Why bother thinking I own the characters, It will only end in the oddities such as this.

Demon Speaking/Jutsu

Thinking/Demon Thinking

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he quickly bolted straight up, the sounds of his panting echoing through the stone hallways. He looked around "What the-Where am I?"

The air was damp and musky, an uncovered lightbulb above him flickered. The floor was covered with a layer of water up to his ankles, causing the blonde to wonder about the logic of wearing sandals as a ninja. Naruto sat and thought about his predicament. "I was at the bridge…Sasuke was trapped in that hunter nin's Mirror jutsu with me, then he got ki-"

Naruto froze, the scene replaying in his head. Sasuke on the ground filled with senbon, himself powerless to do anything. "I need to get out of here! Sakura and Kakashi-sensei need me!"

With that thought in mind he took off down the tunnel to search for an exit, before being knocked off his feet by a gale of wind that came from behind, causing the young ninja to face plant into the water. "OW! The hell?" he shouted as he spun around to look down the hallway that the blast had come from.

Only to fall flat on his face again when the air itself seemed to be pulled from around him, rocketing down that hallway.

"What's causing this…?" the blonde asked himself as he slowly attempted to regain his footing, only for another gale to shoot back from the passageway in front of him, knocking him on his back. He stood and regained his footing, rubbing his backside in an attempt to dull the pain.

And then he fell on his face again as the air was pulled from around him and rushed back down the hallway, the force seeming stronger then before. Naruto, not to let such a simple thing get the better of him, jumped back to his feet after it had passed. He took a stance, preparing to combat another gust from the tunnel, channeling chakra into his feet to stay standing.

The blast struck again as the blonde shielded his eyes with his arms, this time not getting knocked down. He took a step forward after it stopped, and then another.

The air around him was pulled back down the hallway as Naruto took another step, almost falling again. "I need to time this correctly or I'm going to get blown down."

A few seconds later and the air stopped being pulled down the tunnel. Naruto started running down the hallway, only to stop a few seconds later as another blast of air flew down tunnel. After that passed he took off sprinting again, stopping soon after as the air was pulled from around him. "Around four-seconds between blast and pull…another two after pull" He thought as the tugging gale stopped, allowing him to breath in without the air getting ripped from his lungs. "At this rate I'm going to be as ancient as the Hokage before I can get out of here." His thoughts where interrupted when he made a troubling observation.

"The water."

The blond ninja then realized that the water he was standing in barely showed any signs of being disturbed by the harsh wind. As he held up against another blast, he saw that the water continued moving with slight ripples coming from the hallway that the blasts would originate from. Naruto smiled, now understanding what was going on. As the blast stopped he made the Seal of Confrontation. Kai!

And any hope that this was a genjutsu was shattered as nothing changed, and Naruto fell on his face with a splash again as the air was pulled down the hallway. He pulled his head up from the murky water, rather annoyed now. After he got back to his feet and held up against the predictable blast of wind that came after the pull, he continued sprinting down the hallway, following the water ripples to their source, eager to find the exit.

Instead he found himself in a massive room, the ripples slowly coming from a massive cage that held only darkness, of which the blonde's eyes could not pierce. The doors to the cage were sealed with a slip of paper. Naruto's thoughts on the matter were then interrupted as another sudden pull of air threatened to tear the young ninja off of his feet and into the darkness.

Naruto responded by releasing an active flash bomb from his hand. The small sphere was easily pulled into the cage, the pull of air suddenly stopping.

Then a sudden deafening sound echoed from the cage, reverberating off of the walls. Naruto was forced to crouch as the air being pulled into the cage increase in speed. Then, all at once, the gale reversed, threatening to send Naruto out the door and back down the hallway. A blinding flash of light signifying the successful detonation of the flash bomb was seen, illuminating a terrifying vision.

The pictures back at the academy could only show a small portion of the horror, they could only give a small hint of the terror that the village had felt upon seeing this beast, the blood red hair brisling with anger; the mouth filled with death, each tooth twice the size of a fully grown man; The head, at least the size of the room he was in. The Kyūbi no Yõko, The Nine-Tailed Fox, the demon that was sealed within him, its face illuminated by the brief flash from the light bomb. The Nightmare now forever burned into his mind.

A massive tempest slammed against Naruto, pushing him back to the doorway where he held on for dear life, the roar tearing at his clothes as it shot past him. After what felt like a minute when in reality was only a few seconds the infernal roar stopped. By some miracle the blonde ninja was able to stay within the room.

