Kaibunkage

Arc I

Chapter IV

"Starting with this title, starting with this bond between me and the village, I will become strong and dependable instead of loathed and feared. As the Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure, I will guard the people with my life."

- Godaime Kazekage, Sabuka no Gaara


In three days, Naruto had returned to the Hidden Smoke Village and had given Shion a proper burial. No one, sans Sayuri of course, bothered the Kaibunkage with trivial things after reading his facial expression after returning. While he was not in love with Shion, he still loved her. Her death caused Naruto much grief, nearly twice than what he felt from the Sandaime Hokage's death, and Mei had instructed the Smoke shinobi to come to her with news and information to give Naruto time to grieve.

But there was one piece of information that caused the Shodai Kaibunkage to smother his grief momentarily. Haruno Sakura was in his village, in prison.

So here he was, going to visit the woman locked away. He would have laughed at the irony that the goody-goody Sakura was in prison while he, the troublemaker, was the leader of the village. And while he did not laugh, he still smiled slightly.

"So you got my message," Sakura sat with her back towards the bars, her pink hair cascading on her back. Naruto waited a moment for her response before continuing. "I thought I told you when I left that I was never going back to Konoha."

"I'm not giving you an offer." was the pinkette's response.

Naruto lifted an amuse brow. "Oh? So what are you going to do then?"

Sakura slowly rose to her feet before turning towards Naruto. While he wore his robe and hat, she could still tell that it was Naruto. His voice may have matured, but there was still a resemblance as well as the sapphires she remembered that always looked at her in a loving way.

"I'm going to beat you from here all the way to Konoha. And then you're going to become Hokage." Sakura answered. "And I'm not taking no for an answer this time. Nor am I taking that 'I'm sorry' crap."

Sensing a spike of chakra, the two guards moved in only for Naruto to politely raise his hand.

"Go." the two guards looked at one another before moving away from the two former teammates, knowing that the bars in-between them would be useless if their desire to maim one another actually grew. "You know, Sakura, I was actually planning on leaving the village earlier to relieve some stress. But if you want to be the target of my frustration," Sakura watched Naruto do a single hand seal and the cell opened. "Then by all means, be my guest."

The two stood still for a moment, Sakura contemplating her next move. Realizing that it was now or never, she gave Naruto a small nod and he turned around.

"Then follow me." Naruto said.

Sakura only hesitated for a moment before leaving the cell and following Naruto. Sakura faintly thought about attacking him now but she sensed the guards watching them. She did not want to have to deal with them all and an enraged Naruto. Plus, she knew very little about the terrain so escape was near futile.

"You should've stayed in Konoha." stated the First Smoke Shadow. "This would have never happened if you did."

Sakura smirked. "Hn."

The Uchiha impersonation gave her the response she wanted as she saw Naruto's shoulders tense briefly. They then shook with laugher as the Kaibunkage chuckled.

"That was good," Naruto replied. "Too bad I'm going to have to beat you and send you back to Konoha for that."

"I'd like to see you try."


Sabuka no Gaara was confused. No, this had nothing to do with politics or warfare. This was about how abnormal his assistant was acting. Matsuri, his assistant and secret girlfriend, had been running in and out of his office and speaking at an extremely fast pace. It was as if she was in a rush for some reason…

His attention was then turned towards his brother and sister who stood in front of him with the same strange look that he had. It took them all a moment to realize that Matsuri actually said that the team from Konoha had arrived.

"Man, what's up with her today?" muttered Kankuro.

Gaara gave a small shrug before the door opened to reveal Choji and Shikamaru.

"So, what have you two come for?" Gaara asked.

Shikamaru stepped forward.

"We came to renew our alliance with you." the three siblings all frowned at this. "Our Hokage has been troubled by the Akatsuki and wants to re-"

"No." was Gaara's simple response.

"Please reconsider Lord Kazekage." Choji said.

Gaara gave a stern stare. "Months ago, I asked for help and I was turned down. Not just from Konoha, but from Tsuchi, Kiri, and Kumo as well."

"Let us-"

"However," Choji immediately hushed as Gaara continued. "I have found help against the Akatsuki and I plan to meet them soon."

"Maybe we can join you? Align ourselves with you and the other villages to take out Akatsuki." Choji said.

