Akatsuki no Naruto

by Takeshi1225

During a mission Naruto sacrificed his life to save his teammates, but was saved by Obito Uchiha. Now declared dead in his home village Naruto is recruited into The Akatsuki, a group of S-Classed missing-nin dedicated to peace by eradicating corruption. Knowing the truth of the shinobi world Naruto is dedicated to bringing peace to the world, will he be able to do it? NaruSakuHarem

4. Saving the moonlight

Akatsuki no Naruto

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Naruto

Chapter 4: Clash of wind and lightning under the moonlight

At home, Rin was washing the dishes humming a lovely tune with a smile on her face. It had been three months now since she told Obito and Naruto about her pregnancy; well really it was Naruto who figured it out, but still. Her stomach had grown since then; she was showing and now had a bump. Naruto had also been going on more missions, and helping the Akatsuki by bringing in new members who were very skilled; in fact, she pretty much adopted one. Rin smiled remembering the story of how Naruto and Obito found her.

/

Hashi and Tobi were dashing through trees after an assassination mission.

"You've gotten very handy with that blade of yours Hashi." Tobi said.

"It's all thanks to Zabuza." Hashi said gripping the handle of his blade, Shokan. As they continued jumping, Hashi had stopped onto a branch. Tobi stopped as well, noticing Hashi's halt.

"Something bothering you." Tobi asked as he turned to his demon masked pupil. Hashi looked down to see a young girl sitting under the tree he was atop.

She had crimson eyes, fair skin, red shoulder-length hair that was in an unusual style: her hair is short and spiky on the right side, while longer and straight on the left side. She wore brown glasses, beige short sleeve haori, mesh shirt, a black skirt, kunai holster strapped around her leg, and standard shinobi sandals.

Hashi felt this girl was familiar… could she be?

"Hashi?" Tobi said his pupil's name again. Hashi then jumped down to the floor. Tobi looked down to see Hashi in front of a girl with red hair. 'Red hair? Could she be…' Tobi thought.

The red haired girl looked up to see a man wearing a lower-half mask and a straw hat atop his head.

"Ohayo." The man greeted the girl with an eye smile and tipping his hat. The girl was scared of the new comer, but then she saw a fox kit pop his head out of the man's black cloak. The fox jumped out of his hiding spot and walked up to the girl. The girl had her eyes fixated on the little fox kit, wondering if he would bite, but he surprised her by jumping onto her and licking her face. The girl started giggling, then that giggling turned into laughter as the fox kit's kisses started to tickle. "I see Mamoru already likes you." The man said. The girl looked up to him to see him crouched down in front of her. "What's your name?" he asked. The girl was a little weary of the man, but as the fox kit rubbed himself against her eased her nerves.

"K-Karin" the girl, now known as Karin stuttered.

"Do you have a last name?" the man asked. Karin was hesitant to give him her surname. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." The man said. Karin was still weary, because she sensed some darkness within him, but as she focused more on the man, she sensed a warm and incredible feel to him that amazed and dazzled her. She felt she could trust this man. "Uzumaki." Karin told him. The man and fox's eyes widened.

"Uzumaki? You're… an Uzumaki?" the man said with shock. Karin nodded in response, weary of his shock. Suddenly, the man suddenly embraced her in a tight hug. Karin was shocked at the sudden embrace.

"An Uzumaki… like me." The man said. Karin was shocked at the news. "I finally found one of my own clan." The man said with a lone tear going down his eye.

"Who are you?" Karin asked. The man separated Karin.

"Sorry, guess I should introduce myself." The man said. He then took off his straw hat and mask to reveal his identity. Karin was shocked at the sight of the left side his face being crushed and burnt from the neck area, but his scars actually made him look attractive, along with his sun kissed blonde hair, cerulean eyes and whisker marks on his cheeks; the ones on the left side of his face were intact. "My name is Naruto, and even though I may not look like it, I am an Uzumaki as well." Naruto said. Karin was once again shocked.

"You're an Uzumaki… just like me?" Karin said. Naruto nodded in confirmation. Karin then started to cry. Naruto started to worry.

"Hey, Karin, are you alr-" Naruto was interrupted by a sudden hug from Karin. Karin held Naruto close to her as she cried on his shoulder.

"I'm not alone… not anymore…" Karin said sobbing as she held Naruto in a tight embrace. Naruto smiled as he gently wrapped his arms around Karin.

"Don't worry Karin. I promise from now on I'll be here for you." Naruto said with a smile. He only just met this girl and all he knows about her is her name and that they were from the same clan, but that didn't matter, he didn't care if she was an enemy for all he knew; all he cared about was being there for her, because like her, he knew the pain of feeling alone.

Tobi looked down with a smile behind his mask. 'Looks like you found another one of your own Naruto, and probably another member for our cause.'

/

Once Karin came to the Akatsuki she became truly happy. She was the Akatsuki's most skilled sensor type shinobi, making her very valuable to the organization, especially considering that not only was she an Uzumaki, but she also worked with Orochimaru; bitterly really, considering she despised the man.

Apparently Orochimaru was working on a cloning project with some sort of strange material that Karin heard were some kind of cells. Orochimaru was slowly proving himself to become a real threat, but going after the jinchuriki was still a mystery as to why? Does he wish to use them to destroy Konoha? Was he trying to unlock the power of the sage of the six paths? Or was there something else behind all this?

"Morning Rin." Karin greeted her adoptive mother.

"Morning Karin." Rin said with a smile.

"Do you need help?" Karin asked.

"No, I'm fine." Rin said still washing the dishes.

"Well I'm going to help anyway." Karin said. The girl then assisted her adoptive mother with a smile on her face. Karin had only met Rin about two months and a week ago, but she absolutely adored her and like Naruto she saw both Rin like a mother and Obito like a father whole heartedly. "By the way, where's Obito?" Karin asked.

"Oh, he's with Yahiko doing some important stuff as usual." Rin said turning to her adopted daughter.

"And Naruto?" Karin asked.

"Like you really need to ask?" Rin said.

/

Naruto was in the middle of the training ground with his eyes closed and Shokan on his back clinging onto it without the need of a strap, thanks to it being connected to Naruto's chakra, it can stay attached to it's creator. Naruto started to breathe in and out calmly as he let the chakra flow freely within his body. Naruto then brought both his hands together into a ram seal as he started to focus his chakra. As Naruto steadily concentrate, a root had started appearing from out of the ground. The root started growing, coming up out of the ground. Naruto's face was scrunched up as he concentrated on the root in front of him. As the root became bigger, a second one started to grow, and then a third had appeared out of the ground. The three roots had started to entwine with each other. As it grew and grew, the roots started to become one and start to grow branches with leaves coming out of them. After a few moments, the roots had become one big tree. Naruto seperated his hands from each other, wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the new tree he had just created.

"Looks like you're doing well with the Mokuton, eh?" Obito said walking up to him.

"Oh, hey Obito." Naruto greeted his mentor. He then turned to the newly created tree he had just made. "It does look pretty good, huh?" Naruto said with a smile.

"Keep it up, and who knows? You could probably surpass your ancestor." Obito said.

"I don't really think I'll outdo great, great grandpa Hashirama." Naruto said. "So what's up?"

"A new mission has just come up, and I think it's best that you were to be a part of it." Obito said. Naruto nodded as he then followed his mentor back to the base.

/

"Tsukiakari no mura?" (Moonlight village) Naruto said. "Isn't that where… Akiko lives?" Naruto asked.

"That is correct." Yahiko said. "Apparently, it has been taken over by Oto. There they are using Tsukiakari as a base of operation, and keeping Toru Yurio there as well."

"Yurio? As in like Kaizo Yurio? That Dead Piece Of Scum Had A Relative That Likes To Work With Oto, Too?!" Naruto yelled.

"Yes. Toru Yurio is Kaizo's twin brother, and he is just like him in every way, except he also sells contraband." Obito informed Naruto. Naruto clenched his hands tightly at the news.

'If this guy is just like his brother, than he'll probably…' Naruto shook his head from the thought of what could happen to Akiko. "Okay, I'm in." Naruto said with a steely gaze.

"You'll be sent in with a team to go in, kill Toru, eliminate all oto bases and the head of the oto-nin who is running the village, along with any other oto-nin you encounter; losing their benefactor, their safe houses and their strongest member will most likely send them packing." Yahiko said. Naruto nodded in response.

"Who are the members of my team?" Naruto asked.

"The team will be composed of Zabuza Momochi, Haku Yuki, Fu and Karin." Yahiko said.

"Karin?! Not to go against your orders sir, but why Karin? I know she is the best at sensing chakra, but aren't you sure there is another?" Naruto asked worried about the red head he had met over two months ago. Over the time that Karin had joined the Akatsuki, Naruto had started seeing her like a sister; and he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

"Naruto, I know you care an awful lot about Karin and her safety, but in our line of work and for the success of missions, we must put our personal feelings aside, do you understand?" Obito said. Naruto still didn't like it, but he knew his mentor was right.

"Yes sensei." Naruto said. "But aren't you afraid of what Rin will do when she hears your sending her in as well?" Naruto asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sure she'll be… cooperative." Obito said.

/

"YOU BAKA!" Rin yelled as she threw a metal pot at Obito. Obito managed to duck in time, but he then had to roll away as Rin tried to slam a frying pan on him. "YOU ARE IN FOR IT NOW OBITO!" Rin yelled as she then started chasing Obito, trying to hit him with a frying pan. As Rin was chasing her fiancé around with a frying pan, Naruto and Karin were sitting at the table with Mamoru, as they let the two lovebirds settle their relationship problem.

"I'm a little nervous, Naruto." Karin said to the blonde. Over time, the two saw each other like siblings, always there for each other and helping one another.

"I know… so am I." Naruto said. Karin was surprised.

"You are?" Karin asked.

"Well, yeah. I always am, because I'm afraid of failing the mission, the Akatsuki… and my precious people." Naruto told her. Karin was shocked; she always thought that Naruto was the most fearless shinobi of their generation. "Karin." Naruto said, getting the red head's attention. "Whatever happens on this mission, I'll be there watching your back." Naruto said. Karin blushed and smiled at her surrogate brother's words.

"Naruto, it's nice of you to say that, but I'm sure I can take care of myself. I mean, you've already promised me so much, like trying to find my sister and convince her to join Akatsuki, helping me get stronger… and you accepted me." Karin said. She then felt Naruto place a hand on her shoulder, and as she turned to him, she saw him smile at her.

"Well that's what family is for, sis." Naruto said. Karin was surprised, but she then smiled at him. As they were having their sweet brother and sister moment, Obito went underneath the table, cowering in fear.

"A TABLES NOT GOING TO SAVE YOU!" Rin shouted as she was at the table.

"Rin, don't punish Obito, I think he didn't want to put Karin on this mission, because he knew how you would feel for putting her on such a dangerous one." Naruto said, trying to be the voice of reason. "If you want to punish someone, punish Yahiko, he's the leader." Naruto said.

"Y-yes, Naruto is right Rin-chan. I swear I didn't want to put our sweet Karin on such a very dangerous mission such as this; it was all Yahiko's idea!" Obito quickly said, hoping Rin would buy it. Rin still glared at Obito for a moment, before she sighed. Rin then turned to Naruto with hopeful eyes.

"Naruto, please promise me that you'll keep Karin safe, and that you both will come back safe." Rin pleaded to her surrogate son.

"Of course Rin-chan, I promise." Naruto promised his surrogate mother.

"Can I come out now?" Obito asked, in fear for his life.

"Yeah, I'm sure Rin has calmed down." Naruto said. Obito then carefully came out from under the table, only to get hit in the head with Rin's frying pan. "Then again, I don't really understand women." Naruto said scratching the back of his head, while looking at Rin and Karin giggle, and Mamoru snickered at the sight of Obito with a bump on his head.

/

Naruto and Karin were both in their cloaks and had met up with their team.

"You're finally here. And I see you brought Shokan." Zabuza said.

"I don't go anywhere without him." Naruto said looking at his sword. Shokan had proven to be an excellent weapon. Shokan is powerful, quick with it's strikes, it can send incredible wind strikes with the use of Naruto's chakra, and also Kurama's when used as a last resort, but it has also an even greater feat.

(I'm saving that for later; I like to call it insurance, so that way you guys will stick around, he, he, he)

"Well then, if we're all set, let's head out." Zabuza said as he pulled his hood over his head. Everyone else did so, except for Naruto who put on his lower-half mask and straw hat. The five then jumped into the trees and made their way towards Tsukiakari.

/

They had been traveling for hours, Naruto kept looking on ahead with a steely gaze, but he felt the need to turn his head to see how Karin was doing. Karin was trying to keep up the pace as the four, but suddenly a branch she landed off broke off from the tree, making her fall. Karin screamed as she fell down straight for the ground, but she never met the ground; she opened her eyes to see that Naruto had saved her and held her bridal style.

"You okay, imoto?" Naruto asked.

"Who Are You Calling Little Sister?! I'm Older Than You!" Karin yelled with an annoyed look.

"Yeah, you're alright." Naruto said with a smile. A kage bushin appeared next to Naruto and grabbed Karin, allowing Naruto to seal Shokan into the seal on his back that he used to keep it safe, then the clone placed Karin onto Naruto's back, before dispelling. As Karin was placed onto Naruto's back, Naruto put his arms around Karin's legs. "Hold on." Naruto said. He then jumped up to the tree, and saw that the others were waiting for him. "Sorry about that, but don't worry, we're ready to-" but Naruto stopped speaking as he felt some sort of liquid down his arm; he looked to his right arm to see blood on it. Naruto saw that Karin's leg was bleeding. "Karin, you're bleeding." Naruto said.

"It's alright Naruto, I'll be fine." Karin said.

"No, we have to get that injury healed." Naruto said.

"He's right Karin-chan, it is best to heal it as for it not to be infected. There is a shop farther ahead; we can tend to your injury there." Haku said. The group then resumed jumping through the trees.

/

The group then made it to the shop that Haku had spoken about.

"The Curry Of Life?" Fu read the sign that said the name of the place.

"Sweet, I'm pretty hungry actually, dattebayo." Naruto said. He then walked inside to meet a short old woman.

"Oh, hello there; welcome to 'The Curry of Life', I am Sansho." The old woman greeted them. The woman had glasses, to long strands of her hair framed the side of her face, and a cap on, a scarf around her neck, an orange sleeveless kimino top over a sleeveless white shirt, a blue apron, orange pants and sandals.

"Ohayo, my sister here was injured on the way here, do you mind if I tend to her wounds here?" Naruto asked.

"Why of course you can, and would you like some curry?" Sansho asked.

"Yes, please, that would be nice; also I hope you don't mind a few extra people." Naruto said.

"Oh not at all, the more the merrier." Sansho said with a smile.

"Arigatou." Naruto thanked the old woman. Naruto took Karin to the counter and placed her on a seat. As Naruto placed Karin into the seat, light surrounded his back and as it faded, it revealed his sword Shokan back onto his back. Fu and Haku went inside the shop to see Naruto examining Karin's leg. Naruto saw that Karin had a gash that went down the side of her leg. "A little of Kurama's chakra will heal this up." Naruto's hand was then covered in golden flames, as he placed it over Karin's cut. Karin flinched at the contact of her surrogate brother's bijuu's chakra.

"You know, I can heal the injury myself, after all Rin has taught me some medical ninjutsu." Karin said.

"I know, but you're still my sister and I'll always be worrying about you and do anything to help you." Naruto said smiling at her. Karin smiled back. Naruto can be annoying with his overprotective nature for her, but she couldn't help but smile at the fact that he cared for her so much; it made her happy that someone cared so much for her. As the wound had healed, Naruto called for the old shop keeper. "Um, excuse me Lady Sansho, but may I borrow a rag and some water, and some bandages if you have any."

"Of course, dear boy." Sansho said as she moved from her curry pot to find the items the young blonde had requested. Fu and Haku had sat at the counter as well and looked at Naruto. The two smiled at the blonde boy; he was so kind and considerate of others, always putting others before himself. Those were the qualities of the kind of man that the girls like, and Fu and Haku couldn't help but like Naruto. It was very obvious in the Akatsuki that the two had feelings for Naruto, except for Naruto himself, the kid could never figure out when someone had a thing for him. "Here you go, child." Sansho said placing the bandages, rag and bucket of water on the counter.

"Arigatou." Naruto thanked the old woman, who went back to cooking her curry. Naruto took the rag and dipped it into the water, then took it out and squeezed the water out of the rag, before rubbing it on Karin's leg to clean of the blood. After cleansing off the blood, Naruto put the rag back in the bucket, and then grabbed the bandages and started wrapping them around Karin's leg.

"Um, Naruto, aren't you forgetting that Kurama's chakra healed my wound already?" Karin whispered to her surrogate brother.

"I know, but I'm doing this so the old woman won't question why you don't have an injury anymore." Naruto said. Karin nodded understandingly; it was best to act as if they were regular travelers, just in case they were being spied on.

"Here you go." Sansho said, as she placed the curry with a side of rice onto the counter table.

"Thank you, Sansho-sama." Naruto said as he had just finished wrapping the bandages around Karin's leg.

"By the way, I never caught your names." Sansho said.

"My apologies Sansho-sama, I am Hashi Kyukaze, and this here is my sister Aika Kyukaze." Naruto said, gesturing to himself and Karin.

"It's nice to meet you, and thank you very much for the assistance and curry." 'Aika' said bowing her head at Sansho. Sansho smiled and chuckled at the young girl's formality.

"And these two are Hana." Naruto gestured to Fu.

"Hi there." 'Hana' greeted with a toothy grin.

"And Kaya." Naruto gestured to Haku. 'Kaya' nodded to the elderly shopkeeper. "By the way Kaya, where's Tetsuo?" Hashi asked.

"He said he'd rather sit out in front." Kaya said. Hashi nodded understandingly, knowing that 'Tetsuo' was actually keeping an eye out for any enemy shinobi. Hashi sat at the counter and put his hands together and said "Itadakimasu." Hashi then took his spoon, scooped up some curry with rice and then ate it. The girls waited for to see if he enjoyed it, but suddenly his face had turned bright pink and his eye widened. Hashi then ran outside, and once he was he opened his mouth and out came a plume of fire. As the fire died, Hashi returned back to his seat. "Wow granny Sansho, that's some spicy curry." Hashi said panting.

"Why thank you Hashi." Sansho said with a smile. The girls then scooped up some curry and slowly put it inside their mouths and swallowed it. After a few moments, their faces had turned bright pink before they screamed and then took big gulps from their glasses of water that were on the counter.

"Wow! That curry really is spicy. But strangely, it makes me feel like I didn't even take a single step on our journey." Hana said.

"I agree." Kaya said.

"People say that my curry strengthens and rejuvenates them." Sansho said with a smile.

"Guess that explains why I feel like I can go toe-to-toe with a kage." Hashi said as he ate more of the curry. Suddenly they heard a knocking sound, as the turned to the origin of the sound they saw 'Tetsuo' with his hood over his head, standing at the entrance.

"Sorry to disturb you, but I figured that the shop keep would like to know that some more travelers are coming by, one of them seems to be screaming your name while sprinting here." Tetsuo told the others. Sansho made her way towards the entrance and passed Tetsuo as she got outside to see who he was talking about. Tetsuo walked towards his team. "You guys might want to cover your faces, especially you Naruto, along with that left arm of yours."

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"Granny Sansho!" a voice yelled as it came closer.

"Wait a minute, I know that voice. Oh Crap, Lee! Everyone, hide your identities like Zabuza said." Naruto said. The girls then nodded as they put on lower-half masks and straw hats. Naruto had already put on his own mask and straw hat and then quickly wrapped the bandages around his left arm as to conceal his scars from the new arrivals. Zabuza sat with them as they heard Sansho behind them, greeting the new arrival.

"Hello Lee, it's great to see you." Sansho said.

"It is also very great to see you again as well." Lee said with his ever so loud voice.

"He's pretty… excited." 'Kaya' said.

"He always is." 'Hashi' said with a sweat drop coming down his head.

"Granny Sansho, I wish for you to meet my friends." Lee said as his friend caught up with him. "These are my teammates Neji and Tenten."

"Nice to meet you." Neji said.

