago._

"Even with the excruciating training the people are going to endure," she said to herself, "A single civilian can't hope to overcome a trained and seasoned Ninja. Good thing then that the Crane will teach the militia men to fight alongside trained Ninja as reliable support units, and even a mere militiaman can get a lucky shot off that could kill a trained professional… And now we have more than three and a half thousand potential lucky shots," She chuckled. "Naruto will be pleased."

As another cheer went up from the crowds gathered about the stages in the field and carried on the wind to Sakura, she smiled widely and watched as of the soon-to-be militia broke off and marched behind the Crane Recruiters towards the entrances to the camps.

… _and Konoha will never be the same again._

SC

Scores of miles to the East, Naruto perched among the treetops of the sub-tropical forest that covered most of the Water County's islands. He had left the path a few hours behind him and was now wandering amongst the canopies, waiting.

**I hate this**, Kyuubi growled in Naruto's mind. **I couldn't hate this anymore even if it were possible. It's not right. Demon Lords do not make themselves a prey animal. I hunt. I am not hunted.**

_Relax,_ Naruto cajoled, _don't look at it as being hunted. Think of this as an opportunity to sharpen your skills at ambushing._

**I do not like being a target,**Kyuubi complained.

_You sound unusually disagreeable,_ Naruto prodded, leaping up higher in the humid treetop, reaching a branch no less than ninety feet above the ground. _Could it be that you're actually afraid?_

**Not afraid kit, just angered that you insist on letting this trouble come to us rather than face it head on as we should. It's not natural this way.**

Naruto grinned and jumped off the branch. Falling fifty of so feet he caught hold of another, thinner bough and swung himself up into a crouching position. _Don't worry,_ he thought to Kyuubi. _Not much longer now. Besides, if we were the ones doing the stalking then the ambush would be ruined._ In a burst of speed Naruto took off running through the trees, leaping from one to the next and sprinting along the branches thick enough to support his weight.

**I don't follow your logic,**said Kyuubi, an edge of distaste still in his voice. **How does letting ourselves get caught off guard make us the ambushers?... Kit time is almost up!** The demon's words were hurried and anxious. **We should be making ready for a fight. Draw on my chakra, create some clones, anything. She's almost here and you're doing nothing. Can't you smell her?**

Naruto smiled widely as he felt his own pulse quicken. The scent of flowers, roses from Konoha, was floating in on the wind and making the back of his neck tingle.

_I feel her. _Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, kneeling down on the branch a few dozen feet above the ground and looked down as though he were inspecting something. _It's exhilarating! So close…_

**Kit! Move!**

_I can't take it anymore!_ Naruto struggled not to laugh the words. The Kage-Jounin felt his desire to stick to the plan of a quick ambush slipping away. _Just make sure you keep me alive for a while and do your part when it comes!_

_**KIT!**_

A breeze whipped up and the smell of blood washed over the forest. The hair on Naruto's arms and neck spiked as the metallic odor overpowered the aroma of the roses and the Kage-Jounin stood up, bristling with anticipation. He couldn't hide it anymore. Reaching around his back and into the concealed flap of his suit, Naruto drew the golden sword from its hidden amber sheath, filling the air with the sharp ring of the brand's whetted appetite.

"Been a while," said Naruto, his words a quiet chuckle, laced with long buried excitement as he turned slowly. The wrapping of his blade's handle creaked under his tightening grip.

Not ten feet behind him was Ino, her brilliant blonde hair blowing in the wind, contrasting violently with her jet tank-top and shorts. Her alabaster complexion was more faultless that he remembered and her turquoise eyes were fiery with thrill. Her voice was steel.

"Hello lover-boy."


	46. On Really Bad Odds

AN: Well, it's about time. After months and months of proofing, rewriting, and hoping people aren't getting sick of me yet, I bring to you a NEW chapter! This marks the very end of the reposting and I can't say I'm sad to say it! I'd like to make a huge tribute to all of the people who've put up with me from the beginning, who've reviewed consistently, and who've stuck with me through the dark waiting for the illumination of the dawn that's breaking.

Vorago Atrox, Useful76, Mrriddler, shanedude and everyone else, this one's all yours!

I hope you enjoy and please review!

* * *

On Really Bad Odds

"Move your feet!" barked Jiraiya, twirling around and slapping Naruto on the back of the head with the flat of his hand. Naruto stumbled forward and landed face first in the clay-reddened, sandy dirt of the northern Wind Country. His amber sword fell from his hand and stuck point down in the earth as the aura of red chakra dissipated. "Or someone less nice than me will do something a lot worse than that to you."

Naruto rolled onto his back, his eyes shut tightly and his head throbbing. The Black ANBU suit Kakashi had given him several weeks before as a parting gift from Konoha was now stained brown from the dirt and baked-on blood. "You cheated," he growled.

"And you were sloppy," said Jiraiya, sitting down on a large rock and surveying their surroundings. "Naruto you're a damn good soldier. You've proven over and over how deadly you are when a dozen or more enemies have you cornered. But you need to work on being a better Ninja. Most of the battles you're going to face, the ones that really count are going to be one-on one. It's not a matter of 'if' but when. When you fight Orochimaru and when you fight Sasuke, and when you ultimately face down enemies worse than either of those, you're not going to be able to use the Kyuubi's chakra like you did in Konoha… You have to hone your skills as a Ninja, a night-fighter, an assassin."

Naruto opened his eyes and stared at the sky, he watched as a single cloud, wispy and pure white, floated by overhead. His brow furrowed as he mulled Jiraiya's words over. He closed his eyes again and sighed. "I'll try," he said quietly.

"You'll have to do more than try," said the Sanin in red, standing up and looking off towards the high walls of Suna in the distance. The flat plains bordering the dessert around the Sand village made Suna's defensive edifice easy to spot, even when it was many miles away. "I worry that this assassin we're after might be more dangerous than our good friend Gaara knows or lets on."

"We'll get him," said Naruto, sitting up and glaring off. He didn't smile but glanced over to Jiraiya. "We do have the legendary Toad-Sanin on our side."

Jiraiya didn't look back at his student. _He hasn't called me a pervert once on this whole trip,_ thought the old man. "True, but we also have Uzumaki Naruto, and that alone enough's to keep trouble away."

"We'll see," said the blonde, getting to his feet and plucking his weapon out of the dirt. In a burst of red chakra Naruto disappeared. Jiraiya's eyes widened, but he spun around, catching the golden brand between his fingers as Naruto swung at him from behind. The Sanin lashed out and rammed his palm into Naruto's chest, but the shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.

_Clever,_ thought Jiraiya, spinning around and flinging out a volley of kunai. The little knives thudded into three more clones that had leapt from hiding places beneath the dirt, glowing red with demonic energy. The clones disappeared in poofs of smoke.

"You can't wear me down like this Naruto!" shouted the Sanin. "Not with little clones!"

Nothing happened. Jiraiya scanned the field looking for Naruto, but the genin had hidden himself too well. _Alright, I'll have to draw you out then… I shouldn't have taught him those layered Genjutsu so soon. He's using them to well._ Jiraiya thought, grinning to himself.

The Sanin took a few steps forward and performed a few hand seals, then calmly pressed his hand to the ground. A flow of energy, like a slow moving shockwave rolled along the ground, transforming the terrain it covered immediately into a black, gelatinous muck. The wave stopped about fifty feet out from Jiraiya, leaving him standing on an island in the black swamp. _This might be a little much for a training exercise,_ he thought, _but Naruto is getting good enough to handle it if I don't-_

"Careful!" shouted the Sanin, spinning on his heel as Naruto leapt up out of the swamp with a loud pop. _No one should be able to do that,_ Jiraiya noted as he watched Naruto sail towards him, the underworld-swamp shaking from how Naruto burst from it. _I'll have to make it stickier._

Jiraiya snapped his fingers and the swamp beneath Naruto exploded up in a small pillar of slime, impacting Naruto and wrapping around him. The blond yelped in surprise as the thick tendril of muck cracked like a whip and slapped him down at Jiraiya's feet on the island.

"Damn!" Naruto shouted. He'd come down and sliced open his leg on the blade of his sword. Crimson blood was streaming out of the long, deep wound and staining the grass.

"Naruto?" gasped Jiraiya, kneeling down beside his student. "Are you al-"

It had only been a flicker of the blond's hands, but Jiraiya had caught the seals and leapt back, just as the blood on the ground swirled into a black spike and lunged up at the Sanin. Like a harpoon the spear rocketed up and stopped just short of impaling Jiraiya through the chest, even though there was plenty of blood left on the ground to draw on. Naruto had severed the energy powering the technique, and Jiraiya landed safely on a patch of earth at the very edge of the swamp.

Naruto clutched at the slash in his leg, which was already beginning to close up and seal, courtesy of the Kyuubi no doubt. He flourished the amber sword, spinning it around in his hand once and sheathing it in a fluid motion. He was looking towards Jiraiya and the faintest hint of a smile shone on his lips. His blue eyes were sparkling like ice.

_Impressive,_ the Sanin mused. "Naruto," he shouted, "We only learned the blood blade two days ago. Did you cut your leg open on purpose to catch me off guard?"

Naruto let his left hand, the one stained from the wound on his thigh, drop to his side and stood up straight. The lesion was gone. "Am I a Ninja yet?" he asked.

SC

"Hello lover boy," Ino chortled, glaring at Naruto across the ten feet of empty space that separated the branches on which they stood. "So you missed me I hope?"

Naruto's grin was ear to ear as he watched her, waiting for any tell that she might be on the attack. "I've been beside myself without you," he said, his voice calmer now but still fraught with anxiety and anticipation. "Or more accurately, I've missed Ino. I'm just sorry your soul isn't still rotting in Hell. I went to a lot of trouble to send you back."

The Hyuuga demon tossed Ino's head, and her hair flipped out like a cascade of white-hot gold. She reached behind her back to the sheath slung over her shoulder and held said sheath out in front of her by the handle of the hidden weapon, displaying it to Naruto.

It looked too thick and bulky to be the scabbard of a sword, and it was also shorter than anything but a wakizashi, blocky even. Naruto couldn't help but stare at it for a moment, not knowing what to expect from the surprise.

"A pretty thing isn't it?" she asked haughtily, not drawing anything from the scabbard. "This is half the reason I was sent here after you. Lord Orochimaru wants to test it out and see just how much of an edge this work of art will give me. But then again I can't expect someone like Uzumaki Naruto to understand fully. You never did have much of an appreciation for beauty."

"I have an appreciation for that girl you're manipulating," said Naruto, now refusing to let emotion into his words. "And to that end, I'm going to warn you now that if you don't surrender I'll have to remove you from her by force."

The Demon pitched its head back again and laughed. Several deep rumblings escaped its throat as Ino reached out with her free hand, grabbed the sheath, and began to pull it up and away from the weapon beneath. Naruto watched as she unveiled a strange and exotic looking contraption made from a jet black material; shining like obsidian and as long as Ino's forearm. The girl grinned wickedly as she looked at the device, tossed the sheath aside and let it tumble down into the shadow of the forest beneath.

Without saying a word, Ino held the device out at arm's length for Naruto to get a better look. His eyes wandered over it briefly, and he decided that more than anything, it looked like a steel spider; five spindly metal spikes jutted out from a central hub, and clawed downwards at even intervals, like the talons of a raptor.

Naruto's sword, though it was not in direct sunlight began to glisten and glow, as if in response to the new weapon. The amber brand looked as though it was burning with its own energy, and Naruto glanced at it, warily.

"Now that IS interesting," the demon said with Ino's voice, reaching out and sliding the device over her left hand like a glove or gauntlet. "Orochimaru was right."

"What is that?" asked Naruto. As he watched, the obsidian glove sparked once with orange light, and began to give off an aura-like smoke of crimson glow.

"Another relic of an age long gone," said the demon. "Orochimaru calls it The Reaper: an ancient weapon dug up from ruins deep beneath Oto. You see, the village of Sound was actually, and quite accidentally built over a ruined outpost that had once belonged to the long-dead village of Maibu."

Naruto's brow furrowed and his teeth clenched, though he was careful not to let Ino see too much of his new anxiety. _So… Orochimaru found a trinket left by the Old Masters did he? How much does he know I wonder._

The Kage-Jounin felt Kyuubi's presence, already in the forefront of his consciousness, growl angrily. **This complicates matters even more Kit. This is no longer an ambush, but I fear that weapon may be as dangerous as the demon wielding it… Remember Sasuke's sword, I couldn't easily heal the wounds it left on you.**

"So what does it do?" asked Naruto.

Ino grinned. "It destroys your soul," she laughed, taking a step towards him and planting her feet on the very edge of the bough of the tree. "Or more accurately it makes it easier for me to devour your soul."

Without looking away from Ino's eyes, Naruto pictured the Reaper in his mind as he watched her hand from the very edge of his vision. The weapon fit tightly around her fingers, augmenting her manicured nails with deadly spines, nearly six inches of the black metal. The hub that the claws attached to fit snug over the back of her hand.

Naruto cocked his head questioningly. _Got to draw her in,_ he thought. "How-"

Ino disappeared in a blur of wind, reappearing behind Naruto in a flash and swinging the shining claws at his throat. Naruto raised his sword in defense instinctively. The two weapons collided with a shrieking metallic ring and a shower of blue sparks. Naruto lunged forward and shoved Ino off balance. She leapt back and landed on a branch a few yards away.

Naruto's brow twitched as he called on the demonic chakra, and the branch beneath Ino's feet burst into flame as an invisible firebomb of energy detonated inside the wood. As Ino jumped up into the tree, Naruto leapt through the branches beneath her, chasing after the girl. The fiery limb beneath broke off from the main trunk and toppled down into the forest below.

**Do you plan on killing her now?** asked Kyuubi gruffly as Naruto pursued Ino through the trees, following her every movement like a tracking hound, but leaving a long berth between them.

_Absolutely not,_ thought Naruto as Kyuubi directed him, both with subliminal leads and scent, after her. _She's too valuable and – She'll be too useful against Orochimaru._

**And what Kit?**

_And I'm not going to give her up again, _Naruto stated flatly. _Never again._

**Please…** said Kyuubi sarcastically. **Don't be so dramatic. Your best option is to kill her and you know it.**

_Don't push it,_ said Naruto, _we can talk when this is over and she's back safe with me._

**Whatever, your resolve is slipping and your feelings for her are making you weak. But it's your decision. Just don't get us killed. **Kyuubi scanned the air and warned Naruto the demon was not as far ahead as before. **I think she may be slowing to draw you into a trap.** He said.

_Maybe,_ thought Naruto, stopping cold in his tracks. _Kyuubi, I'm going to give you massive amounts of control over your chakra here. I want you to do what you can to manage our defense._

**Good, I was going to suggest you turn some of the control over to me. We should be alright now. Just be careful, your emotions are starting to play with your judgment.**

_Just don't kill her,_ Naruto warned. _This is a straight up fight now so we'll have the advantage, you and I. Ino is a close to mid-range fighter and the demon is likely to use those kinds of tactics so we know what to defend against. The ambush was a bad idea you were right, but it doesn't matter now. Just keep us from taking any hits, especially from that … thing she has._

Naruto felt Kyuubi's acknowledgement, and jumped up into a hollow in the canopy, a sort of cave in the leaves formed by the arching branches. The slatted floor was composed of thick branches wrapped in wreathes of leaves. One wrong step though, and it would be easy to fall between the branches and down into the forest beneath. Ino was nowhere to be seen, but with Kyuubi enhancing Naruto's senses, the blonde could feel that the Hyuuga demon was nearby.

**She's hiding in the trees,** said Kyuubi. **But I can't tell exactly where. She's bleeding chakra all over to mask her location.**

_I can sense that_, Naruto thought, scanning the deep shadows of the hollow with intense eyes. _You seem much more at ease now._

**Like you said, this is a straight up fight now. I'm worried about those claws of hers, but now that we're no longer letting her hunt us… I said earlier that you can best her I think unless you show mercy… which is why this sudden shaking in your resolve is bothersome.**

_I can't lose her again, _Naruto thought. _I've been planning this for a long time now and I thought I could stay impartial. Now that the moment's here though… I'm not sure._

**I already said what you do with her is your decision. Just don't let it kill us.**

Naruto nodded and stood up, pressing his hands together in a familiar seal. A dozen shadow clones poofed into existence, swords drawn and ready to move out. The Kage-Jounin waved his arm in command and the clones leapt off into the trees, knowing full well their only purpose was to flush out the prey.

Naruto waited as nothing happened, half hoping Ino would attack him directly. He grinned as Kyuubi's red chakra began to bubble around him.

**She's getting closer, ignoring the clones entirely.**

SC

_He should be coming around this bend any second now,_ Naruto thought to himself as he crouched in the darkness of the alley. Midnight in the Wind Country was darker than it was in Konoha as there were far fewer street-lights and most of the houses had since put out their lamps. _Any second now… There!_

Naruto leapt out of the alley, an invisible golden blur at his side. He struck out with inhuman speed, slicing his sword through bone and flesh. He hit the target in the middle of its stride, and a second later the Ninja collapsed to the ground and rolled. His right leg flopped down in the dirt next to him a second later.

A scream shattered the nightly calm as the Nin clutched at his leg, or more accurately, the stump that was left of his leg. Naruto walked calmly to within a few paces of the Ninja and flicked his sword, spraying the residual blood from the dismembering across the ground and the disabled Ninja's cloak.

"Talk," said the blonde. There was no pity in his voice. "I don't have more than a minute or two."

The Nin in the dark robe was silent, holding back his whimpering but starring at the quickly growing pool of blood mingling with the sand around his truncated thigh. He looked back up t Naruto, his mundane features twisted into some combination of a grin, a snarl, and a barking curse.

"Takata will require of that one a new leg," said the wounded Ninja, though his voice suddenly changed and hinted at no pain. "That one did take one of this Takata's."

Naruto didn't flinch. "I said talk," he growled, "before I put a shuriken into your good kneecap. Who are you working for and what's your mission?"

"Takata doesn't want to talk to that one," said the Ninja, pulling himself up and leaning on one of his elbows. "Takata thinks that one can go fuck itself."

Naruto's hand quickly reached into one of the deep pockets on his pant-leg and pulled out a trio of thin, black shuriken. His hand flashed downwards and one of the projectiles screamed through the air, connecting with and slicing straight through the wounded Ninja's left knee. The bloodied steel thudded into the dirt beyond as blood sprayed and dripped from the wound. Takata didn't flinch though his leg drooped uselessly.

"Now Takata will require of that one two legs."

Naruto's hand whipped through the air again and another shuriken flew. Takata collapsed fully as the second missile tore out his elbow and knocked away his support. He landed hard on his shoulder.

"What's your mission?" asked Naruto, his voice colorless.

"That one doesn't understand," said the crippled Nin. "Takata's purpose is to cause pain and pain does not bother Takata. But if that one will let Takata go, Takata will explain to that one why the dragon made Enishi into Takata."

Naruto reared back like he was going to throw his last shuriken, "Go on."

"The Dragon, the one that one calls Orochimaru took Enishi and gave him the seal, the one that the other had, the red eye, the one that gives the dragon control of Takata's mind, but Takata fought it, fought the dragon and fought the dragon's seal. But Takata knows the dragon will come back so Takata ran away and now Takata kills people to make them see that it's Takata's purpose. Takata kills, it's what Takata does."

"You're insane," said Naruto.

"Not insane," said the Ninja. "Takata was property of the dragon, the one called Orochimaru, the bastard thing dragon thing. And Takata had the seal, the funny one long before the other had the seal. The dragon was experimenting on Takata the same way it was experimenting on the other one, not the red eye, but the blond head. The blonde head man fought the seal too but he was stronger than Takata and didn't quite go as crazy. But Takata is not crazy like the blonde man was. The blonde man went to kill someone, escaped he did and went to kill someone. He told Takata so."

"Stop babbling," said Naruto. "If you've got a point to make then make it and I might not kill you painfully."

The Ninja laying on the ground choked once and rolled onto his side. With a rasping heave he spat up a mouthful of phlegm and blood, then turned back to Naruto. "Takata must kill or else he will lose himself and the dragon will get control back. It's the only way. Once Takata had the seal, Takata had to find something that blocks it, like the red eye and the blonde head. The red eye blocks the seal with a little pebble and it keeps him totally crazy, not like Takata or the blonde head. But the blonde head used something Takata doesn't know. He had to think about it constantly and it made him not so crazy anymore. Takata thinks of blood and it keeps the dragon out of Takata's brain."

Naruto grimaced as the Ninja smiled weakly and fanatically.

"Do you mean Yamanaka Inoichi and Uchiha Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "Are they the blonde head and the red eye?"

Takata nodded his head wildly. "Yup, the blonde head and the red eye" the Nin said.

"I need you to tell me right now," said Naruto, "and if you can do this, then I'll let you go. I need you to tell me exactly how the dragon, how Orochimaru controls people's minds. Can you tell me that?"

"Takata will," said the Ninja. "But Takata must not be the one to tell that one how it works since Takata doesn't know. Takata doesn't know. Only Enishi knows. Takata will get Enishi for you but Enishi won't be happy since Enishi feels what that one does to Takata."

"Get on with it," barked the Uzumaki, though the ferocity from his voice was gone. _Poor little bastard,_ Naruto mentally groaned. _Orochimaru totally shattered his mind… He was nothing but a guinea pig here._

Takata grinned wickedly, then fell back to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his skull. The Ninja twitched once and convulsed, spitting up a mouthful of red foam, then crumpling backwards and going still.

"Great," muttered Naruto, his voice trembling. _Now I'll never know… Orochimaru's hit an all time low with this one. This has got to stop._ Naruto's eyes widened for just a second. He shook his head once and clenched his fists. _Get a grip,_ he kicked himself. _This Takata is nothing. He's an insect. Orochimaru is the real prize and all that matters is taking him down. I can't feel anything until he's dead-_

"Gaaah!!" screamed the wounded Ninja, bursting up and clutching at his irreparably damaged elbow. "What the hell did you do to me! Who are you and where am I?"

The blond Konoha Nin sighed as the man began to rant. _Objective Naruto,_ he thought. _ He's just an insect. He's just a good source of information on Orochimaru. _

And with that, Naruto shuffled any pity out of his mind.

Naruto's black boot connected solidly with the Nin's jaw as the blond kicked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Tell me who you work for," said Naruto calmly. "And tell me what you're doing here."

"I'm Yahumoro Enishi!" screamed the Ninja, pain clawing at his voice as furious tears welled in his eyes. "I'm the son of the Lord of the Land of the Horse. Once my father hears of this you and Orochimaru will die, you'll all-"

Naruto stomped down on Enishi's good hand. The sound of cracking knuckles and popping bones filled the night. The blond ground Enishi's hand with his boot as the wounded Ninja cursed and swore in pain.

"So you have something against Orochimaru?" asked Naruto, taking his boot off Enishi's fingers and putting his own hands in his pockets. "Tell me what you know or I'm going to shove a senbon straight up your dick."

"You're not getting shit out of me you sick bastard," growled Enishi. "You're as bad as he is. You might as well be Orochimaru!"

Naruto reached behind his back and pulled a small leather pouch, about the size and shape of a pencil case from his ANBU outfit. He flipped it open revealing a collection of identical, long, and deadly pointed senbon needles. "I said talk," said Naruto, taking out just one of the needles. "My patience is has about as much time left as you do."

There was a small poof of Ninja smoke behind Naruto, and the blond sighed mentally. A red shape leapt from the cloud and landed beside Naruto and Enishi, it was Jiraiya, a drawn kunai in his left hand.

"That's quite enough of this Naruto," said the Sanin.

"Bout time you called him off you fucking pig," barked Enishi. "This whole good-cop bad-cop act isn't going to get me to talk though."

Jiraiya glanced once between a very quiet Naruto and the Ninja on the ground before he put away the kunai and crossed his arms. "Well you've killed him," said the Sanin. "Poor fool hasn't got more than a few minutes left with all the blood you've drawn."

Naruto didn't look at Jiraiya, though his glare leveled on Enishi. The blond could sense the seven other Ninja who appeared on the scene with Jiraiya. They were all eagerly watching the two Konoha Nin and their prisoner from the shadowed rooftops and alleys that dotted the village road.

"What have you found out?" asked Jiraiya.

Naruto's fist clenched for just a second before his hand went limp at his side, a motion Jiraiya noticed.

"His mind was broken by Orochimaru," said Naruto. "Our little slithering friend was using him as an experiment."

"For?" Jiraiya probed.

Enishi's breathing grew labored and he fell back on the ground, shuddering. His pupils dilated and contracted wildly for a minute and red foam gurgled in the back of his throat. The Ninja's one good hand reached up towards the sky, then fell motionless on his chest.

"He's going into shock," said Jiraiya, not moving to help, "he's lost too much blood."

"I can tell," said Naruto, kneeling down calmly by Enishi. "But look at this."

Jiraiya watched as Naruto pulled Enishi's loose collar away from his tightly spasming frame, revealing three little black dots, coiled snakes, tattooed on his shoulder. "The same seal that Orochimaru put on Sasuke, the mind altering one… It's too bad we couldn't get any more out of him." Naruto stood up and twirled his sword once in his hand.

"I think we're done here," said Jiraiya.

"_**NOOOOO!**_" the wounded Ninja shrieked, lurching up and clutching the side of his head with his good hand as Naruto and Jiraiya jumped back and readied for trouble. "You can't have Takata back!! Takata won't let you have him back! Takata won't tell you anything you bastard!"

Screaming and shouting, Takata grabbed a fistful of his swarthy brown hair and ripped it from his scalp with a sickening tear. He threw the hair aside and grabbed another fistful from the top of his head. Again, he wrenched the hair out by the roots and threw it aside. His fingers grew bloody but he kept tearing the hair from his head and ripping up patches of his scalp as Naruto and Jiraiya watched in shock.

"You will not have Takata BACK!!" wailed the Ninja. He had run out of hair to rip out, and began to rake his fingernails, long and sharply untrimmed, down the side of his face, carving deep trenches in his cheeks and jaw. "Takata must kill again! Only killing, only blood keeps the dragon out! Takata must kill!" he screamed, his eyes bursting open wide and locking on to Naruto.

"Enough!" Naruto shouted, lunging forward and hacking at Takata with the golden brand. The blade passed through Takata's neck effortlessly, and Naruto carried through on the blow with a graceful twist of the blade, twirling it to remove any blood residue.

Takata was silent as he fell backwards. His head rolled off his neck as the body hit the ground, and rolled a few feet until it ran out of momentum and stopped in the middle of the street. What little blood was left in the body now drained slowly from the neck and leg, un-pumped by a still heart.

Naruto drew a deep breath and looked away from the body. He sheathed his sword growled to himself. _That was the last time I ever kill anyone out of mercy,_ he thought, turning to Jiraiya. "He was going to hurt someone."

Jiraiya nodded. "Probably… but Naruto."

The blond looked away from his sensei, starring off into space and completely ignoring the hiding Sand Nin who watched him in utter fascination. Jiraiya diverted his gaze from both Naruto and the corpse a few yards to his left. He didn't really want to look at either of them right now. "I think we're done here…"

The Sanin, for the first time since he'd met Naruto, began to question whether or not the young Ninja had it in him to recover.

SC

The battle was going exactly as Naruto expected. He and the Hyuuga Demon were chasing one another about the forest, darting through the treetops and dodging each other as flames and raw bolts of chakra blasted among the trees and set wildfires ablaze all along the length of the island. They came close enough to actually strike at one another very rarely, and when they did, Naruto made every effort to keep the encounters brief; parrying a blow or two, then turning and running as fast as he could or disappearing in a flash of smoke into the underbrush.

A cycle emerged. It would begin with Naruto slowing enough for the demon to flank him, then stopping in the treetops and whirling on Ino, whichever direction she was coming from, with a powerful jutsu. Ino would dodge or plow through the attack, while simultaneously launching one of her own. While Naruto leapt to the side or unleashed a wave of shadow-clones Ino would sweep in close, slicing through the clones if necessary, readying the strange metal glove to attack and take aim at Naruto, as the Kage-Jounin prepared to retreat and vanished again.

**What are you doing? **Kyuubi growled as Naruto sprinted through the trees, running top speed away from Ino. **You could have taken her down twice over by now if you stood and fought. If I didn't know better I'd say you were afraid of her.**

_Thank you, Kyuubi,_ Naruto responded, sounding genuine.

**I'll bite. For what**?asked the Demon Lord.

_You just confirmed that this plan is going to work perfectly._

**I don't understand.**

Naruto stopped in the trees and waited. He knew he had a minute or so before Ino arrived. He'd skipped ahead of her to buy a little time. _Because, you just proved to me that Demons have no strategy on the battlefield beyond blowing things up and throwing chakra around. Three years ago Hinata did nothing but fight as hard as she could using her demonic chakra to the fullest and combining it with her knowledge of Jyuukin. I'm surprised though that you can't see that I'm drawing her in._

Kyuubi didn't answer.

_Right now she's letting me get ahead of her. She's playing with me and getting comfortable with the idea of keeping me on the run. I need to establish some kind of rhythm in the fight, _Naruto explained. _If she thinks she's got the fight in the bag then I can count on her demon mentality to take over. She'll be like a lion chasing a fleeing antelope and make a mistake in her bullheaded attack. I'll let her catch me and as soon as she does she'll start to toy with me and gloat. When she does I'll start to mess with her mind and it will all be over._

**Glad to see you're at least thinking rationally again. How long are we going to keep this up.**

Naruto smiled to himself, sensing Ino's presence nearing. _I'm not going to lose her again. _He said resolutely. _To that end I've got to think as clearly as possible and lure her into the trap. I think I've let her have her way in the chase long enough, now it's time to start messing with her head._

**You still haven't told me what my part in your scheme is going to be.**

_Suffice it to say,_ said Naruto, getting to his feet to face Ino as she appeared, standing on a branch twenty yards away in the foliage. _You will be the jaws of the trap. Just be ready. This will all be over very, very soon now._

Naruto spun around and crouched down, raising the amber sword as Ino appeared in front of him in a lightning-quick attack. The claws shrieked against the sword, unleashing a hail of blue sparks down into the forest; searing hot and catching the leaves on fire as they fell. Naruto roared and swept downwards with the blade, throwing Ino's arm down against the tree and dropping her to her knees.

The Kage-Jounin used the momentum of the monstrous swing, following through and raising the blade high above his head. _Attack Dammit!_ He watched, not finishing the blow as the Kunoichi rolled onto her side and kicked up, fiercely driving her heel into his stomach. Naruto fell backwards, thrown off his feet, but flipped in midair and dropped down to a lower branch.

Ino was there instantly, right in his face. Blue chakra crackled in her free hand. Naruto jumped backwards, slashing at her as he did. The metal claws parried the blow effortlessly and the Kunoichi carried the sweeping motion through and jetted her glowing fingers toward him. White-hot lightning raced from her fingertips and slammed into Naruto's chest. He made no effort to dodge it.

The Kage-Jounin yelped in pain and fell backwards off the branch, tumbling through the air towards the ground. He didn't dodge, but simply raised his arms in defense as Ino leapt from 

her spot in the trees, propelling herself towards him like a spear. Her metal clad fingers wrapped around Naruto's forearm like a vice, the bladed talons cutting his arm down to the bone and crippling his sword-hand as she wrenched his him back and slammed her forehead into his jaw.

Naruto's head snapped back from the impact and he reflexively kicked up and drove his knee into Ino's stomach. The Kunoichi stammered back as the pair plummeted down towards the ground, but only tightened her grip on his arm, cutting deeper and leaving little rivulets in the bone. He tried to lean back and break away, the burning from the wound making his head scream with a migraine, but slammed his free fist into Ino's shoulder when she made it clear she wasn't going to let go.

**KIT! **Kyuubi roared. **What are you doing?! Finish her. She's in close. Use a blast of my chakra! Anything! She's not fighting anywhere near her capacity so end this before she stops fooling around!**

Naruto didn't answer. He didn't even move to stop Ino as she spun him around in midair, a mere dozen feet above the ground. They were both falling faster now and Naruto felt the demonic chakra welling up against his will. Kyuubi was going to try and end the fight with a quick and decisive attack.

_No,_ Naruto thought calmly, severing the red chakra before the Demon fox could unleash it. _That's not what we're here to do._

**Kit! Are you insane!?**

Ino spun Naruto around as they fell, and launched him like a bullet, letting go of Naruto's arm and watching delightedly as he flew into the dirt with a loud thud and a crack. A cloud of dirt shot up and obscured the Ninja for a moment as Ino landed a few meters from the edge of the cloud. Naruto didn't stir from his place on the ground.

"Come now!" shouted Ino, waiting for the dust to settle. "You're not making this any fun at all. Are you afraid? Do you want to run away?" Her tone joked and jeered, even as Naruto waited from within the cloud, starring with narrowed eyes at the sharpening silhouette of the girl.

**Kit you can end this now! Leave a shadow-clone in your place and find a place to attack from. Use one of those genjutsu the old man taught you! Do something besides lay there and die!**

_Let me do this my way,_ replied Naruto, not moving to get up. _Just heal my arm._

**I can't, **growled Kyuubi. **I warned you these old weapons make it nearly impossible for me to heal you effectively. Now get up and fight you little brat!**

_We're going to win this,_ Naruto cajoled.

**Not if you don't fight!!**

_Only if I don't fight… yet._

Naruto blocked out Kyuubi's furious ravings. The Demon Lord was getting worked up exactly as Naruto wanted. The blonde Jounin decided he had laid down long enough and began to stumble to his feet as the dust settled, making a very exaggerated effort to stay standing once he'd gotten up. He looked through the loose cloud of floating dirt at Ino as she laughed at and mocked him, letting his back slump and his eyes droop.

"This is absolutely pathetic!" laughed the Hyuuga demon. "Here I've been toying with you this whole time and this is all you can muster? You were more zealous than this three years ago! Where's the fire? Where's the thirst for blood and vengeance?"

Naruto didn't answer, just stared at her. Blood was dripping from his badly wounded arm, but his grip on the sword was no less tight. The amber metal seemed to share Kyuubi's ire and flashed with an inner light. Naruto wondered if the sword wanted him to fight too.

"What's the point?" Naruto sighed, his voice exasperated and wounded. He could feel Kyuubi's chakra fighting desperately trying to blast Ino, but he held it back.

Ino opened her mouth to say something, but a quick look of uncertainty darted across her face and the maniacal grin on her lips faded. She took one step back and readied to attack him. Naruto didn't move.

Ino rushed forward, blindingly fast; even Naruto's eyes could barely keep up with her, but he didn't move to stop, intercept, or even dodge her. Naruto only stood there as Ino reared back in mid stride and slammed her fist into his jaw with world-shaking crash. The Kage-Jounin flew back through the air, almost as fast as Ino had rushed him, and impacted a tree with a boom, splitting the wood like balsa.

Naruto hesitated, not moving from the small crater he'd smashed in the hardwood as Ino, again, stared at him quizzically. Slowly, her eyes widened. Her lips parted only the slightest bit as she watched him stumble out of the tree and stand on uncertain feet opposite her. As she looked into his tired and beleaguered eyes, she beamed wickedly.

"So that's it then!" she shouted, seemingly elated. "You're trying to catch me off guard; letting me beat the shit out of you so I'll get comfortable with my position and then when I'm most off guard you plan on-"

She cut herself off, half expecting Naruto to charge during the middle of her monologue. It surprised her more than any sneak-attack when the boy didn't move. She stopped grinning and only looked at him dumbly and questioningly.

"Surely you've got more to offer than this!" Ino grunted, racing forward and hacking at Naruto with the razored fingers of the gauntlet. The Kage Jounin only raised his sword just enough to parry Ino's attack to one side. He didn't stop her from following through with her other hand and bashing him across the face with her knuckles. The Kage-Jounin tumbled to the ground, landing on his back.

Ino glared at him. "I'm toying with you and your losing!" she shouted, her voice betraying her anger. "I was actually hoping you might present **some** kind of a challenge. But here you are acting like you want me to kill you!"

Naruto's only answer was rolling to his side and pushing himself up onto his elbows and knees. Ino stalked forward, standing beside him and fueled herself with massive amounts of demonic chakra. The kick to Naruto's ribs snapped the bones and sent him hurdling through the air until he landed against a tree with a hollow thump and collapsed to the ground at the base of the massive trunk. He didn't bother to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"What are you doing!?" Ino shouted. "What's your plan!? You didn't lead me out into the middle of the forest, fend me off for so long, and struggle for your survival during our little chase just to let me kill you now!"

Behind the façade of Naruto's tired eyes, his mind was a maelstrom. _C'mon, c'mon,_ he fretted. _Think like a twisted, sadistic, coldhearted bitch already._ He could see her frustration.

Ino's teeth ground as she took hold of the gauntlet with her free fingers and tore the metal glove from her hand. She pitched it to the ground and stormed towards Naruto, taking hold of his collar with both hands and lifting him up against the tree. Naruto's feet dangled a few inches above the ground and his hands hung uselessly at his sides. He barely even bothered to look Ino in the eye as she ranted.

"You must be insane you little cunt!" the Demon barked. "And you're wasting my goddamn time!" She grabbed Naruto around the throat with one hand and began to shake him like a toy. "Are you actually going to give me something to do here or should I just kill you now?!"

Naruto, again, didn't answer as the Demon, even as she threw him overhand into the dirt several meters away, he just passively let her do as she pleased, though he began to wonder for the first time since he'd concocted this idea whether or not it could really work. He was putting all of his hopes on the slim chance that she would make the one move that would totally undo her.

_Is she really going to slip up so catastrophically? _he wondered.

It occurred to Naruto, not for the very first time, but for the first serious time, that he knew almost nothing of what the Hyuuga Demon knew. He didn't know if it knew about the extent of Kyuubi's autonomy; he didn't know if it knew how to execute the Yamanaka's spirit-based techniques.

A knot formed in Naruto's stomach as he began to seriously consider that his plan might not work. He had known going in that, despite his attempts to alleviate Kyuubi's trepidation on the plan, the chance the Hyuuga Demon would play exactly as he wanted, exactly as he needed it to for his all-or-nothing victory were slim.

_All of the preliminary steps went as planned,_ he thought, watching as the Demon walked Ino's body over and hovered above him like a vulture. _I drew her in, forced her to fight me one on one, and now she's furiously confused by my passivity… but that doesn't guarantee that she'll use the proper technique._

Ino reached down and wrapped her fingers tightly around Naruto's throat, lifting him off his feet and squeezing so tightly he thought for sure his neck was ready to break. "If you're not going to give me a challenge," she fumed. "I'm going to simply kill you and move on, though to be honest I want you to fight back. I've not had any kind of test since we last fought and I wanted that kind of challenge to continue here."

Naruto watched her eyes. His stomach churned as he realized the wild fury he saw there was truly ready to kill him.

"That's why I can't," whispered the blonde, closing his eyes.

Ino glared at him.

"I can't beat you," he said quietly. "Three years ago when you had a body as weak as Hinata's I nearly killed myself to take you down and even then it cost me everything. How am I supposed to beat you now?"

She didn't answer.

"You've got a body that's almost as powerful as mine and you're obviously a being that amplifies the power of its host hundreds of times over. All I'd be doing by fighting you for real is hurting myself before I died."

"Then you shouldn't have faced me in the first place you little freak!" burst the Demon. "You should have run the instant you saw me coming. Losing your little bitch must have driven you over the edge. You really have lost it."

Naruto grinned. "I wanted to see her one last time," he said. "Ever since Konoha's intelligence informed us that you were back I knew it was over. Orochimaru would use a body stronger than before and I wouldn't stand a chance… Then when we learned that it was Ino he'd used as a host I knew for sure I couldn't win… I just wanted to see her one last time before I died."

Naruto smiled wider, forcing a look of some kind of peace over his countenance as the Hyuuga Demon grimaced. "Maybe I am insane," said the Kage-Jounin. "But I don't care anymore. Insane or not, I'm happy right now."

Ino's face went wild with rage. "So you want to see her one last time?" she asked, dropping Naruto to the ground and stomping on his chest to hold him down. "Well that's too fucking bad." The Kunoichi began performing a series of very slow, deliberate seals. "Because I'm not going to let you go out happy at all… In fact, I'm going to make sure you're miserable for the rest of eternity." He voice was low but full of seething anger as she pointed her hands at Naruto, forming a box with her fingers and glaring at him through it.

Naruto's eyes went wide. _Could she…? _He didn't continue the thought. Naruto, one of the least superstitious people alive was suddenly horrified that he'd jinx the already tiny chance.

"I'm going to rip your soul straight out of you," said the Hyuuga Demon, its evil energies pervading Ino's voice more and more with each word, making her sound like an animal. "And your consciousness can spend the rest of forever rotting in the back of my mind. You'll be like my little plaything, a pet to persecute and torture whenever I like, and mark me, you will suffer more than you ever could in a physical body."

Naruto dropped his head back on the ground. _If I believed in Kami… _thought the Kage-Jounin, the fear vanishing from his mind. _KYUUBI GET READY!_ he mentally bellowed, focusing all his faculties on preparing for the shift.

* * *

AN: A minor note here, posting schedule has returned to Wednesday!

* * *


	47. Explosion

AN: My beta and very good friend recently made a request of me. He asked that I deliver a message to everyone reading The Gambit, and I take no personal responsibility for the actions/thoughts of this rascal (lol.)

He wanted me to tell you all, "I know what's going to happen and you don't."

To this my reply is simple and as follows. "Yes... yes you do... to a point."

However before I get a bunch of angry PM's for being a smart-mouthed and sociopathic nepotist, all of you should know that I am keeping book three tightly under wraps. NO ONE has seen even the first line of the first chapter and NO ONE will until _The Akatsuki Wars_ is released early in January of '09.

At the rate we're going (I'm going to post on schedule from here on out) I should have the last chapter of _ShadowDawning _posted on Wednesday, November 12th of '08 (unless I decide to break up a certain chapter that's a bit long I think). Up to that point and through December I'll be revising and going over _The Akatsuki Wars_ (As well as trying not to fail finals on the side, and get my wisdom teeth out lol) and my plan is to begin posting the third and final installment as a continuation of **_THIS_** story on Wednesday, January 7th.

So there's the rough plan. It is subject to change but I doubt it will. Here's to you all and here's hoping an attempt at a Master's Degree in Structural Engineering doesn't fuck with my story (stories) too much!

* * *

Explosion

"I'm going to rip your soul straight out of you," said the Hyuuga Demon, its evil energies pervading Ino's voice more and more with each word, making her sound like an animal. "And your consciousness can spend the rest of forever rotting in the back of my mind. You'll be like my little plaything, a pet to persecute and torture whenever I like, and mark me, you will suffer more than you ever could in a physical body."

Naruto dropped his head back on the ground. _If I believed in Kami… _thought the Kage-Jounin, the fear vanishing from his mind. _KYUUBI GET READY!_ he mentally bellowed, focusing all his faculties on preparing for the shift.

Ino's fingers flashed blue. Naruto felt the strangest and most sickening impact in his chest, like some blob of frigid slime slammed into him and passed straight through his flesh and bone just before his world went utterly black.

SC

The stench was overpowering. Naruto had smelled it before, the stink of burning human flesh. During the sound invasion of Konoha, Naruto had been the catalyst for that odor more than once, waving his hand and vaporizing an opponent with Kyuubi's chakra. Destruction had become something even Naruto's huge heart was desensitized to, war does that to a person.

This kind of destruction was on another scale entirely.

Before Naruto and Jiraiya, the small hamlet in the southern Lightning Country was burned utterly to the ground. It had a population of only two hundred farmers and shepherds and a blacksmith or two, but everyone of those bodies was burning. The entire community had been drug out into the streets, defenseless against their attackers and, from the looks of all the blood pooling around the stakes on which each man woman and child was skewered, their ankles had been slashed just before their bodies had been set alight.

Naruto stared at the carnage, his mouth hanging open dumbly and his eyes vacant. Jiraiya glanced at his pupil out of the corner of his eye, but said nothing. It had been some months since he and Naruto left Suna and began working for the Crane Organization to harass Orochimaru.

"How could Orochimaru do this?" asked Naruto faintly, dropping to his knees as he looked at the scene frozen in time before him. "Even that monster shouldn't be capable of-" He closed his eyes and fell forward onto his hands and knees, clenching his fists in the dirt.

"He's something less than human Naruto," said the Sanin in red, grieving that Naruto would be pained like this, but secretly relieved that he was at least showing emotion again after what happened in the Wind Country. "Anyone who could kill an innocent without feeling or remorse is a beast, something worthy only of death."

Naruto clenched his teeth and swore under his breath. _No more feeling,_ he reminded himself. _I promised never to feel anything ever again… but at the sight of something like this…_

"I'm going to kill that bastard," growled the student, looking up. His eyes were feral and seemed to glow with an inner ire, not from the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto's tear streaked face was hard, raked with an emotion Jiraiya couldn't place. "When Orochimaru and I meet, I'm going to make damn good and sure that he never gets the chance to do anything like this ever again."

"Naruto," said the Sanin. "I'm here to help you however I can."

The boy stood up and turned away from the destroyed village, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "These people were innocent," he said quietly. "Their only 'crime' was accepting relief money from the Crane when a flood wiped out their fields, and for that Orochimaru destroyed them. If Orochimaru is so opposed to charity, he'll get none of it from me. If Orochimaru is so apt to kill someone who's done nothing wrong, I'll be ready to end his misery whenever he kneels before me, begs for mercy, and screams that he's innocent. It's only just that the merciless receive no mercy."

Jiraiya grimaced. "Don't let yourself become too cold Naruto," warned the Sanin carefully, his tone grandfatherly. "If you become Orochimaru, then what good will it do you to destroy him?"

"I will not become that kind of monster," said Naruto. "I'm going to rid the world of that kind of evil, and when I do, things will finally be the way they're supposed to be. The world can finally enter the shining new age and atrocities like this," he waved his hand back at the village, his voice icy, "will be erased from history forever."

SC

_It's only just that the merciless receive no mercy_, Naruto repeated the words he'd spoken to Jiraiya less than a year ago to himself in his head. He walked through the streets of Kiri solemnly, his heart inexplicably heavy. He looked from side to side at all of the piled bodies, the maimed corpses and breathed a deep sigh, though there was no relief in the breath.

"It was necessary," he told himself. "If I didn't destroy Kiri…

"But did I have to be so brutal about it?" he asked himself.

Naruto thought for a moment, stopping and looking around. He resumed walking a moment later, but his eyes were closed and his jaw was tight. _No more feeling, no more feeling, no more feeling,_ he chanted in his mind, trying to purge himself of the regret beginning to well up in his chest. _I did what I had to do and nothing more. I did my duty. I did my duty._

Regret began to make the shift towards sympathy for the villagers he had slaughtered, and Naruto's eyes snapped open as he realized just what he was feeling. He tried desperately to block out the emotion which was quickly growing into an aching pain in his chest. He held his hands up in front of his face as if to stare at the blood dripping from his fingers, blood he'd spilled, innocent blood. It was too much, too sudden.

"I've got to get out of here," he gasped as his heart thumped once with an agonizing pain. "This isn't right."

Naruto ran towards the edge of the village, putting as much distance between himself and the carnage as he could. As Naruto ran, he could feel the guilt and remorse beginning to ebb away. The farther he was from the victims, the less he felt. Out of sight, out of mind.

Naruto stopped when he reached the base of the wall. He swallowed the lump in his throat and sighed, refusing to look back into the village. In one chakra-fueled jump he leapt up onto the wall. From this height all of the corpses piled in the streets looked like the bodies of crushed ants; dehumanized enough to keep Naruto from feeling the remorse when he looked at them.

_I've got to get over this,_ he chided himself, glaring into the village. _This is too troublesome. But…_

SC

Naruto snapped to and found himself in the dark plane of his subconscious mind. Everything looked exactly as it always did, excepting the massive bars on which Naruto's back rested were exactly where he needed them: close.

_It worked…_ he sighed. He'd never actually practiced aiming for a specific place when he entered his mind. The location at which he appeared was almost always random so it was no small relief when Naruto felt the metal bars behind him.

"Hello lover boy," a deep, rolling, and malignant voice rumbled. Naruto turned and peered out of the bars, his stomach nearly retching once as he saw the Hyuuga Demon, the true form of that cancerous entity, standing not fifteen paces from where he stood.

The beast looked to be some huge combination of a slime worm, a river-leach, and a cockroach, standing ten feet tall and glaring at him from the empty eye-sockets of a rotten human skull that seemed haphazardly grafted to the end of the demon's elongated body. The appendages that sprouted from its worm-like body every seven or eight inches each ended in a wicked foot, complete with a barbed talon.

"Time to die," said the Hyuuga Demon, rearing up on five of its back legs like a centipede and taking a single step forward. Naruto thought the voice sounded like sloshing tar. "Come here and let's get it over with… An eternity of total Hell isn't going to wait long anyway."

Naruto took a step back, retreating a little deeper into the confines of the dark, ostensibly empty cage. "No way," he said, his voice quaking.

The Hyuuga Demon's skull cracked as it grinned, interpreting the tension in Naruto's voice to be fear. "If you won't come here," it said, shuffling forward and reaching the edge of the bars, "then I'll just have to make it all the worse."

Naruto fell back onto his hands and hindquarters. He began scooting away and starring at the demon in mock horror as it quickened the pace and rushed forward at him. All of its claws raced into the air and flexed in anticipation, ready to tear Naruto apart. The slimy apparition raced past the bars and into the cage, loosing a howling, bug-like screech as it ran at Naruto.

**ENOUGH!! **The whole cavern rumbled and shook violently as the single thunder-like word ripped through the relative quiet.

The Hyuuga Demon only had the time to look up in shock as an enormous maw, lined by dozens of huge, razor-sharp teeth, jutted down around it. A long thick tongue curled around the invading monster so tightly and so quickly the Hyuuga Demon's roach-like outer shell cracked beneath the pressure.

Kyuubi reared back on all fours, arching his back like a lion and tossing his massive head into the air as he snapped his jaws closed. Naruto watched as the huge fox chewed, smashing, shredding, and grinding his teeth together, throwing his head about like a wild animal and ravenously devouring whatever was left in his mouth in a terrible display of ferocity. The Nine Tailed Beast spared no rage as it slammed its jaws shut one last time, splitting the air with the force of its bite.

When he was done, the Demon Fox glared down at Naruto, his fiery eyes alight with ire. The blonde however simply leaned back on his elbows and breathed a deep sigh of relief, dropping his head back and closing his eyes.

**You little bastard,** Kyuubi growled, incensed. **You nearly killed us! You!! … The extent of your carelessness, your inanity, your idiocy, your foolishness, your imprudence, your thoughtlessness, staggers me, even me! I can't think of a word in any language to properly label your stupidity you cockroach!!**

Naruto could feel the utter fury rolling off of Kyuubi as clearly as he could feel the fox's chakra, but he didn't care.

**You risked everything to lure the demon here if that was indeed your plan at all! You had no way of knowing any of this would work! I should devour you too for putting us at such risk you insolent little whelp, you stupid little parasite! You even went so far as to deny my help! How dare you!! You could have died!**

"I'm not going to apologize to you, Kyuubi," said Naruto calmly, his voice suddenly and genuinely tired. "You're right, this was reckless and careless of me. In retrospect I thought I had a good idea going, luring her in here so you could finish her off, but I was so focused on getting Ino back that I really didn't think this through half as well as I should have."

**Damn straight! **Kyuubi barked. **You had no way of knowing how that little whore would act. It was sheer dumb luck at best. If I believed in such things I'd call it a miracle that you're alive right now.**

Naruto lifted his head up and looked curiously at the giant fox glowering down at him. "You said 'you're'" said the blond.

Kyuubi didn't respond, but just tossed his head to one side angrily.

"You said 'you're alive right now,' not 'we're alive right now," Naruto probed.

**What of it Kit!? **Said the Demon, fury still pervading his voice. **My survival depends on yours and that demon could have killed us.**

"Alright," Naruto said quietly, dropping it. "I understand. But speaking of the Hyuuga Demon; what's to become of it now?"

**Nothing, it's been reduced literately to nothing**, Kyuubi huffed. **I utterly destroyed its spiritual form so there's nothing of it left to slink back to Hell.**

"So it's dead for good?" Naruto asked.

**Yes. That monster can never come back.**

"Thank goodness," said Naruto, dropping back fully on the ground and resting his eyes.

**And you had no way of knowing that either**, Kyuubi chided, his anger beginning to fade. **You're taking so many stupid risks…**

"Yep," said Naruto. "I told you, I'm not going to lose her again."

The blond could hear Kyuubi sigh in exasperation and felt the hot breath as the Demon laid down in the cage, resting his giant head a few feet to Naruto's right and leaving his paw about the same distance to the Kage-Jounin's left, boxing Naruto in on three sides. Naruto didn't say anything for a few minutes but just rested in the dark confines, listening to the rumbling growl of the fox's breathing.

**You shouldn't let anything,** said the Demon,** be your one tie to sanity. You made that mistake three years ago and it cost you your mind. Don't do it again.**

"You said 'you're'" Naruto probed once more, pushing himself up into a sitting position and changing subjects.

Kyuubi didn't immediately answer but just closed the big red eye nearest Naruto. **Your vixen will be waiting out there for you,** he said a moment later. **You'd best go see her and leave me be.**

"Still angry with me?" asked the blonde.

Kyuubi nodded once as Naruto stood up and looked towards the far off and invisible ceiling.

"Well then I'll leave you to that," he answered, feeling the darkness cave in around him as consciousness returned.

* * *

AN: Forgive me forgive me forgive me! I couldn't post yesterday because I caught some kind of bug and slept from 4pm yesterday until 9am this morning. But no worries, all health issues aside, posting will continue on schedule.


	48. The WebSpinners

AN:Alright, a bit of news and then I'll let you get to the story. First of all I need to make a slight revision about the posting schedule to come. The first chapter of _The Akatsuki Wars_ will be posted on the _**6th of January**_, but all postings after that will revert back to the **usual Wednesday posting**, unless someone gives me a good enough reason to switch to another day, which I'm not closed to.

Ok, note two. I wanted to let everyone know about a story I've currently got in the works that I think is going to be really cool. Details will be scant until much later as I'm still developing the story, but the title will be _The Otokage's Butterfly_. I'm pretty hyped about it and just thought some of you might enjoy knowing what's coming!

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

The Web-Spinners

It had been storming off and on for the past several days in the Hidden Rain Village. The weather would be ripe with sunshine and warm winds during the afternoon, but as soon as the sun set, dark clouds rolled in and enveloped the village in a cascade of torrential rain and thunderstorms that lasted well into the next morning and prevented any sane person from going outside for danger of being struck by one of the constantly echoing lightning strikes.

The rain, however troubling it may have been to the village's inhabitants, did not bother Tobi, who quite enjoyed running outside and dancing around in the deadly weather. He'd jovially sing songs (very off-key mind you) and twirl around like a drunken artiste as the lightning flashed overhead… much to the displeasure of the two men in the black cloaks watching him from under the nearby awning of a pie shop.

"Is this guy for real?" asked the man with the spiky, blood red hair as he watched Tobi jump from puddle to puddle throughout the Rain Village's main road, in full view of all the boarded up shop windows.

"If you don't believe that then you might as well leave Akatsuki immediately, Sasori-Kun" said Itachi impassively.

Sasori looked over at the Uchiha from beneath his straw hat. "I can believe that someone like Madara-Sama would be so clever to disguise himself as an idiot like Tobi… but I never would have guessed anyone could act so perfectly."

"He should have gone into theater," said Itachi, taking hold of his hat with one hand and walking off into the storm towards Tobi. Sasori followed suit and trudged out into the mud and howling winds.

The man in the strange orange mask saw his comrades coming and immediately jumped up to his full height, jutting one hand up into the air and waving them over. "Itachi-Kun, Sasori-Chan!" he shouted over the winds. "Did you come to join me in the fun?"

"You asked to see us, Madara-San?" asked Itachi blankly.

"Please Itachi," said Tobi, the color of his voice instantly darkening, but not becoming unfriendly. "You could at least refer to me as Madara-Kun, though I'd prefer Sama. At any rate, yes, I did ask to see the two of you."

"What's up Madara-Sama?" asked Sasori casually, unafraid of being overheard through the roaring wind.

The man in the mask looked between the two men that shared his taste in outfits, or at least put up with it. "Naruto has reached a bit of an important plateau," Madara said nonchalantly. "Zetsu informed me not twenty minutes ago that Naruto defeated Orochimaru's Hyuuga Demon again."

"As you predicted," noted Itachi.

"Indeed, but what I didn't foresee was his doing it without killing the Yamanaka girl."

Itachi raised an eyebrow as Sasori mentally lamented not knowing what was going on, but decided not to interrupt and risk being rude. "So there are things that almighty Sharingan of yours can't see after all," said the younger of the Uchiha.

Madara didn't answer immediately. He simply shrugged. "Even my Immortal Sharingan has its limits," he said. "I can't see the future, only read the shadows of it that my Sharingan predicts and unfortunately, Naruto doesn't produce those shadows, making it incredibly hard to read him or how he'll interact with those around him, which is why it became necessary for me to guide and actively observe him as I did in the Wave. You've known that from the start Itachi-Kun. But that's beside the point. The reason I called you here is because Naruto did not only kill the Hyuuga Demon, but obliterated it completely."

"Impressive," said Itachi. "Let me guess, he incited Orochimaru's pet into use the Yamanaka girl's mind-body switch, thus leading it into his mind where the penned Kyuubi-no-Yoko could devour it?"

"Astute of you," said Madara. "Now we know for sure that the Kyuubi is active in Naruto's conscious mind."

"As I expected," said Itachi.

_Wow,_ thought Sasori, glancing between the two Uchiha. _These two are good. I had no idea Madara could predict the future… and Itachi instantly knew what was going on with no prior warning._

"But an interesting opportunity has presented itself to us and I think it's time we moved the plan into the final few stages… Orochimaru is under extreme pressure right now. The battle at Suna was a total debacle, he's lost his Hyuuga Demon forever, the village of Kiri is utterly destroyed, the Mizukage is dead, Sasuke is giving him trouble, and to top it all off Tsunade-Chan is pressing Kumo with everything she's got and it's looking like the Cloud is going to surrender."

"Orochimaru's war is falling apart all around him and looking to crush him in the process," laughed Sasori.

"Just as you predicted," Itachi repeated.

"Yes," nodded the elder of the Uchiha. "I warned the fool that if he struck out against the other villages too soon it would cost him everything but Orochimaru wouldn't listen to silly little Tobi. He had to have things his way."

"What's this opportunity?" asked Itachi.

Madara eyed his clansman warily. "Konoha, as you know, accepted the Crane Organization with open arms to bolster their garrison, meaning we've got the Leaf exactly where we want them. What we're going to do is finish off Orochimaru now, ahead of schedule, and begin _our war_ a little early; before anyone can fully recover from this little skirmish."

"How?" asked Sasori.

"That's why I called you two here," said Madara. "You're going to take out two of Orochimaru's top agents; Kaguya Kimimaro and that pesky Kabuto kid. Simultaneously I'll pull all the funds we've been funneling to Orochimaru and cripple his war effort. He'll have no allies and without Akatsuki's money he'll be unable to buy any more. I'll send a messenger through the Crane to Konoha, telling them that two of the Crane's lead assassins killed Kimimaro and Kabuto and rooted out his hidden benefactors.

"This will undoubtedly work Naruto up a bit and he'll decide to attack Orochimaru head on to kill him while he's weak and off balance. I don't need my Sharingan to see that. Jiraiya-Chan will agree with him and together the two of them will slip into Oto, and assassinate Orochimaru. I haven't yet seen the exact outcome of the battle, but I know for sure that Oto is defeated in the end, left easy prey for us, and Orochimaru is obliterated forever.

"Konoha will be almost undefended at this point; Tsunade will still be out in the field at Kumo where our troops can easily intercept her and take her out; Jiraiya will be out of the picture by that point too, as will be the resurrected Fourth, and Naruto will still be in Oto, leaving only the weakling Steward to defend the Leaf."

Sasori glanced around, then looked at Madara. "How do you know Naruto will play ball and attack when we want him to? I thought you couldn't predict him."

"I can't," said Madara. "But I can guess what he does by the reactions and actions of people who've recently or will soon come into contact with him. Naruto's heritage makes it near impossible for me to read what will happen around him but I can look ahead and see what happens as a reaction to the actions I can't read and guess what he did from those outcomes. I know he will attack Oto and I know Orochimaru is obliterated in the end." Madara looked over at Itachi who suddenly seemed more impassive than usual. "Something on your mind Itachi-Kun?"

The younger Uchiha answered guardedly. "Have you seen what happens to Sasuke?"

Madara shrugged. "You should know better than that," said the elder. "Naruto's heritage shields him from the Sharingan and so does Sasuke's, and yours for that matter."

Itachi shifted his weight. "I just thought the bloodline might have been diluted enough to… So as soon as Naruto engages Orochimaru you'll order the Crane to assassinate Tsunade, finish off Kumo, move against Iwa, and destroy Konoha." Uchiha Itachi predicted. "It will all hit at once, and our enemies will be completely overwhelmed before they even know they're under attack."

"The perfect trap," muttered Sasori.

Madara smiled beneath his mask and crossed his arms. "Your insight staggers me," he said in a more merry tone. "Now I'd like the two of you to kill Kimimaro and Kabuto within twenty-four hours, oh and Sasori, do remember that they are both regenerators so you'll have to incinerate the bodies to make absolutely sure they're dead… Cut off the head, tear out the heart, and burn the whole mess."

The red haired Ninja bowed just as the wind caught his hat and whipped it from his head. Madara laughed as Sasori shot up and snatched it like a mantis. "Understood Madara-Sama," he said. "What about Suna though?"

"Suna is crippled, a lame duck," said the elder Uchiha. "We'll leave them alone for a few weeks and let any survivors from Konoha, Kumo, and Iwa gather there out of desperation. It will become their mass grave. Now if you'll excuse me I have exceedingly important business to attend to. Cleansing the world isn't going to finish itself after all."

Instantly Madara disappeared. Without a puff of smoke or even a fluttering in the rain; he was just gone, leaving Itachi and Sasori alone in the howling gale, both holding their hats down on their heads.

Sasori looked over at Itachi, unsure of what exactly had just transpired. "So…" stammered the puppet-master, "I'm guessing you know a little more about Madara-Sama's plan than the rest of us."

Itachi nodded once. "It takes one to know one," the Uchiha said in a somber voice. "Madara-San is… an interesting individual, but a powerful one too. He laid these plans long before either of us were born, and he's been refining them ever since. He's been waiting for just the right moment and now that he's set things in motion all that's left to do is sit back and watch as everything he predicts comes to pass."

"Right," said Sasori incredulously, tightening his grip on his hat as the wind picked up again. "So do you have a preference on which to kill, or any idea where we should look for them?"

Itachi thought for a moment. "I'll take the Kaguya. He's recently returned to Oto but slipping in and quickly dispatching him will be no problem. You can take Kabuto, I don't care but you might want to know he's out around Iwa trying to convince them to attack Konoha."

"How do you-" Sasori cut himself off. He wasn't sure he wanted to know how Itachi knew everything. He did have one question though. "Itachi-Kun… is it true; the rumors going around about you being stronger than Pein?"

"You ask too many questions Sasori-Kun. That question has nothing to do with the current situation and it's completely irrelevant."

"But are you?" pressed the redhead. "There's no harm in telling me since we're all on the same side here."

Itachi sighed and closed his eyes, opening them again a second later revealing his blood-red Sharingan. "A battle between Pein and me," he said uninterestedly, "would be exceptionally boring."

SC

Kimimaro sat silently in his dormitory, resting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes closed. Kabuto's gene-altering retro virus may have cured him of his disease and granted him the power to regenerate, but it had also cost him his ability to sleep. The Kaguya was now forced to meditate in absolute silence for one hour every two days to hold his sanity intact, lest he end up like one of the poor bastards Kabuto had initially tested the virus on; raving lunatics whose minds were utterly broken by mental fatigue and strain.

This was why Kimimaro's room was on the lowest level of Orochimaru's complex, where untold tons of earth insulated him from the surface, filtering out any noise at all. On top of it all, Orochimaru had vulcanized rubber installed in the ceilings of the complex basement and banned any soul from going down there and possibly interrupting Kimimaro's meditation.

Thusly it was no small shock when a loud clatter shattered the silence of the complex basement. Kimimaro's eyes burst open, bloodshot, and he jumped from the bed. Evidently the strain of several days without meditation was finally beginning to wear on his nerves. Bones burst from the Kaguya's arms and he readied to fight… but no one came into the room and the Kaguya could feel no one around even with his heightened sensitivity to chakra.

_I must be going a little crazy,_ thought the pale man. _No one can get down here… no one._

Slowly Kimimaro slunk to the door and pushed it open on silent hinges, wanting to confirm his solitude. Out in the middle of the featureless hall was a lunch-tray, the stainless steel kind the cooks upstairs used to serve Orochimaru's drones their rations.

"What the fuck?" Kimimaro muttered, stepping out into the hall and picking up the tray. "How did this get down here."

On sheer instinct alone Kimimaro looked to his right but still didn't catch it in time. His finely tuned senses exploded as the black fire burst seemingly out of nowhere and completely enveloped him. Kimimaro opened his mouth to scream, but as soon as his lips parted the searing flames raced down his throat and burned up his lungs like rice-paper. Even his bones caught fire and crackled in the hellish blaze as Kimimaro fell to the ground in an unmoving heap.

Molten drops of steel, the only remnants of the tray, pooled on the ground next to the Kaguya's corpse as the black fires continued to eat away at the body. Itachi, standing in the shadow of the open door stepped out into the light to examine his work. He knew Kimimaro was dead beyond repair, but he still ensured that the corpse burned to dry ashes over the next minute or two.

Then, as silently as he'd arrived, Itachi turned and left.


	49. Coming Together

AN: Welcome back everyone. I'm sorry if last chapter bored some of you, but it can't really be helped. There has to be some plot mixed in there somewhere right? (lol) Oh well, not really much to say here. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Coming Together

"What's going on," hissed Kabuto, ducking around behind a boulder and clutching at the deep lesion torn in his arm from his shoulder all the way down to his wrist. Even as the Sound Ninja scanned the less than verdant plain outside Iwa for his attacker the wound began to close up of its own accord. "What is he doing? Why the hell is-"

Kabuto gasped and leapt away just as the boulder behind him exploded into debris and a curtain of dust. A dozen tentacle-like appendages rocketed towards him, each one brandishing a wickedly sharp set of talons clawing for him. The Sound Nin jumped backwards through the air and flung a single kunai at the arm nearest him. The steel talons caught the kunai with seemingly no effort at all but Kabuto grinned.

"Gotcha."

The kunai vanished in a puff of smoke and in a flash no less than twenty explosive tags, all hissing like angry snakes and sparking wildly, flapped out in all directions. Kabuto made an unrecognizable seal and vanished in a whirl of dirt only in time to see the massive puppet, clattering like wooden cymbals, come rushing through the debris of the boulder like a possessed juggernaut.