"The Hidden Leaf would be a good addition to your alliance." added Shikamaru. "We have resources that you once relied on and I'm sure you're going to need them again. We have a high number of shinobi as well as a recovery center within Wave Country just incase our village is breached."

"Danzo must be desperate if he told his men to beg." mocked Kankuro.

"We're not begging." replied Shikamaru before addressing Gaara. "We understand that you're angry about the rejection, and on behalf of Konoha, I'm apologizing for that. However, the Akatsuki is not coming after you only, but for a friend of mine and we have to stop them."

"And what friend would that be?" Temari asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Shikamaru's answer was enough to cause the Kazekage's face to change as much as possible. Instead of the stern look that he had given them, Gaara's expression was now a mixture of concern and hate.

"I will talk to my council," Gaara stated. "Temari, find a place for these two to stay." Temari nodded and Gaara looked at Kankuro. "Retrieve the council members."

"Sure," Kankuro said before looking at Shikamaru. "You're lucky Naruto was-"

"Kankuro…" Gaara interrupted. Even if he did not raise his voice, his current tone was still distinguishable from the tone he used earlier. "Go."

"Hai." Kankuro said before leaving the office.

Temari glanced at the Leaf shinobi. "This way."

Gaara watched his older sister lead the two Leaf shinobi out of his office. He gave a quiet sigh seconds before Matsuri appeared in his doorway. Previous anger and frustration with Konoha were now gone as she made her way into the room, closing the door behind her.

"You've been acting strange. What is it?" Gaara asked.

Matsuri fidgeted a bit. "Well… Um… Gaara-kun, I… We…"

"Suri-chan, just tell me."

Matsuri nodded and took a deep breath.

"We're going to have a baby."

Fortunately for him, no one would ever hear about Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage, the jinchuriki of the One-tailed Tanuki, and one of the most stoic people ever, fainting. Matsuri sure would not tell anyone due to having to reveal why he fainted. Nonetheless, Matsuri knew that she only had up to ten minutes to wake him before the council convened and five minutes before Temari returned.

Sighing, Matsuri realized that it was going to be a long day.


The area was simply beautiful. It was a nice open field with a waterfall and pond in it. Several trees made a natural boundary between the area and the paths to Kemuri and other villages within the Land of Ash. And the way the sun touched the area, it appeared to be a gift from the heavens.

But Sakura saw it a bit differently. It was Naruto's personal training ground. It was the area where the two would do battle at last. And while she did want to do a bit more talking before jumping into a fight, it was about time she completely half of her mission.

Taking a few steps towards the waterfall, Naruto glanced around.

"The last time I battled here," Naruto said. "My genin squad was promoted to chunin. Even if they never technically defeated me, they still were able to work as a team and each one had an effective battle plan, though Sayuri-chan is still a bit edgy." Naruto looked at Sakura. "But I don't think we came all the way out here to chat, did we?"

"No we didn't." responded Sakura. "So take off the robes and let's do this. Like I said, I'm dragging you back to Konoha and I'm going to make you Hokage. Even if I have to kill every single councilman and woman to do so."

Naruto laughed. "Is that what you think? That I, the Kaibunkage, would quit my job to go back to that place? And to think you were the smart one of our team. But," Naruto's laughter quickly ended as he reached for his hat. "It's your dream. Let's see how badly you want it."

Sakura stood patiently as Naruto folded his robes and sat it on a rock, placing his hat on top of it.

"Before we fight, I just have one condition," Sakura stated. "No Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"What?" Naruto questioned.

"I said no Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. Everything else is okay." Sakura paused. "That is, if you think you can beat me without using it."

"I don't think I can. I know I can." Naruto said.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Sakura asked.

"Bring it Forehead." Naruto taunted with a small smile.

The insult seemed to have worked as Sakura came at Naruto with amazing speeds. In seconds, she was directly in front of him, throwing a kick towards his head. Naruto brought a forearm to block said kick, but truly underestimated the power behind it as he was sent sliding towards the water. Sakura came at him again, this time by jumping into the air with a fist cocked. Naruto jumped backwards to avoid the punch and watched the ground crater beneath her fist.