"Same here." Tenten said.

"And these are my other friends Sasuke and Sakura." Lee said. Naruto's heart stopped when he had heard their names, which did not go unnoticed by his team.

"Hi." Sakura greeted the old woman.

"Hn." Sasuke simply said; sort of.

"It's nice to meet all of you. Come in, I'll make you some curry." Sansho said with a smile.

"Yes!" Lee exclaimed jumping into the air, expressing his 'youth'. Lee then noticed the five cloaked people sitting at the counter. "Oh, I see you have customers." Lee said.

"Oh yes, they are just travelers. One of them had been injured on their travel, so they stopped here to help tend to the young one's injury and of course have a nice hot meal." Sansho said. The others looked at the 'travelers', who wore black cloaks with red clouds on them, which caught their attention. It was obvious that those cloaks weren't just for travelers, but most likely shinobi. Sasuke kept his eye on the one with the massive black broadsword on his back. For some reason, Sasuke felt a familiar vibe from him, but he was most interested in his sword; he had never seen anything like it. It looked flawless, the design was impressive, and it radiated with a sense of numerous things such as: power, death, warmth, darkness, light, hatred, peace, and so on. It was unlike any other, and Sasuke could tell.

'Who is this guy?' Sasuke asked himself. Naruto knew Sasuke was eyeing him, most likely because of Shokan; Naruto's handmade blade was something of wonder, so it is natural for anyone to be intrigued by it.

"Is there something I can help you with kid?" 'Hashi' said making his voice a little deeper. All Sasuke did was go 'hn', before he took a seat at the long table in the room with the rest of his friends.

"You will all love this curry, it is fantastic, I remember the first time I had ever tried it." Lee said. "It was back when I was a genin, and Guy-sensei took me out for training. For three days we had jogged straight from Konoha, and on the third day I had fell unconscious, my life fading, but that was until I had this delectable curry; it had saved my life, completely rejuvenating me. It was as if I had never started training with Guy-sensei."

"It's that good?" Sakura asked. Naruto smiled as he heard her voice; her sweet angelic voice. Naruto would love nothing better to do than to rip off his disguise at show his face to her and tell her he was alive and be in her arms and tell her how much he loves her, but he knew better; Naruto had to keep the truth of him being alive a secret, even to his friends.

"Yes Sakura-san, it is incredible." Lee said with a smile.

"Yeah, incredibly good and hot." Naruto whispered.

"Yes, like he had just said." Lee said pointing to the man with the unique sword.

"You got a good pair of ears there kid." 'Hashi' said.

"Why thank you, and who may you be?" Lee asked the man's name.

"Lee, don't bother him." Tenten said.

"No, it's quite alright, I don't mind telling him." Hashi said. Hashi turned to him to reveal his red eyes. "The name's Hashi, Hashi Kyukaze."

"It is nice to meet you; I am Rock Lee, Konoha's second Green Beast!" Lee exclaimed with much 'youth' in his voice. "And may I ask, where did you get an astounding sword such as that?" Lee asked.

"Oh, you mean Shokan? Made him myself." Hashi said gripping the handle of the blade.

"Wait, You Made That!?" Tenten exclaimed. Naruto was surprised to see that, since he had never seen Tenten like this before. 'Hashi' nodded in confirmation, getting a squeal from Tenten as she appeared behind Hashi looking at the sword with stars in her eyes. "It's absolutely perfect! I've never seen such craftsmanship." Tenten complimented.

"Oh, well thank you, miss…"

"Tenten." Tenten told Hashi her name.

"Tenten. That's a beautiful name." Hashi said. Tenten blushed at the compliment. Sakura had raised one of her eyebrows; for some reason she felt this guy was familiar, but why?

"My friend Sasuke here has a blade of his own as well, The Tamashi!" Lee exclaimed with his usual 'youthfulness' for one of his rivals. Hashi and Tetsuo eyes widened at the name of the sword. Hashi looked to Sasuke to see a katana with a taka (hawk) relief on the scabbard in his hands. After he confirmed it was exactly what Lee said it was, Hashi looked at the konoha-nin and got a good look at them; Team Gai looked the same, but Sasuke wore a black sleeveless vest, black ANBU pants and blue sandals that extended and stopped halfway up his foreleg. Sakura on the other hand wore her usual sleeveless battle dress, except she wore one of Naruto's old jackets around her waist and a tattoo of a pink and gold fox together on her left arm, both really catching his eye.

"Tamashi? The katana that was made from a thousand sharingan?" Hashi said still shocked hearing that the sword was within Sasuke's grasp. Everyone's eyes widened at hearing the last part. Sasuke was now intrigued of how this stranger knew of the secret of his katana.

"You know of it?" Sasuke asked. Hashi nodded in response.

"The legends say that back before the time of Madara Uchiha, there was a branch member of the Uchiha clan, Isao Uchiha, had watched as members of his clan had perished at the hands of Senju shinobi. Isao had a broken heart and hatred in his very soul. He wished to have something the Senju clan didn't so that he may use it to protect his own. With that ambition set in his mind, Isao had taken every single sharingan eye from all corpses of the deceased Uchihas and used those eyes to create a sword, one unlike any other. It is said that even though the eyes were from deceased Uchiha, the souls of the Uchihas were still inside their eyes, in turn existing inside the blade. The souls of those Uchihas coursed inside the blade, and as Isao wield the katana he had felt power beyond belief, as if those souls from his dead clansmen course within him, flowing within his body, giving him unmeasurable power. Isao had wielded the blade against all Senju that stood in his path; many considered he was a god with all the power he contained. The Senju clan had considered him a great threat, that they ambushed him and had managed to separate him from the sword… he didn't stand a chance, but he managed to escape with his blade, but unfortunately Isao was injured to greatly that he soon would meet his fate. In his last moments, Isao had sealed the blade away inside a box with a special seal, locking it away to keep it from anyone who wished to use it against his clan. That blade was known as the greatest weapon to have ever existed in history. With the souls of the Uchihas still inside the katana, it had been given the name Tamashi." Hashi explained the entire legend behind the blade, leaving everyone with awe and shocked looks upon their faces.

"Incredible." Neji had said, which was very shocking as he would never say such a thing with anything Uchiha related.

"But how did it become unsealed?" Tenten asked Hashi. Tenten was becoming real interested in him; he was a kenjustu user, he made his own weapon, and he knew of a story about a legendary blade that not even she knew of. This guy was a catch.

"It is said that Isao's special seal could only be undone when the blood of Uchiha clansmen was spilled onto Uchiha holy lands." Hashi said. Everyone's eyes widened, for there was only one time that that ever happened.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre.

"Tell me kid; are you able to wield that blade?" Hashi asked. Sasuke held his scabbard tightly and used his thumb to push the guard of his O-katana, unsheathing the blade a bit.

"You're welcomed to find out. There aren't many kenjutsu specialists where I come from." Sasuke said in monotone staring straight ahead of himself. 'Hashi' grinned while everyone, minus Granny Sansho and Zabuza, was getting nervous, except Neji and Lee who were interested to see a battle between the two.

"I'd love to spar with you kid, but I'm afraid I can't; like you I got important stuff to do and I might need all my strength for it." 'Hashi' said.

"Is that so?" Sasuke said his eyes still not looking at 'Hashi' "Then at least show me how powerful your blade is." 'Hashi' grinned animalistic like.

"Gladly." 'Hashi' spoke. Suddenly 'Hashi' and Sasuke clashed Shokan and Tamashi in the blink of an eye. Everyone looked at them with shock as they stayed strong in their kenjutsu stance. "Not bad, it's more than I expected it would be" 'Hashi' said with a toothy grin under his mask.

"Your blade is impressive as well" Sasuke said with his face still looking serious, but on the inside he was smirking. The two then back away from each other; Sasuke placing Tamashi back in it's sheath, while 'Hashi' put Shokan back on his back. The two then shook hands before sitting down back in their seats. Everyone looked at the two in disbelief that they had just out of nowhere clashed swords and were now sitting back in their seats acting as if it never happened. Both Naruto and Sasuke on the other hand had felt a strange feeling. They felt that Tamashi and Shokan were meant to clash. The latter didn't know why, but he just felt it, Naruto on the other hand knew why; it's because he and Sasuke were meant to clash.

'Guess it was our destiny. Man, listen to me; I'm starting to sound like the old Neji.' Naruto thought.

"Here's you curry" Sansho said as she brought the konoha-nin their meals. "Enjoy" Sansho said as she went back into the kitchen. Lee took a spoon full and ate it. Suddnly his face turn red and he shouted out with much vigor.

"The Curry Of Life Is So Delectable and Youth Giving! You All Must Try It!" Lee exclaimed. The other konoha-nin took a spoon full, but then two cups of water was put in front of Sakura and Tenten. The two girls turned to see Hashi sitting in his seat again.

"You two might need it." Hashi said. The girls just shrugged as they took a bite and swallowed their curry, only for their faces, along with Sasuke and Neji's, to turn red, before all for scream as they felt as if their mouths were on fire. Sakura and Tenten downed their waters to cool their mouths, while poor Sasuke and Neji had to suffer from the burning sensation in their mouths.

"Thanks a lot." Sakura thanked Hashi.

"Yeah, you're a cool guy." Tenten said.

"Why thank you. Sansho-san, you don't mind giving the kids at the table some water, do you? I'll gladly pay for them." Hashi said.

"Oh don't worry about it, Hashi-san; the water's free." Sansho said as she brought a plate of water to the genin table, and as the plate made it to their table, Neji and Sasuke quickly grabbed the cups and started downing them.

"Hey, Leave Some For The Rest Of Us, Bakas!" Sakura exclaimed as she punched Sasuke in the head.

'Damn it, Naruto why did you have to leave me with her.' Sasuke thought with annoyance.

'Hey~ that's mine and Sakura's thing~.' Naruto whined in his head as he looked at the two's interaction.

"So Hashi, What Shinobi Activities Have You Done!" Lee asked with enthusiasm.

"Lee!" Tenten said his name with annoyance. Hashi just chuckled.

"Okay, you got me, I'm a shinobi. I guess it's pretty obvious with Shokan here." Hashi said with eye smiles while he gripped the handle of his broadsword. "Well, Lee is it? I do pretty big things that would be way to long and complex to tell you; so sorry, I can't tell." Hashi said, making Lee look down at his curry, while the others just had sweat drop expressions.

'This guy's just like Kakashi-sensei.' Sasuke and Sakura thought.

"I see. I understand Hashi-san, but if it isn't too much trouble, may I ask where you are headed?" Lee asked.

"Tsukiakari no mura." Hashi said. Sansho had dropped on of the cups of water she was preparing for the genin, making everyone look at her.

"Granny Sansho?" Lee said the old woman's name with concern.

"I'm fine." Sansho replied picking up the cup.

"There's someone precious to you there, am I correct?" Hashi asked, but already knew the answer.

"Yes… my son Karashi." Sansho said.

"Karashi Is In Tsukiakari?!" Lee exclaimed.

"Yes." Sansho said.

"But why, Granny Sansho?" Lee asked.

"When Karashi had met you, he had wanted to become as strong as you, so he ran off with a group called the Kurosuki family." Sansho said.

"Kurosuki? As in Raiga Kuroski?! One of the Seven Ninja Swordsman?" Hashi said.

"Yes, that's exactly who he is." Sansho said. Zabuza grumbled at hearing the name of his former colleague. Haku looked at her mentor with understanding eyes; Raiga always despised the other swordsman for some reason, and since he doesn't like Zabuza, Haku doesn't like Raiga.

"Sansho-sama, we can bring him back for you." Hashi said, referring to his cloak companions.

"Us As Well! After All, We Are Going To The Same Destination As You Are Hashi-kun!" Lee exclaimed.

'Aw crap.' Naruto and Zabuza thought.

"Well, we're heading out." Hashi said as he and the other cloaked figures stood from their table and started walking out the door.

"Wait For Us!" Lee exclaimed.

"No." Hashi said. "We're not from Konoha, so all of you and us aren't friends; we're just two groups heading in the same direction. You're welcome to follow, that's all." Hashi said as he and his friends walked out of the shop. Lee had then started to quickly eat his curry as fast as he can.

"Everyone, Quickly Eat Your Curry, We Must Join Hashi-kun!" Lee exclaimed as he continued to eat his curry quickly.

"Lee, we don't even know this man, why do you want us to team up with him?" Neji said.

"Didn't You See It Neji?! Hashi-kun had held his own against Sasuke-kun it a clash of swords, which is considered a very difficult thing to do back in Konoha! With Hashi and his comrades, we can bring back Karashi, without a doubt." Lee said. "Karashi had once saved my life with this delectable curry, I owe it to him to bring him home."

"Done." Sasuke said as he used his napkin to clean away an mess that was left on his face. Everyone looked at his empty plate with one thought in their heads.

'Fast.'

Later, with Naruto and the others

Naruto, still in the guise of Hashi, was jumping from branch to branch as they all headed towards Tsukiakari.

"HASHI-KUN WAIT!" they all heard a loud familiar voice behind them. The group stopped and turned to see Lee and the other konoha-nin.

"I see you decided to follow." Hashi said.

"Yes, We Will Move As One And Continue On With Our Wills Burning With The Power Of Youth!" Lee exclaimed thrusting his fist in the air. The konoha-nin just had sweat drop expressions, while the Hashi and his group were silent, but on the inside had sweat drop expressions as well.

'Same old Lee.' Naruto thought with a hidden smile.

'And here I thought Naruto would've been the most annoying person I'd ever met.' Zabuza thought.

'It seems Naruto-kun described Lee perfectly. Interesting.' Haku thought.

'I still don't see how this guy could be stronger than Naruto-kun.' Fu thought.

'Ni-san wasn't kidding about this guy. Oh great, now I'm starting to think I'm the younger one.' Karin thought.

"I have no idea what 'youth' is." Hashi said. Lee's jaw dropped as his eyes were the size of saucers. Naruto got a kick out of this as he smiled faintly. "But if you are following, then you best not miss step." Hashi said as he and his cloaked colleagues head out, with the konoha-nin following behind. 'I don't know how having them with us will turn out, but I know that when we execute our plan, Sasuke and I… we might…'

Outside of Tsukiakari no mura

The two groups were on the edge of a cliff giving them a perfect view of the village. The buildings were a bit wrecked and filthy, and it had the appearance of it being deserted long ago.

"Oh my Kami. What happened to it? It looks so different from the last time we were here." Sakura said. Naruto narrowed his eyes; he was ready to kill all the oto-bastards that had ruined this place.

"Be ready for anything." Hashi said as he and his grouped jumped off the cliff with the konoha-nin following. They all were jumping through the branches, before Hashi stopped on a branch and held his hand up, signaling for the others to stop. "Aika." Hashi whispered his imouto's name. Aika nodded before closing her eyes and started to sense multiple chakra signatures around the area.

"There are twelve different chakra signatures surrounding us." Aika said.

"Kaya?" Hashi said the dark haired female's name. Kaya nodded in response, before she closed her eyes and focused on the enemy shinobi around her. Suddenly, with lightning fast speed, Kaya had thrown twelve kunai at the targets. Once they made contact, the twelve shinobi fell to the ground dead. Hashi and his cloaked comrades landed onto the ground and saw all, but one of the shinobi, who were oto-nin, were dead. Hashi walked up to the down still alive oto-nin, who was holding his side that was bleeding from the kunai that Kaya had thrown that he had just ripped out. Hashi then grabbed the oto-nin by the neck and raised him high in the air. The oto-nin looked down at Hashi to see a demonic mask that scared him shitless. "Who is the head oto-nin?" Hashi demanded answers.

"Like I'd ever tell you." The oto-nin said sneering. Hashi used his free hand to stick it deep inside the oto-nin's wound making him scream, but Hashi was far from over with him. Hashi reached so deep within the oto-nin, that he grabbed one his ribs, and with Kurama's chakra to boost his strength, he broke off the rib and ripped it out of the oto-nin. Hashi dropped the oto-nin, who was screaming in agony from the grand pain of having one of his rib bones ripped out of his body, before Hashi added wind chakra in his arm that was holding the rib bone and stabbed it straight into the side of the oto-nin, making him scream even more in pain and agony; then Hashi stomped onto the rib, making it go deeper into the skin of the oto-nin and making him scream even louder. Hashi then bent down to the oto-nin, looking into his eyes with his bandaged glowing red ones, scaring the guy shitless again.

"Now answer my question, and just remember, you got plenty of more bones in your body that I can break and use as a weapon." Hashi said with an icy tone in his voice.

"O-our Head Officer Is General Dai, But He Was Needed Back In Otogakure So Now Raiga Kurosuki Is In Charge Of The Place!" the oto-nin exclaimed with fear for his life.

"Knowing Raiga there's been a whole hell load of funerals." Tetsuo said with his arms crossed.

"Thanks." Hashi said as he stood up. He then grabbed the handle of Shokan and started to take it off his back. "Ja ne."

"No!" the oto-nin cried before Hashi cut his head off. Hashi had placed Shokan back onto his back. The konoha-nin looked at the cloaked shinobi with widened eyes of shock.

'Who are these people?' Neji thought, now weary of these five. Lee and Tenten were shocked at how skilled Hana was with kunai, Aika with tracking chakra signatures, and how cruel Hashi was. Sasuke and Sakura were on the same boat as the other three, but for some reason, as they stared at Hashi, they felt that what he did was wrong, like it didn't fit his character for some reason.

"Well?" Hashi said as he suddenly had his straw hat and lower jaw mask back on.

'Fast.' The konoha-nin thought with surprise.

"Are you still gonna follow, cause things are going to get much more difficult from here on out." Hashi said as he looked at them.

"Of Course!" Lee exclaimed. "We Are Konoha-nin! We Never Back Down From A Mission; And Now Karashi Needs Us! So We Will Follow You!" Hashi nodded, before he and the others in his group jumped into the trees and started their travel again.

"Hey, uh, Hana?" Sakura said one of the cloaked females' name.

"Hm?" Hana replied, sort of.

"What was that whole thing with Hashi just now?" Sakura asked.

"Oh." Hana said, sort of, as she looked at Hashi's back as the masked shinobi jumped from branch to branch. "Hashi's the assassin for our group. As you can tell, we are from a group of special shinobi. I'm used for infiltration. Aika is for tracking. Tetsuo and Kaya are for both infiltration and assassination, but Hashi… he may be our assassin, but he pretty much does everything. He's one of the strongest shinobi in our group."

"So he's a loner?" Tenten asked, joining on the conversation, interested in knowing a little more about Hashi.

"Actually, no, quite the opposite really. Everyone in our group knows and loves Hashi. He's sweet, he's kind, cheerful and confident in not only himself, but everyone else in our group as well. He just uses that scary, stone cold and merciless attitude on his enemies, but to others he's compassionate to them, but he does have his moments; he can be loud, brash and pretty much a baka, but he's the sweetest baka you'll ever meet." Hana said as she looked at the back of Hashi with loving eyes. Tenten and Sakura definitely noticed this. Sakura kept staring at Hashi; the description Hana had given Hashi, made her think of Naruto, minus the stone cold personality. She then noticed an unraveled bandage from his left arm.

'He's bandaged… on his left side.' Sakura thought, then her eyes widen in shock. Kind, cheerful, confident in himself, loud, brash, a baka, a familiar vibe to him, and bandaged on the left side… he made her think for moment that Hashi was… 'No… what am I a baka? Naruto was no way a stone cold killer like this Hashi guy. I'm sorry for thinking of you in such a way Naruto-kun.' Sasuke also thought the same way about his brother, but he still was keeping an eye on Hashi; always trust your gut, that's how team 7 always rolled.

At Tsukiakari no Mura

Hashi and the others made it to the village and were scanning the area from a building. Everywhere they saw sad and gloomy citizens, and oto-nin patrolling the area, harassing the citizens. Everyone looked at the whole place with sadness, anger and disgust.

"This place is overrun with oto-nin." Neji said.

"We Must-" but before Lee could utter another word, Kaya gently placed her hand over Lee's mouth.

"Please Lee-san, but you must stay quiet, or else you shall give away our location." Kaya quietly told him. Lee nodded, before she released him.