The puppet, a humanoid creature with a dozen arms sprouting from its back, cocked its head curiously as all of the specialty tags stuck to its arms and chest like clinging insects. In a massive explosion the tags detonated, flashing with an intensity like the sun and shaking the ground. Splinters of the puppet went everywhere.

Kabuto landed crouched a few dozen meters away and looked at the destruction. His assailant was little more than a smoking crater some ten meters across. "Finally," he grumbled, standing up and wiping the sweat away from his eyes. The mysterious puppet had attacked him in Iwa and chased him from the village. The Sound Ninja had guessed at first that it was some trick from Konoha, but he soon recognized the puppet as one of Sasori's many masterpieces.

"But why?" wondered Kabuto. "Akatsuki is our ally. What's- oh no," Kabuto paled. Sasori never sent in only one.

The Ninja whirled around the same instant the ground all behind him in a huge crescent erupted up and an army of puppets, identical to the one he'd just dispatched, appeared and surrounded him. They formed a circle around Kabuto, their black and tattered robes creating a solid perimeter almost thirty feet in diameter, accented at even intervals by their glowing red and bulbous eyes.

_This is bad,_ fretted Kabuto. _I'm out of chakra and those were the last of the special tags Orochimaru made personally. Just one of those monsters nearly killed me._

From the trench created by the appearing puppets Sasori calmly climbed to the surface, rearing up to his full height beneath Akatsuki's signature robe. He dusted himself off casually and ran a hand through his hair to clean it of any residual dirt from his ambush.

"Sasori-Sama," said Kabuto, forcing a smile through the sweat beading on his face. "It's been quite a while. What is all of this Sasori-Sama. I thought we had an arrangement."

Sasori looked around at his troops and then at Kabuto. "Change in plans," said the puppet master nonchalantly. "You're to be liquidated here and now."

One puppet took a single step forward, flourishing the bladed talons like the claws of some terrible insect.

"Wait!" shouted Kabuto, holding up one hand.

Sasori's fingers twitched and the puppet stopped moving. "What is it, let's make this brief," said the S-Class criminal.

"Why have the plans changed? We had a deal." Kabuto's voice was beginning to crack.

Sasori sighed. "Madara-Sama has decided that you're a liability. He's going to take care of things himself from now on."

"Who the hell is Mad…" Kabuto froze. His eyes widened, he dropped his jaw open and stared at Sasori. "Uchiha Madara?" he asked, barely able to speak. "Uchiha Madara is dead. What kind of trick is Pein-"

"This is getting boring," sniffed Sasori. "And I don't need to tell a dead man anything."

Kabuto barely had time to scream as two of the puppets charged forward inhumanly fast while Sasori watched with only minimal interest. The puppets each grabbed hold of a dozen different parts of Kabuto and in one violent motion ripped him into an equal number of bloody pieces. Even before the shower of blood had begun to fall to the ground the whole army of puppets rushed in and began the task of chopping the already small sections into mulch.

Sasori sniffed again. "That was amusing," he muttered.

From nearly a mile away, two Ninja in brown fatigues watched the slaughter through high-powered telescopes. Laying on their stomachs on top of a tall boulder which matched the color of their clothes almost perfectly the two were confident of their own safety, even if the scene playing out in the telescopes made them both sick.

"I almost feel sorry for the poor kid," said one of them through his tan mask as the puppets piled what remained of Kabuto in a low mound in the center of the circle. The leader of the group, the man with the red hair, stepped up with a torch in one hand. "He never stood a chance."

"Not our problem," said the second one in a higher, more feminine voice. "Command said not to interfere, so we aren't going to even think of doing anything but watch."

"I know, I know," said the man. "But you were there weren't you, when Tsuchikage-Sama accepted Sound's offer."

"Doesn't matter now" said the woman. "The kid's dead," she set down the telescope and swallowed back bile. "He's dead alright, and what Tsuchikage-Sama told him doesn't matter now. We just need to report back to Iwa. Tsuchikage-Sama needs to know what's happened here."

SC

Ino was sleeping quietly.

Naruto had come to lying on the ground a few paces away from her motionless form and stumbled to his feet, surprised by the lack of pain in his injured arm and the profound sense of wonder he felt in his heart. The Kage-Jounin almost couldn't believe it. Even now, cradling the sleeping girl in his arms, he was struggling to grasp that he really had defeated the Hyuuga Demon forever, and now held the liberated Ino to him as he sat with his back against one of the massive trees that had witnessed the battle. From the way she nuzzled her face into his chest and clutched at Naruto's bloodied and tattered uniform, he guessed that Ino felt something too.

For the first time in years, Naruto found his mind genuinely quiet. Any thoughts of destroying Orochimaru, of cleansing evil from the world, of becoming Hokage simply weren't there. He wasn't thinking about Konoha's security, about his strike-force or the war effort. His sole focus was Ino; resting his cheek on the top of her head, stroking her shimmering hair, and whispering little comforts as she slept more than an hour away.

**Kit**, Naruto heard from the back of his mind as Kyuubi manifested himself.

"Hmm" Naruto responded.

**You should… find and destroy that gauntlet she was using. We don't know what it's capable of and it would be better not to risk it falling back into the wrong hands.**

"I know," muttered Naruto quietly. "Don't worry, I will. We'll overload it with an unstable bit of your chakra. That should do the trick…" The boy's voice was very low and smooth.

Kyuubi didn't speak for a moment, but he remained at the forefront of Naruto's consciousness. **Kit,** he said after a brief pause, a strangely reserved tone coloring his words. **About what I said earlier, all of those labels I pinned on you… I'm not going to take any of them back. You were bullheaded and foolish, but I - perhaps should have been less harsh. Your plan did ultimately work and in the end that's what matters.**

"No," said Naruto, calmly burying his face in Ino's hair and just enjoying the feel of her breathing against him. _You're right. I didn't really plan that out well at all. I had no way of knowing if any of that would work, or even if it _could_ work. I didn't know how she'd react and I bet both our lives on really, really bad odds. You had every right to be harsh. I was being extremely selfish._

**Yes, but… never mind.**

_Kyuubi,_ thought Naruto. _We do need to get back to training. Starting tomorrow night, we'll start up some kind of regimen again._

**We can do that… **

Naruto's heart leapt as Ino stirred in his arms for the first time in an hour, shifting around just a little and whispering his name once.

"I'm here," he said back to her as Kyuubi's presence faded from his mind.

Ino opened her eyes and looked up at Naruto, making his stomach tight with anxiety, but also making him smile. The Kunoichi opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but remained silent. She closed her eyes and shook her head once, tossing her hair in a platinum spray, then looked back to him. "Naruto," she whispered, her voice tight with joy and her eyes welling up with tears. She grabbed tightly onto his uniform and buried herself against him, crying into his shirt as he curled up around her.

"That was so stupid of you," she whispered, pulling herself up to kiss his neck and cheek. "You shouldn't have risked it. You could have gotten yourself killed or worse."

Naruto laughed once, a tired, but genuine laugh as he held her to him. "It was worth it," he said, stroking her back. "I couldn't be happier to have you back."

Ino held her face against his neck, half-crying and half-stunned, but smiling and nuzzling him nonetheless. "I'm never going to be able to thank you enough for this," she said.

Naruto kissed the top of her head. "You'll never have to," he answered. "Just promise me you'll … forget it," he said, beaming, his heart racing. "Damn it's so good to have you back. Things were bad while you were away."

Ino looked up at him and smiled, her turquoise eyes sparkling. "I don't want to talk about anything that's not about you," she said. "The world can wait."

The Kage-Jounin took a long, deep breath. "Alright," he said warmly. "What do you want to talk about?"

Ino just looked up at him for a second, then started laughing slowly and crying at the same time but smiling through it all. Her eyes were so clear. "Naruto," she said shaking her head and leaning into him again. "Naruto…"

He reached and wrapped his arms around her as she curled up more into his lap, closing her eyes and sighing contentedly. They sat there in silence for a long time, Naruto slowly rocking back and forth as she rested her head against his chest. Neither one moved to get up or even cared as twilight clouds lethargically rolled in overhead and began sprinkling the forest with a warm drizzle of rain.

Naruto began humming a very soft, rolling melody, so quiet that even as he traced his lips along Ino's cheek she felt as though the source of the music was very far away. Even then, the melody, and the mere fact that it was Naruto humming it, made her warm and comfortable. The tune drifted up and down like the breeze as Naruto began to slowly add words until he was singing quietly to her in a deep, rich baritone.

The song was a poem Naruto had written a long time ago, even before the whole incident with the Sound Invasion and the Hyuuga Demon. He'd composed it back during his early days at the Ninja Academy and worked to slowly purify it ever since. Eventually it had changed from a story about a young and lonely traveler into an epic romance about mythical beings, and finally, Naruto added the melody he was now singing softly to the girl in his arms.

Ino's eyes began to drift shut and she looked up to Naruto again. "You're going to put me to sleep," she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek one more time, then settling back down into his embrace.

Naruto grinned. "Is that a bad thing?"

Ino shook her head just a little before closing her eyes again. "No, not really; as long as you're here when I wake up."

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I'll be here as long as you want me. Besides, this way maybe you can dream about me a little, you know, clean me up and have something a little better than reality for a while."

Ino smiled. "I like the real you best," she said. "I can't imagine you being any better… as long as I want you, eh?"

Naruto nodded.

"Bunker down then," she said quietly. "You just signed on for a really long haul; I mean one you're never going to get out of."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Naruto whispered, slowly resuming the lullaby.

Time passed very quietly as Ino's thoughts drifted closer and closer to sleep and Naruto's voice returned to a quiet humming. He looked up as he felt Kyuubi's presence slowly creeping back to the forefront of his mind.

**Kit**, said the Demon. **Just so we don't forget.**

Naruto looked to his left, still humming Ino's lullaby, and trained his eyes on the strange Maiban Gauntlet setting in the wet grass. He watched, and felt, a thin red stream of chakra coalesce among the blades of grass around him and slither towards the gauntlet.

The boy allowed Kyuubi total control over the chakra, granting him perfect technique and knowledge as the red stream twined around the strange metal. **There we are**, mumbled the demon. **This piece is very poorly preserved. It's covered in micro-fissures. I doubt she would have been able to use it as much more than a club… much less to its full potential.**

Naruto grinned as the chakra disappeared into the piece, and a second later it shattered with a loud crack that made Ino jump in his arms. All of the fingers snapped away from the central hub and broke into a dozen pieces each.

"What was that?" she muttered sleepily.

"Sorry," said Naruto, rocking her a bit more. "That was my fault…"

Ino nodded and curled back against Naruto as he stared at the utterly ruined shards of metal. Again, he began humming her lullaby.

SC

"What the Hell is it Shizune?" growled Tsunade, storming angrily towards the tent settled back in the woods. "I must have told you a dozen times or more that this is crucial. What could be so important that you'd pull me away from the front of the siege, Shizune? Kumo is weak and if we don't hit them again soon they may hole up again and it will take weeks to ferret them out."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," said Shizune, trying desperately to keep up with the Hokage as the angry woman stormed through the Leaf camp, passing by tents and resting soldiers and Ninja as she chased after her mistress carrying a small medical kit. "When the Crane showed up and told me to fetch you though I thought it best if I didn't keep them waiting."

"The Crane?" asked Tsunade, stopping in her tracks. Shizune nearly ran straight into the Hokage's armored back, but caught herself and took the brief pause to dab some thick ointment across a bleeding lesion just above Tsunade's brow. "What's the Crane doing here?" Tsunade raised her eyebrow in surprise.

"Don't do that," said the aide, smearing the ointment on the wound. "I don't know what they want. A man in a funny orange mask wearing the Crane's uniform arrived only a few minutes ago and told me to get you."

"Thank you, Shizune," said the Hokage, wiping the residue from the small trickle of blood from her face. She seemed brighter now. "I have a favor to ask, can you go and make to the second line of the siege and help the medics set up the operating equipment. This battle is going to be bloody and I want casualties as low as they can be."

"Of course," said Shizune, bowing and quickly disappearing, respecting that Tsunade needed to speak with the Crane official alone.

_Tobi,_ thought the Hokage. _It has been a long time since you paid a visit. What could you be doing here?_

Tsunade pushed open the flap to the pavilion and stepped inside. The room was dim as the thick cloth walls held out most of the evening light, and contained most of the pungent smoke of the fire burning in the center of the tent just beneath the small vent in the top of the pavilion. Next to the fire stood a tall man with an orange mask and baggy indistinct black clothes. The red, jagged lines spiking across his loose-fitting uniform almost seemed to shift in the dancing firelight.

"Tsunade-Sama," said Tobi, turning to the Hokage and bowing low. "It is good to see you again."

"Tobi," greeted the Hokage, smiling and inclining her head a bit. "What's it been? Three years I think."

Tobi straightened up and nodded. "About that," he answered. "It wasn't since Jiraiya convinced you to become Hokage that we've seen each other. I'm glad you accepted the position. I don't know where Konoha would be without you."

"We've yet to see how it will pan out… This war might not be over for a very long time with the way things are going here."

"I told you back then that you would be good for Konoha and I meant it," said the Crane officer. "And I'm telling you now that you'll see your troops through this battle. Trust me, things don't look good for Kumo."

"What's the news Tobi?" she asked, trying hard not to sound too rude. "It's nothing personal but I do have a battle to fight."

"Ah yes," said Tobi, reaching up, laughing once and scratching the back of his head. "I almost forgot. We've got very good news indeed. First of all, the Crane has been working very hard on several fronts and we've discovered the source of Orochimaru's funding. It was coming from a secretive group of S-Class Ninja called Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?" Tsunade almost gasped. "How did you find out about this? Konoha has been having trouble with them for years."

"Yes, if memory serves Uchiha Itachi is part of that organization and he paid Konoha a visit three years ago," said the mercenary. "It was actually Itachi's partner Kisame who tipped us off. But nonetheless, I personally with Akatsuki's leader, a man named Pein, and convinced him to cut off his support of Oto since the Sound was losing the war and it wouldn't look good to Konoha if Akatsuki supported Oto so heavily. Orochimaru's finances are officially frozen. On top of that we sent two of our lead assassins to eliminate Kaguya Kimimaro and Kabuto. Both missions were a complete success."

A wide grin broke across Tsunade's face and she crossed her arms, causing the metal plates of the Hokage's custom armor to clank quietly. "Wonderful," she said. "This ought to put pressure on that bastard. Tobi, thank you very much. I'm not sure how Konoha is ever going to repay the Crane for everything it has done for us."

"It's our job," said Tobi. "We've been hired to harass Orochimaru by both Konoha and an independent contractor. We're just Ninja doing what we're paid to do."

"Even so," said the Hokage, "after this is all over I'll see to it that you and your organization are well compensated. We can deal with Akatsuki after we're done with Orochimaru but for now, I need to oversee Kumo's siege. We're preparing to assault the village again and with any luck we'll break through this time."

Tobi stepped towards the door and pulled his black hood up over his head. "Allow me to come with you," he said as Tsunade turned to leave with him. "I brought my personal guard with me and we'd be happy to aid you however we can."

Tsunade smiled again. "If you're sure you don't have other duties to attend to," she said. "I would appreciate the help."

"I'll be beside you the whole way," said Tobi.


	50. Chapter 50 Homeward Journey

Homeward Journey

Naruto and Ino both woke early the next morning, an hour before sunrise. The rain had stopped sometime earlier that morning, leaving the whole landscape of the island, the parts the dueling Ninja hadn't reduced to a smoldering waste at least, fresh and green. At first the two of them simply sat in each other's arms and enjoyed the other's quiet company.

As so often happens though, they began to talk, and Naruto felt it was his responsibility to fill Ino in on the details to what exactly had transpired while she was Orochimaru's prisoner. He felt no threat in explaining exactly what had gone on, what he had done, and his motives even though he expected Ino to strongly disagree with his methods.

He told her about the highlights of his journeys with Jiraiya, about the recent politics among the villages and Tsunade becoming Hokage, how it seemed most of the world was at war, and about his promotion above the law. The Kage-Jounin even told Ino about his interactions and political maneuverings to attain his position, leaving out only the detail that he had orchestrated Kakashi's death to get Sakura where he wanted her. Naruto even went so far as to divulge his midnight escapades with Sakura to ensure her loyalty and his successful plan to raze Kiri.

_She deserves to know the truth,_ he told himself, _no matter what she'll think of me for it._

Throughout it all, Ino leaned quietly against him, and listened to every detail of the story. She was calm and collected throughout, but when Naruto mentioned sleeping with Sakura, she did stiffen just a bit despite her best efforts to remain tranquil. Naruto's arms tightened around her in response.

"I wanted you to know the whole truth," said Naruto. "You deserve to know everything that happened and that I trust you with all of this." It was the first time he'd ever been so completely, or near-completely honest with anyone.

Ino nodded once. "Thank you Naruto," she said evenly.

Naruto waited for her to respond, half expecting her to push away from him and try to leave. Surprise began to twinge all over him when Ino neither lashed out at him nor tried to stand up. Quite to the contrary, he felt her settle against him even more and breathed sigh that sounded almost happy... at the very least, relieved..

"Well…?" Naruto finally probed, unsure how to act. He'd been preparing himself to cope with her anger and possibly even revulsion.

"What's 'well?'" Ino asked.

"You're not mad?" Naruto's voice sounded surprised and almost childlike in tone.

Ino smiled to herself and leaned her head back on Naruto's shoulder. "How could I be?" she asked. "I just spent the last … however many years of my life in Hell and stuck in my own mind with a demon. Then the person I care about most in the world risks his life and saves me from it… how could I be angry with you Naruto?"

The Kage-Jounin breathed a sigh. "I just thought you might … I don't know. I've done some things most people would think are horrible."

"You told me about it," said Ino. "I didn't have to find out on my own or anything. You confessed to it all without me even asking, expecting me to be angry about it, and all because you thought I deserved to know… Naruto, that's the kind of trust most people only dream of having with someone."

Naruto didn't know what to say.

"I may not like what you did," said Ino, her voice was only a bit more stiff, but Naruto could sense that she was deadly serious now. "Let me be perfectly honest about that, and I hope that from now on things will be different. I can only hope you try to make things right, but still..." Her words softened again. "It means the world to me that you trust and respect me like that, especially after everything that's happened and how long we've been apart."

"That's part of it," Naruto smiled. "And don't worry. From now on there won't be any need for underhanded tricks... with our allies at least. Tsunade will force Kumo to surrender and then once we take out Orochimaru the war will be over and things can finally be the way they should be. We've come so far already nothing can stop us."

"You sure are a hero," said the Kunoichi, giggling.

"Despite my best efforts," muttered Naruto. "All this time I've been trying to do whatever I thought was right regardless of what it meant for everyone else…" he paused and looked down at Ino as she looked curiously up at him. "But that's all going to be different now," he smiled at her. "Once we both get back to Konoha, no, even now, everything is starting to change."

Ino nodded once. "I hope you're right," she said hesitantly. "Naruto… how do you think people will react when I come back with you?"

The Kage-Jounin grinned and chuckled quietly. "I have no idea," he said. "I'd imagine Sakura won't be too happy, and Tsunade will probably question your loyalty for a while, but what can any of them do about it?"

"I don't know," said the girl. "I just hope they don't try to court-martial you for this." She smiled meekly.

"I don't think they would," said Naruto. "I'll make it perfectly clear that you have my full confidence so the worst that can happen is they assign someone to watch you. It would probably be Shikamaru or some other head of ANBU."

"Ok…"

Naruto waited for a moment, then loosened his grip on her a little. "But, not to be rude," he said, "How about we go and reintroduce you to everyone?"

Ino smiled and stood up, then gave Naruto a hand to his feet. Neither one wanted to leave though and Naruto quickly pulled Ino back into his arms, a gesture she gladly and quickly returned. Both started to laugh, but didn't let go.

"I could get used to this," said Ino, feeling and enjoying the warmth that rolled off Naruto in waves.

"Me too," Naruto responded. "But we probably should get going."

"I know."

Neither one let go.

SC

Shikamaru shook his head. "I still don't like it," he muttered as they ran. "Naruto she was Orochimaru's agent. It's extremely likely she actively worked against, and killed dozens of Konoha's men. She is dangerous and I am not going to trust her."

"Which is exactly why I ordered my bodyguards to watch her," said Naruto. The water sped beneath both Ninja, and the other sixty members of Naruto's strike force as the whole group of Ninja moved in two columns over the sea separating the Water Country's territory from the mainland. "You know the three of them are trustworthy."

Naruto had been right. Shikamaru was not happy when Naruto and Ino greeted him at the designated assembly location a few miles south of the ruined village of Kiri. Trina, Alicia, and Karenna were far from pleased as well. Shikamaru even went so far as to ready to attack Ino, but Naruto positioned himself between the two, directly in Shikamaru's line of fire, and instantly the sisters had leapt on the Nara to defend Naruto.

While he was surprised at Shikamaru's uncharacteristic aggressiveness, Naruto was pleasantly reminded that this new Shikamaru was rabidly loyal to Konoha and would do anything, regardless of how self-destructive, to protect the village.

As the rest of the strike force successfully returned from the various villages and hamlets they'd been ordered to raze, Naruto explained to Shikamaru that Ino was free of the Demon; that he'd confronted it and destroyed it with a Yamanaka mind trick he'd learned years ago from Ino's mother, not all of his story was a lie. The ANBU Nin was hesitant, but with a little more prodding and explaining from Naruto, eventually relented. He was not however convinced that Ino was completely trustworthy, only that Naruto would defend her, effectively extending his immunity to Ino.

"That's the only reason I'm letting her come with us," muttered Shikamaru, glaring at Naruto with his one good eye. "And as soon as we get back to Konoha, I'm going to have her confined for the duration of the war."

"Fine," said Naruto. "But you're going to feel very silly once this is all over and you realize you detained someone who could have been a powerful ally."

Shikamaru was silent as they went, leading the pack. _So he's willing to let me confine her,_ Shikamaru noted as the daylight faded. _At least that shows he trust my judgment… or is he only saying that to gain my confidence so he can release her once we get back? No, if he were planning on using his rank to keep her freedom, he knows that would be enough for me to take my concerns to Tsunade and have him stripped of his privileges. He'd gain nothing by pulling rank and that would, as he sees it, relieve Konoha of one of its best chances at victory…_

Naruto stole a look at Shikamaru out of the corner of his eye. _Shikamaru,_ he thought. _I do hope you realize that I'm going to let you take Ino into custody, that I don't have a choice there but it's best if we keep you placated._ He looked back to Ino as she ran, surrounded by the sisters. The two blondes smiled at each other; Naruto had informed Ino that she was probably going to be escorted back to Konoha and watched once there. She was fine with it. _Sorry beautiful, but it will keep you safe until this is over if nothing else. Shikamaru is a smart guy. He knows what will happen if he lets anything happen to you._

_Speaking of Nara Shikamaru,_ Naruto thought again, _I can only hope he's perceiving my prudence as pride. If I can keep him thinking that I think I'm Konoha's best shot, it will keep him thinking I wouldn't do anything to endanger myself such as abusing my position… Of course it's all true but I just need him to either see, or think he sees it as true._

The large group of Ninja moved on faster as night slowly came over the sea. Naruto's orders had been to reach the border of the Fire Country by midnight and he wanted to be back in Konoha within a few hours of making landfall.

'A lofty goal' Shikamaru had called it, but Naruto knew his men were capable of making it in the allotted time; given that they were all eager to be home and the pace of their journey reflected it. There were to be no breaks or rest stops on the way home, saving the team hours of wasted time.

More than anything though, Naruto wanted to get back to Konoha and make sure that the inevitable confrontation between Sakura and Ino took place as quickly as possible, and with him there to make sure things went smoothly.

He knew full well that Ino would emerge from the conflict unscathed. The control she demonstrated during his revelations assured Naruto of that, but Sakura was another story. She was sure to degenerate into an emotional mess and pull out all the stops, trying everything to drive Ino off, or at the very least away from Naruto.

_I'll have to assure her that I still want her to be a part of my shining new world,_ Naruto thought. _But she has to come to realize on her own that she can't be the part she wants to be… I think we can manage that but the trick is going to be to make her content with her station long enough for her to do the job. Unfortunately, Sakura hasn't matured in the same way Ino has… Sakura's been feeding her fantasies while Ino has been completely woken from them. They make interesting foils of one another._

Naruto closed his eyes and let his movements become autonomous, just enjoying the silence as he tuned out the world and thought about Ino. The excitement of finally having her again was still fresh in his mind, making him feel invincible. _I finally did it,_ he mused. _She's back, and from here it's a short road to victory._

**Kit**, the voice rolled into Naruto's mind. **Are you awake?**

_Yes,_ Naruto mumbled mentally. _What is it Kyuubi?_

**I assumed you were but wasn't sure. I just thought that you're not busy with your vixen right now and you're going to be running over this sea for the next few hours. This would be a good opportunity to train a bit.**

Naruto nodded. _It would. So you'll take control of my body and make sure I don't go running into anything then?_

He felt Kyuubi growl the affirmative. **I'll let you know once we reach the shoreline and you can take control back then.**

Naruto sighed and quickly relaxed. The black walls of his consciousness gave way around him and he felt the cool shroud of his subconscious take shape. He opened his eyes and found himself in the infinite dark space surrounding Kyuubi's massive, birdcage of a pen.

"I'm getting good at this," said the blonde, reaching out and setting his hand on one of the huge cage's bar. "I can show up anywhere in here I'd like."

Kyuubi looked down at his guest from the confines of his cage shook his head once. **I'm so proud of you,** said the Demon sarcastically. **You've learned to navigate your own mind…**

"And I didn't even need a shrink," chuckled Naruto, putting his arms up behind his head and grinning as he grabbed his elbows, "just a life threatening confrontation with an incarnation of pure evil."

**You're a Ninja kit, it always takes a life-or-death situation to make you improve.**

Kyuubi shifted his head to one side and glanced at Naruto again with one big eye, leaning down as he did and pressing the side of his head up to the bars of the cage. Naruto dropped his arms to his side and looked at Kyuubi.

"What?" asked the Kage-Jounin.

**You really have changed considerably already,** said the Demon. **Not many of your human peers can tell, but I can feel it, like a weight so heavy has been lifted from your mind that even I can breathe a little more easily… You're more glad to have Ino back than you ever would have guessed.**

Naruto smiled._ So he can feel it too._

"Yeah," said the blond, pacing inside the bars and sitting down across from Kyuubi. "To be perfectly honest… I feel different." He laughed once. "I may not be an entirely new man, but I feel better: a bit less weighed down."

**You sound like a recovering addict,** Kyuubi chortled. **Does this mean then that we won't be slaughtering anymore villages?**

"Probably not," said Naruto. "Tsunade will take down Kumo and from there we can move against Oto and Orochimaru. After he's dead there will be no more need for mass slaughter."

**Pity,** said the Demon matter of factly. **Alas, but I suppose it's the way things must be… anyway. **

"Right. I suppose it's time to get back to the whole training thing."

**Yes. During our time apart I devised a few- interesting exercises you might find challenging.**

"Awww," teased Naruto. "You were thinking of me while I was gone."

Kyuubi's jaws snapped shut, not a foot from Naruto's left ear, throwing him off balance and making his hearing ring. **Don't push your luck. Now, we need to quickly gauge how much you've improved while I was gone: Chakra control first.**

SC

Kyuubi's exercises were taxing to say the least. Naruto felt the full brunt of the Demon's sadism in the mind-numbingly difficult tricks and feats he was forcing upon Naruto. While Kyuubi would lecture Naruto for hours and hours on random and seemingly trivial facts about old and long forgotten history or science, Naruto would be expected to hold a sphere of swirling chakra perfectly stable in the air a hundred yards ahead of him. Once the lecture was finished, Kyuubi would assign Naruto a task even more difficult, such as balancing upside down on his head and rotating himself around in a circle at a constant speed while Kyuubi quizzed him on the minutest details of the lecture.

Naruto began to curse how dramatically slow time could pass in his mind. By the time Kyuubi warned him that they were within a mile of the Fire Country's coast, more than a week had passed inside the confines of Naruto's subconscious, during which time he was allowed no reprieve. Kyuubi called the testing 'intensive' and said it was to properly measure what Naruto was now capable of. Naruto called the exercises something more obscene.

"So?" asked Naruto, letting the floating ball of energy in front of him dissipate. "Did I pass?"

Kyuubi shook his head, tossing his golden red hair around a bit. **There was no pass or fail. This was merely so I could determine what you're ready to learn and what you're capable of controlling.**

"And…?" Naruto probed.

**You've grown considerably, but there's no way for me to say exactly how much. If I had to place you I'd say you're about as skilled now as that Neji character was three years ago; of course you have much more power to draw on now than he did then and you're perhaps a bit more clever. You reserves of stamina are also much surer.**

"I'll take that," said Naruto, leaning back on his elbows and resting a bit. "Even three years ago Neji was someone to be reckoned with. Now," he looked up at the demon. "I have a few questions that I need you to answer."

Kyuubi shifted and sat up in an almost feline posture. **I make no promises** said the Demon.

Naruto paused for a moment. "While I was on my trip with Jiraiya, I didn't get many chances to do any research on the Maibans, but I did learn a little here and there if I got lucky, but you know a lot more than anyone else alive I'm betting."

Kyuubi nodded.

" What can you tell me about Uchiha Madara and the First Hokage?"

**There's a lot of history there, but they were connected to Maibu,** rumbled Kyuubi. **What do you want to know about them?**

"I read in an old text Sakura gave me that those two were the last two confirmed descendants of the Maiban Empire. Is that true?"

Kyuubi nodded. **It is. Their heritage is most of the explanation for their power. Madara, and all Uchiha for that matter, were descendants of the Maiban Warrior class, their Sharingan has fallen considerably from its former power but remains a testament to their ancestry. The First Hokage hailed from the Priestly Class, hence his control over Demons.**

Naruto thought for a moment. "What about the Namikaze?" he asked. "What about my father? The book also said there were rumors of the Namikaze Clan being Maiban."

Kyuubi hesitated.

"Jiraiya hinted at it a few times while I was training with him," said Naruto. "It wasn't hard to figure out. And why didn't you ever tell me any of this?"

**The Namikaze were the other half of the Warrior Class. They and the Uchiha were essentially there to check one another, but as the Empire crumbled and the Namikaze stretched themselves trying to hold everything together, the Uchiha grew proportionally more powerful and eventually rebelled. Their betrayal almost wiped out the Namikaze, and put the last nail in Maibu's coffin. The Empire fell apart too quickly though and the continent was plunged into chaos before the Uchiha could find all the Namikaze.**

**And I had planned on telling you all of this, including your lineage, but you severed contact before I could get to that point in our… schedule. There is a set pace at which you must learn if anything is to make sense. There was a great deal you didn't get to discover.**

Naruto hesitated, ignoring the demon's chidings. "So you're saying I'm essentially Maiban?"

Kyuubi nodded. **When those swords of yours activated for you it was all the assurance I needed. I already suspected you to be the Fourth's son, but I couldn't be sure. It was almost like fate delivered the punch-line to a cosmic joke when you wandered into that weapon shop. Maiban weapons will wake up for people not of their descent, but it's almost impossibly rare.**

"That also explains why my other sword chose Sasuke. It sensed he was an Uchiha… makes sense."

**And your vixen was possessed by that slug of a Demon, who could simply force the gauntlet to work for her. That probably explains the weapon's disrepair. Ino wasn't supposed to be the owner and the Demon's forcing it was likely what created all of the micro fissures.**

"This is a bit much, but a crash course is better than nothing," said Naruto. "But it's explaining quite a bit… how long do Maibans live?"

**Centuries at least,** said Kyuubi. **The five clans that made up the Maiban Empire were all ageless. They'd reach maturity and simply stop growing older. Of course they could still be killed by anything that could kill someone of lesser stature, but they would never grow old.**

"Impossible," said Naruto, standing up. "The first Hokage aged relatively normally. So did his brother."

**They weren't purebloods. The agelessness lies in heredity and both Hokage's Maiban ancestors had interbred with lesser people. Now I can be relatively sure that your father Minato was a pureblood as both his parents came from a secretive but warlike family that prided itself on its bloodline, but I don't know anything about your mother. If she was from the Whirlpool or Bird Country there's a chance of her being partially Maiban.**

Naruto grinned and began walking around. "That _is_ interesting. Now, does interbreeding with 'lesser people' completely cancel out the agelessness or just dilute it? Both the first and second Hokage's died at a pretty average age."

**They were incredibly diluted, regardless of whatever any book might tell you, but yes, interbreeding only dilutes the agelessness. Given your father's genealogy, you might live four or five hundred years if you don't get yourself killed. That was one reason I was so hated by everyone who knew about Maibu; your father was incredibly powerful for a human and he was a good leader **_**and**_** he had the potential to live forever… that hatred filtered down into everyone below the … more educated, anyway.**

**Now that Sasuke is the last Uchiha, their breeding doesn't matter as much, but as far as I know, Madara, their last real leader was also the last pureblooded Uchiha and since he didn't have children...**

Kyuubi looked up and sniffed the air. **You're approaching the coast now. The next time you come here I'll give you a brief bit of Maiban history and we can start the real training again though for now you had best return to yourself… there are Ninja ahead waiting to meet you and I can't tell where they're from. No trouble though. There are only two.**

Naruto rolled his head around, popping his neck and straightened himself up. "I'll see you later then."

He looked up and focused on the seemingly infinite ceiling and immediately felt his consciousness returning to the outside world. Naruto's world went black and he opened his eyes. Exactly as he had been hours ago, Naruto was sprinting along the surface of the water next to Shikamaru and leading the columns of Ninja. Ahead, maybe two hundred yards in front of the blond and standing on the sandy coastline, were two figures wearing black and red-striped cloaks.

SC

"Sakura-Sama sent us to intercept you sir," said the taller of the two Crane Ninja who had met Naruto on the beach. "She asked us to deliver this message personally."

Naruto's strike force had spread out on the coast and waited patiently as Naruto and Shikamaru spoke privately with the Crane operatives a few dozen yards away on the borders of the massive forest that made up most of the Fire Country. Ino was busy conversing and laughing with Naruto's three bodyguards.

"Are you sure this is correct?" asked Shikamaru incredulously, glancing down at the scroll the shorter of the operatives had handed him moments ago. "Kimimaro and Kabuto are really dead?"

The taller Crane Ninja nodded. "The Boss sent two of his best operatives after each one of them and sprung an ambush. Both missions were confirmed a success."

Naruto twitched but didn't speak, instead letting Shikamaru continue. His eyes were intense though.

"How can you be positive?" asked the shadow-Nin, narrowing his good eye.

The taller of the two agents, a good looking man with black hair and a clear complexion only grinned. "Sir, with all due respect," he said, "our men don't miss. Both of Orochimaru's top men are dead and permanently so."

"Where was Kimimaro when the Crane took him out?" asked Naruto, breaking in and crossing his arms.

"In Oto," said the shorter Crane Ninja, a man with a dark skin tone and brown eyes. "He was hiding in the Sound Village when we tracked him down and ambushed him."

Naruto grinned and nodded. "Very good," he said, even as Shikamaru looked away. "It's about time those bastards got what was coming to them… This should tip the balance in Konoha's favor even more."

The two Crane agents nodded agreement. "It was our thought that now might be a good time for you to discuss with the Steward the possibility of assaulting Orochimaru directly, now that he's under such extreme pressure."

Naruto's grin faded. "Possibly," he said his tone unchanging. He quickly replaced his smile. "I appreciate the news gentlemen. But I have a favor to ask of you."

"Name it Naruto-Sama," the taller toned.

Naruto pointed over his shoulder into the distant horizon on the sea. "My men are tired and anxious to be home," he said, "which is why I didn't want to ask any of them to do this, but I've heard reports of a small group of Kiri Survivors organizing on an island a few miles south of the Village of Matera. Could you two check it out for me while I continue back to Konoha?"

"Absolutely," said the taller of the two. "It's our pleasure to serve… If we find any survivors, we'll be sure to let you know."

"Get to it then," said Naruto, his voice wavering for only a second. Shikamaru looked up and glanced between Naruto and the visitors.

The two Ninja bowed and acknowledged the order, then took off running past all the troops, drawing the attention of the entire Strike Force before sprinting onto the sea's surface and turning away towards the distance.

"Naruto…?" probed Shikamaru, once he was sure they were out of earshot. "How did they know there would be survivors from Kiri?"

Naruto's smile disappeared and he turned to face Shikamaru, speaking very quietly. "I don't know," he answered. "My decision to raze the village was completely impromptu and that Crane Nin acted like it had been part of the game plan."

"Naruto… this seems a little, off."

The blond nodded. "They were far too willing to go and hunt for the survivors of a conflict they shouldn't know about. As far as the Crane should know, we only harassed Kiri's supply lines."

"Not that," said Shikamaru, stepping a little closer to the Kage-Jounin and holding the scroll out for him to take. "This," he pointed to the top of the scroll. "This message is dated from yesterday, and it says that Kimimaro and Kabuto were just killed 'today'. How in the world could the Crane kill two agents, especially two like Kimimaro and Kabuto, especially when Kimimaro is in Oto, and then get the messages from both Oto and Iwa to Konoha, then to us, all in under twenty-four hours? I never worked for the Crane, but you did. Are they really that good?"

Naruto shook his head. "No," he said. "They're fast, but they're not that fast. Even when Jiraiya and I were killing for them, we would make a hit outside Iwa and the news would have to go through two or three different channels before it got to any kind of authority. It was a delay-tactic security measure the Crane implemented to help them maintain secrecy and anonymity. If they took out two hits, even the assassin's superiors wouldn't know about it for between twelve and eighteen hours."

Shikamaru was silent for a moment. "This just feels wrong. What am I missing here?" he asked, not sure how to respond to the necrose feeling beginning to churn in his stomach.

"The same thing I am," said Naruto.

"Is this serious?" asked Shikamaru. "It may be that we're blowing things out of proportion a bit, but it seems like the Crane knew exactly what was going to happen long, according to you, days, before it happened. With something as unpredictable as an assassination of someone like Kimimaro involved, no one is that good."

"I know," said Naruto. "The Crane would never suspend their delayed security, and even if they did it would take weeks to inform all the agents. There's just no way they could have gotten this to us so quickly. I don't know what that means but it feels bad."

"And they acted like they were expecting you to have razed Kiri," said Shikamaru. "Sakura wouldn't have told them about that letter you sent her, would she?"

"She might have told them that I defeated the village, that will be common knowledge back home, but I asked her to keep under wraps just how many civilians were killed. There shouldn't be any reason for those Crane Ninja to suspect survivors would need a place to gather outside the village."

"Right, standard procedure is to leave a defeated village intact."

Naruto hesitated. "I don't like this," he said. Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "I don't know what to say other than this doesn't seem right."

"What should we do about it?" asked Shikamaru.

_He's not trying to snare me,_ Naruto thought, _Shikamaru is as rattled as I am._ "Play it by ear for now. When we get back to Konoha I'll see about sending a team, probably Jiraiya, myself and someone else to assassinate Orochimaru. This opportunity is too good to pass up, but I'm hesitant. Shikamaru, would you mind being a security measure for me?"

The Nara nodded. "What did you have in mind?"

"When we get back to Konoha and speak with Sakura I'm going to be all for attacking Oto directly. I'm going to demand we loose all our fury on them and wipe them off the map, and I want you to counter me. I want you to suggest to everyone that a Shadow Team, two or three at the most, be dispatched to take out Orochimaru. I'll argue and you'll say we don't need a repeat of the Kiri debacle."

Shikamaru nodded. "I can do that," he said. "You'll eventually relent and agree to a more covert attack. It would fit my mentality perfectly to suggest such a tactic, and that way no one from the Crane will suspect we don't trust them. I'll stay behind in Konoha and watch the Crane like a hawk. If there's even the slightest hint of trouble or foul play I'm ordering them to leave the village. It's not like we really need them with Orochimaru on such a desperate defensive and almost a third of our troops at home with more soon to be on the return from Kumo."

Naruto nodded. "I'll instruct Ino to help you however she can. Call me paranoid, but I'm not about to leave Konoha in the hands of a garrison of outsiders. I may have worked for the Crane, but my love for my village outweighs my trust of a bunch of vagabonds who fight for the highest bidder."

* * *

AN: Well we're all one chapter closer to the beginning of the end if you'll pardon the colloquialism. Just to bring everyone up to speed, I'm running a little behind where I'd like to be, but that is why I set my schedule roughly five weeks behind where I'd initially planned to be at this point, and I'm still ahead of schedule having just finalized the first few chapters of _The Akatsuki Wars._

Also if anyone is interested, I'm thinking about undertaking a rather ambitions project/experiment for which I would need between four and nine individual authors willing to write a single chapter for a larger story, incorporating their own unique voice and thought process into their work. Nine other authors would be the ideal, but I could make due with less if some were willing to write more. If you're interested in being part of the project and want more details, send me a PM and I'll get in contact with you.

This is Chapter 50 so please revew!


	51. Promise

Promise

"So this is it?" Ino asked quietly, standing with Naruto's arms wrapped around her.

The Kage-Jounin nodded once. "It's all going to be over soon. I will finish this for you, for me... for all of us, and then we can all have our happily ever after. That is, if Shikamaru could hurry things along."

Ino sighed. It was dark in the forest less than a mile from Konoha as Naruto's strike force waited for permission from Sakura to enter the village. Naruto had sent Shikamaru ahead to obtain that permission, though it was really just a formality at this point. Shikamaru's true purpose had been to ensure a meeting between the heads of the village without alerting Sakura to Ino's presence.

"Shikamaru has climbed quite a few ladders while I was gone," noted Ino. "You said he was head of ANBU now?"

"Something like that," Naruto nodded again, glancing around at his resting but weary troops. "He's quite a guy. For a while I was worried he might be trying to work against me" _Actually he was but that's not important now _"but he cares about Konoha more than anything else."

"What should I do while you're in Oto?" asked Ino. "If I'm not under house arrest?" She grinned and leaned into him a bit more.

Naruto thought for a moment before answering. "I won't be gone long, two days at most but I'm going to need someone to keep these hooligans," he nodded off towards the strike force, an almost affectionate tone permeating his words, "in check. Help Shikamaru keep things running smoothly. If he or Neji ask anything of you, make sure it's done as quickly as possible. Just help out however you can."

The whole forest stirred as Naruto's Ninja trained their attention on the lone figure springing into the small clearing they'd claimed. It was Shikamaru. He immediately ran to Naruto.

"Sakura granted us permission to move into the city," he said quickly, looking between Naruto and Ino, "and she's called a meeting of the highest ranked Ninja to discuss what moves we should make next."

Ino gulped once, but stood firm next to Naruto.

SC

"You're going to be fine," Naruto whispered to Ino as the two of them walked, hand in hand, down the exposed walkway several stories above the ground leading to the Stewards office. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and then turned back to his bodyguards, the three sisters. "You don't have to do this you know."

Trina shook her head and looked at Naruto with her crimson eyes. "Forget it Naruto-Sama. If you're going to move against Oto then we're going to come with you. We'll spearhead any effort you make." The other two sisters both nodded.

"Right," said Alicia. "We're yours to command, remember."

Karenna was, as always, impassive, but strangely more resolved than her usual self.

"I appreciate this," he said to all of them. "We're going to need all the firepower we can get at the front line when this goes down."

"Just remember," said Shikamaru from the head of the column of six Ninja, "We're going to need troops at home too in case Orochimaru launches a desperate offensive as a last effort. I'd almost rather they stayed here Naruto."

The Kage-Jounin shook his head, playing his part. "Shikamaru, we're going to need every spare Ninja to attack Oto, understand? I'm glad Trina, Karenna and Alicia are going to be tagging along."

Alicia grinned in solidarity, "We're behind Naruto-Sama all the way. It's almost a shame Ino-Chan can't come though too." The blonde girls smiled at each other. In the short trip back to Konoha, Ino had formed a fast bond of friendship with Naruto's guards.

_Not a damn chance, _thought Naruto. _I don't want her anywhere near any danger._

"We'll see," said Shikamaru, stopping in front of the only door on the walk with a shining lamp beside the curtained window. He knocked once and immediately the door opened. Jiraiya, a mountain of red and white, stood on the other side.

"Bout time you guys got here," said the Sanin. "We've been waiting for almost half an hour."

"Sorry," interrupted Naruto as Jiraiya opened the door all the way for them to enter, "I needed to make sure all of my men got accommodations for the night."

Shikamaru stepped over the threshold and into the office. Naruto felt Ino's pulse quicken in her fingertips, but held her hand firmly as he lead her through the door, followed quickly by the sisters.

The office hadn't changed much. It was still relatively small, wood paneled with shaded windows. It was darker now though, the only illumination came from the lamp on Sakura's desk. The pink haired Kunoichi sat smilingly in her leather backed office chair, waiting anxiously for Naruto to enter.

Sakura's grin widened as Naruto stepped over the threshold, but froze on her face the instant she saw who he led by the hand. She didn't grimace, but her grin became very, very forced.

"Glad to see everyone could make it," said Shikamaru, looking around. Besides the Steward and Jiraiya, Mito Gai, Chouji, and a man in a Crane Uniform wearing a strange orange mask were all waiting. "But we should probably get things underway as quickly as possible. There's much to discuss."

"Indeed," said Sakura loudly and venomously. She still wore a very fake smile. "As all of you know, two of Orochimaru's top agents are dead, and he's been forced on a defensive. All known Sound Troops are falling back to Oto to regroup but the Crane is doing a magnificent job confusing their communications and delaying their movements. Oto is almost unguarded. This is our chance to get in quickly and finish this before Orochimaru has a chance to get himself together and drag this war on any longer." She glared at Ino. "Although it seems he's lost more than just two of his best agents."

Every eye in the room turned to the Yamanaka Kunoichi.

"Ino," continued Sakura, "I'm surprised to see you've gotten back to us safe and unharmed."

Ino smiled accommodatingly, dumping a bucket of hot coals on Sakura's head. "So am I," she said. "I don't know how he pulled it off but somehow Naruto managed to destroy the demon entirely. He's pretty amazing like that. Now, if you're willing, I'd like to re-pledge my services to Konoha. I'll admit that I won't be able to tell you anything important that you don't already know," she was addressing the whole room now, "but nonetheless, I'm ready to do my part."

Sakura's glare deepened. Everyone in the room held their breath, knowing that, but not how much, venom was seething behind her eyes. "What could you possibly offer us that we don't already have?" the Steward glanced between Naruto and Ino. "Honestly I'd feel better if we had you confined until such a time as it can be determined beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're not going to turn on all of us."

"That can be arranged," Naruto broke in before anyone else could respond. "Sakura if it would make you feel better, Ino would have no problem being placed in protective custody for the duration of the war."

The room fell silent for a moment as everyone looked around, uncertain. Chouji, Gai, Jiraiya, and the others were all hesitant to step into a conversation they knew was personal, but none of them had the courage to try and steer the meeting back on the proper course.

Finally, Shikamaru spoke. "I'll look after her," he said quickly as Sakura was about to speak. _It will let me make sure she really is trustworthy._ "Sakura-Sama if it would put your mind at ease, I'll keep my eye on Miss Yamanaka until the war is over."

Sakura glared at the Nara, but Naruto spoke first. "No way Shikamaru," he said tersely. "I hate to change the subject, but right now we need to talk about what's going on with Orochimaru." Naruto watched from the corner of his eye as the Crane Ninja in the spiraled Orange mask turned to watch him. "He's off balance," continued Naruto, looking between Jiraiya and Sakura. "We need to hit him hard and we need to hit him now. With your permission Sakura, I'd like to take my men as well as a few dozen reinforcements and wipe Oto off the face of the map."

"I don't think-" Shikamaru tried to break in, but let Naruto cut him off.

"With me and Jiraiya and the Sisters at the lead," continued the Kage-Jounin, "maybe Shikamaru and Gai if the both of you are willing," he gestured to the ANBU head and the green Jounin, "I think we could take out Orochimaru and his entire army in one bloody day. We'd lose a sizeable portion of the troops we sent, but I think we could blast Oto into oblivion and end the war quickly."

"I agree with Naruto," said Gai, speaking for the first time and stepping forward. "If we hit Orochimaru super hard we can destroy him," the Jounin growled, clenching his fist in front of his face. Naruto hadn't noticed before but Gai's eyes were bloodshot. "It would be worth the loss if we could take the bastard down. Let's put a force together and leave tonight!"

Jiraiya stepped up next to Gai. "Don't let yourself get too emotional," said the Sanin carefully. "I know you're hurting about Lee and Tenten but you can't-"

"Don't talk about those two," Gai barked, whirling on Jiraiya. "We need to take out Orochimaru before he can do this to anyone else!"

"What happened to Tenten and Lee?" asked Ino and Naruto in unison.

"I said don't talk about them," growled Gai.

The room began to hum as several conversations broke out at once. Ino walked forward and asked again what happened to Lee and Tenten, while Jiraiya began to ready himself to restrain Gai who was cursing loudly and shouting that they had to go after Orochimaru. The Sisters were mumbling amongst themselves while Naruto and Shikamaru began to argue over what size of force to send.

_This is almost funny,_ thought Tobi from his spot in the corner. _This rabble should be all too easy to destroy once Naruto and Jiraiya leave for Oto in the morning._

"I said don't talk about them!" Gai yelled.

"We can't spare the men if you want the village to be safe," growled Shikamaru.

"And we can't destroy Oto without sparing the troops," Naruto retorted angrily. "Shikamaru pull your head out for a minute and think! This is our best chance!"

"It's too risky!"

"What happened to Lee and Tenten?" questioned Ino, her voice strained. "Are they alright, did something happen to them?"

"Shut up!" Gai barked.

"**Quiet**!" Sakura shouted. She stood up and clapped her hands loudly on the desk, filling the room with a loud crack as the mahogany surface split beneath her palms. Everyone immediately turned all their attention on the room-rattling voice. "All of you, shut the fuck up," yelled the Steward.

"Gai," she continued, still loud but not deafening, "get a grip. Lee and Tenten were killed in a Sound ambush the day before yesterday. You couldn't have saved them. I'm sorry but you need to move on," she said to the Jounin.

Gai was silent. He glared at Sakura angrily but didn't speak.

"Now," said the Steward, "this has gotten out of hand." She bit her lip for a second before continuing and took a breath to steady herself. "Gai is right though, we need to hit Orochimaru soon and as hard as we can, but Shikamaru also has a point. We can't be sure that Orochimaru doesn't have an ace in the hole so we can't empty the village out and go full steam ahead against him."

"Bullshit," barked Naruto. "We can-"

"Can it Naruto," said Shikamaru. "We need to act soon and standing around arguing isn't doing us any good; how about a compromise?"

"We need to wipe Oto out," said Naruto. "And to do that I need an army."

The rest of the room all looked between Naruto and Shikamaru.

"Not true," said Shikamaru. "We only need to kill Orochimaru, not destroy Oto. We don't need a repeat of what happened at Kiri."

"What happened at Kiri?" asked Jiraiya.

Naruto paused. "I… I attacked the village directly."

"Good job Naruto," said Gai, "bastards had it coming for allying themselves with Orochimaru."

"Gai," hissed Sakura. "Contain yourself…." She turned back to Shikamaru. "What are you suggesting?"

Shikamaru thought, or looked for a second like he was thinking. "Naruto, Gai, would it satisfy you both if we killed Orochimaru?"

"Of course," said the two Jounin together.

"Then let's do it with as little collateral damage as possible," continued the ANBU operative. "Let's send in a small team and assassinate the bastard. That way we can protect the village _and_ end the war. All we have to do is cut off the head of the snake, if you'll pardon the pun."

The room fell silent for a minute.

"That works for me," Gai said finally, his voice low. "As long as Orochimaru is dead I'll be hap- satisfied."

"Naruto?" asked Shikamaru, turning to the Kage-Jounin. "What do you think? We could send in a team of two, maybe three and get everything done quickly, quietly, and cleanly. We could catch Orochimaru off balance while he's trying to rebuild and it would all be over."

Naruto hesitated, looking between Ino, his bodyguards, and Sakura. Trina almost spoke up, wanting to suggest that they be allowed to accompany the assassins, but she decided it wasn't her place to offer advice in a setting like this. From the look on Karenna's and Alicia's faces, they had reached the same conclusion.

"Fine," said Naruto, his voice upset. "Shikamaru, you win, but who would you suggest actually tries to assassinate Orochimaru in his own village?"

Again, Shikamaru paused. "You and Jiraiya would be best for the job," he said to Naruto. "You both know how to infiltrate a city undetected, and together you'd be more than capable of getting to Orochimaru."

"What about the resurrected Fourth?" asked the Crane Ninja in a smooth voice from the corner of the room. Ino jumped as he spoke, and everyone turned to look at him. "My name's Tobi by the way," said the Ninja, "and I think you're all overlooking the fact that Orochimaru still has the Fourth."

"I can deal with him," said Jiraiya in a venomous tone. "It's my place anyway. I'll take out the Fourth."

"Fine," said Tobi shortly, crossing his arms. "But you'd probably kill yourself in the process which leaves Naruto alone against Orochimaru and Sasuke. Do you really think he could handle them both? My point is that you need to send more than two men. You'd be best advised to send an army frankly."

"We can't spare the men," said Shikamaru.

"But you have the Crane," said Tobi, eyeing the Nara Ninja warily. "What's to worry about? We can defend Konoha."

Shikamaru trembled once but didn't flinch.

"My guard can handle themselves," said Chouji stubbornly.

"Oh, Chouji-San," said Tobi. "I'd forgotten you were here."

"I've had nothing to say until now," said the Lieutenant. "But with all due respect, my men can keep Konoha safe without your interference. We don't need the Crane running things here."

"Your Steward seems to disagree," said Tobi. "And it's her call."

Chouji winced.

_Damn it,_ fretted the redhead silently. _Naruto looks like he's starting to get angry at all of this._ She glanced at Karenna. _Say something_, she wanted to implore her more influential sister,_ we have to go with Naruto-Sama._

"It's not that we don't trust the Crane," said Shikamaru placatingly. "I for one am glad to have them here, but we don't know what kind of surprises Orochimaru has in store. Maybe he's waiting for us to empty Konoha out to make it an easier target."

"Take us," said Trina, fed up and stepping up and gesturing to her sisters. "Together the three of us would be more than a match for any one Ninja, excepting Orochimaru, Jiraiya, or Naruto of course, but we could handle Sasuke which would leave it an even fight for Naruto and Orochimaru. We can at least level the playing field."

_Thank you,_ Shikamaru mentally gasped, not showing his anxiety. He didn't trust this Tobi, not at all.

Tobi didn't answer immediately. _It doesn't matter,_ he thought to himself. _It's all the same. Orochimaru is destroyed and so is Konoha. It doesn't matter how many troops they leave at home. In the end the Crane will overwhelm them anyway._

"That satisfies me," said Tobi casually. "I was only worried about Naruto. I suppose it's even possible that the five of you could catch the Fourth alone and overwhelm him, making Orochimaru that much more vulnerable."

Naruto nodded. "I don't like it," he said. "It's not how I want to fight, but it makes sense. Getting into Orochimaru's palace wouldn't be too difficult and even if we were discovered, we could fight our way in and though easily enough… alright, I'll say go for it. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, eleven am" interrupted Sakura. "Rest up but we need to get this moving before Orochimaru has the chance to recover. We need to end this war before anything can go wrong."

"Understood," everyone in the room acknowledged at once.

"Get some rest, all of you. Tobi, I appreciate everything you've done especially, but all of you get out for now," said Sakura, her voice suddenly exhausted. "But Naruto, Ino, you two stay…" her tone became icy cold.

The room emptied out quickly. Shikamaru and Jiraiya both patted Naruto on the back, the trio of Ninja wishing the others good luck in the fight to come, while the sisters, Chouji and Gai all left without a word, right behind Tobi.

"Sakura," said Naruto in a placating tone as the door shut behind Karenna with a quiet click. The Steward stood up and began walking around her desk. "Ino had nothing to do with this. It was all me."

"Bastard!" shouted the Kunoichi, lashing out like a viper and slamming her palm into Naruto's cheek.

The blond Ninja didn't even resist. He took the hit full on as Ino watched. Naruto jerked to the side with blow and his head knocked against the sharp corner a bookshelf. He felt the skin of his scalp split on the edge, though his head did far more damage, knocking a shelf loose and dropping a dozen books to the ground.

Ino took a deep breath, not wanting to be angry, but finding it difficult to stand by while Naruto was abused.

"You disloyal little shit," Sakura hissed. "This was your plan from the beginning wasn't it? You'd gain my trust and feed my insecurities until I was eating out of the palm of your hand." There were tears streaming down the sides of her face, leaving small trails of salt in their wake. "I'll bet you even lied about not remembering it was Ino who nearly killed you when Jiraiya found you. You probably even planned Kakashi's death didn't you! You've been hatching this scheme since then haven't you?"

"Before then actually," said Naruto standing up and rubbing his head. He was calm and glad Sakura was focusing on him rather than Ino. "I suspected Orochimaru brought Ino back ever since we knew he'd revived the Demon and the Fourth. It's just something he'd do to get to me."

Sakura only fumed for a minute, but broke down and began to hiccup out little sobs as the anger broke on her face, replaced by a weariness and despair. "I should have known this would happen," she fought back a sob, walking back around her desk and flopping down in the chair. "Naruto, you've changed." She wiped the tears from her face, making way for a fresh wave.

Naruto nodded but his breath caught. Her anger was easy to defend against but this…. "I'm sorry I hurt you," he said quietly as Ino took a step back and leaned against an undamaged bookshelf. "But I couldn't take the risk of you not backing me up."

Sakura sobbed and began to cry. "This isn't right, not at all," she groaned. "Naruto, how could you do this to anyone… much less me? Naruto, how could you treat anyone like they were less than human. I wouldn't treat a dog…" She cried again and dropped her elbows tiredly on the desk. "You're inhuman Naruto. You're a beastly _thing_. How could you?" She began to cry all the more, dropping her head on the desk.

"Sakura," said Ino, feeling a twinge of guilt. "Please try-"

"Don't, I don't want to hear a word from you, you slut," Sakura's anger flared again as she looked up. Her face was torn and hard, streaked with red lines and wet trails. "This is all your fault in the first place. It's both your faults! You're all working against me! Everyone is against me! Both of you!" She began to shriek, her voice tumbling up and down in hysterics. "Both of you _get the fuck out!_"

"Sakura," Naruto's voice was almost pleading as his heart thumped painfully in his chest.

"_OUT!_"

Ino took Naruto's hand in hers and nudged him gently for the door. He didn't resist and they quickly walked out onto the walkway again, shutting the door behind them just in time to contain the moans of pain within the room's thick walls.

"God, what did I do?" Naruto groaned, hearing Sakura's muffled, panic-stricken crying through the glass windows. "I never meant for it to be this bad."

Ino squeezed his hand. "This is what happens when you close your heart off," her voice wasn't judgmental though it was firm. "If you're heartless with anyone, even for a short time it is going to hurt them and it is going to hurt you when you realize just what you put them through."

Naruto took a deep breath. Seeing Sakura like that… "I'm never going to be able to make up for this," he muttered. "Not ever."

"No, you couldn't. You've broken her heart, Naruto" said Ino. Again, she was firm but understanding: loving. "But you're going to have to try and hope she can forgive you. First though, you're going to have to forgive yourself for what you've done to her."

Naruto closed his eyes.

"Puts a lot in perspective doesn't it?" Ino asked quietly, leaning against him.

He nodded. "I never could have planned for this. What was I thinking? I really am some kind of bastard."

Ino tightened her grip on him, nuzzling her face against his shoulder. "Do better, love" she said quietly. "You messed up, but you've got to use this to push yourself forward. Grow and learn."

Naruto groaned again, listening as Sakura's crying leveled out only a little. "You're not helping my pride here," he said to Ino.

Ino shook her head. "You're pride is what got you into this," she said gently. "Thinking you could get away with using people and hurting them without consequences, trying to convince yourself that you could close off a heart as big as yours; those are what got you into this. Naruto, you're pride doesn't need helping. You need to get over yourself."

"I'm so sorry," Naruto said quietly, feeling cold. "I should have seen. Ino, you shouldn't have to be telling me all this. I'm sorry."

"I love you Naruto," said the girl, turning and standing in front of him, looking up into his eyes. "Naruto, I love you so much I'm not afraid to tell you when you've seriously messed up, and that's why you'll never need to apologize to me. Just promise me you won't ever pull any stunts like this with Sakura or anyone again. You've got too beautiful of a heart to do this to yourself or anyone else. You're too good a person to resort to this."

Naruto nodded, a single tear slipping from the corner of his eye as he took a beleaguered breath. "It's never going to happen again," he mumbled. "I'll do whatever it takes to make this right."

"Naruto," whispered Ino, stepping forward and embracing him. "Don't let this destroy you. You're too good for that. You've got a good heart. Let's just work together to fix things, and I swear I'll help you however I can. But most importantly, you've got to _move on_… ok?"

He opened his eyes but didn't smile. "Right," he said. "I'll move on from this… Thank you Ino."

"That's what I'm here for" she said, taking his hand again as they began walking down the way towards the stairs. "It's my job to slap you upside the head sometimes, be the voice of reason others and love you through it all… but you've really got to rest up for tomorrow… Let's go Naruto."

He nodded, and kept walking, his mind churning. As they reached the edge of the stairs, Naruto nearly stepped out into thin air without thinking his mind was so preoccupied. Ino reached out quickly and steadied his arm as they went down. Every step made Naruto's chest feel a little lighter, even if the guilt was still very, very present. As they reached the ground, one thought burst into Naruto's mind, but he held it in, biting his tongue to keep from saying anything until he'd thought it out.

"Ino…" Naruto said quietly after they'd gone a few minutes in silence and reached the gate of the Hokage's complex, "before we go any further, I've got something to ask… I know it's hardly appropriate now but-" they both stopped. "Will you stay with me?" Naruto's heart skipped a beat. His whole frame went weak as the question left him. He knew she would know what he meant.

The Yamanaka girl grinned. She understood and it had made her mind tremble with excitement. Her heart had been waiting for just that question for so long now, since she'd first met Naruto it seemed to her now. "For as long as you'll have me," she echoed him, the words resounding in both their minds like world shaking bells.

Naruto smiled weakly but genuinely, truly exhausted now, and squeezed her hand. There was no question on either face. He would love her as long as he lived and she would never leave him. There had been no ring, no engagement, and no ceremony; nothing but two people who the world might call 'too young' …but there had been enough.

They'd both understood. They'd both agreed, and in a silent commitment, they'd both promised.

* * *

AN: I like that last scene. A little hoakey? Sure, maybe, but I feel like it got the point across relatively well. Hey thanks for reading everyone, and special thanks to all of you who review. Every review is great and helps me out with my writing.

And for those of you who responded to my project proposition last week, everything is on track and you should be getting material before Saturday. If anyone still wants to be a part of it all I'm keeping the door open and some material in reserve just in case. We can probably make it work with as many people as are onboard right now, but we can always use more imagination! Let me know if you're interested!

Thanks again and please review!


	52. Echoes

Echoes

Naruto collapsed into bed that night. He kicked out of his boots, threw his sword across the back of a chair, apologized to Ino for being such a terrible host, and fell straight into a very deep sleep on top of his comforter. Ino had watched him affectionately, trying to help him as he went, and gone about tidying up while he slept. There would be plenty of time for her to catch up on beauty rest later.

She took a quick shower, cleaned up the bathroom after herself, washed her clothes, and hung them up to dry. She borrowed one of the robes hanging in the bathroom that she guessed Naruto would never use, and slipped it on. By the time she crawled into bed next to him, it was almost three in the morning, and Ino drifted off to sleep herself, curled up in Naruto's arms after he'd turned to her in his sleep.

Naruto himself was resting peacefully in the confines of his mind. Taking full advantage of how minutes could be days inside Kyuubi's pen, Naruto dozed peacefully next to the giant fox, enjoying the ethereal warmth the massive animal gave off. To Naruto's spirit, the demonic chakra was more harmless than sunlight, but just as warm. More than two days passed in his mind before Naruto finally woke up and stretched.

"I was tired," mumbled the blond, looking around and scratching his head as he got to his feet, "really tired."

**Your body and mind were equally drained,** said the Demon. **I think destroying those human villages took more out of you than you realized. So did your interactions with that pink haired brat for that matter. Seeing her in such distress actually began draining the life out of you. I almost stepped in and told you to leave your response was so pronounced.**

"It did take a toll on me," Naruto mumbled, feeling the regret for his actions seeping back into his heart. _Ino is right… I'm going to have to put that behind me, and hope that Sakura can forgive me… it's all I can do._ "But that's all in the past now. We can deal with those consequences when we come to them. But... You promised you would give me a brief history of Maibu the next time I came here." Naruto prodded.

**I did,** Kyuubi nodded, straightening himself up. **But even the condensed version isn't incredibly short so listen carefully…**

Naruto settled in and prepared to listen, hoping the Demon wasn't going to quiz him.

**Thirty thousand years ago, **began the Demon grandly, like a lecturing professor proud of his knowledge,**my kind, twenty of us including myself, stumbled upon a method by which we could pass between our realm and yours. Without going into too much detail we learned that if we constructed ourselves a physical form out of our infinite energy we could no longer occupy our realm, Hell, which exists in a purely spiritual state,**

**The twenty of us, the most intelligent demons in Hell of which I was the eleventh in power, appeared at random locations in this world which was occupied by tribal groups of nomadic human families. Again, not to inundate you with details, but the humans wandered around in relatively peaceful family groups so when we arrived we quickly set about hunting them… they made wonderful sport those humans, always so good at hiding…**

**A few decades after we arrived and began hunting the humans, five of the nomadic tribes came together in an effort to find a way to fend us off. No one is quite sure how they did it and the secret's been lost for millennia, but somehow that group of two hundred humans discovered chakra. They uncovered the method to combine physical and spiritual energy to create a potent power source they thought they could use to fight us.**

Naruto looked up at Kyuubi quizzically. "Do you think they picked it up from you?" he asked as the Demon paused.

**That's my theory: human see, human do. But there are all kinds of theories among my kind. The long and short of it is that they learned and they learned fast. These five families went into hiding together and began experimenting. **

**Now remember, mortal life is in a constant state of decay. People and demons ten thousand years from now will be in a worse condition than they are today. It's just the way the universe on this plane works.**

"Right," Naruto interrupted. "Everything in a closed system breaks down, but what does-"

**If you'd let me finish,** barked Kyuubi. **All this is to say that humans millennia ago were much stronger than humans today and the same goes for demons. A Kage's abilities today would be laughed at by one of the original humans who discovered chakra, but even so, those first five families knew that for all their sudden power they were no match for even one demon. So, as humans often do, they got creative.**

**The families knew that demons had to come from somewhere and, by another furtive means that has been lost to history, they discovered how to summon demons from Hell. What's more, they reasoned that since they could combine spiritual and physical energy to produce something as potent as chakra, maybe they could combine spiritual and physical beings to equal effect.**

Naruto's jaw dropped open.