"Damn you Tsunade…" Naruto muttered as he did a few hand seals. Naruto inhaled, forming a sphere of wind in front of him, before exhaling, launching the sphere towards Sakura (Wind Release: Compressed Shockwave).

"Shit." Sakura said dodging the attack. However, once the sphere hit the ground, it released a small explosion of wind that pushed her back farther. "I see. He doesn't have to hit me with that move for it to hurt."

Sakura then did hand seals of her own before inhaled and exhaling a large fireball towards Naruto (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu).

With ease, Naruto dodged the attack and ran directly for Sakura. Seeing this, Sakura ended her fire-based attack in time to dodge the punch thrown by Naruto. She countered with one of her own, only for the evasive Smoke Shadow to dodge himself. This only infuriated Sakura and she continued to throw punch after punch at Naruto who danced around her.

"You're making this too easy." Naruto taunted before flipping backwards. "Come on, Sakura, show me what you've learned."

A shoulder met Naruto's back and he was sent sliding across the landscape. The Sakura that he was staring at dispelled in a puff of smoke and he turned his head angrily at the real pinkette.

"That new enough?"

Growling, Naruto stood up and glared at his former teammate. That is, until her eyes gave an appealing glow and the anger on her face became loving.

"Oh Naru-kun," cooed Sakura. "How about you just come over here and we settle this like grownups?"

Naruto nodded slowly as his body began to move towards Sakura in a trance. Sakura only smiled. Naruto was never one for genjutsu. And as soon as he was in her striking range, she planted a poisonous kiss on his cheek. Not enough to kill him, but surely enough to knock him out.

"Nighty-night, Naruto." Sakura said.

"You know," stated the blond's voice from behind her. "I've always wanted to know just how you do that. Now that I've found out, I've got to say. That's pretty slutty of you."

Sakura turned an angry face to Naruto before looking at the one she kissed. In a puff of smoke, the downed Naruto became a rather large dead fish.

"Ack!" Sakura said spitting onto the ground. "You bastard!"

Naruto chuckled. "Call it payback."

And with that, Naruto sent Sakura flying backwards with a strong left punch. Sakura rolled onto her feet before firing several of needles at Naruto from her mouth (Prepared Needle Shot). While dodging them, Naruto tossed a handful of kunai at Sakura. Sakura simply dodged right, moving towards the surrounding forest.

"Bitch…" Naruto muttered before launching another Compressed Shockwave in Sakura's direction.

Sakura took cover behind a few trees, feeling the wind blow past her. She wanted to appear to be running so Naruto would give chase. The reason? During her training with Kurenai, she learned the differences in her fighting range and Naruto's. Sakura felt comfortable at a small distance where she could punch the ground and throw her opponent off balance or use a genjutsu and then go in for the kill while Naruto could stand toe-to-toe with someone.

"You're pathetic." Sakura's head snapped up to see Naruto in the form of Uchiha Sasuke, sitting on a tree branch. "And here I thought you at least grew somewhere… You're still as flat as a board."

Sakura huffed. While she was not as busty as her former mentor Tsunade, or Hinata, she surely was not flat-chested. And she was nowhere near what she once was.

"You'll pay for that baka!" Sakura called as she charged for the tree Naruto was sitting in.

The Kaibunkage raised a dark eyebrow as Sakura gripped the base of the tree before ripping it from the ground. When she tossed the tree aside, she was not surprised that Naruto had moved from his spot. She then picked up on her former teammate coming for her.

Dodging and back stepping, Sakura could see the fury in Naruto's eyes as he attempted to slash her with his trench knives. Sakura doubted that this was half of Naruto's true power, but then again, she did not want to see his full strength either.

Naruto threw a blow with his chakra blade, hoping to slice Sakura's neck completely. He was thoroughly surprised when the pink-haired kunoichi fused with the tree behind her and his attack slashing at the bark. Naruto turned around, expecting a sneak attack only to see the top half of Sakura's body coming from above him while her lower half seemed to still be within the tree. Naruto dodged the kunai in her hand and did a few hand seals. Building a great amount of chakra within his blades, he gave a wave with his hands and created a powerful gust of wind that knocked several trees down (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough).