"Your hands are very soft Kaya-chan." Lee said with a blush. Kaya just giggled at his words making him blush even more.

"You're not the first to tell me so." Kaya said with a smile. Naruto was lucky that he was wearing a mask that covered his cheeks or else everyone would have seen him blush.

"Hey Sasuke." Hashi said getting the raven haired boys attention. "If it's okay, may I ask what is your mission here?" Sasuke was still a little weary of Hashi, but he felt that Hashi wouldn't become an obstacle in his and the others' way.

"We heard that the chief's daughter was captured, so we came to rescue her." Sasuke informed Hashi.

"I see." Hashi said as he then directed his eyes at Sasuke. "Then perhaps we can assist each other."

"How so?" Sasuke asked.

"I am very talented in getting information, as you saw before, so I may assist you in getting the information." Hashi said.

"No need, I am an Uchiha; I can use my sharingan to gain the information." Sasuke said.

"True, but there are many oto-nin here, and not all might know where the chief's daughter may be." Hashi said. "I can assist in finding who knows where she may be. After all, I have a way with people." Sasuke looked at Hashi; he was still weary of him, but he can help in finding who knows where Akiko may be. Suddenly they had heard a scream of pain. Everyone turned to see a little girl no older than six with dirty blonde hair, crying with a cut on her cheek from a kunai an oto-nin was holding.

"That'll teach you to bump into someone." The oto-nin said glaring at the girl.

"Gomen." The little girl said with tears pouring from her eyes.

"Shut Up!" the oto-nin kicked her in the face, making her cheek bleed more and now have a bruise. "I bet you think you're so sweet and cute, well I bet you won't be any more as I stab out your eye." As the kunai came down, a hand grabbed his wrist. The man turned to see a demonic face man that made him yell in fear. The girl looked up to see her savior, only to be scared at the sight of his appearance.

"So you like to gouge out eyes, especially from those of an innocent girl; you worthless piece that is lower than scum." Hashi said with an ice cold tone. Hashi than ripped out the oto-nin's eyes with his free hand, before releasing him, letting him scream in agonizing pain as he held his empty eye sockets. "Things like you don't deserve the gift to see this world." Hashi said as he released the oto-nin's eyes, letting them fall to the ground, before he stomped on them. The girl watched in horror as the masked man walk towards her. The young girl closed her eyes and covered her head in fear of ending up like the man who had cut her cheek, but then she felt a warm hand touch her cheek. The girl opened her eyes to see a hand cover in golden flames on her cheek, at first she felt like getting away, but the touch felt so warm and right that she held it with one of her free hands. As the flames died down, the hand pulled away from the girl's cheek to reveal that her wound and injury was gone; healed from the golden flames. "There, much better." The girl looked up to see a man with a lower half mask and straw hat. "Are you alright young one?" Hashi asked. The girl had tears in her eyes, before she hugged the man.

"Arigatou." The young girl said. Hashi just hugged her back.

"What is your name young one?" Hashi asked.

"K-Kaya, sir." The young girl known as Kaya said. Hashi then started to chuckle, before he pulled back from the girl.

"Kaya, huh? That's actually my friend's name as well." Hashi said with eye smiles. The girl smiled at him, before he stood up with cold eyes. "More of you, huh?" Hashi said as he and Kaya were surrounded by oto-nin. "You bunch are like rats, you know that?" Hashi said.

"What'd you say!?" one of the oto-nin exclaimed.

"Kit." Hashi said as a fox kit jumped out of his cloak and onto the ground. "Please protect Kaya." Kit yipped in response as he stood in front of Kaya. "Miss Kaya." Kaya looked up at Hashi who had eye smiles directed at her. "You don't mind closing your eyes for a moment, do you? I do not wish for a young innocent lady to see such vulgar actions that will take place."

"H-hai." Kaya said as she covered her eyes. Suddenly all the oto-nin charged at Hashi, but they stopped after a few steps.

"I didn't need assistance, but thank you Uchiha." Hashi said with his demonic mask on and Shokan in his hand. Sasuke just did his famous 'hn', with Tamashi a bit out from it's sheathe. "You're pretty handy with that blade." Hashi complimented.

"Same to you." Sasuke said. He had then fully resheathed Tamashi, while Hashi place Shokan back onto his back, and as their swords were back in their proper place, the oto-nin in front of Sasuke had cuts with blood spraying out of them, while the ones in front of Hashi were literally cut to pieces. The konoha-nin were shocked at Hashi's skills with Shokan.

"I'm guessing you four are surprised that Hashi was as fluid with Shokan as your friend is with Tamashi." Kaya said.

"Hai." Sakura answered. "In our village, Sasuke is considered the greatest swordsman in our village; he has no equal as long as Tamashi is within his grasp, but seeing how skilled Hashi is with his blade… I just can't believe how great he is with it. I think him and Sasuke are both evenly matched in kenjutsu." Everyone else felt the same way about the two. Zabuza just smiled at them.

'I guess they really were meant to be rivals after all.' Zabuza thought as he continued to look down at the two. Hashi and Sasuke continued to stand unmoving as they were being watched by their comrades.

"I see we both had the idea of letting one live and still conscious." Hashi said as a wounded and bleeding oto-nin tried to crawl away from the two swordsmen. Hashi walked up to him and planted his foot onto the oto'nin's bleeding chest. "Do you know where the chief's daughter is?" Hashi demanded answers.

"N-no." the oto-nin stuttered with fear. Hashi pressed his foot hard onto the oto-nin's chest making him groan in pain.

"I know when someone is lying, I always do." Hashi said.

"L-Liar!" the oto-nin exclaimed.

"Fear, anger, the feeling of regret for the many that you have killed and yet feel the sense of thrill of every kill you had done; that is the emotions that you are feeling deep inside. I can read emotions." Hashi said, making the oto-nin nervous. "Uchiha. He knows where Akiko is." Hashi said as he grabbed the oto-nin's neck and lifted him up towards Sasuke. Sasuke nodded as he stared into the eyes of the oto-nin, before closing them and reopening them with his sharingan activated. After a moment or two, Sasuke closed his eyes and deactivated his sharingan. Hashi then felt the life devoid from the oto-nin that he felt in his grasp. "You killed him within his own mind. Impressive; you can become one hell of an assassin that way." Hashi then released the deceased oto-nin with his lower half mask and straw hat had replaced his mask. "But then I'd be out of the job with how many clients you'd get, now wouldn't I." Hashi joked with eye smiles. Sasuke just looked at Hashi a bit weirded out.

'This guy is reminding me of Kakashi-sensei too much.' Sasuke said.

"Kaya!" a voice called out to the blonde girl. Kaya uncovered her eyes and turned to see her mother with her brother. Kaya's mother had bright blonde hair, wore a long sleeve dress and apron, while her brother had burnt sienna hair, short sleeve shirt and shorts.

"Kaa-san!" Kaya exclaimed as she ran to her mother and hugged her. "Kaa-san, I'm so sorry for running away." Kaya said crying as she held her mother who continued to embrace her as well.

"Whoa." Kaya's brother, who was eight, said as he saw all the deceased oto-nin. "What happened here?" Kaya's mother also saw the bodies, and deduced that the raven haired boy and masked man were the ones who killed the oto-nins.

"Mama, the man in the black dress with red clouds saved me." Kaya said, pointing to Hashi. Kaya's stood up and walk towards him and bowed in respect and gratitude.

"Thank you for saving my daughter, mister…"

"Hashi." Hashi answered. Kaya's brother's eyes widened when he heard his name.

"Hashi? As in Hashi no Shi!? The Demon Who Killed Kaizo Yurio, And Is Feared By All Of Oto?!" Kaya's brother exclaimed with awe and shock. Sasuke and his fellow konoha-nin were shocked at what they had heard. They knew who Hashi no Shi was; a being who was once a man, now turned demon and lived to kill, but for what purpose, no one knew; they were shocked that they had been traveling with the man known as 'The Bridge of Death.'

"So oto fears me, eh? My reputation precedes me." Hashi said with eye smiles. Kaya and her brother had hope in their eyes, while their mother was standing in shock as she saw the man that struck fear to their village's captures was actually a kind man to the innocent.

"So, You're Here To Save Us Right?" Kaya's brother asked with much hope. Hashi bent down in front of him.

"I swear on my life that I shall bring forth a new dawn for this village and it's people. You have my word." Hashi said making the three smile. Hashi then stood up. "I believe it is best to return to your home, tonight might get a little too 'exciting' for you three." Kaya and her brother nodded before they and their mother left back home.

"He's going to bring peace to our village again, I just know it!" Kaya's brother exclaimed with confidence and hope.

"Yeah!" Kaya agreed with her brother. Their mother had a hopeful smile, feeling that Hashi will bring their home peace again. Hashi smiled as he saw their retreating forms.

"They're lucky." Hashi said, gaining everyone's attention. "They have each other. As long as you're not alone, you'll always find strength to keep finding the new dawn you so desperately seek." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this; for some reason, Hashi's words gave Sasuke a sense of hope. "You got a jutsu to burn these bodies?" Hashi asked Sasuke. Sasuke nodded in response. The two turned back to back before they stabbed their swords to the ground and uttering their jutsu's names.

"Amaterasu."

"Kogane no hono." (Golden Flames)

Suddenly all the corpses were covered in black and golden flames, burning them into oblivion; not leaving a single trace of ash.

'The Amaterasu. An ability only used with the Mangekyo sharingan, along with entering one's mind and destroying them from within. I know for a fact that Sasuke doesn't have the Mangekyo, so it must be the help of Tamashi.' Naruto deduced in his thoughts as he then smiled. 'Sasuke, you have become stronger, haven't you teme.'

'Golden flames. I've never heard of such a thing. This guy just keeps surprising me the more I'm around him.' Sasuke thought. As the flames disappeared, Hashi turned his head a bit to Sasuke.

"You know where she is?" Hashi asked.

"First, answer something for me." Sasuke said. Hashi raised an eyebrow at this. "Why are you here, and why are you trying to find her?" Sasuke asked. Hashi just sighed; he had a feeling that someone was going to ask this.

"I guess it's okay to tell you." Hashi shrugged his shoulders. "Me and the others were hire by an anonymous client to come liberate this place of all the creatures that are playing shinobi, and also save the chief's daughter."

"So you're mercenaries." Sasuke said.

"Yes and no." Hashi replied.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Now if I told you that… I'd have to kill you." Hashi said in an icy tone and little bit of KI with his demonic mask back on. The rest of the konoha-nin jumped down and surround Hashi with their kunais ready. They kept glaring at Hashi as he stood still dragging out killer intent. "Just kidding." Hashi said in a cheery tone back to his lower half mask and straw hat combo with eye smiles and a wave, making everyone, except Sasuke and the other members of his team, face vault. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you." Hashi said turning his head a bit.

"Fair enough." Sasuke said. "She's still in the chief's home that is now owned by some scum that is supplying the oto-nin." Sasuke spoke the information he received from the deceased oto-nin's mind. The rest of Hashi's team jumped down joining them; they had no worries for their friend's situation, after all Hashi/Naruto isn't someone to be taken down by a bunch of genin, even if they were remarkable ones from his own village.

"Toru Yurio, weapons supplier and other." Hashi said.

"Other?" Tenten asked.

"Such as contraband; ya know, the usual illegal crap." Hana answered. "Plus the bastard's a sick bastard who likes to torture people in private and have his way with girls; he doesn't care for age." That bit of info made Sakura and Tenten shutter and Neji and Lee had looks of anger and disgust, while Sasuke remained emotionless, but felt the same emotions Lee and Neji had inside of himself.

"Taking care of him and saving Akiko is our goal, and we plan to succeed in doing so, no matter what or who gets in our way." Hashi said in a serious tone. Sasuke just went 'hn' again.

"There's a secret passageway underneath the famous Naruto statue that'll lead us towards the chief's place." Sasuke said. Naruto cracked a smile at that; hearing that he had a statue in this village in honor of his noble 'sacrifice' made him feel proud of the person he once was and deep inside still is; although he wanted to see where the party would go if he teased his good name a bit.

"Naruto statue? What's that? A dedication to fishcakes?" Hashi joked with a laugh, but was then met with the tip of Tamashi to his throat.

"Don't you ever insult a monument dedicated to my brother." Sasuke said with a dark tone, glaring at Hashi. Hashi/Naruto blinked at this with much surprise hidden within his eyes.

'Brother?... He considers me his brother?' Naruto smiled at this. 'Sasuke… thank you.' Hashi just closed his eyes and smirked. "Alright I'm sorry. I didn't know that this statue was so important to you."

"It's important to all of us." Sakura said with steely eyes, along with Team Gai.

"How so?" Aika/Karin asked, wanting to know a little more of her surrogate brother's past. For some reason, Naruto kept bits of his past a mystery to her and other members of Akatsuki. Sakura looked down to the floor with sad eyes.

"Naruto Uzumaki, the person who the statue was dedicated to, was our friend, our light and our hero." Sakura said. Naruto kept his face passive, but on the inside he was surprised and shocked to hear this; especially from Sakura. "Ever since he was born, Naruto Uzumaki was hated for being born with a burden; a burden he protected everyone from. Especially to those who deserved death. The adults hated Naruto for being a symbol of a terrible event that happened in our village that took away many loved ones, and we of the younger generation were being brainwashed into carrying on that hatred. And we were sickened by it when we learned the truth. Naruto had brought joy to many, even if they never willingly wanted to admit it, and he brought about new friendships that could last an eternity, but one thing Naruto brought was truth. He showed that no matter what people say and what they think of you, you can still prove to them that they are wrong about you by showing them who you are without fear of what they think of your true self." Sakura started to cry as she remembered the man she loved; the odds he defied and the people he proved wrong, and the guts he showed; what Sakura wouldn't give to have him in front of her and grabbed those lips of his with her own. Ironically the man she loves literally is right in front her, but she doesn't know it because he's wearing a mask and a hat. "On his last mission he showed his true self, a great shinobi and a greater friend with a gorgeous heart of gold that no one could ever match. Sadly it cost him his life, he left behind so much that would guarantee to bring so much hope and courage and much more that our village needed. That statue is more than just a monument to him; it's the symbol of what everyone in our generation and the next wished to be." Sakura finished with a look of pride and determination as her eyes were still teary from the memories of her 'deceased' lover.

"Th-that's s-so beautiful." Aika/Karin said with teary eyes and new respect for her surrogate brother. Hana/Fu and Kaya/Haku's feelings for the young Uzumaki went to even higher levels as they heard this beautiful memory of him. Tetsuo/Zabuza just smiled with pride that his student actually changed his respected village this whole time without even knowing it. Hashi/Naruto felt stunned, but only on the inside as he just stared on the outside. He never knew that his one selfless act that he had done so long ago had given new hope and light to his own generation and the next, along with the future. It actually made him want to cry.

"It seems this Naruto kid meant a lot to you, pinky." Tetsuo said.

"Of course he did. After all…" Sakura placed her hand over her heart and gave the five loving smile and said. "I love him."

Naruto was in total shock. He showed no emotion on the outside, but he felt as if he was struck by the moon and the sun together as he heard those words from Sakura. 'She… she loves me…' Naruto thought wanting nothing else better to do then to rip off his mask and hold her and tell her those words to her as well, but he had a job to do. Hashi walked towards Sakura and took her other hand making her look surprised.

"My sincerest apologizes for my unintentional teasing Sakura-san. I didn't know this statue meant so much to you. I hope you can forgive me." Hashi then kissed Sakura's hand making her blush.

"Sorry Hashi, but dead or alive, my Naruto-kun will still have my heart." Sakura said pulling her hand away. "Besides you're older than me, right?"

"I'm fourteen." Hashi said making the konoha-nin eyes widen. "And I'm sorry Sakura-san, I was only just showing politeness." The fox kit yipped to Hashi.

"That was more than being polite, sly fox." Mamoru said with a smirk.

"Shut up kit." Hashi said. The fox kit just stuck his tongue out at Hashi.

"You Understand Him?!" Lee asked.

"Like I understand you." Hashi said as he bent down and picked up Mamoru. "Meet my best friend and partner Ashura, I usually call him kit." Ashura/Mamoru gave a wave with his paw before giving a salute.

"Kawai!" Sakura and Tenten exclaimed.

"Not that I don't like attention, but I think we should head to the statue." Ashura/Mamoru said to Hashi/Naruto.

"Yeah, you're right." Hashi/Naruto agreed. Ashura/Mamoru jumped into Hashi's cloak into the hidden pouch inside before poking his head out of the collar. "My good friend here suggests that we head to the statue. Shall we?" Hashi said as he and the rest of his group walk towards the center of the village.

"How do you know you are heading in the right direction?" Neji asked.

"Statues are always in the center of a village." Hashi said as he and the others continued walking ahead. The genin looked at Sasuke who just shrugged.

"He's not wrong." Sasuke said following them. Sakura followed along with Team Gai, straight towards the 'Great Naruto Statue.'

At the Great Naruto Statue

In the center of the village was a giant statue of a thirteen year old kid with a jump suit and spiky hair, six whisker-like birthmarks on his face, three on each cheek, and a hitai-ate with the konoha symbol on the center of it wrapped around his forehead. What's so great about this statue you may ask? It's Made Of Fucking Gold!

'Holy crap, they went all out with this thing.' Naruto thought with shock as he gazed at the statue of himself a year ago. Sakura look up at the statue with a loving smile and fresh tears.

"What I'd give to cup those adorable cheeks of his." Sakura said out loud without even thinking.

"You realize you said that out loud." Sasuke said as all eyes were on Sakura. Sakura just punched Sasuke upside his head in response.

"Ow." Sasuke said.

Tenten just giggled while Neji just looked at the statue with great respect for the one genin who had defeated and saved him from an empty path, while ignoring Lee's tears of sadness that Sakura's heart still belonged to Naruto. Aika/Karin was giggling as well, while Hana/Fu and Kaya/Haku were staying silent, but in their heads they said 'Game on' as they weren't going to lose their crush to this girl; Tetsuo/Zabuza and Ashura/Mamoru were chuckling at the scene, while Hashi/Naruto moved his collar with his finger and out of his clothing came out steam, that was seen by his comrades and thankfully not seen by the konoha-nin.

'Hot damn.' Naruto thought as his mind was flooded with the thought of Sakura and him lying on a bed while Sakura rubbed his whisker marks and whispered to him seductively some adult things into his ear making him get a huge blush and a nose bleed. Naruto then heard chuckling from his inner bijuu Kurama and laughter from his father within his mind.

"Wow Naruto, looks like you really do have a little of Jiraiya-pops inside of you." Minato said from within his son's mind as he continued to laugh.

"I couldn't agree more." Kurama said as he continued to chuckle.

"BAKAS! The Both Of You! My Sochi Is Not Allowed To Do Such Adults Things Until He Is Of Correct Age!" Kushina yelled, making Naruto nervous of his mother giving him another lecture. "But I Approve of Your Future Wife Sochi! Hot-headed but friendly, won't let you walk all over her, will put you in your place if you get out of line, hit's hard and is just like me! I approve sochi, I approve. I can't wait for the day you reveal yourself to her and I'd get to meet her and talk about how you were as a child from how cute you were as a baby, and talk about your marriage and future children. Kushina-baa-chan, oh I love the sound of that!" Kushina said making Naruto blush redder and redder, while Kurama laughed and Minato shook his head with sympathy. He remembered that Tsunade was the same way. Back when he was a genin, Minato was always depressed that after his team missions were done he had no one to go back to, no parents, no family, but one day he accidently walked into a bar and some shinobi were harassing him and in came Tsunade saving him and after that she offered him to sit with her and since that day they have been spending time together that Tsunade took the role of a mother for him and always looked after him like a real mother, and when he and Kushina hit it off, Tsunade used to embarrass him with old stories of stupid things that he had done that Tsunade considered cute, plus she teased and playfully threaten Minato that his children better call him grandma. Ironic how this whole time the woman he had considered a mother, really was his actual mother, but it didn't make those embarrassing moments any less embarrassing. Well now it was Naruto's turn to feel his old man's suffering.

'Stay strong son, you'll get used to it… I hope.' Minato thought with a smile.