**Yes,** muttered Kyuubi seeing Naruto's reaction. **Now you're getting it. The families came together and began combining their physical essences with the spiritual essences of the summoned demons. The results were absolutely unprecedented. Out of nowhere a race of super-humans emerged. It took us completely by surprise when the humans, who by now had formed one large family they called Maibu, which literately means 'ascended,' attacked us head-on.**

**Granted, no one human was as powerful as a demon, but since we demons never worked together, we were solitary predators, the Maibans essentially had us outnumbered two hundred to one. They were ferocious fighters and over the course of the next few decades, they drove the eleven most powerful demons back into Hell by destroying their physical bodies.**

**The rest of us went into hiding. There's no shame in admitting it, but we were genuinely afraid of these demon-human hybrids, but at the same time we were fascinated by them. I especially was curious and while my inferiors, the other eight demons who came to be known as Biju, hid and cowered, I watched the humans.**

Naruto put up his hand to stop Kyuubi. "So you're telling me," said the Uzumaki, "That the Maibans, the Old Masters, were part demon? … _I'm_ part demon?"

Kyuubi nodded. **They combined their very essence with demonic energy. They became something not quite human, but not quite demon. They remained predominantly human because humans have both physical and spiritual energy. The summoned Demons had only spiritual energy, so the Maibans were technically one part demon and two parts human. This fascinated me.**

**The Maibans used their new found power to build a city and bring ordinary humans under their control. They became humanity's 'Master.' Within a century the Maibans had bread enough, keeping their bloodline separate from regular humans, to build an empire. There were hundreds of them and they rebuilt the world they'd nearly destroyed in their battle with the demons, allowing the ordinary humans to populate it and ruling over them like kings and queens.**

**Now the Maiban Empire stood for thousands and thousands of years, but that's not to say they were the unquestioned rulers of the world. Sometimes Demons would come from Hell to challenge them. Sometimes an Arch-Demon would come from the Nether and kill a few Maibans before they finally drove him back into the void, but nonetheless, the Maibans had a challenge on their hands trying to hold this plane of existence when Demons in Hell were beginning to lust after it.**

**The attacks from the Nether and from Hell were infrequent at first, but as time went on the Demons and Arch-Demons began coming more and more frequently. The Maibans just didn't have the numbers to hold off all the infinite spawn of Hell and the Nether.**

"Wait," Naruto interjected, much to Kyuubi's visible chagrin. "What exactly is the 'Nether'? What are Arch-Demons?"

**Kit, **Kyuubi growled. **Never- The Nether is just another realm of existence like Hell or this plane. Demons are dominant in Hell and Arch-Demons rule in the Nether. Arch-Demons are spiritual beings much like the Shinigami of this realm.**

**Anyway, that was when they made their fatal mistake,** continued the Demon before Naruto could interrupt any more.** The Maibans, in an effort to bolster their numbers began interbreeding with lesser humans. They would take for themselves veritable harems to try and breed armies. It worked for a while. The first and second generations of the lesser humans were extremely powerful and did their jobs well and held the Demons off. The Empire continued to grow and flourish for thousands of years. Up until only six thousand years ago things were looking well for the Empire. Their battles with the invaders would tear the realm apart but they rebuilt it with their knowledge and wisdom as easily as they destroyed it with their raw power.**

**But then things got bad. Demons began to work together to try and conquer the humans. Whereas they had been formidable enough as single entities, when the Maibans were faced with multiple enemies, things began to crumble.**

**In an act of desperation, the Maiban priestly class summoned a colossal Arch-Demon from the Nether for help. The Arch-Demon made a deal that he would erect impenetrable barriers around the whole world that would keep the planet safe from all but the Demons who were already on Earth, the Biju, in exchange for the souls of every pureblooded member of the priestly class.**

**The deal was struck, but the Empire was already doomed. You see, the five families who formed the Maibans became the five classes of the Empire. There was the priestly class, the two warrior classes, the scholarly class and the princely class, and they were all there to check one another, to ensure that no one family could rise up and control all the others.**

**The scholars were never really an issue, but two warrior classes held each other in line, and the priests and the princes were always working to keep the others honest. Without a strong priestly class to check the princes, opportunities arose that had never been there before and the Uchiha, one of the warrior classes, saw their chance to rise to the top.**

Naruto suddenly remembered what Kyuubi had told him about the Uchiha and the Namikaze being two sides of the warrior class. It made him wonder just what role the two families played in the empire's downfall.

**The Uchiha convinced the princely class, the Rinnigan, to seize ultimate power for themselves by wiping out the scholars and the other half of the warriors, the Namikaze. The Rinnigan launched a surprise attack that spanned the continent and slaughtered all but a handful of the scholarly class. Simultaneously the Uchiha struck out at the Namikaze.**

**The Namikaze however were by far the strongest class and the most honest and virtuous. But their virtue was their undoing and the Namikaze stretched themselves too thin. They tried to save the scholars and fight off the Uchiha **_**and**_** fend off the Rinnigan. **

**The Uchiha mostly won in the end. They hunted the overtaxed Namikaze to the brink of extinction, and completely dominated the now battered Rinnigan, but the victory was hollow. The Nine Biju, including myself, saw our chance and we took it.**

**We attacked the weakened Empire from every front and decimated them all. By now their greatest champions had all killed each other in traitorous wars and their blood was so diluted from interbreeding that they didn't stand a chance. We scattered them and the Maiban Empire which had stood for thousands and thousands of years collapsed into utter ruin.**

Naruto gawked. He had never heard anything like all of this outside of the small snips and clues he'd picked up from Kyuubi. "Wait," he said, standing up and pacing towards the Demon. "What about the last village of Maibu, the one that my sword came from? What happened to the Namikaze who survived and then the Uchiha and the Rinnigan? All this history just can't have been completely forgotten? Why didn't the Uchiha in Konoha ever talk about this and why didn't the Namikaze ever come forward with any of this?"

**I told you kit, **said Kyuubi. **The Empire completely collapsed into utter chaos. With the death of all the scholars and priests, Maiban history was cast into darkness. The only history besides what I know from my millennia of observation died with the victims of the Uchiha Rebellion. I doubt even your father's clan knew a tenth of what you've just learned.**

"But it doesn't make sense," Naruto said. "How does an Empire just collapse like this? Even with the Uchiha Rebellion it shouldn't have just happened like _that_" he snapped his fingers for emphasis.

**I'm giving you the condensed version kit, keep in mind that there are centuries of history and volumes worth of political maneuverings and details and nuances that we don't have time to discuss. Once this war is over and we have a few hundred years to talk about it I'll give you a much more detailed version, but you'd have to spend months of real time speaking with me in here for all of the details to come together…**

The blond shook his head. "Alright," Naruto muttered. "I don't like it, but I'll trust you on that. I do want to know the whole story though… eventually."

**Eventually,** Kyuubi agreed. **It's a story worth telling, but … as for the **_**Village**_** of Maibu, it was the last gasp of the defeated Empire. You see, a few of the surviving Namikaze and the watered-down priestly class didn't want to revert to the nomadic lifestyle the rest of the world had fallen back into, so they settled down in what's now the Bird Country and built a village.**

**They kept it secret and hidden, and kept some of the Maiban secrets, including the ability to seal lesser demons into weapons and armor, alive. That village lasted quite a while, even as the rest of the world degenerated and fell apart at the seams. The Uchiha became convinced the Namikaze were altogether extinct and forgot about them. The Uchiha Elders eventually died in battle and memories and history died with them.**

**Maibu branched out about two thousand years ago and founded another village in what's now the Whirlpool Country. That village is actually still around but it's more of a slum now…**

**About a thousand years ago three of the Biju, the eight, seven and five tails, found the Village of Maibu by accident and all at the same time… horrible luck really was all. They wiped it out and scattered the survivors. The survivors of the priestly class reformed their own clan and became nomads again, eventually meeting and warring off and on with the Uchiha until the founding of Konoha.**

"Wait," Naruto interrupted again. "You said Madara was the last pureblooded Uchiha. Well he was one of the founders of Konoha and the First Hokage killed him in a battle at the Valley of the End… How in the world could someone as… 'diluted' as you called him, beat a pureblood from the warrior class?"

**Regardless of what your history books tell you**, Kyuubi said impatiently. **Your First probably ambushed Madara and didn't give him a chance to fight back. He may have even been supplementing his power with summoned demons. That's really the only way he could have won. In a fair fight there would have been no contest.**

"And what about the Namikaze?" asked Naruto, his voice anxious and laced with curiosity.

**I'm getting there,** Kyuubi snapped. **So impatient… The Namikaze had fallen quite some ways from their former valorous status, despite the fact that most of them, or what seven or eight individuals made up most of them, remained purebloods. Those that survived the destruction of Maibu became vengeful and bitter. Their sense of valor had degenerated into a lust for glory and honor. Their strongest members would constantly be going off to fight Biju or some other such nonsense and get themselves killed. They chose to fight for no reason rather than try to repopulate their ranks. They nailed their own coffin shut.**

**Your father's parents were the first Namikaze in centuries to have their heads clear. They saw that the clan was destined for destruction and they got out. They left and went with their infant son, your father to Konoha.**

"My grandparents…" Naruto muttered.

**Yes, your grandparents… they were wise and thought like their ancestors did. The Namikaze clan collapsed in on itself in much the way the Maiban Empire did. They began to fight amongst themselves and eventually wiped themselves out. When your grandparents died of a strange illness in Konoha, it left your father as the last pureblooded Namikaze I know of. When he sacrificed himself to seal me into you, the last visible trace of the Maiban Empire disappeared with him… aside from you.**

Naruto was silent for a moment. Kyuubi had finished his story and the Uzumaki needed a moment to let it all sink in. "Thirty millennia of history in all of ten minutes," Naruto mumbled. "Quite a story, but now I've got more questions than ever… before that though, thank you Kyuubi."

**For?**

"-just for bringing me up to speed on everything. I know you don't have to do any of this and I appreciate it. But now," he said quickly before Kyuubi could launch into his usual dissertation of only helping Naruto because he had to for his own survival. "Why don't we get to work teaching me a few of those ancient jutsus you've mentioned?"

SC

"What time is it?" Ino mumbled sleepily, feeling Naruto stir beside her and noticing the rays of sunshine coming down the stairs and pouring into Naruto's bedroom.

"Just after ten forty," said Naruto quietly. "You've been sleeping like a rock."

Ino grinned and opened her eyes. Naruto's big blue ones stared back at her. "Don't you have to save the world or something in twenty minutes?" she asked. "You're going to be late if you're not careful."

Naruto shook his head. "I told you you've been sleeping like a rock," he said. "I got up two hours ago and got everything ready to go, then came back. It only takes five minutes to run to the West Gate ."

"Ah," Ino noted, only then catching that he'd changed into a jet black ANBU suit. "I'm glad you've thought this out then. Hmm, twenty minutes with Uzumaki Naruto," she mused playfully, only a little stung that she had so little time. "Not quite enough time to make up for the lack of a honeymoon," she joked.

"Once this is all over," he said, stroking her shoulder through the cotton robe, "I'll do things the right way. We'll put together a wedding and we can go wherever you want after some kind of-"

Ino pursed her lips and pressed a finger to his, cutting him off. "Naruto," she said, "we can skip the ceremony." She rubbed his calf through the rough material with her bare foot. "All we need is each other and all I want is you. Once this is all over and things are the way they're supposed to be, I'll let you take me wherever… and _whenever_ you want." She smiled seductively.

Naruto's stomach jumped. He wasn't used to this, but thought he liked it.

"Not all girls want some kind of fairy-tale wedding where they get to dress up in a huge white dress and walk down a flower-filled aisle," she continued. "Those are the kind of girls who want a huge palace all to themselves. Not all girls want _that kind_ of happily ever after."

"So what do you want if not a huge ring, a fluffy dress, and a story-book wedding?" asked Naruto, trying to maintain his composure. The tone suddenly permeating her voice was making his throat tight and his skin hot.

Ino grinned and moved in close to him, brushing his cheek with hers as she whispered in his ear, determined to make the most of every second he was here with her. "All I want is the knight in shining armor standing at the end of that aisle, but I'd prefer it if there were no aisle and no armor."

Naruto smiled and slid his hands up to her cheeks to pull her into a gentle kiss. "I think we could arrange that," he said.

Ino gladly moved with him and was only all too happy to let him slide on top of her as the kiss gradually deepened and the world around her exploded into stars. This was something very near what she had been waiting for. "I should hope so," she whispered back. "Now... about making it up to you..." She grinned again, ran her hands around through his hair, and pulled him in closer to her.

A familiar and well-missed lightning surged over every part of her he touched. Seconds blurred into minutes which passed by unnoticed. All of her world blurred together, five senses undulating and flowing together all at once as every feeling mixed with every sound of breath and every taste mixed with the smell of his skin and the touch of his kiss.

When he pushed her robe open Ino gasped. His warm hands traced over her cool, bare shoulders igniting a quivering surge that raced down into her chest, making her heart beat faster than she ever imagined possible. As Naruto's kiss lingered on the nape of her neck and began to trail downwards the storm of lightning in her chest intensified and sank deeper into her, growing into a fire that spread out all through her as Naruto became more and more ardent. She could feel that he was growing more confident, and it only made her want him more.

As Naruto shifted up again and kissed along her collar he slid his hands beneath the small of her back and pulled her up against him. Ino made no complaint and braced her hands against his shoulders, giving her leverage to press her pelvis up against his stomach. Naruto groaned, feeling the warmth rolling off her like a bonfire. The rosy tint spreading through her porcelain skin made him hungry.

She had just slid her hands under his ANBU shirt, pushing it up his torso till it had stopped at the base of his arms and begun trailing her fingers against his skin, when Naruto pulled back. His warm kiss lingered on the slope of her jaw for a moment before breaking off.

_Damn,_ she mentally sighed, opening her eyes and reading the hesitance on his face. He was torn between his dying to stay with her and doing what he knew had to be done. She glanced over at the clock; it was already ten minutes after eleven.

Ino smiled for him and sat up as he got off the bed. She closed her robe, more to make it easier for him to go than wanting to hide herself from him, and sighed. She was trying to sound content, hoping he couldn't tell she was craving more. "Go," she said warmly. "I'll be waiting when you get back."

Naruto nodded, whispering an 'I love you' as he left and took the stairs three at a time to leave before he couldn't.

Ino sighed again when she heard the rustling fabric of a small pack sliding over the muscled shoulders she'd been caressing not ten seconds ago. The door shut as Naruto left and Ino dropped back onto one of the pillows.

"I should've moved things a little faster," Ino grumbled, staring at the ceiling in annoyance. "We could have gotten at least a quickie in."

She pursed her lips to pout. She knew Naruto would win the fight to come. Even three years ago he had been almost absurdly powerful and the Ninja he was to travel with were almost as good as he, there weren't any doubts in her mind anymore, but that didn't alleviate the burning that had taken over her.

"Orochimaru, that bastard," Ino muttered genuinely irritated that she was going to have to wait. She crossed her ankles and pressed her hands down against her stomach then ran them down her thighs, squirming in hopes of a little alleviation. "I hope Naruto kicks his sorry ass extra hard for killing my high like that."

SC

No one told Naruto he was late. Jiraiya, the Sisters, and Shikamaru were all waiting silently at the Western Gate as business-as-almost-usual was underway in Konoha all around them. Jiraiya had traded in his usual red robes for a deep brown cloak and hood to match the forest, while the Sisters wore black ANBU suits like Naruto; their hair done up in tight buns to fit inside their hoods.

"We're ready whenever you are Naruto," said Jiraiya.

Naruto nodded and looked around at everyone, stopping at Shikamaru. "You're going to hold things down here, right?" he asked.

Shikamaru nodded. He'd gotten rid of the bloody bandage covering his missing eye, replacing the cloth with a much sturdier patch. "Don't worry about a thing," said the ANBU head. "You've got nothing to worry about."

"Ino knows that she's supposed to do whatever you tell her to, that is if you actually trust her not to burn the village down."

Shikamaru exhaled in a quiet hiss. "Good to know," he sighed, masking his honesty in incredulity. "I'll make sure to put her to wonderful use spying on our allies." His voice was ripe with a veil of sarcasm.

"Please do," Naruto turned to Jiraiya and the sisters as Shikamaru jogged back into the city. _Shikamaru can handle things here. If the Crane tries anything dirty he'll root them out._ "What's the plan, guys?" he asked, mostly to the Sanin.

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "We're keeping it simple, but there's been a slight change of plan," he said. "Sakura wants us to do some crippling damage to Oto just in case Orochimaru's death doesn't… discourage them enough. We're going to slip past Oto's net of spies… which shouldn't be hard now that Kabuto is dead, and infiltrate the village from five separate points and converge on Orochimaru's palace." He held up a small scroll, tightly rolled up and handed it to Naruto. "That's a copy of the layout of the complex our friend Tobi was kind enough to get for us."

Naruto managed to keep his gaze from narrowing. _How did Tobi get the schematic to Orochimaru's Palace?_ He wondered. _Shikamaru seemed more cooperative than even yesterday… is that because Jiraiya told him about Tobi's maps and he asked the same question?_

"The Sisters and I have our copies already marked out with how to get in," continued the Sanin. "It should be two hours before nightfall if we time it right, and as soon as we're in the village we leave a trail of destruction and chaos behind us as we break for the palace. Once we're in we make a hard cut straight for Orochimaru's laboratory on the bottom level. We kill him and the Fourth, get out, and get back to Konoha by sunrise tomorrow."

"Sounds good," Naruto said resolutely, ignoring the anxiety beginning to claw his stomach.

"After we're outside that gate," said Jiraiya, "it's total silence. We don't speak, we only move along our course. This is an unranked, off the record mission meaning we can't risk anyone, anyone outside of Konoha even thinking they might have overheard us discussing it. Clear?"

Naruto and the Sisters nodded. "Let's go," said Karenna.

Instantly the five Ninja took off like jaguars, sprinting in no discernable formation through the gate and out into the forest beyond Konoha. Their course ignored the road, cutting due north-east towards Oto. Quickly and silently, Naruto opened up the small scroll Jiraiya had given him, memorized the contents, and incinerated it in his palm with a blast of chakra.

Hours passed.

**Kit,** Kyuubi asked, seeping into Naruto's thoughts as they moved second by second and step by step towards Oto and Orochimaru. **Kit, this is it. Are you ready?**

Naruto grimaced, feeling the amber sword tied securely across his back gave him a sense of comfort. _As ready as I'll ever be Kyuubi,_ he thought. _But it feels kind of dreamy doesn't it? Everything coming to a head so quickly with almost no warning… _

**It's how war works,** said the Demon. **It's by nature a chaotic thing but it should all be over after this.**

_You don't seem too worried about me driving into the jaws of someone as powerful as Orochimaru. You're almost calm about it I think._

**This Jiraiya can handle the Fourth Hokage with your help, and these three Sisters are a deadly force. We both saw how… efficient they were in Kiri, and with as quickly as you've grown, I don't doubt that you can handle Orochimaru. It occurred to me that he's not really an immense threat by himself.**

Naruto nodded. _He may be a Sanin but he relies too heavily on his minions and his dirty tricks._

**Take away his demons and his agents,** said Kyuubi, **and he panics and begins his retreat. It speaks to his own personal weakness and cowardice more than anything.**

_We shouldn't underestimate him,_ thought Naruto, grinning,_ but at the same time, we have the Kyuubi-no-Yoko for god's sake and the legendary Sanin Jiraiya. He has Sasuke and the Fourth. Jiraiya and I will handle my father, the Sisters will be more than a match for Sasuke, and you and I, two on one will take out Orochimaru. The Sisters might even finish with Sasuke and help us. At worst this is a fair fight._

He felt Kyuubi nod. **More likely we have an insuperable edge.**

No one breather a word for the remainder of the Journey. As the team of Ninja crossed a small river serving as a section of the Fire Country's border with the Rice Country, the group split off, everyone taking a different path to approach the village from five different angles.

More hours passed.

Naruto's track was the most straight so he slowed his pace to allow the others to keep up on their own courses. His heart began to thump faster in his chest as realization gradually dawned on him that this was it. It was almost time for him to finally destroy Orochimaru.

As he broke out of the forest Naruto had to check his breathing to keep himself composed. Only a small, sunlit field full of rice separated him from the village of Sound. The town was larger than he'd anticipated. It could have fit into a space half the size of Konoha and the fact that if lacked a wall only made everything look that much more innocent.

Sticking out of the center of the village though, was the tall spire marking the central tower of Orochimaru's palace. It all seemed so surreal. There were no workers in the fields, and no one moving about in the village. It looked like a ghost town.

"This is it," Naruto hissed, summoning up a well of the demonic chakra. "This is the end!"

Naruto's muscles surged with energy and he propelled himself up and through the air towards the village. From his vantage point some fifty feet in the air he saw just how cleanly the city was laid out: a perfect grid of rectangular buildings like barracks… too easy.

The boy's eyes washed over with red and the whisker marks tore deeper into his cheeks as Naruto pointed one hand down at the village. He sailed over the building on the extreme edge of the village and fired.

A bloody bolt of chakra sizzled from his hand and slammed into the roof of one building like a burning wrecking ball. The building instantly exploded and hurled flaming shrapnel into the surrounding structures. Naruto aimed again and demolished another trio of houses as he passed the apex of his jump and began descending.

Screams filled the air as simultaneously four more buildings exploded into flame all over the village and alarm bells and sirens shrieked in the encroaching twilight.

Naruto landed, drawing his sword and rushing towards the center of the village. All around him Ninja in indistinct grey or green cloaks with masks, Orochimaru's pathetic copies no doubt, rushed from the buildings into the streets. From the other end of the village, Naruto heard Jiraiya's war cry.

"This is the end!" Naruto screamed, rushing forward and hacking one of the surprised Ninja in two with a swipe of his hand. "Orochimaru! I'm coming for you!"

* * *

AN: Well before I go any farther, let me say thanks very much to eeryone who signed on to be part of the project I put together. There is however one small hurdle that I did not forsee. My computer came down with a rather nasty bug (damn you 4chan) and I had to essentially wipe my computer down completely to avoid lengthy and painful processes. However, though I thought I'd backed everything important up, I'd left all of the files for the project on my computer by accident, thus deleting them. Don't worry, I'm quickly remaking all of them, but there will be a slight delay in plans, maybe another day or three(ish.)

Um, no real news on the story thus far other than I'm reworking _AW_'s opening chapter to be a bit lengthier and more developed. Thanks for reading this far and I really hope you'll review!


	53. Celestial Twilight

Celestial Twilight

Naruto raced through the Sound village, cutting, hacking, slashing, blasting and obliterating any enemy Ninja stupid enough to stand in his way. In a whirlwind of bloody chakra and fire Naruto tore through anything in his path. The demonic chakra around him boiled and frothed as he set buildings ablaze with a bolt of energy or demolished them altogether with a flick of his hand, exercising Kyuubi's power to a frightening extent.

The single tail of Kyuubi's energy thrashed about behind Naruto like a wrecking ball, tearing up the streets and smashing apart even the sturdiest looking structures as the fox guided it with his will.

_No time to demolish the village entirely,_ Naruto thought to himself as a Sound Ninja fled in terror from him. He didn't finish the retreating enemy. _I've got to get to the palace and hit Orochimaru directly._

Naruto looked up to get his bearings, surprised by just how much damage he'd already done. Every one of the barracks-like buildings within a hundred yards of the Kage-Jounin was either laying in utter ruin or quickly burning to that same point and belching sooty clouds of smoke into the air. Naruto grimaced, remembering Kiri, but spotted the spire and quickly ran for it, ignoring everything else in his path.

In an almost effortless bound Naruto jumped over the ten foot wall surrounding the palace and landed gracefully in a large, open courtyard of polished marble. He glanced around, his vision crystal clear and his hearing picking up every snap of every burning timber within the village. At the far end of the yard an oiled and shining wooden porch led up to a massive door made of oak set into the base of the palace and wrapped in steel bands.

"Naruto!" shouted a feminine voice.

He turned and saw the Sisters, without even a scratch, sprinting across the courtyard towards him. Alicia almost stumbled when he turned to her, fear etched in her face. It occurred to him that none of the Sisters had seen him using this much demonic chakra, but he didn't banish the aura but he did let it cool to a dim glow around his features.

"Where's Jirai-" Naruto began, cutting himself off as a section of the courtyard wall exploded in behind him with a thunderous crash and a spray of rock. "Never mind," he finished, seeing the cloaked Sanin sprint through the breach.

"Stop your chatting and get to work," shouted Jiraiya, running past them towards the door at the end of the courtyard.

Naruto and his guard instantly fell in behind the Sanin, but all five stopped at the base of the large porch as the heavy looking double-door opened up wide. Skidding to a stop, Naruto gasped as Sasuke, dressed in the same outfit he'd worn at the Valley of the End, stepped out onto the porch.

"Sasuke," barked Jiraiya, crouching down and readying to pounce. "Are you on our side or not!?"

"Whoa, hold it!" Sasuke said tersely, holding up his hands and stepping away from the door. "I'm here to help you."

Naruto glared at Sasuke for a moment, then turned to Jiraiya and the Sisters. "It's a clone," said the Jounin. "It's a long story but this is a clone sent by the free part of Sasuke's mind. I've met these before. Sasuke," he said, turning quickly to the shadow-clone. "What can you tell us? We don't have a whole lot of time."

Sasuke's clone shook his head. "No we don't, things are happening faster than I'd planned. I've been slowly freeing myself from Orochimaru's seal and if you'd waited another few hours I'd be able to help you directly. All I can do for now though is tell you where to find everyone."

"Out with it," said Jiraiya, "we need to get moving."

"Of course," said the clone as the five Leaf Ninja jumped up onto the porch. "Orochimaru and I are down in the basement labs. You're not going to meet any resistance from the cloned Ninja he's been throwing at you, but he's holed up pretty tight. I think he's trying to perform some kind of summoning, but I'm not sure what he's calling. I suggest you hurry to stop him before we all find out."

"Thanks Sasuke, we can find our way down there," said Naruto, "Don't worry, we're going to get you out of this mess."

Sasuke grinned and looked away. "I'd appreciate that," he said. "If you can draw most of Orochimaru's attention away from me, I should be able to break his hold on me long enough to help you against him."

Jiraiya walked forward. "We'll do what we can to help you Sasuke," he said, "but you need to tell me where the Fourth is. Is he here?"

Sasuke turned and looked over his shoulder through the open door to the palace. "He's waiting for you in there," said the Uchiha. "I'll hopefully see you all in a bit. Good luck everyone," said Sasuke's clone, disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Naruto felt the air around him chill. His father, the Fourth and greatest of Konoha's Hokages was all that stood between him and Orochimaru.

"If the Fourth is alone," said Trina, glancing between Naruto and Jiraiya, "then all five of us can hit him at once and we'll end it for sure."

"No," said Jiraiya, "you four go and stop Orochimaru. I'll handle Minato and join you as soon as I can." His voice was icy and stiff. "Make sure he can't complete whatever Sasuke was talking about."

Naruto grimaced. "The Fourth isn't going to just roll over and die," he said quietly. "You sure you can manage this?"

Jiraiya nodded curtly. "Let's get on with it," he grunted, crossing the threshold with the other four Leaf Ninja on his heels. Trina, Karenna, and Alicia all seemed strangely pale as they entered the lavishly decorated entryway, their padded boots thudding on the shining marble entryway.

Naruto swallowed hard. The wide, expansive hall was lit by chandeliers and lined with closed doors, and stairways leading up to a second level, but he knew that only one door would lead to down to the labs, to Orochimaru. That door was one level beneath this one, and the only stairway descending to reach it was at the end of this hall. Naruto could see it easily enough. It was guarded by Minato.

The broad passage terminated at the top of the ornate steps, all too inviting of a target, but Namikaze Minato stood in front of the first ivory step, his arms folded in front of his chest as he watched them enter. As Jiraiya neared, Minato stirred. He smiled and walked forward, dropping his hands to his sides and balling them into fists, making his leather gloves creak.

He wore the same white, flame-decorated cloak that had been his trademark in Konoha. His hair hadn't changed, still resembling a blond sea-urchin more than anything, and his piercing blue eyes scanned the intruders like they were old acquaintances.

"Jiraiya-Sensei," said Minato, swaggering up in front of the group and stopping in the center of their path, standing tall with an air of well-earned pride about him. "It's good to see you again; been a long time." He turned to the Sisters and grinned widely. "And here are three faces I thought I'd never see again. Girls, I haven't seen you since your days in the Academy… and Naruto," he turned to the Uzumaki, "Naruto, you've... grown up," he smiled wider, "that's all I can say. _And_ you've learned to use the Kyuubi's chakra just as I hoped." He glanced at the flickering red aura.

"Minato-Sama," said the Sisters, almost sheepishly, refusing to look at him. Alicia even inclined her head towards the Fourth.

"Father," Naruto acknowledged, his skin going cold despite the hazy red aura churning around him.

**Kit! **Kyuubi shouted, leaping in. **Now's your chance. Take him down.**

Naruto hesitated as Minato looked between the Sisters and Naruto, then turned to a very quiet Jiraiya. _I can't,_ he muttered to the Demon. _The whole way here I was preparing to fight him, but now that I'm actually here… I can't. _

**Naruto, now's not the time for sympathetic pacifism. Attack! Where is that ruthless cunning and mercilessness now that we could actually use it?! You're going soft.**

"Jiraiya, I would say I'm sorry it had to be this way, but... ... it might sound disingenuous," said the Fourth. "Now, I'm assuming you're all here to kill Orochimaru." Minato crouched down a little lower and instantly Jiraiya mirrored his pose. "That's something I can't allow."

_His mind belongs to Orochimaru now,_ Naruto told himself. _He's not Namikaze Minato. He's just one of Orochimaru's puppets._ The blond Ninja glanced over at the Sisters, each posed to fight, but utterly without any fire in their eyes. _They knew him somehow,_ Naruto guessed. _They must have known him while he was alive._

"Minato," said Jiraiya coldly, "you won't be able to stop us all."

"You're assuming I care," said the ex-Hokage, his voice deeper than before. His eyes were sparkling unnaturally blue and his hands had begun to glow. "At least I can weaken you enough for Orochimaru to finish this. More likely though-"

**Kit,** Kyuubi growled. **This Minato is not a pure-blooded Maiban anymore. I sense none of their power in him but he is still dangerous, obscenely so. Your teacher may require your help. Strike now!  
**

_Right… even if he could be saved he would never be my real father again._ Naruto clenched his teeth, but began drawing on more of the demonic chakra.

Minato's gaze snapped to Naruto and in an instant the Namikaze disappeared. Naruto gasped as the gloved fist stopped a mere inch from his face. Somewhere in the nanosecond since Minato vanished, Jiraiya had followed suit and caught Minato's wrist before he could land the hit on Naruto.

"Go!" shouted the Sanin, wrenching Minato down and throwing him off balance for the most infinitesimal second. Jiraiya spun faster than Naruto had ever seen him move and pressed his hands together in a frenzied series of seals. Minato turned to the Sanin, recovering his balance almost as soon as he'd lost it, and jumped back, cackling with blue chakra, his cloak whipping so fast around him it looked like a sheet of glass.

"Go!" Jiraiya repeated, throwing a swirling ball of black energy, howling like a gale, at Minato. The Namikaze dove to the side as the orb smashed into the tiled floor and sent a shockwave of blue chakra out in all directions, tearing up the tiles for several feet and splintering the wood paneled walls with a deafening crack. "He's out of your league!"

Naruto and the Sisters didn't hesitate. They dove for the stairs as Jiraiya and the Fourth charged each other again, colliding in mid air. Minato grabbed Jiraiya's wrist and whirled him in a circle through the air, smashing him into the ground. The four Leaf Ninjas leapt down the stairs and turned a corner. Trina threw open a door and waved Naruto and her sisters through, then slammed it behind herself.

Jiraiya only let his eyes dart to the stairs for a second, then turned back to Minato, who got up from the pile of what had been a table Jiraiya had thrown him against; the Fourth dusted himself down and looked at his old teacher.

"So I'm not the only one who has improved," said Minato.

"I've made a point to get a little stronger every day for the last fifteen years," said the Sanin.

Minato straightened up._ I'm not running at full strength,_ he mused. _Orochimaru may have reconstructed my body perfectly but he couldn't give me all of my old Maiban power. This battle between Jiraiya and I should be more evenly matched, although… I'll still have the advantage._

"Minato," Jiraiya said in a sigh. "What Orochimaru did to you is unforgivable…"

"Look at however you want," said the blond Ninja. "I don't really care. I serve him now even though he is a snivelling, cowardly weakling compared to either of us. It's just my purpose."

Jiraiya bit his lip. "Purpose… Purpose? You've utterly lost your free will," he said, standing up straight and throwing his brown cloak off his shoulders. Underneath was the same black armor Tsunade had worn to Suna: The Hokage's personal armor.

Minato raised an eyebrow. "I see you commissioned yourself a suit," he said guardedly. "So you anticipated dying here?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I didn't want to make this any easier for you than it had to be," said the older of the two, holding his hand in front of his face as a small orb of chakra, the Rasangen, coalesced in his hand.

SC

"It should be down this way," said Trina, leading the sprinting Leaf Ninja down a side passage.

"I don't want there to be any 'should be' about it Trina," said Karenna. "Get us there."

The four Ninja had gone immediately from the confrontation between Jiraiya and the Fourth towards the main stairwell that, according to Tobi's maps, would lead them down to the complex's labs. Following the well down hundreds of steps had left them in a world that might as well have been alien.

The empty hallway, several dozen floors beneath the surface, was devoid of any life or decoration. It was sheer concrete without a soul in sight, and freezing cold. Alicia's lips and fingertips were as blue as Karenna's icy lipstick and the Ninja could see their breath as plainly as though it were smoke.

"I don't like this," said Karenna. "Where are all the guards?"

"Don't complain. Sasuke said there wouldn't be any," said Naruto.

"And you trust him?" countered Karenna. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"I trust that he's doing whatever it takes to get free of Orochimaru and if that involves helping us then that's what he'll do. Here we go," said Naruto as they stopped in front of a large, iron plated door. "This should be the entrance to the labs according to the maps Tobi gave us. You all ready?"

The Sisters nodded and Naruto reached out, twisting the large handle and pulling open the door. A wave of arctic air slapped them all in the face as the door opened with a loud hiss. The air smelled much the same as the Village of Kiri on the night they slaughtered the town: like rotten corpses.

"What the hell is this?" Alicia whispered as Naruto pulled the door open fully and stepped inside.

"Orochimaru's cloning facility it looks like," said Naruto, stepping over the threshold and out onto the catwalk suspended a whole story above a massive chamber filled with rows upon rows of near-opaque glass pods. Inside each one was a lump of flesh about the size of a human fist. "This must be where he grows his armies."

"It certainly explains where he got all of those worthless Ninja he attacked Konoha with," said Trina, stepping forward and setting her hands on the railing. She looked out over the field of obscure glass. It was a maze "We're supposed to find Orochimaru in all of this when he's waiting in ambush for us…"

Naruto pointed a finger down into the room. With a shrieking crack a bolt of red chakra flew from his fingertip and smashed into one of the pods which exploded in a flash of glass shards and boiling water. The unrecognizable blob of tissue tumbled to the ground.

Trina jumped in surprise and turned to look at Naruto as he fired again, destroying another pod in an identical display. "Orders sir?" she asked.

"Flush him out," said Naruto as the red chakra bubbled up around him. "Destroy them all. Make sure none of this is left when we're done here but stay together. I'm not going to have anything happen to you."

The Sisters nodded and jumped in unison down to the lower level. Naruto watched for a moment as the three of them set about tearing open and incinerating the pods in numerous small explosions that sent splashes of boiling water everywhere.

"C'mon you bastard," he mumbled. "Where are you…"

Naruto set one hand on the railing and jumped over the edge. Landing crouched with a growl he flung out his arms and loosed a red shockwave of energy. The demonic chakra slammed into the containers all around him and shattered them open. Naruto twisted and roared, making a big production of it all to let Orochimaru know he was here for him. All around Naruto and the Sisters, pods shattered and spilled their fleshy contents to the ground as the team worked deeper into the laboratory.

He'd almost begun to think Orochimaru wasn't going to show, when Naruto caught a flicker of movement and stopped dead in his tracks. He'd lost it, but something had moved and it wasn't one of the Sisters.

Acting on instinct Naruto whirled around, wrenching the amber sword free of its sheath and throwing it up in defense. The air split with a howling gust and blue sparks exploded from the two swords as they met in midair. Naruto shoved forward, throwing Sasuke off balance and leapt back.

"Sorry Naruto," said Sasuke, gritting his teeth and starring at the blond through his Mangekyou Sharingan. "I don't have much of a choice yet." His whole body was trembling, struggling against the long and elaborate seal that covered him from his fingertips all the way to his neck.

"Where's Orochimaru?" growled Naruto.

"Here," said Sasuke, his voice strained. "He's here. Naruto, hurry up and finish him. I'm fighting as hard as I can but-"

Sasuke's Mangekyou spun and loosed a torrent of white fire straight for Naruto. Naruto charged forward, shouting and staving off the white fire with a massive blast of red chakra, parrying Sasuke's midnight weapon to the side and slamming his fist squarely into the Uchiha's jaw. Sasuke toppled back, but recovered and spun around, swinging the sword straight at Naruto's neck as the Uzumaki stepped forward.

Naruto caught the blade against his own and jumped in close, smashing his elbow into Sasuke's chest and spinning to kick Sasuke in the stomach. The Uchiha shot backwards and slammed into one of the concrete walls. To Naruto it was all too obvious that Sasuke was barely fighting. He was torn, trying desperately to regain the control of his body the seal had taken away.

Naruto stumbled as the floor shook and an explosion rumbled from deeper in the lab. Both Sasuke and Naruto turned towards the epicenter. "Orochimaru found your friends," said Sasuke, his limbs shaking as though he were having a seizure. He held one hand up in front of his face as Naruto looked back at him.

"Almost Naruto, I'm so close," he growled. He dropped his hand and looked at his long time friend resolutely. "Orochimaru's hold is breaking Naruto. Go! Please! Destroying Orochimaru is your number one priority but-"

"I'm getting you out of here Sasuke," Naruto interrupted. "As soon as Orochimaru is dead, we're going back to Konoha together."

Sasuke nodded and screwed his eyes shut. "Go!" he snarled.

SC

"You're getting slow old man," Minato sneered.

Minato vanished, darting around behind Jiraiya in the blink of an eye and slamming the Sanin between the shoulder blades with the heel of his boot. Jiraiya toppled into a wall, leaving a sizeable crack in the paneling and spun around, flinging a handful of kunai at the Fourth that all thudded harmlessly into a nearby portrait.

Jiraiya huffed, glaring at Minato who, aside from a few rips and tears in his cloak and a bleeding cut across his cheek, was virtually fine. Jiraiya on the other hand, was struggling to stand. The armor was dented and dinged all across his back and chest, scuffed from the several solid hits Minato had landed.

"I never did teach you to read your opponent well enough," the Sanin chuckled in a deep, strained laugh, wiping a thin trail of blood from his lip. "Anticipating the obvious solution never was fully within your grasp."

Minato looked incredulously at his old teacher. "It's obvious enough you don't have a chance against me," said the Fourth. "What could be more blatant than that?"

The ground beneath Minato exploded up in a flurry of stone splinters. A red toad the size of a man broke through the floor and hacked at him with a short wakizashi.

"Not enough!" Minato shouted, catching the sword between his thumb and index finger, jerking it from the toads hand and shoving it point first into its owner's forehead; the frog disappeared in a blast of white smoke. "You're-"

Jiraiya's knee slammed into Minato's chin, snapping his head back and knocking him off balance. In a flash the Sanin was right beside Minato, moving almost too fast for even Konoha's yellow flash to see. He grabbed his old student by the throat and thigh and smashed him over his knee, trying to break his back.

Before Minato could even scream Jiraiya had blurred through a series of hand seals and slapped his palm on Minato's chest and knocked him down to the ground. A slimy orange flesh raced from between Jiraiya's fingers and covered Minato in a second, gluing him to the floor and racing all through the hall. Within seconds the entire chamber was covered in the flesh, floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall.

Jiraiya jumped back, his eyes alight with new and fiery energy. _No way that was enough,_ fretted the Sanin, staring at the lump in the ground he knew was Minato. _Three celestial gates and a jutsu he knows how to get out of wouldn't finish him._ "Hey Minato," he shouted, seeing the lump stirring a bit. "You should stay down. The esophagus of a mountain toad suits you."

Minato leapt from the floor with a loud tear and a flash of blue chakra as he burst from the fleshy growth, covered in a thin veil of slime. "Sly devil!" he shouted, jumping back and landing with a squish. "Of course that's what you'd do, you suicidal dolt. It's the only way to beat me." He was almost laughing. "But now you're the one missing the obvious."

"There's no escape for you now Minato," shouted Jiraiya, holding his hands in the ram seal in front of his chest. Dark lines appeared beneath the Sanin's eyes that spread to form an intricate tattoo like design all over his face. Warts sprung up on his cheeks and chin and his nose bulged into an almost bulbous growth. "We're both dead now!"

"You just had to cross that line," muttered Minato. "Are you really willing to sacrifice yourself just for this, to kill a man who's already dead?"

Jiraiya nodded in fierce motion. "You're an abomination Minato. Orochimaru made you into a monster. Now to give Naruto even just chance to make all this right I'd die a thousand times over if I had to!"

"It might just come down to that!" Minato roared, charging forward, tearing up the slimy floor with every step. Jiraiya burst to one side, running in an inhumanly fast zigzag towards Minato with his hands crackling in a haze of blue chakra.

Minato vanished in a rush of air and Jiraiya did the same. They collided in midair, Jiraiya slamming his fist into Minato's defending forearm, then they vanished again and appeared on the opposite end of the hall less than a second later where Jiraiya was on the defensive, parrying off Minato's brutal Taijutsu.

Over and over they appeared and vanished, smashing into each other and colliding in a flurried tangle of chakra fueled fists and kicks. Jiraiya grabbed hold of Minato's leg and leapt into the air, spinning around and flung him into the floor. A wave of chakra rolled off the Sanin as he landed and clenched his eyes. As Minato sprung to his feet a reddish hue seeped into Jiraiya's exposed hands and face turning him pink then red, and finally deep scarlet.

As Minato charged again Jiraiya's pallid, pupil-less eyes burst open and he roared, shaking the palace. Minato pressed two fingers to his lips and blew a fountain of flame towards the Sanin, who didn't move out of the way.

The almost magma-like fire peeled away from Jiraiya like boiling paint, impacting an invisible dome of energy that surrounded the Sanin. The kunai and shuriken following immediately behind the flame rebounded as harmlessly as the fire from the shield of pure energy.

Taking less than a second to cross the hundred feet between them, Jiraiya appeared in front of Minato, a fully formed Rasangen screaming in his hand. "**Enough**!" Jiraiya roared through clenched teeth as another wave of chakra rolled off of his shoulders as he shoved the orb against Minato's chest.

Both figures rocketed towards the rear wall as Jiraiya drove them on, the Rasangen tearing into Minato the whole way until they slammed into the paneled wood and shattered it like balsa. The Rasangen exploded and a hurricane of miniscule blades went everywhere, slashing into both Minato and Jiraiya, skittering off of the metal armor.

Minato flew back through the destroyed wall and pulverized a huge cabinet full of dishes and china in the kitchen on the other side, disappearing under the debris. The Sanin didn't give him a second to recover, but slapped the ground with the heel of his hand, propelling a wave of invisible chakra throughout the kitchen and hall. The wave left the floor in its wake a sickly black muck into which everything not hung from a wall began to sink: Jiraiya's underworld Swamp, the most massive he'd ever created.

Jiraiya leapt back and perched like a crow on the banister of a staircase, watching with narrowed eyes the rubble of the ruined cabinet as it began sinking into the swamp. _If the maps are correct,_ Jiraiya though,_ Naruto and the Sisters should be far enough away and down far enough to avoid any trouble from this… They can use the emergency exit to get out._

The Sanin jerked around as some flash of movement behind him exploded in his peripheral vision. Minato had jumped from the swamp right behind him and whirled around, throwing a kick for Jiraiya's face.

Jiraiya jerked his hands up to block the blow but still took the brunt of the force and tumbled back up the stairs. Rolling to a stop, he looked at Minato in utter horror. The once beautiful man looked more deathly and evil than Jiraiya ever would have imagined him. His skin was the same burning red as the Sanin and his eyes were the same featureless white, though his features were stretched tight over his bones. He'd released seven of the locks.

"**You**'re not** the only one **who can** open Celestial Gates Jiraiya-**Sensei**,**" growled the Namikaze, his voice undulating with unrestrained energy and near infinite power. "You **just had to push** it to this **didn't you**?! **You just** had to **cross that line**!"

Before he could move or even think, Jiraiya found Minato's iron fingers locked around his throat. The ex-Hokage wrenched Jiraiya into the air and shook him like a rag doll, his grip crushing the Sanin's wind pipe and making his world spin.

"You **did this** Jiraiya, you **did this**," he hissed.

The Sanin kicked and struggled, sputtering to get out of the deathgrip, but nothing broke Minato's hold and the world was beginning to blacken already._ So it comes to it now,_ Jiraiya thought as he heard his larynx crack painlessly beneath Minato's fingers, consigning him certainly to death. _Seven Gates weren't enough… and now I'm dead anyway._

Jiraiya stared into Minato's molten eyes and snarled feraly. All he could feel was the sea of energy rolling through his body in searing tides. Already, even now on the brink of death, there was more power coursing in his veins than he's ever felt, breaking only on one last bulkhead. Jiraiya felt the Eighth Gate rip open and the energy coursed through his heart.

Everything stopped.

Minato's fingers stopped tightening and Jiraiya saw his world through a whole different spectrum, a vast array of countless new and indescribable colors as the Eighth Gate released his senses from any kind of mortal constraint. His mind was utterly clear and his every thought trained on the one new purpose he suddenly understood: destroying this abomination, this falsehood, this pathetic copy of a great man. Jiraiya understood perfectly. He'd been born for this, for these brief seconds, for his moment. For this brief instant in time, an eternity to Jiraiya who was suddenly timeless, the Sanin was nothing less than a god.

_So this is why they call them 'Celestial Gates'_ he thought, almost amused. _What a misnomer. Only the Eighth is truly celestial… heavenly…_ _godlike_.

Minato gasped as Jiraiya's eyes washed over with crimson and his skin changed instantly to a shade of black darker than the deepest pit of Hell. Jiraiya's steely hand locked around Minato's wrist, crushing the bones into powder even before he squeezed, and nearly tearing the Fourth's hand from his arm as his fingers tightened only the tiniest bit.

The Sanin wrenched Minato's arm from its socket, ripping the limb cleanly away from his body even before his heart could beat to pump the blood through the wound. He tried to speak as he easily pushed the fingers of his free hand into Minato's chest, to tell the Fourth it was truly over for him and that he was not Namikaze Minato, but only a twisted and weak copy. The words wouldn't come.

_Of course,_ thought Jiraiya watching the frozen terror on the posing Minato's face for what, to him, seemed like hours. _I'm dying,_ he laughed in his mind. _I forgot my windpipe is crushed. Of course I can't speak… It's been so long since I thought about it. Ah well, to business now._

Through his new and perfect eyes, eyes that saw everything, Jiraiya looked curiously at his enemy. He could see the entire spectrum of light; radio waves humming through the air like tiny pulses in the wind, ultra-violet light like a thin sheen of sunlight around everything, and gamma rays beating out of the sun and punching through the wooden walls like a phantasmal mist, he could see it all.

Jiraiya nearly gasped when he looked through Minato, not only past, but through him, and saw hanging in the air what looked like a fabric of the tightest weave, laying layer on layer on layer from the ground to the sky. It bent around every object, every splinter of every piece of shattered furniture. Jiraiya could _see_ the very fabric of space-time, the very weave of the universe right before his eyes, laid open like a book.

He could see just how false Minato had become. It was indeed the Fourth's soul, but Minato was not himself. His soul was no longer his own. It belonged to Orochimaru now. He had sealed it as his own, and it pained Jiraiya to see it.

_At least Ino is free,_ thought the god. _Orochimaru never sealed her soul. She is hers and she is Naruto's… This is it then…_

With little more than a thought, Jiraiya loosed such a wave of chakra from only the tips of his fingers that the surface of the swamp burst into fire and the fleshy growth all over the walls shook and cooked in the blast, turning black and sooty in the sudden and invisible wave of infernal heat.

The resurrected Fourth disappeared instantly; vanishing into less than dust, less than soot as the heavenly energy ripped him apart on a subatomic level.

Jiraiya stood there on the stairs a moment, an eternity, longer and watched the fire spread from the surface of the swamp up the walls as the cooked frog throat fell away and splashed down into the muck. The black faded from his skin, though his eyes remained red, stained by the blood vessels that had ruptured, and he fell backwards onto the ivory steps. Not one muscle in his body was moving or even working. They'd all been completely ripped apart by the Eighth Gate.

The Sanin rolled down the stairs and splashed into his own swamp, completely unaware of the fire licking at the edges of his face or encroaching on his armor. He quickly sank beneath the surface and the light instantly faded. The fires left him alone, unable to follow him down as the swamp consumed its master.

_So it's up to the next generation to correct all of the sins from the last one,_ thought the Sanin as his lungs collapsed. He felt no pain, most of his nerve endings had been destroyed, but was completely aware of his body shutting down as the Oto Palace burned down above him. He was blind but could feel it as rafters and beams fell from the ceiling and splashed into the swamp. _At least mine isn't going out quietly_.

Then another thought occurred to him as the darkness wrapping around mind became more and more total. It leapt to the forefront of his mind almost randomly, like an epiphany, but in his mind it made perfect sense to think about it now.

_Naruto is going to be the one to lead this generation into a shining new place. He will, he will… I know he will. He will._

Jiraiya smiled, and died.

* * *

AN: Alright, I'm sort of exhausted lol. Again, to everyone who signed on to help with the Resident Evil project, thanks very much. I finally recovered all of the materials and got the ball rolling after a rather unfortunate incident which shall henceforth never be mentioned ever again. Anyway, ... (no easy way to say it) I need everyone who said they would participate to send me a pm or an email containing an address to which I could send the materials necessary for them to actually get this underway. That would be extremely helpful.

As to _The Gambit_, I really struggled with whether or not I wanted to keep the original ending to this chapter the way it was. Initially my plan had been to have Jiraiya survive and see things through to the end, but then it struck me that to do so and let Jiraiya see how everything played out would virtually destroy the theme behind the theme that I've been trying to write into this and which will become much more prominent in Book 3. Here's hoping you enjoyed and that everyone will review, yes, even you there in the pink shirt.

Thanks again for all of your help and input!


	54. Last Ditch Effort

AN: Well here we are again, so near the end of something and so close to the beginning of something new. In case one has not been reading the author's notes up to this point, this is the second to last chapter in Book Two. Next Wednesday I'll be posting the final chapter in this story and taking a spectacle through November and December to put the final polishing touches on Book Three, the first chapter of which will be released early in January.

Thanks for reading this far all and please please review!

* * *

Last Ditch Effort

"_Karenna_!" Trina shouted at the top of her lungs.

Blood was drizzling out of the corner of the Kunoichi's mouth, washing her blue lipstick away as the monstrously long snake literately squeezed the life out of her. Karenna was fighting, struggling to free her hands but the serpent, one of two basilisk-like monstrosities Orochimaru had summoned, had her bound firmly in its coils. She tried to growl at the snake but her energy was draining too quickly.

Karenna's sisters were in no position to help her. Alicia and Trina had their hands more than full just trying to defend themselves from Orochimaru. The Sanin was ducking and weaving among the rows of cloning pods, bursting out from around corners to fling a venomous projectile towards the two sisters, or hack at the with the Kusanagi.

The task had fallen to Karenna to defeat the two serpents mostly out of circumstance. Orochimaru had summoned them for aid and the snakes had gotten between Alicia and Trina and Karenna with Orochimaru nearest Alicia and Trina. Karenna had pulled out all the stops, locking the snakes in her most potent Genjutsus and hammering them with the most brutal attacks she knew, but the serpents proved resilient to any chakra based attacks, rendering Genjutsu a waste of energy. Their scaly skin as well was harder than steel and served as a nearly impregnable defense.

She had finally killed one by grabbing its jaws and wrenching its lower maw completely free of its skull. As the doomed snake vanished in a spray of smoke the second rushed up behind Karenna and lashed around her like a bullwhip, locking her arms at her sides.

_Bastard_, thought the Kunoichi, her head rolling back as her mouth dropped open. She hadn't been able to breathe for too long. She was for all intents and purposes, on her own and dying. Her mind was spinning. _No air, no air,_ was all she could think even as the snake's deathly embrace began to crush her skeleton in on itself.

"Karenna!" Naruto heard Alicia cry out as he leapt up onto one of the pods to get a better view.

He saw Trina and Alicia dueling with Orochimaru and ostensibly holding their own. Orochimaru must have been nearing the end of his stolen body's life. His skin was a sickly white, and his face was racked with strain and stress as he fought with Kusanagi skillfully, but his movements were jerky, as though he was struggling to keep his balance. Naruto could tell the Sanin wasn't fighting at full capacity, this was his chance.

_All I have to do is sweep in from behind,_ thought Naruto.

**And rip him apart with a bit of my help, **Kyuubi finished Naruto's thought. **Go, we mightn't get a chance like this again, kit.**

_Right,_ Naruto thought, sheathing his sword and pressing his hands together. Excitement was welling up in his chest, but suddenly disappeared, replaced with dread. _Where's Karenna?_ Naruto jerked around, looking for the other member of his team.

**Focus on Orochimaru kit,** growled Kyuubi.

_Shit!_ Naruto mentally barked, spotting Karenna and the snake killing her. _I've got to-_

**They're on the other side of the lab,** hissed the Demon as Orochimaru began to pick up speed and press his attack on the other two sisters. **Attack now or we'll lose our chance to end this quickly.**

Naruto's eyes darted between Orochimaru and Karenna half a dozen times over the next second. His mind was a roar.

**This is what we came here to do. This is what you came here to do. The vixen knew the risks. Attack now before Orochimaru has a chance to level the odds in his favor. You don't know what tricks he has yet to use.**

A bead of sweat broke out on Naruto's forehead. He looked at Orochimaru and saw that indeed the Sanin was forcing Alicia and Trina on the defensive. Orochimaru had sprouted snakes from the fingers of his left hand and coiled them around Trina's throat, trying to strangle her as he jabbed at Alicia with his wickedly sharp sword.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered, his voice straining as he looked away from Karenna as her eyes rolled back in her head. "The mission has to come first."

Naruto jumped down to the ground and dashed towards Orochimaru and the other two Sisters. _I have to kill Orochimaru, I have to kill Orochimaru, I have to kill Orochimaru._ Naruto was screaming the words in his mind.

**Kill him before he can even the odds**, Kyuubi instructed. **You must.**

A single tear dripped from the corner of Naruto's eye. His mind flashed with the image of Karenna laying helpless on the floor, the constrictor crushing her, and Naruto froze in his step. Karenna's face disappeared from his mind's eye, replaced by an image of Kakashi, laying dead on the rooftop where he'd dueled Kimimaro.

_I just let him die,_ Naruto spun on his heel and tore in the opposite direction. _I'm not going to let that happen ever again!_

**KIT, **screamed the Demon. **Don't be a fool. Orochimaru is a greater threat than losing one warrior. He wouldn't provide you the same courtesy you're giving him.**

"_I won't become that monster,_" Naruto hissed, jumping over the row of broken pods separating him from the Kunoichi and landing only a few feet to Karenna's left. She didn't, couldn't, turn to look at him. He spun around, drawing his golden sword and hacking ferociously at the snake.

In a jerking motion the snake turned its head to see what was happening, just as Naruto's blade crushed down on its skull. The Maiban weapon split the snake's head open like an over ripened fruit and the beast disappeared in an instantaneous puff of smoke, dropping Karenna to the ground with a quiet thud.

_Shit_, Naruto cursed, dropping to his knees by the unmoving Kunoichi. Half panic stricken Naruto bent down and pressed his ear to her chest. _Why did I wait so long_, he berated himself, hearing the faint but erratic beat of her heart.

**Now we've wasted even more time**, Kyuubi broke in. **This is becoming more dangerous Naruto.**

"Shut the fuck up and save her," barked Naruto, setting his hands on Karenna's shoulders. "Heal her the same way you heal me."

**It doesn't work that way,** answered the Demon. **You're partly Maiban. You're dozens of times more resistant to my chakra than any normal human. The only reason my chakra heals you is because your body responds to the healing treatment and ignores the toxic side of me.**

"I don't care," said Naruto. "She's dying and I'm not going to sit on my hands and do nothing. Just get her breathing again if nothing else!"

**Fine,** said the fox, exasperated.

Naruto felt and watched as a faint haze of demonic chakra eked from his fingertips and seeped into Karenna's body. He held his breath as a second passed and nothing happened. He could feel her pulse weakening.

_Kyuubi_, he pleaded. _Please. I can't let this happen, not on my watch, not again._

Naruto jerked back and stumbled onto his hands and hindquarters as Karenna's chest lurched and she gasped in a huge breath of air. The Kunoichi turned on her side away from Naruto and heaved in another breath, then gagged once and vomited up what little she had in her stomach.

**My chakra made her ill,** Kyuubi stated flatly. ** She doesn't have your natural resistance.**

"Karenna," Naruto panted as she rolled back onto her back and began breathing deeply. "Karenna, how badly are you hurt?"

The Kunoichi rolled her head and looked at Naruto with a very faint grin. "I'd be a lot worse if not for you," she said, her voice mirroring her smile. "Thank you, Naruto-Sama."

Naruto nodded, but jumped up by reflex before he could say anything. A loud hiss filled the air as another snake, no less than fifty feet long, slithered out from behind one of the rows of cloning pods. The animal looked at Naruto, then opened its mouth and stretched its jaws unfolding a row of viciously sharp, arm-length fangs.

"Orochimaru has too many pets," mumbled Naruto.

SC

Alicia meeped and dodged to the side as Orochimaru swung for her with the Kusanagi. The Sanin was darting about like a hornet trying to catch up with the Kunoichi, but could only move so fast. The snakes growing from the fingers of his left hand were coiled taught around Trina's neck, but the redhead had managed to work her hand between the snakes and her throat, giving her room to breathe.

"Fuck this," Trina groaned, clenching her free right hand.

Trina gasped in pain as a black-steel blade tore out of her right wrist, erupting from her skin with a painful tear and a small spray of blood, extending to a length of almost thirty centimeters.

She hacked the blade at the snakes, severing them like tight strings and stumbled back, rubbing the red marks the serpents had left across her neck. Orochimaru turned as the snakes fell useless from his hand to the floor, ignoring Alicia for the briefest second.

Alicia leapt at Orochimaru from behind, her hands crackling with blue flame. "Time to-" she yelled, stopping as Orochimaru spun, his attack already launched. Alicia barely had time to gasp as the huge ball of concrete sheered away from the floor barreled up, slamming into her like a cannon ball and sending Alicia reeling through the air. The Sanin jumped up and caught Alicia by the ankle just as Trina rushed at him from his exposed flank.

In a blinding spin Orochimaru ripped Alicia through the air and clubbed her into Trina, sending both Kunoichi smashing into the ground. Even as his fingers finished fully releasing his opponent Orochimaru had completed yet another jutsu and pressed one hand to his pale lips. A wall of oil sprayed from between his clenched teeth like an unfolding fan and drenched the ground as the Kunoichi landed and slid back on the slippery surface.

"Kakashi had nothing on me," Orochimaru droned, clapping his hands once.

The oil stirred and jetted up, taking the shape of skeletal hands and arms, grabbing hold of the sisters and holding them to the ground. Orochimaru spat out a spark and instantly the oil caught fire. The flame raced towards the sisters at an amazing speed.

Trina gasped and hacked at one of the gelatinous hands, severing its fingers, but there were still five more holding her in place. "Kai!" she and Alicia both shouted together, propelling a wave of chakra in all directions. The energy broke the hand's grips and whisked all the oil away from the Kunoichi, propelling it along the outer edge of the expanding ball of chakra. The speeding fire met the glob of oil at the edge of the shield and exploded violently, blasting a hole in the concrete floor and shattering every glass pod left in the lab.

Trina and Alicia lay on the floor, their hearing ringing and their bodies aching. Alicia struggled quickly to her feet and looked around for their enemy. Orochimaru was stalking towards them like a lion. The Kunoichi formed the ram seal as Orochimaru reared back and blew out a torrent of white-hot fire.

"Reverse!" shouted Alicia and instantly the fire swirled in the air and rushed back at Orochimaru. The Sanin waved his hand and cut through the flame effortlessly. Alicia slipped to her knees and fell onto her side. She was out of chakra.

"You bitches are making a real nuisance of yourselves," growled the Sanin, his face creased with hate. "I think this has gone on quite long enough. Now to just pin you down."

Orochimaru snarled and tossed his sword into the air, throwing his hands together in a strange seal resembling a spider. "Diachi-shifuto!" barked the Sanin, and immediately the ground around the sisters swirled like water. Trina sank in on her back, but sat up as the liquid concrete swallowed her up to her chest, while Alicia dropped in up to her chin just before the ground hardened again.

"Finally," he growled.

"_**CHIDORI!**_" Sasuke roared, falling from the sky like a meteorite, his Mangekyou spinning wildly.

The air filled with the furious screaming of thousands of birds as the Uchiha landed right in front of Orochimaru, his hand shining brighter than the sun. The Sanin tried to jump back but his feet stuck firm in the ground. He'd sunk into the concrete up to his ankles.

"What?!" gasped Orochimaru, looking beyond Sasuke. He'd used his technique on himself. Trina and Alicia were both laying on the ground unconscious. "It was a Genjutsu!"

Sasuke screamed and slammed his hand forward, impaling Orochimaru straight through the heart on the shrieking Chidori. The Sanin jerked forward spat up a mouthful of dark blood onto the ground at Sasuke's feet, then looked up at the Uchiha, his serpentine eyes fading to a milky yellow, even as they burned with hate.

"This isn't the-" he tried to speak.

Sasuke's Mangekyou exploded in white fire, blasting out an infernal wave of the blinding flame as he ripped his hand from Orochimaru's chest. The fire engulfed the Sanin like a tsunami and tore his body in two at the waist, propelling the truncated corpse back through the air as the fire disintegrated everything in its path. Orochimaru's legs remained standing, mindless, in the concrete as the wall of Uchiha fire smashed into a wall of broken pods and exploded in a colossal wave of super-heated air.

Tacitly the Uchiha watched as the fire quickly burned itself out, leaving nothing but the charred remains of the Sanin's upper half lying on the floor: very, very dead. Sasuke turned as Naruto, supporting Karenna on his shoulder, hobbled around the corner. It looked like the Uzumaki boy had two massive puncture wounds in his left thigh, but the holes were closing up before Sasuke's eyes.

Naruto smiled, looking between Sasuke and the scorched body. "Looks like I wasn't necessary after all," he said. "Sasuke, it's been a while."

Sasuke nodded and returned the smile, sheathing his midnight blade behind his back. Before he could say anything, the faintest hiss caught their attention, and Sasuke pulled his robe away from his neck and shoulder.

The cursed seal was evaporation, quickly. As Naruto, Karenna, and Sasuke watched, the black tattoo hissed and began to fade away, giving off a sooty smoke as it did. In less than half a minute it was gone, leaving Sasuke's neck, shoulders, arms, and wrists completely clean.

The Uchiha held his hands in front of his face and looked between them and Naruto. He smiled widely and closed his eyes, squinting to hold off tears. "Thank you Naruto, thank you so much." Sasuke's voice quivered but his smile was so bright.

"Don't mention it," said Naruto, "you were the one who killed Orochimaru." He gestured to the corpse. "All I did was handle a couple of snakes."

Sasuke shook his head. "No Naruto," he said. "Just accept my thanks and let's leave it at that. Oh, by the way," he walked forward and drew the dark sword, twirling it in his hand to hold it by the blade and offer the handle to Naruto, "I believe this is yours."

Naruto laughed once. "Keep it," he said. "I've gotten used to only using one, and anyway, I get the feeling it would rather belong to you anyway."

Karenna looked away but smiled very lightly to herself. "So does this mean we've won?"

Naruto looked over at her and nodded. "We're done here," he said, looking back to Sasuke. "Let's go home."

Now Sasuke nodded. "I-"

**KIT!! **Kyuubi screamed inside Naruto's mind. **KIT!**

"What?" Naruto mumbled.

A wave of energy, more evil than anything Naruto had ever felt in all his years of living with the Kyuubi, rolled through the room like an arctic storm. Everyone present shivered. Naruto whirled around as a thundering crackling filled the room. The halved corpse, Orochimaru's remains, was hovering in mid air. Purple bolts of lightning streaked from the body and tore up holes in the ground as the body shook and sizzled.

Great purple appendages, twelve of them in all, burst from the body and formed a dozen thick arms as Orochimaru's head, little more than a burned out shell, washed over with violet energy and lengthened into a serpentine skull. Before their eyes, Orochimaru's cadaver was being molded into a great and elongated body by an otherworldly energy.

"Shit!" cursed Sasuke, leaping at the body, flourishing his sword in hopes of killing whatever it was before it could move to attack. A bolt of purple lightning as big around as a drainage pipe tore off of the body and slammed into Sasuke's chest. The Uchiha flashed bright blue and rocketed backwards through the air, collapsing in a heap next to Alicia and Trina, who had woken and begun pushing themselves up.

"Naruto," said Sasuke, rolling to his hands and knees. "It's Orochimaru's last resort! This is what he was trying to summon!"

As everyone watched, the remains elongated and warped into a stocky, but long body, maybe twenty feet from the tip of the dragon-like nose to the end of the tail. The crimson eyes opened wide as the purple energy encasing the body vanished, revealing a great twelve-legged serpent with jet black scales.

The dragon opened its jaws, displaying two roes of deadly teeth. _**Sassssuke**_ hissed the beast in a deathly voice. _**Time to die Sassssuke. It's time to pay for your treachery.**_

**Kit,** Kyuubi tore into Naruto's thoughts. **This is terrible. This is a demon of the Nether! Orochimaru has combined his soul with a demon of the Nether!**

"_Orochimaru will come here himself and manifest his demon… If that happens, no one will be able to stop him." _The words of the late Mizukage echoed in Naruto's mind. _Kyuubi, how do we stop it?_

The dragon leapt up onto the ceiling, its claws shredding into the concrete to hold itself in place. It looked down at all of them and opened its jaws, loosing a screeching roar that made all of the Ninja cover their ears.

**All we can hope to do is overpower it with sheer brute force**, said Kyuubi. **Kit, you're going to use all of my strength against this monster, do you understand, every last bit. If we don't kill this beast quickly it will most certainly kill us.**

"Sasuke! Trina, Karenna, Alicia" shouted Naruto. "I'm going to handle this." Even as he spoke he felt Kyuubi's power welling up inside of him. "You just get the hell out of here!"

"But-" Trina and Sasuke both started to protest.

"**GO**!" growled Naruto, demonic chakra permeating his voice. "**That's an order**."

**We must end this quickly, Naruto.** Kyuubi growled, an edge unlike any Naruto had ever heard before in his voice. **Orochimaru has the advantage in both strength and in longevity. Your body won't stand my full power long but I'll envelop you in all my power and you will have a more complete defense. Use it to get in and take the fight to him.**

"C'mon," said Sasuke, dashing off into the laboratory. "The emergency exit is this way!"

