Title: Naruto: The Pain of War.

Author: Lacus.C

Rating: T for swear, violence, and major character death.

Genre: Angst/ Drama

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, for if I did, the anime wouldn't suck and Sasuke would be raped by Oro-chan every night. . Also, more people would already be dead.

Summary: The last battle. Naruto faces Sasuke, both refusing to give in to the others will. As they fight, Naruto's friends also have ordeals of their own. After the war, how will Sakura and Naruto handle the knews of thoughs they love who have died. Not NaruXSaku or SakuXNaru. There are no relationships in this.

Chapter 1: Tears of Blood.

"Sasuke!" A male voice called.
A raven haired boy turned around. He was wearing a opened chest beige shirt. His eyes narrowed as a figure landing in front of him. It was a blond boy, about 170cm tall. He was wearing an orange and black shirt, with orange pants. He was panting slightly, a kunai in hand.

"Why are you doing this?" The blond asked.

"Because. Konoha is no longer my home. I work for Orochimaru now." The dark haired boy said.

"Why, Sasuke? Itachi's dead. He's dead now, so you don't need Orochimaru's power anymore! After this, he's just going to kill you!" The blond shouted.

"I know that, Naruto!" Sasuke turned completely to face Naruto. Naruto stood up straight. "But do you think you can stop me? I much stronger then you are now, Naruto."
"I've grown as well." Naruto retorted.

"Prove it!" Sasuke drew his sword and ran at Naruto at full speed. When he reached where Naruto was standing, he was gone. Sasuke looked around, then dodged a kunai flying at him. "I told, Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, as his body fell from a nearby tower.

Sasuke smirked. "You have." Then he pulled out a kunai of his own and hurled it at Naruto.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura. You haven't learned yet, have you? I stronger then you'll every be." A grey haired man said. He was wound on his side, but was still standing, though the cut was deep.

A pinked haired girl was laying on the ground, trying to get up. Strains of hair was laying around her, and her hair was cut untidily by her ears. She looked at her attacker. "At least I'm not obsessed a with a snake freak!" She shout at him.

The man glared. "You're asking for an earlier death, Sakura."
"Does it matter, Kabuto?" Sakura asked, standing. "You'd kill me anyway." She closed her eyes and placed her hand on an open cut. Kabuto grinned, and charged at Sakura, kunai ready, seeing an opening. Just as he got to her, she pulled out a kunai and stabbed him. "Fooled you." She said, as Kabuto staggered back. "I may not be stronger, but it seems I'm smarter." She jumped away from him.

"Damn it." He swore. He pulled the kunai out, a little blood spilling out. "You are smart." He pulled a kunai out and flung it at Sakura, who dodged it easily.

"Sakura!" A voice called. Sakura turned to see who called her. As she did so, five shurikens flew at her. Two hit her, cause her to fall to her knees. "Sakura!" Sakura looked up, and saw Ino knelling beside her, and Shikamaru and Neji standing near by.
"Where's Chouji?" Sakura tried to laugh, but it came out a croak.

"Hospital, he's way to fat." Ino smiled. then she closed her eyes and started to heal Sakura's wounds. A green light appeared around Ino's hand.
"Ino, you don't have to. I'm fine."
"Hush, you're just as bad as Shikamaru." Ino silenced.

"I understand you have friends, Sakura. But I'm getting bored, and I want to finish our fight!" Kabuto shouted. Sakura glanced at him, and saw the two boys standing in front of her and Ino, protecting them. "Come out behind your shield, and I won't kill them."
"Ino, I'm fine now. Get out of here and help someone else." Sakura said, lightly hitting Ino's hand away. The two girls looked at each other. Ino smiled and Sakura in return. Tears formed in the blonde's eyes.

"Your hair. Did he do that?" Ino asked, brushing Sakura's now very short hair.
"It's alright. It was in the way, anyway. Now go." Sakura ordered. Ino nodded and called the Shikamaru and Neji. Then the three disappeared.