'I better find Akane soon; I at least need someone to suffer with me.' Naruto thought making Kurama and Minato laugh while Kushina giggled. Hashi/Naruto tipped his hat to hide his face. "Okay Mr. Copy Wheel, where's the entrance to the secret passageway, if you don't mind sharing." Hashi said. Sasuke walked towards the statue and towards the plaque that had many respectable words that described Naruto.

Courageous, heroic, selfless, caring, fighter, guardian, compassionate, honest, loved, golden hearted, champion, protector, man of the people, inspiring, strong by his own convictions, hope, believer, dedicated, shinobi.

All these words described Naruto, and every word was dead on.

Sasuke lifted his hand and sent an aura of chakra around it. He then pressed his hands on four of the words on the plaque. First word, selfless. Second word, guardian. Third word, of. Fourth word, hope.

Selfless guardian of hope.

The foot of the statue moved and opened to reveal stairs leading down deeper into a labyrinth.

"I think it's best that only two shall go, while the rest stay out here a deal with the rest of the oto-nin." Hashi said. The rest of Hashi's group nodded, understanding what Hashi meant. He was going to go save Akiko while they located and destroyed the oto bases.

"I'll go." Both Hashi/Naruto and Sakura said. The two looked at each other.

"I'm a stubborn girl; don't think you'll convince me not to go." Sakura said, standing her ground. Naruto didn't want Sakura to go and risk her life, but he knew she was right; she was pretty damn stubborn.

"Alright." Hashi said raising his hand as golden flames danced around it. "Just stay close." Sakura nodded as she and Hashi walked down the steps together.

"If you come back the same way with Akiko, the plaque will be in front of you; just cover your hand with chakra and touch the words that make 'the strong believer.'" Sasuke told them as the entrance started to close. Once the entrance closed again, Hashi's group was ready to move, but Lee stood in their way.

"Hold on. We are all here to liberate this place of otogakure's tyranny, so we must work together, not divide." Lee said.

"Actually, maybe you can assist us." Kaya said.

With Hashi/Naruto and Sakura

Hashi had been using his hand as a torch, thanks to his golden flame technique, the whole time, while Sakura followed. Sakura kept staring straight ahead, but she so often kept glancing at Hashi.

"Something I can help you with?" Hashi asked. Sakura stared at him for a moment before answering.

"Just who are you?" Sakura asked. Hashi turned his head towards Sakura with a raised eyebrow. "I mean… before you showed that you were a man who smiles at people like myself and yet you kill those like the oto-nin without mercy or remorse… it just makes me think… who are you." Hashi stayed silent as he kept walking.

"Sometimes I'm not even sure myself." Hashi/Naruto answered.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Remember the talk you had with Hana, before we made it to Tsukiakari?" Hashi said making Sakura jump a bit in shock that he heard them. "She told you everything. I'm a baka." Sakura just looked at Hashi with a hint of sadness.

"Why do you see yourself that way?" Sakura asked.

"Because I don't know who I am half the time… I have something that reminds me of who I was and what I convince myself what I still am, but I just wonder, ya know?" Hashi said. Sakura held her tattoo on her left arm.

"Yeah… I think I know." Sakura replied. "My shishou once told me the best way to answer such a question is to remember your past and remember what made you the way you are." Hashi stopped in his tracks making Sakura stop as well.

"Has it really been that easy?" Hashi/Naruto asked himself. Sakura looked at Hashi with some sadness. Now she knows his problem; he's confused. "It all started as long as I could remember." Hashi/Naruto started as he continued to walk again with Sakura following. "People never really liked me for reasons I never knew why. I tried standing up for myself, but I kept getting knocked down. I remember this girl I saw… she was crying, because she was being picked on. I wanted to stand up for her, but I was afraid that she'd hate me for being useless. Luckily she was saved by another girl, which made me happy, but also made me hate myself, because I felt I missed out on proving I was something good." Hashi/Naruto talked as Sakura stared at him with eyes of interest. "Then one day, I saw her; the girl who was crying. She started standing up for herself one day and even when she was hurt, she never let her tears be shown in front of the ones who hurt her. I didn't understand why, but as I saw her keep coming back, ready for anything, I felt… inspired by her."

"Inspired?" Sakura asked.

"I realized that thanks to her that it never matters if you keep getting knocked down. What matters is that you keep getting back up and never show them that they won, because you just won't allow those who don't deserve a victory to win. She inspired me to be that way… she inspired me to become stronger… and every day, she kept on inspiring me so much that… I fell in love with her." Hashi/Naruto said. Sakura's heart started to rise from this. "But she was in love with someone else." And like that, Sakura's heart started to falter.

"So what did you do?" Sakura asked.

"Easy… I never let them see me cry." Hashi/Naruto said making Sakura stare at him. "I kept getting back up, in hopes that she'd give me a chance, but every time, she kept throwing me down... I never gave up… because she made me that way." Sakura blinked at this. "If I gave up, then I'd lose the one thing that gave me my strength, so even though I knew it was futile, I didn't let it stop me. I just kept getting back up and keep on going after my strength, cause without it, I know for a fact that I'd never be happy." Hashi/Naruto said. Sakura looked down to the ground with sad eyes.

'That must be how you felt, huh Naruto-kun?' Sakura thought with a tear going down her eye.

"Then came a day I could never forget." Hashi/Naruto said, earning back Sakura's attention. "I had saved her from almost having her life taken away… but after that… I haven't seen her again." Sakura looked at the masked teen with sad eyes. "After that I met up with the people who I work with, but I still think about her and if she's happy. I've killed, tortured, and scarred many for my group, but I always wonder, what would she think of me after all I've done… would she even think I am human or the person she once knew? I desperately wish to know the answer and it's killing me to find out." Hashi just stopped and looked down to the ground. "I miss her so much that it's killing me from the inside out." Sakura saw a lone tear from Hashi's eye. Sakura placed her hand on his cheek and wiped away the tear, making Hashi look at her.

"Please, tell me; what would you say if you saw her again?" Sakura asked. Naruto had sad eyes, but he smiled to her without it being noticed because of the mask.

"I'd say, you mean more to me than anything, and that I'll always love you even after the end of time, even if it isn't possible I don't care, because that's how I truly feel for you. I'll always love you, even if you never love me and I'll always protect the thing you always found ugly about yourself, because I see it as the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And I'd gladly do anything to see you smile, because I adore your smile. That smile makes me smile and cry tears of joy whether on the inside or out because it's just so beautiful. I will kill… I will cry… I will bleed… I will die… I would sell my soul… I would do anything to see you smile, even if it means I'll never know happiness again, because if you smile… then I know that everything horrible I have ever done, the blood I've let dirty my hands and the nightmares I've created for myself… it was all worth it… and it will make me smile." Hashi/Naruto said with tears in his eyes as he stared into Sakura's equally tear and wondrously beautiful eyes. "I love you." As the two stared into each other's eyes, they started leaning in towards each other, their lips inching closer to each other, but they stopped as they pulled away. "I'm sorry." Hashi/Naruto apologized.

"It's okay; I apologize too." Sakura said.

"Let's keep moving." Hashi/Naruto said as he kept on walking down the path, with Sakura following. Sakura haled her heart as she kept following Hashi.

'What had just gotten into me?' Sakura asked herself.

(Now that brought a tear to my eye.)

With the konoha-nin

The konoha-nin were fighting many numbers of oto-nin.

"Why are we doing this again?" Tenten asked as she impaled a number of oto-nin with thrown kunai.

"We Are Assisting Kaya-chan And The Others By Creating A Distraction For Them While They Get Rid Of Otogakure's Tyranny Over Tsukiakari!" Lee exclaimed sending a barrage of kicks to multiple oto-nin.

"And how exactly are they going to do so?" Neji said using his Juken on the many oto-nin.

"They're serious enough to do so, best not to ask questions and just keep on fighting." Sasuke said cutting and slicing the oto-nin with Tamashi. Suddenly a series of explosion happened in the village.

"What The Hell Was That!?" Tenten exclaimed.

"Ignore it; we have to continue fighting these pieces of scum." Sasuke said. Sasuke then vanished from the spot and appeared with Tamashi in it's scabbard, but unsheathe a bit, with many oto-nin behind him. Sasuke then fully resheathed Tamashi and as he did so, all the oto-nin behind him were cut to pieces.

'Wow, Sasuke really has gotten stronger.' Tenten thought as she looked at Sasuke with awe.

'Sasuke-kun, you have gotten very strong over time; I am honored that I am your eternal rival!' Lee thought with a smile.

(Oh Lee; what are we ever going to do with you)

'You have progressed much after Naruto's death, Uchiha. Even though we do not see eye-to-eye, I am thankful that you chose to help Hinata-sama in her training. Arigatou.' Neji thought with a faint smile.

With Hashi/Naruto and Sakura

Hashi/Naruto and Sakura heard the explosion as some pieces of dirty fell from the roof.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"Our distraction; we better pick up the pace." Hashi/Naruto said as he and Sakura started running deeper into the cavern.

Tsukiakari tower

On a tower near the chief's home, a group of cloaked shinobi were looking down at the village and seeing the numerous explosions around the village. Those explosion were from the numerous bases that harbored the oto-nin, their supplies, intelligence; all the essentials. One of the cloaked figures had a huge hunch on his back; he smiled as he saw the various fires around the village, watching the bases burned as he then said. "Looks like we're going to have some nice funerals todays." The cloaked figures then jumped down from the tower, searching for the dead people walking.

With Hashi/Naruto and Sakura

Hashi/Naruto and Sakura found a hatch door that was most likely an entrance to the chief's home. "You ready for this?" Hashi asked turning to Sakura. Sakura nodded as she stared at the door. Sakura then kissed her hand and placed it on her tattoo of the golden and pink fox.

"Watashiwomite, watashi no shugo tenshi." (Watch over me, my guardian angel.) Sakura said with a look of determination. Hashi/Naruto looked at Sakura with happy eyes and a smile, before he grabbed Sakura's hand making her look at him.

'I will Sakura.' Naruto thought as he nodded. 'I promise.' Sakura nodded to him with a smile before the two turned to the hatch door and then opened it. Hashi/Naruto and Sakura pushed away a rug that was above the hatch door and looked around the place and saw that it was a fancy bedroom. "This must be the chief's bedroom." Hashi/Naruto said.

"Of course; should've expected this." Sakura said.

"Wait… do you hear that?" Hashi/Naruto said.

"Hear what?" Sakura asked.

"There it is again." Hashi/Naruto said.

"What is it?" Sakura asked. Hashi/Naruto carefully listened with his acute hearing, before his eyes widened as he identified what it was.

"It's a cry for help… And It's From Akiko-chan!" Hashi/Naruto said as he jumped out of the hatch and ran out of the room.

"Hashi Wait!" Sakura called out the masked swordsman's name as she quickly followed him. When Sakura got out of the room, she heard screams of agony and pain down the hallway. Sakura ran down it and saw freshly cut corpses of oto-nin. 'Oh my Kami… he did all this in just a short amount of time. What is he?'

Hashi kept dashing and slashing at any oto-nin along the way, until he reached a door where the cries were coming from so he burst through the door and saw Toru trying to rape Akiko. Filled with anger, Hashi charged at Toru, grabbing his through and then slammed hard into the wall, indenting him in it. Akiko took the chance and grabbed a familiar orange jacket, wrapping it around herself before she ran out of the room. Hashi stared at Toru with great anger and hatred; he really did look exactly like his brother and just as bad.

"Who the hell are you?" Toru choked out as Hashi squeezed his throat.

"That man who's going to cause your head hanging on a stick in the center of the village." Hashi said with an angry, icy tone.

Akiko kept on running with tears in her eyes, until she heard footsteps in front of her. Akiko panicked and quickly entered through a door next to her, before closing it and hoped for the best. As Akiko stood near the door, she heard the footsteps ran passed the room she was hiding in, making her sigh with relief, but it wasn't an enemy who had ran passed, but Sakura. Sakura finally made it to a destroyed door to find Hashi gripping Toru's throat with the chubby man indented into the wall.

"Whoever you are, you won't survive. I have the strongest oto-nin ready anytime to protect me; after all, he killed the Kyuubi jinchuriki!" Toru exclaimed, making Sakura's eyes widen with shock while Hashi just squeezed Toru's neck, hurting him. "Who is he and how did he do it?" Hashi demanded answers.

"Why should I answer that?" Toru said, but Hashi then sent Kurama's chakra towards the hand that was gripping Toru's neck making it hot and burn Toru's neck as he sqeezed it. "H-his name is general Dai and I think it had to do with explosive tags in a volcano." Toru quickly answered in fear. Sakura clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in anger.

'This general Dai… he's the reason my Naruto-kun died! I'll Kill Him!' Sakura thought with anger. "Where Is He!?" Sakura demanded answers.

"Sakura." Hashi/Naruto said the pink haired kunoichi's name, getting her attention. "Wait outside and guard me okay."

"But-"

"No buts. Don't worry about Dai yet, okay. If he was the head officer, then he must be powerful, and my gut tells me that he's stronger than you are, so just wait and get stronger, okay." Hashi turned to her with eye smiles and a real one underneath his mask. "Trust me." Sakura stared at him for a moment, before nodding. Sakura turned to the door and took a few steps, but she stopped in her tracks.

"Punch him in the face for me, before you kill him, okay." Sakura said. Hashi nodded.

"I will." Hashi/Naruto said. Sakura walked out of the door, 'guarding' Hashi from any intruders. Hashi turned to Toru with his demonic mask on and his eyes glowing red. Toru stared at Hashi with dead frightened look upon his face as Hashi's mask scared the crap out of him, making him think he was the shinigami. "Time to die, Toru." Hashi said with a stone cold tone.

"Fuck You! Do You Know Who I Am!?" Toru yelled out if fear.

"'Do you know who I am?' Funny, that's the same thing your brother said before I killed him." Hashi said smirking behind his mask. Toru was had a shocked and frightened look on his face, and for good reasons; he was staring at the man who killed his brother, and he was next. Hashi sent a bit of wind chakra into his fist and then slammed it into Toru's ribcage, breaking it. Toru screamed in agony and pain as he felt Hashi twist his fist into Toru's body. Hashi then pulled it out and then put his fingers onto Toru's forehead and added pressure, making it go deep, creating small holes with blood coming out of them as Toru screamed. Hashi then pulled his fingers out and clenched them as he then started repeatedly punching Toru's face in making it disfigured and bloody. Hashi then threw Toru onto the floor and stomped on the back of his head before he grabbed Toru's arm and then started pulling Toru's arm until he ripped the entire limb from his body, making Toru scream even louder. Hashi then grabbed the handle of Shokan and sent Kurama's chakra into it before he pulled it from his back and stabbed it through Toru's back making him shriek in mortal pain as the burning chakra of Kurama started burning him from the inside out, before Hashi grabbed his head and started pulling on Toru's head. Toru screamed in pain and agony before Hashi completely ripped Toru's head off of his body. Hashi held Toru's head in his hand, staring at the wretched man's face that was stricken with horror. Hashi then released Toru's head and then raised his leg, adding wind chakra to his foot, before he stomped on Toru's head, making a bloody mess; blood, destroyed flesh and bits of Toru's brain all around Hashi's foot. "It's done." Hashi said as he pulled Shokan out of Toru's back and placed it back onto his, before he headed towards the exit.

Hashi/Naruto walked out of the room to see Sakura with her eyes staring ahead. "I really wished you didn't have to hear all that." Hashi/Naruto said to Sakura, making her turn to his masked face. Hashi/ Naruto was wearing his lower half mask and straw hat as he looked at her. "Someone as innocent and kind-hearted as you shouldn't hear or even be near such disgusting acts." Hashi/Naruto said. Before Sakura could even respond, Hashi/Naruto pointed his finger ahead. "I sense Akiko down the hall; follow me." Hashi/Naruto said as he walked down the hall with Sakura following behind him.

Akiko was cowering in fear inside a room, hoping that help would find her soon enough. Suddenly the door to the room opened revealing a man in a lower half mask and straw hat.

"Good to see you're still alive." Hashi/Naruto said. Akiko screamed in fear and she held her most prized possession, the jacket the boy who saved her gave her wrapped around body even tighter.

"Akiko?" Sakura said walking towards the girl. "Akiko, it's me, Sakura. Remember?" Sakura said as she crouched in front of the girl.

"Stay Away From Me!" Akiko yelled as she tried to punch Sakura, but Sakura grabbed the punch. "Let Go Of Me! You're Not Sakura! You're Just Another One Of Those Oto Monsters Playing Games With My Head Again! I Am Not Some Toy To Play Around With!" Akiko yelled as she tried to send a hook punch at Sakura, but the pinkette jumped back. Hashi/Naruto grabbed Sakura's shoulder, making Sakura turn to him.

"Let me handle this, I can very convincing; trust me." Hashi/Naruto said earning a nod from Sakura. "You think you can leave the room. I don't want anyone of those oto-nins disturbing us." Hashi/Naruto said. Sakura was a bit reluctant, but she nodded and headed out the door and closed it. Hashi then went to the door while taking off one of his gloves, before he made a series of hand signs and then placed his exposed palm on the door, creating a silencer seal, so no one can hear what he and Akiko will be saying. Hashi walked towards Akiko, scaring her as he bent down in front of her.

"Stay Away From Me!" Akiko yelled.

"I see you still have it." Hashi said grabbing her, or more like his, jacket. Akiko looked at him with questioning eyes. "You've really grown into a young beautiful woman Akiko-chan." Hashi said with his now cerulean eyes. Akiko stared at his eyes; such familiar eyes that were so captivating and entrancing.

"Who are you?" Akiko said; her mind screaming the answer. Hashi smiles as he then took of his hat and mask to reveal his blonde hair, whisker marks and scarred, crush left side of his face, which was smiling. "…Naruto-kun…" Akiko said with tears appearing in her eyes. Naruto gave her his trademark huge goofy grin, as she had a smile of joy her face before she jumped at him giving him a big hug. "It Really Is You! You're Alive!" Akiko exclaimed with unbelievable joy. Naruto smiled as he returned the hug. Akiko was so happy. Ever since Naruto saved her, Akiko always had feelings for the sun kissed blonde and now that he's still alive and here to rescue her again, her feelings for him along with her happiness shot through the roof.

"Yeah, I am, but you have to keep it a secret, even from the konoha-nin, okay?" Naruto said. Akiko didn't know why Naruto didn't want anyone to know he was alive, but he must have had a good reason for it.

"O-okay Naruto-kun, I promise I won't tell anyone about you being alive. If…"

'Oh man.' Naruto thought.

"You agree to marry me." Akiko said with much determination in her eyes.

"Nani?" Naruto said with shock. "A-are you serious?" Naruto asked with shock still evident on his face.

"Yes." Akiko said with much determination.

"A-are you sure? I mean, isn't there another way?" Naruto asked.

"Oh Sakura!" Akiko shouted the pinkette's name.

"Okay, okay, I'll marry you, but only when I reveal that I'm still alive." Naruto said. He knew the silencing seal was still there, but Naruto was sure that Sakura wasn't really patient in these kinds of situations so he had to hurry.

"Deal!" Akiko exclaimed hugging Naruto. "Oh I can't wait!"

"Yes you can, come on." Naruto said with his lower half mask and straw hat on and grabbing her hand and taking her out the door. As Hashi/Naruto opened the door, Sakura grabbed Akiko's hand and went back inside the room.

"She needs clothes." Sakura said closing the door. Hashi/Naruto waited outside until the door opened revealing Sakura and Akiko wearing Sakura's extra clothing and Naruto's jacket on as well. "Okay we can go now." Sakura said.

"Good." Hashi said as he turned to the hallway and went through a series of hand signs. "Futon: Renkudan!" Hashi/Naruto exclaimed as he breathed in a grand amount of air before he blew out a fierce drilling bullet of air down the hall as a bunch of oto-nin rounded the corner, only to be hit head on with the massively strong attack, killing them and sending them through a giant hole that proceed all the way through the house. "Then let's hustle." Hashi/Naruto said as he carried Akiko bridal style and started running with Sakura following behind. As they jumped out the side of the chief's manner, Hashi/Naruto touched the earcom, radioing his fellow Akatsuki members. "Mission accomplished: Toru is dead and Akiko is safe." Naruto said through his earcom.

