As Naruto finished telling Tsunade and the rest what happened when he went to face Pein, the crowed that had gathered around him stood in silence. The implications of what Naruto had said weighed heavily on their consciousness. Tsunade and the others looked at Naruto as he stood there facing the ground, at the end of his story they could feel the resolve coming of the boy in waves, it was almost intoxicating.

"Naruto!" Tsunade barked out, startling the young ninja.

"Yeah Baa-chan?"

Tsunade ignored his comment as she continued talking. "Help out with the clean up effort, I'll call for you then were going to sit down and have a long talk, Sakura you help out to. The rest of you do what you can." she said before heading back towards what was left of the Hokage tower.

&

Konan sat quietly as the landscape rolled by below her in an endless sea of green, one had to wonder why they called this the 'Fire nation', sighing she shook her head.

"Was it really meant to be this way?" she whispered as the breeze flowed over her, Yahiko's death, Nagato's death was she really meant to be the last one standing in their little troupe. The day she was caught and Yahiko sacrificed himself for her she was sure that she was going to die.

Rubbing her hand on the paper beast below her, thinking about the two bodies that lay inside it's stomach Konan shook her head slowly, the stinging in her eyes alerted her that she was crying before tears were swept away by the wind.

&

For once in his ninja career Naruto didn't know exactly what to do, his home, his village lay in ruins around him as he helped those trapped in the rubble around him. Sighing as he looked at the carnage, he wondered how exactly Pein was going to accomplish his dream if this was the result of his plan. The world didn't need war that much was true, but if this was the cost was it really worth it?

Kicking aside a stray timber Naruto couldn't but help feel responsible the fate of the village, if the damn fox wasn't sealed in him this might never have happened.

As soon as Naruto thought this he stopped dead, then again if the fox wasn't sealed in him he may never have his father…the Yondaime Hokage. That thought brought a very bitter-sweet felling to Naruto, he was happy he finally knew who is dad was but in all honesty that just brought up more questions that needed answering.

A voice broke Naruto out of his musing, turning to the direction he heard the voice from Naruto saw Shizune running up to him, he was caught off guard when she didn't stop and ran into him, grabbing him in a tight embrace.

Not quite knowing what was going on he reacted on instinct and wrapped his arms around the Med-Nin, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

"Thank you Naruto." Shizune sniffed as the teen she was holding on to finally registered the tears that where quickly forming in her brown orbs.

"Ne Shizune-neechan, what's going on?" Naruto asked as slight stutter in his voice, she was starting to scare him.

Laughing a little, Shizune stepped out of the embrace and gently wiped away the tears that left salty streaks down her face. As she looked back at Naruto he was still standing there looking unsure as to what to do.

"I just wanted to Thank you Naruto-kun, whatever you did to convince Pein to bring those who had fallen back I'm grateful." Shizune said, a smile blossoming in the midst of the wreckage around them.

It took a moment before Shizune's words sunk in, finally getting what she said Naruto's eyes took on a frightened look as he meet Shizune's.

"Shizune-neechan you don't mean?"

"I was for a little while, that's why I'm thankful." Shizune finished closing the gap between them long enough to place a small kiss on his cheek.

Standing there dumfounded Naruto's mouth was moving but no words were managing to come out, laughing again Shizune told him Tsunade wanted to see him in her office before she went her way to help those that needed it.

Taking a few moments to compose himself Naruto made his way to Tsunade's office, or at least what was left.

&

The land below her was gradually losing the lush forests as the trees where quickly being replaced by sparse rocky expanses, Looking at the horizon Konan could already see the looming rain clouds that marked her country so well.

Wind whipped around her causing the flower in her hair to jumble back and forth, at times it tugged her hair uncomfortably but she didn't care. The tears from before had long since dried and grim resolution was left in there place. After she laid Yahiko and Nagato in the only place where they felt like a family again, she would do what she had to in order to fulfill the dreams of those she cared about, given Nagato's trust in the young boy Konan decided she would do her best to help him, but somewhere in her heart, Konan had a feeling that she wouldn't be around to experience it, whether by a enemy or her own hand.

A.N.- Sorry for the long wait, but here is the next chapter for Origami Love, I know it is really, really short but I kinda needed to get back in the story. On a side note I pretty much have the entire story lined up in my head so I will defiantly be getting the updates out sooner. On that note I have the posting dates listed on my Profile if you wanna see when the next update is.

For all of you who reviewed a big THANK YOU for that special thanks to who gave me the site for jutsu's it's a big help.

Challenger thanks for the review and the links to the picture's they were interesting ideals for his clothes, and we'll see if they have any inspiration purposes for Naruto's wardrobe.

I hope you continue to like the story and let me know what you think so far okay.

Zanaso Clramm