_**Like I'll give you time to escape,**_ chortled Orochimaru. The dragon's muscles tensed and he exploded in a jump towards the fleeing Kunoichi and Sasuke.

Red chakra erupted from Naruto and he leapt into the air on a course to intercept Orochimaru. As Naruto reached out with bloody ethereal claws and sank his nails into Orochimaru's hide, five tails of red chakra burst from the boy's lower back and thrashed in the air. Naruto and Orochimaru crashed to the ground as the swirling red chakra coalesced into the form of a fox around Naruto.

**You will be the heart of my avatar, Naruto. **Kyuubi said quickly: **the greatest weapon I can offer.** **Use it to destroy Orochimaru.**

Sasuke and the Sisters stopped only long enough to glance back at Naruto. Just as with Jiraiya and the Fourth, they all knew that Orochimaru was outside of their league now. "Naruto!" shouted Sasuke as they all turned around and ran towards the edge of the lab, "be careful!"

Naruto threw any thought of caution out of his mind. He wrenched himself forward and locked his jaws around the back of Orochimaru's long neck and reached around his back and drew the amber sword. The blade of the weapon was boiling as it always did when Naruto used Kyuubi's chakra, but now sparks the color of blood were flying from the blade.

_**Naruto,**_ hissed Orochimaru, reaching around with six legs and digging his long claws into Naruto's back. _**Let us make this quick. I don't have time to play with you.**_

Naruto didn't answer. He flipped his sword point down in his hand and shoved it down into Orochimaru's side between two ribs. The monster howled in pain as Naruto twisted the sword, but jerked Naruto from his back, tearing up skin where Naruto had buried his teeth in the Sanin's neck, and slammed him to the ground in front of him.

With four arms Orochimaru held Naruto down as he reared back, coming back down and hacking at the Uzumaki with two wickedly sharp claws. Naruto swiped his arm around, severing the four feet holding him down, and rolled away just as the claws tore into the concrete he'd had his head against a second earlier. Orochimaru growled as Naruto jumped away but opened his mouth and loosed a torrent of black fire, blistering hot, that filled the room like a flash flood.

Naruto jumped up onto one of the pods to avoid the fire, but the flame burned with such an intensity that all of the steel pods left in the room began to melt and sink down towards the ground at a staggering rate. Another two tails burst from Naruto's back and he landed in the fire, standing unharmed as Orochimaru's flesh and claws grew back before his eyes.

**This has got to end quickly.** Naruto and Kyuubi were now thinking more as one person rather than two distinct entities and the demonic chakra was swirling so thick around him it was impossible to tell that the boy's skin had begun to burn away in the face of the chakra, leaving him as monstrous beneath the armor of energy as he appeared in it. The avatar of the fox, standing as tall as Orochimaru was long, surrounding Naruto was so thick the boy's body hung suspended in the chakra's core by nothing but the density of the raw energy.

The scene was truly hellish. Orochimaru's fire was black but gave off a blinding white aura beyond the flame, and had purged the room of anything besides the two dueling demons. Naruto and Kyuubi's fiery chakra cast a bloody glow all throughout the huge room as they stared down Orochimaru, and the amber sword glowed like a brand plucked from the sun. The avatar extended to envelop the sword in a blade of chakra almost ten feet long.

Orochimaru opened his mouth again and sprayed another wave of the black fire at Naruto. The demonic Ninja charged forward, splitting the air in his path as he ran, and barreled headfirst through the unearthly flame. Naruto jabbed forward, trying to stab the blade into Orochimaru's neck, but the serpent was too fast, and coiled around Naruto's arm and chest. He bit into the fox's neck, wrenching his head around like a rabid dog trying to break Naruto's spine.

Inside the armor of the avatar Naruto's body was screaming in pain. The chakra was eating him alive even with his Maiban resilience, and Orochimaru's teeth tore through the armor and into his shoulder and hip. Another tail appeared and the eight thrashing appendages wrapped around Orochimaru like constrictors. Naruto grabbed hold of the Sanin with his arms and began crushing his as tightly as he could with all eight tails and every ounce of energy he could spare. Naruto could feel the fox-like avatar warping inwards with the pressure of his death grip.

Orochimaru roared with effort and a wave of purple chakra exploded outwards from him, knocking Naruto backwards and breaking the tails' grip on him. Naruto's fist remained clenched around the Sanin's neck though and Naruto jerked Orochimaru back in close. The ninth and final tail tore from Naruto's back and every cubic centimeter of air in the room ignited, exploding into flame as the energy continued to roll off of Naruto and Orochimaru. They could both feel the ground all around them shaking. Their very existence threatened to rip apart the room.

Orochimaru opened his jaws again and belched out a pillar of fire straight into the avatar's face, peeling away the ethereal ears and ripping the molten skin from the demonic fox. The Sanin continued to scorch the fox and move his head in closer even as Naruto tightened his grip around his enemy's neck.

Orochimaru's jaws locked around the avatar's neck again and Naruto felt the deathly fangs tearing into him once more. He roared, Kyuubi roared, the avatar roared, and he shoved Orochimaru back, his whole body drenched in pain he'd never imagined could exist. Naruto saw the fatigue in Orochimaru's inhuman eyes. The Uzumaki reared back and held the fiery sword above his head, point the tip down towards the snake.

As Orochimaru swung his barbed tail at the avatar and buried the spike deep in Naruto's thigh, the Uzumaki wrenched downwards and drove the heavenly blade straight into the top of Orochimaru's skull, splitting the demonic bone and eliciting an otherworldly screech from the dragon. Naruto let go of the sword as white hot energy exploded from the dragon's skull, tearing the blade from his hand. The black fire began to wave around wildly as Orochimaru's mind began to weaken from the trauma.

All of the burning air left in the room carried the demonic howl to Naruto's ears and he knew this was the only chance he would get. After this he would be utterly spent. The giant avatar of the fox reached forward, grabbing Orochimaru around his elongated neck and ignoring the searing energy that continued to peel away the fox's powerful shell.

A flood of images washed over Naruto's mind at just that instant. Thoughts of every atrocity he'd ever seen as a result of Orochimaru's evil. Both Sound invasions of Konoha played out behind his eyes and he saw every one of the dozen villages he'd come across that had been slaughtered by the evil Sanin. Tears began to evaporate from Naruto's eyes even before they could roll down his burning cheek.

**Today,** Naruto and Kyuubi's voice growled so loudly the whole world seemed to shake, **you pay for all of your crimes!**

The avatar reached up and jerked the blade from Orochimaru's skull and reared back again, lashing forward and driving the fiery amber sword deep into the dragon's heart. Orochimaru stumbled backwards, howling wildly and thrashing his arms around in the air. He straightened up fully, still screaming, then fell forward into the fire, driving the sword completely into his chest, up to the very pommel.

Instantly all of the black fire, animated by Orochimaru's will, went out, leaving Naruto's glowing shell the only light in the room. Even as Orochimaru fell, the avatar began to fall apart and crumble. Naruto fell from the bosom of the fox and landed hard on the scorched but cold concrete with a thud and a crack as what was left of his collar bone broke on the impact.

He rolled onto his back, panting, and opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything, whether because there was no light in the room, or because the avatar seemed to have burned out his eyes, he didn't care. Naruto couldn't feel that he was naked, nor that all of his skin had been quite literately boiled away. All the boy knew was that Orochimaru was dead. The evil presence in the room was utterly gone.

_If Orochimaru is truly dead then,_ thought Naruto, _then I guess justice has been done._

An image of Kiri, burning to the ground in the fires Naruto had started with the very hands that had just erased the evil Sanin flashed in Naruto's mind. A mental image of Kakashi, laying dead on the rooftop followed. He saw Sakura's face, crying from how he'd broken her so deeply, and he cried. The tears rolled down his raw cheeks even as Kyuubi's chakra began to replace the flesh it had burned away.

_And now it's only fair that I die for my crimes too…_

**No,** Kyuubi interjected, his voice subtle but intense. **No kit. Orochimaru died for his sins as was right. But you and he were not the same. Your part is to live on now and make reparations for yours. It was right for Orochimaru to die because he would never try to make his wrongs right. It is right for you to live so that you can try to repair the damage you've done.**

Naruto didn't respond. His chest was aching with more than physical pain as he saw Sakura's face, torn with the agony he'd put her though.

**I'm not going to let you die kit. I don't want to die. Unless you want to be utterly useless you're going to satisfy your conscience and try to correct all of your mistakes so you can lead your people into your 'shining new age' or what have you. That can be your purpose now if you want.**

_I'm just so-_

**Stop moping Kit, **chided Kyuubi. **You're beginning to annoy me. You've killed Orochimaru, by your human standards you've more than made up for your recent crimes. If it's purpose you want now, make your own: continue your quest to become the leader of your village, do whatever you want, just stop whining about continuing to live when you most likely have a long life ahead of you and you have no idea what death will bring you.**

For a long time Naruto was silent as Kyuubi slowly rebuilt his tattered body. There was still no air in the room, but the demon fox kept Naruto's lungs at work with the ethereal red energy the boy had come to rely so heavily on. The Uzumaki didn't count the minutes passing. He simply laid back and thought, trying to imagine some way he could apologize to Sakura for everything he'd put her through.

He came up empty.

**You'd best thank whatever god you humans worship that you're Maiban, **said the Demon. **If you weren't, just the chakra keeping you alive right now would be eating you alive.**

Naruto shook his head, surprised that he'd healed enough to move already. "How far are you on my body?"

**Done,** said Kyuubi. **You should at least be able to walk now though your full strength could take weeks or even months to return.**

"What?" Naruto gasped. "How long have I been out of it?"

**About four hours,** said the fox. **You were deep in thought, but air has begun to seep back into the room, through the emergency exit your friends escaped though I imagine… You'd best get up and go. I'm not sure this place is structurally sound anymore.**

"Right," Naruto muttered getting to his feet. "I should- _SHIT_!" He swore loudly, crumpling to his knees and wrapping his arms tightly around his chest as he crumpled over.

**Kit, what is it?**

Naruto clutched at his sides as a fiery pain tore through his chest and stomach. An impaling stake of flames seemed to drive through him as he tried to stand. Every muscle in his body screamed and contracted painfully, twisting Naruto into a curled mess on the floor as he pressed his forehead to the concrete.

_Kyuubi,_ Naruto growled, throbbing all over as the pain slowly subsided a moment later. _What the hell was that?_

**I have no idea Kit,** said Kyuubi as Naruto uncurled and lay on his back. **There was nothing wrong with you. Suddenly you collapsed and started screaming. It was only after that that your muscles started to lock up.**

"It was like I was on fire," said Naruto. "And you're saying you couldn't tell?"

**I could tell you were in pain, but I couldn't discern any physical cause for the fit. You simply collapsed in agony.** **There's no ailment with you and your body is fine.**

Naruto huffed and rolled onto his hands and knees. Slowly and carefully he pushed himself up and got to his feet. This time he was fine. He felt nothing but a minor ache in his chest and shoulders. _What the hell was that?_ he wondered. He held his hands up in front of his face and breathed deeply. The air wafting into the room came from far away but smelled sweet and fresh.

"Let's find that exit," said Naruto. He held one hand above his head. "Some light please?"

A red spark, small but intense, flickered to life in the palm of Naruto's raised hand; it illuminated the gloom for several hundred feet around him. The room was completely barren. All of the lab equipment had melted and formed a layer of faultless slag over the ground.

"There," he muttered, looking to his left and seeing a door set in the wall, open about halfway. "Finally some- _Damn, god damn it!_"

Pain exploded in Naruto's hand and the red light vanished. He dropped to his knees, clutching at his wrist; it felt like his bones were going to fly out of his skin. "Kyuubi!" Naruto screamed. "Help!"

**I don't know what to heal, kit,** said the demon. **There's nothing wrong with you.**

"Then just heal everything in my arm!" Naruto shouted.

**Fine…**

Naruto felt the demonic chakra roll through his arm like a soothing balm, until in a flash the salve became a venom, burning through his muscles and veins, igniting unimaginable pain in every cell it touched.

"_Kyuubi Stop_," Naruto shouted. "It's your chakra! It's your chakra!"

* * *

AN: Never use a microwave oven to create plasma.


	55. The Long Awaited Order

AN: Alright, I'm going to be perfectly upfront and honest with you all for a moment… I have no idea whether it's 'Pain' or 'Pein.' I've seen it both ways but the most recent chapter of Naruto had it written as 'Pain' so that's what I'm going to go with.

Now, it's here, it's here, it's here, the final chapter of Book Two. Thanks everyone for reading with me this far, and I do truly hope you enjoy it very much.

* * *

The Long Awaited Order

The downpour had finally stopped in the Hidden Rain Village. The sky was still black and overcast though. The thick cloud cover refused to let any of the moon's light filter through and all of the villages lamps, both those in the streets and those in the houses, had been extinguished by order of the Daimyo, leaving the village utterly dark. Doubtless, a bird passing overhead would have mistaken Akatsuki's base of operations for an abandoned derelict.

The darkness was however no hindrance to Pain.

Akatsuki's figurehead stood atop the tall spire in the center of the village, standing effortlessly on the spike and looking out over the river-veined plain surrounding his village, watching for the sign through the eyes of his other bodies. The original Pain, the first and arguably most, the one at the top of the spire breathed a sigh of anxiety. There was no wind and the owls that every night sang in the darkness were now silent.

Pain couldn't hear so much as a single breath coming from anyone the village. Even the rats had refused to come out on this night.

_So this is what it feels like to wait,_ thought the original as the hair on the back of his neck bristled. It was cold tonight here in the Rain Village. _Madara should make his move any minute. As soon as it is confirmed that Orochimaru is dead and destroyed we can make our play._

From the room directly under his feet the clock on the wall ticked out the seconds which Pain counted silently. _Why Madara would insist on waiting for Orochimaru's death I can't understand,_ thought the S-Ranked criminal. _It is not as though any one of Akatsuki could not handle him. Perhaps Madara was worried he would join with the resistance we will inevitably encounter… but if that were the case surely Madara would dispatch me, maybe Itachi and Kisame, to cow him._

Pain let his thoughts churn. The other bodies would alert him as soon as anyone came within a mile of the village, and if by any chance the messenger had been intercepted, perhaps by one of Konoha's spy nets, Madara would order the move anyway. It was all certain.

"Waiting on something?" Itachi asked, materializing out of the empty space beside Pain and hanging in the air for a second before dropping onto a bar jutting from the spire and perching there like a raven.

The red haired Ninja turned to Itachi and glanced at him before looking off into the distance. "An odd question," said Pain. "Are you not the one going to Konoha? If either of us should be waiting should you not be the one?"

Itachi shook his head. "Change in plans," said the Uchiha.

Pain looked at Itachi from the corner of his eye. "What do you mean? There has never been any change in the plan before."

"Madara-san has ordered that you lead the assault against Konoha yourself from the exterior of the city while the Crane does its work from the inside."

Pain shrugged. "It makes no difference to me."

"I will be the one to go and assassinate the Fire Country's Lord." Itachi stood up straight and followed Pain's gaze out over the village.

"Zetsu is here," said the Uchiha.

Pain watched through the eyes of the body on the far Northern end of the village. A moment later he answered, "Yes, yes he is. This must be it then."

The smallest smile tugged Itachi's lip up at one corner. "There's nothing else it could mean then. I'll be on my way."

Itachi vanished and Pain grimaced. He spoke with Zetsu for a moment through the other body, then told the dichotomist Ninja to go and relay the news of Orochimaru's ruin and Naruto's new ailment to Tobi. Zetsu agreed and disappeared again.

Pain, now left alone with his thoughts, frowned. _Itachi knew it was Zetsu before I did._

SC

"Understood Madara-Sama," said Sasori, bowing low before the masked Uchiha, much as he loathed to do so. "Deidara and I will wait in the sand pass to capture Sasuke and Naruto as they move through."

"That's not quite it," said Madara as Sasori stood back up. "There is a very good chance that there will be others with him. I want you to leave everyone else completely alone. Your goal is to bring Naruto back with as little collateral damage as possible. You'll see why later. Do you understand?"

"Yes, wait in ambush, catch Naruto unawares and bring him back here with no other casualties."

"Good," said Madara. "You had best be getting on then. The next time I see either you or Deidara, Naruto had better be with you."

Sasori bowed again and turned to leave Madara's small, nearly unlit room. He pulled the heavy oak door open and slipped out into the hallway as Madara turned back to a pile of small knives and scalpels laying strewn across a metal table.

SC

**I'm not sure kit,** said Kyuubi carefully as the duo walked up the long, lightly sloping escape tunnel. **I've never seen this happen before, with any Jinkurichi, but my chakra… you're resistance to it is completely gone.**

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Naruto grumbled, holding his hand over the seal on his naked stomach. Lacking clothes was the last problem on the blond's mind. As he'd gotten up to leave, the Fourth's seal had begun to ache and burn, making Naruto sore all over. "How does a hereditary trait just disappear?"

**You used all of the power I could give you without instantly killing you kit, I enveloped you in my avatar, a physical shell of myself, and essentially bound our essences together to give you perfect control of the chakra. With as toxic as my chakra is to humans, even humans as powerful as you, it's not really surprising that you've had some incredibly adverse reaction.**

Naruto bit his lip and crumpled against the cold concrete as a searing pain jabbed into his gut like a knife. Whimpering he stood up straight again and gritted his teeth against the ache. "You mean you knew this would happen?" he asked, his voice strangely calm. He looked up and saw the near dazzling light of an open door some hundreds of yards ahead of him. Grinning against the pain Naruto realized the light outside must have been from the moon given how long he'd been underground. "How long is this going to last?"

**I don't know,** answered the Demon. **I told you, I've never even heard of anything like this. It could last for hours, days, weeks, or for the rest of your life. And it's not that I knew this was going to happen and did it to you anyway, I just didn't think it through to the logical conclusion when we were fighting Orochimaru.**

"We didn't really have a whole lot of time to think," said the Ninja. "Oh well. I'll just have to rely on your chakra less- _shit_." Naruto's leg buckled as a painful spasm shot through his calf and the ache in the seal worsened. "Kyuubi, at the risk of being rude, do you think you could go back to your cage? If I'm… allergic or something to your chakra now your being here isn't going to really make my life any easier."

Kyuubi didn't answer right away, but Naruto felt the fox's presence begin to seep into the background. **It's a good thing you have plenty of your own chakra kit. This could be a problem if we encounter any of Orochimaru's lackeys on the way back to your village. Don't go getting yourself killed.**

Kyuubi's company was gone, and the near-debilitating pain went with it. "So that is it then," said Naruto, straightening up. "It is Kyuubi's chakra that does it to me…" There was still a very present ache, a dull throbbing in Naruto's stomach and in his neck and shoulders, all over him really, but nowhere so much as in his stomach, that didn't go away, but compared to what it had been, Naruto felt like a new man, almost.

_It would probably be wise if I kept this secret. I don't need anyone knowing that I can't use my greatest weapon anymore._

The Jounin tried to keep his mind off of his new restraint as he reached the way out, preferring more to dwell on his victory. Orochimaru was dead, utterly destroyed in body and spirit, and that meant that Naruto, that Konoha had won. Naruto opened the massively thick door at the end of the tunnel as far as he could, exposing himself to a flood of soft moonlight.

"Nice night," Naruto smiled, stepping outside of the bunker into the night and breathing a deep breath of the warm air almost a mile outside of the ruined Sound Village. The weather was uncharacteristically warm for this time of year in the rice country, but Naruto wasn't going to complain. A breeze wafted through the dense trees, filling Naruto's nostrils with the smell of sooty smoke, even though Oto was mostly burned out.

"Naruto," said Sasuke, appearing from behind a maple and looking Naruto in the eye.

Naruto turned and grinned to him, standing at an angle to preserve as much of his dignity as possible. "Sasuke," he answered, "don't suppose you could spare a cloak for someone in need?"

Sasuke nodded and shirked out of his black robe, tossing it to Naruto just before he readjusted the baggy white cotton shirt he wore beneath it. "So that's it then?" asked the Uchiha, "Orochimaru is dead?"

"He's gone Sasuke," said Naruto, putting on the robe and tying the cord of a belt around his waist to hold it closed. "You're free now."

Sasuke smiled widely. "And how are you feeling?"

"I'm alive… where are the sisters?"

Sasuke pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "We were all waiting for you around here up until an hour ago, then that redheaded girl decided it would be a good idea to establish a perimeter so she and the blonde went out to run patrols to look for Jiraiya. The other one is resting right over there." He pointed a grassy patch beside a nearby tree where, upon another look, Naruto saw a dark shape curled up in the grass.

"And Karenna?" asked Naruto, "How's she?"

Sasuke shrugged. "She's not great. She's pretty torn up inside. The blonde said that she was bleeding internally pretty bad but we managed to get her stabilized and she's resting now."

"We'll take her back to Konoha carefully," said Naruto. "Sakura can get her back up and running and if not then we'll just wait until Tsunade gets back. She's a miracle worker."

"Konoha…" said Sasuke, uncertainty lacing his voice. "Naruto…"

"What is it?" he asked, catching the Uchiha's tone. "Something bothering you?"

Sasuke hesitated but went on. "With everything I've done, all the people I killed, are you sure it's a good idea for me to go back to Konoha?" asked the Uchiha.

"Of course I do," said Naruto. "What brought this on?"

"I've been thinking… I worked for Orochimaru for a long time. I did a lot to hurt Konoha and I killed a lot of its Ninja. I'm not sure the Leaf will exactly throw its arms open for me and welcome me back with a parade. Maybe it would be best if I just disappeared again."

Naruto thought for a moment, then walked over to the tree under which Karenna was sleeping. Sasuke followed him over and both Ninja sat down in the grass. "If that's what you want to do," said Naruto, "then that's what you should do. However, I don't think there's going to be any question of your loyalty. Orochimaru is dead, and you're free of the seal that was the only thing linking you to him… besides, Ino was possessed by a demon for Hell's sake and we still took her back in."

Sasuke grinned. "How's your old girlfriend doing anyway?" he asked, changing the subject with all the finesse of a drunken lumberjack. "Orochimaru was furious when you stole her back."

Subtly, Naruto smiled and blushed just a little. "Well, she agreed to marry me, so I'm not entirely sure she's quite sane again yet but I'm not going to complain."

Sasuke laughed once. "Marry you? Wow Naruto…" he paused and smirked, "so when did you pop the question?"

"Well… um," Naruto put his hand behind the back of his head. "I never officially asked. It was more of something we both just kind of understood and then we sort of… I don't know we just agreed and that was it."

Sasuke chuckled. "Are you always this articulate?" he joked.

Naruto didn't answer, but looked down and grinned. "It's hard to explain, but we both understood."

"Hey, I'm not going to fault you," said Sasuke. "If it's good for her and you're happy then what's there to grumble about? I'm happy for you Naruto."

Naruto grinned. "Thanks… as soon as Trina and Alicia get back we'll wake Karenna and head back together. You can go wherever you'd like, but I had hoped you'd come with us back to the Leaf. I can personally guarantee we won't lock you up as soon as we get back."

"Fine, fine," said Sasuke, feigning annoyance and laying back in the grass. "You obviously won't have it any other way, so I guess I don't have a choice."

"Damn straight you don't have a choice," said Naruto, mirroring Sasuke and laying back.

"Naruto?" probed the Uchiha.

"Hmm?" Naruto rested his hands beneath his head like a pillow and closed his eyes. "What's up?"

Sasuke paused. "Thanks… for everything."

Grinning, Naruto laughed once and tried to relax. "Sasuke, it was my pleasure. It's good to have you back."

SC

It felt odd, not using Kyuubi's chakra to power his limbs as he ran. Naruto had become so accustomed to relying on the demon's power for everything, that to use his own chakra as a source of energy was like trying, literately, to learn again how to run.

The five Ninja moved in a loose line formation with Trina leading the pack, followed immediately by Alicia, and then Sasuke who carried Karenna on his back. The Uchiha had placed his hands behind his back and locked his fingers together to provide Karenna stirrups through which she put her legs while holding onto his neck and leaning most of her weight against his back. Naruto brought up the rear, feeling almost lonely without Kyuubi there in his thoughts.

He'd gotten used to always having the demon to talk to.

"You don't have to carry me," said Karenna, cordially but obviously annoyed and embarrassed. "I told you I can run.

Sasuke shook his head. "Absolutely not," he said. "Your sisters tell me you're still battered pretty bad and I'm not going to risk having you reinjure yourself. Once Sakura and Tsunade have a look at you, then we'll see about letting you walk."

Karenna grimaced and blushed; whether it was because she was angry, or because she had been embarrassed in front of Sasuke (Naruto thought she might be crushing on him ever so slightly) the Kage-Jounin couldn't tell.

Naruto looked down at the ground, some hundred feet below them, as they ran through the forest. At this rate they'd be back to Konoha just in time to watch the sunrise from the battlements along the walls. He grinned when he thought about taking Ino up there. It really was one of the most beautiful views he'd ever seen, and he knew it would just take her breath away.

_Ino,_ he said in his mind, the name curling the edge of his lip and making him feel almost idiotically happy. It still made his heart beat faster to think that she was finally his again, that they'd never have to be apart, especially now that Orochimaru was dead. He could make the world a perfect place for her. He could give her the sun if she wanted it. He'd find a way if she asked.

_This has all happened so fast,_ he mused, his thoughts taking on a more serious tone. _It seems like one minute I was assaulting Kiri, the next I was fighting the Hyuuga Demon again, and then I left for this mission with the Sisters and Jiraiya… Jiraiya…_

Alicia and Trina had failed to find Jiraiya, and everyone realized he must have died in his battle with the Fourth. Naruto's face hardened. Jiraiya was dead then… Neither though had they found Minato, which meant that the Sanin and the Maiban must have killed each other, their duel had ultimately been a draw.

_Jiraiya sacrificed himself for me,_ Naruto thought, biting his lip. _I have so much blood on my hands._

"Naruto," Alicia repeated, a little louder this time since her commanding officer seemed to have not heard her on her first try.

Naruto looked up and cocked his head off to one side. "Something on your mind Alicia?" he asked, wiping the thoughts of guilt from his mind.

"I just wanted to say," she began in a somber voice, "that we're all sorry about your sensei. Jiraiya-Sama was a great man."

Naruto nodded. "He really was, Jiraiya was something else."

"Jiraiya may have been great," said Trina, her voice suddenly venomous, "But Minato-Sama was still the best as far as I'm concerned. I'm never going to forgive that bastard Orochimaru for what he did to our Minato-Sama. I hope he rots in the lowest pit of hell for the rest of eternity. Even that's too good for him. He's too evil even for that."

Naruto saw Alicia and Karenna both nod at their sister's words.

"Orochimaru got what he deserved," said Alicia. "He's gone forever."

Trina huffed. "'Gone forever' isn't the same as suffering forever."

"How did you know him?" asked Naruto, "my father I mean."

Karenna turned around, much to Sasuke's chagrin, nearly causing her ride to stumble and answered him before Trina could. "Minato-Sama was the one who picked the three of us to be the next Kage-Jounin's bodyguards, and he was also the one who raised us for the task until we entered the academy."

Naruto's eyes widened just a bit at the revelation but he didn't speak.

"Our parents, immigrants to Konoha from the Rain Village, were killed in the war with Iwa when we were all less than a year old," said Karenna, turning to face forward again and making both herself and Sasuke more comfortable. "The three of us, the most unusual set of triplets Konoha had ever seen, were quickly absorbed into the village's adoption program as kind of a 'package deal.'

"It was Minato-Sama who ended up adopting us," continued the brunette. "Minato-Sama and his wife Kushina-dono didn't think they were going to be able to have children so they adopted us the very same day we went up for adoption. He raised us like his own daughters and we loved him like a father.

"He quickly discovered though we each had uncanny talents. Minato-Sama made it his responsibility to train us properly, even after Kushina-dono became pregnant with you, and by the time we entered the academy at the ages of seven we were already more skilled than most second or third year Genin.

"But soon after you were born and Kushina-dono died in labor, the Kyuubi-no-Yoko attacked and Minato had to sacrifice himself to defeat it. The only thing that kept the three of us from falling into despair was that Sarutobi-Sama was there, and he treated us the same way Minato-Sama did. You see, to Minato-Sama Sarutobi-Sama was like a father and that made us his pseudo-grandkids.

"When we were nine we graduated the academy and Sarutobi-Sama re-offered to make us the bodyguards for the next Kage-Jounin, if ever one had to be chosen. He told us all about the secret protocols of Konoha, and told us that if we accepted his offer we'd be trained into one of the most deadly fighting forces in the world, but we'd also have to give up outside contact with anyone until we were called on for service."

Naruto gawked just a little. He had no idea about any of this and wondered just how many other secret measures Konoha had in place. "And obviously you accepted," he prompted.

Karenna nodded. "Sarutobi-Sama sent us to a remote outpost, not too far from Aerin actually, where you and Sakura killed Yamanaka Inoichi years ago, and we began our… preparation. We were eager to be away from Konoha, not because we hated it, we loved our home, but the memories were… painful."

"The memories of my father," said Naruto. "But you were lucky to have known him at least."

Trina nodded and spoke up. "We were," she said. "Imagine our surprise when we were told that Minato-Sama's son had been selected to be a Kage-Jounin." She grinned. "It was like being told that you not only had a long-lost-brother, but that you were going to get to spend hours and hours every day with him."

"Trina," chided Karenna, silencing her sister. She turned back to Naruto. "Sir, we were glad we'd have the opportunity to work with you this closely. We knew it was going to be a real pleasure, and it has been."

Naruto smiled and thought for a moment, letting an unawkward silence fill the gap for a bit. "Don't think that you three are off the hook once we get back to Konoha and I step down as Kage-Jounin," he said happily. "You're still going to have to come visit Ino and I, as in daily if you don't have other responsibilities."

Karenna grinned. "We wouldn't want it to be otherwise, sir," she said. "If you think you can tolerate our social skills-"

"Or lack thereof," Alicia broke in, trying not to giggle too much.

"We'd love to get to know you outside the battlefield," Karenna finished.

Naruto just smiled and nodded. "And as for you Sasuke," continued the Kage-Jounin, "you've got responsibilities too you know."

"Oh? How so?" inquired the Uchiha.

"Well you've been away for quite some time. We've got quite a bit of catching up to do, my friend."

Sasuke smiled and looked down. _Naruto, I don't know what kind of hell you've gone through since I left, but it hasn't made you any less good of a person._ "Idiot," he playfully sighed. "Do you honestly think I wouldn't make you tell me what you've been up to the last three years?"

"I suppose I shouldn't expect anything else," shrugged Naruto.

Sasuke looked back and exchanged a smile with his friend.

"Damn," said Alicia, drawing all of their attention. "We are some kind of weird family."

Everyone chuckled, more or less. Alicia and Naruto both laughed, while Karenna and Sasuke mostly stifled any kind of reaction, despite being amused. Trina looked down and shook her head, but still smiled at the joke.

"C'mon," said the redhead, looking up in the sky and judging time by the patches of lightening sky she could see between breaks in the cloud cover. "We should come to the end of the forest in less than a mile and from there it will only be a short jog to Konoha's gate.

Everyone looked up in an effort to guess how far from dawn they were for themselves.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then the most curious look crossed his face as the canopy all around them began to thin and they all got an increasingly clear view of the sky. "Guys," he said, his voice going stiff. "We're traveling South-West. The sun rises in the East. Why is the sky ahead of us so much brighter?"

They all stopped running and Sasuke set Karenna on her own feet.

Naruto looked up and to the South, and then to the East. As strange as it had sounded, the South-Western sky was indeed brighter than the sky to the East. _Why in the world…_ Naruto began to wonder. He stopped immediately as the wind, which had been blowing from behind them, shifted and began blowing in from the South, carrying with it the distinct aroma of smoke.

Naruto went pale and he leapt down to the ground with no warning, landing with a muffled thud and breaking down the road beneath the others as fast as his legs would carry him. A nameless fear exploded in his mind and he suddenly knew, knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that something was not as it should be.

"Naruto!" Trina called after him as the others resumed moving.

He ignored her. The smell of smoke was filling his nostrils and on the breeze he swore he heard some faint and distant roar. As he neared the border of the forest, Naruto's fear grew. He saw through the break in the trees ahead that the sun, ready to break any moment above the horizon, was not the only radiance in the twilight.

Dashing through the underbrush and ignoring all of the plants that slapped at him as he past, Naruto leapt through the edge of the well tamed border of the forest and into the mile-wide clearing outside of Konoha. Instantly his form was infused with a bloody and flickering light and he felt a torrential wave of heat.

He held up his hand to shield his face and look on. Immediately, Naruto's eyes burst open wide and his mouth dropped open in horror. If he'd been able to breathe he would have screamed as though someone were murdering him.

Ahead, the village of Konoha was a massive pyre. Bellowing flames leapt over the hundred foot high walls and towered dozens of stories into the air, belching out enormous plumes of pitch-black smoke that cast an impenetrable shadow over the dawn.

* * *

AN: Well it's finally upon us! The end of Book II, thanks for reading and I really hope all of you review!!

Look for Book III coming January 6th! Thanks all!


	56. Burning the Past

AN: Hello and greeting to everyone this most auspicious January day. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well as a New Year to match. Now to the crux of what is happening here.

Welcome to _The Akatsuki Wars_! Thank you very much, to everyone who has stuck with me this far and who pushed this story to what it is now.

Also, I would like to dedicate this chapter in particular to one of my very good friends, Vorago Atrox, or Vorago Risus or whatever the hell his name may or may not be now, in honor of his birthday this 6th of January. Suffice it to say that without the encouragement of friends such as this, I probably would have stopped writing months ago.

Read and Enjoy!

* * *

Burning the Past

It was just after midnight- and by this point Jiraiya's team had, most likely, engaged Orochimaru and the Fourth, Sakura reasoned. Jiraiya's team would probably defeat the Fourth then move on through Sasuke, maybe even with Sasuke to defeat Orochimaru. The mission was probably going just the way it was supposed to… suppose to.

_Nothing went the way it was supposed to_, Sakura thought to herself, lifting her head from her cracked mahogany desk. She wiped her hand across her cheek, dyed red from having laid on the polished surface for so long, to remove the dribble, a combination of tears and saliva. She shook her head and ran her fingers through her tangled hair, jerking them through the knots to undo and straighten them. She noticed neither the stinging that burned her scalp nor the long pink hairs that clung to her fingers after she was done.

_Nothing went the way it was supposed to,_ she repeated in her mind, _nothing._

She stood up and ran her hands down the front of her wrinkled red dress, reflexively trying to erase the creases, and walked to the window. In the dark pane, backed by the blackness of night without any lamps lit to illuminate the dark, Sakura saw herself as clearly as though she were looking into a mirror. She would not have been pleased if she cared about her appearance.

Sakura's hair was still tangled and knotted, her face was drawn and, despite many hours of dreamless sleep, deep purple rings ran underneath her eyes. One might have guessed she'd been struck over and over again. That wasn't far from the truth… The lines of red skin and salt that ran down her cheeks were almost as evident as makeup.

As she looked herself over it quickly became apparent that she was slouching, her shoulders slumped forward and back arched even though she carried nothing. She didn't know why, but this was… unacceptable.

Sakura straightened herself up, standing as tall as she could and pushed her shoulders back. Immediately she looked inches taller and many healthy pounds heavier. She almost smiled until she saw her own eyes, just how bloodshot and tired they still were. Seeing the black liner she wore around her neck to hide her most prominent scar did nothing for her esteem either.

She sighed and looked down and away, but didn't cry. She'd cried quite enough, she thought. "I can't keep going on like this," she muttered. "It's over… as over as it can be at least," her chest stung and echoed hollowly as she thought the words.

"Let go," she said, walking back to her desk with her eyes half-closed and her mind nearly blank. It was her heart that was doing all of the talking anyway. "Let it be, let it… him, go."

Why she spoke the words out loud was beyond her, but Sakura said them all anyway as she sat down in the plush chair behind the broken steward's desk. She said them over and over again, trying to convince herself to take her own advice. She'd long since screamed herself out and thus her voice was quiet and even as she commanded herself. There was really nothing left to scream about.

Ino had won, and she had lost, Sakura knew it, but there was still some little part of her, a resolute little part that simply refused to give up on Naruto, no matter how much the Steward told herself to try and move past it all. There was no reasoning with it.

Outside she heard a quiet rumble, like a small explosion, and instantly Sakura was on her feet. She crossed the room to the door in an instant and undid the two bolts holding it locked. She wrenched it open and peered outside, almost expecting something to have gone wrong, but as far as she could tell, everything was quiet. Konoha was sleeping peacefully and waiting for the dawn to bring news of Orochimaru's defeat.

Cautiously Sakura stepped back inside her office and closed the door, leaving it unlocked. There was nothing to worry about anyway, not with Shikamaru, Chouji… and Ino, keeping watch over the village.

"I'll have to apologize to her," said Sakura, referencing Ino. The words made her stomach turn and left the taste of wormwood in her mouth, but she knew she had to say them… and follow through on them. "I was too harsh with her. None of this is really her fault. I'll be the bigger person and-"

The door flung open and a blurred shadow raced into the room like a spectral jaguar, reaching behind itself with one hand and slamming the door shut again. There was no warning and there had been no footsteps on the walk outside. Sakura would have screamed but a strong hand clapped itself over her mouth and nothing escaped the Steward's mouth.

"Shh, Sakura-Sama you must be silent," hissed Shikamaru, his breathing and voice were ragged and rushed.

Sakura gasped in relief and reached up, simultaneously pulling his hand away from her mouth and slumping against the Nara, shaken. "Shikamaru, what the hell is going on?" she asked tersely.

"No time," Shikamaru whispered, pulling quickly away from her and pulling the blinds away from the window just enough to glance outside. "Sakura-Sama, we have to get you outside the city. There's no time to discuss it. Trust me and let's go."

Sakura turned around to question him further, but stopped. It was only then that Sakura noticed how battered Shikamaru was. The Nara's eye patch was missing, revealing the empty socket in his skull. Scratches bled all over his head and the left side of his ANBU uniform was blackened and burned. Shikamaru's left hand was as burned as badly as his shirt and sleeve.

"Shikamaru?" Sakura gasped. "What happened to you?"

Shikamaru turned and Sakura saw that tears were dripping from his good eye. "It's the Crane," said the ANBU Ninja. "They've betrayed us."

Sakura shook her head once. "What? Shikamaru, we have to marshal the guard!"

"Guards are dead," said Shikamaru, "and the Crane cut the power to the Civil Defense Sirens."

"How-"

"Sakura-Sama there isn't time! I've got to get you out, now please come with me. We'll take you through the Library's sewers, that is if-"

Again the door lurched open, but silently this time, and a jet clad Ino, her platinum hair done up in a tight bun and hidden beneath the hood of her cloak, slipped inside. She was carrying something under her arm, a small box wrapped in brown paper and tied with a red cord.

"Neji-san is moving," said Ino quickly. "He said he had to get Hanabi-chan out of harm's way before he could do anything else." She glanced at Sakura, almost timidly and then back at Shikamaru, waiting expectantly for him to issue the next instruction.

Sakura bit her lip and swallowed back the revulsion in the pit of her stomach. This wasn't the time for such pettiness, she tried to convince herself. But if not now it might never happen.

Sakura took a quick breath. "Ino I'm sorry for the way I treated you and I hope you can forgive me," she said, not breaking or pausing at all between any of the words as they spilled over her lips.

Shikamaru paused at the same time Ino did. "Sakura-Sama, we have to get you out of here now. If something happens-"

"It's alright," said Ino, nodding.

Shikamaru shook his head and groaned. "Be serious you two," he hissed. "The Crane is, as we're sitting here doing nothing, preparing to wipe Konoha off the face of the earth. If we don't get to Suna and warn Gaara about the impending danger there will be no stopping them and everything we've worked for will have been wasted."

Sakura turned to her Chief of Intelligence as her face hardened. "Shikamaru," she said, lowering her voice. "We need to try and evacuate as many people as we can. We can't just leave them to fend for themselves."

Shikamaru shook his head again. "If we do anything but run we'll be overwhelmed. If it weren't for Ino it would be too late for even you to escape. It's already too late for everyone else…"

A dull rumble echoed in the distance and the whole office shook and trembled. Hot light broke around the edges of the drawn window blinds and filled the room with bloody shadows as the explosion grew louder. Shikamaru ran to the window and pulled it back to look outside.

"Shit," he cursed quietly, wiping his hand across his face to wick away some sweat. "It's started already." He whirled back to the Steward. "We've got to leave _now_."

SC

Naruto stared, his mind utterly blank with disbelief. Konoha was burning. The village looked like a funeral pyre encompassing untold acres, burning hundreds of feet into the air. The cloud of smoke billowing from the flames dwarfed anything Naruto had ever seen. It blotted out the sky, but glowed a flickering red as the flames illuminated the interior of the monumental mountain of smoke.

"What… what did… how…?" Naruto muttered, dropping onto his knees, but still staring at the village's ruin. His head lolled off to one side and his eyes glazed over. "No… no…" he mumbled as it slowly began to make sense.

"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke, breaking through the forest and stopping beside Naruto. "Naruto what-" The Uchiha cut himself off as he looked up in shock and saw the burning village. "Merciful gods…" breathed Sasuke. "What happened here?"

"Naruto?" Trina echoed, leaping out of the forest followed immediately by Alicia and Karenna. "Naruto are-" they began until they saw the destruction.

No one spoke as they all paused and stared at the burning village. Sasuke and Naruto were utterly silent. Karenna sat down in a stumbling motion to avoid falling flat in shock, while Trina and Alicia just watched. No one could think of anything to say or do. There was nothing they could do. Konoha was utterly consumed. Anyone inside the village would be dead and cremated by now and none of them saw anyone gathered around the outskirts.

For a long time, the only sounds were the roaring blazes inside the Leaf's walls, and the wind rushing in past the five Ninja to feed the still growing firestorm.

"Who could have done this?" asked Trina finally, looking to Naruto as he continued to stare into the ruin.

Naruto groaned. The sound was pitiful, defeated, and as he blinked a single stream of tears appeared from the corner of his watering eyes and rolled down his face. "The Crane," he said, his voice nearly breaking on the words. He nodded, as much to himself as anyone and bit his lower lip. "The Crane. No one else could..."

Another silence engulfed them as the sun's rays began to break over the horizon and light the tops of the trees as the harbingers of true daylight. Sasuke turned to look at Naruto from the corner of his eye. "The… Crane?" he asked very quietly, not really expecting an answer.

"But…" said Alicia, "they were our allies. The Crane betrayed us?"

Naruto nodded again and everyone looked at him. Still he stared at the flames. "Suna is our staunch ally. Kiri is destroyed. Kumo is under siege. Oto is broken, and Iwa wouldn't have been able to do this. The Crane almost doubled the size of our garrison and we were relying on them. They were already inside the walls and so tightly integrated with the garrison that they knew our every protocol. It has to be them." Every word sounded as though it brought Naruto a step closer to collapse. His eyes began to glisten more brightly.

Sasuke breathed a deep sigh. "What do we do now?" he asked, uncertain.

"Do?" Naruto asked, tears spilling out the corners of his eyes in full cascade as he got to his feet. His voice was icy and his face was drawn as he walked towards the village, shuffling his feet. "What can we do? We've lost. It's gone! It's all gone!" The Kage-Jounin stalked forward. "It's over! It's **all** fucking over!! How can you ask what to do now? We've-"

Naruto stumbled in mid step and collapsed to his hands and knees. He didn't get up but just let his head hang as he clenched his eyes shut. _She's gone, she's gone,_ was all he could think. _What am I going to do now?_ His thoughts were churning and furious. _Ino, I've lost her again! AGAIN!_

From the back of his mind Naruto felt Kyuubi begin to creep into the forefront of his conscious thought, but he pushed the demon back. Kyuubi didn't resist, but quickly receded back into his pen without protest. If he'd been thinking clearly, Naruto would have wondered why the fox didn't resist him.

The sickness was not late though. The pain now associated with Kyuubi's chakra twisted into Naruto's stomach, making it even harder for him to straighten himself up or pull himself together.

Sasuke walked forward and stopped beside Naruto. He knelt down and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto…"

The Kage-Jounin jerked his hand up and pushed Sasuke's hand away in a curt motion. Sasuke didn't react immediately but waited. Naruto began to tremble and the Uchiha guessed Naruto's distress had forced him to stop breathing. Several moments passed and Naruto's shaking worsened.

Again Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I failed her Sasuke," Naruto groaned, not looking up. "I failed her again!"

"You don't know that," said the Uchiha. "Ino might have gotten out. We don't know who got out and who didn't. And you didn't fail, none of us did. We all did everything we could, but they caught us off guard. No one could have seen this coming."

"I should have!" barked Naruto.

Sasuke bit his lip. Nothing he could say was going to make any difference. He knew that the best he could hope for was to refocus his old friend and hopefully keep him sane. "Naruto, it's not safe here. Whoever did this is obviously powerful and they might still be around. We need to get to safety."

Naruto didn't get up. He locked his jaw tightly and hiccupped, trying not to break down entirely and sob. _It's over. Konoha's gone, Ino's gone, Sakura's gone… They're dead and it's all my fault._

"Fuck," Naruto hissed, his eyes popping open. He stared furiously down at the ground, shaking still. For the first time he began to contemplate all of his actions in the past weeks.

"I'm blind," he growled loudly, almost roaring. Rearing back he slammed his fist down into the dirt. "Fuck!" he shouted again. "This is all my fault!" He began beating the earth with his fist. "Why did I do it?! I suggested we bring the Crane into Konoha! I lead our troops to Kiri! I butchered them all, potential allies! I said the Crane could join the garrison! … Fuck! I practically gave- I did give them the whole damned village! What **didn't** I do wrong?! This is all my fault!"

Before Naruto knew what was going on Sasuke wrenched him up to his feet by the collar of his robe. "Get a grip!" shouted the raven haired Ninja, clutching Naruto's collar. "Naruto, you had no way of knowing that! Straighten up! Ino might still be alive. We can still fix this but it's not going to happen if you don't get it together. If you don't get a grip we're all dead."

"Fuck off!" barked the Uzumaki, batting Sasuke's hands away. "Don't you get it? It's over! They've won! We've lost! Konoha is dead, they're all dead! Ino is dead! **DEAD!**" Veins bulged on Naruto's neck as he shouted the words and clenched his hands into fists level with his chest. "There's no point! It's **over **and it's all because of **me**!"

Sasuke's fist slammed into Naruto's cheek, knocking the blond off his feet as the sisters collectively gasped. Naruto toppled backwards and landed hard on his back. "Straighten up Naruto!" shouted Sasuke. "You're acting like a fool and a whining bitch! You're the one who doesn't get it. Yeah, we lost this time but we're still alive. It's **not** over because we're still here. I didn't spend three years as Orochimaru's pet to just throw in now! You didn't spend the last three of your life fighting like hell just to give up!"

Naruto sat up and glared at Sasuke. He wiped the blood from his split lip with the back of his hand and spat off to one side. "I was fighting for Konoha! I was fighting for Ino!" he shouted, not getting up. "Both of those are gone! Leave me alone Sasuke!"

"Why Naruto?" asked Sasuke. He'd stopped yelling but the Uchiha's voice was still fierce. "Why give up now? Why do you want to throw up your hands and wait for the real end? What's the point of that?"

Naruto didn't look at him. He turned to the Sisters who all stared at him in disbelief. "I'm…" he muttered. "I'm tired Sasuke… I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of killing. I'm tired of losing no matter what I do."

Sasuke's jaw dropped only a centimeter lower. _Tired,_ he repeated in his head.

"Tired?" Sasuke asked quietly, his voice still teetering on anger. "That's it? You're tired so you're giving up?"

"Look at me Sasuke," said Naruto, still looking away. "Look at all the blood on my hands. Look at everything I've done. Look at everything I've been through. I've lost Ino twice. I've lost my village, and I'm not even eighteen yet. I'm sick of this and I'm sick of your badgering Leave me alone."

Sasuke paused, then shook his head; not at Naruto, but at himself. If anyone had any right to be tired, to be exhausted, it was indeed Naruto. He looked at his haggard friend and sighed. Naruto looked, unhealthy. He should have been the picture of fitness he seemed to be less than an hour ago, but now he looked drawn and thin. There were deep violet rings beneath his eyes.

_But Naruto is also the only one who can pull us out of this… we need him more than he needs to give up._

"So take it back," said the Uchiha. "You went after Orochimaru for the first time for revenge for killing Ino, right? Well go after the Crane for revenge too. You've proven you can do that."

"I'm tired of revenge Sasuke," said Naruto, his voice rising a little in anger. "I was coming back to Konoha to rest. No one should have to do all of this. I'm sixteen years old Sasuke and I've already watched my village burn, my Ino die, twice, and … there's nothing left now."

A loud crash rang out from the burning village as one of Konoha's larger edifices collapsed into ruin, sending a shower of fiery splinters into the air.

"You selfish prick," Sasuke sighed angrily, still staring at his old friend.

Naruto looked at Sasuke for a second before turning away again. "Selfish?" he asked.

"You've always been the first to fight like hell," said Sasuke. "For as long as I've known you, you've been the one fighting the hardest. You fought your way to the top at the academy, you refused to give up against the Hyuuga Demon, you killed Orochimaru, and you've never let anything stop you from doing what you thought was right and now… now that you're needed the most you're just going to give up?"

"I'm obsolete Sasuke."

"You're needed," barked the Uchiha. "That's why I say you're a selfish prick; you're putting the fact that you're 'tired' above everything else, above the people who **need** you to help and lead them, before the people who need you to **save** them."

Naruto's face softened and he looked away. His brow was still furrowed into a scowl, but his breathing evened out.

"There could be survivors out there," said Sasuke. "We don't know who got out and who didn't but what we do know is that we've got to regroup. Regardless of what we did or didn't do wrong before now we've got to move, we've got to help the people who need us; that's all that matters now. What we've got to do is pull together and work through this."

Naruto sat for a moment, but got to his feet. Still, he didn't look Sasuke in the eye. He turned around and glanced between the sisters. None of them would look at him. Trina stared down at the ground in front of her feet, as did Alicia. Karenna was looking past Naruto at the burning village. He could see the anxiety in all of them. They were just as lost as he was.

"You're the ranking officer here," said Sasuke, drawing Naruto's attention again. "Now what are your orders?"

Naruto sighed, lowering his head but still looking at Sasuke... in much the same way a bull looks at an antagonizing opponent. Sasuke didn't flinch, and Naruto's face twitched. A look of shock, followed immediately by resolve came over him and he reached up to wipe the accumulating sweat away from his eyes.

_That was exactly how Jiraiya looked,_ thought Naruto, _when we left him to fight the Fourth._

"Suna," said Naruto, his voice still shaking but more resolute now. The sisters looked up at him "We'll make for Suna," he repeated. "We've only been gone a short time and whoever did this," he waved his hand towards the village without looking at it, "must have gotten out of here recently so they can't have much of a lead on us. If the Crane is responsible then they're moving with a large force and they'll be slow. We should be able to get to Suna quickly and warn Gaara about what's coming."

"Unless they attacked the desert too," said Karenna.

"If that's the case then we'll head for Iwa and warn them," said Naruto, his voice growing calmer with each word. He still wouldn't look at Sasuke. "And if Iwa has been destroyed then we'll start running West and we won't stop until we've gotten as far away from all of this as we can, but our first priority is to get to Suna and try to warn Gaara."

"Hopefully he already knows," said Sasuke. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Naruto nodded and turned around, walking past Sasuke. Still he didn't look at him, but the blond did put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder as he passed, then stopped and looked at the burning village. "Thanks and… I'm sorry."

Sasuke only shook his head. "You would have done the same for me."

Naruto sighed again and turned back around to the sisters. "You three alright?" he asked.

Karenna nodded but the others didn't answer. "We're behind you Naruto," she said. "We'll be alright."

"Let's get out of here then," he said, nodding off towards the South-West. "There's nothing for us here now. Suna it is."

Naruto started running away from the burning village and the others quickly fell in. Sasuke brought up the rear with the sisters running in the middle. The young Uchiha shook his head and scooped Karenna up in his arms.

"You don't get to reinjure yourself," he said, carrying her like a bride.

Karenna just looked away and blushed as her sisters giggled, breaking the darkening atmosphere with a little humor. Naruto turned back and grinned at the sight of the furiously blushing Kunoichi with the heart-shaped face and the long brown hair.

_She likes him,_ thought the blond, fighting like hell to focus on anything but Konoha as the Ninja re-entered the massive forest. _Sasuke, despite everything you've been through, all the hell you've endured, you really haven't let yourself turn into a bad person… I could learn a few things from you._

Naruto shook his head and grinned. _He's right. This isn't the end. It can't be. There's no point in giving up and we have to keep going. Ino…_ an image of the young Kunoichi he adored rushed into his mind and he suddenly had to fight to keep from crying. _Ino… please be safe._

Hours began to roll by as they all moved in silence through the still trees of the forest. No one could think of anything quite appropriate to say. The situation was completely alien, and Naruto found himself wondering if this was how some random Ninja from Kiri felt, returning home from a mission to a slaughtered village. The situation may have been alien, but Naruto couldn't help but feel that in a sick and masochistic way, it was appropriate.

Morning rolled into afternoon, and afternoon slowly progressed into early evening as the forest around them began to transform into a rough wilderness full of craggy rocks and then a desert full of dunes of earthy sand. The travelers never stopped for lunch or dinner as they carried no food with them. About an hour before dusk Sasuke and Karenna started talking carrying on a quiet conversation to which Naruto paid no attention. He guessed they were talking about Suna from small sound bites that stood out to him, but he didn't listen in.

_We should reach Suna by tomorrow morning if we don't stop to rest for the night,_ thought Naruto as the Western sky to their right began to glow red through the clouds with the approach of sunset. The group had just passed out from between two huge dunes that formed an almost canyon-like pass between two high plateaus of rocky clay. "Hey guys," said the Kage-Jounin, shattering the relative quiet and gaining his companions' attention immediately as he stopped. "Do you want to stop for the night or keep going?"

"How far out are we?" asked Sasuke, stopping beside Naruto. Trina and Alicia quickly fell in behind Naruto "I've never been to Suna."

"If we keep going as we are we should be there by morning," said Naruto.

Sasuke looked behind them, then set Karenna on her feet and stood up straight. "I vote we keep moving. We can rest once we get to Suna and warn Gaara."

"Agreed," said Trina. "No matter what we can't waste any time. We definitely need to hurry."

Naruto nodded. "Then if that's the case-"

Instantly Naruto froze and looked up, scanning the top of the plateau behind the Ninja. It had only been a flicker of black, but his eyes hadn't missed it.

"Sasuke's gaze traced Naruto's and the two Ninja looked at each other. Karenna nodded and stepped off Sasuke's back, sitting down between her sisters. Alicia nodded up towards the cliff, her face suddenly grave.

"If that's the case then what, Naruto?" asked the blonde Kunoichi.

"Never mind," said Naruto as he crouched down closer to the ground, "It doesn't matter now. We just need" the muscles in his legs tensed and tightened, anticipating the jump "to keep moving."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Trina exploded from the ground towards the cliffs, sailing through the air like arrows on a perfect trajectory, and landing on the very edge of the plateau. They were very nearly forty feet off the ground and no less than ninety feet from where they'd left Alicia. The blonde hunkered low to the ground beside her sister, a kunai in each hand, ready to strike at anything that moved.

Naruto's eyes flitted over the rocky plane in front of him. The spy, the Ninja in the black cloak was nowhere around but-

"There!" shouted Trina, pointing back down towards Alicia.

As the three Ninja on the cliff spun on their heels and dove back down towards the baked earth a shadow, striped with red, flitted past Alicia, paying her no heed, and began darting through the canyon away from Suna.

"Stop him!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke seemed to materialize in the canyon a dozen yards ahead of the fleeing spy, his Mangekyou glaring at the Ninja as Naruto leapt into the canyon's mouth and Trina darted along the walls like a strider across a lake, boxing in the Ninja, who skidded to a stop and wheeled around to survey its surroundings.

"Bring him in alive-" Naruto started to shout, until he got his first good look at the Shinobi, more accurately the thing. "What the?"

The spy stood more than six feet tall while he was hunched over, and he'd its six arms out at its ides in a ready position. Its black cloak was ragged, traced with red clouds and draped over its lanky frame like a great cobweb as it looked jerkily around. As his eyes focused, Naruto saw that its arms weren't even made of flesh and bone, but looked like segmented wooden spider legs jetting out from a torso far too small for the bulbous head.

With no warning the creature leapt up into the air, jetted its arms straight up, and flipped around. It emitted a screeching wail as it began to spin wildly in the air. Sasuke leapt back and away from it as Trina jumped higher up on the opposing wall to seek some kind of shelter from the possible attack.

Naruto however charged forward and lashed out at the creature. He grabbed at its arms, but was caught up in the roll, and flung into the stone wall just below Trina. The enemy rocketed down towards the ground, and struck the dirt with its pointed hands, boring a hole down through the clay earth and disappearing from sight.

Naruto shook his head and looked over at Sasuke. The Uchiha nodded once and threw his hands together in a flurried series of seals. He clenched his right hand in front of his face as the white-hot chakra began to scream in the palm of his hand and the Chidori roared into existence. Dropping to one knee Sasuke shoved his hand into the ground and immediately the sound of the searing lightning vanished.

A second later there was a loud crack and a boom as a patch of dirt exploded up and the spiderlike monstrosity lurched out of the ground, propelled into the air by a bolt of blue lightning. It fell to the ground with a rattling like dry bones and lay there, blackened and twitching.

"Is it dead?" asked Trina, dropping to the ground beside the thing and nudging it with her foot, resting her hands on her hips.

An almost invisibly thin blue thread running from the creature's back into the ground snapped with an earsplitting crack and Trina leapt back with a yelp, unharmed, but with every hair on her head rising on their ends. Sasuke shook his head and walked up to it.

"It was already dead," he said, reaching down and ripping the cloak away, revealing a faded, wooden, skeletal body. "It's a puppet," he continued as Naruto approached. "Orochimaru experimented with something like this but never had time to develop the technology fully."

"A puppet?" asked Naruto, "where's the person controlling it?"

Sasuke shrugged. "He, or she, could be miles away. Distance is only a problem when it puts the chakra strings at risk of being severed, but it looks like whoever the master is here wouldn't have to worry about that." The Uchiha pointed down to the hole the puppet was drilling. "It was probably retracing the path it took here, meaning that the string runs underground, meaning the one controlling the marionette could be miles away or-"

The puppet's shadow flickered, and nearby the shadow of a spike jetting out from the rock wall shifted. Sasuke froze. Naruto leapt away and pressed his back to the wall of the canyon, looking up and gritting his teeth as the air chilled and filled with a foul odor. Trina was at his side before he could blink, her hands raised and ready to protect Naruto as all three Shinobi stared up.

Above them and lining the edge of the cliffs on either side, were two dozen tall figures garbed in black robes. Each creature was a puppet, ostensibly identical to the one laying motionless on the ground. Each was absolutely still, and had four arms raised above its head. At the end of each spiderlike arm were four talons, open, ready to rend, and wickedly sharp. They all stared down at the three Shinobi with huge red eyes.

Someone clapped once. The sound menacing but hollow, like wooden symbols, echoed throughout the canyon.

"Well shit," Naruto mumbled.

Another figure appeared among the puppets, taller than any of the lifeless creations and wearing a pitch cloak streaked with red clouds the same color as his spiky crimson hair, the man stood out from the crowd of marionettes. He however only had two arms stretching out from his cloak, and he clapped again.

"I'm impressed you managed to escape Konoha," said the tall man, "I was certain our network of Shinobi stationed between the Leaf and the Desert would have caught you… but I suppose I should be glad they didn't." His voice was deep, proportional his size. Naruto thought he sounded almost board. "But that doesn't matter," he continued.

"The three of you may call me Sasori, and I have an offer to extend, to you at least Naruto-kun" continued the Ninja.

Naruto stepped forward and crossed his arms. "Sasori-kun," he said, not impolitely. "I don't trust puppets or the people controlling them and you seem to have us a bit outnumbered, but nonetheless, what are you proposing?"

Sasuke and Trina both glanced at Naruto, but let him continue. _This guy is from Akatsuki,_ thought Sasuke, recognizing the cloak as the same Itachi wore when he visited Konoha three years back. It was also the same cloak worn by many of the messengers the rogue organization sent to Orochimaru. _Naruto, don't trust a damn word he says._ He could tell by the look in Naruto's eye that the blond knew Sasori's allegiances as well.

"My employer," said Sasori flatly, uncrossing his arms, "has decided to declare war on the Hidden Villages-"

Instantly it clicked in both Naruto's and Sasuke's minds. _Akatsuki is controlling the Crane,_ they thought in unison.

"-and has put together an army of Ninja, Samurai, and Priests more than capable of doing the job. Even now Kumo is being erased and my employer is readying his troops to march on Iwa. I was sent here to the pass to Suna to wait for you Naruto-kun, to extend my employer's invitation to join his ranks, to you."

Naruto was taken back for a second. This wasn't exactly what he'd been anticipated. He heard Trina's breath catch and her pulse quicken. "What's the catch?" asked Naruto.

"No catch," said Sasori, "but I wish you'd make up your mind quickly. I've spent quite a bit of time standing around. There are things to do… I'll even let your companions continue on to Suna unharmed if you'll just accompany me to the Rain Village and hear my employer out."

_Rain Village,_ Naruto noted. He glanced around at Trina and Sasuke. Both shook their heads. Trina was slightly more subtle that Sasuke about it.

"Forget him," said Sasuke bluntly. "We'll all go to Suna on our own anyway. If this guy wasn't to try and stop us, let him. He doesn't look like much." _Naruto, I hope you're up for some exercise._

Sasori sighed. "Consider the upper hand I have," said the missing Nin. "I have the high-ground and superior numbers. If Naruto-kun would just come with me we could avoid-"

"Avoid this!" Trina shouted, leaping up in the air, Sasuke and Naruto directly behind her. The redheaded Kunoichi materialized right in front of Sasori and jerked her both her arms out to her sides. Two blackened blades wrenched themselves from the sides of her wrists in a flash of crimson and Trina lunged forward.

Sasuke and Naruto turned in midair, and the Uchiha grabbed hold of Naruto's arm, spinning around and swinging Naruto through the air like a mace as half a dozen of the puppets twisted and flung themselves at the two Ninja. Naruto reached behind his back and wrenched the amber sword from its sheath. Without any hesitation he whipped his arm down and flung the sword like a dagger.

With a loud thud the blade smashed through the chest of one of the puppets. Sasuke let go of Naruto and threw him along the same trajectory. The blond collided with the skewered puppet and jerked the blade from its chest, spinning around to hack off the head of a puppet coming up behind him, following through to cleave the damaged one in front of him in half, and-

Naruto screamed as from behind one of Sasori's minions attacked and drove its taloned arm into his thigh. Naruto gritted his teeth as he saw the barbed end of the claws protruding from the front of his leg. He twisted back and dodged another lash by the puppet, and reared back. In the palm of his hand a shining blue orb, spinning like a hurricane, leapt into existence. He drove the Rasangen into the puppet's chest and immediately the wooden monstrosity exploded in a blast of splinters.

Naruto grinned to himself as the Rasangen faded, but whipped back again to dodge another pair of the puppets. One lurched forward and shoved a talon into Naruto's side as the blond tried furiously to fend off the other as yet another one closed in from behind.

Sasuke's luck was even worse. He'd destroyed one of the marionettes but four more had converged on him. His arms were streaked with red as he tried to dodged and weaved as best he could. One of the puppets had driven its one remaining claw into Sasuke's foot and tried to hold him in place.

Sasuke flew through a series of seals and pressed his clenched hands to his side. In a buzzing flash Sasuke disappeared in a flurry of bustling hornets and the marionette's claw fell helplessly away. The remaining puppets looked around for the Uchiha, and rattled as they readied for an ambush, ignoring the hornets stinging at them futilely.

"You annoying little bitch," said Sasori curtly, looking down at the redhead. Trina's concealed blades had buried themselves up to her knuckles in Sasori's chest, but the missing Nin hadn't so much as flinched.

Trina tried to jerk her hands back, but the blades were stuck fast. "Shit!" she hissed as Sasori whipped around and slammed his fist into her cheek. The Kunoichi slumped away, nearly helpless with her hands locked in place.

"Allow me to help you," said the missing Nin, holding one hand above his head. A long, rapier like blade slid from the flesh of his arm and he angled it down at her. Trina's eyes widened and she gritted her teeth.

"Bastard!" she yelled, glancing behind him where Sasuke silently materialized. The Kunoichi kicked up as hard as she could and slammed the balls of her feet straight into the fork of Sasori's legs. He didn't flinch. "Oh fuck," she groaned.

Sasori's lips parted almost invisibly in a grin and he plunged forward with the skewer. Trina screamed, leaning to one side. The blade, nearly two feet long, had missed her throat, its target, but driven through her shoulder and jutted out from beneath her shoulder blade. Trina tried to shake herself free, but she was pinned to the missing Nin from three angles.

"Chidori!" Sasuke yelled as the sound of an enormous flock of furious birds erupted behind Sasori. The Uchiha charged forward with his hand stretched behind him and blazing white hot. Sasori raised an eyebrow.

_Oh well, _thought Trina as Sasuke began to lash forward in attack. The Kunoichi dug her heels into the ground and wrenched her shoulder back, locking Sasori's arm in place. The missing Nin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and opened his mouth.

A blinding flash of light exploded directly between Sasuke and Sasori, followed immediately by a wave of superheated air that blasted the two apart. Sasuke was sent hurdling back, tumbling over himself as Trina and Sasori flew away from each other, freed by the blast.

"Sasuke! Trina!" Naruto shouted from the bottom of the canyon, dislodging his hand from the shattered remains of Sasori's last puppet. Naruto tore his sword from a nearby shattered frame and bounded up the steep walls, jumping from one side to another and propelling himself up higher.

_Damn it_, he kicked himself. _Luring all of the puppets into the canyon where I could fight them from only two directions was a good idea at first but it separated me from the others._

Naruto cleared the tops of the cliff, and landed crouched on the edge of the precipice, sword in hand. Directly in front of him was Trina, unconscious but breathing. She was bleeding badly from a through-and-through wound, but Naruto had seen people less resilient than her survive worse wounds than this.

"You must be Naruto-kun," called a light, almost feminine voice from across the plateau. Naruto looked up, past Sasuke who was laying unconscious a few yards in front of him, to the two Ninja in Akatsuki's trademark cloaks some twenty yards away.

One was Sasori, battered and a bit blackened, but standing mostly alright. The other was new however. He, or she, Naruto couldn't determine the Nin's sex, was considerably shorter than Sasori, with a pale complexion and long blond hair done up in a pony-tail.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said the new arrival, almost mockingly. "Now Naruto-kun, why don't you surrender and come with Sasori-san and I? It would save you quite some suffering you know."