After the dust settled Naruto looked around the destroyed area for any signs of Sakura. His answer came when he heard a crack from beneath him that caused him to look downwards, just in time to see Sakura emulate the same maneuver he used on Neji at the Chunin Exams. Naruto was sent flipping into the air after the powerful uppercut and landed in a tree, breaking several branches before crashing onto the ground. Naruto shook his head before realizing that his trench knives had fallen off somewhere in-between the punch and his landing.

"I'm not done yet!" Sakura said.

Naruto was surprised that the woman was that closed to him that fast. She grabbed his collar and slung him back towards the waterfall. Naruto's back crashed into the rocky wall behind the waterfall and he collapsed onto his knee.

"So you have grown stronger," stated the Kaibunkage. "Too bad you're still too weak."

Sakura watched as Naruto stood up as if that attack did nothing. She gave a grunt before grabbing a kunai from her pocket and wrapping it with a Lightning Seal.

"I know the one move that you can't learn," Sakura said pumping a large amount of chakra into the seal. Naruto watched as the lightning began to cackle before the sound of chirping birds was heard. "And I've learned it to take you down!"

Naruto was shocked beyond words. A Lightning Seal plus a standard kunai and then a ton of chakra to form a Chidori… He would have never thought of that.

He smirked. "That gives the term 'Lightning Blade' a whole new meaning."

Sakura only came towards Naruto, her right hand clutching the kunai tightly.

"Eat this!" Sakura shouted. "Chidori!"

Naruto quickly grabbed her right wrist and twisted it, causing her to yelp and drop the kunai.

"I learned how to counter that, years ago." Naruto said before he felt a surge of pain from his right shoulder. He looked to see another lightning-infused kunai lodged into his shoulder.

"So have I." replied Sakura before Naruto released her and she moved backwards.

Naruto reached up and grabbed the kunai before throwing it down. Whether that was the real deal or not did not matter to him at the moment. What did was taking Sakura down. And with right arm severely injured, he would have to do it with one hand basically.

With one simple mental command to a distant Shadow Clone, Naruto dispelled it and instantly went into Sage Mode. Sakura only watched momentarily before activating the Yin Seal Release. Naruto quickly charged for Sakura. Sakura braced herself as Naruto threw a punch. She dodged the physical blow, only for an unseen force knock her off of her feet.

Naruto watched Sakura's body bounce and slide on the ground before coming to a stop. Once more, he ran through a series of hand seals before inhaling. Sakura stood up and saw two clones appear beside him before the trio unleashed an oil, fire, and wind attack that raced for Sakura's position (Sage Art: Goemon). Sakura began running away from the attack, hearing heated oil burn trees that were behind her. Thinking quickly, she did three hand seals and infused herself with the ground (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique).

Naruto ended his attack and looked around. Once more, the pink-haired woman was nowhere in sight. He was getting slightly annoyed by that. One with such a noticeable feature such as pink-hair could hide so well. It truly was annoying.

Dispelling his clones and stepping onto the pond's surface he watched the flames of the oil slowly die. His eyes narrowed as he inspected the area before dodging left, Sakura's second uppercut missing by inches.

With the water's splash as a diversion and Naruto off balance from the sneak attack, Sakura went in for the attack while using the Chakra Scalpel in order to disable her opponent. Recognizing the glow around Sakura's hands, Naruto began to dodge the attacks, careful not to be touched. He remembered his battle with Kabuto years ago all too well.

"Stay still so I can knock you out already!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto smirked. At least Inner Sakura had remained the same throughout the years.


Fuuma Sassame was one of the few jonin who hardly ever left the village of Kemuri for missions. She had thought that she had taken the easy way out of doing courier missions, which she hated, by becoming a teacher at the academy. Of course, Naruto had to place her with the younger children. So here she was trying to get those little demons to quiet down.

Again.

Sighing, Sasame began counting down in her head.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One-

The sound of a distant explosion caused the orange-haired woman to pause. And just when she was going to snap on those little brats too.

"What's going on Sasame-sensei?" a little boy by the name of Hirameki Hayairu asked.

"It's probably nothing." replied Sasame, though her gut-feeling was the exact opposite. "If anything were to happen, the Kaibunkage and other jonin of our village will protect us."

"Isn't that Shiori-chan's dad?" Hayairu asked.

Sasame looked at the quiet blonde girl. "Yeah… It is."