"Good timing, cause we need help." Aika/Karin said through her earcom.

"What's wrong?" Hashi/Naruto asked.

"My old colleague has got some groupies." Tetsuo/Zabuza said through his earcom. Hashi/Naruto narrowed his eyes at this little piece of news.

"I'll be there soon; I just need to make sure Akiko and the konoha-nin are safe before I join in the party." Hashi/Naruto said before cutting of the connection. 'Kurama, can you sense Sasuke's chakra? No doubt he's like a beckon of chakra using Tamashi.' Naruto said through his mental link with his bijuu.

"Already got it kit." Kurama said to Naruto giving him directions to where his bastard (Kurama's words, not mine) Uchiha friend is.

"I'm sensing Sasuke's chakra. Follow me." Hashi/Naruto said as he led Sakura towards where he sensed Sasuke.

/

The Akatsuki members and the Kurosuki family were hidden in Hana/Fu's Hiden: Rinpugakure no Jutsu (Secret: Hiding in Scale Powder Technique). Tetsuo/Zabuza slashed a few of the hooded shinobi away, leaving large cut wounds on their torsos. Kaya/Haku had thrown her many senbon at them, disabling them. Hana/Fu was flying through her jutsu with her wings, slashing many enemy shinobi as possible. Aika/Karin used the taijutsu that Obito and Konan taught her to take down as many of the Kurosuki family members as possible. As they were in the hidden jutsu Raiga, who had a hunch on his back that was covered by his cloak, and another cloaked shinobi were looking down at the whole hidden battle, sensing the many chakra signatures that were colliding.

"Boy, they're really going at it down there." The cloaked person said with a smile.

"Yes. Too bad my men are being overpowered by these unknown people, but these cloaked four are proving worthy of a well-deserved funeral." Raiga said.

"Raiga, speaking of funerals; when I die, will you give me one?" asked a voice that came from nowhere.

"No, Absolutely Not! You're not going to die, understand?" Raiga said to the mysterious voice.

"Not like your men." The other hooded figure said. Suddenly something crashed in the middle of the battle field inside the powdered mist and then it started to take down the Kurosuki family with great speed. As the mist let up there standing in the middle of the ring of the other cloaked Akatsuki members was Hashi in his demon mask.

"Hashi no Shi. The man who is the nightmare of every oto-nin to exist." Raiga said with a smirk. "I'm not sure I'll even cry at his funeral."

"Raiga Kurosuki. I've heard some sick crap about you; how would you like your own funeral." Hashi said with a dark tone. Raiga just chuckled at this.

"That's a new one, but I'm afraid I can't think of anyone who would cry for me at my funeral." Raiga said.

"How about tears of joy? Cause that's what I'll be shedding at your funeral." Hashi said as he aimed Shokan at the swordsman.

"The Shokan. He's mine." The hooded man next to Raiga said.

"Fine, but allow me to give you some fighting space first." Raiga said as he took out both of his dual blades and aimed them at the stormy sky. Suddenly bolts lightning struck the twin swords connecting them to the storm clouds. "Ikazuchi no Kiba!" Raiga shouted his justu as bolts lightning from the sky came down towards the cloaked figures and created a powerful explosion. "Well my, my, you mysterious figures sure are surprising." Raiga said as the cloaked beings were behind him and his fellow cloaked member. "So what is it that you want?" Raiga asked.

"To free this village and everyone who lives here, and you are standing in the way of this village's hope for peace." Hashi said.

"Peace? That is just a child's dream." Raiga said.

"Well, children do have more innocence than you, so it's understandable, but then again isn't that something all of us in our position envy of them?" Hashi said. Raiga smirked at this gaining new interest in the masked man.

"I like the way you think; looks like you gave me a reason to cry at your funeral." Raiga said.

"If you don't have yours first that is." Hashi said.

"Remember Raiga, he's mine." The cloaked man next to the missing kiri-nin spoke.

"Yes, yes, I know. Go nuts Aoi." Raiga said waving his hand. Naruto's eyes widened hearing the name of the man who stole his great granduncle's famous sword.

"Hashi, what do you want to do?" Tetsuo/Zabuza asked knowing how important this means to Naruto since he is a Senju and this man identified as Aoi Rokusho had committed crimes against not only his village, but his own clan. Raiga raised an eyebrow as he heard Testuo's voice feeling that he had heard it before.

"Aoi's all mine." Hashi/Naruto said as he disappeared and then reappeared in front of Aoi and grabbed him by the throat and disappeared down to lower ground.

"Guess that means that it's just you and me then." Tetsuo/Zabuza said as he cracked his knuckles.

"Zabuza?" Raiga said the name of his old associate. "I don't believe this."

"So you actually remembered the sound of my charming voice." Zabuza said.

"If by charming you mean the sound of sandpaper being used against a rhino's kneecap then yes, it's very 'charming'." Raiga said earning a giggle from the voice from earlier.

"Well enough of this polite conversation crap." Zabuza said as the seal on his back released creating a cloud of smoke that revealed Kubikiribocho (Decapitating Carving Knife or better known as the Executioner's Blade). Zabuza grabbed the handle of his favorite knife as he grinned and pointed the tip of the blade towards Raiga. "How about we get to the main event?" Zabuza said grinning behind his bandages. Raiga got into his kenjutsu stance with the tip of his blades pointed at Zabuza.

"Let's." Raiga said with a grin as well.

/

Hashi/Naruto appeared at the lower level as to let his comrades take on Raiga while he took care of some business. Hashi released Aoi and jumped back before the ex-konoha-nin could kick him away.

"Bastard, now my throat's going to have your finger marks printed around it." Aoi said gritting his teeth and rubbing his throat.

"Aoi Rokusho, missing konoha-nin, jonin rank and thief of the legendary Raijin no Ken." (Sword of the Thunder God) Hashi/Naruto stated Aoi's status.

"Well, I see my reputation precedes me." Aoi said as he pulled down his hood to reveal his face which consisted of green shoulder length hair and violet eyes. "So I'm guessing you want to send me back to Konoha so I can receive judgment and the Raijin no Ken back?" Aoi deduced.

"My family's sword back? Yes. Sending you back to Konoha? No." Hashi/Naruto then took Shokan off of his back and pointed it at Aoi. "I'm going to be the one who delivers judgment upon you." Hashi said darkly as his eyes glowed red making Aoi sweat a bit.

"Family's sword? Is this guy a-" but before Aoi could finish his sentence, Hashi dashed at Aoi and thrust his sword towards Aoi. Aoi quickly took out the Raijin no ken and tried to parry the sword but the sword was too powerful that it pushed the legendary lightning sword away. Aoi managed to move to the side to avoid getting stab right through the head, but the large sword stabbed the top of his shoulder making him scream as he jumped back and grabbed his shoulder. 'Damn! That sword not only stabs, but somehow it also burns.' Aoi thought with anger that was now directed at the masked man in front of him. Suddenly Hashi appeared above Aoi and sent a downward slash upon him, but Aoi managed toroll out of the way, but Hashi stabbed his sword onto the ground and tightly held onto the handle and supported his whole entire body in the air, allowing Hashi to kick Aoi's face sending Aoi sliding into the ground, digging into the ground digging up debris. Aoi slowly sat up and glared at Hashi who gently landed onto the floor. "Damn you." Aoi cursed at the masked swordsman.

"You moron, get up; if you're going to wield such a sword, then use it!" Hashi said raising his voice. Aoi gritted his teeth as he stood and prepared his stolen sword.

"You Asked For It!" Aoi yelled as he charged at Hashi and started slashing at him, but Hashi kept blocking and parrying the legendary sword with Shokan. Hashi was disappointed in the battle he was partaking in, Aoi didn't even know how to properly use his great grand uncle's sword; all he was doing was disgracing his uncle's memory. As Aoi thrust the Raijin no Ken, Hashi grabbed Aoi's wrist as the blade was inches from his face. Aoi stared at Hashi with wide eyes of shock and fear.

"How disgraceful; you convinced a child to steal a blade for you and you can't even use it properly." Hashi said. Aoi gritted his teeth in anger as he tried to kick Hashi, but Hashi intercepted it with his knee and then headbutted Aoi square in his forehead making him back up in pain before Hashi went for a thrust, but Aoi quickly made trails in front of him to create a shield him from the attack, but it still sent him skidding back. Hashi quickly appeared in front of Aoi and sent a powerful punch to his gut making him spew out blood before he grabbed the collar of his hood and started beating his face in with his fist, knee and head. Aoi then attempted to kick his masked adversary away, but Hashi grabbed his foot with his free hand; however Aoi tried to decapitate Hashi with the stolen sword making Hashi duck and then release him as he jumped back.

"You Son Of A Bitch!" Aoi yelled as he covered his now bleeding nose.

"What Did That Bastard Say!?" Kushina yelled from inside Naruto's mind.

"Maybe if you were more skilled in kenjutsu and not depend on it so much that it made you neglect your other skills, you'd actually land a scratch on me." Hashi said still glaring at Aoi.

"Shut Up!" Aoi yelled, his glare at Hashi intensifying.

"Answer me this. Where is Idate Morino?" Hashi asked.

"He's no concern to you." Aoi said.

"Maybe not to me, but he is to Ibiki Morino, a konoha-nin." Hashi said.

"Oh I get it. You want to return Idate back to konoha by giving him to konoha-nin, but he's a missing-nin as well, remember?" Aoi said.

"I know that, which is why I'm not going to give him back to Konoha, at least not yet." Hashi said surprising Aoi.

"What do you mean?" Aoi asked.

"I'm afraid that's none of your concern since you won't be around long enough to know." Hashi said gripping the handle of Shokan. Aoi suddenly threw an umbrella high in the air and as it opened, senbon needles shot out of the umbrella and straight towards Hashi. Hashi just simply slashed and parried the senbons away from him with ease. Aoi took the advantage and charged at Hashi ready to strike, but as he gone close to him Aoi was suddenly attacked and encased by tree roots.

'This Jutsu! It's…' Aoi thought with shock.

"I see you're shocked." Hashi said as he made a ram sign making the roots of the wood grab his fingers and break them making him scream and drop the Raijin no Ken. "So you can't make a jutsu." Hashi said.

"So… you are a Senju." Aoi said gritting his teeth in pain.

"Well actually he's a clone of one." Aoi looked beside the masked swordsman to see another Hashi. "Mind if I cut in?" The new Hashi asked.

"Go right ahead boss." The Hashi in front of Aoi said before he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"A Shadow Clone?!" Aoi exclaimed with shock.

"That's right." The real Hashi said bringing his hand up in a single ram sign making the roots surrounding Aoi tighten making Aoi's body and bones feel pain. "You caused crimes against my family; taking my great grand uncle's sword!"

"Great grand uncle? Wait! You're… But That's Impossible! You're Dead!" Aoi yelled with shock. Hashi then untied the ribbons holding his mask in place and then took it off to reveal his sun kissed blonde hair, whisker marked and half crushed face. "Naruto… so you are alive." Aoi said with shock.

"Of course I am. You think a giant rock would actually keep me down?" Naruto said still glaring at Aoi.

"But if you're alive, then why didn't you go back to Konoha?" Aoi asked honestly confused as to why he didn't go back. Naruto was now considered a great hero in Konoha, and the fact that not only was he the son of the Fourth Hokage, but also the heir to the Senju clan, he pretty much would have it made back in Konoha.

"Because of people like you." Naruto answered with much seriousness shocking Aoi. "Why'd you steal uncle Tobirama's sword?"

"Because I Was Tired Of The Life I Was Living! I Was Considered An Average Jonin With Nothing Special!" Aoi yelled.

"Wow good reason, I am inspired." Naruto said sarcastically as he lightly clapped.

'Holy shit he's really changed; what the fuck happened?!' Aoi thought to himself with shock at the difference between this Naruto and the one he met back at Konoha.

"And you thought Idate wanted the same thing?" Naruto asked.

"Of Course!" Aoi exclaimed.

"A child who just wanted to become a chunin to prove to everyone in the home that he loved that he was capable of being one, to prove that he wasn't just some no talented kid? Was the path you lead him down really going to prove such a thing? Especially since he was considered a pathetic spineless traitor by all he knew and loved in the process?" Naruto said. Aoi looked at the blonde with wide eyes. "Why am I even asking? People like you do what they do only for themselves."

"You don't understand." Aoi said.

"You're right; how about I try. I feel pathetic, useless; the sword of the great Second will bring me respect to all those in the elemental nations. Hm, you know that kid Idate wanted to be a chunin that he'd do anything to prove himself, so how about he steals the sword for me, let him do all the dirty work for my own personal gain." Naruto then grabbed his deceased uncle's sword. "Now I have the sword, and now people will recognize me as Aoi Rokusho, the man who holds the Raijin no Ken, but is also another missing-nin among thousands. I'll take Idate with me, oh and look at this, Ibiki Morino is chasing us just to get his little brother back, well we can't have that. Here you go Ame-nin; I figured you'd like to have this bald bastard and learn his secrets. Go ahead, torture him, oh the kid? Nah, I'm sure he's fine seeing his big brother get tortured. Idate doesn't look so good, oh well what do I care, he's just a kid and besides I don't even have a brother, it'd be a waste to even try and understand him, after all I have what I wanted, so screw Konoha and all those who were there for me."

"T-That's Not True!" Aoi quickly exclaimed as tears started to form in his eyes.

"Is It!? The moment you stole this blade, you not only said fuck Konoha, but fuck you to those who loved you, supported you, and accepted you for who you are! That's what you guys don't realize! You cave into one selfish thing without thinking about those that actually showed you love, kindness and affection and soon enough you become the one thing that not only they despise but you do deeply inside your heart as well! And For What?! A Fucking Sword That You Can't Even Wield Properly?! You Think This Will Make You Famous?! News Flash! Nobody Gives A Fuck!" Naruto yelled as he roared and thrust his great grand uncle's sword to the side making it shoot lightning, striking trees and making them burst into fire. Aoi stared at the fire and looked back at what he had and what he had done up to this point. Aoi then started to cry with tears of shame, sadness, and self-hatred.

"You're right… you're absolutely right Naruto." Aoi admitted as he looked down at the ground with shame. "I've done so much wrong onto not only myself, but also Idate… he's a lot like you in a way."

"I know. That's why I want to help him. With enough help and support he can reach his goal and beyond." Naruto said. "I think if you were there for him when he needed someone, I know that you two would have found what you not only wanted, but also needed." Aoi started shedding so many tears at this.

"This world would be better off without me." Aoi said. Naruto just stood silent, not answering. "Kill me… please." Naruto just nodded as he readied Shokan.

"Do I earn it?" Naruto asked making Aoi look at him with shock. "Do I earn your blessing to take Idate." Aoi continued to look at Naruto before he closed his eyes and looked down smiling.

"Yes… please take him and give him a better life… one I could never give him." Aoi said. Naruto nodded as he was ready to strike Aoi in the heart. "And Naruto…" Naruto looked at Aoi. "Please don't make the same mistake as I." Aoi said. Naruto just smiled sympathetically.

"Trust me. I'll go back soon when I am strong enough. Believe it." Naruto said. Aoi nodded.

"And please… tell Idate I am sorry for all that I have done to him and that I truly did care for him as if he were my own little brother." Aoi said, and with those words he closed his eyes ready for death.

"Will do." Naruto said before he thrust Shokan straight into Aoi's heart, killing the green haired ex-konoha jonin.

On the upper level, Zabuza, Raiga and the others heard everything Naruto told Aoi.

"My, my, your friend knows how to break a man, huh?" Raiga said.

"He's pretty talented isn't he?" Zabuza said impressed with Naruto's work.

"Yes." Raiga said. The voice from earlier heard everything as well and actually started to respect this Hashi.

'It's like… he understands almost everyone.' The keeper of the voice thought. Away from the cloaked fighters, but close enough to hear a few things that they say were two cloaked beings hiding behind a tree. The taller of the two turned to see that the other was crying.

"Idate?" the taller one said the shorter one's name, now known as Idate.

"Aoi sensei." Idate muttered the name of his now fallen sensei and crying from the words he had spoken. Raiga quickly sent lightning chakra to his twin blades and aimed them at Zabuza and the other Akatsuki as lightning coursed around the swords. "Raiso: Ikazuchi no Utage!" (Lightning Burial: Banquet of Lightning) Raiga announced his justu as the twin swords shot several thunderbolts at the Akatsuki members. Zabuza, Haku, Fu and Karin jumped out of the way, allowing Raiga the perfect opportunity to jump down to the lower level of the cliff and charge lightning chakra into his twin blades. As Raiga aimed the tips of his swords at Naruto, a ball of lightning appeared at the tips.

"Raikyu!" (Lightning Ball) Raiga exclaimed his jutsu's name as it shot towards Naruto. All Naruto did was stand there for a few moments with a serious look upn his face before he brought Shokan into a blocking position. As the jutsu hit, Raiga started to chuckle.

"Well that was a bit of a disappointment." Raiga said with a smirk.

"Raiga, he's still alive." The mysterious voice spoke.

"What?! How?!" Raiga questioned with shock.

"Doraibu!" (Drive) Naruto's voice echoed as a giant upward slash made of pure lightning chakra headed towards Raiga. Raiga quickly jumped out of the way just in time, before the chakra slash could hit him. Raiga looked back to see the slash cut into the cliff side before it exploded leaving a huge hole in the side of the cliff. Raiga stared at the hole with wide eyes of amazement and fear. Raiga then turned to see the now demon masked Hashi no Shi glaring at him with his broadsword coursing with lightning.

(That's the great feat I was talking about earlier; awesome, huh? He,he.)

'What Is This Guy?!' Raiga thought with shock. "What in the world was that?"

"His sword, it absorbed the power of the lightning ball and then used it's lightning chakra as it's own attack." The voice spoke.

"But that's impossible. The only sword I know that could absorb lightning chakra is the Raijin no Ken, but I never heard of it ricocheting the attack back at it's opponent, especially with an attack with such magnitude." Raiga said staring at the demon masked swordsman. Hashi glared at Raiga before he sped towards him with incredible speed, thanks to his control over his wind chakra.

"Raiga!" the voice yelled the green haired man's name bringing him out of his trance. Raiga quickly intercepted Shokan with his twin blades, but the force of the attack caused Raiga to skid backwards.

"Who's the kid?" Hashi asked making Raiga's eyes widen. "I got good hearing, I know about your little trick, too bad you don't know mine. Kit!" On cue, Mamoru jumped out of Hashi's cloak and onto Raiga's face, making the swordsman scream and lose focus as the fox kit was biting and scratching his face. Hashi took advantage of the situation and was about to use one of his father's shuriken to stab Raiga in the heart, but he was then interrupted by a familiar jutsu.

"Dynamic Entry!" Lee shouted the name of his jutsu as he kicked Raiga in the side making him fly to the side. Mamoru quickly jumped off of Raiga before he was sent flying and landed next to Naruto. Raiga quickly caught himself in the air before he landed. "Hashi-kun, I Am Here To Help!" Lee exclaimed with much youth.

"Thanks Lee." Hashi said with a sweat drop expression; it really can't be seen thanks to his mask. Mamoru yipped something to Hashi.

"You're right." Hashi said. 'I gotta make this quick.' Hashi thought. "Lee, meet with my sister, she can guide you to Karashi; I can deal with Raiga, trust me." Lee was hesitant to leave Hashi's side. "Karashi doesn't belong here; he needs to be back with his mother ASAP, the longer he stays here the more trouble he'll be put into." Hashi persuaded Lee and succeeded as he received a nod from the green clad ninja before he vanished. Lee then appeared in front of Aika/Karin.

"Excuse me Aika-chan, but Hashi told me-"

"Karashi is behind that tree along with Idate Morino, be gentle with the latter." Aika/Karin said pointing to the tree where she sensed the two chakra signatures.

"Arigatou Aika-chan." Lee said with a bow before he vanished, heading towards the spot she pointed towards.

"By the way, why aren't we helping Naruto?" Aika/Karin asked worried about her surrogate brother.