Naruto crouched, ready to fight. Sasori had no puppets on hand and if worse came to worse with this new Ninja Naruto knew he could call on Kyuubi. _For now though,_ he thought as Sasuke stirred, _I need to buy a little time._

"Were you going to wait for me to be killed?" Sasori asked, almost too quietly for Naruto to hear.

"No no no," continued the new arrival. "I had it all under control. Oh, Naruto-kun," he said, turning to the Uzumaki, "keep in mind that there are lots of my little creations all around you and your friends."

Naruto's eyes widened. He looked around at what he had thought was bare earth, but when he looked closer, he could see dozens of small clay statues dotting the plateau. Some were spiders, others were snakes, while a few were resting birds and insects. None of them were colored like a real animal, but each was watching him and shifting slowly from side to side.

_What the hell are those things?_ Naruto wondered.

"My little works of art," the Akatsuki Ninja called out to Naruto, as if in answer of his silent question. "My name is Deidara. I'm an artist of sorts, but instead of painting or sculpting useless trinkets, I make bombs, wonderful, wonderful bombs. That explosion you heard earlier that knocked your friends cold; that was from just one of these and I have forty-nine more scattered around here. All I need to do is say the word and 'boom' goes this whole plateau along with you and your friends.

Naruto looked back at Trina, she had a molded snake, the same color as the sandy dirt, and a small feathered bird setting right beside her. He looked at Sasuke. The Uchiha had woken up, but remained frozen perfectly still, staring at the clay crab right in front of his face. The small crustacean had one set of pincers held right up to Sasuke's nose, daring him to make a move as a dragonfly landed on Sasuke's shoulder.

The Uzumaki Ninja looked down at his own feet as he felt something slither by his bare toes. A sandy snake nearly two feet long had dug its way up from the ground and coiled itself right underneath Naruto.

"You're too reckless," said Sasori.

Deidara grinned. "Hey, what are you complaining about? We've won right?"

* * *

AN: Alright folks, I have only one quick announcement. This is the only chapter that will deviate from our usual Wednesday posting schedule. From here on out I will post new chapters _**only**_ on Wednesdays. However, I'm not going to lie, the story is still in the works a I've scrapped more drafts than I care to count, and some weeks postings simply might not happen. Should this be the case, I will do everything I can to post on the next Wednesday.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!!

Ps. Let me know what you think about the length, if you know what I mean. lol. I'm currently turning out chapters that are between 14 and 19 pages. Sound about right to all of you?


	57. The Journey of a Thousand Miles

AN: It's good to be back, and to be welcomed back by so many. I can't say I have a whole lot to say other than I'm happy to see all of your smiling faces (metaphorically speaking of course lol.) Now, how about We get on to exactly what you're all hear for and I don't mean my prattling on!

Ps. A million thanks to naruxinoxsasu for pulling me to my senses and reminding me that a chapter actually needed to be posted tonight!

* * *

The Journey of a Thousand Miles

Naruto looked between the two Ninja in the black and red cloaks, then down at his battered teammates. Trina had woken up and stared warily at the small clay spider rearing its forelegs right in front of her face, while Sasuke tried not to provoke the bomb-crab in front of him.

_I'm going to have to surrender,_ thought Naruto. _If I can get Sasuke and Trina safely out of here then that will leave me free to deal with these two as – violently as necessary… Maybe… _his mind began to work on the problem,_ it would be better to bluff them first._

"Naruto," said Deidara, almost mockingly. "It doesn't have to end this way. You can just surrender and come with us and then your friends won't have to die. Be reasonable here."

Sasori looked at his partner, remembering Madara's strict, and odd, orders to avoid collateral damage if at all possible. "That's right, Naruto-kun," said the redheaded puppet-master. "If you just surrender and come with us your friends can go and neither of them will be any worse off."

Naruto grinned, intentionally baring his teeth at the two Akatsuki Ninja. "You seem to think I give a damn about these two," said the Uzumaki, drawing Sasuke's and Trina's guarded glances. "If you decide to use those little bombs of yours, it will give me all the cover I need to sweep in and wipe you out." He twirled his amber sword once in his hand. "I don't think you want me to send you home in a dozen different packages."

Trina swallowed hard. Images of the carnage left in Naruto's footprints at Kiri flashed in her mind. As she held her breath the Kunoichi plead silently that Naruto was bluffing. Sasuke remained motionless.

"They'll die in the process if you do," said Sasori, gesturing towards the two downed Ninja.

"And?" prodded Naruto, refusing to look at either Trina or Sasuke. "I'm not saying I'd prefer that they die, just that if it will let me get to the two of you, I'm perfectly willing to make that sacrifice. Sometimes the only way to win is by accepting a little collateral damage."

It was a bad bluff and Naruto knew it. "You're after the Kyuubi-no-Yoko, aren't you?" Naruto continued, watching as Deidara and Sasori looked between one another. "If you've been sent to capture me, then you have to know that I'm capable of using the Demon's power to the fullest. It's how I killed the Hyuuga Demon, it's how I wiped out Kiri, and it's how I killed Orochimaru… Are you really willing to risk giving me even one clear shot, especially now that I know what you're both all about?"

Deidara shrugged his shoulders once and sniffed loudly. "If you insist," he said, snapping his fingers.

The small spider in front of Trina flashed brilliantly.

"Wait!" Naruto screamed, throwing out his hand towards the Akatsuki Nin, his eyes going wild and wide.

The spider exploded in a thunderous flash of fire and smoke, throwing out a wall of dirt and black ash that completely obscured everything within it. A blur of red and black flew along the ground from the cloud and toppled over the edge of the cliff. Naruto had barely glimpsed her, she'd been moving so fast, and couldn't tell if Trina had been intact or even if she had survived.

"Trina!" Naruto shouted. The Uzumaki flinched as he heard the painful crack of a hard landing on the ground so many yards beneath the plateau.

"I warned you," said Deidara, waiting a moment as Naruto stared dumbly at the edge of the plateau and the sheer drop beyond. "Now Naruto-kun I'd like very much to avoid having to turn you other friend here into a mess like your little girl down there," he jerked his head at the cliff.

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked in disbelief at the cliff. Naruto's mind was blank as he looked on in shock, while Sasuke tightened his open jaw and glared at the Akatsuki Ninja. _That bastard,_ thought the Uchiha. _He's not going to get away with this._

Sasori looked at his partner incredulously.

"Don't say a word," said Deidara, preempting Sasori's chastisement. "I'm tired of dicking around like this." He turned back to Naruto. "Let's get going then."

"Fuck him," said Sasuke, practically spitting the words. "Naruto, do what you have to. Just kill these cock suckers."

Deidara took a hissing breath and squinted. "I have no problem killing the other one," he said to Naruto. "But you just blew it when you tried to stop me. You really do care about these insects and we both know it. Now let's go. Time's wasting."

Sasuke grunted and struggled up to his hands and knees. Instantly the crab scuttled forward and opened its pincers, waiting for Deidara's command. The blond Akatsuki Ninja held his hand out flat in some command and the crab stopped moving, but didn't explode, yet. As Naruto watched, Deidara pressed his thumb and middle finger together, readying to snap.

"I'll go," said Naruto, defeated.

Sasuke hissed. "Not on your life. These two don't get to win."

Naruto walked towards the two Ninja in the dark cloaks and Sasuke shifted to get up. "Don't do this," said Sasuke. "We can still-" he cut himself off as Naruto turned on his heel and glanced at him. Sasuke's mouth dropped open the slightest bit when he saw Naruto's appearance. The Kage-Jounin was grinning. It was a very tired and forced expression, but it was enough to catch Sasuke's attention.

"I'll catch up if I can," said Naruto, giving his friend the thumbs-up. "But right now your job is to get to Suna and warn them about what's coming. OK?"

"Naruto," muttered Sasuke. "You can't be serious."

Naruto shook his head and turned back to Sasori and Deidara, walking to them again. "And try to make sure Trina's alright if you can." His voice quivered.

Sasori and Deidara stepped apart, allowing Naruto to pass between them. "Glad to see you've finally seen reason," said Deidara as Naruto moved by him. Wordlessly Naruto shrugged and stopped, not turning to look as Sasuke stood up and ran at the edge of the cliff, leaping over and disappearing out of sight.

"Where will you be taking me?" asked Naruto, holding his sword out to one side so both Akatsuki Ninja could see that he was sheathing it and not readying to attack as he flipped the blade backwards and slid it away.

Sasori spoke up as he set his hand against Naruto's back and got the group walking towards the North-East, "We'll take you to the Rain Village initially, but from there, depending on what our leader's plan is we might take you North towards the Lightning Country."

The clay and sand ground beneath the Ninjas' feet as Naruto and his captors began making their way down the steady decline of the Plateau's leading slope. After they'd gone about a mile the sand leveled off again and they walked across the flat earth. The slowness of the pace made Naruto edgy. To a Ninja who was used to running and crossing the continent in the space of a few days at most, the walking was excruciatingly slow, but it did give him time to reflect.

_We're walking for two reasons,_ thought Naruto. _They know that if we run the odds of me making a successful escape increase. Also the blond one is in a hurry even while the redhead is laid back, meaning that there probably is no real rush, only impatience… but what does that tell me? _

The journey stretched on for another silent hour. Sasori at one point asked Naruto to walk with his hands behind his back, at which point the group took up a different formation; Sasori walked in front and Deidara behind Naruto. They didn't want him going anywhere.

_If they're being this careful with me it must mean that I'm either an important piece, or the last piece in some plan of theirs, so they'll want me alive I'd imagine,_ Naruto thought. _If I can use that to my advantage, make them hesitant to fight their hardest, it might be all I need to get in a pair of killing blows or better yet, a single sneak-attack with killing radius to get them both… _

Naruto began drawing on the tiniest amounts of his own chakra that he could without giving away his readying for an attack. He would need to gather enough for one lethal attack, but what jutsu to use eluded him even as he gathered the chakra.

_Clones are too obvious, I'd never be able to replace myself with one without broadcasting it to both of them. Rasangen is too slow, grand fireball is even slower, earth dragon-bomb wouldn't guarantee a kill, and a blood-lance would be difficult to set up without looking suspicious even if it would be my best shot… maybe a slight distraction would be my first priority._

Another hour went by before Deidara stooped down and raked his fingers through the earth, drawing up a handful of clay. Naruto turned to watch with mild interest as the strange and mouth-like orifice in the Ninja's hand chewed up the clay and meshed it into a paste. The Akatsuki Nin met Naruto's eye only once as he took the clay and began shaping it into a small bird.

With a heave Deidara threw the terracotta bird into the air where the creation shook its feathers and opened its wings. In a burst of blue chakra the model shot off like an arrow into the distance ahead of the party, picking up more and more speed as it flew. Naruto raised an eyebrow in surprise as heard the quiet 'pop' as the messenger broke the sound barrier and moved off at super-sonic speeds.

"Madara-san should know we're coming within half an hour," said Deidara. "We-"

_Good a time as any,_ Naruto hissed in his mind, releasing the chakra, trying desperately to manipulate it properly without using seals, while simultaneously casting the genjutsu.

It ate up the whole of his gathered chakra, but several feet in front of the party, a toad exploded into existence. Standing nearly ten feet tall it wore thick steel armor and glared at the party of Ninja. Deidara, Naruto, and Sasori all jumped back in surprise, Naruto in mock-shock, as the toad locked its gaze on them. Naruto felt a rush of relief when he saw the blue haze hanging around the toad's eyes.

_Sorry,_ thought the blond, _but this is necessary. That Genjutsu should line your thoughts perfectly with mine._

"Naruto!!" the frog shouted in a gravelly voice. "Naruto you thought you could escape us!?"

Deidara leaned over casually and whispered to Sasori and Naruto. "Who the hell is this?"

Naruto gulped.

"Well now it's time you paid for your betrayal Naruto," the frog continued, drawing a long knife from its belt. "You abandoned all of us and left Jiraiya to die alone and now it's time to pay up. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be lucky if there's enough of you left to make a pair of shoes."

"Enough of this," said Sasori, throwing down his cloak and letting it fall around his waist. "Dealing with Ninja is one thing but this frog is a waste of even my time." Beneath the cloak Naruto saw Sasori's wooden – carcass. It was plain the Ninja had replaced his torso, and likely his entire body, with a wooden shell.

_This might work out in my favor,_ Naruto quickly mused as metal appendages wrenched out of Sasori's frame. _He must still have a heart somewhere in that mess_ _if he's made himself into one of his puppets._

Sasori leapt forward, the metal arms rearing back to strike as the frog rolled too agily for something of such size off to one side and dodged the puppet master's attack. Deidara quickly scooped up handfuls of clay and began masticating the red earth with his hands. Naruto charged forward, drawing the golden sword from its sheath and rearing back to strike. Naruto brought the blade straight down on the frog's head at the same instant as Sasori skewered the frog through the back.

With a loud croak the frog jerked and spasmed, swiping out wildly with its knife and driving the silver weapon into Naruto's thigh. Even as the summoned frog disappeared, Naruto's femoral artery split under the knife and spat a column of blood from the now empty wound. Naruto dropped to the ground and clutched at the lesion only tight enough to stem the blood loss by the smallest increment. He let the crimson liquid pool around his foot and soak the ground as he stooped on one knee. The lance may have been an old technique, but it almost always bought Naruto the advantage of surprise.

"Let's get that patched up," said Deidara walking over to the scene and casting aside the clay as Sasori landed next to Naruto. "Madara-san would be annoyed if we brought him back a dry corpse."

"He definitely wouldn't be happy with a mummy now would he," said Naruto. "This is a deep one, I think he hit an artery." _'Madara,'_ he noted.

"We can see that," said Sasori, noting the liter or more of blood on the ground. "Do you have a jutsu to seal that wound?"

"Yeah," said Naruto sarcastically, pressing on the wound a bit and staining his fingers red, "but I was afraid that if I used it you'd both kill me for trying to stab you in the back or something."

Deidara sighed audibly. "Just get to it…"

"What did that frog have against you anyway?" asked Sasori. "He seemed unreasonably pissed."

Naruto shrugged, preparing a biting answer, but a pang of fear shot through him when he saw that the wound wasn't closing up on its own and he couldn't answer. _Shit!_ _Kyuubi is totally withdrawn from my conscious mind_, he realized with horror. _He won't know to heal my wounds unless I'm on death's door!_

With a quick jerk of his arms Naruto steadied himself and looked up to Sasori. _It's alright,_ he mentally sighed. _If Kyuubi tried to heal me now it would only cripple me with that pain._ "Jiraiya died in the fight with Orochimaru," Naruto said bitterly, performing a few seals and setting his hands on the wound. _I can heal this as soon as the technique is through._ "All of the frogs blame me for not helping him."

"How pitiful," said Deidara.

Naruto released the chakra in his hands and the energy shot down his leg in a searing bolt. In less than the space of a thought all of the blood soaking into the earth and the blood still seeping from between Naruto's stained hands swirled black and exploded out in two columns.

Deidara didn't even have time to gasp before one of the thin spears ripped into his chest like a bullet and burst from his back in a shower of red. Simultaneously Sasori's whole body rattled like a wooden cymbal as the second lance slammed into his stomach and smashed a small hole in his wooden shell.

Naruto jumped up, even before Deidara's blood had fallen to the ground, and reared back, a whirlwind of blue chakra screaming into existence in his right hand. The Rasangen may have been an obvious move, but it made for an effective deathblow to a pinned opponent. Deidara could only watch helplessly as Naruto left the ground and shoved the attack forward.

"Not enough," said Sasori, lashing out with one of his metal arms and grabbing hold of Naruto's attacking hand's wrist. The scissor-like claws ripped into Naruto's arm and loosed even more of his blood to run down his arm.

Naruto grinned as Sasori jerked the Rasangen back and away from Deidara. The Kage-Jounin let the attack disperse harmlessly and with his left hand, went for the sword. In one fluid motion, he jerked the sword from its place, swiped it at Deidara, and reeled around in midair to hack at Sasori.

The puppet pulled at Naruto again, threatening to cut his hand from his arm, but Naruto followed through with his attack and chopped at Sasori's metal arm, slicing through the appendage and freeing Naruto's badly wounded hand. Naruto, still not even at the peak of his initial leap, turned in midair again to glance at the motionless but ostensibly unharmed Deidara as Sasori's severed limb fell to the ground.

In a burst of blue chakra Naruto leapt away from both Sasori and Deidara, putting a dozen yards between them. He landed crouched and clutching at his still bleeding leg. With a measure of satisfaction on his face, Naruto watched as Deidara fell to the ground. The top half of his head slid from the rest of his skull, spilling a gory mess at Sasori's feet while the puppet master watched with a guarded expression.

"This isn't so bad," Naruto mumbled. _Going without Kyuubi's chakra is easier than I thought._ He began pumping chakra into the cut in his leg as Sasori calmly reached into a hidden pocket on his left pant leg. Naruto was no medic, but he knew that even without any training enough chakra could encourage a wound to close quickly. After a moment the brute force healing he had closed up the gash in the blond's leg.

"It's Sasori isn't it?" asked Naruto, standing up straight as the marionette master unfurled the long scroll he'd taken from his pocket. "It's not too late for you to leave now and-" The grin on Naruto's face faded into oblivion and his knees suddenly threatened to buckle. He tried to remain tall, but as the world rocked onto its side Naruto couldn't keep himself from collapsing to his hands and knees in a cold sweat.

"What the hell?" muttered the blond. Every muscle in his body began to tremble and ache and the breath rushed out of his chest. He couldn't draw it back in again, leaving him feeling as though he were going to asphyxiate right there.

"I thought you had more chakra than this Naruto-san," said Sasori as he gripped one end of the scroll tightly and flung it out towards Naruto. "Or at least that you'd be more careful with it, all of those fancy techniques and then using so much to heal a wound couldn't have been easy… Also I thought if nothing else you'd be apt to use the Kyuubi-no-Yoko's chakra in place of your own. Was I wrong? Itachi seemed to think that you used it to great effect when he visited Konoha three years ago."

Naruto was sweating wildly. He'd never run out of chakra this quickly before. He'd always had Kyuubi's to mix with his own as a primary source. The Kage-Jounin never would have guessed that Kyuubi's energy had gone so far to supplement his own, but as the end of Sasori's scroll landed in the clay laced earth in front of Naruto, he began to realize just how much he had come to rely on his demonic counterpart.

_Shit!_ Naruto thought, _I've got to end this before he unleashed whatever he has in that scroll…_ he looked down at the kanji on the paper, but couldn't make out anything it said, his vision was blurring too severely and he'd yet to take a draw of breath. The strength to do so just wasn't there.

"Time to be done with this I suppose," said Sasori.

_Damn it, no choice,_ Naruto grunted, _Kyuubi, I don't know if you can hear me but it's time to go to work!_

Red chakra exploded from Naruto's frame as he called on the familiar energy. Two tails of the chakra burst from Naruto's back as he leapt to his feet and drew a much needed breath. The blond rushed forward at a surprised Sasori, rearing back and readying to strike, to bite, to do anything to end the fight before the mind numbing pain set in. Naruto lashed out with the chakra for Sasori's face, the ethereal claws launching from his fingers like missiles, Naruto dared not make any move less than effective.

Screaming pain tore into Naruto's side. Something had impaled him through his entire torso, but he couldn't change course to look. He had to end the fight and sailed toward Sasori, dragging along whatever had speared him. The redheaded Ninja jumped back and leaned away from the attack. No sooner had the claws passed by his face, then did they disappear.

Naruto opened his mouth to scream, but only fell silent as the red aura around him exploded and then faded into nothing. His back arched and his hands locked behind his head as every nerve-ending in his body ignited in unison, leaving him a silent and trembling mass on the ground. He couldn't think to curse, and breathing had become the last thing on his cooking mind.

The one hundred puppets that had sprung from Sasori's scroll quickly swept in and surrounded Naruto without touching him, staring at him through bulbous red eyes and making sure he wasn't going anywhere. Slowly Sasori approached, wishing to make sure Naruto was not setting some kind of ambush, but as more than ten minutes passed all Naruto did was stop trembling and begin breathing raggedly and painfully, his eyes screwed shut.

"That was interesting," said the puppet master, pulling a small syringe and needle from the confines of his cloak, "now let's make sure that you don't decide to wake up anytime soon." Sasori bent down, picked up Naruto's arm, ad slipped the needle haphazardly into the blond's arm.

Sasori leapt back on instinct as around him fifty-one of the puppets exploded into splinters and four tall Ninja wearing white robes appeared in flashes of light and small whirlwinds of leaves around Naruto. In the instant it took Sasori to realize he was under attack, sixteen more of the marionettes burst into splinters as the Ninja with the lavender eyes twirled like dervishes and lashed out to obliterate all of Sasori's reinforcements.

The puppet master scanned the scene quickly, saw his numbers were being sliced through like tissue, and turned to run for a better position and to regroup. As he whirled on his heel though, Sasori saw directly in front of him another tall Ninja in white robes. His youthful face burned as the Hyuuga charged forward and slammed his open palm into the Akatsuki Ninja's chest.

A loud crack split the air and fragments of wood flew from Sasori's torso. Neji, grinned as he saw the burst of blue energy tear from Sasori's back and reeled around twice in less than the blink of an eye, driving both his pointer fingers into his opponent's shoulders and chest more than a dozen times, splitting the air in loud cracks with each move he made. The puppet master stumbled back as his wooden ribcage gave way and crumbled open like a breached tomb. Inside, suspended in a lattice of fibrous strands hung a beating heart, which Sasori instinctively moved to cover with his hands.

"Pathetic," said Neji, barely flicking his wrist and sending a small razor blade of blue chakra through the air, through Sasori's arm with a quiet whipping sound, and straight into the vulnerable organ.

Sasori's heart burst with a small explosion of blood that spat out from between his fingers and dripped down his front to the ground. The puppet's shell fell backwards and landed with a thump on the baked earth, dead before it lost its balance.

Neji grinned. "That was efficient," he said with an air of pride about him as he wiped the one misplaced strand of hair hanging in his face behind his ear. He strode over to where the four Hyuuga Ninja stood guard around Naruto.

The head of the Hyuuga clan knelt down by his old friend and held his index finger a foot in front of Naruto's face. The blond followed Neji's movements with his eyes, but didn't answer. He couldn't.

"Naruto," said Neji in a clear voice. "I need to know if it's safe to move you to Suna now or if we need to call for a medic. Can you understand me?"

Naruto nodded once and swallowed the blood beginning to drip into his throat. "We can move," he said quietly.

Neji grinned again and nodded. "I wish we could have gotten here sooner but we didn't know where to look for you."

"Are Sasuke and the others alright?" asked Naruto with the last of his energy.

"They'll live," said Neji.

"Trina?"

"The redhead with the temper you mean? She's alive Naruto," said Neji, his voice calm. "We left her with Sakura, and Ino is in Suna waiting for you."

Naruto's heart nearly gave out with relief and he found it impossible to respond. His head lulled back on the dirt. The last thing he felt before the pleasant embrace of unconsciousness was someone scooping him up and the sudden sensation of wind blowing over his face as Neji and the Keen blitzed across the desert terrain.

SC

**Kit… kit, you've slept quite long enough.**

The blond mumbled, turned from laying on his back to sleep on his side, facing away from the behemoth's voice, and let out a quiet snore. He was just awake enough to sense the Kyuubi's mild chagrin, but not near conscious enough to break away from slumber.

The demon fox shook his head and waited again, letting several hours roll past unnoticed by the sleeping Naruto. Time's dawdling passage in this realm meant that there was no urgency, no matter how long Naruto had been asleep, and thusly Kyuubi saw no real need to force his guest's tired mind to wake any sooner than needed... even if the fox was predisposed to haste and urgency.

After some ignored length of silence Naruto grudgingly opened his eyes and looked around. He was, as guessed, in his subconscious and just inside the massive cage that held Kyuubi.

"How long was I out?" asked the blond, sitting up and rubbing his neck with one hand. "And how am I here without having that…" he searched his mind for the right word, "reaction?"

He could feel Kyuubi's mental shrug.

**You've been asleep, as far as your friends are concerned, for just over a day. And as for your sudden allergy to my chakra, it would appear that it's not a psychological reaction as you can sleep peacefully here in my very presence. That is somewhat relieving.**

Naruto grinned. "Aww, were you afraid we might have to give up seeing each other?"

Kyuubi snorted and, in his usual manner, snapped his jaws shut with enough force to make Naruto's ears ring. **You're safely in Suna, recovering in the palace,** he ignored Naruto's jesting and continued, **and from what I can gather, your friend Sasuke and all three of your… step-sisters?... survived your confrontation with those Akatsuki Ninja. All four of them have dropped by to visit and check on you no less than a dozen times and Sasuke's barely left your side.**

"What about Ino?" asked Naruto, standing up and resting his back against one of the huge bars while he fidgeted with his hands. "Is she alright?"

Kyuubi filled the chamber with his chortling laugh and shook his head once, tossing around his golden mane. Naruto couldn't help but notice just how long and light the fox's hair was growing… It didn't look half bad on him even if it did give him a somewhat more feline, an almost leonine appearance.

**Your vixen hasn't left your room once,** said the fox. **She's either been sitting next to your bed or sleeping next to you since they brought you back to Suna.**

Naruto sighed deeply and closed his eyes, leaning his head back. He hadn't felt this light since he'd first heard Ino's voice after defeating the Hyuuga demon. "So she's safe then… that's the best news I could have hoped for. Thank you Kyuubi."

**Don't celebrate yet kit,** said Kyuubi, sounding something akin to a schoolteacher. **Suna may be intact and several of your friends may have survived, but that's where the good news ends. Your village was utterly destroyed. Sakura seems to believe that less than one in a hundred of the citizens survived.**

Naruto swallowed hard, his face falling. "I'll admit that I wasn't expecting many to have made it out," he said, his voice darkening a bit. "We should be thankful that as many survived as did. Now we need to come up with a way to protect the ones who are still alive…"

**So what's your plan now?" **asked Kyuubi. **Do you mean to mount a counter-offensive and take back your land and village?**

"I think it's a bit early to be planning for an offensive move Kyuubi," said Naruto. "Gaara may know more, but I have almost no information about what we're up against. We need more knowledge about the situation before we even think of making a plan… This isn't a bad time to be coming up with scenarios and ideas though."

One of Kyuubi's bronzed tails shifted as the demon shook out his fur. **Kit, I'm curious as to what you're thinking you **_**might**_** do at this point given what you do know. Depending on what we learn over the next hours and days, what courses of action do you think you might take?**

Naruto thought for a moment, and sat back down, not really wanting to wake up just yet. He had actually missed Kyuubi. "Depending on what we're up against," he said as much to himself as to the demon, "we have two main options; do we attack or retreat? Diplomacy with Akatsuki I'm assuming to be impossible, so we're left with using less civilized means to ensure our survival.

"I don't know… The Crane was a very powerful organization. If Akatsuki was behind all of this, as it seems they were, and the Crane is backing them, then I'm not sure there's anything to do but get as far from here as fast as we can."

**You'd run away?** Kyuubi asked incredulously.

Naruto shook his head. "I'd much rather make a strategic withdrawal than simply run away. Unless there's some major shift in the balance of power, we're not really in any position to start maneuvering to attack them. The best thing we could hope to accomplish is to keep out non-combatants out of the way while we wait try to whittle down their numbers. I think guerilla tactics are our best shot at any kind of successful attack."

**It sounds cowardly,** said the demon,** but if it will work I suppose it would be acceptable. I hope some way emerges for you to use more of my chakra. It seems a waste to simply let-** The enormous fox stopped in mid sentence and turned his face towards the invisible sky. He listened for a moment as Naruto got to his feet. **The other vessel has just arrived,** said Kyuubi, **the Kazekage**. **He feels that the two of you need to speak immediately.**

Naruto stood up and glanced between Kyuubi and the ceiling. "Guess that's my queue. Do you think you will be able to come up with some way for us to use your chakra over the course of the next few days?"

**I'm not your servant kit,** Kyuubi said, his voice firm but lacking in any discernable anger. **I shall however come up with what I can.**

"Thanks," said Naruto. "That's the quickest way for us to get back in the game."

SC

"Sakura," Naruto heard Ino's voice rise in pitch as she spoke. "Sakura I think he's waking up."

Opening his eyes suddenly became one of the last things Naruto wanted to do, knowing Sakura was in the room. Nonetheless, he stirred again in bed and slid his eyelids open only enough to afford him a glance around.

The room was fairly spacious and the color of sand. Tan light was pouring in from the windows to his left and he guessed it to be early evening by the angle of the beams. On his right, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding his hand tightly, was Ino. Naruto's tired eyes locked on her sparkling ones and he read the worry and relief that shared her face. Ino smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Hey there beautiful," said Naruto.

Ino's grin widened and she reached down to stroke his cheek with the back of her free hand. Before she could say anything though, a twitch from the corner of the room drew both their attentions.

Naruto turned and saw Sakura making her way towards his bed. Immediately his throat tightened and Naruto felt something in his pulse make his body ache. She wasn't looking at him and he wasn't looking directly at her. Naruto felt a lump form in his throat at the same time a knot began to wheedle into his stomach.

Sakura leaned over him and Naruto looked towards Ino, who gladly met his eye. An awkward silence drifted over the room as Naruto tried to keep his thought from sinking into guilt. He didn't succeed.

Sakura reached down and let her hands hover over his chest for a moment before a green light emanated from the tips of her fingers. She cleared her throat after several minutes. "How are you feeling?" asked the Kunoichi in a quiet tone.

Naruto swallowed and spoke evenly, only then noticing that his hand, the one Ino held, hadn't totally recovered yet. It stung and much of the skin was reddened, nerve damage probably. "I feel mostly alright," he said. "Am I ever going to be able to play the violin again?"

Ino grinned, even if the joke was terrible.

Sakura stood up straight by the bed and took a deep breath, looking at Ino even as she addressed Naruto. "You're going to be fine from everything I can see," said the pink haired Kunoichi. Naruto could hear uneasiness in her voice. "You're healing more slowly than what's normal for you, and you've suffered a lot of internal trauma, but your body is bouncing back and you should be fine in a few hours. If you don't go doing anything stupid like that ever again you should be alright…" Her voice threatened to break on the last sentence.

Naruto nodded once as Sakura turned around and walked for the door. Only then did he notice the other presences in the room. Sasuke and a charisma Naruto barely recognized, Gaara, were standing quietly to one side.

"Thanks" Naruto said as Sakura stepped over the threshold.

The Kunoichi paused and inclined her head, still not looking at him, and mumbled "any time," before exiting the room as silently as a ghost.

Naruto breathed unsteadily once then looked at Ino. "How's she doing?"

"We had a lovely conversation while you were asleep," said Ino, squeezing Naruto's hand again, alleviating a little bit of the stinging in his fingers and putting the subject to rest for now.

"Naruto," said a cool voice from the corner. Gaara shifted his weight and crossed his arms, rustling the red fabric of his garments. "If you're recovered enough we must speak about the current situation."

The blond Ninja acknowledged with a hum and forced himself into a sitting position, resting his back against the head of the bed and looked towards Gaara as the Kazekage approached. "Thanks for all of this," said Naruto, catching a glimpse of Sasuke and noticing that the Uchiha had a new strangely mordant frown on his face.

"It's really the least I can do," said Gaara. His tome was terse but not impolite. "Now, do you feel well enough for me to bring you up to speed, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's face fell and he let himself grimace. The lump in his throat grew and he forced himself to speak passed it. "Does the 'kun' mean you addressing me as a friend… or as an equal and thus a Kage… meaning Tsunade is dead?"

Gaara paused for a moment. "Both," he said, not letting his expression change.

Naruto sighed and Ino squeezed his hand again. "Shit," he breathed. "Alright, tell me everything you know."

Gaara took a breath. "First the worst of the news… my spies reported that Tsunade was killed outside of Kumo while the village was under siege. The Crane infiltrated her ranks and wiped out her entire army. As near as we could tell there were no survivors.

"Sasuke already informed me that you know about Konoha's destruction, you saw the nothing that was left of the Leaf, but you should also know that about two percent of your population escaped and has made it safely to Suna as of this morning. I have a few dozen Ninja out on patrol with instructions to bring any survivors to the refugee camp just outside my village."

"That's better news than I was hoping for, given how completely Konoha was destroyed. The whole city was one giant firestorm," said Naruto. "What can you tell me about the Crane and their treachery?"

"Apparently," began the Kazekage, "the Crane has been preparing for this for some time and has been doing so in total secrecy. I've called all my spies in the other countries back to patrol the dessert around Suna. Most never came back, neither did the messenger hawks I loosed with the message and those spies that did return all reported the same thing; armies of hundreds if not thousands of Crane Ninja have appeared seemingly from nowhere. The Crane is rampaging all throughout the continent, burning every village in their path and killing anyone they come across. They offer no quarter and they're absolutely thorough."

"Did you send warning to Iwa and Kumo?" asked Naruto.

"Kumo looks much the same as Konoha," said Gaara as Naruto's eyes widened, "the village is gone and the Kage's head was stuck on a pike in front of what was left of the main gate. The messengers I sent to Iwa didn't return and I can only assume that Suna is the last of the five great villages."

Sasuke stepped forward and stood next to Ino. "You don't need to worry yet though," said the Uchiha. "We have patrols keeping watch over every inch of ground within fifty miles of Suna, and patrols monitoring the patrols. We'll have fair warning if the Crane decides to attack."

"Yes," said Gaara, "I can't say we're well defended, but when the Crane comes here, we'll have at least enough time to get all of the noncombatants to safety."

Naruto sat up further in bed, surprised when his vision darkened around the edges of his sight and his head throbbed. The Uzumaki swooned forward some but caught himself. No one else seemed to notice that he'd suddenly become dizzy and his voice hinted at nothing as he spoke. "So you do have an evacuation plan?" asked Naruto.

"Of sorts," said Gaara, uncrossing his arms. "Beneath Suna there is a vast network of tunnels and catacombs designed to safeguard the people in times of attack. I believe Konoha had a similar defense, but the tunnels here are all connected to a primary channel that leads away from the village and takes one to an outpost far to the West, almost one hundred miles from Suna itself.

"When the Crane comes, and maybe even before if we have enough time, we'll evacuate as many people as we can through the tunnels and seal them off once the village's perimeter is breached."

Naruto looked out the window as Gaara paused to facilitate a response. Naruto had lost all sense of time while he was asleep and if not for Kyuubi's alerting him to how long he'd been asleep he would not have been able to tell if the sun sitting on the edge of the horizon was rising or setting.

Through the window, which took up the better part of the wall, Suna reflected the sun's light back into the room and Naruto could hear the sounds of people's voices rising and falling in the streets below his fourth story room.

"And from there?" asked Naruto.

"We retreat as far as we can to the West," said the Kazekage.

Gaara watched the look crawl across Naruto's face, sickness and defeat. It was the same look that had taken over Ino and Sasuke's countenances when he'd told them what he planned to do.

"Right," said Naruto, swallowing once. "I thought that might be the plan but I wasn't sure." He looked down at the bed and bit his lip. Only now was it beginning to set in that this might really happen. _There really might not be any way for me to pull this one out other than to retreat,_ thought the Uzumaki. _The Crane might have really won._

"Naruto-kun," continued the Kazekage, "I can be fairly certain that you're the one Tsunade-Sama left to take charge of Konoha in her stead, but I don't presume to tell you what to do with the people now in your charge. This is merely my plan for my people. You must know that I have-"

"No," said Naruto, looking up at Ino. "Gaara, I think you're right… now the only thing we can hope to do is save as many as we can. The Crane is just too strong to confront with any real hopes of winning. If they have thousands of Ninja and multiple armies, we would need a lot more than what few dozen we have…"

Gaara glanced around the room. Sasuke had turned his face away and stared out the window. Ino was smiling at Naruto, though all three of them, Gaara, Naruto, and Ino knew fully that she was only smiling for Naruto's sake. "So what will you do, Naruto-kun?" asked the Kazekage.

Naruto moved Ino to the side just a bit and stood up, grasping hold of the sheets and keeping them in front of himself as he wrapped them around his waist. The stone floor was strangely warm under his feet, yet another reminder of the alien nature of his surroundings.

"If you'll have it," said Naruto, "I'd like to have all of the refugees from Konoha accompany your people out of the city when the time comes."

Sasuke breathed hard once. "I really hate this," muttered the Uchiha under his breath.

Naruto turned to Sasuke and spoke kindly. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

Sasuke huffed once and paced the length of the room towards the door, stopping short of the threshold. "We've come so far," he spat, clenching his fists at his sides. "We killed Orochimaru, defeated the Fourth, you destroyed the Hyuuga demon forever, toppled the Sound Alliance… and for what? Now it's all been for nothing. Naruto, I thought you'd try to talk Gaara and Sakura out of this plan of theirs. I told them you wouldn't run away, that you wouldn't just tuck your tail."

Sasuke took a deep breath and exhaled angrily. "I know the odds are against us, but why is everyone so afraid to keep on fighting?"

"Sasuke," said Naruto, finding no words to follow his friend's name.

"Don't worry, I'm going to help you all go through with this," said the Uchiha. "If you need me, Karenna and I will be down at the reservoirs getting as much fresh water as we can put in shipping jars."

Ino, Naruto, and Gaara watched as Sasuke left the room, his knuckles turning white. They heard him curse once in the hall and mutter to himself, "would it really be so bad to die fighting given the alternative?" The Uchiha's voice faded with his footsteps as he walked farther away.

Ino waited for a moment, watching Naruto's expression gradually change and fall. Then she spoke. "Sasuke's been very upset ever since Sakura and Gaara decided that his plan to evacuate everyone was the best course of action…"

"Sasuke has been through a lot," said Naruto. "Gaara," he turned to the Kazekage. "What's out to the West, beyond the Wind Country's borders?"

Gaara sighed. "The sea," he said. "Our Nidiame thought the sea would make a perfect last-resort for the people of the village if worse ever came to worst so he erected several shipyards along the coast and had a fleet of vessels constructed and concealed. Ever since then we have maintained this as Suna's secret escape plan."

"So you'll load everyone onto the ships and set sail?" asked Naruto.

Ino's ears immediately pricked up and a small shiver ran down her back. "What do you mean 'you'll?'" she asked.

"And burn the shipyards once everyone is safe," continued Naruto.

Gaara nodded. "Some of the old history texts mention a string of islands, possibly barrier islands to another, much larger landmass, several weeks West of the coast. We know that there are some kind of ruins on them which means they supported a population at one point. We'll burn the shipyards so the Crane can't follow us for a long time."

Ino broke in and put her hand on Naruto's side. The muscles beneath his skin twitched as she touched him. "You said 'you'll load everyone,' not 'we'll load everyone onto the ships," said the Kunoichi. "Naruto, you're coming with us. Don't think for an instant that you're not."

Naruto grinned. "Don't worry," he said calmly, "I'm just trying to work in my head exactly how this is going to work out…"

Ino didn't answer but slid her hand into Naruto's, glad when his fingers wrapped around hers. She looked between Naruto and Gaara for a moment. She looked down at the solid stone floor beneath her dark purple boots and licked her dry lips.

"There's one other thing I want to know about," said Naruto.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" asked Gaara. "However I can accommodate you would be my pleasure."

"If one of your patrolling Ninja were to return now and tell us the Crane was coming, how long would we have before they arrived?"

"At worst," said the Kazekage, "we'd have between two and three hours depending on how quickly the Crane army was moving. If they were coming at us from several different directions with smaller forces it would take them less time to arrive than it would if they were marching an army of twenty-five hundred soldiers towards us."

Naruto arched his back, popping several points in down his spine and rolled his shoulders back. "And I'm assuming that there's a lot of preparation to be done before we could make any kind of viable escape attempt with the thousands of soon-to-be refugees we'd need to evacuate."

"Everyone in Suna is working without rest," said Gaara, "but we'd take any help you'd offer."

Naruto nodded. "You're right, Tsunade left me to take over for her if Jiraiya- didn't make it, should something happen to her. As of now, you have my backing to put everyone under my authority to work preparing for the withdrawal. You can tell them that everything you tell them to do is as good as an order from the Hokage."

Gaara bowed as little as he could while still being respectful to Naruto. "And to maintain as much cooperation as we can," he said, "the same authority will be granted to you where citizens and Ninja of Suna are concerned."

"We're in this together," said Naruto, "but that authority would be wasted on me. You'd be better off granting someone else that kind of power."

Ino looked quizzically at the Uzumaki but smiled just a little when she realized what was going through his mind.

"Sakura would make a much better executor than me. She should be the one to make all of the calls where the logistics are concerned," Naruto said quietly.

"Wise," said Gaara. "Your Steward despite Sasuke's objections was a strong advocate of the plan and I think I'll take your advice. You'll still be granted all of the influence she will be but I think Sakura's presence here will expedite our tasks."

"She's very good at what she does," said Naruto.

"I'm sure she is," said Gaara, "now, I don't mean to be rude, but there is much work that remains to be done and we don't know how long we have to finish. I need to see to several affairs and I'll leave you to yours." The Kazekage began walking towards the door but stopped, exactly where Sasuke had stopped and turned back to Naruto and Ino. "Naruto-kun," he said, hesitating as though he was still trying to forge a sentence in his head, "your Steward informed me of everything that lead up to Konoha's destruction, including your support for bringing the Crane to your village."

Naruto winced. "Did she now?" _I guess I deserved that. Sakura had every right to make me look like an utter fool._

"Naruto-kun, I wanted you to know that no one holds anything you did against you. No one here in Suna and I'm sure no one from Konoha would deny that you were acting in efforts to ensure a much better situation than the one we are now dealing with… also there are some clothes you might find appropriate in the chest of drawers by the bed," Gaara turned on his heel and left the room, quickly but politely pacing down the hall. The Kazekage still looked tall and proud.

Naruto took a deep breath and sat hard back down on the bed, leaning back and resting on his elbows. Ino sat next to him and set her back against the headboard, looking at his shoulders and smiling. He seemed to grow more muscular each time she looked at him, Ino thought.

"Who would have thought it would come to this?" asked Naruto as Ino leaned a little closer to him. "Sasuke's right, we're running away without putting up a fight. In this situation though, what else can we do? We're a bunch of vagabonds getting ready to run for our lives."

The warm sunlight pouring into the room made the sandy colors of the desert pop off the walls and the bed and the chairs lining the walls. The atmosphere, despite the world at large, forbade the gloominess that should have pervaded Naruto's recovery room.

Ino grinned and bit her lip as Naruto stared off into space. "It could be worse," she said quietly as she let her eyes trail over Naruto's muscled frame to his face and ultimately, his sparkling blue eyes. "We're not dead."

Naruto looked up at Ino, at how the light seemed to flicker off her face and hair, and felt his breath catch. He had noticed it before coming to Suna, in Konoha, how flawlessly smooth and pale Ino's complexion had become since her return, but only now with the aid of the bright western sun saw exactly how perfectly every detail of her face and skin stood out. If he'd been a guessing stranger, Naruto would have thought her a goddess.

"No," Naruto said, reaching out quickly but calmly and putting his hand behind Ino's head. "But we could die any minute now, couldn't we?" Naruto smiled and, by sheer will, he forced any thought or even the inkling of thoughts of dread, guilt, or remorse from his mind. Looking at his ultimate treasure, he sealed those considerations and anxieties away and for this moment at least, Ino would be his sole focus.

Ino grinned and let Naruto pull her towards him, and roll her onto her back. She really, really, liked where this was going. "Well then maybe we should live like it," she whispered, leaning up as Naruto pinned her wrists out to her sides on the bed. She grinned and pressed her chest against his and kissed his neck as he slid over her, resting his knee between her thighs for support.

Ino freed her hands and reached around his neck, running her fingers up the back of Naruto's head through his thick golden hair, massaging his scalp as Naruto trailed an almost insubstantial kiss from Ino's cheek up to just beneath her ear.

The Kunoichi pressed her thighs against Naruto's leg and pushed it to one side, not allowing him to stay still. A quiet sigh of release escaped Ino's lips as she felt Naruto begin to grind up against her, letting most of his weight down onto her just as she'd wanted.

Naruto shifted his weight onto his right elbow and reached around Ino's back with his left hand, sliding his fingers under the tight fabric of her top and unfastening one of the buttons that held it around her. She grinned as the second button popped undone and lifted herself up a little more as Naruto went for the third. When the last button slid, Ino's top merely draped over her front like a cloth and Naruto reached to pull it away.

"Why don't we find some place a bit more private," Naruto said as he stopped short, humorously though his breath was already shuddering in anticipation he couldn't mask. "This room seems a little exposed to me."

Ino clenched her fingers in his hair and pulled Naruto's head back with just enough force to make his scalp sting, grinning as she did. "Naruto," she said with an edge in her voice, though it was hidden behind genuine playfulness, "right here, right now, and anybody who walks in can get over it. Got it?" She pulled on his hair just a little, sensing that he didn't mind and might have even liked it. "I'm done waiting."

Naruto swallowed and looked down at her without moving his head. "You're so mean," he said.

"You know you love it," Ino cooed, reaching out and grabbing hold of one of Naruto's big hands. "Now," she moved his hand to the base of her dark skirt; Naruto's fingers took over there and slipped under the tight fabric, working the skirt up a down inches and exposing the Kunoichi more, bit by bit until nothing more than the very edge of the hemmed skirt hid her from him, "where were we?"

Naruto grinned wickedly. "You went to some trouble I see," trailing one finger over her perfectly smooth pubic mound and making the Kunoichi's thighs tense up visibly.

Ino laid her head back on the sheets as Naruto's finger began tracing little circles and figures over her and along the edge of the skirt. "I thought you might appreciate that," she said breathily, bringing her arms up and putting her hands on her neck as Naruto pushed the skirt down only the least noticeable length, exposing a tip of pink.

Naruto looked at Ino's face and felt his head spin. She was massaging her neck and had closed her eyes, letting him play. He teased her and ran his index finger over the very head of the thin pink bit of flesh and watched in satisfaction as Ino dropped her jaw and took a stammering breath.

Naruto traded his index finger for his thumb and began rubbing that little spot with barely enough pressure for the Kunoichi to feel as he used the rest of his hand to massage the lowest reaches of her belly.

Ino pressed her head back and sighed with a grin, moving her hands down to push her now useless top off her chest. With her palms as Naruto watched she pressed in on her breasts and began to slowly push herself around in circles.

"You are such a hedonist," Naruto mumbled.

Ino grinned and looked at him, opening her eyes and licking her lips once. "Only when you're around," she said. "I'm your little hedonist."

SC

As it always seemed to be doing, the weather in the Rain Village threatened storms. The enormous nimbus clouds hanging countless feet above the ground flashed with lightning and billowed and swirled violently. The giants were dark as pitch in the evening sky, but, despite the oscillation of the clouds, no wind blew at ground level. The air even at the tops of the village's spires was completely still, a fact Madara noted well, standing beside the open window on the twenty-eighth story of his tower.

_It's so quiet outside,_ he thought to himself in words not in a language that any living person had ever heard spoken before. _Even the thunder is unvoiced,_ he mused as he witnessed a flash of light from the clouds and counted more than a minute between the light and the dull, almost silent rumble that followed tardily. _I wonder how high up that storm is raging…_

Madara wore his usual attire; Akatsuki's signature cloak and his strange orange mask. He paced the length of his study once, counting the steps it took him to pass from the window to a dresser pressed almost secretively into one of the room's dark corners. He opened the top drawer and removed a small notebook from the confines of the drawer, then pressed his open palm against the bottom of the wood paneling.

In a muted flash of blue energy, the bottom of the drawer disappeared, revealing a much deeper and more occupied reserve of strange masks, some beautiful and some grotesque, but all built to hide all of the wearer's facial features. Madara reached inside and picked up an almost featureless ceramic façade, shaped roughly like a human face, but lacking any holes for the mouth, nose, or even the wearer's eyes.

Madara turned to look over his shoulder, setting the mask delicately back into the drawer as a clamor at the window (AN: to a trained Ninja, even a sneaking mouse is noisy) caught his attention. Itachi had appeared, perching like a raven on the sill and staring at Madara from over the turned up collar of his cloak.

"Storm's coming," said Itachi, not moving from the sill. "And I'm guessing that from all of the disturbances in the upper atmosphere it's going to be a monster."

Madara turned around to face his younger clansman, his face as blank as the mask that hid it. "Are you and Kisame ready to move out?" asked Madara.

Itachi looked behind him as a lightning bolt lit up the sky and split into a dozen ribbons of light. "Sasori and Deidara are both dead," said Itachi, letting the statement hang. The air between the two Uchiha seemed to thicken as Itachi cocked his head like a querying bird. "How did that happen?"

"The Hyuuga killed them," said Madara without missing a beat. "I thought you would have known that."

"Zetsu said that not only did the Hyuuga kill them, but that the Hyuuga were nowhere near Naruto when the battle began. I'm not going to complain about those two weaklings dying, but I thought you would have made an effort to have them at least catch Naruto and Sasuke or kill their escorts rather than having them die for nothing."

Madara didn't answer immediately, but turned back to his drawer of masks. "I told you that anyone who wasn't worth keeping around, anyone who turned out to be a liability would be discarded," said Madara calmly. "I thought it would be more economical for our enemies to weaken themselves ridding us of our undesirables than for us to execute them ourselves."

Itachi took a breath. His voice was free of any sign of stress, but he watched Madara for any movement for well over a minute before speaking again. "Kisame and I can leave at a moment's notice," he said. "We're more than prepared to wipe Suna out, but I wanted to make sure that you're not going to decide that he and I aren't worth keeping around."

Madara laughed once into his mask. "I'd watch what you say Itachi," he grinned. "Remember that you're not indispensible. Pain, Naruto and I can rebuild the Maiban Empire without you. You're alive because you're useful and you're strong, stronger than all of the purebloods alive today even, excepting me of course. You need to remember though that I can kill you with little more effort that I require to breathe."

"I'm not challenging you Madara-san," said Itachi, obviously straining to force some respect into his tone. "I'm just looking for some measure of assurance that you're not sending Kisame and I to our deaths."

"Like I said," said Madara, "you're useful and you're strong. As long as you continue to be both, I'll have motive to refrain from killing you… Now, did you and Kisame have any desire to linger here?"

"No," said Itachi, shifting to survey the study, noting the walls lined with floor to ceiling bookshelves, each shelf warping under the weight of books piled on books piled on yet more books. Not one of the hundreds or maybe even thousands of volumes had a title written on its spine. Madara must have memorized everything about each one of them. "We can leave at any time."

"Good," said Madara, his tone brightening for the first time in the conversation. "Why don't the two of you depart tomorrow morning then? Take two full regiments with you and set up a base camp one hundred and ten miles from Suna, that should put you just outside their spy net."

Itachi inclined his head once. "Four thousand Ninja… Kisame and I might need another commander to manage them all properly. Perhaps we could take Konan with us, or Pain?"

"No," said Madara, "I'd prefer you not take Pain. You might ask Hidan or Kakazu if they'd like to go though."

Itachi grimaced but immediately hid his distaste behind his usual lack of concern. "I forgot how protective you are of your little pet."

Madara paused for just a moment and drew in a breath. "Pain is important. It was a once in a lifetime chance that one of the bodies he reanimated happened to be a pureblooded Rinnigan and another was a pureblooded member of the Scholarly Class."

"Right," said Itachi, "lucky. Before he found the Maiban corpses that wastrel was just another necromancer weakling…"

"And now he's second only to us and maybe to Naruto-kun," said Madara, "though I doubt that Naruto alone could overcome Pain… Why don't you head out then? Just remember to wait for orders before you actually make your move against Suna. Oh, but feel free to slip in yourself or send an assassin to kill the Kazekage and spread some fear among their ranks."

"Understood," said Itachi, bowing his head as little as he could and disappearing in a rush of wind, just as it began to rain outside.

Madara sighed and reopened his chest of masks, removing again the featureless white façade, the mask of Iwa's most elite assassin corps. He attached to mask to a small hook hidden in the folds of his robe and walked to the window in which Itachi had sat, and put his arm outside.

Seemingly from nothing, a hawk, blood red in color with the tips of its feathers scorched black, sprung into existence on his hand and looked at him with one crimson eye. Madara scratched the bird's neck with his free hand for a moment, before pulling a tiny scroll from his pocket. He bound the scroll to the hawk's leg and then shook his arm.

The hawk opened its wings and took to the skies with one loud scream, flying West. Madara watched as the hawk picked up speed, flying too fast for any normal animal, then turned back into his room. "So much to do," he said, taking the porcelain mask from its hook and holding it up before his face.

* * *

AN: Alright then, let's hope this isn't a pattern in the making. Last week was a bit of an interesting story, but suffice it to say that now we should be back on schedule since all of the meaningless hospital visits are out of the way lol. Hope you enjoyed!


	58. Best Plans

AN: Greetings all.

I have only one real not to make here and it concerns the length of AW. I've reworked the original plans a little and it's looking like it might run a little longer than the originally planned nine or ten chapters.

Read and Review!

* * *

The Best Plans

Even when the clock sounded one in the morning, the streets of Suna, especially those around the Western side of town and Gaara's palace, were buzzing with activity. The tall lampposts lining the roads and walkways were shining brightly, lighting up the city. The villagers, and occasional Ninja, beneath those lights were hurriedly carrying boxes and crates from homes down the road, unloading carts of sealed containers, and compelling camel-driven carts in a continuous line of activity towards Gaara's palace.

At the base of the palace was a small army of Ninja divided up into groups of two or three. Each was directing the river of traffic and people towards arches set in the side of the palace, arches that lead into tunnels that sloped downwards and ran at a mild incline under the palace.

In the center of it all, was Sakura, flitting about like a wren in a tree from one group of directing Ninja to another, giving orders, helping to decide who should go where and generally doing what she could to make things move smoothly, or as smoothly as the mass evacuation of a large city could go at least.

"Remember!" Sakura shouted above the din of the undulating crowd in her usual, commanding voice. "Take only what you need to survive!" She raised her voice even higher to send the message as far as she could, jumping up onto a cart that had stopped in the center of the road. "Don't bring any furniture or personal effects. Bring food and water in sealed containers. Any food and drink is our priority! If you have anything you can't carry with you then find an empty cart or leave it behind!"

Sakura watched as everyone around her, thousands of people, continued on towards the palace, jostling and pushing to get through the crowds. Everyone was carrying something, everyone had at least a backpack or a purse or some bag of belongings in their arms. Some people were carrying as much as the camels Gaara had brought up to help alleviate the loads of the citizenry.

The pink haired Kunoichi sighed and jumped from the cart. She sat down in the sand, resting her back against a box and took a deep breath. She knew that there was no way she could handle all of the administrative and logistical duties that accompanied overseeing an operation this large. It had been like receiving the death penalty when Gaara had approached her and asked Sakura to help oversee all of the logistics involved with the retreat.

She had taken her responsibility in good graces however, knowing that it would be better for everyone if she helped, and the work to be done, directing people where to go, what to take, and how to behave, was not actually very complicated. The daunting aspect of things was the simple fact that there were so many people and so few Ninja to keep everything running smoothly.

"And this isn't even the hard part," Sakura mumbled to herself when she heard the bell strike two. Right now was only the phase of moving all of the supplies down into the main tunnel beneath the city, a tunnel nearly two hundred meters wide and supported by a system of arches and vaults. Once this phase was complete then it would come time to transport all of the supplies down that tunnel as efficiently as possible, down the way to the fort on the other end of the route and from there to the docks.

"This sucks," she said, almost laughing as laughing was the only thing she could think to do that wasn't crying. "This genuinely and totally sucks."

"Something wrong?"

Sakura visibly jumped as someone, in this case Shikamaru, poked his head around one of the corners of the crate Sakura rested against. "Jeez," said the Kunoichi, taking a breath to steady herself as her pulse pounded in her ears. "Don't do that... shouldn't you be asleep by now or something?"

Shikamaru grinned a little and stepped fully away from the box. His face fell back to its default calm quickly though. "Not with all the work that needs to be done," he said as he looked around. "We've got a long road ahead."

Sakura nodded, not sure what to say that hadn't already been said a thousand times.

"And I wanted to check up on you," continued Shikamaru. "You looked rattled earlier and I was worried."

"Thanks," said Sakura after a moment's pause. "I'm fine though."

"Fine never means anything good," said Shikamaru. "And I'll listen if you need to talk."

"Fine," said Sakura, trying not to sound rude. "I'm alright then."

Shikamaru didn't answer immediately. He let her sit in the sand and just waited as she looked between him and the activity humming all around a few times.

"Fine," reiterated the Kunoichi, "I said I'm fine, it's just that there's a lot of- stuff to deal with right now."

"Anything I can do to help?" asked Shikamaru, crossing his arms and showing no signs of leaving.

Sakura sighed. "Not really," she muttered. "For the most part everything is going as well as it can. We're short on people to direct the flow of traffic and of course there's the problem of things getting so backed up so fast but there's nothing we can do about that; just the nature of the beast."

Shikamaru took a deep breath and stretched, arching his back a bit and pushing his hands up above his head. "Well," he said casually, "I offered to go out on patrol for Gaara-sama, but he said that with my," he tapped his eye-patch and trailed off for a second, "he said I should probably take it easy. So if it's just grunt work you need help with I'd be happy to-"

"Excuse me."

Both Sakura and Shikamaru looked up surprised. Suddenly the crowd working around them wasn't the only distraction in their vicinity.

"Would either of you be able to arrange for me to meet with the Kazekage?" said the tall man in the black cloak.

"Um," Sakura stammered, staring at the man's featureless white mask which concealed his features uncannily. "That depends on what you need to see him for," she said, recovering. "You've caught us at a bit of a busy time. Who are you exactly?"

"A member of Iwa's elite assassination squad," the man in the mask didn't move, but continued in his quiet and oily tone, "I must speak with the Kazekage. I have important information about the Crane's troop movements and their plans to attack Suna."

SC

Naruto was draped over Ino, both glimmering with perspiration in the soft light from the window. He laid there, his face buried in the crook of her neck and his elbows on either side of her breasts with his hands underneath Ino's back. He neither spoke nor shifted to move away.

As though she were a vice, Ino's legs wrapped tightly around Naruto's lower back, refusing to let him go as her chest rose and fell in rolling breaths. Ino's arms were around Naruto's shoulders and she ran her hands autonomously over his back as she whispered his name to him and to herself over and over.

Still Naruto rocked back and forward, the pulsing high making the world spin and ring. He turned his head more into her neck and kissed her again, savoring every sensation and touch. Ino leaned her head back, not opening her eyes, and absorbed it all as they lay in the center of the blanket-less bed.

"My god, Naruto," Ino whispered, turning her face and kissing the top of his head.

Naruto took a huffing breath and leaned back only enough to see her face to face. He was trembling but wore the widest grin. "So," he said in a shaking voice, "round rwo?"

Ino reached up and put her hands on the back of his head, pulling him down and pressing her lips against his with all the energy she could muster. She kissed him and tugged on his lower lip as she squeezed him tighter with her legs, feeling his muscles move with untold strength as he breathed and held himself steady.

"I don't think you realize," she whispered right next to his ear, "just what kind of position you've gotten yourself into now."

"A damn good one," said Naruto.

Ino laughed one exhausted laugh and let herself relax back a bit, but pulled Naruto down a little closer to her. "Maybe for me," she said, gripping his shoulders and massaging him a bit. "You'd better not let me get too used to this or you'll never get a moment's rest."

Naruto let himself down onto his side beside her, leaning up on one elbow to look at her and grinned. "Do you think I'm not enjoying myself or something?"

"Nope," Ino chirped. "I know you're having a good time, I just don't think that you could be having anywhere near as much fun as me."

"Well," said Naruto, making a point to be obvious about looking her over, "if that's the case I might be willing to go again if you ask really nicely."

Ino smirked and turned on him, pushing Naruto onto his back. He didn't think to resist as she lifted one leg and straddled him, leaning over him and pinning his hands to the bed.

"Believe me," she cooed, "if you'll wait right here and give me a few minutes to recuperate, I'll give you a rematch and a round three if you'd like."

"Where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked playfully as Ino rolled off the bed and strutted towards the door set in the wall perpendicular to the exit.

"Bathroom," said the Kunoichi, making a point to exaggerate the rocking in her hips as she moved and turned to look at Naruto. "Don't worry now, I'll be right back." She grinned and opened the door, behind which Naruto saw a bathroom equipped with a toilet and a stand-up shower.

"Oh," Naruto mumbled as Ino shut the door behind her. "I hadn't noticed that before."

Naruto leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. "Wow," he sighed contentedly. "I didn't know life could be this sweet." He rolled to one side and reached over the edge of the bed, grabbing at the comforter, which had been catapulted off the bed some time ago, and pulled it back up onto the mattress and over to cover himself.

Several minutes passed which Naruto took to close his eyes and relax. Suddenly he felt very tired. It wasn't an exhausted kind of fatigue, but more of an almost euphoric relaxation. _I feel like I could take a nap and not wake up for days,_ he thought to himself. _Ino's not the only one who will need to watch out for this becoming an addiction._

Naruto grimaced as he heard someone knock on the chamber door. _Oh please not now,_ he mentally griped. _Why now?_

"Naruto?" Sasuke's voice came through the door just as clearly as though he were already in the room. "Naruto, sorry, but we need to talk."

With a sigh, a discontented one, Naruto got to his feet and wrapped one of the sheets around his waist, walking across the warm sandy room to the door. He reached out and tugged on the handle.

"Sorry about the interruption," said Sasuke, trying to look at Naruto and not let his eyes wander about the room. "Gaara is entertaining a Ninja from Iwa and wanted you to be there."

"Don't worry about it, Sasuke… Iwa," said Naruto quizzically. "Are they still alive or is this Ninja a survivor?"

"Don't know," said Sasuke, almost bitterly. "The meeting is private, even Sakura wasn't allowed, and Gaara just asked me to come and get you. They're meeting in Gaara's office. It's on the floor above this one."

Naruto sighed and looked towards the closed bathroom door. "How urgent is it?"

Sasuke followed Naruto glance to the door and took a step back. He reached for the door's handle and began to pull the door closed. "I'll wait out here. Just let me know when you're ready and I'll show you where it is."

"Thanks," said Naruto as Sasuke closed the door.

Just as the door's mechanism clicked closed, the bathroom door opened and Naruto turned to see Ino stepping over the threshold. He smiled at her and she returned the gesture. Ino stopped a few steps away from him and crossed her arms in front of her chest, shifting most of her weight onto one leg.

"I'd ask what was on your mind," said Naruto, "but I think I already have a pretty good idea."

"Hm," Ino grinned. "Good guess."

"Not a guess," said Naruto, stepping back and sitting on the bed.

Ino paused for a moment, biting her lip. "That was Sasuke at the door wasn't it?" she asked.

Naruto sighed and looked at the ground. "Yep," he nodded. "Gaara is having some kind of secret meeting and wants me there. He wouldn't even let Sasuke or Sakura in to know what was going on..."

"Oh," said Ino, obviously more than a little deflated. "Well, I guess the world isn't going to save itself…" she forced a convincing smile.

"You want to know what I think of the world?" Naruto asked, cynicism thinly veiled in his tone.

"You probably have more good to say about it than I do," said Ino. "But, that doesn't change the fact that it needs you." She walked to the side of the bed and the chest of drawers behind Naruto and pulled open one of the drawers. "Wow," she whispered. "Look at this."

Naruto turned around and watched as Ino pulled a long red cloak from the bin. Perfectly folded the crimson cloth unfurled like a cascading waterfall and draped down nearly to her feet as Ino held it up to see.

"This is pretty amazing," she continued, looking over the cloak from the shoulder down to the base where white flames danced around the cuffs of the cloth. "This must have been custom made," said Ino, setting the cloak across chair next to the dresser.

"What else is in there?" asked Naruto, standing up and walking around the bed. _That looks like a cloak Min- my father would have worn during his days as Hokage,_ Naruto thought, thinking of the white robes with red flames which the Fourth Hokage had made his standard attire.

"Hit the lights for me, will you?" asked Ino as she pulled an off-white shirt from the drawer and laid it across the seat.

Naruto got up and walked over to the door and flipped the light-switch, making both him and Ino wince as the bright fluorescents sprung to life. "Is that silk?" he asked, nodding to the shirt that he could now see flickered subtly in the light.

"Definitely," said Ino. "The cloak is leather but lined with silk. This is quality stuff Naruto." She then pulled a pair of dark pants from the drawer and held them up. "These are spun wool I think, but they're lined with the same material as the cloak. Gaara really went all out."

"Hmm," Naruto toned as he threw the sheet around his waist on the bed and held out his hand for the pants. "May I?"

"I don't think so," said Ino playfully, holding the pants back and giving Naruto the once-over. "I think I like you better this way."

Naruto sighed with feigned exasperation, still waiting with his hand held at chest level. "You might, but I'm not sure everyone else would appreciate it as much."

"Hmph," Ino grunted, "the savages must have no taste." She tossed the pants into Naruto's grip.

"Thanks," he said, bending at the knee to slide the pants up to his waist. He pulled on the leather belt which had already been threaded through the loops sewn into the waistline. "I wonder how expensive these were," he mused, leaving the leather strap, which was already threaded through the steel buckle, unfastened.

"Probably about as much as we'd get paid for an S-Ranked mission.," said Ino, stepping up behind Naruto with the shirt in her hands. "Now, put your hands up."

"I don't have any money if that's what you're after," said the blond Ninja, raising his hands above his head.

"I know," said Ino, reaching up, almost needing to stand on the tips of her toes to get the shirt over his hands. She pulled the fabric down over his head and straightened it out after the V-shaped collar fell below his jaw. "You've got something else that I want though."

Naruto grinned as she tucked the shirt into the top of his pants. "Oh?" he probed, what would that be if you don't mind my asking?"

"Let's think," said the Kunoichi.

"Whoa!" Naruto jumped in surprise as Ino's hands jumped farther down the front of his pants. Without another word, she fastened Naruto's belt and took a step back.

Ino pursed her lips, picking up the heavy cloak and sliding the sleeve up Naruto's arm and over his shoulder. "If you even think about getting me started I'm going to rip these clothes right back off you, and after all the trouble I'm going to, to try keep you in them that might not be good."

"Well we couldn't have that could we," said Naruto, sliding on the rest of the cloak and straightening himself up.

"Not yet anyway," Ino cooed, embracing Naruto from behind. "Once you get back though, it's 'no holds barred.'"

Naruto grinned, grabbed the sheet off the bed's headboard and turned in Ino's grip. "I think we both know how that's going to end," he said as he brought the sheet behind her and wrapped her in it. She let got so he could bundle her up completely, then leaned in as he in turn hugged her to him.

"Hurry back," she said as he let go and walked around the bed to the door.

"You know me," said Naruto as he set his hand on the handle and began tugging the door open. He hit the switch as he left, leaving Ino in the muted light from the streetlamps beneath the window.

"That's my point," said Ino quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Naruto stepped out into the dimly lit hall, the first time he'd been out of his room since waking up, and the first thing he noticed was the color of the walls. It was the same color as the floor, which was the same color as the ceiling, which was the same color as every other structure he'd seen in Suna thus far.

_I know we're in the desert,_ Naruto groaned mentally,_ but does everything have to be the exact same color and texture? I'd forgotten how drab everything was here_, he thought, already missing Konoha's lush and vibrant palate of greens, oranges, and blues.