Shiori's eyes were focused on the window, making Sasame sweat a bit. If Shiori began to panic, her bell would activate, creating a shield that would push all that Shiori did not trust away. And at the current time, there was no one that the girl trusted. And if the worst should happen and Shiori's worry and fear turned into an offensive attack instead of defensive one, the other students would be sliced in half by one ray of pink light.

Sasame then sensed three jonin-leveled shinobi moving past the school. Something was up, she knew it now. She was seconds away from excusing herself and stepping out to check before Mei was at the door.

"Lady Mei, what're you doing here?" asked Sasame.

"Whoa, cool! It's the strongest kunoichi in Kemuri!" a girl called as she pointed at Mei.

Mei smiled. "What are you talking about? The strongest kunoichi is your sensei, Fuuma Sasame." Sasame blushed at the compliment. There was no doubt in her or anyone else's mind that Mei could wipe the floor with any and every other kunoichi in the village and could take most of the men out as well, safe for one or two. "Shiori-chan, would you come with me for a moment?"

Seeing her dubbed grandmother, the young blonde hopped out of her seat and made her way to Mei, a small smile on her face.

Mei gently took Shiori's hand and looked at Sasame.

"We'll be back soon. I just wanted to talk to her for a moment."

"Sure. No problem." said Sasame with one thought.

One brat down, fourteen more to go.


Naruto and Sakura were both panting lightly. Sakura's Yin Seal Release was nearing its end while Naruto was out of Sage Mode.

Naruto stood up straight. "That was close, eh Sakura?"

Sakura would have responded, but she was too busy trying to catch her breath to use her next move. A move that was more advance and more taxing than the Yin Seal Release, the Yang Seal Release. The technique had results that were akin to the Yin Seal Release mixed with opening the Gate of Life.

"Are you done?" Naruto asked the woman.

Sakura took in a deep breath and poked her forehead, muttering the word "Release" under her breath. Naruto watched as a fiery orange tribal seal took up Sakura's face, much like the Yin Seal Release. Her skin began to turn into a pinkish-red color as well. Her chakra increased at an exponential rate that caused the Kaibunkage to curse silently.

He hated drawing out power from the fox, but he had to now.

Sakura vanished in a quick burst of speed, causing Naruto to blink before her knee was planted in his stomach. In one swift move, Sakura spun and kicked Naruto in the face, sending him flying towards the forested area behind him. Before Naruto had time to react, an elbow was in his back before a fist sent him flying into the air.

Reverse Lotus, thought the Shodai as blinding flashes of pink began to assault him at a high rate of speed, knocking several of loose kunai from his pocket.

Sakura would have joked about hitting someone so hard that their kunai fell out of their pockets, but she was about to finish this battle once and for all.

"Reverse Lotus!" Sakura shouted as she attempted to land the finishing blow on Naruto before he vanished. "Wha-"

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted from above Sakura, shoving the attack into her back.

The two bodies darted towards the ground where Naruto was able to land on his feet, his opponent flat on her stomach. Naruto spun one of his special made kunai around a finger.

"It's over Sakura. Give up." stated Naruto.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as Sakura began to rise to her feet. Even without the Kyubi or Sage Mode, he could tell that she was near her end. Sakura reached to her face and wiped some of the blood from her lips before doing hand seals. Seeing the seals, Naruto jumped back while doing the same thing.

"Summoning Jutsu!" the two called simultaneously.


Ranmaru had led two other jonin to the area where the disturbance was said to be. Using his dojutsu, he scanned the area and found his former sensei atop of Gamabunta against Sakura and her summon.

"It's just Naruto-sensei," Ranmaru said to the other two. "We should return back to our regular posts. He's fine."

"Are you sure?" one of the other two asked.

Ranmaru nodded. "Positive. Let's go."

"Hai!" the others said before following Ranmaru away from the area.


Naruto stood with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"Naruto… Do you see what she has summoned?" Gamabunta questioned. "Even in his prime, Jiraiya could not defeat that thing."

Sakura smirked. "Not afraid to fight Ibuse, are you Naruto?"

Naruto opened his red eyes, glaring at Sakura.

"Don't worry about it Boss Toad. I don't know how she even got the salamander summoning contract, but I doubt she knows how to use it very well." Naruto said.