Only to be thrown to his feet by a loud voice that caused the room to tremble in its wake. The air being seared by the very nature of the speaker.

"Who disturbs my slumber?"

The demon's eyes burn with a wicked light, the smell of sulphur suddenly filling the damp air, burning it away until nothing but a dry breeze remains, harsh on the lungs of the young ninja.

Naruto was petrified by fear. The very presence of the entity before him oozing nothing but malicious power. His voice caught in his dehydrated throat, causing the young ninja to gasp, his voice cracking.

The demon's eyes flicked down to the small mortal life in front of it. Its mouth widened into a massive grin, the teeth shining unnaturally in the darkness. When it spoke, the very air was blown back from its wicked speech.

"To what do I owe the honor of my pathetic human jailer's presence before me?"

The object of the demon's focus coughed, backing up from the cage. His face was pale with fright as he stared at the immense demon.

Said immense demon held back a horrid laugh at the look of terror on it's jailer's face.

"Well, Brat? Speak." The demon commanded, studying the tiny human before it.

Naruto finally found his voice, his eyes narrowed when he felt the blast of air hit his face from the demon's voice. He got angry, standing swiftly and pointing an accusing finger at the vile monster. "It's your fault!"

The demon raised an eyebrow, not expecting the human to regain his confidence nor for the mortal to then accuse it of something. It's grin widened, its eyes had a spark of unwanted mirth.

"Yes, It was I, the Kyūbi no Yōko who attacked your precious village, Know fear and temb-"

"Not that!" the blonde yelled; his voice filled with irritation, catching the demon by surprise. "It's your fault that I was getting blown back and forth in the hallway just trying to get here!"

The demon just stared at the human, its eyes blinking.

The human kept his finger pointed at the demon.

The demon blinked.

The human pointed.

The demon spoke one simple word.

"What?"

Confused was the best way to describe the horrid voice as it shook the room with its echo.

Naruto frowned, using his annoyance to overcome his fear. He pointed at the demon again, his irked voice reaching the massive demon.

"It's your fault! You trapped me in this horrid place, I command you to let me out!"

Naruto regretted his actions not one-second later when an aura of pure hatred collided with him, sending him to his knees from the shear oppressive feeling that it brought.

"You dare command me, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, to let YOU out when it is I who is trapped in this wretched sewer you call your mind?" The demon fox shouted, a tick mark appearing on its forehead as it lashed out against the cage. "Not to mention that you interrupted my nap!"

Naruto immediately stopped, his anger replaced by curiosity. "I interrupted your nap?"

"Yes, you loathsome brat! You interrupted my nap, then threw something up my nose!" The demon roared, it's tails slamming against the cage in anger.

"Well, you roared at me!" The blonde shot back.

"That was a sneeze!" The demon retorted.

"It was a Hurricane!"

"You blinded me!"

"It was a flash bomb!"

"It was irritating!"

"I couldn't see!"

"Then turn on the lights!" The demon said, fury spilling fourth from its pores.

Naruto stopped, the demon's last statement causing his brow to furrow. "I have lights in my mind?" he said finally.

"By all that is wicked and evil! Are you dense?" the demon asked, exasperated.

"Um…where are-" Naruto began, before he was interrupted.

"Behind you Brat!" The demon shouted, its face distorted in unholy anger.

Naruto turned around and saw that, indeed, there was a small light switch on the wall. He walked over and flicked it, before turning around.

Even though he had been arguing with the demon for the past minute, nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.

The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was looking at him, its face contoured in a snarl as the ninja continued to stare upon its mighty build. "Does the sight of my form terrify you into silence pathetic mortal?"

Naruto continued to stare dumbly at Fox's form, from it's nine tails that promised nothing but death upon those that saw them, to its mighty claws that seemed to slice at the very air around them with pure malicious intent before finding his voice. "You have massive ears!"

"Really?" The Fox roared, its voice now screaming for blood. "My whole body and you focus on my ears?"

Naruto was doing the accusing pointing of the finger thing again. "How the hell are you a fox?"

"I'm a Demonic Fennec Fox." The demon roared, sending another shockwave of hatred at the child.

Naruto recovered quickly and remained standing much to the demon's surprise. "The hell is a Fennec Fox?"