Sasuke stood with his back to one wall and his arms crossed in front of his chest. He had discarded the shirt and pants he'd worn to Suna and traded them in for a somewhat more appropriate ANBU jumpsuit, though his uniform was embroidered with the Wind Country's motif.

"I like the getup," said Naruto, caching the Uchiha's attention and gesturing to the jumpsuit.

"Likewise," Sasuke acknowledged, pushing himself up straight and dropping his hands to his side. "I thought getting a bunch of free clothes was a good deal but it looks like I got the shaft," he grinned. "You look just like a genuine Hokage should, even if you are missing the forehead protector."

"Yeah," said Naruto, "but I'm not so sure any of us are really 'Ninja's of Konoha' anymore. At this point I think we're Ronin, master-less warriors, at best."

"Not master-less," said Sasuke. "We'll always have a master, just not a village now. I guess this makes us 'Ninja of Naruto,'" he said, grinning.

"Don't even joke about that," said Naruto, an almost bitter edge in his tone. "Being anyone's master **or **Hokage has lost its appeal to me… Now, you were going to show me to Gaara I think."

"Yeah," said Sasuke, turning down the hall as Naruto mirrored and followed him, "the stairs are this way. Gaara asked that we not use the elevators, but it's only one floor up. Think you think you can manage that?"

"What's gotten you so chipper all of a sudden?" Naruto asked, only slightly cynically as he stepped up to walk beside Sasuke.

"Nothing in particular," said the Uchiha as they pair of Ninja passed by several more doors before coming to the end of the hall and stopping in front of a large set of double doors. "But I was thinking about a few things and it occurred to me that, with everything that's going on, the last thing we need is for everyone to mope around and complain about how bad everything is… so I'm not going to."

Naruto grinned as Sasuke pushed the big door open and they stepped out into a simple concrete stairwell. "I'd like to know how you do that," said Naruto as they began to climb the wide steps. "You and Ino both just decide to be better people and suddenly you are. The rest of us mortals actually have to work at it you know."

Sasuke chuckled once and turned onto a landing, stopping where he stood. Naruto stopped beside him and they both paused for a moment. There were no windows in the stairwell, leaving the task of lighting the large structure to a single light bulb hanging above the landing on which the two Ninja stood. It would have been far too dark for anyone but a Ninja to see in the gloom, and even Naruto's sharpened eyes had to widen to properly make out each step.

"You're a good person, Naruto," said Sasuke. "Don't let anyone tell you differently. Everybody fucks up and falls off the wagon at some point in their life, but the trick is to get back up and dust yourself off without letting yourself turn into a whining infant… I had to learn that while I was under Orochimaru's control."

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke took a breath, objectivity ostensibly his aim. "I was under the Cursed Seal's influence, I had no say in whether or not I could obey Orochimaru, and at first… you know how it goes, you get all angsty about it and let the self-pity get in the way of every thought… but it's not worth it Naruto. It really isn't, and I don't want you thinking that you're defined by what you did."

Naruto paused and stared at the featureless concrete wall. "Thanks, I think," he said. "I'm curious though. What defines us if not what we do?"

"That's not what I said," Sasuke prompted. "I said it's not what we 'did.' We're defined by what we **do**, now in the present, not what we did in the past. I've been thinking a lot, and if we're all defined by what we've done, then none of us are good people. We need live from minute to minute being the best we can be, and that's the best we can do."

"Since when did you take up philosophy?" asked Naruto, no malice in his voice.

"It's not philosophy," Sasuke said. "It's just common sense that there's no point in moping about the past when there's nothing that can be done to change it. The only thing you can change is yourself, and it's completely up to you who you are and what you become. No one has any say in who you are but you, because **you **have complete control over what you do and it's what you **do** that defines you."

Naruto waited for a moment, mulling over what Sasuke had said while the Uchiha waited patiently for Naruto to respond or resume walking. Naruto slipped his hands into his new pants' pockets and only then realized just how deep said pockets were. He could slide his forearm in almost halfway to his elbow.

"Thanks," said Naruto, not exactly sure what he should say. "I'm not entirely sure I buy it, but thanks. I appreciate what you're trying to do."

"I don't want you to find yourself where I was two years ago," said Sasuke, "bitter, angry with the world, self-damning, and jaded."

"You think that's where I'm headed?" Naruto asked, his tone indistinct.

Sasuke paused and tried to gauge Naruto's mood and position. "I'm not saying that's where you're going. I'm just want you to know that everyone here is completely on your side and we're here to support you… but also that you need to support yourself."

A moment passed and Naruto took a deep and steadying breath. "Thanks Sasuke," he said. "I appreciate it."

"Any time," said Sasuke, resuming their march up the stairs. "You know," said the Uchiha as he opened the doors to the next floor up for Naruto, "I managed to hold your sisters off for you while you and Ino were sharing a moment, but I don't think that once we get to Gaara's office that you can count on me to protect you from them."

Naruto grinned as they stepped into the hall beyond the big double door. "I was a little curious as to where they were after I'd heard they were all anxious to see me."

Sasuke mirrored Naruto and let a small grin spread across his face. "I told Karenna as you were waking up that you and Ino would probably want some private time once Gaara was done with you and she got Alicia and Karenna to leave you alone for a bit."

"As terrible of me as this may be," said Naruto, "I'm sort of thankful for that, though now I really would like to see them."

"They're in Gaara's reception room. I managed to convince them that you were safe enough in Suna to forgo their constant vigilance."

"That and I'll bet Karenna liked the idea of getting to spend some time with you," said Naruto playfully.

Sasuke's demeanor suddenly became very much like that of a dog walked in on with his mouth full of the Christmas ham. "I wouldn't know anything about what you're talking about…" said the Uchiha, swallowing his words as quickly as he said them. "… you noticed that?"

Naruto grinned. "I thought the two of you looked good together on the way here."

"She's a smart girl, and she's easy to talk to," Sasuke said as the pair of Ninja stopped in front of a plain wooden door in the otherwise featureless sandstone wall. "Even if she is a few years older than me."

"Hey," said Naruto, raising his hands as if to surrender. "It's quite a triumph for a guy to say he's ensnared the heart of a woman older than himself. Likewise, I hear that it's looked upon as a major accomplishment among women for one of the fairer sex to win the attention of a younger man. It's not something I'd be able to do."

Sasuke grinned. "I should hope you're not trying to win the attention of a younger man."

Both Ninja had a fair laugh at that as Sasuke opened the door into the Kazekage's reception room and ushered Naruto inside. Immediately Trina and Alicia leapt up from their places on a comfortable looking couch pressed against the opposite wall.

"Naruto!" Alicia blurted, her eyes seeming to literately light up as Naruto walked into the room. "You're alright!"

Naruto grinned as the bubbliest of the three sisters rushed forward and threw her arms around him in an unexpected but very welcome bear-hug. "You act like you didn't think I'd be fine," he answered with a grin, hugging her back, then turning to Trina as Alicia stepped back to give him some space. "You should all know me better than that."

"I kept telling them both you were fine," said Karenna from her place in the chair by the couch. The brunette Kunoichi smiled welcomingly. "It's good to see you u and bout though. We were all worried."

Trina nodded and sat back down on the couch. Fighting off a yawn she looked between Naruto and Sasuke. "Now that you're back in the game though, we can finally get this show on the road and come up with something."

Naruto glanced between the Sisters, then at Sasuke who had taken a seat behind the receptionist's empty desk, and Sakura, who was sitting quietly and almost unnoticed in the corner of the room opposite Sasuke.

"I think," said the blond Ninja as Sakura looked up and met his eye with a small smile, "that people a lot smarter than me already have."

Sakura sighed and opened her mouth to say something, but quickly cut herself off as the door to Gaara's private office opened and the Kazekage himself stood in the entrance, holding the handle to the heavy, metal lined slab of wood.

"Naruto-kun," said Gaara in his uniform tone. "Please, if I may have a moment." Naruto nodded and looked past Gaara into his office where a tall Ninja, wearing only a black, ankle-length cloak and an unremarkable white mask waited inside the confines of the private room. "There is much we need to discuss, confidentially."

SC

"An army?" asked Naruto, standing with his back to the closed door of Gaara's private office. "How many are we talking about?"

The office was spacious, open with only a very little furniture; Gaara's slim desk, two chairs opposite the desk, and some filing equipment, but the atmosphere of the room was dark and clustered, a mood not helped by the windowless walls and the dim lighting provided by Gaara's desk-lamp.

Gaara sat at his desk with his elbows resting on the surface and his hands crossed, resting against his jaw. Naruto was at the rear of the room with his arms folded in front of his chest, and between them was their strange guest, a tall Ninja with wide shoulders. He was garbed in a jet and undistinguished cloak, wearing a mask whose featurelessness rivaled that of his cloak.

"Between four and five thousand soldiers," said the strange Ninja in an oily voice, not moving. "I can't be sure, but I counted at least two full regiments, maybe more. Additionally it's not only Ninja we have to worry about, but Samurai, Ashigura Spear-Devils, mercenaries from the Bear Country, and warrior priests from the islands east of the Water Country. It would seem that our common enemies have been marshaling this army for years."

Gaara sighed. "Harbin, how soon will they be here?" asked the Kazekage flatly.

"They were just leaving the Rain Village when I spotted them on patrol. As I saw it they were moving south, probably to try and sneak in from the bridges in the canyons to the east. Given that they're moving as one unit I'd assume it will be no more than three days before they get here. If they split up into smaller groups, they could be here by tomorrow afternoon."

"Shit," Naruto breathed quietly.

"That's the good news," said Harbin.

"Well, what's the bad news?" asked Gaara.

"Uchiha Itachi is at the head of the column. His lieutenant is a Ninja named Kisame."

"Shit," Naruto repeated, turning to face Gaara. "This is a disaster. Gaara, we're not ready. We're nowhere near ready."

Gaara glanced calmly between Naruto and the Ninja who had introduced himself as Harbin. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Naruto, you've encountered Itachi before, haven't you? What can we expect from him?"

"What's there to say?" Naruto shrugged. "Frankly, I don't think I'd be able to beat him if it were a one-on-one fight. When Itachi came to Konoha years ago Jiraiya managed to drive him off, but then again, given all the power Jiraiya was hiding from everyone, even me, I'm not really surprised." Naruto's chest tightened a little.

"Jiraiya was an exceptional Ninja," said Harbin. "In Iwa's Bingo Book he was listed as the greatest threat Konoha posed to our village. We suspected he was capable of opening all eight Celestial Gates."

Naruto took a deep breath. "He was, I think that's how he beat the Fourth when we attacked Oto."

"That might explain it then," said Harbin. "Opening all eight of the Gates unleashes all of the energy stored in the mass one's body. The user's body begins to literately convert its mass into pure energy in a massive subatomic reaction using chakra as a catalyst, but the reaction once begun is irreversible until the supply of chakra is cut off. If Itachi, who is a cowardly thing at heart according to our Bingo Book, knew of Jiraiya's abilities he would never think to engage him directly."

"At the risk of sounding cold," said Gaara, "Do we know of anyone else among us who can open all eight Gates? Perhaps we could use them as a weapon to take out Itachi and sew confusion among his ranks."

Naruto shook his head. "No," he said. "Mito Gai could open seven, but he died in the Crane's betrayal, Rock Lee could open at least five, but he was killed in the war with Oto. I don't know of any clan who actively train their members to use the Celestial Gates."

"I suppose not many people are apt to sacrifice themselves for a greater cause," said Harbin, an edge of sarcasm in his voice. "May I make a suggestion for dealing with this threat?"

"Of course," said Gaara. "What do you have in mind?"

"You've informed me that you're planning to evacuate your entire population to the coast, some hundreds of leagues away, then set sail for the islands a week's sail from the beaches, which you hope might be the barrier islands of some continent which might support your numbers… There are numerous 'mights' and 'maybes' in there and if it turns out that there is no other continent then you'll have nowhere to go but back here, and in the time you've spent looking for a new home, Akatsuki will have established an insurmountable hold on the land."

"There's not exactly much we can do about that," said Naruto. "We don't have the numbers to stand up to them directly."

"Then do it indirectly," said Harbin. "I would advise sending your noncombatants out to sea yes, but only a day or two from land. Meanwhile you leave the bulk of your fighting forces here to handle Akatsuki and the Crane.

"What you're both overlooking is that Akatsuki has an army, but that any army is only as strong as the generals leading it. It seems most likely that Akatsuki, a relatively small organization of powerful Ninja, would be the brains behind the Crane's numbers. Cut off the head of the snake, and their armies will be leaderless and count for nothing."

"We've already thought of using guerilla tactics," said Gaara, "the only problem with that method is the lack of information. We have no way of getting at just the generals. We don't know how many Ninja Akatsuki has. The leaders are hidden behind the Crane's sheer numbers."

"Then engage their armies," said Harbin. "Draw out the generals and then kill them."

"We don't' have the numbers," Naruto reminded them.

"Iwa does," said Harbin.

Both Naruto and Gaara stared at the visitor for a moment and waited for him to continue as a charged air began to invade the early morning atmosphere of the room. Harbin crossed his arms and turned ninety degrees to face both leaders.

"Iwa hasn't yet fallen to the Crane. Or at least they were still standing two days ago," Harbin said quietly. "Given the circumstances I think they'd be more than willing to put off their old and long dead hostilities with both of you to unite against the greater threat posed by Akatsuki and the Crane."

Naruto broke in, his voice a little stronger. "How much support could we expect from Iwa?"

"My village has been withdrawn for a reason these past few years. After our war with the Fire Country, our power had been destroyed. However, we began recruiting heavily from the surrounding lands, building an army which could resist Konoha if they came at us again. Our last military census revealed that Iwa has five thousand soldiers on alert at any given time with another twenty-five hundred in reserve and a permanent garrison of five hundred. We're at the ready with more than two hundred Ninja acting as officers and generals."

Naruto gaped at the news and Gaara's eyes widened noticeably. Both Ninja smiled simultaneously and looked between one another. "Harbin," said Naruto, "can we count on your support in this, if we choose to openly resist Akatsuki I mean?"

"Haven't I already made it clear I mean to help?" asked the Ninja in the mask. "I'm sorry but I couldn't wait for your permission in this so I've already dispatched word to Iwa via hawk of Suna's plight. You should have their response sometime today, though I will personally guarantee their support."

"How do you know?" asked Naruto.

Suddenly the blond Ninja felt as though he were certain Harbin was smiling beneath his mask. He didn't know why, but the Uzumaki knew he had somehow struck the Ninja's humor.

"I've had the ears of Iwa's Kage's since before either of you were born," said Harbin. "They trust me less only than their own minds. Don't take my word for it though, wait until the Kage's messengers arrive and that will confirm it all."

Gaara paused and thought for a moment as both he and Naruto considered the implications of their guest's news. "Alright," said the Kazekage, "we'll wait for one more day for word from Iwa. If no news comes then we'll carry on as we are now and retreat. If however it turns out that you're right and Iwa has the strength to resist Akatsuki and the desire to help us, then we will bring everything we have to bear against Akatsuki and the Crane."

Naruto grinned widely. _Maybe we really can do this,_ he mentally cheered. _This is it, one last battle and then, one way or another, all of the fighting will finally be over. This will be it, the last push._

"Oh, and if I may make one more suggestion," said Harbin politely.

"You have my permission to speak openly," said the Kazekage.

"Likewise," said Naruto.

"I would like to track Akatsuki's and the Crane's movements. I have a general idea of where they are and where they will move, but we have no certain idea of where they are for sure. I'd like to take one Ninja of yours, someone strong and whom I can count on, out on patrol to map the enemy's moves."

Naruto nodded. "That's a good idea," said the Uzumaki. "I'll accompany him myself."

SC

Harbin stood out on one of the many balconies jutting out from the highest level of Gaara's palace. He rested his hands on the banister and looked out over the city through his featureless mask. It was nearly three in the morning and the man stood stiller than a statue, completely unmoving and seeming not even to breathe.

With no apparent call from the Ninja ten birds, hawks the color of drying blood appeared on the railing beside him. The raptors arrived without any poofs of smoke or a fluttering of leaves or sand. They simply appeared out of nothing and looked around with their liquid eyes till each one found their master.

Harbin took a deep breath and let it out, filling the silence with the quiet hissing. Each hawk had a small scroll already strapped around its leg. "Go," said the Ninja, and instantly each bird took wing and sailed into the sky, propelled by more than their muscles to speeds unthinkable for a bird.

Harbin watched as each hawk but one moved in a different direction of north or east. The singular hawk who moved to the West seemed the slowest of them all, still lingering on the horizon even as all of the others disappeared over the edge of the world.

"So close," said Harbin. "It's all up to Naruto now. Everyone else already has or is soon to reach the climax of their role… I can only hope you're up to your tasks, my one gamble."

* * *

AN: Hey all, I'm going to warn everybody now that I might not be ab;e to post the next chapter on Wednesday.

Thanks and later!


	59. Coalescing Developments

AN: Haha, I made it on time and I'm even early today. No more of this last second fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants thing. Ok, now the only question is a simple one... what do I want to do about this unruly mustache? Seriously, I'm starting to look like Professor Moriarty or something.

Oh well, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and all of the people who reviewed even before that. I love the feedback. Also, I've noticed my spell-check has been missing errors here and there (like to and too,) little things that are a slip of the finger, so if there's any of that I apologize and hope somebody points it out so I can get it fixed.

Later all!

* * *

Coalescing Developments

**So when do we leave?** asked Kyuubi, shaking out his golden fur as Naruto lay on his back inside the fox's massive cage.

Naruto wiped his hand across his brow and sat up enough to look at his demonic partner. "Two more hours," said the Ninja, "then we go out on patrol with this Harbin character. The plan is to locate Akatsuki's army, or armies if they've split up, and track their movements while sending the information back to Gaara."

Kyuubi sniffed the air. **Do you trust 'this Harbin character?'**

Naruto shook his head. "No," he said bluntly. "I don't trust him any more than I trust anyone in a mask like that. However, if it turns out that he's telling the truth about Iwa being ready, willing, and able to help us then his help has been invaluable and I want to make sure he stays alive… what did you think about him?"

**I never sensed him, remember that I can't personally interact with your world anymore, kit…**

Naruto sat up and leaned back on his elbows. "Too bad, I would have appreciated your input… wait a second," said Naruto, raising one eyebrow at the Demon, who drew back and perched up on all fours. "There's something you're not telling me," he said. "What do you mean 'I can't _personally_ interact…'?

**I'm glad you caught that** said Kyuubi, beginning to growl his unique chortling laugh. **I may not be able to help you with my chakra directly, but I think I've found a way around your allergy.**

Naruto quickly got to his feet. "And?" he probed, "What have you come up with?"

**Simple,** Kyuubi said. **The solution came to me in something of an epiphany. Honestly I'm surprised and a little disappointed that you didn't come up with it yourself.** The Demon's tone took on an air of mild condescension.

"Right, right," said Naruto, "stupid humans and all that. What's the solution?"

**Just because you can't summon and use my chakra at will anymore doesn't mean you can't summon it.**

Naruto waited for a moment, expecting the fox to continue. When Kyuubi remained silent, waiting for Naruto to figure it out on his own, Naruto took a step back and looked at the ground. "Kyuubi, I think maybe you've been caged up a little too long," said Naruto.

Kyuubi chortled. **Just the answer I expected, and while I wholeheartedly agree with you, you've missed my point. Naruto, what is it that makes a summoning technique unique from all other Ninja arts?**

"Where are you going with this?"

Kyuubi looked at Naruto and shook his head once. **You're not going to get the answer out of me without at least thinking about it on your own. Now, what makes summoning some frog or a slug or a snake unique from throwing some giant fireball at your enemy?**

Naruto thought for a second. "Well with Ninjutsu and Genjutsu a Ninja uses either his or someone else's chakra to somehow manipulate the world around him, creating a blast of fire or spinning an illusion, something like that. When it comes to summoning techniques though an entirely new and autonomous entity is … …" Naruto's tone took on a new and curios timbre. "Kyuubi, are you implying that I could summon you?"

The giant fox shook his head. **No,** he said without any sound of distaste. **While I wish that were possible it would take more chakra than any living human could ever hope to muster, and I learned long ago to stop beating my head against these bars. However that is not to say that my chakra is completely cut off to you.**

"Kyuubi," said Naruto. "You're going to have to help me out here. I'm not getting whatever it is you're trying to say."

**Fine, let me spell it out with small words for you,** Kyuubi chuckled, obviously enjoying his own wittiness. **One of your summoning techniques works on the principle of the instant transportation of some entity from one location to another. Generally the body being moved is one rooted in another domain or an entirely different plane of existence. **

**When Orochimaru revived your mate for instance, he effectively summoned her soul from another realm parallel to yours and mine, in that case, it was some form of afterlife. Who is to say that, if Orochimaru can summon a spirit from some place as difficult to access as hell, that you couldn't summon a spirit from a place as accessible as your own mind.**

Naruto sighed and sat back down. "But you just said there's no way to get you out of that cage," said Naruto.

**So dense,** muttered Kyuubi. **I'm proposing that you summon one of my little brothers.**

"What?" asked Naruto without any discernable amount of articulate thought. "You have brothers?

**And sisters,** replied Kyuubi. **I never before gave them much thought. Most of them are simply mindless, ravenous, bothersome killing machines-**

"Like their big brother?" Naruto jested.

**BUT SOME**, Kyuubi cracked his teeth together with a peeling bolt of thunder that made Naruto rattle from head to toe,** some of them are intelligent and wickedly talented fighters who would be more than obliged to do my bidding, and if my bidding is for them to do your bidding, then that would be their pleasure. **

**My thought is to summon one or two of the more powerful of my little siblings, endow them with as much of my chakra as they can handle, then keep them here on standby for you to summon should the need arise. I doubt you'd be able to actively use the chakra they possess without triggering that reaction, but it would at least provide you with a pair of loyal, powerful bodyguards.**

"Kyuubi," Naruto stammered. "If there's even the slightest chance that could work, it's brilliant. I don't think I ever would have come up with that, even if I did know you had underlings."

**I've yet to test it, but I have a sister and a brother in mind who I think would serve us flawlessly. Also I see no reason why it would fail. Our only problem arises when you try to use my chakra directly. To summon another fox, or set of foxes, all you would require is your own chakra. Mine would be completely inactive until the others actually arrived.**

"Kyuubi that really is an incredible idea," said Naruto. "Even if I have to keep my distance from them once they're summoned, it still gives us both a much better chance than what we'd have without your help."

Naruto paused for only a second to look up towards the ceiling, before turning back to Kyuubi. "This is almost too much to be real. First the news about Iwa and now renewed access to your chakra. Things are finally starting to look like they might be going our way."

**Agreed,** nodded the fox, noting Naruto's glances skyward. **The odds still aren't in our favor and, as you humans sometimes say, it's going to be an uphill battle. I'm confident that you can see it through. You have many of the traits your ancestors possessed and the Maibans persevered through more than this.**

"Thanks," Naruto acknowledged. "So are you going to stat conducting interviews with possible helpers or something?" he asked.

**I was going to begin the process soon, yes, in the meantime though, why don't you go and spend some quality time with your mate? You could both probably use the time together.**

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Ushering me out so quickly?"

**It occurs to me that we, as in all of us, everyone you know, might not have much time left and it wouldn't be unwise for you to spend it with people who are important to you.**

"Awfully … awfully something of you Kyuubi," said Naruto. "Genial maybe? Are those emotions I detect?"

Kyuubi ruffled his fur and looked down at Naruto, his liquid garnet eyes churning with thought. **Maybe,** said the fox. **Should I not care?**

SC

When Naruto regained consciousness, fully awake and boasting energy to spare, he was lying on his side in bed, next to Ino underneath the light comforter Gaara's aides had provided for his guest room. Ino was breathing deeply and rhythmically, leaving Naruto to assume she was very much asleep.

It was less than an hour before the desert sunrise, and through the windows Naruto already saw the harbingers of dawn beginning to light the very tops of the tallest buildings in Suna when Ino, who was already pressed against Naruto, stirred only a little and rolled more into him.

"Good morning beautiful," said Naruto when Ino's eyes fluttered. He smiled and rubbed her arm.

"Naruto?" Ino mumbled, her tone questioning and unsure.

"Who else would it be?" asked the Uzumaki with a grin. "You were expecting someone else maybe?"

Ino's eyes widened as she took a deep breath and looked around, trying to wake up more fully. "Oh," she muttered, sounding surprised and simultaneously relieved. "That was an odd dream." Ino looked up at Naruto and grinned, "Sorry, not totally awake yet."

"Take all the time you need," said Naruto.

"I almost wish you'd woken me up a while ago," said the Kunoichi. "You're leaving soon aren't you?"

Naruto nodded once and sat up in bed. Ino mirrored him and reflexively pulled the sheet up with her to cover herself. "Harbin and I are going out to try and get a fix on the Crane's location and troop movements… I think Gaara might want me to keep an eye on our newest friend."

Ino paused. "Do you think we can trust him, Harbin I mean? He seems almost a little too connected and friendly for me."

"I know," said Naruto. "I'm not entirely sure I believe him, but if it turns out that his information about Iwa is correct then that will be all the proof I need. This could be just the trick we need to turn all of this around."

"I knew you'd come up with something," said Ino. "You always do."

Naruto grinned. "You're kind, but I didn't come up with any of this. It all just fell right in my lap."

"Even so," said Ino, "you're still the one who's going to pull it all off. I know you will. You've always had the most uncanny ability to get through things."

"Maybe, but I've always turned out a little worse for wear."

"I don't think so," said Ino. "Now, how about we get up and around?"

Naruto nodded again. "Sounds good. It's going to be a full day I think." He stood up and pulled open one of the drawers in the dresser beside the bed, looking for the outfit Gaara had prepared for him.

Quietly Ino got onto her knees and snuck towards Naruto as he turned his back towards her. "Not exactly what I had in mind," she said, putting her hands on his shoulders and tugging him back.

"Whoa," Naruto yelped, falling backwards onto the bed as Ino dodged out of the way, then rolled on top of him, pinning his hands to the sheets.

SC

The hawk sported feathers red as blood with blackened edges and looked at Naruto with one crimson eye as he stared at the bird, reflecting the early morning sunlight in a flare of red. The miniature scroll Harbin was strapping to his hawk's leg looked too small to contain any relevant information.

"What's written on the scroll?" asked Naruto, looking between Harbin and his messenger.

"Nothing," said the assassin from Iwa.

"Nothing?" Naruto probed.

It was shortly after dawn, the time of day when most people in most other villages would just have been getting up to greet the new day. In Suna however, namely by the East Gate where Naruto, Gaara, Harbin, and Sasuke were gathered, activity had not ceased throughout the night, and now that the sun was up, so was anyone else who had been sleeping.

It would be impossible to explain exactly what everyone was doing, for each individual seemed to be going about their own task with all of the dedication of a maiden bee, but to any desert eagles flying over Suna the scene below would I'm sure resemble a disturbed colony of ants looking for food before the rains, as the various people and Ninja hurriedly went about their tasks in response to the news that Akatsuki was on its way.

"The scroll is chakra-encoded with a message to my subordinates," said Harbin. "Anyone who didn't know the exact jutsu to perform to activate the seal would only see a blank piece of paper."

"Cool," said Sasuke, grinning and watching the hawk. "You'll have to show me how to do that sometime. The youngest Uchiha's spirits had been gradually lifting ever since he heard the news of Iwa's potential support for Suna. When news had come out that the Earth Country might not only be well, but also might be able to support an offensive against the Crane and Akatsuki, many people had immediately brightened and begun working with renewed vigor.

"It's easy enough," said Harbin. "You could probably figure out how to do it if you thought for a bit."

Gaara cleared his throat, standing, as always, with his arms folded in front of his chest. "No heroics," said the Kazekage as Harbin threw his hand up and the hawk took flight, sailing into the distance in a matter of seconds. "I'd appreciate having both of you back in one piece. Map the Crane's movements, then get back here as soon as you can. There's a lot of preparation with which we could use your help."

"You'll have all the backup you need before you know it," said Harbin calmly. "An emissary from Iwa should be arriving in three hours. Once he gets here you should be able to outline the initial stages of this resistance…" Harbin turned to Gaara and addressed him directly. "Kazekage-Sama, it occurs to me that many of us, possibly all of us, could be killed very quickly and without much warning. I know Naruto-kun has left his steward to take over his responsibilities should he be killed, but what preparations have you made? Who will lead should something happen to you?"

Gaara dropped his hands to his side. "Sakura-san is my replacement also. Given the competence she has shown, I can think of no one in my own ranks who would lead as well as she would."

"Sakura-san is a good choice for you both," said Harbin. "Shall we be on our way, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded and shook the sand away from the base of his heavy leather cloak. "I'm ready anytime." he answered.

"Good luck," said Sasuke.

"You too," Naruto smiled, turning towards the gate in sync with Harbin, setting off quickly and sprinting out of the city like fugitives. Neither one looked back as two operators began rapidly closing the gate behind the two Ninja, sealing off the city again.

"If they've stayed in one large group they'd still be two days away," said Harbin as soon as Suna was a mile or so behind them. "Though I fear they might have broken off into separate strike-groups in which case we could be looking at invasion in a matter of hours."

"Let's hope they've stayed together," said Naruto, raising his voice to speak over the desert wind howling around them. "Where exactly do you think we should begin looking for them?"

"Well the canyons and crags which line the perimeter of the Wind Country allow for easy access to Suna through only half a dozen locations from the northeast, and the crossing points are relatively clustered. We'd be best served by moving to the eastern border of the Wind and working our way up through each individual pass and bridge, looking for Ninja passing through them.

Naruto nodded and both Ninja began running faster, until each step was kicking up a small cloud of sand and dusty clay behind them as the composition of the earth slowly changed. They move almost due west for more than an hour before the high and rocky crags began to rise up in the distance.

It was not long before the two Ninja had reached the Wind Country's border to the east with the River Country. The countryside was still covered in sand and clay, but the ground was firmer now, supporting the sharper slopes of the crags and the steep slopes of the canyons that stretched out before Naruto and Harbin.

Naruto paused as he and his partner reached the edge of one of the canyons, a gorge in the earth apparently many hundreds of meters deep and wide enough that Naruto questioned whether eve he would be able to cross it without his leap falling short. "I never knew there were canyons like this along the Wind's border," said the blond Ninja.

"These natural defenses are one of the primary reasons that Suna, a village in the desert with very few natural resources, is as secure as it is," said the Ninja in the mask. "Invasions are rare because there are only so many places that a hostile force can enter and until the war with Sound, Suna's garrison's kept those strategic points very secure."

"I thought that the pass we came from on our way from Konoha was something unique," said Naruto, scanning the edges of the vast canyon and seeing nothing particularly interesting. "It was always the most direct route so I guess I ignored other ways in and out."

Harbin pointed towards the north. "The first crossing point is several miles ahead and if the Crane is invading from the River Country as I suspect they might be, these next few passes would be the fastest way in.

Naruto grinned. "We'll see them coming long before anyone- wait," he paused. Naruto quickly began running over his limited knowledge of the Wind Country's geography and the layout of the surrounding Nations as Harbin fell silent.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" asked the Ninja in the mask turning to the newly appointed Hokage. "Is something amiss?"

Naruto glanced at Harbin and turned towards the north. "Why would they come from the River Country?"

"Simple," responded Harbin, "moving through the River Country provides them with the greatest advantage, should they be seeking the element of surprise at least. Gaara and his guards would likely expect the invasion to come from the North where the country's natural defenses are weak. If the Crane came from the east though they would have the advantage of catching Suna from a direction the defenders wouldn't think to look to."

Naruto paused. "Alright," he said quietly. "That makes sense I guess. But when Gaara called all of his Ninja back to Suna to guard the village, that left virtually the entire border undefended. The Crane wouldn't encounter any resistance no matter which way they came from until they got to Suna itself."

Harbin nodded, obviously exaggerating the motion to compensate for the mask hiding his facial features. "True, but-"

"Iwa is to the North," Naruto cut his traveling partner off as his own train of thought caught up. "And if they're readying themselves to move against the Crane, then it would be wise for Akatsuki to try and avoid being caught between both Suna and Iwa."

"Very good," said Harbin.

"It makes sense," said the blond Ninja, his tone falling just a little. "Do you really think Iwa and Suna together will have the strength to resist Akatsuki and the Crane?"

Harbin shrugged. "Iwa has been rebuilding its military strength ever since its loss to Konoha almost two decades ago. My guess would be that if Iwa had been as strong during its war with Konoha as it is now, then the Leaf might have actually lost the war."

Naruto sighed and grinned at the same time. The statement had been both somewhat insulting but simultaneously comforting. "So you think we have a chance?" Naruto probed.

Harbin nodded. "I think you have a very good chance of emerging as this conflict's victor. The Crane's greatest weapon, secrecy, has been lost and now you and your allies might even have the numbers to face them on even ground in the upcoming battle. The Crane's last advantage is the support it draws from the Ninja of Akatsuki whom we can hopefully overpower and defeat."

"Right," said Naruto, straightening up. "Time's wasting."

Harbin nodded. "Yes, we need to find this army and report back to Gaara."

SC

Gaara sat at his desk scribbling away on a plain piece of paper, his gourd full of sand resting in the corner to his left. It had been two and a half hours since Naruto and the Ninja from Iwa, Harbin had left Suna to try and map out Akatsuki's movements. The Kazekage looked up as someone knocked on his door and called for his visitor to come in.

The door opened and Sakura stepped inside. The Kunoichi had traded in her customary red dress for a tan robe splotched with brown and russet colors to act as a desert camouflage. She had also trimmed her pink hair to clean up the fraying ends. More noticeable than any of her changes in wardrobe though, was the wide grin on Sakura's face.

Behind the Haruno was a Ninja standing only as tall as the Kunoichi ahead of him, wearing an unremarkable green vest and black pants. The only thing about him less distinctive than his clothing was his face.

Gaara's breath caught when he saw the Ninja's headband. Bolted to the black cloth was a slim leaf of steel engraved with Iwa's motif.

"Excuse me," said Sakura, her grin not breaking. "We have a visitor."

The Ninja from Iwa stepped forward and bowed respectfully as Gaara stood up and walked around his desk.

"Sir, my name is Kamizuru Anshin," said the Ninja of Iwa, standing up straight. "As my Lord's liaison I represent the Granite Army of the Earth Country. We recently received word from one of our associates that you and your village are soon to come under direct attack by our mutual enemy." Here the Ninja paused and smiled, his eyebrows narrowing slightly. "We would like to extend offers of both friendship and support in this time of crisis."

Gaara moved quickly but without sacrificing any of his dignity and bowed very slightly, but still more than a Kage normally would have, and addressed the visitor. "Consider both accepted," said Gaara. "Now, what plans does your Granite Army have in store?"

Anshin smiled and nodded once. "Directly to the point," he noted, "at this very moment my Lord is moving his army South towards Suna. We've scrambled our entire armed force, a group of five thousand soldiers lead by two hundred Ninja and supplemented by five hundred warrior-priests. Also, in reserve we have an additional one hundred Ninja on which we could call in an hour's notice, should their services be necessary."

Gaara's expression lifted and Sakura clapped her hands once in celebration. The Kunoichi broke in before Gaara could speak. "Before you ask," said Sakura, "I've already checked all of his credentials. He was carrying the executive seal of the Tsuchikage, as well as the marker of the Earth Country's Daimyo. Both were still chakra encoded so he really has the backing of the Rock Village and the Earth Country's official army."

"Originally Iwa had been building a force separate from the Earth Country itself," said the liaison, "however as soon as we heard of Kiri's annihilation at Konoha's hands we dissolved our differences and united entirely under one banner. When Konoha was destroyed we decided that in the interest of general survival the newly formed Granite Army should do everything within its power to ensure the survival of Suna being that you're the last viable Ninja Village, and hope that the Wind Country would return the gesture. Needless to say we've all been moving at a fevered pace."

A knock on the door interrupted Gaara before he could say anything, but without a second thought Sakura reached out and pulled it open. Trina stood on the other side of the threshold. Her usual cool was missing and she seemed in obvious disarray but nonetheless she bowed and addressed Gaara, her already high voice excited. "Kazekage-Sama," she said quickly as her red eyes sparkled. She was trying to be respectful, "The Wind's Daimyo has arrived from the fortress."

Gaara prodded for the Kunoichi to continue.

"Sir," said the woman with the dark red hair. "He's brought an army with him. There are fifteen hundred soldiers and fifty Ninja waiting at the north gate to be let into the city."

Gaara's mouth dropped open only a little at the news. "When did he get word of this?"

"Sakura-Sama!" someone nearly shouted, bursting into the room. It was Shikamaru, panting and out of breath and leaning over to clutch his knees. He looked up at Gaara and the Steward, grinning.

"What is it?" asked Gaara. "What's happened?"

"Relief," said the Nara, "A column of Samurai and Ninja from the Bird Country are at east gate. Their leader is requesting an audience with you to discuss a possible coalition of forces. As if that weren't enough even as I was coming to deliver the news another column of Ninja arrived. These said they were an alliance of the Fang and Claw Countries. What's more, just then **another** group of Ninja arrived. These said they were from the Noodle and Valley Countries. All of them want to speak with you."

The atmosphere of the room began to electrify.

"Why did they come here?" asked Gaara? "How did they get by the Crane?"

"Each leader said the same thing," said Shikamaru, "that they had received a letter via messenger hawk in the name of the Daimyo of the Earth Country warning them that a massive force of invaders had come to conquer the entire continent. The letter went on to say that a force capable of resisting the army was gathering at Suna so each separate force began mobilizing as quickly as they could."

Gaara's expression immediately warped with confusion and he turned to Anshin for answers. "What in the world is going on here?" the Kazekage asked the liaison.

Anshin, whose face looked as baffled as Gaara's, could only shrug. "I'm not sure," he said quickly. "If the Daimyo or the Kage had sent out messages such as these surely I would have been alerted to it and I've heard nothing of such plans…"

"Well this is an interesting development," said the Kazekage walking towards the door and motioning for everyone to follow him. "We're going to prepare the conference room in the B-Wing," Gaara said quickly. "Shikamaru, please invite the leaders of all of these new arrivals to come to the conference room and inform them that their forces will have to wait outside of the city until the conclusion of our meeting. The Wind Daimyo's men are exceptions."

Gaara, Sakura, Trina, and Anshin quickly strode out of Gaara's office and into the hall beyond his reception room. Shikamaru hastily took his leave, literately sprinting down the corridor towards the stairs.

SC

Less than an hour later in Gaara's palace twelve people stood around a wooden table in one of the Sand Palace's beautifully decorated meeting rooms. The walls were hung with murals and cloths, while a chandelier made of ivory lit the windowless room. Gaara, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Sakura, took up one section of the table, while the rest of the space went to the Lords and commanders.

Across from Gaara stood the Wind Daimyo, a tan man with sandy hair and an imposing figure flanked on either side by his two bodyguards. He looked maybe twenty-two or twenty-three years old, exceptionally young for a man whose reputation as a competent leader was known to most of the world. Adjacent to the guard on the Wind Daimyo's left were the leaders of the Claw and Fang Countries' armed forces. Both men had a striking resemblance to one another, though the representative from the Claw was somewhat taller and his white robe contrasted with the Fang's orange garb.

To the Wind Daimyo's right was the leader of the Bird Country's contributing force. She was a woman of average height, but a slim build. Her brightly colored, down-lined tunic had no sleeves, revealing her pale but defined arms. Her hair was shoulder length and the color of mahogany. Across her face, running from the tip of one of her pointed cheekbones to the other was a scar. It looked like a wound that hadn't been properly treated by a medic.

The representatives of the Noodle and Valley Countries stood to the woman's right, between her and Gaara. Both were young women who couldn't have been older than twenty. Their fair complexions hinted that neither one spent much time in the sun, but the muscles beneath their skin tensed like the sinews of a hunting lion and their faces were hardened like a veteran's.

Though there had been whispering and quiet conversing as the leaders and representatives filed into the room, Gaara was the first to speak to the group, addressing them all in his usual monotone. "I believe I speak for everyone here," said the Kazekage, "when I say that this is an extraordinary turn of events. My friends tell me that all of you," he gestured to the newcomers to Suna, "were informed that a force to resist the Crane was gathering here. How did you learn of this?" Gaara had no desire to spook potential allies by letting on that he didn't plan any of this.

The Wind Daimyo spoke first in a deep baritone voice. "I received a message from the Daimyo of the Earth Country," he said. "It reported that Konoha had been utterly destroyed by the Crane Organization and that the Crane soldiers were being lead by a group of Ninja known as Akatsuki. The Earth Daimyo said that the survivors were moving to Suna to regroup and plan their counter-attack.

"Given that many of my forts throughout the Wind have been destroyed by an unidentified group of attackers and another band of aggressors have been destroying listening posts all throughout the region, I can only assume that it's the Crane's assault on the Wind beginning in earnest. I thought it would be wise to commit as many soldiers as I could to any kind of resistance before we were all killed. Wind villages are already disappearing."

"The Bird Country," said the woman in the multi-colored tunic, her voice as chirping as any flute, "has also come under attack by the Crane. We've suffered enormous casualties and our entire population has been forced into hiding. The troops I've brought represent the remainder of our military. We've been forced to retreat into exile. Our country's land is lost and we had no choice but to seek help anywhere we can find it so as soon as we received the message from the Earth Daimyo we came here hoping to find a means to resist the Crane."

Gaara paused as the Bird Representative finished her brief telling and then looked towards the representative from the Noodle Country as she spoke up. "My people, or the noncombatants" said the young woman, "Have been completely wiped out by the invaders. We did not know that the Crane Organization was responsible; however what men I brought are all that remain of our population. I got word from, I presumed, the Earth Daimyo, that my men could find shelter here so I came to Suna without hesitation."

"The news from the Valley Country is the same," said the young woman next to the Noodle's Representative. "Our population was exterminated by the Crane in a day and my men have been moving around in secret for the past week."

Gaara flinched, taken back by the news of the Valley Country having come under assault so long before he heard anything about it. "When did the Crane first begin its invasion?" asked the Kazekage.

"A week ago," said the leader of the Valley forces.

"Six days ago," said the second woman.

"The first listening posts along our borders and in the River Country began disappearing eight days ago," said the Wind Daimyo. "Our forts that have fallen came under attack within the last four days."

The Bird Representative cleared her throat. "Two days," she said, "at least since the invasion broke through our defenses."

"Three days," said the Fang and Claw leaders at once. The taller of the two continued, "Our Nations were assaulted simultaneously."

"Damn," Sasuke whispered. "Konoha wasn't the beginning then… not by a stretch."

"Guess not," said Sakura, leaning towards Sasuke so she wouldn't have to speak as loudly. "It was just the largest in scale. Maybe we got off easy though, almost three percent of our population has escaped to Suna over the past few days, double what I was expecting. It sounds like these other nations didn't even get that chance."

The woman from the Bird Country raised her voice, drawing Gaara's attention away from the Wind Daimyo. "So what do we do now?" she asked. "I've brought two hundred Samurai and ten well trained Ninja. When do we go on the offensive?"

"Hold on," said Gaara. "I don't think we can-"

"And I've brought fifteen Ninja leading an army of one hundred soldiers," said the Claw representative. "We're ready. Just say the word."

"Not yet," Gaara tried to say. "We need to-"

"One hundred and fifty soldiers here," said the woman from the Noodle Country. "We also have five Ninja."

"And we can supply ninety soldiers and ten Ninja," said the leader of the Fang force.

"Slow Down!" Sasuke shouted, drawing every gaze in the room to himself. The Uchiha grimaced, having spoken before he'd thought through exactly what was on his mind. "I think what Gaara is trying to say," he continued, "is that we don't have enough information to go on the offensive against the Crane and Akatsuki."

The Wind Daimyo nodded. "He's right," said the tall man. "For the Crane to overpower one of the forts that fell two days ago they must have an army of no less than a thousand soldiers and they probably boast more than that unless the Ninja leading their army are more powerful than anyone in this room."

_Ah,_ Shikamaru was struck by realiation. _The Crane has been busy cleaning up the Wind's forts. That's why these other forces could get here in relative safety. What a lucky break for all of them._

"They probably are," said the richly adorned woman from the Bird. "My Country was attacked by an army of about five thousand soldiers. We couldn't track exactly how many Ninja lead them but I'm sure it wasn't more than two or three. I saw two of their generals, a woman with strange powers over paper and another man whom we couldn't kill. Both of those Ninja slaughtered my strongest with seemingly minimal effort. Even after I cut off the man's head he reappeared, alive and well."

"Is that how you got the, uh," Sasuke asked without thinking, tracing his thumb across the bridge of his nose to ask about the scar on the woman's face.

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek, wondering why in the world Sasuke would ask such a thing at just the same time that Sasuke himself realized he had asked his question out loud. Much to both Ninja's relief, the woman laughed and shook her head once.

"No," she said in a tone somewhat lighter than before. "Ex-husband, it's an old story that doesn't really matter now."

"Oh," Sasuke toned, wondering if she was joking and internally hoping that she was.

"At any rate," said the Wind Daimyo, "what we need to do is formulate a defense against Akatsuki and the Crane. We know they're coming here, to Suna, and we know that they have somewhere between two and four thousand soldiers being lead by most likely between two and four strong Ninja. What we don't know is how soon they'll be here or how we should ready ourselves to defend the city-"

"Or how we're going to take the fight to them once the defensive battle is over," added the Bird woman.

"We don't know if we'll have the manpower to go on the offensive after this," said Shikamaru, exercising his new rank as head of security and giving himself permission to speak. "It's a very real possibility that we're going to be slaughtered. We need to plan conservatively to prevent that from happening. Also we don't know how many soldiers the Crane has in total. They could have ten armies as big as the one they're throwing at us."

"True," said Sasuke, taking the floor, "but if they did have the manpower to wipe us all out at once, as they could with ten armies the size of the one Itachi is leading towards us now, why didn't they?"

The room bent all of its attention on Sasuke as the Uchiha continued. "Think about it," said Sasuke. "Why is it that up until Konoha was destroyed the Crane had only attacked smaller villages and small and isolated countries? My thought would be that it's because they don't have the strength to face down an alliance between the rest of the world and themselves and it seems to me that we have exactly that; it's now the Crane versus the rest of us.

"They took out the smaller villages and countries because that would make it easier to ensure that no one could escape to warn the rest of the world. The Crane attacked Konoha in secret because, probably, it knew it couldn't beat us in a fair fight. It hasn't attacked Iwa yet because it's too busy trying to kill off anyone who could ally with Iwa and increase the Earth Country's already formidable strength."

"If that were the case," said Shikamaru, "then it would only stand to reason that the majority of their success lies in the abilities of the Ninja leading the infantry. Their use of underhanded tactics and deceit can only benefit them so much now that we know their true intentions meaning they'll have to rely more and more heavily on Akatsuki. So if we can manage to kill the generals as Naruto and Harbin suggested the Crane will waver and we might stand a viable chance of wiping them out."

"The hardest part will be ensuring that we get them all," said Gaara.

"Maybe," said the Daimyo of the Wind. "Maybe not, the way wars are fought these days, with armies made of infantry supporting a few dozen Ninja the tactics are simple in principle; the Ninja fight the Ninja and the infantry fight the infantry. If one side loses all of its Ninja then its infantry will have to retreat or be wiped out by the special abilities of the opposing Ninja. If one side loses all of its infantry then the Ninja will have to retreat or be overwhelmed by sheer numbers by the opposing forces.

"We may or may not have the advantage with our numbers as far as infantry are concerned, but it would seem that Akatsuki has only a few Ninja, ten or so and we might be able to win by defeating them with superior numbers of Ninja."

"There's only one problem," Sasuke chimed in, "Itachi is at the head of the army moving against us. When I was under Orochimaru's control he let it slip on one occasion that Itachi is the reason he left Akatsuki. According to Orochimaru it's almost certain that Itachi is single strongest Ninja alive. Anyone who tried to face him one on one or even with a group of allies would probably wind up dead and very unsuccessful. How are we going to beat him?"

The room fell silent. Everyone present had at least heard of Uchiha Itachi and most had read his profile in their respective village's or country's Bingo Book. All but one of them knew that they could never beat Itachi in a death match.

Sakura cleared her throat after a moment's pause. She had stiffened herself and wore an expression like a convicted felon. "I could do it," she said, loud enough to be heard but quiet as to not make a scene.

Everyone in the room turned to look at the pink-haired Kunoichi in surprise. "How?" asked the woman from the Bird Country.

Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and forced herself to smile. "I'll open the eighth gate."

* * *

AN: Hope you enjoyed and please review!


	60. The Fox and the Raven

AN: Quietly Frag1le just had a birthday ya'll. (Turns to Quietly,) Congrats to you on this most auspicious 11th of February. Everybody send the friend your best wishes, cause this chapter is all his.

On a somewhat less jovial but much more entertaining note, for reasons that shall remain unanounced, I might miss out on my update next week. I'm sorry, but there's a fifty percent chance that no one will hear from me next Wednesday at all, a forty percent chance that I'll be able to post anyway, and a ten percent chance that I'm going to get my ass blown into orbit. Hooray high explosives and English Majors!

Anyway, just wanted to keep everybody in the loop. Peace and please review!

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The Fox and the Raven

Sasuke's jaw would have fallen to the floor were it not so tightly stuck to his skull. "What did you just say?" he asked, again without realizing that he's spoken. "Since when could you open one, much less eight of those damnable things?"

All of the other leaders present watched Sakura carefully as the Kunoichi gathered herself. None wanted to show any joy at the revelation as the thought of such a sacrifice was nothing to be merry over, but neither did anyone want to resist the idea of a potentially unstoppable counter to Akatsuki's current edge.

Shikamaru especially took care to guard his expression though it made his stomach turn and his mind sour to do so. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and made a point not to look at Sakura, not sure what he should feel.

Sakura grinned, as much to herself as to Sasuke when she addressed him. "It was Tsunade who taught me to open the first two, making me promise never to reveal that the first gates are part of the secret to our enormous strength… I don't think that promise really stands up to the current circumstances though."

"So when did you learn to open the other six?" Sasuke pushed. "Don't tell me that Lee character showed you how."

"Yeah," said Sakura. "I wanted to get stronger after you and Naruto left so I went to Gai and Lee and they showed me how to open up to six. After that I figured out the seventh and eighth on my own. I've never used them but I know the exact steps of the process."

"Not going to happen," said Sasuke, "there are other ways to beat Itachi. You don't have to kill yourself."

The windowless room's air seemed to thicken, though the lamps overhead shone just as brightly as when Gaara had first lit them. The leaders from the other countries began to look around at each other again, none quite sure what they should say. It was the Wind Daimyo who spoke first.

"It's a big sacrifice," said the tall man with the tan hair, "Are you sure you want to go through with it?"

Sasuke shook his head before Sakura could respond. "I said it's not going to happen," he growled. "We're not going to slaughter someone on an alter because the rest of us are too afraid to fight one man."

Gaara spoke up and turned to Sasuke, his gaze icy. "You have no authority over any of us here," said the Kazekage to the Uchiha. "Frankly Sasuke-San, your being here is a privilege and you seem to forget that."

Sasuke turned quickly on Gaara as murmurs began to spring up all over the room. "I don't answer to anyone but the Hokage," said the Uchiha, "and right now that is Naruto."

"Naruto gave me authority over his subordinates," said the Kazekage, earning himself an angry glare form Sasuke. "Don't misjudge your place, Uchiha. And don't think that I've forgotten where you come from or with whom you've worked in the past. Sakura's decision is her own and frankly, this might be our only chance. You have no right to try and convince her to alter her mind."

"Go to hell," Sasuke barked. "Sakura's committing suicide wouldn't do anything other than take out one of Akatsuki's generals. They'll have more."

"But none as strong as Itachi," countered the woman from the Noodle Country. "Uchiha Itachi seems to be the greatest threat to all of us."

"Fuck," growled the man from the Fang Country, he wiped his hand across his forehead once despite there not being any sweat to dab away. "If the kid wants to get herself killed saving all of our asses I have nothing against it. Shit, I say go for it. It's our best chance."

"Not no but hell no," said Sasuke. "This is unacceptable."

Gaara interrupted with a gesture of his hand. "Sakura-san," he said politely, ignoring Sasuke. "It makes me uncomfortable to do so, but you have a great power then, something that could defeat Itachi and give us a real chance in this fight. I realize what I'm requesting of you but I must ask on behalf of us all."

Shikamaru's gaze lowered to the table and his eyebrows furrowed. His chest had been quickly tightening the past seconds and not because of the dissention forming between Sasuke and Gaara. That political thorn was nothing to him.

"This is bullshit," muttered Sasuke to himself. "Gaara, you're a snake."

"I was planning on it anyway," said the Kunoichi, looking down at the table and avoiding eye contact with anyone. "Using the eighth gate that is; even before the war with Orochimaru was over I knew it could end for me like that. I'll do it."

"Sakura," muttered Sasuke, his tone dropping. "Don't do this."

"Don't worry," said Sakura, turning to Sasuke and smiling but closing her eyes as not to look at him. "It's something I'm willing to do, for the sake of the world. It's a small price to pay for a shining new place."

"What?" muttered the Uchiha.

Shikamaru drew in a quick and quiet breath, thinking that he understood now.

"Well that settles that then," said the Daimyo of the Wind. "Sakura-dono," he made a point to emphasize his respect for the Kunoichi, "will work as our counter to Uchiha Itachi. This also gives us a facet of the upcoming battle to plan around." The Daimyo paused briefly to turn to Sakura and bow to her slightly, an action everyone else in the room quickly mirrored to varying extents. It was quite possibly the first time the Daimyo had ever bowed to anyone not equal to his standing.

The rest of the briefing consisted of Gaara, the Daimyo, Sakura and the leaders of the other forces laying out a battle plan to which neither Sasuke nor Shikamaru paid much attention. Both Ninja knew they would play only minor roles anyway. They instead stared at Sakura in differing and fluctuating degrees of disbelief and fear. More than once Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but each time he fell short of words.

Shikamaru began to brood, not bothering to wonder why this sudden prospect weighed so heavily on him. _That bastard,_ thought Shikamaru, a uncharacteristic amount of venom in his mind. _Naruto this is all your fault and I'm not going to forgive you for it. If Sakura dies here it will be on your head. I never should have trusted you, not after Kiri. You're probably still making some play for power and Sakura is just another pawn standing between you and total control._

_Snake,_ Sasuke thought, turning to look at Gaara. _I thought he had some dignity about him, that he valued the people around him… turns out he's just an opportunist and a coward, throwing someone he sees as a dog against the enemy without any hesitation. _Sasuke's thoughts began to darken in timbre. _I didn't fight for three years to see my friends again just to have them all slaughtered around me._

"The Earth Daimyo should be here within the hour," said Anshin responding to Gaara's query, "That is of course assuming that all is still on schedule."

"Good," the Kazekage said flatly, "as soon as he gets here we can finalize all of this."

"And get some answers," said the representative from the Bird Country. "I want to know how that man knew all of this was happening and how to contact each of us when we had all retreated into hiding."

Gaara nodded. "Until he gets here, all of you are free to move about Suna as you please. Your troops I'm afraid must still wait outside the walls until the Earth Daimyo arrives and explains what is going on."

"Don't trust us?" asked the representative from the Fang Country. He was grinning in sarcasm, knowing full well that a man in Gaara's position could take no chances.

"I trust everyone in this room," said the Kazekage. "However I'm afraid that no matter how much you all may vouch for your men I cannot confirm beyond any doubt that one of them isn't a spy for Akatsuki. I will however have supplies taken out to them immediately."

Everyone around the table, already standing as there were no chairs, turned and began to slowly walk towards the door. The three female representatives all filed by a stationary Sakura, making a point to pat her on the shoulder as they passed or offer some thanks or show of condolence. The two men from the Claw and Fang went out of their way to walk past her and thank her for her sacrifice.

To all of them Sakura smiled, seemingly happy, though she made no eye contact with any of them and kept her grateful remarks short and as to the point as she could. The Wind Daimyo was the last to pass by her, stopping in front of her after everyone else aside from Shikamaru had left the room.

"Sakura-Dono?" he probed, grabbing her attention.

Sakura bowed to the Daimyo and then waited respectfully for him to speak.

"You don't have to go through with this if you don't want to," said the Daimyo. "It is completely up to you."

Sakura shook her head, then looked between Shikamaru and the Daimyo once. "It's my duty," said the Kunoichi. "You see…" her voice sombered. "I made a promise not too long ago… so much has happened since then but I promised someone that I would do everything in my power to help bring about a shining new world where everyone could live in peace."

Shikamaru's jaw locked and his teeth began to grind, despite his still cool exterior.

"The way I see it," continued the Kunoichi. "Itachi is the worst kind of threat to that dream of a new world. If I can remove him and make the dream easier to achieve then my life is a small price to pay."

The Daimyo smiled. His young but experienced and war hardened face lifted and he bowed to her again, low this time. "It is a rare quality," he said when he stood again, "to be so willing to lay down your life for a dream. I hope it doesn't come down to your having to do this," he continued. "I really do hope we can find some other way, but your courage is striking. You honor me with your presence."

"What?" asked the Kunoichi, a little taken back and suddenly blushing without being aware of it.

The Daimyo smiled again and walked past her. "If you'll excuse me," he said. "I must prepare my men. I sense that even with all of these suddenly revealed gains the Crane is still going to present us with the greatest challenge of our lives. It may be that very few if any of us are fated to survive the coming campaign.

"Sakura-Dono," The Daimyo paused for only the briefest moment, "if by chance we both make it out of this alive- I mean to say that if all of us as a group can defeat Akatsuki and the Crane, I would be honored to have your company at my fortress sometime in the future," said the Daimyo, quietly but with an air of confidence.

Sakura paused for a moment, "It would be my pleasure," she said, a little surprised, her tone lifting.

With no signs of hesitation the Daimyo turned back to face her, glancing at the silent Shikamaru in the corner but paying him no real mind. "Don't use that power of yours unless there is absolutely no other choice," he said. "I should very much like to know you better once this is all over."

Sakura suddenly realized that she couldn't speak past the lump that appeared in her throat. Instead she only nodded and looked away as the Daimyo turned on his heel, bid her goodbye for now, and strode quickly from the room.

As silently as ever Shikamaru stepped out of the corner of the room and walked up beside Sakura, who still stood in the same place, watching the now empty hallway beyond the door. "Sakura?" probed the Nara.

"Yes?" Sakura said quickly, turning to face Shikamaru and collecting herself. "Yes, what is it?" She tried to be polite but still spoke too quickly.

Shikamaru took a moment to gather exactly what he was thinking, a moment that Sakura took to collect her own thoughts and, for now, put her brief exchange with the young Daimyo out of her thoughts.

"Sakura, I don't think you should go through with this," said Shikamaru. "Opening all eight gates is suicide. There are other ways we could kill Itachi but I think we both know why you want to do it this way."

Sakura grimaced only a little, hating the tone Shikamaru was striking, mostly because she knew what was going through his mind. "Don't," said the Kunoichi. "Do not go there with me," she said quickly, the lump that had just vacated her throat began to return.

"You're the one who needs to 'not go there,'" said the ANBU specialist. "Don't think I don't understand what you're thinking. You got hurt and now you think killing yourself is the only way to get away from it."

"Stop here," said Sakura, her tone becoming colder and colder as she took a few steps away. "Stop before you say something you really regret."

"No," said the Nara. "Either listen to me or arrest me, but I'm not going to sit by while you do something stupid. Sakura, Naruto is a lying worm. You may have been in love with him for a while but you of all people should know he's not worth dying for."

"It's not Naruto," said Sakura, growing almost angry as her tone took on a growling resonance.

"Like hell it's not," said Shikamaru, losing his characteristic cool. "Don't try to hide it. He hurt you and now you want to die because of it."

"This isn't like you Shikamaru," said the steward, trying to change the subject. "Stop."

"No," said the ANBU specialist. "This is wrong and I'm not going to prance around the issue. What you're trying to do is stupid. Naruto isn't worth dying for."

"It's not Naruto," shouted Sakura, snapping, lashing out and slapping Shikamaru squarely across the face.

Shikamaru took a stumbling step back. Sakura hadn't used the strength Tsunade taught her, but the slap still knocked him back and completely off balance. Both Ninja waited for a moment, observing just how angry they had made the other so quickly. Sakura's face was red and her breath was uneven. Shikamaru now had a growing crimson patch on his left cheek.

"Don't do this," said Shikamaru in a defeated tone, dropping his hands and averting his eye. "I was there, at Kiri. I saw the slaughter that was Naruto's new world. That can't be what you're fighting for."

"It's not Naruto," Sakura repeated, calmer now but still flushed. "It's the peace he wants to bring about. I love him but he's not the reason I'm willing to do this. It's all of you, my friends and the rest of the world. I want to put an end to war and make a place where everyone can live happily. If I have to die to achieve it then so be it. I would regret it forever if I stood by and let that dream die."

"And the only thing I would regret is losing you," said Shikamaru, causing Sakura to stumble. Both Ninja paused and watched the other again for a long minute.

"I've served with you, either directly or otherwise, for three years now," said Shikamaru, closing his eye and dropping his shoulders. "I've seen how you can be strong and kind even when you don't want to be and… and now I finally have a dream, a dream I'm not willing to let die."

Sakura stopped cold, her icy expression beginning to melt. "Shikamaru," she said quietly.

"Don't," said the Ninja, trying to regain his composure but sounding only sad. He turned so he wouldn't face her directly. "I don't care what it takes, but I'll do anything. Just don't do this." Shikamaru balled his hands into fists. "Can you teach me to open them?" he asked. "I'll do it for you if that's the only way we can win this. I'll fight Itachi."

Sakura shook her head. "I wouldn't let you even if there were time to teach you," she said.

"I said I'd do anything," said Shikamaru, his poise crumbling and his voice breaking once. His eye already glistened. "I don't care if I have to fight Itachi by myself. I don't want to lose you."

Sakura waited for a moment, hesitating, then walked forward and put her arms around Shikamaru gently, but still respectfully as a peer, nothing more. The Ninja just let his hands hang at his sides. "I'm sorry," said Shikamaru. "I wish I'd said something before."

"I do to," said Sakura. "Shikamaru, I've always been able to count on you to do your duty, now you have to let me do mine. If some other way to win this comes up then we'll go with that, but right now the gates are the best chance we have."

Shikamaru didn't answer but reached up and returned Sakura's embrace.

"Maybe I should have been the one to say this a long time ago," said Sakura, "but you've always been one of my closest friends, Shikamaru. I should have treated you like it."

Shikamaru looked up and took only a small step back so he could see Sakura's face. "That's it then," he said, more calm than before but still with a quivering in his voice. "A friend is all I can be?"

Sakura looked up at him, strong now because she had to be. "For now," she said, "that's all we can be."

Shikamaru took a steadying breath and nodded once. He understood. "Right," he said quietly. "I got it…"

Sakura smiled and stepped back out of the hug. "I'm glad you're not angry," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah," said Shikamaru, flatly, but with a small, albeit forced, grin on the edge of his lip. It was really all he could muster, Sakura guessed.

"Plus," said the pink haired Kunoichi, "I don't like it at all when you're this blunt. The Shikamaru I know is always so subtle and precise." She grinned a little and tried to lighten him up, but Shikamaru didn't smile back.

SC

Naruto and Harbin lay prone atop the tall shard of rock jutting out of the earth and overlooking the pass beneath them. Had Naruto had to guess, he might have thought that this place was straight from the worst nightmare of a madman's mind. The final point of passing from the River Country to the Wind was a hellish place where the altitude land of Suna's desert met the lowlands of this barren plain of the River's territory. The result was a thin and steady ramp of clay and earth, walled on either side by sheer faces of red rock, that slowly made its way into the Wind. The path at the bottom of the ravine was thin but grew steadily wider towards the top.

Naruto and Harbin watched as thousands of troops marched in small phalanxes up the narrow pass, which went on for nearly a mile. They lay on one of the highest ledges on the southern face of rock and counted the numbers of enemies.

"It's a pity we don't have an army here," said Naruto quietly.

"Yes," said Harbin. "This would make the perfect choke-point. Look at those men. They're marching shoulder to shoulder in a formation only five men thick. We could probably hold this pass indefinitely with a hundred men."

"That" said Naruto pointing, "would be our only problem."

Harbin followed Naruto's gesture to a small ledge of stone jutting out of the north wall above the slowly progressing columns of troops. Uchiha Itachi and another Ninja wearing a red and black robe stood on the ledge and watched the troops. "True," said the Ninja in the mask. "But it looks like we have two things working in our favor."

"Yeah," Naruto muttered, "all of the enemy troops stayed in one group and they only have two Ninja leading them."

Harbin nodded. "The army is smaller than I expected though. I count ten groups of three hundred fifty soldiers. It seems like there should be five hundred more, don't you think?"

Naruto nodded. "Perhaps Itachi sent them ahead in smaller groups to scout out the way. If he knew he was coming this way the last thing he would want is to be caught off guard by some ambush. Here that would have wasted his army completely… We should probably get going. These soldiers are going to take at least the rest of the afternoon to get through this pass and we have five hundred other Ninja to find before we can return to Suna."

"Time is most definitely short," said Harbin, slowly getting to his feet, his now tan robe shuffling only slightly. Naruto mirrored his actions, making every effort not to draw attention. "We-" Harbin gasped as the rock beneath his feet crumbled under his weight and the entire ledge on which he and Naruto stood began to crumble and fall apart, filling the entire pass with the loud clattering of breaking stone.

"Shit," Naruto hisses, reaching out and grabbing Harbin's gloved hand, pulling the falling Ninja from thin air and simultaneously grabbing onto the craggy rock behind him to keep from falling.

Every soldier in the valley looked up and saw the two Ninja clinging to the face, as did Itachi and Kisame, instantly locking onto the source of the noise. Harbin reeled around and grabbed hold of the rock, freeing Naruto's hand and looked down into the pass. Heavy stones, many hundreds of pounds each smashed into the formation below, cutting one column of troops in half and burying a dozen victims in rubble twenty feet deep.

Naruto swore again as the rock in his hand crumbled into dust and hi slipped out into the open air. The blond Ninja grabbed for his sword, ripped it from its sheath with a piercing ring, and twirled its point towards the cliff. With a grunt he drove the blade deep into the rock to anchor himself. Naruto stuck tight to the cliff as the blade found solid stone beneath the unstable surface.

"Gotta go," said Harbin to Naruto just as Itachi and Kisame leapt from their ledge up towards the intruders. The blond and the Ninja in the mask were several stories above the ground, but Itachi and his partner bounded off the rocks nimbly, gaining altitude quickly. Harbin hurriedly jumped from the wall and landed on the opposite face, gaining height and jumping again in an attempt to outrun the pursuers.

Naruto jerked at the blade, but it stuck in the rock and he couldn't pull it out. "Shit," he barked, trying again with no success to free the sword.

"Leave it!" shouted Harbin. "C'mon!"

With another muffled curse Naruto jumped away from the rock and rebounded off the opposite face, quickly catching up to Harbin, but not gaining any distance on Itachi or Kisame who were coming closer every second. Naruto and the masked Ninja climbed quickly to the top of the two ledges some two hundred feet above the confused soldiers beneath, jumping farther and farther with each foot they moved skywards, needing to compensate for the widening of the ravine. They flung themselves up onto the stable ground and glanced quickly around.