"We'd just get in his way, trust me, okay?" Tetsuo/Zabuza said earning an understanding nod from Aika/Karin. Meanwhile, Hashi was sending an idea for a plan to Mamoru through their mental link. Mamoru nodded as he then started running.

"He's sending a fox kit to do his dirty work? How pathetic, I guess I won't cry at his funeral." Raiga said as he readied to kill the fox kit, but suddenly the kit burst into golden flames before he started rapidly rolling until he was a giant wheel of fire. Raiga's eyes widened with shock at this before he jumped away from the attack only to do as Hashi expected. Hashi quickly appeared behind Raiga and then kicked the hunch of his back sending a giant zip up bag to fly out of the green haired swordsman's cloak.

"Raiga!" a voice from the back yelled out.

"Ranmaru!" Raiga screamed as he saw Hashi catch the bag and carry it over his shoulder. "You Bastard! Give Him Back!" Raiga yelled as he charged at Hashi with his twin blades ready to strike. Hashi put Shokan back onto his back before he used his wind chakra to dash at Raiga with incredible speed and land a solid blow to Raiga's gut with his elbow. Raiga spit out saliva as he felt the incredible pain.

"Raiga!" the voiced yelled out again as Hashi then back fisted Raiga, grabbed his head and kneed him in the bridge of his nose breaking it and then slap Raiga in his face multiple times and then head-butt him in the face again breaking his nose even more and causing it to bleed, before he sent a thrusting chop into Raiga's chest making him cough out blood. Raiga stumbled back as he held his chest feeling the incredible pain.

"Y-you f-filthy little r-rat." Raiga fumbled upon his word from pain as he glared at Hashi.

"I ain't a rat." Hashi said as he disappeared from sight. "I'm a demon." He said appearing behind Raiga with glowing red eyes making the ex-kiri-nin sweat with fear. Hashi then formed a familiar ball of spiraling blue chakra.

"STOP!" the voice yelled getting the other Akatsuki's members attention.

"Too late now." Hashi said as he thrust his Rasengan straight into Raiga's gut as said swordsman turned around, sending him flying into the air over a cliff. "Well that takes care of that." Hashi said as the rest of his team appeared next to him.

"What's inside the bag?" Hana/Fu asked.

"Raiga's eyes." Hashi/Naruto said setting the bag gently down to the ground while Mamoru made it back to his side. Naruto had his lower half mask on along with his straw hat as he then unzipped the bag to reveal a young boy. The boy had a slightly feminine appearance with chin length purple hair that was parted in the middle and red colored eyes. He wore a light purple shirt with black stripes on each side, a sash around his waist, a pair of dark colored pants and sandals.

"A gaki?" Tetsuo/Zabuza said with a raised non-existent eyebrow.

"So… it was you who was helping Raiga out during our battle, am I correct?" Hashi asked rhetorically with his hand cupping his cheek with the other arm was on his crouching knee.

"Yes, that's how it's always been for me and Raiga; we've always been together, ever since he found me." The boy said. "People from my own village spied on Kirigakure, so Raiga and his team of ANBU had come to find and kill them. He just killed people at random, but he cried for them as he took their life. Deep within his heart he searched meaning in life. He and I are the same, we felt that living was painful, trying to find the meaning in our lives. My illness forced me indoors, shunned by everyone; all I could do was peer out of the world from under a blanket. I felt that it would be okay to die from Raiga's hands since I felt that he could clean some meaning behind the thing we call life, but instead of taking my life, Raiga took me with him saying that from then on we would become one. On that day I became Raiga's eyes and ears and Raiga became my hands and feet. The outside world that we dashed into was filled with things that I saw and heard, and for the first time in my life, it was so much fun. Wherever and whenever I was with Raiga, nothing else mattered. We were never apart. We were trying to find the meaning in our lives by living for eachother. We were convinced that we found the answer." Naruto looked at the kid with sad eyes along with the rest of his team, minus Zabuza. "That's why, if Raiga is gone, I've no reason to live. Without him I'd have no purpose in this world. No cause to exist." Naruto, Haku and Zabuza's eyes widened at these oh so familiar words. "There's no need for me to be here any longer." The boy spoke.

"Don't talk like that." Naruto said.

"Go on, why do you hesitate? My arms and legs are crippled; I'm powerless to resist you." The boy said. Naruto just stared at the child sternly. "You have a mission to carry out, don't you? Well hurry up and finish it." Haku covered her mouth as she looked at the child with tears pouring from her eyes; it was like she was staring into a mirror of the past and she didn't like what she sees. Naruto then lifted his fist and quickly brought it down.

"NARUTO!" Haku yelled the boy's name and quickly made a series of hand signs, however Naruto's fist stopped right above the boy's forehead. Naruto then open his fist and laid his hand onto the boy's head.

"Baka… you shouldn't give up so easily when there is always hope around the corner." Naruto said with understanding eyes making the young boy blink in surprise. "You gonna turn me into a pin cushion again Haku-chan?" Naruto said looking at the brunette with eye smiles as ice senbon were surround the young scarred blonde and Mamoru, who stood in front of Naruto in his Kyuubi mode defending him. Zabuza, Karin and Fu were shocked that Haku would be so willing to attack her fellow teammate, and the one she harbored feelings for no less, just to save a boy who she didn't even know for five minutes. The purple haired boy just stared at Haku with surprised eyes, before she released her jutsu, letting the ice turn into water that fell onto the ground.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun." Haku said with sincerity and sad eyes that still had tears pouring. Naruto nodded as Shokan disappeared into the seal before he grabbed Mamoru and put him in the pouch inside his cloak and then grabbed the bag that was carrying the boy and strapped it to his back.

"Come on." Naruto said as he headed out with his team close behind.

/

Naruto had finished tying the boy to a pole inside a small abandoned house. "I'm sorry to do this, but in your kind of situation you are only dangerous to yourself, and I can't let that happen." Naruto said. The boy just didn't answer him. "We'll return, I promise." Naruto stood up and was about to head out the door before the kid spoke up.

"Why are you doing this? I'm your enemy, so why do you wish to help me?" the boy asked making Naruto stop in his tracks. Naruto stood silent with all eyes upon him.

"You know what my sword means correct?" Naruto asked earning a nod from the boy; he didn't have to see it to know that the young child did so. "I wish to redeem the world, but sadly I feel I can never redeem myself." He said making everyone look at him with surprise. "When I was younger I failed in saving someone who was precious to me." Haku was shocked hearing him mention this since she knew he meant her. "Even though I was blessed to have her come back to me, I still feel as if I was still at fault for what had happened, and no words from friends or comrades could make me think otherwise, but with you… I feel that… I can be redeemed." Naruto said shocking the boy and Haku. "I apologize if it sounds selfish, but you are now considered important to me, and I cannot let anything bad happen to you." Naruto said as he headed outside with Zabuza, Fu and Karin, but Haku stayed behind with fresh tears in her eyes from hearing Naruto's words. Haku then turned to the child and crouched down in front of him and started to fix his hair.

"I promise we will come back for you, and if they think otherwise, I'll come back." Haku said making the child look up at her with shock. "I promise." She said with a genuine smile. The boy looked at her and saw that her smile was of that of full understanding; something he thought he'd only see in Raiga. Haku then stood up and headed out the door as Naruto then closed it and put a chakra seal on the door. "Is that really necessary?" Haku asked with sympathy for the boy.

"He's like you in more ways than one Haku; I can't take the chance." Naruto said earning a sad nod from the brunette. The five Akatsuki members then started running towards the village to see how the villagers and the konoha-nin were doing. "Talk about freaking déjà vu." Naruto whispered to himself.

"Shut up." Zabuza said hearing him.

/

Hashi and company were dashing down a mountain where they saw Karashi waving at them with a bunch of villagers with.

'Something's not right.' Hashi/Naruto thought narrowing his eyes. And he got his answer as boulders came down on them. 'That little bastard.' Hashi thought as the boulders came down on them. Karashi cheered as the rest of the Kurosuki family joined him.

"KARASHI!" the boy turned to see Lee and the other konoha-nin along with Akiko who looked on in horror of seeing "What Have You Done?! I Thought Our Talk Changed You!"

"L-Lee, listen, they were monsters, especially that Hashi guy." Karashi said.

"Hashi Saved Akiko From Being Raped And Help Save A Child! You're The Monster Here, You Bastard!" Sakura yelled as green chakra glowed around her shaking fists. Sakura started walking Karashi with her fists suddenly bursting with green fire and trembling with anger. Karashi was sweating with fear as he started sweating with fear as he started backing away from the frightening pink haired girl, but his back then hit something. Karashi slowly turned around to see Hashi with his demon mask on, staring at him with red glowing eyes covered by bandages. Karashi screamed in fear at the fact that Hashi was still alive. Hashi grabbed Karashi's face with his hand and lifted him up from the ground.

"I absolutely despise boulders falling atop of me." Hashi said.

"P-Please! Let Me Go! I'll Do Anything!" Karashi exclaimed. Hashi slammed Karashi down to the ground and lifted him up again, still staring at him with his bandaged, red glowing eyes.

"Nothing you do will make it up to us, at least not with how you are now." Hashi said as he started dragging Karashi away.

"Hashi-kun, What Are You Going To Do With Karashi?!" Lee asked with concern for Karashi. Hashi just shushined away with Karashi as the other members of Hashi's team appeared out of nowhere. "Karashi!" Lee yelled his old friend's name, but was stopped by Kaya/Haku.

"Please, Lee-kun, let Hashi be; he shall help Karashi become himself again." Kaya/Haku said.

"It won't be pretty though, knowing the kid." Tetsuo/Zabuza said. Lee couldn't let whatever Hashi had planned for Karashi happened.

"I'm Coming Karashi!" Lee shouted as he was about to go after him and Hashi, but Tetsuo stood in his way.

"Sorry kid, but whatever Hashi has planned for him may not be pretty, but it'll help." Tetsuo/Zabuza said.

"I'm Sorry! I Do Not Mean To Sound As If I Don't Trust Hashi-kun, But Karashi Isn't Strong Enough To Deal With Anything Hashi Can Delivery Upon Him! Please Get Out Of My Way!" Lee exclaimed.

"Sorry kid, but I ain't letting you through." Tetsuo said. Lee got into his gouken stance while Tetsuo/Zabuza just stared at him, but the hooded masked shinobi sensed an attack. Tetsuo/Zabuza dodged to the side, just in time to avoid a slash from a tekko kagi (Those long ninja claw weapons.). Lee took the chance to go after Hashi and Karashi while Tetsuo was busy.

"Lee!" Tenten yelled out his name. Neji, not wanting his friend to do something stupid like he always does, went after him. Surrounding the others was what was left of the Kurosuki Family trying to look intimidating, but it would take more than weapons and looks to intimidate the enemy shinobis that they were facing.

"Get behind me Akiko." Sakura said standing in front of the orange haired girl protectively.

"Let's Shred 'Em!" one of the members of the Kurosuki said. The members of the Kurosuki started making towers made up of three people each with their tekko kagis out and ready.

"Kuro Tatsumaki" (Black Tornado) the members all said as they all started spinning around rapidly with their tekko kagis outstretched givng them the appearance of, well what the jutsu they called out, a black tornado, and one touch could shred anyone to pieces all thanks to their tekko kagis. Sasuke just stood stoic as the killer tornados came at them.

"Pathetic scum." Sasuke said as he unsheathed his sword a bit with his thumb. Suddenly the young Uchiha vanished and then appeared away from the others as the Kurosuki family halted their jutsu and then suddenly blood sprayed out of their bodies as they all fell to the ground. The akatsuki members were shocked and amazed at the feat Sasuke just preformed; he was definitely equal in strength to Naruto.

"Thank Kami that's over." Sakura said.

"Lee and Neji went after Hashi, we have to stop them." Tenten said with fear for Hashi getting thrashed.

"I'm more worried for those two; Hashi isn't one to be messed with, trust me." Hana/Fu said. "You guys ever heard of Shuishi?"

"Yeah, he was considered one of the strongest shinobi in not only oto, but in the shinobi world as well; or at least until some mysterious shinobi killed him." Tenten answered.

"That mysterious shinobi was Hashi." Hana/Fu answered. Tenten, Sakura and Akiko's eyes widened in shock at the news; Sasuke on the other hand raised an eyebrow with interest. "And he did it while Shuishi wore some special armor created by Doto Kazahana and it was also back before Hashi created Shokan and only used a trench knife." Tenten, Sakura and Akiko were shocked and amazed at how powerful Hashi was while Sasuke was so interested that he wanted to have a battle with Hashi to see how strong he really was.

"We Have To Save Lee and Neji!" Tenten shouted with fear as she tried to find her teammates and friends, but Kaya/Haku stopped her.

"Hashi-kun will not kill them." Kaya/Haku said.

"But he'll still hurt them." Tenten said.

"If he has to, but trust me, Hashi may be dangerous, but he's not a monster; he's trustworthy and kind so your friends will be safe." Kaya/Haku said. "You have nothing to worry about."

"But-"

"Tenten, listen to her." Sasuke said earning the brunette's attention. "I sense no lie in her, and Hashi isn't one to kill innocence; I sense that in him." Tenten was still worried about her teammates, but she trusts Sasuke, back then she didn't, but after learning that he was helping Hinata with her training and showing her more respect and kindness than even Neji and her sister Hanabi, she trusted the Uchiha fully.

"Okay fine." Tenten said. "But then what do we do then?" Tenten asked.

"Here's the game plan, if you guys are willing to listen that is?" Aika/Karin said.

"Well, we're pretty much on the same side here." Sakura said.

"Okay, our concern right now is the civilians, we have to gather them and get them out of the village; that's your job." Aika/Karin said.

"Then what will you guys do?" Tenten asked.

"We're going to deal with the oto-nin." Aika/Karin answered.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Sakura asked.

"We'll be fine kid, trust me." Tetsuo/Zabuza said.

"Just make sure Akiko is safe and away from oto's grasp." Kaya/Haku said. The konoha-nin nodded understandingly.

"You better get on my back Akiko." Sakura said. Akiko nodded as Sakura helped her onto her back. "We'll meet you guys later." Sakura said as she with Akiko on her back, Tenten and Sasuke sped off to find and gather the civilians.

"Are we really going to do this?" Fu asked.

"Why? Don't you trust your boyfriend?" Zabuza said with a smirk underneath his bandages.

"H-He's Not My Boyfriend!" Fu shouted with a huge blush with Haku not liking the comment as well. "It just seems…"

"Naruto was right. Akatsuki can't be known to anyone yet, especially our enemies." Karin said.

"It just seems crazy that he would suggest this." Fu said.

"But he is right; this is what's best." Zabuza said as he pulled out a konoha headband. "Besides, they're already enemies." After those words had left Zabuza's mouth, the four vanished.

At the cemetery

"LET ME OUT! PLEASE, FOR KAMI'S SAKE! PLEASE!" Karashi screamed as he kept pounding his fists onto the door of coffin Hashi put him in. Hashi just sat on a rock silently drinking his sake while Mamoru was eating a piece of meat. "PLEASE! LET ME OUT! I'M BEGGING YOU!" Karashi begged as tears of fear ran down his cheeks. "LET ME OUT! I WANT TO GO HOME!"

"Jeez kit, and here I thought I was brutal." Kurama said amazed at how far Naruto would go to teach someone a lesson.

'kid's gotta learn.' Naruto thought chugging down the last of his sake before throwing it at the ground before pulling up his lower-half mask and putting on his straw hat. Minato and Kushina did not speak a word; as brutal and ruthless as his method to put this boy right, they trusted their son one hundred percent. Lee suddenly appeared in the cemetery.

"Where's Karashi?!" Lee shouted demanding answers.

"LEE?! IS THAT YOU?! HELP ME! I'M IN THE GROUND!" Karashi screamed wanting help.

"Dear Kami." Neji said landing next to Lee. "You are ruthless." Neji said with a serious look on his face, but was now nervous on the inside at the sight of Hashi's serious glare.

"The boy must learn." Hashi stood from the rock he was sitting on. "This is what his boss did to innocent people; this is what he must be subjected to in order to truly learn and be reformed." Neji didn't want to admit it, but Hashi had a point, but this was still going too far.

"Karashi, I'm Coming!" Lee shouted.

"Lee, Thank You! Please Get Me Out!" Karashi shouted. Lee tried to make his way to where Karashi was buried, but Hashi appeared in front of him.

"Sorry kid, but he isn't ready yet." Hashi said looking at Lee with stoic eyes.

"Forgive Me For Using Such A Tone, But Get Out Of My Way!" Lee shouted.

"Like I said kid, the boy isn't fully reformed yet; come back later." Hashi said. Lee shook his fist with rising anger at Hashi.

"HELP ME!" Karashi screamed. Having enough, Lee sent a roundhouse kick to Hashi's head, but the masked shinobi effortlessly grabbed Lee's leg, then punted Lee's other leg's kneecap, and then tossed away the leg he had in his grasp, making Lee spin around and then finally slammed his palm in Lee's back, pushing the green clad shinobi next to Neji. Neji and Lee looked at Hashi with wide eyes at how skilled the mask shinobi was while Hashi just continued to stare at them.

"Like I said, come back later." Hashi said emotionlessly. Lee just made a battle cry as he dashed at Hashi and sent a combo of punches, but Hashi just batted the fists away effortlessly and then slammed his fist into Lee's gut putting some of his wind manipulation behind it making the green clad fly back into a tree.

"Lee!" Neji shouted his teammate's name, before he turned back and glared at Hashi with his now activated Byakugan. Neji got into his Juken and then dashed at Hashi and started sending blow for blow straight at Hashi, but like Lee, Hashi just batted away the attacks. Hashi then kicked Neji's foot to the side, breaking the long haired teen out of his stance and then head-butted Neji in the forehead and then slammed his fist into Neji's gut with wind manipulation behind it as well, sending the long haired brunette flying straight into Lee, leading to them slamming straight through the tree. Hashi just stared at them with no emotion while on the inside Naruto was feeling horrible for fighting two of his old friends.

"Don't beat yourself up Naruto, you're doing what you know is right." Mamoru said.

'Do you really believe I am doing the right thing?' Naruto said to the little fox kit through their mind link.

"Naruto it's you, of course you're doing the right thing; I always trust you." Mamoru said. Naruto smiled at his best friend/partner.

"Thank you Mamoru." Naruto said smiling behind his mask as the fox kit smiling.

"Okay you two, stop lovingly-"

'Kurama, I know they're getting back up, I am not the stupid little gaki from back in the day who couldn't tell the difference between a kunai and a shuriken, I am a young assassin for a mysterious organization, now will you treat me like one?!' Naruto thought with annoyance.

"Jeez kit, fine, I'll start right now. You're A Fucking Cold Blooded Monster!"

'You're an asshole you know that.'

"I try my best." Kurama said with a grin.

"Neji, he's too powerful for us to fight alone." Lee said as he and Neji got up.

"You're right. Here's the plan; I go for a frontal assault with my Hakke Rokujuyon Sho (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms) and once I'm done you finish him off with Dainamikku Entori (Like I need to say what the F that is) and after sending him back with a daze, we double team him." Neji said.

"Agreed." Lee said. Neji then dashed towards Hashi, ready to set their strategy into motion.

'Now you're in my eight trigrams." Neji thought as he glared with his Byakugan.

'Not this time pal.' Naruto thought as started to manipulate the air around him to create a wind shield around his body.

"Two Palms!" Neji shouted as he sent two strikes at Hashi. "Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty Two Palms! Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms!" Neji finished landing all his strikes, but he was shock to see that Hashi's chakra system was still intact.

"My turn." Hashi said taking in a huge breathe of air as he sped throw hand signs faster than the eye could see.

'I-impossible, it was like I was hitting only air.' Neji thought with absolute shock.

"Futon: Renkudan" Hashi exclaimed as he shot out a giant air bullet out of his mouth, directly hitting Neji all over his body sending the young Hyuuga flying. Lee luckily jumped over friend's body and the jutsu as he then sent a Dainamikku Entori straight at Hashi, but the masked shinobi grabbed Lee's feet as it was inches close to his face and then twisted the foot making Lee spin in the air before Hashi sent wind chakra to his palm and then struck Lee's foot as he was still in midair, sending the green clad taijutsu specialist flying like a rocket until he fell to the ground, hard.