"Finally Sakura. I was getting really bored." Kabuto said, getting into a fighting stance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, but now I'm a refreshed." She replied, as getting ready to fight. The two looked at each other for a moment then ran towards each other, weapons ready.

Two men, one with long white hair and the other with long black, were standing at least six feet away from each other. Both panting.
"It seems… that it'll end soon." The white haired man said. "Give it up now, Orochimaru, and your death won't be painful."
"What, no 'Stop fighting now, Orochimaru, and I'll spare you.' What kind of friend are you, Jiraiya?" Orochimaru said in his slithering voice.

"No, you lost that the very day you left." Jiraiya spat.

"Why? Because you couldn't stop me? Are you still beating yourself up because of that?" He sneered, "I didn't lose that chance, you took it from my."
"Does it really matter now? You're an enemy to Konoha. You killed the Sandaime Hokage, and maybe our Godaime Hokage. You'll never be aloud in here again, so just die!" Jiraiya bit his hand and hurled it to the ground. In a poof of smoke, a giant toad appeared. "Call on your snake! It won't stop me from killing you!"
Orochimaru smiled, and did the same as Jiraiya, but appeared on a snake. "Jiraiya. You should now, snakes will kill a toad anytime."
"Then why aren't I dead yet, snake boy!"
Orochimaru glared at Jiraiya. The two did a few hands signs, attack each other with jutsu. They both easily doged them.

As they fought, memories flashed through Jiraiya's head.

"Hey! Yo, Orochimaru!" A young boy with snow white her called. He looked around fifteen. He wore a green shirt and looked rather out-going.

Another boy turned, though it would be hard to have tell, with a female looking face and bright red lips. His her was long and black. He hadn't done anything with it, so it just hung loosely around him. This gave him a closed look.

"What is it, Jiraiya. Is Sarutobi-sensei calling us?" The young Orochimaru asked.

"Nah, I just saw you here and decided to talk." The younger, less perverted Jiraiya said, smiling.

"Oh."

"Come on! Don't sound like that! We're friends now! You can't always ignore me." Jiraiya shouted, putting his arm around Orochimaru's shoulders.

"I can't. I thought I had that chose, being your friend. Tsunade-san does." Orochimaru sighed, shurgging him off.

"Yeah, but she's a girl!" The white hair youth said, "It's different."
"When we first met, you called me a girl." He snapped.

"We weren't friends then." Was the blunt reply.

Jiraiya panted. Both had lost their animals, and were at the last of their chakra. "You're slowing down, Orochimaru."
"As are you." The black haired man looked up. He licked a wound on his cheek. "You can't stop me. You're a dobe just like your student!"
"Naruto is far from last now. He's stronger then Sasuke, if he were to use all of his power." He managed.

"Yes… that's what all teacher's say about their students. But is it true?" Orochimaru ran towards Jiraiya, then jumped into the air. "You can't stop me, Jiraiya! You were a horrible friend!"
Jiraiya stood there, looking at his old friend.

"Orochimaru!" A white hair man yelled. He was at least twenty-five.

"You're to late! I've been banned from the village, by our beloved Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi-sensei." Orochimaru sneered.

"I know. I'm not here to bring you back!"
"Which is a wise choice! You can't stop me, Jiraiya! You're a horrible friend! I'm glad it over!" Then the black haired man jumped at Jiraiya.

-----

"Jiraiya?" A voice called to him.

"Tsunade? Tsunade!" Jiraiya shouted, sitting up quickly. "He's leaving the village! We have to…"

"He's gone."
"What?" Jiraiya looked at Tsunade. There were tears in her eyes. He looked down and saw a bandage on his chest.

"What happened?" She asked, leaning towards Jiraiya. "When we found you, you were out cold and a dead snake beside you." She locked eyes with him.

"I couldn't stop him… I failed as a friend." Jiraiya looked down clenching his fist. A few tears fell on to the sheets of the bed he was in. Tsunade leaned over and hugged him. "It's alright. You're still his best friend."

"Die!" Jiraiya jumped out of the way as Orochimaru fell down where he was.