The plain on which they found themselves was only one such growth of the earth in the thin mountain range running along the Wind's border, and dropped off again about a mile away where the true desert of the Wind Country began.

"We've got to move," said Naruto, aiming himself towards the southwest and taking off with Harbin hot on his heels.

The ground at Naruto's feet exploded up in a shower of dirt and debris as a shape like a man, but much larger erupted out of the earth. The figure was blue, wore a black cloak, and carried a massive bandage-wrapped weapon that t swung at Naruto with terrifying speed. The Uzumaki without any indecision jumped and flipped upside down in midair, planting his hand on the weapon as it passed beneath him and simultaneously reaching for his sword.

Only then did Naruto remember; his sword was protruding from the canyon wall. The blond did all he could think to do, he flipped himself around again as the bandages passed beneath him and lunged for his attacker's fishlike face. His fist connected with a solid crack, but not with Kisame's skull. Naruto's knuckles popped loudly as he struck the Ninja's uplifted arm.

Naruto didn't falter though, instead throwing all of his weight against his fist to throw Kisame off balance. The Akatsuki Ninja grunted at the sudden increase of force and stumbled backwards. Without bothering to survey his surroundings Naruto pressed his hands together and flew through a series of seals.

Instantly the blond Ninja disappeared and reappeared in a blast of smoke behind Kisame, his hands already separating as he finished his next jutsu. All around in more blasts of smoke a dozen copies of Naruto appeared and lunged for Kisame simultaneously while one of the blonds stayed back.

Kisame grinned, bearing his triangular teeth and swept his weapon around in a wicked arc. The bandages flew from Samehada and exposed its scaly surface as the weapon shaved through each clone as though it were nothing, banishing the copies.

There had been enough time though. Naruto who was now a dozen yards away slapped his hands on the ground, causing a ripple of blue energy to blast towards Kisame through the sand. The fishy Ninja had just completed his three hundred and sixty degree spin when he saw Naruto. He didn't have time to leap away as a spear of hardened sand exploded up beneath him, and skewered Kisame straight through the chest.

Naruto grinned as the Ninja opposite him faltered, but his joy quickly became horror when Kisame turned the color of the sand all around, and disintegrated just as quickly as the spear. "Oh," Naruto breathed quietly, feeling something press against the back of his neck.

"Naruto-kun," said Itachi, pressing the tip of his kunai into Naruto only enough to draw the smallest drop of blood that ran down and seeped into the Uzumaki's collar. "I would recommend that you not move. I would much prefer to take you alive."

Naruto watched as the real Kisame, not the bunshin, crawled over the edge of the canyon some several yards ahead of him, and stood tall and menacing. "Not bad kid," said the Ninja with the blue skin. "If that had been the real me Itachi might have needed to look for a new partner."

Quickly, Naruto glanced all around. Harbin was nowhere to be found.

He took a quiet breath as Itachi lowered the kunai. _Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram, snake,_ Naruto began to quote in his mind, running through exactly which seals he would have to perform.

"So," asked the Uchiha in his usual monotone. "Naruto-kun, perhaps we should be going. Although, I am curious as to where that friend of yours disappeared to. It's of little consequence though I suppose."

Naruto grinned. "It's always the ones in the masks you can't trust," he muttered, catching the quick flicker of movement behind Kisame as the blue Ninja walked towards him.

Itachi raised one eyebrow but quickly shrugged and took one step back from Naruto. "You're going to get down on your knees," he said.

"Alright," said the blond, kneeling in front of the Uchiha and putting his hands together between his knees. "Let's try to keep this civil."

Itachi grinned. Only an instant later did the ground between the Uchiha and Naruto and beneath Itachi disappear entirely and without any sound or explosion, leaving a more than fifty feet deep that Itachi, unable to control gravity, fell into with a cry of surprise. Naruto took full advantage of the diversion and lunged for Kisame, charging forwards like cheetah and rearing one hand back as Kisame faltered, off guard.

With a screaming roar of wind the rasengan whirled into existence and grew in size to a diameter of more than a meter. Kisame disappeared in a flash of sand and appeared behind Naruto, his sword already unwrapped and poised to strike, but Naruto with an almost malicious smile turned on his heel and swung his arm towards the Akatsuki Ninja.

The deadly vortex of chakra warped outwards, not leaving Naruto's hand, but twisting through the air like a serpent towards Kisame, who could only reposition his sword in defense in time. The now spiraling rasengan drove into Kisame's defense with the force of a charging bull. The sword's scales began to twist and writhe as they absorbed the vast energy fueling the attack, but Kisame was driven back, his heels dug into the earth and pushed up small mounds behind him as Naruto attacked.

"No way," Kisame muttered, seeing the blue scales beginning to heat up and glow orange. "No fucking way."

Naruto jumped forward and shoved his hand against the weapon, compressing the entire rasengan between his palm and the scales, filling the air with the screech. Immediately the sword exploded in a flurry of scales and metal shrapnel. The force of the blast propelled the already airborne Naruto back towards the edge of the cliff, where he landed in the dirt and rolled headfirst over the precipice before catching himself and clinging for dear life just below the edge. Kisame was simply flung onto his back with a loud 'thump.'

"Ouch," muttered Kisame, getting to his knees and looking behind him. "Itachi must have fallen quite a ways," the Uchiha had yet to reappear. "I swear I'm going to-" The Ninja stopped cold and his beady eyes widened.

Behind the kneeling member of Akatsuki stood Harbin, wearing instead of his usual sandy robes a black cloak splotched with red clouds. His bare and ghostly pale hand rested gently on the back of Kisame's neck just where his spine connected to his skull. As a thin red line of blood began to trickle out of Kisame's nose and from the corner of his mouth, Harbin's white mask washed over with orange and the smooth porcelain surface warped and spiraled into a corkscrew design, leaving only one red Sharingan exposed.

"Sorry Kisame," said Madara as Kisame fell forwards, face first in the dirt. "It's nothing personal but you've played your part."

Madara turned to the pit he had created in the earth when one arm clawed over the top. At the same instant Naruto finished his recovery and pulled himself up onto the plateau again. "Time to go," said Madara, disappearing without any indication of his ever having been there, and without any sign of his leaving.

Naruto and Itachi both gained the plateau at the same time. They simultaneously glanced between one another and an ostensibly very dead Kisame, who was now pooling in his own dark blood. They each looked away from the corpse at one another again.

"How did you do that?" asked Itachi, an uncharacteristic edge of trepidation in his voice as he tried to understand what was going on. "You simply eliminated the ground from being… how?"

Naruto grinned, not wanting to give away his own ignorance. _That must have been Harbin,_ thought the blond, pressing his hands together in front of his chest. _Let's hope he's on his way back to Suna to report all of this to them. Boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram, snake!_ he thought as he performed the seals in lightning succession and slapped his hands down on the ground at his either side.

In two bursts of red flame a pair of large foxes, each one three feet tall at the shoulder and very lean in their builds exploded into existence. Kyuubi's reinforcements looked quickly between each other, Naruto, and Itachi, then nodded very slightly and began snarling feraly, locking their fiery silver eyes on Itachi. Their black fur began to stand up on end and the air around them glowed red with the copious amount of chakra they had been given.

_Good,_ Naruto noted. _I'm not feeling anything from that chakra. It looks like they'll be able to use it freely… lucky since I'm already beginning to run a little low on my own._

Itachi sighed and closed his black eyes. "I supposed it might wind up like this. You always are so stubborn Naruto-kun." The Uchiha reopened his eyes, revealing his Mangekyou Sharingan. "I'm curious to see how the power of the Kyuubi-no-Yoko will stand up to the hidden talents of the Ancient Uchiha."

Itachi grinned as he looked between Naruto and his two fox allies. In a flash Itachi charged forward, drawing a kunai and lunging for Naruto's throat. Naruto jumped to the side to avoid the attack as Itachi rocketed towards him, but one of the foxes jumped between the two Ninja, fangs bared to bite. The second fox whirled around as Itachi passed through the first summon like a ghost.

_Bunshin!_ thought Naruto, stopping in mid step and spinning on his heel. Naruto saw the flash of movement behind him and instinctively reached out to stop Itachi's strike. The Uchiha had somehow materialized directly behind the startled Uzumaki, but as Naruto grabbed at Itachi's writs he felt nothing but empty air where there should have been flash and bone. _It's_ a_nother Bunshin._

Naruto let the ghost of the raven haired Ninja pass through him harmlessly (though he did feel a wave of unease as the ethereal kunai passed through his neck) and looked up above as yet another Itachi appeared from thin air and dropped down towards him, a katana dawn in his hand. Before Naruto could react one of the foxes had jumped up to intercept the attacker, but the other barked a warning as a second Itachi appeared to Naruto's left and a third and fourth appeared before and behind him. All five of the attackers were less than two paces away and rushed at Naruto simultaneously.

Above the fox passed through the imaginary Itachi, its jaws clasping closed around the bunshin's insubstantial neck. Naruto reached into his cloak and spun around, flinging his hands out and spraying a wave of shuriken in all directions, each of which passed through the Itachis with no resistance.

_God, _Naruto swore as the harmless shadows passed around him like vapors, _how many will there be before the real one?_ Naruto looked around as the bunshins disappeared, but Itachi was nowhere to be seen.

"SHIT!" shouted the blond as a hand phased through the ground and took a very solid hold on his ankle. A sustentative Itachi rose out of the ground and jerked Naruto off balance, slamming his knee into his stomach. Itachi wrapped both hands around Naruto's throat and squeezed. Naruto's neck popped beneath the pressure and immediately his air was cut off.

Impulsively Naruto tried to grab at Itachi's wrists, but his hands passed through without touching a thing. Itachi grinned as Naruto tried to kick him in the thigh and again in the groin, but the blond's foot found only empty air. Naruto looked around to the foxes, but from nowhere a dozen copies of Itachi had appeared and engaged the summons.

The air began to fill with explosions and waves of fire as the foxes would attack a clone with a blast of red chakra from their wide maws or tear into one of the clones with their fangs, banishing it in a puff of smoke. The animals however seemed oblivious to Naruto's situation.

"You were no challenge at all," said Itachi, tightening his grip on Naruto's windpipe.

Naruto groped at Itachi's fingers, but he found nothing to grab. When he reared back and tried to punch Itachi in the jaw, his fist connected with nothing. He was being throttled by a ghost and his world was beginning to go black.

Naruto growled and held one hand back behind his head, a roaring wind coalesced in his palm as the rasengan took shape and he shoved it forward, straight through Itachi's face. No effect, Itachi merely grinned and began shaking Naruto as if he were trying to speed the process of choking the life out of him.

As the edges of his vision continued to blacken, the rasengan faded into nothing and Naruto dropped his hands to his side. He'd never guessed he'd lose so fast. A screaming pain in his ankle made the Ninja take a deep breath and scream. Suddenly the Itachi throttling Naruto disappeared and Naruto collapsed to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. Naruto looked up just in time to see the real Itachi, several yards away, dodging a bolt of red energy flung at him by one of the huge foxes.

Beside Naruto was the other fox, the tips of its teeth reddened with Naruto's blood.

_**Apologies,**_said the fox nearest Naruto, speaking directly to the boy's mind in a surprisingly civilized tone. _**Our opponent distracted my sister and me with shadow-clones while he used an illusion to trick you into thinking you were dying. You simply stopped breathing, sir. I had no choice but to break you out of it.**_

"It's alright," said Naruto, getting to his feet, just as Itachi landed a safe distance away and the second fox returned in a bound to Naruto's side. Naruto steadied himself between his two guards and faced down Itachi. _Damn, who is this guy really? _Naruto thought. _There's no way this was anything more than an effort to gauge my strength, but even that nearly killed me. He still hasn't even used both hands._ Naruto noted that Itachi's left arm still hung unused from the center of his cloak.

"Naruto-kun," said Itachi. "I don't want to hurt you. If you just come back to the Rain Village I can promise you that my… employer means you no harm. You are in fact key to his plans to bring about world peace. This fighting is pointless but if you choose to continue I will subdue you."

Naruto's only answer was to drop down into a more ready position, one hand in front of him and the other hand behind him. He tried to recall some of the fundamental principles of Gentle Fist that Neji had taught him years ago. _Maybe I can use some Jyuukin to throw him off balance,_ Naruto thought, _and maybe my Jyuukin will be so messed up he won't know what to make of it._ Naruto couldn't help grinning at that last thought.

"There will be no more games from here on in," said Itachi, removing his black and red robe and casting it aside with a gesture of his hand. Beneath the cloak were simple black pants and a matching shirt with a netted underlay. "And neither will I accept you surrender if you do not offer it now."

Naruto shook his head once, and without a second's pause Itachi disappeared in a whirl of leafs. The Uzumaki Ninja braced for an attack, but the five Uchiha Ninja who appeared all around vanished in poofs of smoke as a wave of red chakra exploded from the male fox.

_**Showoff,**_ chided the second summon in a surprisingly female voice.

Naruto rolled to one side as Itachi came at him from behind. Seemingly from nothing the Uchiha had unsheathed a katana almost as tall as himself. The blade came to within a hair's breadth of sheering off Naruto's right arm, but the blond struck out and slammed his open palm into Itachi's stomach, sending a lance of blue chakra out his back.

_**MOVE!!**_ shouted one of the foxes as the Itachi clone flashed a blinding white.

Naruto leapt away as quickly as he could, jumping face first into the dirt and covered his head with his hands just as the clone exploded with a bone-rattling boom. Not only smoke, but kunai and shuriken flew out of the exploding clone, a dozen missiles that sailed at supersonic speeds, splitting the air with little pops. Naruto felt one of them graze his calf, drawing a thin hot line in his skin, that scabbed over, instantly cauterized by the heat of the metal.

There was not even time to get up off the ground. Another Itachi appeared out of thin air above Naruto and came down at him with another Katana. Naruto rolled onto his back as Itachi flipped the sword point down and stabbed at Naruto. The Uzumaki slapped his palms together on either side of the blade and caught the weapon between his hands. The cold metal opened his skin with no resistance and warm blood began to trickle down Naruto's wrists as the tip stopped an inch from his chest.

Jerking around Naruto kicked Itachi's leg out from underneath him at the same instant one of the identical foxes swiped at him with wickedly sharp claws. The Uchiha fell off balance and found his side torn open by the foxes. This clone also flashed white.

Naruto rolled away as the clone exploded with another deafening explosion, this time throwing out a thick and obscuring purple mist along with the shockwave that rolled over the plateau all around like a choking miasma. Naruto, his head still ringing from the bang, tried to draw a breath, but found his efforts excruciating as he let even the tiniest amount of the stuff into his lungs. It burned like fire and made him cough.

_**Naruto, **_shouted the feminine fox. _**Jump. Get above this plague. I shall clear it.**_

Naruto didn't hesitate, but jumped, making his muscles burn for lack of air, but clearing the ceiling of mist with the bound. He took a single satisfying breath. A tiny twitch below him made the blond turn in the nick of time to spot Itachi, or at least an attacker that looked like Itachi, spring out of the mist, aimed like a spear to intercept him.

Bracing for the impact, Naruto gasped in horror as a wave of black fire exploded out from Itachi and rolled towards Naruto like a blast of napalm. _I can't block Amateresu!_ Naruto realized, remembering Sasuke's similar technique.

"Rasengan!" shouted the blond, putting both hands out in front of him and summoning the technique as the black fire raced towards him. The shining vortex of energy leapt into existence in Naruto's hands and quickly grew larger, nearly as large as Naruto himself before the black fire struck it.

Beneath and as Amateresu rebounded and scattered off the rasengan like water falling on a dashing potter's wheel, a wave of red chakra rolled off of the foxes and pushed the mist away like a fan. Neither fox noticed Itachi hanging in midair for the swirling ball of energy holding their master suspended twenty feet above their heads.

Naruto heaved and shoved the rasengan forward, flinging it at Itachi, and beginning to fall the second it left his hands. He expected the rasengan to slam into the Itachi and dispel the clone or for it to dodge away as he dropped to the ground, panting and sweating, but Itachi merely waited as the mass of chakra flew towards him.

The Uchiha held out his hands and angled his fingers as though here were ready to catch a passed ball. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as Itachi caught the rasengan, stopping it in midair, angling it towards Naruto, and throwing it towards him.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed, jumping up and leaping as the foxes sprinted to either side. The massive rasengan, no less than five feet across, slammed into the ground and ripped itself apart upon impact, filling the air with millions of tiny razors that flew in all directions. Naruto fell onto his back to avoid all that he could, but a multitude of the blades skittered across his chest and legs, tearing up his pants and cloak. A few flitted in front of his face opening up tiny cuts in his skin that quickly turned red, though they weren't deep enough to truly bleed.

The male fox jumped in between the explosion and his companion, taking the brunt of the damage. Kyuubi's chakra sustained him, but most of his shaggy black fur was whipped or shaved off and fell into nothingness as thousands of tiny lesions like paper cuts appeared all over his face and his side.

Naruto jumped to his feet, for no sooner had the blades vanished than did Itachi renew his assault with new vigor. The Uchiha landed a dozen paces away and rushed at Naruto, vanishing as Naruto swung out to hit him, exhausted, only to reappear directly behind the Uzumaki and viciously kick him square in the back. Naruto flew forward and tumbled in the dirt as Itachi spun around and slammed the recently shaven fox with the back of his hand, knocking it to the ground.

_**Sustaining that attack, the rasengan, **_said the fox to Naruto as the summon collapsed. _**I'm out of chakra. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. Should the fight last long enough, summon me again in a few minutes and I'll have more chakra.**_

Naruto nodded, getting up as the fox disappeared in a poof of red smoke.

Itachi measured his position between Naruto and the growling female some feet to his left who was obviously waiting for a queue from her master. He rolled one shoulder back, then with no warning dashed at Naruto again.

_Oh no,_a drained Naruto thought as Itachi came within striking distance. The blond braced for an attack, but again Itachi disappeared. Naruto turned as Itachi reappeared behind him, but again the Uchiha vanished in a flash of speed, only to appear on Naruto's left, then his right, and then behind him again. Itachi raced all around Naruto in a dozen different circles, appearing here and there within a few feet of his target and throwing Naruto completely off balance with his sword's dance-like technique.

Out of nowhere, out of nothing, even as the fox rushed to Naruto's aide, a thin jet of black fire slammed into Naruto's back and enveloped his cloak in a nanosecond. Naruto reeled to throw off his cloak and tossed it to the ground just as it disintegrated into ash, just as a sandal came out of nowhere and slammed into Naruto's jaw with a loud thud.

Spinning through the air from the blow, Naruto saw Itachi appear behind him, in the direction he was moving. He saw the Mangekyou spin and the black fire burst out towards him. "Rasengan," Naruto mumbled, holding out both hands toward Itachi, one to stabilize his path and the other to hold the highly chakra-consuming shield. The blue energy fizzled in his hand as Naruto watched Amateresu, an intense blast of it, sail his way. At the last possible instant the rasengan appeared and deflected the black fire in a scattering as brilliant as any firework, throwing bits of flame in all directions as Naruto crashed to the ground in a heap, right beside Itachi.

Itachi raised one foot and pressed it down on Naruto's throat, holding him in place as he pointed his hand towards the fox leaping at him from only a few feet away. Just as the teeth passed over his hand and readied to rip his arm from its socket, Itachi's fingers snapped inside the summon's mouth. The black fox exploded internally with a blast of blue energy before disappearing in a flash of smoke.

"Now," Itachi said, his voice airy as his breath came in long draws. His forehead was beginning to shine with a thin layer of perspiration. "Naruto-kun I must admit you've given me a bit of a workout, but it's time we end this. You need to come with me."

The Uchiha reached up and wiped the little drops of blood pooling around his bloodshot eyes away, then looked down at Naruto as the Uzumaki tried to lift his hands to throw off Itachi's foot. Naruto saw the Mangekyou flash white, then he blacked out for only a second, as though he'd blinked.

Suddenly Naruto found himself hanging, suspended in midair in a very strange place. Four ropes held his both of his arms and both of his legs and suspended him above the ground in between two thick posts on his either side. The sky was as red as garnet, and in front of the captured Naruto stood Itachi, a katana in his hand.

Before Naruto could speak or even wonder exactly what was going on or why his world was black, white, and red, Itachi stabbed forward, driving the sword clean up to the hilt into Naruto's stomach where he let it rest. Naruto screamed as Itachi pulled his hand back, feeling every drop of blood burn like acid as it left his body. The Uchiha pulled another katana from behind his back and, watching the blood drain from Naruto's gut as he drove the second Katana into Naruto's chest, skewering the Uzumaki's lung.

Again as Naruto screamed in pain Itachi pulled yet another sword from the empty space behind him. This time he walked up beside the moaning victim and slowly forced the blade into Naruto from the side, between two ribs until it protruded from just beneath Naruto's opposite arm. Naruto couldn't scream at this, both of his lungs had been run through, but he still felt every second of it.

With the patience of a artist Itachi, who suddenly wore his black and red robe again, drew from his garments a small dagger and stepped back in front of Naruto. He held the knife point down against one of Naruto's kneecaps. Before Naruto could even beg for mercy Itachi rammed the crooked and rusty knife under Naruto's knee, and wrenched it back until he heard Naruto's joint pop loose.

Naruto's head flopped back, his eyes wide and his mouth open in a soundless scream as Itachi pulled another knife from oblivion and slashed it into Naruto's second knee, peeling at the kneecap until Naruto's leg spasmed and the joint gave.

Naruto would have given anything, his home, his allegiances, even his soul to die so the pain would stop. He couldn't think to know the pain was the product of a jutsu and he should have died long ago. All Naruto knew was that he wasn't yet dead and that being alive was nothing but this torturous existence.

Itachi sighed, removing a small and dull-looking knife from his pocket. "It will be over when you want it to be Naruto-kun," said the Uchiha.

…

…

…

…

…

An instant later, Naruto lay on his back, Itachi hovering over him. The Uchiha's eyes were red and bloodshot. Thin rivulets of crimson dripped from the corners of the Uchiha's mouth and from his right eye. Itachi reached up and dabbed away the blood with the back of his hand.

"I must hand it to you Naruto-kun," said Itachi, looking down at the defeated Naruto who lay utterly still aside from the occasionally tremor that shook his hands or his shoulders. "You did better than I expected. I used up nearly a third of my chakra on you. I've never seen anyone defeat Amateresu before. Using that technique as a shield… that was very clever. You just ran out of energy." Itachi walked away from the comatose Uzumaki and picked up his Akatsuki cloak, flinging it over his shoulders and slipping his arms through the sleeves.

"Now," muttered the Uchiha, deactivating his Sharingan and walking back past Naruto to the edge of the cliff where he bent down and looked into the ravine. Far beneath the troops had begun to clear the way of rocks. "With Kisame dead I must decide whether to take Naruto back to Rain myself or continue on my way to crush Suna. A puzzle then as not one of the incompetent fools down there knows how to lead an army."

Itachi looked up as the earth beneath his feet trembled once, shaking up the dust. He turned around to look at Naruto who lay just as silent as before. The earth shook once more but still Naruto didn't move. "Earthquake?" Itachi wondered. "That would be a-" The Ninja's mouth snapped shut as a third tremor rocked the ground and nearly knocked him off balance. This time however Naruto's body jerked and spasmed violently. A red haze began to flow off the Uzumaki and envelop him like a shroud.

"_**Freedom!**_" the word sprung from Naruto's lips as the boy's body lifted off the ground, suspended in the air by the demonic energy flowing from him. "_**Freedom!**_"

"Bad," Itachi blurted, charging forward without any indecision. He drew a razor-like knife from his cloak and aimed it directly at Naruto's throat, flinging the dagger forward ahead of him.

A tendril of energy jumped from Naruto's body and batted the knife harmlessly from the air with a metallic ring. An otherworldly growl emanated from Naruto's throat as the chakra took the rough shape of a fox all around Naruto's body.

"Terrible!" exclaimed Itachi, bypassing the Sharingan and activating the Mangekyou directly. _The demon's chakra has been released. I shouldn't have weakened his mind so much. Tsukiome was a bad idea._

Naruto dropped to the ground, eyes closed, glowing with an intense red chakra, and faced Itachi. The Uchiha stopped dead in his tracks a half a pace short of Naruto and leapt back a dozen yards. Black fire exploded all around like a carpet-bombing and rushed in towards the Uzumaki, hiding him completely from Itachi's view.

Not satisfied, Itachi reached into his coat with both hands and flung them out again towards Naruto, throwing ten kunai, each trailing an explosive tag towards the fire-encompassed boy. The tags caught with Amateresu's flames and exploded in a colossal boom that threw dust and debris everywhere.

Itachi raised his hands to shield his face, but watched from beneath his arm in horror as a wave of red chakra rolled out of the black flames, tossing them away from the being underneath. It was no longer Naruto Itachi saw, but a fiery demon in the shape of a man with spiked ears and a pair of eyes seemingly aflame with white light. Five tails of energy sprung from the demon's lower back and thrashed out behind it as the Demon, powering Naruto's body, dropped onto all fours and angled itself towards Itachi.

_His skin has boiled off,_ thought Itachi, his heart pounding in his ears. _With Naruto unconscious, the Fourth's seal compromised, and Naruto's mind weakened by Tsukiome, there's no limit to what the Kyuubi can do._

The demon fox roared, throwing its jaws open unnaturally wide and unleashing a rolling wave of super-heated air and chakra towards Itachi at a speed that would disintegrate a kunai or shuriken. Itachi had no choice and no time to do anything but raise his arms and take the blast as it impacted him full force and sent him tumbling through the air.

Itachi's form flew like a rag doll over the deep ravine. He would have landed on the opposite side of the gorge, had not the Kyuubi appeared in midair behind him and slashed at the Uchiha with ethereal claws. Itachi whirled around and flung out a wave of black fire. Amateresu pushed the fox back only far enough that his claws did not scrape Itachi, though the demonic fingers passed through Amateresu's flames as though they were only a bunshin.

Itachi held himself in place with a steady release of chakra as Naruto/Kyuubi landed on the ground a few meters below and glared up at him.

"_**This was a mistake**_" growled the fox as Itachi quickly retreated back to the opposite side of the gorge and landed with a quiet pat. "_**I've defeated your flames and your illusions will fail you next. You are a dead man, as is anyone who interferes with my will. You will harm the kit no more.**_"

_I can't let this continue,_ Itachi thought quickly. _Naruto's Maiban resilience might allow the demon to operate at full power and with unlimited power for hours on end. I won't stand a chance… I did not want to do this._

"You've forced my hand," muttered Itachi. He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes.

Not a second later Kyuubi rocketed forward. He jumped up over the gorge and aimed himself at Itachi. The shape of Naruto's figure flashed a brilliant white as Kyuubi opened his jaws wider than he had before and rolled his neck around. From the back of the fox's throat a light like the sun erupted and Kyuubi roared again. A beam of boiling red chakra, so hot the earth all around Naruto and even the walls of the canyon beneath the beam instantly warped into a rolling glass and began to flow like water blasted towards Itachi. The beam slammed into Itachi and exploded like an atomic bomb, hurling fire, chakra, and molten glass in all directions, engulfing the Uchiha in a pillar of fire a hundred feet wide that spiraled and burned up into the sky more than mile overhead, towering like a tornado.

Kyuubi hovered in midair as three more tails swirled to life behind him, not bothering to watch as the glass, now thousands of degrees in temperature flowed like a waterfall over the edge of the canyon, igniting the air above and around it. The falls buried dozens of soldiers in the pass beneath. Lightning began to flash in the clear sky overhead, generated by the intense amounts of energy now flowing uninhibited through the atmosphere.

With an ear-splitting howl Kyuubi pointed both hands towards the pillar of fire and raised them above his head like a conductor. The upper portion of the pillar followed Naruto's hands around as he guided his chakra, rolling the pillar over the same location a hundred times in and blasting what would have been left of Itachi over and over and over again. Each time the pillar struck ground another tremor ran through the earth and each time it lifted into the air another peal of thunder broke overhead.

"_**Goodbye Uchiha**_," chortled Kyuubi, giving up control of the pillar of fire and watching it begin to dwindle

"_**You shall bother neither Naruto nor myself ever again... Huh-**_"

Kyuubi watched as a wave of energy rolled out from the inside of the fire pillar, banishing it and dissipating the flames like a strong wind. At ground zero, in the exact center of the target location Kyuubi had hammered with a world-breaking force, stood Itachi, hunched to nearly half his real height, bleeding from both eyes, bleeding from his mouth, nose, and ears, blood dripping from beneath his fingernails and from the missing patches of skin that wound up his arms and across his face.

"_**What the fuck is that**_?" Kyuubi wondered aloud, looking not at Itachi, but at the ghostly shell that surrounded him like an enormous suit of armor.

"Susano'o," said Itachi, his voice grinding as the ghostly apparition repositioned itself, moving only a little the nearly invisible shield that had been in front of Itachi and raising one hand as a strange gourd appeared in its fingers. The top of the gourd popped open and a column of sake spat out, forming the shape of a sword and solidifying in midair.

The Fox smiled wickedly. "_**You have overestimated yourself**_," laughed Kyuubi, his old hubris returning. "_**Your little shield from kami might have protected you from me before, but you are quickly running out of chakra with which to sustain it and the sword Totsuka will not seal me forever the way it will a human.**_"

"No, it won't," muttered the Uchiha. "But-" Itachi leaned forward, dropping to his knees as the Susano'o shot like a bullet up towards Kyuubi, twisting and wrapping around him not unlike a snake.

"_**WHAT!?**_" Kyuubi screamed in a voice more Naruto's than his own. "_**What is this?**_"

"The shield will serve well enough to immobilize you," said Itachi as Susano'o strangled Kyuubi with one arm, catching the demon between its arm and the shield. "And the sword," continued Itachi as Susano'o raised the weapon to strike, "will seal you back into Naruto until we can get you both back to Rain."

"_**NO!**_" shouted Kyuubi.

Susano'o slashed downwards, driving the sword into Kyuubi's forehead and out his back. Instantly all eight tails disappeared and the red coat of chakra Naruto had been wearing vanished as though it had never existed. Beneath the armor, an ostensibly unharmed Naruto appeared, naked and unconscious. Kyuubi's power vanished with a screaming howl. Simultaneously Susano'o was gone, and Naruto fell to the ground two stories below, landing not far from Itachi with a hard thud and rolling onto his stomach.

Itachi waited for a moment, his breathing rough and very ragged, then got slowly to his feet and ran his hand over one of the many bleeding lesions that marred his face. "Two percent," muttered the Uchiha, wiping away the blood that still dripped from his eyes and flicking the liquid to the ground. "Fighting this devil took up all but two percent of my strength. If he had known of Susano'o being able to move autonomously… I would have been done for."

Pausing for another deep breath the Uchiha looked at Naruto with a grimace, then turned to the edge of the cliffs and exhaled. _The Kyuubi-no-Yoko preserved Naruto… the demon must be developing a bond with his host._ "Forget Suna," said Itachi. "They can wait. Naruto has to be caged."


	61. Doubt

AN: Hey everyone, it's been a long time in coming, but here it is. I'm sorry for the delay, but I've had a few epiphanies, one of which is that this story is a titanic monument to what fanfiction should not be. I've been writing with (among other things) only loose and overarching ideas and premises in mind and that's just not how it should be and it's not how I like to work (hence the massive delays and frustrations with the story.)

I've been going back through and reading and rereading it over and over again and each time (after I reach a certain point in the story where a very honest reviewer called me on my missed marks) I do it just makes me feel a little worse. I've been trying to desperately to write the rest of the story in such a way as to salvage what's already here, and it's taking more effort that I ever thought it would.

This is not to say that I'm not going to finish _The Gambit. _I will complete it, but mostly so that it can serve as a eulogy to the story it could have been and a warning to others to avoid my mistakes_._ I'm not going to be one of those people who starts a story that some people like that leaves his audience with absolutely no closure. Author's notes from this point in are probably going to be pretty scant as well; this might be the last one that's more than two sentences.

Oh well. Once this one is over I think I'll move on to greener places.

Peace and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Doubt

"Gaara," Sasuke called after the Kazekage, coming up behind the shorter man in the dimly lit hallway of the Palace of the Sand. He stopped a few paces short of Gaara and waited. Gaara stopped as well but refused to turn around.

"I have no time for this Uchiha," said Gaara in his usual monotone. "Don't you have something else you should be doing?"

Sasuke had already taken a deep breath and braced himself against the chill running down his spine. "Gaara, you're stepping past your authority. You can't order someone to kill themselves for you."

"I've ordered Sakura-san to do no such thing," said Gaara, an edge evidencing itself in his voice.

"You're sure not discouraging her," Sasuke barked.

"I've ordered her to do no such thing," Gaara repeated. "Now is there something you need?"

"For you to tell Sakura to call it off you snake," Sasuke growled. "I need you to get off it and think of some other way."

Gaara whirled round on Sasuke, his patience and calm shattering in an instant. "Uchiha I have neither the time nor the patience to deal with you and your dissention," growled Gaara, stalking forward like a desert lion. "What would you have me do?" asked the Kazekage as Sasuke shifted his weight and pushed his shoulders back. "Look at our men," said Gaara. "This… makeshift alliance we've stumbled upon is our last gasping chance." The Kazekage's voice lowered to a guttural whisper, "and it's a fool's chance. You can't deny it. What good are hundreds of soldiers in the face of people like your brother? What good would thousands do us should Itachi, or someone worse than him, take the field?"

"We'll have him outnumbered. Naruto, his sisters, you, and I could take him while the rest of the Ninja deal with the larger battle."

"And you suspect we could win," said Gaara, his tone almost mocking of Sasuke's opinion. "Uchiha, let me be clear. The thought of Sakura-san's sacrifice makes me sick. I have no more desire to see her die than do you." Gaara's breath came in low draws and his eyes seemed to flicker in the dark. "But we both know how terrible your brother can be, and worse, we both know that there is probably someone even worse than him out there. He's not head of Akatsuki, just one of its ranking members, but for the sake of everything we have to pretend like he's the worst we'll face. We have to pretend that we can win if we want to have any chance and if Sakura is willing to make as noble a sacrifice as she is for the sake of everyone else…"

Sasuke reached up and ran one hand through his raven hair, glaring at Gaara as his stomach turned. "If you don't order Sakura to call this off I'm gone," said Sasuke. "I'll leave and never come back. Hell, I might even defect here and now and let Akatsuki know exactly what you've got planned so they'll know exactly how to counter it." Sasuke's face had begun to redden and his voice was strained.

"You would never do that," said Gaara, his tone acid. "Sakura and everyone else you cared about would be killed for sure if you did."

Sasuke's eyes widened with anger and he gripped his hands tightly behind his back, one white-knuckled grip holding the other. The already dark hall became even more oppressive and the air thickened in both Ninja's lungs. "I'm never going to forgive you for this," said Sasuke, seething quietly.

"There's nothing for you to leave unforgiven," said Gaara, his calm returning. "It's no fault of mine that Sakura is willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good."

"Get fucked," Sasuke hissed, turning his back and walking away.

Gaara watched as Sasuke walked down the hall and disappeared behind a corner. His gaze narrowed and he turned away but stopped short and looked over his shoulder as he heard a horn sound in the distance. "That would be the Earth Daimyo," said the Kage. "He's running ahead of schedule."

Groaning and staring intently at the ground ahead of him, Sasuke ignored the sound of the horn. His eyes clouded with anger, the Uchiha stopped and set his back against the sand colored wall. He slid down the rough surface and sat against it, letting his head drop into his hands. "Could this be any worse?" he asked himself rhetorically.

"Could what be worse?"

Sasuke looked up quickly, though showed no outward sign of the jolt that had shaken him internally. Ino stood beside him, looking down at him curiously and offering him a hand up. "Nothing," said the Uchiha, ignoring her gesture. "The whole world's going to hell. That's all."

Ino sat down beside him, leaving plenty of room between them, and looked over. "What's going on specifically?"

"Aren't you supposed to be confined to your room or something?" Sasuke asked.

"Eh," Ino shrugged. "I got bored and it's not like there's anyone around to actually enforce anything. Tell me what's on your mind."

Sasuke shook his head but began, "Gaara's gotten the idea into his head to use all of these allies that came out of thin air to counterattack Akatsuki… they're probably planning out where to engage the enemy right now and they want Sakura to open all eight of her celestial gates when Itachi shows up so she can kill him."

"Oh, that sounds… Wait – wait," Ino blurted, her head already spinning. "Go over this again. Some detail might be nice too."

Sasuke took a breath and began explaining, adding specifics where he thought it necessary, what had transpired recently, from all of Suna's allies appearing magically, to Sakura's revelation and Gaara's 'mad' plan. When he finished Ino was staring at him in disbelief and shaking her head.

She spoke softly. "I've been confined to my room for … and all this happened more or less in a day?"

"Less than a day," said Sasuke. "It's all gone up in smoke in the last few hours." The Uchiha let his head drop.

Ino sighed and scooted closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "You have a funny way of looking at things," she said. "'Gone up in smoke' is the last phrase I'd use to describe this turn of events."

"We're fighting a losing war," Sasuke barked. "Akatsuki and the Crane probably still outnumber us. They have more powerful Ninja. And knowing Itachi they probably have some plan to catch us in the ultimate trap… make us think we can win so we commit all of our strength to a decisive battle and lose it all when they close us in a snare. Now, to top it all off, even if we win this battle Sakura will still die and it's just the beginning to what's likely to be one long and costly campaign of re-conquest… Tell me how being pessimistic is 'funny.'"

Ino smiled in the gloom of the hall. "You're acting like you can't do anything to help." Her voice was motherly. "Sasuke, you're one of the strongest Ninja in the world. You could probably go toe to toe with Itachi if you had to and together you and Naruto will come out smelling like roses I'm sure," she hesitated and then continued, "well, maybe not roses… blood and grime is more likely but nonetheless together there's nothing the two of you can't do."

Sasuke's grimace held but his face softened. "I don't want to lose anyone else…" he said.

"We're Ninja," said the Kunoichi. "Unfortunately that's a part of life. Still, being Ninja also means we have the power to change life and make it what we want it to be."

SC

The Earth Daimyo had a much younger looking face than anyone at the blocky table sitting in the middle of the hastily constructed command-tent outside Suna would have expected. Even so, he had the countenance of a man whose face might break if he ever smiled or altered his expression too quickly. As soon as Gaara had finished briefing him on recent developments with the arriving armies and Akatsuki's movements however, the Daimyo's hairless face twisted momentarily into an expression of utter confusion.

"I must say," said the young Daimyo of the Wind Country, addressing his counterpart from the Earth, "You've done a masterful job setting all this up."

The Earth Daimyo hesitated for an instant before his expression became absolutely unreadable. "I have a very competent network of spies and agents," he said. "And I've been working to resist the Crane since I first caught wind of their activities…" The Daimyo's stomach turned. He didn't like having no idea what was happening. _Harbin, what are you up to? It's not like you to use my name to back your messages and mislead people… especially when I'm one of those people._

"So now the only immediate question," said Gaara, "is do we intercept the Crane's forces or wait for them here in Suna. Both strategies have their advantages, but-"

A tall Ninja in a featureless mask strode into the command tent, moving right past the sentry at the door who looked too stupefied to offer any resistance. "Neither," he interrupted Gaara, his voice oily and icy but not unkind.

"Harbin?" asked Gaara. This new arrival was identical to the Earth's spy in all but voice.

Sakura and all of the newly allied leaders turned to face him if they hadn't already and the pink haired Kunoichi suddenly felt ill. She hid the expression of disgust that threatened to break across her face, but something about the new arrival smelled of death and decay. 'Smelled' was not the right word, she realized. The new arrival had no scent but something about him felt horribly wrong.

"Everyone," said the Earth Daimyo, "this is another of my top agents. His name is Amato and he's been my personal and faithful servant for more than a decade."

"Harbin is dead," said the Ninja in the mask. "Itachi killed him when your spies intercepted the Crane's army." The room immediately fell silent as the Ninja went on. "Harbin had asked that I tail him and Naruto in case something should happen to either one so I could finish their report. In brief, Harbin and Naruto killed Kisame but Harbin was then killed by Itachi."

"Naruto," blurted Sakura, her gut twisting anew. "Where's Naruto?"

"Captured," said Amato without a hint of emotion. "Itachi defeated him and took him away. Last I saw, they were headed for the Rain Village but I can't be sure. Now, the good news is that Itachi, before he left, ordered his troops to turn north and-"

Sakura's breath caught and she slumped in the folding chair in which she sat. _Naruto's been captured,_ it didn't seem quite real. She listened with only minimal interest as Amato went on to explain that from the looks of things Itachi's army, now leaderless, had turned and begun advancing towards another invasionary force moving towards Iwa. Even as Sakura began formulating her plan to find and rescue Naruto, completely ignoring the fact that her plan to sacrifice herself to kill Itachi had just been rendered unnecessary. Amato went on to state that it was his advice to intercept Itachi's army and destroy it, then move on to bolster Iwa's forces and overwhelm the Crane's army while sending the noncombatants and refugees to the underground tunnels beneath Suna to make the village appear abandoned.

_If Naruto's in the Rain Village,_ thought Sakura, her thoughts turning over, _that puts him at the heart of the Crane… and Akatsuki's power. Trying to get him out by myself would be suicide but if I take any kind of strike force it would definitely be caught._ She ignored that her allies neither could nor would release her from her duty to make a rescue attempt. She breathed a sigh and slumped a little lower. There probably wasn't any way to get to Naruto now except the old fashioned way, smashing her way through the Crane's armies, and the most expedient way to do that was to do what she was doing now. She began to listen more closely.

_Naruto,_ she thought. _I'm sorry I can't get to you sooner._ She felt no noticeable pang of guilt even when she realized how quickly she'd contemplated desertion.

SC

Amato, after the council had reached the conclusion that they would march out to meet Itachi's forces before they could unite with the force moving to attack Iwa, had taken his leave with the Earth Daimyo's permission to 'follow up on some other information.' The Ninja in the mask stepped outside of the command tent and into the desert surrounding Suna. The sprawling camp that had been erected outside the village's walls had already begun to stink of sweat and sewage, but the smell did little to bother him.

Finding an empty tent from which to work Amato stood silent for a minute and then pressed his gloved hands together into a simple but foreign seal. Instantly he shattered like two-dimensional glass into absolute nothingness and the space immediately around him melted like wax before reforming into the perfect image it had been before.

No measureable amount of time later the Ninja calling himself Amato, though now he wore a twisted orange mask and one of Akatsuki's trademark robes and would call himself Madara, appeared out of nothingness without so much as a poof of air inside another tent. This time however the ground beneath his feet was hard packed earth instead of sand. Standing in front of him and still unaware of Madara's presence was Zetsu, staring into space and presumably keeping of track events in the camp outside Iwa's defensive network of spies via the listening tendrils he could lace through the ground.

"Good morning," said Madara.

Zetsu twitched. "I don't dare tell you to stop doing that," said the spy. "What can I do for you?"

Madara ignored the declarative statement and focused on the question. "Tell me how things are progressing."

"Exactly as you predicted," said Zetsu. "Iwa's defenses are formidable even without their Daimyo or the bulk of their forces, but if we begin the invasion before the week is out as planned we should be able to take the city with minimal loss on our side…" he watched the Ninja in the orange mask for a moment. "You're about to change my orders though I assume."

"I want you to monitor the Kazekage's allied forces," said Madara, his voice somber. "Keep close tabs on their movements while I send Konan, Hidan, and Kakazu to lead the assault on Iwa tomorrow morning. Itachi's army will be wiped out completely but that is neither important nor avoidable. What does matter is that Iwa will burn, we will soon have the Haruno girl, and Naruto is safely in our hands. You will keep me informed." Madara disappeared before Zetsu could even acknowledge the orders.

SC

Many Hours Later

_They at least could have warmed the table up,_ Naruto thought. He lay naked, strapped to the steel table with thick leather straps across his wrists, ankles, and abdomen. Normally the restraints would have done less to hold him than soggy tissue paper, but he felt all of his strength, chakra-fueled and natural, being drained by the glowing blue rune on the low ceiling above him.

**This could be bad,** he heard Kyuubi's voice echoing inside of his head. **No matter what we try, that rune just absorbs everything we throw at it.** One good thing that had come of the battle with Itachi, Naruto thought it was the only good thing, was that somehow Kyuubi had been re-sealed into Naruto in such a way that their previous ability to interact had been restored. Naruto's sensitivity to the demonic chakra had been eliminated and the two had been working ever since Naruto woke up to break free of their prison. Even with the demon's chakra newly re-accessible the task was proving impossible.

**That rune is Maiban and specifically crafted by the old Priestly Class to contain demon-possessed prisoners,** said Kyuubi. **I doubt we'll be able to overcome it with sheer brute force.**

"I was about to reach the same conclusion," Naruto thought grimly. "I guess this means they're going to torture us to death or do something just as unpleasant to see what information they can wring out of me." Naruto had just woken up from his Tsukiome-induced coma and he thought that compared to that, there was little more anyone could do to make him even remotely uncomfortable, even as he studied the wicked instruments laying in a metal pan on a table beside him. He was already aware that he, or more accurately Kyuubi, had worn Itachi down to nothing and the Uchiha would thus be unable to carry out the gruesome interrogation personally.

Naruto felt Kyuubi's silent affirmation. **I can shield you from the bulk of any pain as I've done before and it is my plan to do so. As long as that rune is active I think the most we can do is…** the Demon practically spat the next phrase, **wait for rescue.**

The door to the dingy little room creaked open as someone, Naruto didn't bother to turn his head to see who, stepped inside. There was only one set of footsteps and they treaded lightly and Naruto caught himself assuming they were made by a woman. Surprise flitted across his face when a very large figure wearing an orange mask and an Akatsuki robe stood over him and made it impossible for Naruto not to look up at him.

"Good evening," said Madara, his voice almost cheery in a twisted sort of way. "My name is Uchiha Madara and I'll be your interrogator tonight. How are you doing today?"

"Uchiha Madara?" Naruto asked, feeling a twinge of surprise from Kyuubi. "Shouldn't you be-"

"Dead or ancient?" asked Madara as he walked around the table, staring down at Naruto with his Sharingan eye. "Probably, but then again I might not be Madara. I might be messing with your head. Then again it might not really matter. Not much does at this point."

Naruto watched as the masked Ninja picked up a scalpel, studied it for a moment, then set it down and picked up a pair of forceps. "What does matter then?" asked Naruto as Madara picked up a pair of needle nosed pliers.

Madara didn't answer immediately. He took a firmer grip on the pliers and then looked down at Naruto. "You're an interesting individual Naruto," he said. Madara reached with the pliers and with them gripped Naruto's left thumbnail. In a quick jerk he wrenched the nail from Naruto's finger and instantly Naruto grunted, forcing himself not to howl in pain. Tears welled in his eyes as quickly as blood welled in the wound.

Before he said anything Madara jerked another of Naruto's fingernails free of him and dropped it to the floor. This time Naruto couldn't hold back the screams of pain and immediately he wondered what had become of Kyuubi's promise to shield him from the pain. Naruto wondered also what had become of Kyuubi himself as the demon was completely absent.

"My master plan," said Madara quite matter of factly, "is to bring all life on this planet to heel under myself." He ripped out the nail of Naruto's little finger with a flick of his wrist. "Now to that end I've assembled one of the largest unified armies since the Maiban Empire. My forces, of which I've revealed barely a fraction, are quite capable of squashing all resistance in this part of the world…" having finished with the left hand, Madara began ripping the nails from the fingers of Naruto's right hand. "The problem is that elsewhere in the world, in places untamed by the Maibans and unprotected by their barriers there exist dangers the likes of which no one since the Maibans has ever seen. That is where you come in." He set the pliers aside and sat down on a stool beside the table, seemingly ignoring the tears which were threatening to spill over the edges of Naruto's eyes.

The blond Ninja, teeth locked together and pain screwing his face into a knot, sneered at the man in the mask. "I'm not helping you, ever." He drew in a quick breath.

"I was hoping you'd express resistance to the idea," Madara got up from the stool and walked around the table, removing a roll of parchment from his sleeve and unfurling it. "As much fun as playing with you happens to be," he continued, "you're just too tough, physically anyway, for any kind of torture to be effective in breaking you down." He turned the scroll around and Naruto's already strained breath caught. Scrawled across the parchment was a picture of Sakura. "So I'm going to capture the Haruno girl, whom you've already hurt so much, and I'm going to hurt her some more, and then some more, and then some more, right in front of you. In fact, I'm going to keep hurting her until you agree to help me, and you'll only be able to blame yourself if she happens to die under torture because you weren't willing to let her off the hook."

SC

One Week Later

Surveying the battlefield, Sasuke breathed a sigh. There was no relief in it, not really, the slaughter in which he'd just taken part that is. Itachi's army had been leaderless after all which meant that the victory The Coalition, as Gaara and the other leaders, the council, had decided to call their makeshift alliance, had won was all but meaningless. Still, Sasuke took some pleasure in the fact that several full regiments worth of soldiers would never reach the Crane forces at Iwa.

Stretching in front of the Uchiha for numerous acres were unceremonious piles of the dead, stacked five and sometimes six or seven feet tall. There was no uniformity to the mass grave. Some piles stood alone with no trace of the battle within a dozen yards them and some piles were grouped in small colonies. As much as Sasuke tried to convince himself otherwise, the sight nearly made him sick.

"Not a bad start," said a chirpy voice from behind him. "But there's still a lot more work to do."

Sasuke turned around on the small hill from which he'd shouted orders to the troops the Wind Daimyo had put under his command. Behind him the Sisters had separated themselves from the army they'd just lead to success. It was Trina who'd spoken. Her hair shimmered red in the evening sunset, both because of its natural pigments and the blood spattered across her. "Gaara-Sama says he wants us to start marching for Iwa. The leaders think that if we move through the night we can get there by morning. If we manage that we'll be able to enter the city and reinforce the garrison before the Crane even gets there."

"That's good news," said Sasuke, smiling. He watched as Karenna's and Alicia's faces fell. "But now you're about to give me some bad news."

Trina continued undeterred. "None of the spies we sent out to get the lay of the land from here on out have come back. We know where the Crane was yesterday, and we know what Iwa's condition was as of yesterday, but we don't know what kind of state either one is in today and we won't until we get there."

"Do we have any ideas who is killing our spies?" asked Sasuke.

Trina shook her head. "No sir, we don't. Gaara seems to think that Akatsuki is to blame and no one has any better ideas but with the spies themselves dead we have no way to know for sure. Also the Wind Daimyo wants you to attend the meeting he's called in the command tent."

"Understood," Sasuke looked behind him at the battlefield, and the sun setting beyond it one more time and sighed. "Let's get moving then," he said to the Sisters. "If we're supposed to make it to Iwa by morning then we'll need to leave immediately. Get all of the troops under our command assembled and in a marching column and as soon as the council gives the order start cracking whips at their heels."

Trina gave Sasuke a little salute, acknowledging the order, then turned around with Alicia and jogged down the side of the little hill towards the mass of troops and small clusters of tents said hill overlooked. Karenna waited as Sasuke adjusted the thick leather belt around his waist, then stepped up beside him.

"The uniform looks good on you," she said, smiling genuinely and nudging his hand with the backs of her fingers. "Shows off your backside."

Sasuke grinned and took her hand in his, leather gauntlet creaking as he did. "It's still a little stiff, but I think I could get used to it." Sasuke looked down at himself for an instant, reflecting on the events of the past week, and secretly admiring how the tan outfit with the gold accents caught the light of the sun. The captain's uniform gave him a sense of pride though he'd never admit it to anyone.

"Who would have thought that the Daimyo of the Wind would make me a captain?" he asked. "Even with Sakura turning the position down I expected him to give it to you or one of your sisters."

"He recognized your talent," said Karenna as the two Ninja began strolling, both knowing that they had at least an hour before the order to move out would be issued, down towards the army's current position.

"He recognized that I'd served as one of Orochimaru's chief lieutenants for three years," muttered the Uchiha, his tone bordering on cynicism. "I guess that counts for something."

"It does," Karenna broke in. "Even when you were fighting off a mind-binding seal that sapped all of your willpower and strength you still managed to be a major thorn in the side of some of the most powerful people in the world. That's saying something I think. And now that you've proven yourself as a good leader here everyone is going to see exactly what you're capable of and reward you accordingly."

"You make it all sound so matter of fact," said Sasuke as the couple passed by one of the barricades that had been erected to protect the makeshift camp.

"It is matter of fact," the Kunoichi grinned.

Sasuke and Karenna found their way to the command tent and all of the Coalition's leaders inside. Stepping through the flaps of the tent Sasuke released Karenna's hand and mouthed goodbye. The Kunoichi gave him a quick hug and turned to leave to find her Sisters and help them prepare for the night's march. She knew the drill; the troops would form up into marching columns and the Ninja would run in shifts around the perimeter of the columns in gradually expanding and contracting patterns to watch for threats to the army. It was an effective set of maneuvers but the constant movement tended to drain the patrolling Ninja.

Sasuke found the leaders of the Coalition sitting around the blocky table in the center of the tent. Everyone but Gaara acknowledged him with a brief nod in his direction and Sasuke bowed respectfully before taking his seat to the right of the Wind Daimyo, directly across from Sakura.

"We're all here then," said the Earth Daimyo, halting all of the smaller conversations that had been taking place and focusing all attention on himself. "Let's keep this brief then." The tanned man glanced around the table at his peers and subordinates, before continuing. "We're going to march through the night with the aim of reaching Iwa by sic o'clock tomorrow morning, hopefully before Akatsuki's armies have a chance to properly organize themselves.

"If we can make it in time we're going to bring the bulk of our forces into Iwa itself and bolster it from the inside. If the Crane has begun its attack by the time we arrive, as they're apt to have done given the last known positions of their formations, we're to act as a relief force."

Gaara spoke up from his side of the table. "Sounds simple enough," he said dryly. "What's the catch?"

"None that we can foresee," answered the Earth Daimyo. "It should be a fairly simple engagement, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy." He turned to the pale woman from the bird country. "Shirai can explain why."

The woman in the multicolored robe cleared her throat. "Six hours ago I sent out ten reconnaissance crows to try and get feel for what we were going to be up against," said Shirai, her voice like a flute. "Only two returned but those that did had gotten a visual on the Crane's armies location and numbers. Their maneuverings are what we could expect from an army that size and they have moved into position to besiege Iwa. At this point we can't tell if they'll have time to begin before we arrive or not, but that's not the issue. We grossly underestimated their numbers."

"How many?" asked the Wind Daimyo, no hint of apprehension in his voice as he reached for a plate of pastries sitting on the table.

"Fifteen thousand," said Shirai, "maybe more."

Sasuke nearly choked. "They've got us outnumbered almost two to one," said the Uchiha. "Even if Itachi isn't there can we beat that?"

"When Konoha was under attack by Orochimaru during your war with Sound," said the Fang representative addressing both Sasuke and Sakura, looking between the two, "you were outnumbered more than ten to one and still won a decisive victory. Can't this be a repeat performance?"

Sakura shook her head. "Back then Konoha had literately hundreds of Ninja," she said. "If memory serves we had the city garrisoned with three hundred or more at the time of Sounds invasion. We don't have even half that now."

"But we should still have more Ninja," said the Wind Daimyo. "So doesn't that even the odds at least some?"

"Maybe," said the Earth Daimyo, "unless Akatsuki has brought more Ninja than we expect to bare."

"Which they very well could've," said Shirai, shifting and shimmering just a little as her colorful robes caught the light streaming into the crimson tent. "But even if they have, so what? What we lack in numbers we more than make up for in quality. My men at least are armed to the teeth and absolutely solid."

Sasuke had to give her that. He'd watched the Shirai command her troops from the Bird Country today and marveled at how stalwart and wickedly deadly an army modeled after something as stereotypically dainty as a bird could be. _Then again,_ he thought, _I guess there are some pretty mean birds out there._ The Bird Country's troops had done the bulk of the work on the battlefield and reported only one casualty.

"Quality can only take us so far," said Sakura. "Unlike the Crane, we only have one army to draw on. It doesn't matter if we win at Iwa if the effort cripples us," she paused. "But still, I don't see any alternative."

"Iwa is well supplied," said the Earth Daimyo. "Whatever losses we suffer there can be at least lightened by the village's stores. Equipment can be easily replaced and manpower can be restored by pressing the village's citizens into service. Given the circumstances I don't think anyone would complain too much about it."

All around the table murmurs broke out about the potential consequences of such conscription. Sensing the building tension Gaara spoke. "The people probably won't require much coercion to join the army. It's either that or be wiped out by Akatsuki and the Crane. Given the choice…" The table grew quiet again.

"Then it's settled," said the Wind Daimyo. "As soon as the troops are ready to move out we march for Iwa and attack the Crane head on."

Sasuke watched the expressions around the table with guarded interest as the Wind Daimyo got to his feet and dismissed the assembly. Everyone else stood at their own paces and began to leave the tent. Walking out into the evening sun Sasuke felt a tap on his shoulder, turned, and smiled at Sakura.

"You looked bored in there," said the Kunoichi.

Sasuke glanced around to make sure none of the leaders were within earshot and sighed. "It seemed like a waste of time. We didn't discuss anything anyone didn't already suspect."

"Welcome to being an officer," said Sakura. "Get used to it." She smiled at him. "How are you feeling?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm good actually... anxious to get on the move. I want to get this fight over with so we can hurry up and get to the Rain Village to rescue Naruto."

Sakura grimaced. "Same here, I can't believe no one on the Council even gave it a second thought when he was captured. Then when I brought it up it was like a none-issue to them."

"They have a war to fight," said Sasuke. "I spoke with the Sisters though and all three of them are chomping at the bit to get to the Rain and get Naruto back. There's just nothing the five of us can on our own do that would be constructive. We have to wait for the Council to attack if we want to stand any kind of chance."

Sakura nodded. "We'll get him. As soon as we secure Iwa I'm going to press for a direct assault on Rain. I already know for a fact that Gaara will back me up and the Fang and Claw representatives expressed approval when I mentioned the idea to them. Everyone I talk to feels that taking Rain, and hopefully crippling Akatsuki in the process, will end the war before it has a chance to turn into a long, dragging campaign."

"That's how I see it," said Sasuke, feeling his shoulders tighten just a little as the urge to do something, anything productive, crept into his mind. He didn't like waiting around on other people.

"So how are you and Karenna doing?" asked Sakura, completely out of the blue and letting her face break into a wide smile. "You two have gotten pretty close pretty fast."

Sasuke instantly blushed and reflexively dug at the earth a bit with the toe of his boot. "Alright," he said.

Sakura grinned. Once the war was all said and done, if everyone survived, she was going to have to get together with the brown haired Kunoichi for some 'girl-time.'

SC

"My army was completely wiped out." Itachi's voice was as cool and as collected as ever, but to Pain's trained ears, the anger underneath the ice was obvious.

Pain's main body, the most powerful model, didn't shift away from the door. "That is unfortunate," he said in a serpentine voice. "But it is exactly as Madara-Sama predicted. There is no reason for you to see him over it."

Itachi scowled. "First I was never made aware that he knew my men would all be killed, and now I suddenly need a reason to see Madara? What's going on?"

"Madara is busy."

The already dark hallway of the Rain Village's citadel seemed to grow even darker. "You are going to step aside and let me pass," said Itachi.

"Madara-Sama said you'd say that."

"Then he must have also told you that I will kill you if you don't let me through."

Pain was silent for a moment, then slowly stepped away from the big wooden door and gestured with his hand for Itachi to pass. The Uchiha calmly opened the door, completely ignoring Pain, and stepped into the small cramped study where Madara sat in a high backed chair facing away from Itachi, pouring over a scroll on the desk before him. Beside the scroll sat the orange mask.

"Madara-san," said Itachi, stopping in the center of the room. "I need a moment."

"And some etiquette," said Madara, reaching for the mask and quickly sliding it over his face. He swiveled in the chair and faced Itachi, crossing his legs and resting his face on his knuckles. "But I'm in a good mood and I have a spare moment so I suppose you can have it if you ask nicely." The door to the office slammed shut, seemingly of its own will.

"I thought you told me my men would make it safely to Iwa where they'd join up with the others," said Itachi.

The elder Uchiha shrugged once. "And…?"

"They were all killed, intercepted by a large, well organized army and annihilated."

"And…?"

Itachi took a moment to suppress the urge to adopt a biting demeanor and continued calmly. "Those men represented almost a tenth of our total force. The army at Iwa makes up almost forty percent of our combined armies. I want to know why you suddenly decide to throw away ten percent of our men and thusly endanger almost half of the rest when we're already spread thinner than anyone would advise. We used all of our strength to wipe out the smaller countries so the bigger ones would be less of a threat and tired our men in the process. Why are we being so reckless?"

"Itachi," said Madara, his voice full of mock surprise. "Have you grown a heart? Do you actually care about these… what did you call them… 'pawns?'"

Itachi shook his head. "I care about winning and receiving my reward, nothing more."

"You haven't changed," said Madara. "But neither have I. All you need to know is that I will win, and you will receive your just desserts." He swiveled back away from Itachi.

The younger of the two Uchiha didn't move. "Why haven't we extracted the demon from Naruto?" he asked.

Madara reached out and snapped his fingers. Instantly Itachi vanished.

Outside the citadel it was pouring rain and the streets of the nearly emptied village were, as they so often seemed to be lately, paved in several inches of mud and pockmarked with giant puddles, some a foot or more deep. The winds howled so loud that the sound was completely obscured when Itachi materialized a few feet above the road and splashed down in one of the deeper puddles. The Uchiha's expression didn't alter in the slightest as he tugged his cloak a little tighter around his lean frame and stepped out of the small pond, but his black eyes burned when he turned them up at the citadel.


	62. Facade

Façade

"You'll be begging me to kill you," Naruto rasped, his voice threatening to give out and his breathing labored. "Just as soon as I get loose I'm going to-" He stopped short as the blue ribbons of energy flitted from the tips of Madara's fingers and ran over the Uzumaki's body. Naruto's back arched against the leather straps holding him to the table and he opened his mouth to scream. No sound escaped him.

Madara sighed, seemingly disinterested. "I don't see why you're so stubborn," said the ancient Uchiha. "I'm offering you power beyond your comprehension, glory that will last for eternity, a world without any war or plague or evil… all you have to do is consent to being my mind-bound servant." Madara paused and the blue ribbons of light jumped back to his hand and Naruto's form crumpled.

"Go," Naruto gasped, dripping with sweat, "go to hell. I'm not helping you."

Madara sighed again and the blue energy jumped from his fingers back onto Naruto, racing around his form like vipers dashing after prey, coiling around his limbs as Naruto again strained and silently cried out. "So stubborn," said Madara calmly. "I'm not too worried though. Eventually, after you undergo and witness enough torture you will give in." He looked around the small chamber. "I really should get some furniture in here if you're going to make the process lengthier than it has to be."

Madara let the torture-ribbons do their worst for the next few minutes, until Naruto's face and outermost extremities began to turn violet from lack of air, then called them back to his hand again where they swirled in his palm and cast their seemingly innocuous glow throughout the otherwise unlit room. "Come on," Madara said when it became apparent that Naruto was too exhausted to put up any kind of verbal struggle. "Being mind-bound isn't really so bad. You'll retain all of your faculties, all of your creativity… you just won't be able to disobey me. It's not like the process of binding even hurts… it's like a tickle in the front of your head."

"If it's s-so simple then why do you need me to consent?" Naruto asked, turning to look at Madara's one visible eye. The Uzumaki's beleaguered tone might have been mocking if it wasn't so pained.

"The concept is simple, but it requires a great deal of concentration," said Madara nonchalantly. "Unlike those silly seals Orochimaru was so fond of, Maiban mind-binding is both absolute and inescapable. It's also tricky though, and resistance makes it impossible even for me."

"Too bad," said the blond. "I'm not helping you."

"You will," said Madara, closing his hand and extinguishing the ribbons, blackening the room instantly. After a moment of dark the door to the room opened and allowed the light of the hall to enter. Madara stepped from the room and glanced back at Naruto. "By week's end it will be Haruno Sakura you see tortured on your account. We'll see how much of that it takes."

The door closed and again Naruto was locked into total blackness. He let his head rest against the cool surface of the steel table and exhaled deeply. Even now the ribbons Madara had become so fond of using to torture him seemed to burn across his skin, though to an infinitely lesser degree. Naruto would have grinned provided he had the energy when he felt a familiar presence seeping into his consciousness.

**Kit?** asked Kyuubi as if to make sure Naruto was still there. **Uchiha must have left.**

_He's gone,_ Naruto responded, pausing briefly. _Have you come up with a theory on how he can push you back into your cage?_

**Not as of yet,** said Kyuubi. **It should be impossible. No spirit, not a demon's, not even a shinigami's, should be able to push my consciousness out of yours.**

_Just like it should be impossible for him to use any chakra based techniques in this room with that seal on the ceiling? _Naruto let his eyes linger on the spot on the ceiling where the intricate rune was etched. He could barely make it out in the black, like a shadow within the shadows, since when it wasn't absorbing chakra it was all but invisible. He felt Kyuubi's affirmation.

**There are many mysteries about that man.**

_But he is just a man,_ thought Naruto. _And men, no matter how powerful they are, can be killed._ Naruto's thoughts turned inwards so that even the Kyuubi couldn't hear them. _And I will kill him for everything he's done to me and the people I care about._

**At least I can shield you from the residual pain when he leaves,** Kyuubi went on. Naruto was very thankful for that fact. **But I'm not sure what either of us can do should he make good on his promise to capture the vixen and make you watch as he…** Kyuubi felt Naruto's mood sour further and trailed off. **I'll think of a way to get us out of here before then.**

Naruto nodded once in the dark. _We'll manage,_ Naruto told both his demonic partner and himself, though for the first time in a long time, the genuine fear of total defeat was beginning to eat at his resolve. _We have to…_

SC

Elsewhere in the Rain Village's citadel, a shape less than a shadow, indeed barely a flicker of distorted space, moved through the study Madara had claimed as his own. The flicker of a shape glided silently to the desk still strewn with piles of scrolls and books, and hovered there.

_What am I even looking for?_ Itachi wondered as he let his incorporeal hands glide over the covers of the books and the rolls of paper. As his fingers floated into contact with the various tomes, a fraction of the knowledge within was transferred to Itachi's consciousness, giving his disembodied spirit a feel for what the volume was about.

He stood there for several moments, sorting through the flood of seemingly useless snippets of information lancing into his mind. _I'd expected more on jutsus and the like,_ he allowed himself to muse, knowing that in this form he was completely incapable of setting off one of the many wards or alarms he was sure Madara had installed in the study to guard it against intruders. _All that's here are rambling journals and old-_ he stopped as a bolt of cold shot through his mind. It had come the instant he'd 'touched' a book near the bottom of the pile at the very back end of the desk. He'd received no information from the tome, but a pang of horror made the book impossible to miss. _What could this be?_

On the other side of the tower, laying in a comfortable bed, Itachi's seemingly sleeping body squinted as his spirit in Madara's study drove its hands deep into the large tome to divine whatever was contained within its pages. For more than a minute Itachi's face grew gradually harder and more perplexed as though he was falling deeper into a restless sleep, until his eyes snapped open and his spirit catapulted back into his body. The Uchiha's breath caught and he jolted up in his bed from the sudden mental shock. His hand went to his head and he began breathing deeply. For several long minutes he sat in absolute silence, barely even drawing breath.