Gamabunta released smoke from his pipe.

"Just incase she does," the large toad revealed his tantō. "I suggest you go into Sage Mode now."

"…" Naruto stood quietly as he watched Sakura doing a series of hand seals.

"Now Ibuse!" Sakura ordered.

The large salamander shot out a powerful mist of poison before Sakura ignited the mist on fire, the purple flames coming for Naruto and Gamabunta (Fire Release: Salamander Flame Jutsu). Gamabunta jumped high into the air.

"Let's give them a taste of their own medicine." Naruto said doing hand seals.

"Right!" responded the Boss Toad before firing oil towards Sakura and Ibuse.

Naruto shot out a small stream of fire that ignited the oil (Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet).

Seeing the attack coming for the air, Sakura gave the command for Ibuse to dig, which the salamander did, taking its current summoner with it. Naruto and Gamabunta landed in the pond, sending a wave of water onto the shore around it.

"Those purple flames," Naruto said pointing. "If we get too close to those and inhale, we'll be poisoned. We have to put it out, now."

Gamabunta nodded before launching a Water Release: Gunshot towards the purple flames. The flames were extinguished in a matter of seconds, but the absence of Sakura made Naruto frown.

"What's taking her so long to attack?" questioned Naruto.

"Orochimaru was right." Gamabunta stated.

"Right about what?" Naruto asked.

"When we fought Ibuse many years ago," explained the toad. "Orochimaru realized that it took Ibuse time to regenerate the poison it stores. And when it's finished, it will rise from the ground and surprise its opponent, either by swallowing them whole or spewing the mist from its mouth."

"So we have to go down there and drag them up here." Naruto said.

"That would be foolish, Naruto." Gamabunta chastised.

Naruto hopped off of Gamabunta. "I've been known to be a bit foolish."

Gamabunta was going to say something else to the young kage, but he had pursued Sakura and Ibuse into the small hole in the ground.

"Still as stubborn as ever, huh gaki?" the large toad questioned with mirth.


"So do we all agree?" asked Gaara. There were six nods around the small table before Gaara signaled Temari to allow Shikamaru and Choji to enter. "Nara Shikamaru, this is for your Hokage."

Kankuro presented Shikamaru with a scroll.

"Are you going to help us?" Choji asked.

"The answer is in that scroll." Gaara answered. "Make sure that Danzo gets it."

"Hai." Shikamaru replied before glancing at the small council. He then looked at Choji. "Alright Choji, let's get back to the village."

"Right Shikamaru." Choji responded before the two began to make their way out of the room.

"Nara," Choji and Shikamaru stopped at the Kazekage's voice. "About what you said about Uzumaki Naruto… I hope you do find him in time."

The statement made Shikamaru realize that the Sunagakure council had rejected the offer. Still, he nodded in appreciation and left with Choji.

After he was sure they were gone, Gaara rose from his seat.

"Where are you headed, Kazekage?" Chiyo asked.

"…There is something else that requires my attention." was all Gaara said as he left.

No one dared followed because of the tone he used. It clearly said "follow and die" something no one was going to disobey.

"I wonder what it is." Kankuro said to Temari.

"He'll tell us later. Hopefully." Temari replied.


Naruto appeared atop of Gamabunta head.

"Jump!" Naruto said/ordered.

Gamabunta launched himself into the air, seconds before Ibuse's head shot from the pond in an attempt to bite Gamabunta. Naruto saw Saukra take in a deep breath and did hand seals as well. The two former members of Team Seven along with their respective summons fired their fire collaboration attack at one another, Sakura and Ibuse using the Salamander Flame Jutsu and Naruto and Gamabunta, the Toad Oil Flame Bullet. Naruto was surprised that Sakura still had so much chakra left over to maintain the attack, but his mind was then turned to gravity. He and Gamabunta had begun to descend back towards the ground.

Thinking quickly, Naruto placed a hand on Gamabunta's head and concentrated. And to Sakura's surprise, the large toad and Naruto disappeared in a thin line of smoke.

"No way…" Sakura said before dodging Naruto's right fist. But like before, she was still hit by the invisible force that had begun to irritate her.

Ibuse, recognizing its master on the ground and not the person on its head, began to kick and flail about, trying to knock Naruto off of its head.