He started panting and the pale man looked at him. His eyes looked on fire. Jiraiya glared at him. "Why don't you?"

"We sound like children, Jiraiya. Why don't we start acting like adults." He charged at his one time friend, a sword in his hand. He sliced at Jiraiya, who continued to dodge them. Then, Jiraiya jumped up and landed behind Orochimaru.
"It ends now!" Jiraiya shouted, throuwing a kunai at Orochimaru's heart.

"See ya!" Jiraiya waved. He looked out his hospital at waved at Tsunade and Sarutobi. Then he turned back to Orochimaru.

"Why is Tsunade-san leaning? Isn't she learning to become a medical nin?" Orochimaru asked, leaning on a wall.

"Heh, she is, but she has to go take care of her brother. And it's he's birthday tomorrow, she's going to get him a present." Jiraiya said, waving it away. "So, what are you doing here still? Wasn't Sarutobi-sensei going to teach you something?"
"Yeah, but I thought I'd make fun of you first, since you look like a mummy." He said, smiling. Then he stood up and walked to the door.

"Yo, Orochimaru. You know… you're starting to look like a guy now." The bandaged boy laughed.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment, mainly because you're a mummy and it'd be cruel to hurt you." Orochimaru sighed. He opened the door and began to to leave then stopped. "Jiraiya… you know. You're a pretty good friend."

Orochimaru didn't move. As the kunai hit him, he smiled. A true genuin smile. Then he fell down to the ground. Jiraiya walked over and looked at the man's dead body.

"You still look like a girl, Orochimaru." Jiraiya said to the still smiling face. Then he turned to walk away. But he staggered and fell to his knees."Shit… It looks like you got me, friend." Then Jiraiya fell over.

There, laying on the ground were two men, eye closed, smiling.

Sakura panted. Even though she had been healed, she was still low on chakra. She stood there, panting, waiting for Kabuto to stand.

"You have gotten stronger. It made this more fun." Kabuto smirked. "But, you're low on chakra now, aren't you?"
"Yes, but you are too." Sakura pointed out. Kabuto glared and ran at her. She dodged and punched him, sending Kabuto ten feet away.
"Bitch!" Kabuto swore, standing. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leading Sakura to looking for where he was. She turned around, trying to pin where he was. "Behind you." Kabuto whispered, stambing her in the back.

Sakura fell, but kicked at him. He jumped back, avoiding to attack.
"When you've been stabbed in the back it hurts, right? This is the second time now. Wasn't Sasuke the first to do it?" Kabuto said calmly. He pulled out a kunai. "I think I'll kill you know. That way you can go see your dear Naruto-kun. He's probably dead now."
"No, he's still alive. He won't die till he's hokage. Trust me." Sakura said. Then she coughed up a bit of blood. She tried to stand, but couldn't.

"Die now!" Kabuto yelled, throuwing to the kunai at her with full strength.

"Sakura!"
Sakura looked up. Standing over her was Ino. Ino, with a kunai in her neck. "Hey Sakura… Looks like I saved you again." Ino said, falling forwards. Sakura turned to catch her friend.

"Ino, why?" She asked, looking at her blonde friend.

"Because, I'm your friend." Ino whispered, it was the loudest she could manage. She looked up at Sakura. "Don't bother trying to heal me. I'm going to die."
"No, don't say that! I'm going to try!" Sakura cried. She pulled the kunai out and quickly place her hand where it was, to try and stop the blood. A very pale, green glow showed around her hand.
"Stop, you're wasting chakra." Ino said, placing her hand on the other girl's. She grabbed it and pulled it away. "Please stop."
"But…" Tears were forming in the girls eyes.
"Sakura… listen. Tell Chouji that he really needs to go on a diet. Two people he loved have died and he should listen to them."
"No, only one has died. You're not going to die." Sakura shouted. The tears were now streaming down her face. "You aren't going to die."

"And tell Shikamaru… I…. liked him." Ino smiled, barely. Her voice was becoming very faint now. "And Sakura…. you look good with short hair." Then Ino's eyelids fell, along with head.
"Ino!"