"Impossible," he muttered at last. "That's impossible…" Itachi swung his legs over the edge of his bed and looked blankly about his unremarkable little room buried in an out of the way corner of the citadel as his mind processed what his spirit had learned. The candle burning in the corner reflected off his black eyes as he turned to look at it with a hollow expression. "Everything?" he asked himself. "Absolutely everything? How is that even possible?"

Itachi took a steadying breath. He knew it should be impossible. He should dismiss it as lunacy, as insanity, but at the same time, somehow he knew it was possible. He'd seen it all laid out, step by terrifying step in the book and he knew that if anyone was capable of such a thing, it was Madara. "But to 'unmake' the entire…." He trailed off and sat again silently for the better part of half an hour more. His eyes flitted back and forth between the door of the windowless room and the lamp in the corner as his thoughts turned over and over.

Itachi got to his feet and put on his cloak. _Now it all makes at least a little more sense, all his inconsistencies and secret agendas,_ he thought as he slipped his hat on his head. _He must be stopped but_ _how? Killing Naruto wouldn't be enough, helping him escape would delay Madara's plan but wouldn't stop it. Destroying the statue would only slow things down._ Itachi silenced his thoughts as he left the room and began walking quickly down one of the citadel's hallways, realizing that allowing himself to panic was a poor substitute for actually working to come up with a solution.

_I need a way to deal with Madara's plans directly,_ thought the Uchiha as he came to the door of the old library and passed inside. _And a simple death match with him would probably just get me killed unless I caught him completely unaware which is impossible with that damned Immortal Sharingan. I need people to help me and the only ones capable want me dead so-_ Again Itachi had to consciously quieted his thoughts as they began to race faster and faster, bordering on panic. _Easy,_ he warned himself, trying to regain his composure. He paused and looked around the library at the mountains of books and scrolls it contained, most of which were older than anyone alive in the world today, with the exception of Madara. _Maybe there's something here._ _I have a little time to prepare at least._

SC

Only a handful of people had slept the night before, and Sasuke had not been one of them. Most of the Ninja had been running patrols around the columns of army-troops as the Coalition's forces made their way through the night towards Iwa, and the young Uchiha was no exception. He took some solace in the knowledge that Karenna was one of the fortunate few who had been able to rest in one of the many covered carriages that the army kept in tow. Now though, as he looked out over the open land between his army and the village of Iwa, from the perimeter of which plumes of smoke were already pouring into the air, his limbs felt especially heavy.

"At least the fight isn't over quite yet," he said to himself, though to his right a huge, burly man in a scuffed but well made suit of full plate armor nodded.

"And the fight won't be over until every last soldier in this army is dead," said the soldier in a grating voice. "We'll fight for the Wind to the death, every one of us."

Sasuke couldn't prevent himself from scoffing mentally. He hoped that it didn't show on his face. "I think we can work for a better ending than that."

The burly legionary snorted then spat in the dirt. "That's the plan captain."

Sakura appeared at Sasuke's side in a whirl of leafs and caught her breath. "The Crane hasn't broken through the defenders yet," reported the Kunoichi, straightening up. She'd traded her red dress for a jumpsuit made of black material reinforced with boiled leather at the elbows and knees. "So there's some good news at least."

Sasuke nodded and looked to his right and then to his left. Already battle formations had been drawn up and the Coalition's relieving army was beginning the march towards the city from the south. Sasuke's hawk-like eyes noted the bulk of the Crane's forces were attacking Iwa from the northeast, but the entire army was now shifting south so to better receive the inevitable counterattack while maintaining its assault.

"You be careful out there," Sasuke said, turning to Sakura as the ranks of men passed by them, the late morning sun glinting off armor, shields, swords, and spearheads. The soldiers knew that their job was to interfere with the Ninja as little as possible until victory was certain one way or the other. "There's no guarantee this isn't a trap and I don't want you getting caught between your targets _and_ enemy forces."

Sakura smiled and hugged Sasuke, a gesture he quickly returned. "I'll be fine," she said, letting go of him. "It's you I'm worried about. You and your men really have your work cut out for you."

"I like it like this," Sasuke made himself grin. "I'll be the first one to slam into the enemy, show them who they've pissed off."

"Good luck," Sakura chirped, disappearing into ranks of troops and leaving Sasuke on his own.

The Uchiha sighed and turned his attention on the army. Sprinting forward he quickly positioned himself at the head of the formation. To him, it felt completely wrong not to be sneaking up on the enemy, and even worse not to be dashing towards the lines of enemy soldiers that he could see taking up defensive formations less than two thousand meters away. He wanted to run forward and it seemed that he was chained to the encumbering weight of the sluggish army marching at his back and the next minute rolled by with intolerable slowness.

"Not good," Sasuke murmured, seeing across the field that archers, hundreds of them had stepped out from the front lines of the enemy army and lifted their bows. "**Incoming Volley!**" Sasuke shouted, amplifying his voice with chakra so it could be heard like thunder. "**Shields!**" he bellowed.

Immediately the two calls were echoed throughout the army by Ninja and soldiers alike. Sasuke watched as on his side of the field everyone with a shield lifted it skyward and the opposing archers knocked their arrows and drew back the strings. With a metallic grating, like the sliding of great storefront shutters the ranks of heavy infantry all around Sasuke closed ranks, and interlocked their large tower-shields over their heads, still marching forward. Behind the Uchiha the more lightly armed troops raised their kite shields and followed behind the heavy troops.

As the Crane bowmen released their arrows the air filled with a whining thrum as what looked like hundreds of insects rose up from their ranks, arched into the sky, and began a screaming descent down towards the coalition forces. Just before the first arrow fell, Sasuke ducked back into the ranks of soldiers and took shelter behind a particularly large infantryman's shield. A second later a great clattering erupted all around him as the arrows fell like rain.

In the distance he heard a commander of the opposing forces shout "fire at will," and then heard the command echoed by other officers. A loud scream behind Sasuke and to his right marked the first arrow finding a fleshy mark. He turned and saw one of the men with a kite shield had been pierced through his thigh and collapsed to the ground. His screaming was silenced an instant later when another shaft punched into his throat.

Quickly more screams rose from the coalition forces, but many fewer than Sasuke anticipated, and as an explosion thundered not far away he peaked out from between two of the legionaries shields. He smiled when he saw that the enemy ranks of archers, now less than half a kilometer away, had been thrown into chaos as a fireball the size of a house and seemingly as solid as a boulder rumbled into their midst from nowhere and exploded into a blaze that left dozens dead and many more charred beyond service or completely shell-shocked. He guessed that had been Sakura's doing.

When the last of the arrows fell and clattered harmlessly off a steel shield, Sasuke ducked back into the front of the ranks and the many hundreds of infantrymen stepped out of their defensive formations. So close now that an average soldier could make out the Crane's armor being worn by the enemy, Sasuke gave the order for all the soldiers under his command to charge.

Quickly he glanced about, catching sight of the Wind Daimyo off within his own ranks, and most of the other leaders of the Coalition also shouting for their troops to attack. Sasuke spun on his heel as the men around him, the light infantry charging ahead of their heavier counterparts as they'd been trained to do, bolted forward.

"This is more like it," Sasuke grinned, adrenaline beginning to burn in his veins as he charged forward with his men, activating his Mangekyou Sharingan and watching the enemy ranks close. Those in the front braced against their shields while the men behind them lowered spears and pikes. "**Show them hell**!"

Sasuke leapt into the air, throwing his hands together in a quick series of seals. He took in a deep breath and put his hands behind his back. He bellowed like a lion and ripples of clear energy tore through the air before him and slammed into the enemy lines. Shields painted with the Crane's black and red motif cracked and a dozen men fell dead, every bone in their bodies reduced to splinters as around them comrades fell to the ground, dropping their spears and clutching at their bleeding ears.

Sasuke's unit was the first to crash into the enemy lines, and immediately the Crane's formations buckled, threatening to break on the spot.

SC

"Are we winning?" Sakura blinked, watching with something akin to astonishment the battle unfolding before her.

The leader from the Bird Country, Shirai, shook her head once. Crouching atop the battlement's of a tower in Iwa's wall which had been rendered useless by artillery, Sakura and Shirai knew it was unlikely they'd be noticed by the Crane troops below, leaving them free to scan for the generals in charge of the army. In the sea of red and black armor however, Shirai doubted very much that a cloak dyed black with red accents would be easy to spot, even by a Ninja of her caliber.

"We have the tactical advantage," said the older woman, readjusting her brown, down-lined cloak. "But we're still outnumbered. Unless we can root out the brains of the bunch this battle could go either way."

Sakura continued to scan the army beneath her as she spoke. "At least we still have Iwa's defenders pressing at the Crane from the village. That's got to count for something. And that fireball you shot into the enemy archers' lines shook their morale. I never would have thought you were a Kunoichi until you told the assembly this morning."

"That's why we have the tactical advantage," Shirai mumbled as she turned her attention on the battle, ignoring Sakura's comment about being a Kunoichi. She watched for a moment and grinned. "Although, if that young Captain keeps fighting like that," she nodded towards Sasuke just as he drove his stiffened fingers through the faceplate of an armored soldier in Crane armor, then flowed into a deathblow against an enemy he had staggered with a hard blow a moment earlier, "we might have a chance after all."

Sakura grinned with pride as she took a second to watch Sasuke. As Shirai stood though, Sakura turned her attention back on the Kunoichi. "This is taking too long," said Shirai, running through a complex series of seals and chanting under her breath to focus her thoughts on the jutsu. She pointed one hand down at the Crane troops beneath her and muttered the last word of her phrase, and the tips of her fingers glowed a brilliant sapphire blue. Bolts of light blasted from her fingers and shot into the lines beneath, ripping through armor with whining shrieks of deforming metal and punching holes as wide as chopsticks straight through men's chests and heads. "Think this will flush the Ninja out?"

Before any of the troops below could look up to see what was going on, another volley of a dozen lances of blue light shot from Shirai's fingers and cut short the lives of nearly an entire defensive formation. Shirai stood for a moment as cries of alarm went up among the troops in the center of the Crane's army, men who obviously hadn't expected such a direct attack.

"Where the hell are they?" asked Shirai, watching for the generals as on another tower, Gaara stood up and began flinging various jutsus into the enemies. On the farthest tower from the action, Karenna and Trina both revealed themselves and attacked with fiery projectiles and bursts of chakra-fueled light that scorched and terrified the Crane troops. Sakura noted that Shikamaru remained concealed.

Gaara leapt into the air, landing on the cloud of sand that appeared beneath his feet as the tower just behind him rippled with energy, glowing white hot just before collapsing in on itself like magma. Shirai traced the energy flow to a single point in the Crane formation and sure enough, there were two figures in black robes decorated with red clouds. "Gotcha," she muttered as all of the Coalition's Ninja focused their attention on the Akatsuki Ninja, a woman, and a man with black tentacles protruding from the sleeves of his cloak. Sakura wondered to herself how she had missed the tentacles before.

_It doesn't matter,_ thought the pink haired Kunoichi as the two Ninja on the ground began leaping away from the wall towards the edges of the army to prevent as much damage to the Crane forces as possible in the inevitable battle. _We've got the bastards now._ She and Shirai, tailing Gaara and followed by the Sisters, sprang after their targets, sewing havoc in the ranks of the Crane as they went.

As Kakazu reached the edge of the army and the empty field beyond he turned to Konan who kept right behind him. Konan glanced between Hidan and the closing Ninja. "Hidan?" she asked. Kakazu nodded once and refocused his attention on Gaara, and jumped away with Konan to put more distance between themselves and their enemies.

Sakura winced in pain as something caught her ankle and cut her skin. A quick glance revealed that a small hooked shuriken had nicked her ankle. _No problem,_ she thought. _It's just a misplaced attack from the front lines._ She pushed it from her mind and watched as Gaara stopped a dozen meters away from the two Akatsuki Ninja and hovered on a cloud of sand. The Kazekage lifted one hand and the ground beneath him rippled and shattered into a fine cloud of dust that settled beneath his hanging cloud… apparently even Iwa's packed earth contained enough sandy substances for Gaara to make use of. The Kazekage also twitched and Sakura saw the same manner of kunai that had cut her ankle flying away from Gaara. She pushed it out of her mind that Gaara's wall of sand should be impenetrable and focused on the fight.

From his comparatively safe perch, a tower set in Iwa's wall which overlooked all of the battle unfolding below, Shikamaru and Ino sat silently, both observing every detail of the unfolding battle and scrutinizing every movement made by every party involved. The platinum haired Kunoichi kept a special eye on the battle between the Ninjas on the borders of the Crane's army, waiting just in case she might be called upon for backup. Shikamaru elected to pay more attention to the larger battle between the armies.

"Thanks again for letting me be a part of this," Ino said quietly.

"It's easier to keep an eye on you this way," said Shikamaru. "Plus we don't have the resources to keep you under house arrest."

Ino rolled her eyes. "I'll just think of this as parole then." She ignored her teammates sarcastic tone. As she turned back to the fight she was just in time to see Gaara make his first concerted attack, a broad sweeping maneuver with a wall of sand meant to flank the two Akatsuki Ninja while Sakura and the Bird leader attacked from the opposing flank. The woman in the black and red cloak vanished in a cloud of whirling paper and the man simply stood still as though he were going to take the attack head on.

As the wall of sand should have buried the Ninja however, black tentacles exploded out of his cloak and seemed to tear him to shreds. Ino watched as the Ninja broke apart into dozens of writhing black tentacles, each completely independent of all the others, and scattered like a spilled jar of worms.

"His name is Kakazu," said Shikamaru as the tentacle Ninja reformed safely out of the way and the paper woman materialized on Gaara's flank, drawn sword in hand. "He's a particularly dangerous Ninja according to our intelligence. Those appendages of his are all coated in deadly neurotoxins and he specializes in launching surprise attacks with them. The woman is named Konan and is less dangerous." Shikamaru paused as Konan whirled into paper when Gaara blacked her sword attack with sand. The pages rushed in at the Kazekage, slapping against the sand which rushed up to protect him and forming a shell in Gaara's rough image before the sand exploded outwards, shredding the paper. "But she's not to be trifled with."

"It looks like we're winning both fights, don't you think?" said Ino, looking between the larger battle, where Sasuke's forces had just broken though the Crane's lines and begun smashing the rear ranks, and the Ninja fight where Sakura and Shirai had joined the fray. "We've got them all on the defensive."

Shikamaru didn't answer. It did seem to be going well. _Seem…_

Sakura spun on her heel, clenching her fist as blue chakra leapt from between her fingers, fueling her muscles with raw power, and slammed the paper image of Konan square in the throat. The clone shattered like papier-mâché and the hollow head toppled to the ground as the body broke into dozens of pieces. Acting on instinct she dropped down as a black tentacle lanced overhead, passing through the space her face had occupied a second earlier. _I can't dodge_- she realized too late as another tentacle erupted from the ground at her feet and coiled around her leg.

Instantly the Kunoichi filled with a cold illness. She would have vomited if the energy remained but all her strength vanished as the black poison pumped through her skin into her blood. Sweat broke out onto her forehead and face as she dropped to her knees, looking for help. Gaara and Shirai were both busy handling Konan and Karenna was nowhere to be seen. Black worms bubbled up from the ground before here and Kakazu materialized in their midst. He grinned and reached out for her.

A burning bolt of crimson light severed Kakazu's hand from his wrist and doubled back, cutting loose the tentacle around Sakura's leg. She dropped to her hands and knees as Kakazu leapt back to avoid the third strike the red energy beam made before vanishing.

"Naruto?" asked the Kunoichi, wondering if the red attack had been Naruto's trademark red chakra. Behind her as Sakura turned she saw Trina. The fiery haired woman winked at Sakura mischievously as another sphere of energy, this one blue but shifting to red as the Kunoichi infused it with a Genjutsu, formed in her hand.

"Thanks," Sakura muttered, feeling her head clear as Karenna rushed past her and Trina leapt to the downed Kunoichi's side in defense.

"Not a problem," said Trina, grinning. "Just watch it. I can't always guar your back."

Sakura grinned as she struggled to her feet. To her it looked like they were winning. Konan was falling back in the face of a brutal series of attacks from Gaara, while Karenna and Shirai were forcing Kakazu to slowly give ground. She took a moment to breath and get her bearings.

"If you surrender now," said Gaara calmly, glaring at Konan, "we won't kill you. You'll be given a chance to switch sides after we can-" he stopped and spun on his hanging cloud of sand to block with his hand a strike from a paper sword. The floating blade sliced through his armor of sandy grit and bit into his hand. Red blood splashed down at Gaara's feet as his little finger and his ring finger were rent from his hand. There the blade stopped though and Gaara motioned with his unwounded hand. Sand raced up from the cloud, enveloped the sword, and tore it into scraps. He turned on Konan, who by now was glistening with sweat, as he ignored the wound.

Konan watched and tried to catch her breath as Gaara flicked his hand at the ground, splattering some of the sand with blood. "You're out of tricks I think," said Gaara as the blood sank into the sand and turned it a bright red. Then the bleeding, as if Gaara controlled it with sheer will, stopped entirely.

Konan leapt to the side to avoid a sudden rush at her position. The sand Gaara had sprinkled with his blood had rushed at her with immeasurable speed and the Kazekage now held his good hand in front of him, making an odd seal with his fingers and whispering to himself. The bloody sand, before a shapeless attack, warped in on itself and took the shape of a massive set of jaws, nearly eight feet across and lined with two rows of dozens of razor like teeth.

Exploding into paper Konan dodged the haws next attempt to bite her as the teeth snapped through the space in which she had just stood. Reforming a few yards away, Konan looked between the jaws, turning to face her again, and Gaara, now crouched and glowing with blue light as charka rolling off his form whipped his red hair and cloak around in several directions at once. The jaws glowed red as they attacked again, this time clipping off the seam of Konan's cloak. She rolled out of the way only a second before they would have killed her.

"What a technique," Konan said, looking as all around Gaara more shapes in the sand, all similar to the wicked jaws before her, rose into the air and poised themselves to bite. She made a move to jump, knowing she needed to move _before_ the next strike but her feet stuck fast in the sand that had pooled all around her. "Oh no…" she muttered, realizing too late that Gaara had been corralling her towards his trap. The sand rushed up to her knees, and Konan felt it drain all of her remaining chakra.

"Goodbye," muttered the Kazekage, "his voice animalistic as his porcelain white and pupil-less eyes locked on her.

Konan screamed briefly just as the red jaws snapped down over her, shearing her in two before biting again and again, gnashing her into a bloody pulp that slopped to the ground beneath the jaws. Sakura turned away from the sight and even Kakazu gave his teammate's demise a glance out of the corner of his eye before refocusing on his fight with Shirai and Karenna.

"Eww," Trina toned, sticking the tip of her tongue between her teeth. "Gross."

Gaara stood up on his cloud and exhaled as pupils reopened in his eyes. He didn't seem to care as the floating jaws all around him dissolved into sand and fell back to the ground. He looked between Sakura and the second fight, taking a moment to center himself. Kakazu was far enough away that any attack the Kazekage directed at him would be predictable by the time it arrived anyway.

"Way to go Gaara!" Sakura shouted, her head still spinning a little from Kakazu's poison. "We knew you could do it!"

Gaara turned back to Sakura and the Kunoichi thought she caught a hint of a grin flit across his face. The look disappeared though and Gaara's eyes went wide. He grunted and doubled over, clutching his stomach and falling to the ground as his cloud of sand dissolved around him. Trina, Sakura hot behind her, were at the Kazekage's side in a flash, though the exertion made Sakura dizzy.

"Gaara! Gaara what's wrong!" shouted Trina as Gaara's eyes began to glaze over.

Sakura steadied herself as best she could and pressed her hands against Gaara's chest as the Kazekage wheezed once and spat up a little blood. "His heart's not beating," said Sakura, ripping open Gaara's shirt as her hands began to glow green. "We've got to get him stable."

"What's happening," asked Karenna as she moved to get Gaara into a more static position. "Chakra exertion?"

Sakura shook her head as she pressed her glowing hands to Gaara's chest. The man's face began to flush and his breathing stopped. "He's too strong for that. It doesn't matter. We've got to get his heart beating!"

Overlooking the battle, Ino twitched and then froze. She nearly toppled from the tower and surely would have if Shikamaru hadn't seen her swoon forward and rushed forward to catch her. "What's wrong?" asked the Nara as he helped Ino to her feet again. "What is it?"

Ino, breaking into a cold sweat, caught her breath and pointed to where Sakura and Karenna were trying to help a dying Gaara. "Something happened," she said. "I felt a spirit… a very, very, very evil one attack Gaara-Sama." Ino gasped as another cold bolt rocketed through her and dropped her to her knees. "Again," she muttered, as beneath Gaara jerked once, vomiting up a fountain of blood before collapsing.

"There!" Ino said, shifting forward and supporting herself on one hand and her knees. She pointed into the midst of the Crane army. "How did I miss it? It's inhuman. It's pure evil… monstrous…"

"What is going on?" Shikamaru asked, scanning the crowd beneath him outside Iwa's wall. "I don't see what you're talking about."

"The man with the white hair," said Ino shaking thrusting her finger again for emphasis. "The one hurting himself."

Shikamaru gave the crowd another once over and looked harder where Ino was pointing, this time registering what was going on. "What's he doing?" asked the Nara, watching as a man in the midst of the troops and surrounded by five big guards slumped, knelt on the ground in the circle of an odd ritual circle drawn in the dirt. The man had a knife protruding from his stomach and was in the process of driving a short sword in between his ribs.

"He's invoking one of the old gods," said Ino hurriedly as she got to her feet. "There's no time to explain. We've just got to keep him from hurting himself or Gaara and whoever else he's cursed will die."

Shikamaru nodded and then quickly asked if Ino was good to fight. The Kunoichi ignored the question and the two leapt out of the tower and, with the aid of a Genjutsu, disappeared into the crowd.

Ahead of the two Ninja, Hidan on his knees chanted under his breath in the circle as he slowly moved a knife up to his own throat. His white hair was glimmering in the morning sun and the light glinted also off the blood dripping down the hands of the two blades already sunken in his form. His chanting became more audible as the words, some language long dead, came faster and faster while the blade moved simultaneously up to his throat. Behind him, stuck points first in the earth, was a long, multi-bladed scythe made of a black metal.

Eyes flying open, Hidan slashed the knife at his throat. The edge pressed against his skin, drawing a thin red line, but sticking fast before any significant damage could be done. The man's face contorted into some combination of surprise and vexation as his eyes traced the thin blue line connecting his chest to the hands of a platinum blonde, ghostly pale young woman standing motionless in the crowd.

"A Yamanaka?" Hidan asked, not bothering to look around at his bodyguards. He saw out of his peripheral vision that all of them either were, or soon would be dead. The shadows running up their bodies and wrapped tightly around their throats effective strangled them while at the same time holding them in a fairly inconspicuous position.

The army troops surrounding the encounter all began to back away, knowing that for any one of them to face a Ninja without the battle already being won would be nothing short of asking to be killed. Soon a large empty circle twenty meters across had cleared around the three Ninja. Shikamaru, glaring at Hidan with his one eye, released the bodyguards who fell to the ground without so much as a single choke or gag. They'd all been dead too long.

"You two know each other?" asked Shikamaru.

"Know of," said Ino, not letting her concentration waver. "A long time back, before my family joined Konoha, my clan fought with an old coven of devil worshippers for powers over the human spirit."

Hidan smirked but remained otherwise still. "You must be Shingozi's descendant," he said, watching Ino flinch at the mention of her great-grandmother's name. "You look just like the old crone and you're spirit feels like hers." Hidan grunted and stood up, shattering the line connecting him with Ino and eliciting a yelp from Ino as the psychic pain slapped into her head. "I think killing you will be enjoyable, he turned around and grabbed the scythe by its handle as Shikamaru glanced between the Akatsuki Ninja and Ino.

"Oh and I should probably tell you," said Hidan, as if a thought had just struck him. "I've set up an extremely intricate series of seals and wards around this circle. If you try to force me out of the ritual circle the jutsu will instantly hit me with enough raw chakra to kill any living person. Your friend will die immediately if he hasn't already given up his ghost to Jashin."

"Oh shit," Ino muttered. "Jashin was the worst of the old gods."

Hidan's smirk widened. "Full marks' for the good girl who's done her homework." He sneered. "You should probably get on with it though," he poised the knife at his throat. "I've got nothing but time and as long as I'm in this circle-"

Shikamaru slapped his hands together into a seal and his shadow bolted forwards at Hidan. The Akatsuki Nin saw the movement and plunged the knife at his heart. The blade again broke the skin but stuck just long enough in his sternum for Shikamaru's jutsu to coil around Hidan's feet and freeze him. Now Shikamaru smirked as the length of pitch shadow coiled up Hidan's, around his torso, and over his arms.

"Bothersome," muttered Hidan, light glinting off the scythe's black edges as the weapon hung useless.

"Try getting out of my 'Endless Asylum,'" Shikamaru said, grinning as an edge of mocking bile crept into his voice. "Ino, can you cancel out the ritual so I end this?"

The Kunoichi nodded. "The circle is etched in an old chakra, but I think I can manage if you give me a few seconds." Ino glanced at Hidan. "Shut him up!!" she screamed, terror streaking across her face.

Hidan had closed his eyes and begun chanting again, chakra lacing his words as his lips moved and his voice wove low, barely audible sounds. Shikamaru swore, understanding only that he needed to move quickly. The shadows raced towards Hidan's mouth but too late. The last word of the invocation left his lips and the air filled with a sinister howling. A freezing wind came out of the east, so strong that it nearly blew Ino and Shikamaru off their feet. Hidan's cloak whipped around him and shredded in the wind, flying into scraps and pieces that passed through the absolutely motionless members of the Crane army all around.

"This is bad," Ino whispered. All around herself and Shikamaru a thick fog came from nothing and hung around their knees as Hidan disappeared. "Very bad…" the two Ninja stood in the exactly where they had before, though the world had taken on a completely different timbre. The sky was grey, grey fog hung in the air, and the sun although there was still something akin to daylight in the air was nowhere to be found. The Crane army all around was frozen solid, unmoving and the smoke billowing up from Iwa hung like a wispy column of stone in the air.

"What the hell is going on?" Shikamaru asked, walking up to one of the soldiers in the red and black armor. He reached out to poke the man but his hand passed through as though the soldier was a poorly made bunshin.

Ino sat and sighed, her face melancholy as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "I'm not sure exactly what," she said. "But I know enough about the old clans to know that we've lost… This is a world between worlds. We're not in hell, but we're not in our world either. This is where the old gods live, and until that Ninja comes to deal with us, we're stuck here…"

"What?" Shikamaru hissed. "What do you mean, 'stuck here?'"

"We're trapped here, I think," said Ino. "My grandmother never taught me everything about the old coven because we thought they were extinct, but she did say that they could call on their gods to trap the coven's enemies in temporary worlds."

"Temporary worlds?" asked Shikamaru, his voice calming a bit.

"Again," Ino said, "I don't know how it works… but the god, Jashin in this case, will only hold us here for so long before he makes that Ninja come back to deal with us. Until then though, he's free to do whatever he wants…"

"Like killing Gaara…"

"And whoever else he wants to offer as a sacrifice to his god…"

Shikamaru paused and exhaled like the master chessman who had been defeated by a rarely used rule. "So why doesn't the god just kill us himself?"

"Hell if I know," Ino muttered.

SC

"Ten minutes," said Hidan, seemingly speaking to the thin air. "I need only ten minutes to finish here." He paused and waited for a response. Hearing one he grimaced. "Seven it is then, master. I'll miss one soul but all the others will still be yours."

Hidan opened a concealed pouch at his side and removed a tiny vial of blood, already half empty. Around him more bodyguards emerged from the ranks of soldiers and took up positions around him as the battle continued to rage ahead of him. Hidan looked up to guess at the direction things were going, then sprinkled the remaining blood across his scythe and stepped back into the ritual circle. He could already see that the defensive lines or the army, each and every one set up along with the attack on Iwa with the purpose of providing cover for his work, were shattering faster than men could be pulled from the battle in the city to reinforce them.

"No matter," he said, drawing out a long knife and plunging it into his chest without so much as a grunt. The blade ripped into his heart and across the battlefield Gaara screamed once and then went completely still.

Sakura's eyes widened and, already glistening with tears, spilled over as a curse escaped her. Hidan grinned when he heard the death cry even over the sound of the battle. He got down on his knees and muttered for a moment, before reaching behind his back again and pulling out another miniature vial of blood. He unscrewed the top and sprinkled the crimson liquid over the scythe.

SC

Still battling Kakazu, Shirai looked all around her. _What is going on?_ her mind practically spat the words. Gaara was dead, the Kazekage had simply dropped over, vomited blood everywhere and died. Now Kakazu was fighting with renewed strength and pushing both her and Karenna farther and farther back, each attack landing closer or hitting a little harder than the one before it.

"I've got to end this now," muttered the Bird Country's leader and strongest Ninja. She signaled for Karenna to give her some cover as she bit her thumb and pressed her hands together. She flew through a series of seals and blue energy began crackling around her fingertips. She grinned wickedly and looked at Kakazu. "Goodbye si-" her eyes widened as a spike of numbness jabbed into her chest, straight into her heart.

Shirai's face was a mask of shock as the chakra in her hands dissipated with a whimpering crackle of impotence, and the Kunoichi fell forward on her face. Karenna turned to see what had happened and shouted the fallen woman's name. She whipped around though to dodge yet another vicious series of attacks from Kakazu who pressed his now insurmountable advantage.

Back on the front lines, Sasuke grinned as the Crane's forces continued to crumble before his onslaught. Rank after rank of black and red soldiers either fell before slashing swords and jabbing spears, or turned tail and tried to flee backwards into the tight lines behind them, an action that only made Sasuke's attack all the more unstoppable.

The Uchiha pressed forward, resorting to more standard means of battle but also hurling the occasional jutsu and fear inspiring technique into the ranks of his enemies. After the fifth line of the Crane's defenders, third from the last, ha shattered and run, Sasuke took a moment to breathe and wipe a bloody gash across his forehead which dripped blood down into his eye. He turned to size up the battle elsewhere and saw the Wind Daimyo's luck was nearly as good as his own.

On all fronts it seemed like victory couldn't be missed.

Sasuke turned and readied to attack again, but he saw from the corner of his eye a flash of green. _Green sparks_? he thought as the battle raged around him. It was the signal a unit was to send up if they were in dire need of aid. _Who needs help?_

Sasuke fell back enough to safely jump atop an unoccupied carriage which had been used by one of the more vain warriors to reach the front lines. Scanning the battlefield he immediately saw what was wrong. To the Crane's flank, where then Claw and Fang had been attacking hardest, a circle of warriors desperately defended one of the armies few medinin who was crouched over the Fang Country's leader.

Sasuke cursed to himself, but reasoned that the battle could easily go on without one of the many generals who lead the piecemealed army.

"What now?" he uttered, seeing another flash of green, not far from where the first had shot up. He looked in that direction and saw a scene eerily similar to the first. Another circle of warriors had formed and fought to defend the fallen leader of the Claw Country. This time a soldier had gotten down and begun giving the man CPR, ostensibly to no avail. Another green series of sparks drew Sasuke's gaze to the opposing flanks. "No way," whispered the Uchiha.

Both the Noodle and the Valley Countries' leaders had fallen, seemingly unwounded. No arrows protruded from their bodies, and Sasuke's peerless eyes saw no breaks in their armor or bloodied wounds on their persons. He pivoted where he stood and looked back to where the other leaders had fallen and saw the same thing. Not a one of them had been wounded in any way at all. "What the fuck is happening?" Sasuke swore as cries and cheers went up from the Crane's forces as officers and commanders shouted that the 'plan' was working.

"What plan?" muttered Sasuke. "Poison? What could be doing this?" He watched helplessly, happening to be looking in the direction of the Earth Daimyo, as the bald commander doubled over and vomited up more blood than Sasuke would have guessed the man could have in him. Green sparks followed a moment later. Sasuke heard a cry from the front and turned to see what had happened. At this point he wouldn't have been shocked to see a giant monster having risen up from the earth to smash his army to pieces and this wasn't far from the truth.

A great black monster had come from nowhere, but it was off where Sasuke knew Sakura and the others were fighting. "Shit," he muttered. Seemingly made of huge black snakes or tentacles, the monstrosity stood larger than most houses and nearly twenty feet across its roughly humanoid chest. Sitting on en great legs it had made several of the men in both armies cry out in fear.

With a sigh of exasperation Sasuke considered running to help the other Ninja against the monster, but paused when he saw that it was turning away from the battle and leaving. "What the hell?" was all he could manage as the great thing pulled itself along too quickly for something so large, heading east, directly away from the fight. He scanned the area it had just vacated and gasped. It had left because there was no one left to fight. Several unmoving bodies lay in its wake, all of which Sasuke recognized. Karenna was the first he saw, laying face down in the dirt next to the fallen Gaara. Several paces away Trina was crumpled, and further yet away from the fight Shirai, the Kunoichi from, and leader of, the Bird Country lay in a pool of blood. Sakura was nowhere to be seen.

Sasuke didn't know what to say. There was no way this could be happening. He looked back at the front lines and saw the Crane making a counterattack. The invasion of Iwa had all but ceased and all of the soldiers who had been fighting on that front rushed in to reinforce the lines fighting the Coalition forces. Now, in a complete reversal of the initial stages of the battle, Sasuke's forces were buckling and readying to shatter.

"I can't let this happen," Sasuke spat, jumping down from atop the carriage and rushing back towards the front. He could only pray that the other Ninja were alive and simply beaten.


	63. EnPassant

En-Passant

Iwa was a wreck. The walls had crumbled in dozens of places, and hundreds, perhaps thousands of bodies lay on both sides of the wall, already beginning to stink as the setting sun, even with its weakened light, accelerated their decomposition. But, the village was safe and that, Sasuke had to tell himself, was worth something. It was all he could tell himself.

Sitting in a private corner of one of the many field hospitals which had been hastily set up outside Iwa's walls to care for the dying and try to mend those who might survive, there wasn't much good news at all that Sasuke could see. Sakura, Shikamaru, and Ino were all missing in action. Gaara was dead, Shirai was dead, the leaders from the Noodle, Valley, Fang, and Claw were all dead. The Wind Daimyo had been badly wounded in his desperate attack to regain the ground the Crane had taken back, and Karenna…

Sasuke had been sitting with her for the past hour, though he didn't think she was aware of it. The Kunoichi had, according to the medinin who had seen her, been poisoned with what should be lethal amounts of a rare and deadly neurotoxin. The medinin, an aged and intelligent old man, had said he'd never seen anyone survive the levels of the toxin that Karenna had been exposed to, but she had survived initial exposure so there was no telling what would become of her. The lack of certainty made Sasuke sick. Being with her made his stomach turn but he knew that to leave her would make him feel even worse.

"Sasuke?" a soft voice called behind him.

The Uchiha turned and saw Alicia, the blonde among the Sisters. Her face was covered in dried blood and grime, and several large, hastily patched wounds showed on her exposed shoulders and calves, but she walked as though she were fine. "What is it?" asked Sasuke, not unkindly.

"Trina and the Wind Daimyo just finished their meeting with Iwa's Council. They said they wished you were there but things went well. The final reports look better than we thought." Her voice was quiet with fatigue and heartache, but none of it showed on her face or in her bright blue eyes. Her full lips curled up in a smile. "They say you saved the battle from ruin."

Sasuke laughed one bitter laugh. "I couldn't save your sister," he muttered. "I couldn't save Sakura or Gaara or anyone else. I'm glad the battle went well at least, since I can't think of anything else that did."

Alicia stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder as he sat in the simple wooden chair beside the hospital bed. "I don't think she'd want you to look at it like that," said Alicia. "I know my sister and for as much of a hard-ass as she can be, she always had a way of looking on the bright side of things. She'd want you to do the same."

Sasuke didn't answer.

Alicia squeezed his shoulder a little bit then let go and stepped back. "With the Earth Daimyo and most of their leaders dead, Iwa's council has agreed to make the Wind Daimyo the commanding general of their forces for the next week. And the Wind Daimyo himself wants to promote you from captain to colonel." She grinned a little. "So you'll be commanding the other captains now."

"What happens in the next week?" asked Sasuke, not taking his eyes off Karenna. "That's not enough time to plan, much less enact a counteroffensive campaign."

"There won't be a campaign," said Alicia, speaking up to be heard over the sounds of the wounded filling the room.

Sasuke turned and looked at her quizzically. "What?"

"Everyone has decided that there isn't time to fight a lengthy war. We don't have the resources so… so it's been agreed that the army is going to move south-east and attack the Rain Village directly before we lose any more strength and before they can recover from the loss here."

"Well," Sasuke said, as much to himself as to Alicia. "I guess that isn't a bad idea given the circumstances, or a least it's the least bad idea I can see. If the Wind Daimyo only has power for a week I'd imagine we'll be moving out quickly. That's barely enough time to come up with a good battle plan _and_ put it into action."

"We're set to leave in the morning, leaving the wounded In Iwa." Alicia nodded. "We're behind you all the way on this one," said the young woman. "We'll break in there, get Naruto free, and wrap this war up nice and clean."

"We'll certainly try," said Sasuke, getting to his feet. "Are you busy right now?"

"Everyone is busy, getting ready to march in the morning," she said, inclining her head a little. "What's on your mind?"

"I was going to ask you to keep an eye on Karenna for me while I go to the Daimyo," said Sasuke. "I've got a promotion to turn down..."

"What? Why would you do that?"

"I'm a Ninja, but I'm also a fighter," Sasuke said, a hint of a grin tugging at his lip. "If I have to be on a battlefield I want to be on the front lines in the thick of things… not back in some stuffy command tent issuing orders that I may or may not have any chance of executing. I'm better as a captain, free to move around the battle as I please and fight wherever things are the hardest." Sasuke clenched one fist. "I'll fight to the death to protect the people I care about."

Alicia smiled. "I can see why Karenna fell for you so fast. She's always had a weakness for the cute boys with the tough-guy attitudes." She patted him on the back.

SC

_At least they left me some dignity,_ Naruto thought bitterly. He was still strapped to the metal table with thick leather bands, and the rune etched on the ceiling still made his escape impossible, but he had been afforded with some clothes now. For whatever reason, Madara had made some cheap cotton rags materialize over Naruto's form during their last session of… interrogation. The homespun clothes were hot and they itched terribly, making Naruto wonder if this wasn't some new kind of torture. Nonetheless, having something to wear was itself somewhat comforting.

The door to the dank little room opened, and Madara stepped inside without saying a word. Something about his demeanor was off. Naruto watched him carefully as the old Ninja sauntered into the room and began looking between Naruto and the wall directly in front of the blond Ninja. Naruto somehow felt that the masked Ninja was smiling beneath his warped orange façade.

"Oh Naruto, Naruto, Naruto," Madara laughed suddenly, shattering the silence and making Naruto jump. "Now we can have a good time! The gang's all here so we can _finally_ get this started!"

Naruto grimaced. "What are you rambling about now?" asked the blond Ninja.

Snickering, Madara clapped his hands in front of his face and nodded off to the wall in front of Naruto. "I'm about to show you what a good time, for me, is really all about. I've so enjoyed our time together, but I think that you're getting a little… boring," Madara paused. "The sound of your screaming is nice and al, but it's gotten repetitive… You know, it's routine. I torture you, you scream, and repeat. But now…" he waved his hand and the wall dissolved into glass, affording Naruto a glimpse into another room beyond.

"Oh god," Naruto breathed, his eyes widening.

In the other room, sitting in a chair with her hands tied behind her back and her ankles shackled to a heavy stone block beneath the chair, was Sakura, though Naruto hardly recognized her through the mounds of purple and blackened flesh winding across her face. Someone had beaten her such that her face had swollen to a ridiculous size. Both her eyes were swollen shut and one side of her jaw hung uselessly detached from the rest of her skull. Blood had dripped and dried beneath her nose and from the corners of her eyes, and still flowed from many of the toothless holes left in her mouth.

"What did you do to her?!" Naruto screamed, straining against the leather straps.

"Hmm?" Madara toned quizzically. He glanced at Naruto then looked through the window to Sakura. "Oh, that bloody mess," he said flatly. He waved his hand and Sakura flickered for a moment then, as the illusion dissolved, her injuries melted away and Naruto watched as she transformed into a healthy, though still bound and unconscious, portrait of herself. "I just wanted to show you what she's going to look like in a few days if you don't cooperate with me now.

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat and he dropped his head, exhaling heavily. "I swear I'm going to get you back for this," he said. "Just wait."

"Oh I do so like to hear you say that," said Madara, his mood instantly lightening and growing almost boisterously jovial. "It's a nice break in the monotony of all this." He gestured to the room around him, then snapped his fingers.

Naruto's breath caught as the world around him seemed to shatter into millions of two-dimensional pieces and reform an instant later. He looked around and found himself, along with Madara, in the room Sakura had occupied, though now he was free of the restraints and Sakura lay unconscious and naked in the corner of the room. Madara stood in the center of the room, opposite Naruto.

_This might be my chance,_ Naruto thought, his demeanor suddenly charging with new energy. _I'm away from that seal and I could_- he stopped short as a crushing weight smashed down on him and pinned him on his hands and knees. Across from him Madara had lifted one hand and held it at waist-level, palm down.

"I wouldn't get any ideas," said the man in the mask. He dropped his hand a little lower and the crushing force became even heavier, slamming Naruto onto his stomach and threatening to burst him open like an over-ripened fruit. "You see I'm still the master here. Even with your strength back you could never hope to beat me on your own. Even if Haruno-san were in any condition to fight, the two of you would be hopelessly outmatched."

"Why are you doing this?" Naruto gasped, struggling to speak under the weight. It seemed to grow even heavier and Naruto was forced to squeak out a hiss of air.

"I just want you to see how useless your resistance is," said Madara. He stopped, mumbled to himself for a moment, and then said, "Maybe I should put it differently. Your cooperation is like your appendix, you'll never miss it and since I can do whatever I want to your friends you might as well give it to me."

"Fuck you," Naruto rasped.

"Fine," Madara sighed. He dropped his hand and Naruto instantly felt the weight vanish. He gasped in a huge breath of relief and lay motionless for a moment. "You're still insisting on making things harder than they have to be, so I might as well start on Haruno-san." He snapped his fingers and Sakura reappeared in the chair just behind Madara, bound and asleep. "Though Naruto tell me one thing… should I just kill her and lock her soul away or should I torture her? Which would you-"

The Ninja stopped short as the floor beside him began to shift like water. Naruto lifted his head to see what was going on and saw what looked like a strange plant emerging from the floor.

"Zetsu, your timing couldn't really be worse," said Madara.

"Apologies Madara-Sama," said the new arrival, ignoring Naruto. "But-"

"No really," said Madara. "I was just getting to the best part and then you have to show up and ruin the whole effect. And I spent so much time setting up for the next few lines," he continued. "I was going to say something about 'or I could torture her to death and then lock up her soul if you'd prefer.' Oh well. What is it?"

"I," Zetsu hesitated for a moment. "I think it might be best if we were to speak in private."

Madara groaned and dropped his head a little. "Zetsu you're really taking all the fun out of this. But fine. Go wherever and I'll catch up in a moment…"

Zetsu nodded and disappeared into the floor again, just as Naruto started to get to his feet.

"Don't think so," said Madara, snapping his fingers. Again Naruto gasped as some strange jutsu sent him tumbling through space. He reappeared back in the cell with the energy-draining rune carved into the ceiling, though this time there was no metal table, no window, and he and Sakura both were there. Sakura, sitting with her back against the wall opposite the door, opened her eyes and blinked.

"Where?" she began, then spotted Naruto. "You!" she blurted, making Naruto jump. "Naruto! You're alright!" She jumped up and ran to him, throwing her arms around his chest before he could do anything other than raise his arms a little to avoid as much direct contact as possible with her. "Thank god you're alive."

"Um," Naruto stammered. "It's good to see you too." He paused and put her hands on her shoulders and moved her to just short of arms length. "But maybe we should hold off on celebrating for just a little bit."

Sakura stopped, only then realizing that the room was somewhat… breezier that what she was used to. "Oh god," she said, crossing her arms in front of her breasts, turning to one side, and shifting her leg to try and regain some modesty. "Sorry Naruto, I didn't meant to, um, where are we exactly and what's going on?"

Naruto took a breath and sat down, motioning for Sakura to do the same. As the Kunoichi shifted to the ground, Naruto took off the itchy cotton shirt and tossed it over to her, guessing by how loosely it fit him that it would be big enough to keep her decent. "It's a bit of a rough story" he said, trying to come up with a way to tell Sakura that both of them were prisoners in Akatsuki's torture-pit. "And I don't think you're going to like it."

Elsewhere, in a secluded room of the citadel hidden away near the ground floor, Madara appeared from thin air, standing next to a crate in the seldom used storeroom. Zetsu had already arrived and waited for him. "I don't mean to interrupt," said the plantlike Ninja quickly as soon as he saw his master. "But we might have a problem."

"What is it?" asked Madara, sounding uninterested. "Be frank about it. Wait- actually I'd much rather you be Zetsu. Just make sure to say this quickly."

"I believe Itachi has defected," said Zetsu.

The room went silent as Madara stood, and Zetsu waited for a response. At length Madara sighed and reached up behind his head with one hand, staring off into space. "I know," he said quietly. "And before you tell me he's on his way to Iwa, yes I know that also. I'm also aware that he's been sneaking around my private study before you bring that up."

Zetsu's face twisted into an effigy of shock. "How do you know? I only found out minutes ago."

"Simple," said Madara, the orange light from the single candle hanging from the ceiling of the small room casting twisting shadows in the grooves of his mask as he turned to face Zetsu completely. "I've known every move Itachi was going to make since before he was born, since before you were born even. I lied when I told him that my Immortal Sharingan couldn't see the futures of members of the Uchiha clan. Before the First Ninja War, I was aware of the exact number of heartbeats, or breaths he would go through in his life. That's why he thinks he can get away with this when in fact when he returns to confront me after having rescued Naruto and Sakura, he'll only see me for a passing instant before I send his spirit on its way."

"So…" Zetsu said, suddenly very uneasy. "You're not going to let him get away with this betrayal."

Madara shook his head once. "I don't think you understand my thin little friend. Everyone in the world has their job, their own little place in my plan. I need someone to rescue two of Naruto's friends, release Naruto and Sakura, and ultimately serve as one of my most useful patsies, so Itachi still has a role to play… unlike yourself."

"W-w-what?" Zetsu's eyes widened.

Quick as a thought Madara lunged forward, driving his hand into the center of Zetus's chest with little more than a rush of air. No bones snapped, no flesh tore. Madara's hand simply passed into the Ninja's chest like the appendage of a ghost. Before the black and white Ninja could even gasp his yellow eyes faded to grey and all life left them. Madara withdrew his hand, leaving the lifeless shape standing seemingly undisturbed.

"Sorry Zetsu," he muttered, reaching up to adjust his mask. Black fire, Amateresu, exploded from the eyehole and devoured Zetsu's upper torso, knocking the remains of the corpse onto its back. "But if it's any consolation you did your jobs quite well. I knew you would though so I guess it's not that surprising."

He turned away from the corpse and opened the storeroom's heavy door. Stepping out into the hallway beyond, he closed the door and began wandering the Citadel, ambling with a careless demeanor, and even whistling as he angled himself towards the library. "Pain," he called out upon entering the expansive room full of books.

"Sir," six voices all answered in unison from various points within the library as Pain's various bodies heard the call.

Madara waited patiently at the door as bodies in black and red cloaks emerged from the stacks of books, from between bookshelves, and from side passages, until all the Pains were gathered together in the library's foyer. The old Uchiha glanced between them, noting that Pain had already begun preparing for his part to come, painting the faces of his bodies with intricate, chakra-imbued motifs and seals and adding more and more of the black studs in their bodies.

"You've already begun the process of releasing the Vestige, I see," said Madara as the lead body stepped forward and brushed some of his fiery orange hair off his forehead.

The lead pain, his face inscribed with purple lines and designs and perhaps a half-dozen more of the studs, nodded once. "I have," he said in a cadaverous voice. "It should be ready by the time our enemies arrive." Pain glanced around. "What was that I felt earlier, Amateresu maybe? What happened?"

"Good," said Madara. "The Dream Vestige will be a nice little surprise. And to answer your question, Itachi has left."

Pain raised one eyebrow. "He attacked you?" The question was reactionary. "If he had," Pain amended, "he wouldn't be alive, and thusly unable to leave."

"He killed Zetsu on his way out." Madara said flatly. "I thought he might but I wasn't certain. Apparently he's decided to throw himself in with people… less visionary that the two of us."

"That's unfortunate," Pain paused again. "Perhaps 'annoying' is a better word since Zetsu was fairly superfluous anyway. So Itachi's discovered the plan to create the God Realm then?"

Madara shrugged, "Yes."

"All part of the arrangement," said the lead Pain, his voice almost lost in the vast, carpeted, and acoustically muffling room. "Itachi goes to the Coalition, brings them all here to meet the Crane's armies, then while the Vestige consumes all their souls to fuel the Unmaking you and I will kill Itachi, recapture Naruto and Sakura, and convince Naruto that to save Sakura, who will be all that remains of the people he cares about, he has to submit to helping us."

"And then we both get exactly what we want," Madara chuckled.

All six pains grinned to varying degrees. "I can't wait to see it," said the lead body, "though I personally wish that you wouldn't remake the world once you sunder its foundations. All of the destruction and chaos seems too beautiful to waste on recreation."

Madara shrugged. "You'll be too dead to care I assume, unless you'd rather I remake you also."

Pains female body twitched. "No," she snapped. The lead Pain silenced her with a mental command, then refocused on Madara. "No," he repeated calmly as Madara began to laugh. "It will be the height of my existence to see the world, the universe, annihilated, and to stand at the epicenter of the greatest…" he trailed off. "You understand."

"I do," said Madara, his laughter fading away. "But right now I care less about your strange infatuation with suffering and death that I do about preparing for my ascent to godhood. Let's get ready then. We've got thousands of guests to prepare for after all."

"Oh," the old Uchiha said quickly, as if an afterthought had struck him. "I hadn't paid it much attention till now, "but you have dealt with Kakazu, correct?"

All of the Pains nodded. "I've decided to use him as the base for the Vestige. His shape-shifting and highly durable properties make him an ideal candidate for the job."

SC

Itachi shook his head. Down in the dirt, on one knee, sifting through seemingly innocuous patches of soil with two fingers, the S-Ranked Ninja might have looked silly to anyone standing nearby. It was however, midnight, and in the middle of the vast expanse of nothing fifty miles east of Iwa, there was no one around to see what he was doing.

The Uchiha frowned as he rubbed his hands together. Standing up and brushing himself down he looked first behind him, then back down at the dirt. "You have wandered quite a ways then," he uttered. "But at least this puts me out of the way of most of the trouble around here." Itachi sat in the dirt, cross legged.

He ran his hands through a quick series of seals, and began fading away into the late-evening twilight until he was little more than a shadow on the plain. "A simple jutsu, but it should work." Itachi closed his eyes and pressed his hands together in an odd seal, then began to perform another series of more traditional symbols with excruciating care. After a several long minutes, Itachi, or more accurately, a translucent image of Itachi, stood up and left behind an opaque shell of the Ninja setting on the ground.

As he got to his feet, Itachi watched as the sky and his surroundings brightened, but washed over with grey as the world all around became fuzzy, as if he viewed it through a camera lens that wasn't entirely focused. "I hate it here," he whispered to himself, swooning just a little at the sudden lightheadedness that always accompanied his modified form of astral projection. He steadied himself as the utter silence around him broke and he heard in the distance a dull clatter and an explosion. Instantly Itachi turned in that direction and began to run, knowing that in this plain time was random and unpredictable.

After covering more than a mile of ground Itachi spotted his objectives. The first was what seemed to be an enormous spider, though the shape was too distorted to be any natural creature, standing atop the crest of a small hill, and the second consisted of the two people he saw attempting to flank the monster. "There you both are," said Itachi, recognizing Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino.

Itachi bolted forward towards them, closing his distance from the battle to less than half a kilometer before stopping to observe for a moment. He saw plainly that the monster was his old accomplice, Hidan, though now the Ninja was so imbued with the power of his dark god that only the face of his original body remained to be seen, seemingly welded to the underside of the spider-thing's metal abdomen.

Hidan was temporarily immobilized as Shikamaru, straining against the resistance held nine of the monster's twelve legs firmly in the grasp of his shadow jutsu. While Itachi was surprised that such a jutsu worked in a place that technically had no shadows, he didn't let his distraction last. Ino who had run behind Hidan, or as 'behind' him as possible when his suspended metal body could pivot in a dozen different direction on the steel legs, pressed her hands together in a distinct seal and then pointed at the monster. Topaz colored light crackled on her fingertips and then flew like an arrow towards the metal shell, slamming against it like a sledgehammer smashing against an anvil.

Hidan wavered from the impact, but showed no signs of damage. He pivoted and swiped at her with one of his legs, all of which ended in wickedly sharp blades the size of a scythe. The Kunoichi ducked under the attack, dodging by so small a distance that the blade caught the whipping end of her ponytail and cut it an inch shorter.

"They're not doing too terribly," Itachi said quietly, wondering for a second how long this battle had been going on and if they even needed his help to finish Hidan. The Uchiha charged forward then, deciding that he should at least look like he was aiding them. The whole point of this reckless endeavor was, after all, to save people important to the Coalition. Running forward silently and leaping up nearly twenty feet into the air, thusly placing himself level with Hidan's steel body, Itachi spun and slammed the butt of his hand into the monster's shell, filling the air with a resounding clang and the sound of warping metal.

Both bodies recoiled from the impact. Itachi being by far the less massive of the two flew backwards, but flipped in midair and landed with a hint of finesse just beside one of Hidan's shadow bound legs. Before Hidan even realized how hard he'd been struck, much less from where or by whom, he had begun to topple. He lashed out with a free leg to arrest his fall and push himself back completely upright. Even as he tried to right himself though Itachi spun again and smashed his fist into the leg, knocking it out from under Hidan and making him stumble again.

"Don't just watch me," shouted Itachi to Ino. "Do something!"

Ino, Hidan, and Shikamaru all turned briefly to see who the new arrival was, and all three gawked. "Itachi!" shouted Ino as Shikamaru refocused his attention on simply holding Hidan in one place, a difficult task given that the Nara was also having to duck and weave to avoid being hacked to pieces by the monstrous blades at the end of Hidan's free legs. "What the hell are you doing here?" the Kunoichi yelled as she whirled on the new 'threat.'

"Less chatting," said Itachi, jumping at Hidan again and blasting his shell with Amateresu, heating the metal to white-hot temperatures, then kicking it with the force of a hammer. Again the air filled with the sound of shrieking metal, but this time a rift split down Hidan's shell from one end of the heated section of metal to the other.

Hidan's human face twisted in pain as a plume of black smoke belched out of the breach. "What do you think you're doing?"

Itachi landed on the ground, sweating profusely already. _Damn_, he thought. _All of my chakra is still in my physical body and my spirit doesn't have enough energy to do that again._ "Hit the breach!" he shouted at Ino.

Ino's eyes flickered between Itachi and the obviously wounded Hidan and turned away from Itachi in an instant. She pressed her hands together again and struggled visibly to throw as much chakra into the jutsu as possible. Sweat breaking out on Shikamaru's brow as he ducked under yet another attack in the myriad attempts Hidan had made to cut him in two, he shouted for her to hurry.

"Here!" Ino yelled, jerking one hand back and pointing the other, now glowing with an intense violet light, towards Hidan. The spider wrenched his body around and tore loose from Shikamaru's hold just as the searing bolt of energy exploded from Ino's hand and rocketed towards him. The sizzling javelin slammed into Hidan's shell less than the width of a finger from the edge of the breach, detonating like a thunderbolt. Hidan's shell around the blast blackened, twisted, and warped but remained intact even as black acrid smoke poured from the wound he'd already been dealt.

Hidan reared back and swiped straight down at Shikamaru who rolled to the side with barely enough time to spare. The ground where the Nara had stood less than a second before split and spat up debris as Hidan's claws made contact.

"Shit," Itachi and Ino both cursed in unison.

"Can you do that again?" Itachi asked Ino at the same instant she said that she didn't have the chakra for another attack that powerful.

Hidan lost interest in Shikamaru and turned on Itachi and Ino, hacking and slashing at both as he advanced forward. "I don't know what you're getting at," said the immortal. "But it stops here." He leaned back on his hind legs and exposed his human face just in time for Itachi to see his cheeks swell up as something welled up in Hidan's mouth. The Akatsuki Nin growled and vomited up a column of some green and highly pressurized concoction that blasted at Ino and Itachi in a conical pattern.

Itachi vanished, reappeared by Ino, grabbed hold of her, and they both vanished again as the frothing mixture splashed the ground all around where they'd both just stood. It bubbled, and clung to the ground, hissing and smoking like acid. The two Ninja appeared a stone's throw away from the action as Hidan whirled on Shikamaru again. Itachi dropped to his knees.

"How long have you two been fighting him?" asked the Uchiha as he caught his breath.

Ino hesitated for a split second, not sure what to make of Itachi's arrival and help, then sighed quickly. "I don't know. It feels like a long time but-"

"So you're out of heavy attacks?" Itachi cut her off.

Ino nodded, ignoring his lack of civility. "We've been using all our energy just to hold him off and that last attack before you arrived was going to be our last ditch effort."

_My initial assessment was off,_ Itachi chided himself. _It doesn't change the fact that these two are worthless though. And cut off from all the chakra in my body there's not much I can do._

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Ino as she turned to watch Shikamaru try to hold Hidan's attention for them. "Nothing we throw at that shell of his does any real damage and he's too quick to hit the break in the armor."

Itachi paused and looked between Ino and Shikamaru. "I'd hoped to finish him quickly with a surprise attack," he said. "Since that didn't work, I'm going to transfer all my remaining chakra to you and you're going to hit him with that missile of yours again while I try to get his attention on me."

Ino opened her mouth to answer but waited for a brief moment. "Why are you helping us?" she asked.

"I can explain once we're out of here," he said curtly. "Just don't miss this time." Itachi reached out for Ino's hand which she gave him, twitching as he grabbed her fingers. Ino felt a jolt of cold energy burst through her fingers while at the same time Itachi seemed to wither and became almost transparent.

"What's the matter?" asked the Kunoichi, as the cold energy warmed and seemed to release a tension stored up in her muscles. "You look like a ghost."

"I'm not actually here," said Itachi. "My body is back in our world and I sent my spirit here to deal with Hidan but all of my energy stayed back with my body. That's all you need to know, now go." Ino nodded and turned on her heel as Itachi charged forward and raced passed her. She would wait there until an ideal moment opened up.

The ghostly Uchiha seemed to appear beside an unnoticing Shikamaru as Hidan struck again. Shikamaru felt himself topple over as Itachi shoved him out of the way. Itachi jerked with a spasm of psychic pain as Hidan's scythe like arm passed through his arm and left a space of emptiness between his elbow and shoulder. The gap closed up instantly, leaving Itachi whole though he seemed dimmer now than he had before the attack.

Shikamaru only then noticed the Uchiha, but had to roll out of the way as Hidan brought his claws down yet again, and followed up with a blast of acid. "Why?" was all Shikamaru could ask before he dove again out of necessity.

"I can't die here, you can," said Itachi. "And I need both of you to live."

Shikamaru threw Itachi a wary glance as both retreated several meters back for breathing room. "Fine," he managed.

Ino watched the action like a hawk, making sure that none of it would be directed at her as she had elected not to conceal herself with a jutsu to save energy for the attack. Her hands were already glowing purple in as a sign that she could strike at a second's notice, though she suppressed the light to try and remain as inconspicuous as she could.

_God damn that Yamanaka whore,_ Itachi cursed to himself, his form having become even fainter from the second attack he'd taken to help Shikamaru avoid harm. _When is she going to-_

Hidan reared up on his hind legs again and Itachi's eyes narrowed in anticipation as the monster raised his forelegs high over his head to get them out of the way of some new technique. "Hold him!" Itachi barked at Shikamaru even as the Nara saw the same opening and rushed his hands through a frenzied jutsu's seals.

A shadow congealed at Shikamaru's feet and raced forward, jetting up the spiderlike legs and wrapping around the arms Hidan had brought back, locking them in place. Hidan flinched in surprise, looking to his right as a loud crackling filled the air, and saw Ino's burning hands pointing directly at him. "You're dead too then," he spat, turning to Shikamaru as a the human face in his steel abdomen bared its teeth and opened its jaw to a size that would have sheered a normal human skull in two.

"Bad," Itachi growled, leaping to the side and watching as a deep blue light glowing in the back of Hidan's mouth.

The violet missile exploded from Ino's fingers and rocketed towards Hidan at supersonic speed, but not before an orb of chakra that seemed to darken the air all around it. The shadows around Hidan's joints disappeared as the ball of energy passed through Shikamaru, continued passed him as though he weren't there, and flew through the ground behind him.

Booming like thunder the missile shot through the breach in Hidan's shell and exploded against the opposing side, expelling scraps of what looked like twisted metal components and more organic innards out both the entry wound, and the subsequent exit wound blasted through his shell.

"I got him!" Ino shouted, jumping up with a cheer as Hidan's seemingly lifeless shell toppled over and fell to the ground with a grating crash. "I got him! Shikamaru did you see…" she trailed off and the smile faded from her face.

Across from her Shikamaru lay pale and sweating on the ground, curled up. He shivered and gasped for air as Itachi approached him and Ino ran forwards. "Shikamaru!" she shouted as she neared. She couldn't reach him before the grey world all around began to fade into a dark, though sharper and more colored one. Shikamaru and Ino simply materialized where they were, but Itachi's ghost vanished all together.

"Shikamaru," Ino gasped, dropping down on her knees beside him. The Ninja still shivered but he didn't respond when Ino called his name. Neither did he react when she put her hands on his shoulders to try and rouse him, nor when Itachi materialized above him out of a whirl of leafs. "What's wrong with him?" she turned to Itachi.

Itachi walked a little closer and stood over Shikamaru. His Sharingan focused on the Nara and then he turned to Ino. "I have no idea," he said without any illusion of feeling. "He's dead though, or he will be in a moment or two."

"What?" Ino yelped.

"There's nothing _I_ can do for him," said Itachi. "And I'm fairly certain you lack both the skill and the chakra to save him so given how quickly he's fading I'm assuming he'll be dead in under a minute." Itachi knelt down by the paling and sweating Ninja. "I might be able to glean some useful bits of information from his memories if he doesn't die too quickly though." He reached down and straightened Shikamaru out quickly, making no effort to be gentle about it.

"How can you be so cold?" asked Ino, standing up and stepping away, knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop the Uchiha.

Itachi didn't answer immediately. He put his hands on either side of Shikamaru's head as his palms began to glow with a tinge of blue light. For a moment everyone sat, or stood, silently. Ino waited as patiently as she could be expected to, and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. During the past days she'd been strong because it was a necessity. When she'd heard of Naruto's capture she'd wanted to break down and scream, feeling that she'd lost him again. She hid it though behind a perfect façade for the sake of everyone around her. Now however there was no one around about whom she cared enough to hide it, and she didn't fight as the tears welled up in her eyes.

"I want Naruto," she whispered. Her breath caught in a quiet hiccup of a sob as she squeezed her arms tighter.

Shikamaru stopped breathing a minute later and Itachi stood up, the aura around his hands fading to nothing. "I can be so cold," said Itachi, "because I simply don't care. I know where we are and thanks to his," he gestured at Shikamaru's body, "memories I know where we can intercept the Coalition. If we don't stop for anything we can get to them within an hour and a half." Itachi started to take off running, but stopped a few strides later when Ino hesitated. "I'm not _asking_ you if you want to come along," he said.

"Right," Ino muttered, taking a step as Itachi turned away and began running again. A second later, Ino caught up and followed just behind him. She glanced back at the body they'd left unceremoniously on the ground, wiped a tear out of her eye, then refocused her attention on simply going on.

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It was a restless sleep at best. Sasuke tossed and turned on the lumpy mattress and it seemed like every move he made, or was forced to make to compensate for the bumping and shifting of the rickety carriage in which he rode, rolled him over on a sharp spring sticking out of the fabric. It was no help at all that Karenna's condition hadn't improved at all and that she'd been left in Iwa under intensive care.

"Intensive care," Sasuke said bitterly. "That's a joke." There had been over two thousand people from both sides who'd been badly wounded in the battle between the Coalition and the Crane, and Iwa's authorities had insisted that treatment be administered to anyone who was injured regardless of affiliation. The result had been a complete overload of all the medical facilities in the village and while Sasuke had arranged for Karenna to be admitted to an actual hospital and an actual Intensive Care Unit there was no guarantee there would be a doctor there should she need one.

A knock on the hatch atop the carriage roof broke his concentration on recent events. "What is it?" asked Sasuke, getting up from the mattress and quickly putting on his shirt and pants. The hatch above him opened and Trina poked her head in as Sasuke bent down to lace up his new set of black shoes.

"Good," said Trina, "you're dressed. The Wind Daimyo is requesting your presence immediately. He's in his private carriage at the rear of the column."

"Is something wrong?" asked Sasuke, trying to force the grogginess from his mind as Trina leaned back and he jumped up atop the moving carriage, quickly surveying the surroundings. The marching column was one of three that had been assembled upon departing from Iwa. The first column, consisting of the freshest, or at least the least exhausted troops, had departed the village almost five hours ago, only shortly after the battle was over and the decision to attack the Rain was made. Sasuke's column had left two hours ago, following the first column. The third column, the troops who had taken the most battering in the fight and needed the most rest, would depart Iwa within the hour if all went according to plan.

"Not wrong per se," said Trina, her red hair almost black in the gloom of the early morning. Her voice sounded uneasy. "Umm… Ino is back. She managed to beat one of Akatsuki's last generals-"

"That's good," interjected Sasuke.

"-with help from Itachi," Trina finished.

Sasuke froze and eyed the Kunoichi warily as the wagon rattled along beneath them.

Trina paused for a moment and then went on. "Itachi is meeting with the Wind Daimyo right now and they've asked that you be there to discuss something."

Sasuke took a steadying breath but neither answered nor moved.

* * *

AN: Yes, I know that, given recent developments in the Naruto manga, Pain seems a little ooc, but frankly, when I started this story no one really knew anything about Pain, and as I mapped the plot out during that period, I didn't incorporate anything about cannon Pain. And I'm not going to go back now and mess with it since I kinda like my Pain better than the one in the manga. (Nagato is a completely failed attempt at a dynamic character and dismal one at that. Granted, mine isn't particularly great either but I like him better than Nagato lol)

Peace!


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Naruto, Adventure, Romance