"This!" The demon then made what could only be describe as pure unadulterated abuse of the very concept of sound.

Naruto clutched his ears at the ungodly screech that threatened to rupture his ear drums as it echoed off the walls of the sewer, multiplying its horrid sounds. After a minute the sound stopped, and Naruto held his now bleeding ears in pain as he was curled up in a fetal position laying on his side.

The demon smirked, happy with the horror it had inflicted on the air and on the mortal.

"What the hell was that!" Naruto screamed after the ringing in his head stopped.

"Fennec Fox." The demon stated matter-of-factly.

Naruto sat with his arms and legs crossed deciding wisely to not pursue that subject anymore. "How the hell do I get out of here anyway?"

"If I knew that do you think I would be here?" The demon replied, laying its head down to rest on its massive claws.

Naruto got annoyed, a slight twinge of panic in his mind. "If I can't get out of here I can't help Sakura and Kakashi-sensei."

"Don't care Brat." The demon replied, closing its eyes.

"Sasuke could be dead!"

"The Uchiha can burn for all I care." The demon stated, its massive body curling up.

"I don't want to die here!" The ninja cried out.

The demon stared at the blonde long and hard before finally speaking. "What would you give?"

The blonde ninja looked up in surprise, his eyes wide. "W-What?"

The Fox sat up, crossing its arms and frowned. "What would you be willing to sacrifice in order to see the outside again?"

Naruto frowned and stared up at the demon. "No way I'm letting you out." He said, his voice serious.

The demon snarled, it's eyes flashing with malice. "As much as I wish to be free, what I have in mind is more… beneficial." The word was spoken like a poison, as if the very idea of it was disgusting to the demonic fox.

Naruto glared at the fox, studying it, trying to find out what it was planning. "And what do you have in mind Kyūbi?"

"A pact, a contract." The demon explained, its grin widening. "You will be given the ability to learn powers and knowledge beyond your simple comprehension. Your skin will be hard as steel and your power will not wane with time. Nothing will be able to stand in your way and I will remain here as you wanted."

"What's the catch?" The blonde asked, his eyes narrowed.

The demon fox chuckled, the sound echoing off the walls as its eyes seemed to glow with pure malicious glee. "When you die, and your soul will be plunged into the depths of Inferno."

"So I get the power to protect my friends, and you get to send my soul to this Inferno place when I die?" The blonde asked, frowning. "That hardly seems fair."

The demon let out another exasperated sigh "Look Brat, You will be able to learn the skills to protect your precious people while I am free to pursue my own goals."

"And those would be?" The blonde asked, not trusting the demon before him.

"My amusement at your expense." The fox said with an unnerving smile.

Naruto let out an irritated sigh, before standing up and thinking about his options. "If I accept this contract I'll be able to assist my friends…but…" He looked up at the demon. "One condition."

The demon scowled. "What Brat?" It said as it looked down at the puny mortal.

The human returned the stare, his gaze unwavering, "You don't harm my friends."

The horrid beast laughed, its voice shaking the very room, "You have yourself a deal Naruto Uzumaki."

And with that, Naruto woke up.

w.w.w.w.w.w

Haku readied another volley of senbon, To be honest, the androgynous ninja was more than a little concerned when the orange clad ninja suddenly went quiet and stopped moving. Perhaps he had given up, but that thought was quickly banished from the mind when said orange clad ninja also started glowing red and leaking out what could only be described as pure malice. The blonde haired ninja looked up, his eyes glowing red.

"I'm gonna kill you." Naruto spoke his feelings, the red chakra now clinging to his form.

"I have to end this so that I may assist Zabuza-sama" Banishing his concerns the faux hunter nin let loose; the air filling with needles as the blonde dodged to the side.

Naruto blinked, before turning his head around and looking at the senbon behind him. He slowly stood up, watching the senbon slowly inch towards him, confusion overtaking his features. "What the hell?" he asked out loud.

"Come on, I gave you this time and you waste it?" The horrid voice said from behind him.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be freed!" The blonde screamed, wheeling around to try and find the demon.

"You are by far the thickest human to ever live." The demon replied, the voice still echoing from behind the young ninja.

"Where the hell are-"

"By all that is unholy; I am still in your head!" The demon interrupted, its voice still somehow slightly deafening the blonde. "The contract allows me greater ease in communicating with you, not that you have anything important to say."