"I'm so over Sasuke!" Ino said.

"Really?" Sakura asked. The two girls were sitting on the edge of a roof. It was about midday, with the sun over head.

"Yed, really. Now Sai on the other hand. Sai is so much cooler then Sasuke. And he's very good looking." Ino explained. Sakura giggled. "What?"
The other girls asked.

"It's just, you're like this with every cool or cute guy you meet." Sakura laughed.

"Hmm… so? Doesn't it matter. It just means I'm outgoing."
"I'm sure you are." Sakura sighed. "I can't believe that a boy stopped us from being friends."
"We're hardly friends now." Ino said. The pink haired girl looked at the blonde. "Well… we're still competing against each other."
"I guess. How about we become friends again?"
"Sure." The blonde stuck her hand out. Sakura looked at it and smiled. She took it in her own.

"Oh? Did I kill you're friend? I'm so sorry, Sakura. This time, my aim will be better." Kabuto laughed.

Sakura didn't move. She just sat there, holding her now dead friend. Then she whispered something.

"I'm sorry, I missed that. What?" Kabuto asked, walking closer.

"Shut up!" She yelled, throuwing five shuriken at him. He didn't react in time. Three of the shuriken hit him, one in the eye.

"Damn it!" He swore, pulling the shuriken out of his eye. There was blood everywhere now. The glared at Sakura with his one eye now. "You're going to die, bitch."

Sakura stood up, gently placing Ino's body on the ground. "You keep saying that, but I'm not dead yet!" He could finally see her face. There was pure anger in her eyes, and the desire to kill… him.

Kabuto moved back slightly. Sakura took this to her advantage and chraged at him. She had some how gotten more strength. She punched him, sending him flying. Right before he hit the ground, she appeared where he'd land and kicked him into the air. Kabuto flew up at least ten feet. Sakura waited for him to fall down. As he neared, she threw six kunai at him. Four hit his back, two were in he's neck.

When Kabuto's body hit the ground, Sakura walked over to make sure he was dead. He was. Sakura turned to Ino's body. Shikamaru was standing there. He looked up at Sakura, and she could see he was crying. Sakura walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She didn't realize, but she was still crying.

Naruto heaved. Only blood came out. "You may have improved a lot Naruto, but I'm still much faster then you." Sasuke said, stand on top a ruined tower.

Naruto looked up at the Uchiha. "Yeah, but you're already at level two of your curse seal." Naruto shouted. Sasuke looked down at the blond with confusing, then smirked.

"So you've noticed."

"Yeah… but I haven't even used any of the Kuuybi's chakra yet!" Naruto stood up. Huge amouts of chakra came pouring out of the Jinchuuriki. Sasuke flew down from the tower.

"You were holding back!"

"Of course I was! I'm not trying to kill you, Sasuke! I'm trying to bring you home!" He shouted to he's one time friend. Sasuke glared at the vessel of the Kyuubi.

"Naruto, I'm trying to kill you!" Sasuke shouted, charging at Naruto.

Naruto jumped up and away from him. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Then two clone appeared. The three turned from Sasuke how stood there, taking the chance to catch his breath.

"Fuuton Rasengan Shuriken!" Naruto charged the flung the jutsu at him. Sasuke tried the dodge it, but it hit him, slicing his arm off. "Argh!" Sasuke shouted, grabbing where his arm use to be. He glared at the his enemy. "Damn it…"

Naruto looked at Sasuke. Memories of their childhood, when they were teamates, friends came pouring into his mind. "Sasuke… I'm sorry!" Naruto then pulled a kunai out and threw it at Sasuke.

Unexpectedly, Sasuke didn't move. He just stood up straight and watch the kunai fly at him. "You know… I've always considered you a brother, Uzumaki Naruto." Then the Kunai hit him.

"Sasuke!"

A/N: Man! I cried so much writing this. I'm must be evil… I hope you all liked this and cried as well, cause if you didn't, even at Ino's death, you have a heart of stone! Anyway, please review tell me what you think. This is probably only going to have two more chapters, it's a very short story.