'Either they're going easy on me or I'm stronger than I thought.' Naruto thought amazed at how far he's come since being a 'dead-last' shinobi. Holding your own against Lee or Neji wasn't really that easy, especially for him back in the day, but the two fighting together, that's a different story. Neji finally got back up as Lee made his way to him.

"Neji, he too powerful to strike alone; we must strike at him together." Lee said as he panted from pain.

"Agreed." Neji said. The two then dashed at each other, but Hashi was prepared for this. Hashi closed his eyes and started sending wind around himself as to use it to increase his speed.

'Let's go.' Hashi/Naruto thought as he opened his eyes and glared at the two. Neji and Lee started send powerful and fast strikes at Hashi, but Hashi was dodging every single hit like he saw every single one of them coming.

'We're not even laying a single hit on him.' Neji thought with rising fear and frustration.

'He's incredible.' Lee thought with amazement, but was still angry that he couldn't land a single hit on him and Karashi was depending on him. Hashi, having enough of toying with his two old friends, punched them both in the gut with wind manipulation behind his two fists making them spit up their saliva before being sent towards the hard ground.

"Yeah! That's My Partner And Best Friend!" Mamoru shouted, but to the rest of the world that wasn't of fox kind or his best friend Naruto, it all sounded like a bunch of cheerful yips. Suddenly Lee opened the fourth gate of Hachimon and dashed at Hashi with great speed, only for the masked shinobi to vanish and appeared behind him and sent the back of his elbow to the crick of Lee's neck stunning the taijutsu expert for a moment and then grabbed the back of his head and throw him back to where he was previously sent by the masked shinobi. Neji staggered back up before dashing his way pass Hashi and towards Lee, who was staggering back up as well.

"Neji, this isn't good; we must think of something else." Lee said feeling immense pain with every breathe he took as he panted.

"Alright, here's the new plan; we charge at him once again, but this time you throw smokes bombs his way and you do so, I'll throw kunai attached with bomb tags, distracting him, then I go for a palm strike to his heart and you go for a blow to his skull." Neji planned out.

"Understood." Lee said. Lee did not wish to resort to such a strategy that could kill a person, but if it's to save Karashi then he shall endure. The two of them stood up and got into a ready position.

"Ready Lee?" Neji said as he prepared a kunai tag bomb.

"Ready." Lee said as he prepared the smoke bombs.

The two of them then dashed at Hashi who just continued to stare at them. Lee was ready to throw the smoke bombs, but all of a sudden Hashi put his hand up as a sign of halt. Neji and Lee stopped their attack, why they did so? They do not understand. Hashi/Naruto then put his hand down and headed straight towards the spot he buried Karashi in and as he stopped in front of it, he picked up a shovel and turned and smiled at the two konoha-shinobi and gave them eye smiles.

"See, you should've just waited." Hashi/Naruto said to the two who looked at him with utter shock and their jaws dropped at how quick Hashi just changed his personality after he was completely owning their asses. "Well?" Hashi said as he started digging. "You gonna help me or what?" Hashi asked giving them eye smiles. Neji didn't know how to react, but Lee quickly ran to where Karashi was buried and started using his hands to dig him out. "You know you could use a shovel, there'd be less of a chance of me stabbing your hands with my own." Hashi said. Neji made it the two and grabbed a shovel as he then started digging out Karashi. After minutes of digging, the coffin was unearthed and Lee grabbed the lid of it and ripped the door right off of it's hinges revealing Karashi in a fetal postion.

"Karashi!" Lee shouted his friend's name with joy.

"Mother… I'm sorry." Karashi said with tears rolling down his eyes.

"Karashi?" Lee said his friend's name with confusion and surprise.

"Mother I am so sorry, please forgive me. I just want to come back home and be with you again. I don't want to be a monster like Raiga, please forgive me, I want to come back home and be by your side again. Please mother, I love you." Karashi said as he started crying.

"Karashi, it is you're your friend Lee." Lee said as he shook on Karashi's shoulder making the young boy flinch from the touch.

"Hey, that rhymed." Hashi said getting a good chuckle. Neji glared at him with much anger as his Byakugan pulsed.

"You Think This Is All A Game!?" Neji shoute. Hashi then glared at Neji with much anger and sent so much killer intent his way that Neji was frozen with fear and he felt that he could faint any minute.

"Don't you dare ever say that to me again." Hashi said with an icy tone, but then his whole demeanor changed to friendly eye smiles and a cheery tone. "Okay?"

'This man's a lunatic.' Neji thought with fear.

"Lee?" Karashi said the bowl cut haired boy's name.

"Yes Karashi, it you're your friend." Lee said with a smile. Karashi now started to cry tears of joy as he grabbed onto Lee's tight suit.

"Lee! Oh Thank Kami! I'm Sorry For Everything Lee! I Want To Be Strong, But Not Like This! I Just Want To Go Home And Be With Mother!" Karashi cried as he got his hot tears on Lee's clothing.

"It is alright Karashi, I will bring you home and help you become strong and reach true youthful strength." Lee said determined to help his friend. Hashi then made his way to the two with Neji on guard just in case the masked shinobi was about to try something.

"Hey kid." Hashi got the attention of the two making Karashi scream in fear of the man who put him in what he thought would be his grave.

"Please No More! I've Learned My Lesson! Honest! Just No More!" Karashi begged.

"Quit acting like such a bitch kid. When you see the man who put you in your grave you gotta show some balls and glare at him, show him that you're willing to show sum gusto, even if it's false courage, you should neveryou're your glare waver, because as long as you're willing to not let them get to you and to always stand up when they knock you down then you will show true strength and will never be defeated." Hashi/Naruto had said without missing a beat. Karashi stared at Hashi with much shock and admiration; not long ago, this man had just buried him alive and now he was giving him great moral advice for the future. Karashi now knew what Hashi was, a man with great honor, heart and a great man who only spoke truth. Lee and Neji were also shocked by Hashi; they guess he wasn't such a bad guy after all… but he was fucking nuts. "All I wanted to do was ask you where Idate is." Hashi said.

"H-he's hidden inside an abandoned home just near of here." Karashi answered.

"Why do you wish to find this person?" Neji asked, wondering of Hashi's intent.

"The man who was considered his care giver was a missing-nin, and a very dangerous one at that, and right before I killed him not to long ago, he begged of me to take Idate and care for him; I may not seem like a nice guy, but my friends and I wish to make Idate stronger, to make him into a true shinobi." Hashi said.

"We could make him stronger." Lee said with much youth.

"I feel it would be best for Idate to be in the care of those who understand him, like myself." Hashi/Naruto said.

"How would you understand him?" Neji asked. Hashi gave a sigh as he closed his eyes, and as he reopened them he showed great seriousness in his eyes.

"Back in my old village… I used to be the dead-last." Hashi/Naruto admitted. Lee, Neji and Karashi looked at Hashi with shock; they all thought that it was impossible for someone as skilled and powerful as Hashi to actually be a dead-last ranked in his village, but his eyes showed no deception. "Please lead me to him." Hashi/Naruto said wanting to find Idate desperately as he then grabbed Mamoru and placed him inside the pouch inside his cloak. Karashi nodded as he started to lead Hashi towards where Idate was hiding with Lee and Neji in tow.

With the Akatsuki members

Zabuza had finished killing the oto-nin in the base of one of the last oto bases in the village he was in and was now planting the bombs inside. He had already been to three bases while the Fu and Karin took one while Haku took the final three. After he was finished, Zabuza shushined out of the building and met with the others. "You girls ready to blow this shit up?" Zabuza asked.

"Hai." Fu and Karin said.

"What a minute, where's Haku?" Suddenly three of the bases exploded far in the distance. "Shit! Detonate The Bombs!" Zabuza ordered.

"Kai!" All three shouted while making a hand sign creating a number of explosions in the village.

"There they go, but where's Haku?" Fu asked worried about her teammate; sure she didn't want any competition for Naruto's affections, but she didn't want the dark haired girl dead, in fact they were best friends and saw each other as sisters.

"Don't worry, she's fine, I sense her chakra heading back towards the place where we kept the young boy from earlier." Karin answered.

"At least she's safe; so what now Zabuza-senpai?" Fu asked her superior.

"We take care of the remaining oto-nin in the village." Zabuza said.

"And Haku?"

"Haku's a big girl; she can take care of herself." Zabuza said leaving no room for discussion. "Now let's move." Zabuza order as all three of them then went back into the village to finish off the last of the oto-nins.

With the Sasuke, Sakura, Tenten and Akiko

The four managed to get the last of the villagers out of the village. Akiko met with her elder brother and sister, but sadly her father was killed by the oto-nin days ago. Akiko was very saddened by this; her mother died when she was very young and now her father is deceased as well, leaving only her with her siblings.

"I'm so sorry about all this Akiko." Sakura said trying to comfort her friend.

"Do not worry Sakura-san. Even though my father is gone, I will be fine as long as Naruto-kun's statue still stands, then I shall be fine." Akiko said with a new smile as she dried her tears.

"You care that much for a statue?" Tenten asked as she and Sakura were shocked while Sasuke stood silent; sure a giant golden statue of their friend was an important thing, but they were shocked that such a monument would help Akiko endure her father's death so well.

"Yes." Akiko nodded still smiling. "The day I met Naruto-kun, he meant so much to me. He was loving, care, kind and had a pure heart; he was a symbol of peace to me, and like him that's what the statue means to me." Tenten, Sakura and the rest of the villagers looked at her with surprise while Sasuke smirked. "Every time I see that statue, I see Naruto-kun watching out for our village, guaranteeing a brighter future for our village, and even though there will be darker times ahead of us, Naruto-kun's smile always tells me that as long as we are all willing to keep moving forward and to never surrender without a fight and 'til our deaths, then we'll always see a brighter dawn ahead. That statue means more to me than anything, for to me it is not just a monument to the only man I'll ever love, but is also a symbol of my village's hope and future." Akiko finished her speech. Sakura had tears in her eyes as she and everyone else smiled at Akiko's words. Before, the statue was only a dedication to a heroic young boy who sacrificed his life to save their chief's daughter, but now it is considered to them as to what it is considered to Akiko; a symbol of their hope and their home's future. Sasuke was extremely happy to hear this.

'You hear that brother? You not only mean something to Konoha and Wave, but also to these people as well.' Sasuke thought with happiness and pride. Sakura wiped away her tears and smiled at Akiko.

"Akiko… thank you." Sakura thanked the orange haired girl getting a confused look from her. "Like you, I love Naruto too, and it just makes me so, so happy that there is a place that sees him like a true hero just like I do." Sakura said with a smile earning a smile from Akiko as well.

'I really wish I could tell you that he's alive Sakura-san, but knowing Naruto-kun, he must have a reason to keep the news of his living a secret, but I know that someday he will return to you, as he's done for me.' Akiko thought with a smile. The two loved a young man dearly and that love will reach beyond the end of time for it would have no end.

Suddenly the sounds of explosions came from the village. Everyone turned to see that there was fire in the village.

"Oh Kami no." Akiko's elder sister Aiko said with fear. Aiko had reddish orange hair and ruby colored eyes, and she wore ruby qipao, black pants and sandals.

"I'll go check it out; Sakura, Tenten, stay here and protect the villagers just in case any oto-nin arrive." Sasuke said.

"Hai." The two kunoichi said with a nod. Sasuke then vanished leaving the entire group.

"Oh man this isn't good." Akiko's elder brother Akihiko said with fear. Akihiko had brunette medium hair that was spiked up in the front a bit, a black shirt, baggy beige pants and black sandals. "I know the places that were blown to smithereens, those are the oto bases, this is so not good."

"How is that not good?" Tenten asked as she and Sakura were genuinely confused.

"It's great for the village, but it's not for the people who did this." Akihiko said with fear.

"But why?" Sakura asked.

"General Dai." Akihiko said instilling fear in the hearts of his fellow villagers. Sakura's eyes widened with shock at the name of the man who killed her true love.

"Who's that?" Tenten asked.

"He's a monster; he led the invasion on our home, he killed countless members of our soldier single handedly along with our buildings and bases, and he kills anyone of his men if they question his even the simplest of his commands." Aiko said with chills down her spine as she remembered the monster in a mask.

"Kami… he really does sound like a monster." Tenten said actually fearing the man without even meeting him in person.

"He not only did that…" Sakura said as her fist trembled with anger. "He's the bastard that killed Naruto-kun!" Everyone's eyes widen with shock as they all heard this. "I swear when I see that Dai bastard he's going to regret everything he's ever done! Believe It!" Sakura exclaimed pumping her fist in the air. Akiko was worried about this little piece of news; since Naruto is with this mysterious cloaked group and they have undoubtedly destroyed the bases, then Dai would be looking for him.

'Naruto-kun, please be safe.' Akiko thought with worry for her fiancé.

With Haku

Haku finally made it to the doors of the house the others put the young lavender boy. Haku opened the door to see the boy still tied to the pole and looking at her.

"You actually came back for me?" Ranmaru said surprised that she actually came back for him.

"Of course I did." Haku said taking off her mask and hood to reveal her beautiful face that made Ranmaru blush. "Let's get you out of there." Haku said as she grabbed a kunai from her holster and cut the ropes tying Ranmaru to the pole. Ranmaru would have fallen to the floor, but Haku caught him and put him on her back. "Let's go." Haku said as she headed out with Ranmaru on her back.

"Why are you helping me?" Ranmaru asked still very confused as to why this young woman would help him, the enemy.

"Because like you, I had sworn my life to a man who had saved my own life; to become his weapon until I became dull." Haku said as she continued looking ahead. Ranmaru was shocked to hear this; never in his life would he ever believe that he met someone who completely understood him. "From where I was born, a civil war was happening where those who had kekkei genkai were hunted down and executed."

"I remember that war; that back in Kiri when Raiga was still a shinobi ANBU working for them." Ranmaru said. Haku nodded in response.

"That is correct. I was born with a special kekkei genkai,one of ice manipulation." Haku said.

"I've heard of that bloodline; you're a Yuki. I heard that you're bloodline jutsus are beautiful." Ranmaru said making Haku smile.

"Thank you, that's very nice of you to say. When I learned of my power, I showed it to my mother, but she slapped me and told me to never do it again, she was afraid of my father finding out, but sadly he did and in an act of fear he killed my mother and then tried to kill me, but on instinct, I summoned my kekkei genkai as killed him before he could me." Ranmaru's eyes widened in shock and horror. "After that I lived on the streets. Every day felt like a living hell as I was trying to survive, at least that was until I met him."

"Who was it? The man who saved you." Ranmaru asked.

"His name was Zabuza Momochi, and like Raiga, he too was part of the Seven Ninja Swordsman. He saved me, took me in and trained me to be his weapon; and I swore that I will fight for Zabuza-sama and that my life was to him. Without Zabuza-sama I am nothing, I would have no reason to live; my existence would be meaningless." Haku said the worlds she believed so dearly to her heart when she was younger. Ranmaru blinked his now wide eyes with shock; he now knew that this young woman truly did understand him. "At least that's what I once believed." Ranmaru was now surprised at her new words.

"What happened? What made you think otherwise?" Ranmaru asked wanting to know the answer more than anything.

"Naruto-kun changed me or as he's better known around here, Hashi." Haku answered.

'The man who killed Raiga?!' Ranmaru was shocked to hear this.

"He taught me that my life was already meaningless." Haku said.

"But why would you believe this? I thought Zabuza meant so much to you?" Ranmaru said confused.

"He was and still is, but let me ask you… do you think that my life did have meaning when I was considered just a weapon?" Haku asked. Ranmaru was completely speechless. He did not see her as just a weapon, but his life was different… actually, no it wasn't; Ranmaru had now started to question his existence. "At first, I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me as I tried to deny every single word he spoke, but it wasn't until I died that I realized what Naruto was telling me. I am not a weapon; I am a living human being who deserves to see her own happiness."

"But what about Zabuza?" Ranmaru asked.

"He's still by my side and is still dear to me. Just because I chose to not be a weapon, doesn't mean I lost Zabuza-sama; he is still a very close friend to me… in fact, I'm like a daughter to him, and to me he is like a father." Haku said with a smile. Ranmaru blinked with surprise.

"You said you died before… how are you alive then?" Ranmaru asked.

"A friend of mine brought Zabuza and I back to life, giving us a second chance. A second chance I did not waste or took for granted. I chose to not be a weapon and on choosing that path, I've made so many friends, I still had Zabuza-sama by my side and… I fell in love." Haku said thinking about all she now had and was grateful for.

"I see… but I am-"

"Let me ask you… you care for Raiga and love him as if he was your family, correct?" Haku asked. Ranmaru nodded in response. "Then you are not a weapon, for weapons do not feel emotions." Ranmaru was shocked by Haku's words.

"But I feel that… if I let go of Raiga… then I'll have no one." Ranmaru said.

"Well… you now have me." Haku said with a smile. Ranmaru looked at Haku with complete shock, and after a moment of taking it in, he started to cry tears of joy as he hugged Haku as tight as his weak arms could. Haku smiled at the young boy as she started shedding tears of joy that she had now saved this child. 'I promise; that no matter what happens… I shall always protect you, Ranmaru-kun.' Haku thought. After more traveling Haku reached her destination; Ranmaru opened his eyes, sensing the dark haired girl had stopped walking and had his eyes widened with shock as he saw two twin blades poking out of a pile of rocks.

'Raiga.'

With Idate

Idate was cowering with fear as he sat inside an abandoned house with fear of what was on the outside. Karashi put him in here so that he'd be safe from any dangers.

'Aoi-sensei is dead… I'm all alone with no one to help me, and anyone could come in and kill me at any moment now. Ni-san… I wish you were here… I want you here by my side; even if you're still mad at me for all I've done, I don't care. I just want you with me right now.' Idate thought as he started to cry; wishing for his elder brother to come save him and take him back home.

"Not really enduring this whole scene, huh?" Idate turned to see the masked man who killed Aoi, or as he knew him as Naruto.

"Naruto… why are you here?" Idate asked.

"I'm here for you." Naruto bent down next to Idate. "I want to help you Idate… to help you grow stronger… to be a shinobi you can be proud of… to help you go back home with no worries."

"How are you going to do that?" Idate asked.

"With help from the people who made me this strong; I want to give you a chance, just like they gave me." Naruto said extending his hand towards Idate. "Will you accept?" Idate looked at Naruto's hand and then into Naruto's eyes.

"You know… even though you were a mischievous punk, you were one of the only few people I felt I could truly trust." Idate said.

"Do you still trust me then?" Naruto asked. Idate wiped away his tears and then smiled at Naruto.

"With all my heart." Idate said grabbing Naruto's hand and helping him up. "Thank you Naruto."

"Just call me Hashi until we get back to my groups base; I want to keep a low profile, ya know?" Naruto said.

"Got ya… Hashi." Idate said with a smile.

"Good." Naruto said as he tipped his straw hat up. The two then left the house to meet with Lee, Neji and Karashi.

"You're Alright!" the group of five turned to see Hashi's companions.

"Tetsuo, Hana, Aika, meet Idate, he will be joining us back to headquarters." Hashi/Naruto said.

"Nice to meet you." Aika/Karin bowed with respect.

"Yeah, hi." Hana/Fu gave Idate a little wave.

"Not that I don't like greeting the fresh meat- I mean new members, but we have a problem." Tetsuo/Zabuza said with a glare, scaring Idate and Karashi.

"I can see that. So where is she?" Hashi/Naruto asked.

"A hundred and eight degrees west of here." Aika/Karin said.

"Understood. You guys get these three." Hashi/Naruto jabbed his them towards Karashi, Lee and Neji. "To where the villagers are being kept by the rest of the konoha-nin; I'll go find Kaya."

"Understood." Aika/Karin and Hana/Fu said while Tetsuo/Zabuza just grunted as an 'okay'.

"Here, wear this." Aika/Karin said giving Idate a mask. Idate just put on the mask, no questions asked.

"Come on pretty boy." Hana/Fu said as she grabbed Karashi's wrist and started dragging him towards where the rest of the villagers were; with Karin leading everyone to where they are. Everyone followed Aika/Karin towards the location of the rest of the villagers and konoha-nin were. Naruto then followed Karin's directions as to where Haku was.