Naruto was about to give a really good comeback when what ever had slowed down the senbon vanished, causing the medical tools to resume their actual velocity. The blonde ninja raised his hands in defense as he felt several more of the needles sink into his flesh, a stab of pain accompanying each. An internal infernal voice screamed at him to move and the blonde, who at this point desperately wanting out of the senbon storm, sidestepped.

A ripple of energy seemed to radiate out of Naruto's form, causing the senbon still approaching him to slow down to a crawl. Naruto looked around for a moment, before running over to Sasuke, brushing needles out of the air as he went. "How much time do I have?" He mentally asked as he bent down to pick up his rival and friend.

"30 seconds, You touch the Uchiha and I can't help you." The voice stated, causing the blonde to freeze.

"Why not?"

"Because he lacks a contract and you will not allow me to harm your friends."

"What does the lack of a contract have to do with it?"

The demon sighed, obviously hating having to explain this to the ninja. "The human body can not safely travel at the speeds you are now. My power protects you, but if you where to grab this corpse, it would be pulled apart by the speeds, spraying blood and flesh everyw-" The demon seemed to pause for a second. "Actually I lied, pick him up."

"No." The ninja replied, earning a growl of irritation from the demon before standing up again.

"Well at least throw a kunai or something at a mirror, you would be wasting this time if you didn't."

Naruto sighed in annoyance. "That won't work against-"

"Just do it." the demon interrupted, just as annoyed.

"Fine." Naruto reached down and pulled out a kunai, throwing it at a mirror while at the same time the blonde's accelerated awareness stopped.

Haku's eyes widened as the blonde seemed to have teleported over to his fallen teammate before the sound of a mirror shattering caught his attention, the ice falling down as the blonde ran toward his current mirror. "Impossible...how did he-" Haku's thoughts were interrupted as the blonde punched his mirror, causing it to meet the same fate as its other. The faux hunter nin flew from one of the shards, intent on stabbing the boy with a senbon before the orange nin dodged. Haku quickly leapt towards the safety of another mirror, only for it to shatter when the blonde suddenly appeared from behind it, his eyes glowing a fearsome blue.

"Punch him Brat!" The fox screamed, its voice barely holding the excitement that it felt.

The blonde ninja relaxed in mid air, his whole body hitting the hunter nin and sending the both of them flying through a mirror as the demon screamed at his container's stupidity.

"You could have ended it Brat!" The demon fox screamed, the echos of its tails lashing against the ground filling the mind of the blonde as both he and the hunter nin rolled across the bridge. "Why did you not kill him?"

After a minute and the young ninja regained his footing; he answered his sponsor's question. "You are trying to destroy me..."

Haku barely stood up, his mask starting to fall off of his face. He looked to the orange wearing child in front of him, before his eyes were drawn to the blonde's hand. His eyes widened in shock.

Naruto's hand was crushed, blood dripping out of the impacted flesh. This was not what held the hunter nin's attention though; what did was that the blonde ninja's hand was slowly expanding, filling itself out to it's original size. Within half a minute the blonde lifted his hand and flexed it, before looking up at Haku.

"What...What are you?" Haku managed to stammer out as the blue eyed ninja stepped forward, slowly approaching the false hunter nin. The blonde answered by looking up at Haku and blinking.

"Your Haku." He replied, sounding rather shocked.

The androgynous male blinked, before looking down at the mask that was no longer on his face. The loyal tool of Zabuza stood up straight, his face hardening. "Naruto Uzumaki," The false hunter said. "Why have you stopped?"

"W-what?" Naruto stammered, caught off guard by the question.

"Did you not vow to avenge your comrade?" The Hunter asked. "Did you not vow to end my life?"

"Yes!" The gleeful voice in his head screamed.

"My usefulness to Zabuza-sama in no more." Haku explained.

"Do it!"

"No! I- I won't kill you!" the blonde declared.

"I beg of you to end my life."

"See, he is literally asking for it!" The demonic fox screamed, "It's a good deed! You love those right!"

"I refuse." Naruto stated, crossing his arms in defiance.

Haku only stared at him, before his eyes looked out into the mist. "I see...then this is farewell, Naruto."

"Wait! What do-" Naruto only managed to begin his sentence as the feminine male vanished in another mirror.

"For the love of! You let your chance get away from you!" The demon roared, enraged at the missed chance to cause a human's destruction.

"I'm not...I'm...I'm not comfortable with the idea of killing.." Naruto weakly replied.