"I've had about enough of you," Naruto said as two clones helped him form a gigantic Rasegan. "Giant Rasengan!"

"Kai!" Sakura said quickly, dispelling Ibuse before any damage could be done.

Naruto's attack dug into the ground, rocks and other debris flying everywhere. Sakura shielded herself as best as she could, the wind slowly pushing her farther and farther away from Naruto. When it was finally over, she saw Naruto standing where Ibuse once was, a large crater around him. The sweat on his forehead gave her the notion to do one final attack, but with Gamabunta waiting for a move, it would be easier said than done. Seeing Sakura's eyes on the large toad, Naruto gave Gamabunta a nod and the toad dispelled himself.

"I don't want to beat you that way." Naruto said.

Sakura produce another kunai and infused it with a Lightning Seal. This time, the lightning took up her entire arm, the kunai becoming a beacon of white light. Naruto formed a sphere of wind in his hand, adding his elemental affinity to the already powerful Rasengan.

"I'm not going to lose!" Sakura shouted as she ran towards Naruto at high speeds. "Lightning Blade!"

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he thrust the attack forwards.

The two attacks met, much like they once did at the Valley of the End. Remembering that moment and his mistake, Naruto pushed forward with the attack instead of settling with leaving a scratch on Sakura's forehead. Sakura watched as Naruto's attack began to push through until it reached the kunai. The blade began to be ripped by the attack and she was forced to let it go or let her arm go with it. But Naruto did not stop. He pushed the attack into Sakura's stomach, sending her backwards into a tree, knocking it over.

Naruto stood panting. "That's it."

"N-no…" Sakura replied as she began crawling towards Naruto. He stared at her angrily. "I… I w-want go… B-back on-" Sakura was interrupted by a cough of blood. "My word."

The pinkette rose on shaken legs. Taking two Rasengan while using both the Yin Seal Release and Yang Seal Release to their maximum would be considered deadly to anyone, Sakura included. But she would will herself on until she had Naruto back in Konoha and then Sasuke.

Naruto walked towards Sakura.

"Why won't you just stay down?" roared the Kaibunkage.

Sakura raised a hand and threw a punch at Naruto. The punch landed on Naruto's face, but it did very little damage. Naruto's now blue eyes stared into Sakura's green ones, fury in the former's while determination in the latter's. Sakura landed a slap on Naruto that sounded a lot more painful than it actually was.

"Fight me!" the pinkette challenged before being bent over Naruto's leg after a powerful kick.

"Sakura… You're done." Naruto said before allowing her to fall onto the ground. Naruto was seconds away from finding his dropped kunai, chakra blades, and kage garments before he felt something tugging at his pants' leg. He looked down to see that Sakura was pulling herself up using his pants. "…"

"No matter how hard you hit me… I'll always get back up… Baka…" Sakura stated as she pulled herself up to her head was on his chest. "You'll have to kill me… To stop me from… Living my dream…"

"And what is that dream, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"You as the rightful Hokage…" Sakura paused. "Sasuke as ANBU captain…" Sakura coughed up more blood. "And I… Won't be considered dead-weight… Not by you… And not… By Sasuke."

Naruto created a Five Elements Seal on his right hand and placed it on Sakura's forehead. Sakura felt her body grow numb before falling backwards, only for Naruto to catch her. Before she was completely unconscious, she swore she saw the smiling orange jumpsuit-wearing Naruto in front of her instead of the hardened glare of the Kaibunkage.

Naruto created two clones, his maximum at the moment, to gather the kunai and clothes in the area. He then lifted Sakura up and vanished.


Sumaru nodded and the Demon Country knight left his office, leaving Sumaru and Hokuto alone.

"Something is wrong." announced the Hoshikage to his wife.

Hokuto frowned. "What is it?"

"Naruto's seals had been taken off prior the attack," Sumaru said. "Something only someone already inside of the palace can do."

"Do you think it was one of the knights?" Hokuto asked.

Sumaru shrugged. "I don't know, but as soon as I return from meeting up with Naruto and the Kazekage, I'll send a team to investigate it. Something just doesn't add up."

"Right." Hokuto said.


Author's Note: I tried posting this yesterday but something was wrong with the site or my computer, I don't know really. Review and let me know what you think.