"Do you have any idea what it even means to be a ninja?" The fox screamed, banging its fists on the floor of the blonde's mind. "Ninja live to kill, to betray, to serve. If you don't kill you are a useless ninja!"

Naruto was silent, instead looking up and running towards the shadows he could see in the mist. When the forms took shape, he stopped in shock.

The malicious laughter echoed through his head.

"No..."

"He still died!" The demon screamed though its laughter, the very image of its horrid smile worming its way into the blonde's mind.

Before the young ninja was Kakashi-sensei, his arm impaled through the body of the very ninja that the blonde had spared. Blood was running down the corpse's clothing.

Naruto shook, unable to tear his gaze away from the horrid vision as it was permanently burned into his memory.

"Even when you are merciful humans die!"

Naruto held his head in his hands, covering his eyes in an attempt to hide from the scene. "Why? Why did it have to work out this way?"

"Naruto!"

The blonde looked up, trying to shut out the horrid laughter of the fox demon as he turned around to see Sakura running towards him, Tazuna following closely behind her.

"S-Sakura-chan."

"You're okay! Where's Sasuke?" The pink haired kunoichi asked, the eagerness to find their other teammate evident in her eyes.

Naruto's eyes widened, before he turned away from his teammate and stared at his feet. "That's right...Sasuke's...How? How do I tell her that...How do I tell her that Sasuke's d-"

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, the worry evident in her tone, her hands clutched under her chin as if to offer up some form of prayer for the safety of her teammate. She watched as the abnormally silent blonde slowly raised his hand, pointing in a direction. Sakura followed the direction with her eyes, her worst fears coming true as she saw her missing teammate lying on the ground. The kunoichi took off, followed closely by the bridge builder.

"Looks like Haku served his purpose wonderfully."

Naruto slowly turned back to Kakashi and Zabuza as the latter brought down his sword in an attempt to bisect Kakashi and by extension Haku's corpse.

Kakashi dodged out of the way, just barely missing the edge of the blade while managing to keep the body of Haku safe. As he gently laid the body down he spotted Naruto approaching. "Naruto! Stay out of this." He ordered before closing the eyes of deceased.

Zabuza charged forward, only to be blocked by Kakashi. As he was about to counterattack, he felt a hand on his shoulder followed by a stab of pain in his only good arm before that too went limp. He looked behind him to see Kakashi standing there.

"I would not be so hasty to speak ill of the dead." The Copy-nin said, withdrawing the hand that had stabbed the silent killer.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "Haku is dead. That is a fact. He was nothing but a tool to be used until he was no longer able to serve."

"How could you?" the blonde asked, his voice just a whisper.

The master of the silent killing technique frowned. "Excuse me?"

"How could you call him a tool?" Naruto demanded, the rage evident on his face. "Did Haku mean nothing to you?"

"The purpose of a shinobi is to die a tool to another." The demon of the Hidden Mist stated, closing his eyes and looking away from the young ninja. "Haku's purpose was to be my tool as I was Gatō's tool. Nothing more."

"Shut up!" the blonde yelled. "Haku cared about you! He sacrificed everything for you! He worked to make you happy, and you would disrespect his memory?" Naruto was fighting back the tears as he continued. "He told me that he grew stronger fighting for someone precious to him. Now I see that his precious person was nothing but a-"

"Shut up." Zabuza growled.

Naruto stopped, blinking away the hot tears.

"Your words hurt me more than any jutsu or blade ever could..." The missing-nin said, slowly turning his tear stained face to the blonde ninja. "Haku...showed me that shinobi might be able to be human..."

The sound of clapping echoed from the end of the bridge, causing all to look up at the sight of a small man wearing a business suit, an unpleasantly happy smile on his face. "Bravo! Bravo!" The man cheered. "While you ninjas were busy tiring each other out, I figured that the town would be ripe for the pickings." Behind the man, a large group of common thugs stood, grinning horribly. "The best part is, I don't even have to pay you, or that bastard kid you kept with you anymore!"

"Gatō" Zabuza spat the name.

Naruto frowned and stepped forward, drawing out a kunai knife.

"Boy..."

Naruto paused, the sound of tearing reaching his ears as the demon of the Hidden Mist bit through his wrappings.

"Lend me that kunai knife." The missing-nin commanded.

The blonde ninja was about to throw it to the swordsman before he remembered what happened last time he threw a kunai. Instead he walked up to Zabuza and offered it to him, handle side first.

The missing-nin quickly took the knife from the blonde, flipping it so that he held it in a firm grip with his teeth. Then the Demon of the Hidden Mist shot forward, his urge to kill the shipping magnate materializing above him in the form of a horrifying vision.

The cowardly business man ran back to his army of thugs and screamed for their help, intend on using them as a shield from the missing-nin.

Naruto's eyes widened as he watched the first row of thugs fail, then the second, until finally the scream of the corrupt businessman was cut short by the sharp iron of the kunai. The severed head of the cruel executive was seen tumbling through the air and off the bridge, a splash being the last reminder of his face. Then it was deathly silent. The thugs slowly turned to look at the blonde and his sensei.

"That was our meal ticket!" one of the thugs shouted, several more giving a cry of agreement as they started advancing on the two exhausted ninja.

-Thukk-

A sharp sound was heard, an arrow embedding itself between the ninjas and the thugs. The thugs looked to the source, to see an absolutely massive army of villagers armed with fishing spears, pipes, and knives lead by Inari and Sakura. Inari held a crossbow and Sakura held a kunai, breathing heavily. "This is our village." Inari stated, his voice cold. "You are not welcome in our village."

Naruto smiled and crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He cried, five copies of himself appeared.

Kakashi nodded and made the same hand sign. "I might not be able to make anything solid with my depleted chakra reserves, but a trick should work just as well." He thought as a sizable group of clones appeared next to him. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The group of common mooks saw the villagers and the multiplying ninja, deciding that fleeing would be a really good idea right now as they turned tail and ran, flinging themselves off the bridge and onto their boats and leaving the village for good.

When the thugs had all fled, Sakura collapsed with exhaustion as half of the villagers vanished in little puffs of smoke.

Kakashi walked up to the fallen Swordsman.

"So it's finally over eh Kakashi?" Zabuza said as he looked up at the Copy-nin.

"Yeah..." Kakashi replied, looking out over the ocean and the clearing mist.

"I need a favor," Zabuza said as he looked toward "I want to see his face."

Kakashi replied as he lowered his headband over his Sharingan. "Of course."

Naruto looked up in surprise as snow drifted down from the heavens as Kakashi carried Zabuza to the body of Haku, laying him down next to his one true friend.

"Are you crying for me?" The swordsman whispered, reaching up to caress the cheek of the boy next to him. "I wish I could go to the same place that you..."

"Something tells me your wish will be granted." Kakashi said as as Zabuza passed.

Tears fell from Naruto before a sick gagging sound echoed through his head. "This is so sappy it makes me want to barf."

The blonde was about to scream at the demon before the sound of Kakashi speaking interrupted his thoughts. "Tazuna, may we use your home to rest up?"

"O-Of Course!" The normally drunk bridge builder stammered out as he watched the sensei of Team Seven walk over to the body of the raven haired ninja.

Kakashi bent down in front of Sasuke surprised to see the last Uchiha's eyes opened a crack.

Sasuke slowly and painfully sat up. "Where's N-Naruto... and that... M-Masked Ninja?"

"Your teammate is okay and our enemies have been defeated." Kakashi said before his voice gained a commanding tone. "Naruto, I need your help."

The blue eyed ninja blinked back tears as he hurried over to Kakashi-sensei. "Sasuke was alive!" he thought to himself, relieved while a horrid voice in his mind made another retching sound.

"Naruto, I need you to help Sasuke back to Tazuna's house." Kakashi ordered. "I'll take Sakura back myself."

A look of worry flashed across the blonde's face. "Is Sakura-chan okay?" he asked, looking up at his sensei as his teammate's arm wrapped around his shoulder.

The Copy-nin eye-smiled at him. "Just a simple case of chakra exhaustion, some bed rest and she will be back on her feet." he explained as he walked over to help Sakura up.

With that, Team Seven started back to Tazuna's House for some well deserved rest.

Author Notes:

So I was working on the chapter when all my work became blank. What turned out to be a simple case of updating the editor was what I thought at the time as an error that got rid of my work before I had saved it. I posted it a bit early to redownload it and complete it.

Thank you for the feedback I have received so far, it means a lot to me.

Yes I got the ordering wrong on those last few scenes, and I made Sakura do something useful.

I see no reason that an illusionary clone can't be transformed to look like someone else.