"A hundred and eight degrees west of here; oh Kami please don't let that be where I think it is." Naruto said as he made his way towards his friend's location.

At the center of the village

A man with bulky armor and mask stared at the fiery destruction of his bases.

"Somebody is going to die tonight." Dai said with a serious glare. His men gulped at this.

'Kami, please don't let it be us.' One of the oto-nins thought with fear.

Near a destroyed oto base

Sasuke walked towards the destroyed base and noticed a konoha hitai-ate that was crack on its left side at his feet. Sasuke crouched down and grabbed the hitai-ate and glared at it. "Bastards." Sasuke cursed as his grip on the forehead protector tightened and his sharingan glowing red with rage.

With Haku and Ranmaru

Ranmaru looked at the twin swords that were connected to the body of his other half that was under a pile of rocks.

"Why did you bring me here?" Ranmaru asked.

"Raiga means so much to you… I figured that you wished to see him again and say your final words to him." Haku said to the young boy. Ranmaru's eyes sensed a weak pulse from Raiga's body and nodded towards Haku.

"Can I sit by him?" Ranmaru asked. Haku nodded understandingly as she walked towards Raiga's 'corpse' and set Mamoru next to the buried swordsman. Mamoru then grabbed one of Raiga's arms as he looked at his buried friend. "Raiga, you gave my life meaning… I was just waiting to die, but you came and saved me. You were my first and greatest friend." Ranmaru said as he hugged the arm. 'That's why…' Ranmaru's eyes stared to glow red as he then started sending his chakra into Raiga's system. 'I cannot let you die.' Haku observed the whole thing with wide eyes.

'What is he doing?' Haku thought.

"I do not want your life to end Raiga… this is my gift to you, for everything you've done for me." Ranmaru said as he finished sending his chakra into Raiga and then fell unconscious.

"Ranmaru!" Haku yelled the young boy's name as she ran to him, grabbed his body and start to cradle it. "Ranmaru, wake up please." The young boy still remained unmoving. "Please, don't leave me." Haku said as she hugged the young boy's body and start to cry. Haku quickly ran off to the side and placed the boy on the side of the cliff's wall and then dug into her bag and took out a container of the famous curry of life that she took from the Curry of Life Shop. Haku opened the container and took out a spoonful and tried to feed it to Ranmaru. "Please, eat this, I beg of you." Haku said, but the lavender haired boy just wouldn't do anything as he still remained unconscious, but Haku was determined to make sure that Ranmaru lived, so she opened the boy's mouth and placed it inside his mouth as she then help him chew it. "Come on Ranmaru, please do something." Haku pleaded. Suddenly Ranmaru reacted and swallowed the curry. "That's it, good Ranmaru, keep it up." Haku said as she then started feed Ranmaru more of the curry. Haku kept feeding it to him, but then Ranmaru stopped responding. "No, no, no Ranmaru, don't do this." Haku said cupping the boy's cheeks. Ranmaru still didn't respond. "Kami no." Haku hugged the boy close to her as she started to cry. "Ranmaru please don't leave me." Haku said as tears came down her eyes. "You're important to me… you understand me… you remind me of myself… and I saved you… you mean so much to me… and I can't be happy without you… you may not know me, but I know you… and I love you… please come back to me." Haku said as she continued to cry over the boy, but unknown to her, Ranmaru had heard the entire thing. Ranmaru looked up at the dark haired young woman and smiled at her as tears ran down his eyes.

'Haku… thank you.' Ranmaru thought with a smile as he then reached for her cheek and touched it. Haku's eyes shot wide open as looked down to see the young boy smiling at her, and she couldn't help but smile back to him and hugged him close to her. 'Now I know that my existence really does have meaning.' Ranmaru said as he hugged her back. Up above them at the top of the cliff, Naruto was looking down on them with a smile under his mask.

'Looks like you did what I was never able to do the first time around, huh Haku-chan?' Naruto thought with a smile. Suddenly a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and hit Raiga's twin blades. 'Ah shit, this can't be good.' Naruto thought with worry. The rocks that surrounded Raiga exploded and scattered away from Raiga's body to reveal a roaring Raiga, fully healed and completely out of his mind with the maniacal laughter to boot. 'Yeah, not good.' Naruto thought.

Raiga turned to see Ranmaru in the arms of a mysterious dark haired girl. "That cloak… you're with the blonde one… Get Away From Ranmaru!" Raiga yelled into the heavens as lightning from the sky struck him and danced around him as he was covered in lightning as he roared.

'He's using the natural energy of the storm's lightning to give him power; if I try anything I'll get fried.' Haku said with new worry.

'Thank Kami I manipulate wind, so this might make for an interesting fight.' Naruto thought with a dangerous grin.

"I Said Get Away!" Raiga was about to send a powerful lightning attack towards Haku.

"NO! STOP!" Ranmaru yelled as he got out of Haku's grasp and stood effectively in front Haku. "Don't Hurt Her Raiga!" Ranmaru yelled.

"R-Ranmaru?" Raiga said his other half's name with shock. "What are you doing?!" Raiga shouted. Ranmaru grabbed the container of what was left of the curry of life and extend it towards Raiga.

"Eat this." Ranmaru said.

"What?" Raiga said with confusion.

"If you eat it, you'll understand that you're not alone. Its spices blend together the feelings of all mankind; I felt it when I first had it." Ranmaru said.

'Is he talking about that awesome curry?' Naruto thought crouching down to get a slightly better look at the three. Thank God he can hear it all with his enhanced hearing; all thanks to being the Kyuubi jinchuriki.

"What are you saying?" Raiga said still confused.

"We've hurt too many, please we have to stop." Ranmaru begged.

"NO! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Raiga screamed putting his tightened fists to his ears. "You've always been my eyes and ears! If you don't stop spouting all this selfish nonsense! We can no longer be as one!" Raiga shouted.

'Selfish nonsense? This coming from a man who always enjoys seeing people get buried alive for his own amusement? This guy's nuts.' Naruto thought thinking Raiga was a freaking lunatic.

"Strike me with your lightning then; if I die, the mighty Raiga falls as well. For we will always be as one." Ranmaru said earning shocked looks from Raiga, Haku and Hashi.

'Kid's got balls. I like him.' Naruto said.

"Ranmaru, I won't be able to remember you anymore." Raiga said as he raised his twin swords. "I HAVE TO GIVE YOU A FUNERAL!" Raiga screamed to the heavens as he conjured lightning from the storm straight to his blades and sending lightning coursing around Raiga's body. Raiga then pointed his blades at Ranmaru, ready to fire.

"NO!" Haku screamed as she ran in front of Ranmaru protectively. "I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT HIM." Haku screamed as she glared at Raiga with anger and rage. Raiga then ceased his attack and glared at Haku.

"Fine! Then I'll Stab You Right Through Your Heart!" Raiga yelled as he charged at Haku with both of his blades ready to pierce her chest.

"NO! HAKU!" Ranmaru creamed as the dark haired girl was about to be stabbed by Raiga, but as Raiga thrust his blades forward they were parried by an even greater sword. Raiga jumped back as he saw the masked boy who he had fought earlier.

"You." Raiga growled as he glared angrily at Naruto.

"Naruto-kun." Haku said her crush's name with surprise and relief.

"Sorry about not jumping in earlier, I figured it was best for the kid to have closure first or something." Naruto said. "Let me handle this guy, you take the kid back to the others." Ranmaru looked at Naruto's back with surprise. Haku nodded as she grabbed Ranmaru and placed him on her back. "Ranmaru." Naruto said the lavender haired boy's name earning his attention. "Take care of Haku okay? As much as you need her, she needs you." Naruto said. Haku and Ranmaru heard some dripping and saw some traces of blood next to Naruto's foot. "Keep an eye out for her." Naruto said as he turned to reveal his left eye was bleeding as it was stabbed by one of Raiga's twin blades, rendering it useless. "Okay?" Naruto said with his only good eye making an eye smile.

"Your eye." Ranmaru said with shock with Haku shocked as well.

"Don't worry about it; you just need one to fight." Naruto said still giving an eye smile. "Mamoru." Naruto called upong his little fox kit friend, who jumped out of his cloak. "Guard these two while I take on Raiga, okay?" Naruto said getting a little salute from the fox kit. "Good. Now go! All of you!" Naruto exclaimed as he turned back to Raiga. Ranmaru nodded understandingly.

"Let's go Haku." Ranmaru said, but Haku stayed in place shocked that Naruto was now left with only one eye all thanks to saving her.

"Haku Go! I Don't Like Repeating Myself!" Naruto yelled sounding like an irked leader. Haku kept looking at Naruto with sad eyes.

"Haku, we must go, do not blame yourself for what just happened to Naruto." Ranmaru said. Haku then suddenly smiled.

"You truly do understand me Ranmaru." Haku said smiling. "We'll see you later with the others." Haku said as she started running away to try and find the others with Mamoru following.

"Get Back Here!" Raiga yelled as he tried to go after Haku and Ranmaru, but Naruto appeared in front of Raiga and slammed the green haired man's chest with his palm sending him flying backwards into a giant rock wall, all thanks to wind manipulation.

"Your business is with me now." Naruto said with his now single eye glaring at Raiga. "Besides I owe you for my left eye." Naruto said pointing towards what was once his left eye as Raiga got out of the wall and glared at Naruto.

"Fine then." Raiga said as he got his blades ready. "Once you die." Raiga said pointing his twin blades straight at the sky; the lightning hit them and then covered Raiga in lightning. "YOUR FUNERAL WILL BE ONE TO REMEMBER!" Raiag screamed as he then roared. Naruto continued to glare at the insane man with his single eye.

Raiga and Naruto dashed at one another and clashed their blades.

"Sucker!" Raiga yelled with a grin as he summoned lightning straight down from the clouds and strike Naruto with a vast amount of lightning as Raiga jumped away. Naruto was hit with a great amount of lightning, but the blonde gritted his teeth and glared at Raiga as he was having jolts of lightning hitting him, destroying his straw hat and created a few holes on his lower half mask. As the lightning stopped Naruto's gritting teeth became a dangerous grin that shocked Raiga. "How?" Raiga said with shock and confusion.

"I face both Zabuza and Kisame at the same time for my kenjutsu training; strikes of lightning are nothing compared to feeling like your bones have been broken and mixed up with the feeling of falling over from having so much blood bleed out of your body." Naruto said still grinning like an excited maniac.

"Grr, DIE!" Raiga screamed as then sent lightning from the sky to hit Naruto again, but as it vanished the blonde just continued to grin at the fellow swordsman.

"Still alive." Naruto said chuckling afterwards. Raiga then sent more lightning straight at Naruto, over and over again, but the blonde just laughed at he was getting struck by lightning; the Uzumaki was surrounding himself with a wind shield so he could take as many strikes of lightning as he can and still come back sort of all right. The sort of part was because he was injured from the first strike, plus he didn't have a working left eye anymore. After another strike of lightning, Naruto dashed at Raiga and went for his head with Shokan, but Raiga blocked them with Kiba (Yes, the swords are named after Naruto's friend, but of course it fits since Kiba means fangs), but Naruto saw this coming as he kneed Raiga in the gut making the green haired swordsman gasp out air and then he was kicked out of his fighting stance and then was sent flying by a kicking uppercut. Naruto then vanished and appeared behind Raiga and was about to grab him and put him in a Omote Renge (Front Lotus A.K.A Primary Lotus), but Raiga screamed to the heavens and conjured lightning to straight towards his body making a lightning made of armor. Naruto vanished and appeared onto the ground with a hand sign and his chest expanded.

"Futon:Renkudan!" Naruto shouted as he shot a giant drilling bullet of air straight towards Raiga. The green haired swordsman landed onto the floor and tried to block off the attack with Kiba that still had lightning coursing into the twin swords to lessen the jutsu's impact on his body, but as the bullet hit it's mark, Raiga let out a painful yell as he was hit and sent flying back . Raiga got back up as Naruto started making his way towards the ex-kiri swordsman, and now resorting to more drastic measures, Raiga put both blades of Kiba together and aimed them into the sky, summoning lightning that covered his entire body making Naruto stop because the blonde wanted to see what Raiga was planning to do now. Naruto smirked at Raiga as the green haired man started spinning in place forming a whirling vortex of wind and electricity and now formed a dragon's head. "Cute, you made a friend." Naruto said still smirking. Naruto created two clones without the need for hand signs and extended his hand as the three started creating a jutsu.

'What is he doing? What is he creating? I WILL NOT LET HIM FINISH!' Raiga thought as he then shot his jutsu into the sky and then the jutsu shot straight towards Naruto. Naruto grinned as his clones disappeared in clouds of smoke; Naruto then lifted his jutsu, his Rasenshuriken. Naruto then threw his Rasenshuriken straight at the dragon and as the two jutsu collided the Rasenshuriken had overpowered the dragon since Raiga's jutsu was also made of wind chakra, and then the now giant Rasenshuriken flew into the sky and exploded into a sphere of wind chakra before disappearing. Raiga looked up into the sky with disbelief at the fact his jutsu was completely overpowered.

'Good Kami, what is he?' Raiga thought with fear.

"I hope that wasn't your best technique, because you're going to need more than that to survive a battle to the death with me!" Naruto shouted as he ran at Raiga with Shokan in his hands, ready to stab him through the chest. Raiga was ready to parry Naruto's attack but Shokan stabbed straight through Raiga's torso shocking the green haired man.

"B-but how? You were farther away." Raiga said with shock and disbelief.

"Not really." Naruto said as a clone of himself with both of his eyes intact appeared next to the two, meaning that Naruto created a clone before saving Haku and Ranmaru. "I made a clone before the fight to create a genjutsu; I was one step ahead of you this whole time. Well, you know, I didn't you're your attack at Haku that cost me my eye, but after that you were of no threat to me." Naruto said as he pulled Shokan out of Raiga's chest, allowing the long haired man to fall to his knees as the new hole in his chest started to bleed.

"No… I can't die like this… I need to be there for him." Raiga said as he fell to the ground and started to crawl pass Naruto. "Ranmaru… I'm coming Ranmaru." Raiaga said as he continued to crawl with his blood making a trail behind him

'The guy's still going after the kid, and he wants to protect him? This guy and Ranmaru may have a relationship that is parallel to Zabuza's and Haku's, but this guy isn't afraid to show how important Ranmaru is to him.' Naruto thought.

"Don't worry Ranmaru… I'm coming." Raiga said as he continued to crawl.

"Just let the kid go." Naruto said making Raiga cease his crawling.

"No… I must… I'm all he has…" Raiga said.

"Wrong, he's all you had, but now he has much more; he has Haku." Naruto said. "You do understand him, but Haku not only truly understands him, but can also make him into something better, to enrich his life with things you couldn't do yourself, bring him friends, to give him real love… and he will also make Haku's life complete in return. He has a chance at a great life… don't you want to give him one and not burden him?"

Raiga stayed silent as suddenly tears started flowing from his eyes, and not a funeral in sight to create them.

"You're right… I am being a burden." Raiga said. Naruto then crouched down and extended his hand.

"But that doesn't mean you can't be by his side all the way." Naruto said with a smile on his now exposed scarred face.

"No… that's exactly what it means." Raiga said as he quickly sat up on his knees and stabbed himself through his heart with one of his blades, shocking Naruto. "Ranmaru… you're now free." And so Raiga spoke his last words as he fell on his back. Naruto stood up and looked at Raiga with sadness.

"You stupid old man…" Naruto said as he grabbed the two blades known as Kiba and used a sealing scroll to seal them away. After putting the scroll in his pouch, Naruto pulled up his mask and then grabbed Raiga's body and carried him all the way towards where he sensed Mamoru's energy is.

With Haku, Ranmaru and Mamoru

Haku continued to run with Ranmaru on her back and Mamoru running by her side.

"Haku! Mamoru!" The party of three stopped to see the other Akatsuki members along with another person appearing in front of them. "You Two Are Alright! And you got the boy too." Fu said.

"Yes. Who is he?" Haku said referring to the brunette boy next to them.

"This is Idate; Naruto said he'll be joining us as a new member of the Akatsuki." Karin said.

"H-hello." Idate greeted the three in front of him with a polite bow. Haku nodded towards the boy as Mamoru yipped.

"Speaking of the brat, where is he?" Zabuza asked.

"Right here." Everyone turned to see the blonde boy carrying Raiga's corpse. "And I thought I told you to go find the villagers and stay with them."

"We said screw your command and went to find Haku instead." Zabuza answered. "By the way, what happened to your eye?"

"Raiga stabbed it when I save Haku from getting pierced by Kiba." Naruto said. Ranmaru looked at Raiga's corpse with shimmering eyes of sadness.

'Raiga…' Ranmaru thought with sadness.

"I'm sorry, I know you didn't want to see him like this, but I figured that you'd want to say your final words to him, once we give him a proper funeral of course." Naruto said with a lone sad eye. Ranmaru just nodded as he continued to look at Raiga's smiling face.

'Raiga… why are you smiling?'

A few minutes later

After finishing hammering down the wooden cross they made, Naruto stood up and walked next to Haku.

"We are here to remember the man known as Raiga Kurosuki, the Kirigakure no Raijin. He was a man, a shinobi, and a good friend." Naruto said, showing respect for the dead. Ranmaru had tears welling up in his eyes as he stared at Raiga's grave with Haku placing her hand on Ranmaru's shoulder giving him comfort. "If anyone would like to say a few words, now is the time." Naruto said.

"Well, all I can say is that he was pretty damn good swordsman when he wanted to be." Zabuza said.

"And you Ranmaru?" Naruto asked.

"Raiga was considered a horrible person to many, but he was really a tortured soul. The day he found me was considered the best day of my life, because I finally found a friend who could help me find the answers. And through all the pain and sorrow we suffered and given, I finally found what I was looking for." Ranmaru said with tears falling from his eyes. "I have Raiga to thank for it and even though he can't be y my side anymore, I wish he could experience it with me. No matter what happens, if the sky begins to crumble, the Earth is consumed by fire or it the sun goes out; I will always consider Raiga my best friend, father figure and hero. And until the end of time itself, that fact will never change. Goodbye Raiga, thank you for being my friend." Ranmaru finished as he started to cry. Haku bent down and gave the boy a motherly-like hug, giving him comfort.

"May this man who has performed countless sin be forgiven and entered into the holy world ruled by Kami." Naruto said.

"Amen." Everyone said as they all then started to leave. Haku put Ranmaru back onto her back as they all started to leave, but then she realized that Naruto was heading somewhere else.

"Naruto-kun, where are you going?" Haku asked making the others stop.

"I've got one last piece of business to take care of." Naruto said turning to them. "Here." Naruto threw Haku a sealing scroll. "The twin swords Kiba are within the scroll." Naruto said as he started walking away. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up with you guys later; Mamoru, keep an eye on them." Those were his last words to them before he shushined away. Everyone just started walking away wishing Naruto luck on whatever he had left to do.

Atop a cliff

Sasuke was looking down at the village with Tamashi in one hand and the half cracked konoha hitai-ate in the other.

"Why did you do it?" Sasuke asked, demanding answers as he sensed Hashi's presence. "Why did you put the blame on us for this? Answer me."

"It's easy. My group is supposed to remain unknown to the world, and since your village is at war with oto it just makes sense to do so since you guys are already her; it's the perfect cover up for us." Hashi answered nonchalantly.

"Regardless of your reason, I will make you pay." Sasuke said as he stared at the one eyed Hashi, whose left eye was bandaged. Sasuke put away the headband and got into his kenjutsu position as he held Tamashi's handle while Hashi/Naruto grabbed the handle of Shokan on his back as his cloak disappeared as golden flames engulfed it. The two glared at each other with determined eyes that shined with strength.

'So this is what they call a heartwarming family reunion.' Naruto thought prepared for this moment considering he ate a soldier pill before coming here, and after a moment of glaring at each other, the two charged at each other. Hashi/Naruto took Shokan off his back and Sasuke took Tamashi out of it's scabbard and then the two clashed blades as they then glared at each other, and for some reason, this felt right to them. It was like the two and their swords were meant to clash.

Hashi and Sasuke jumped back a bit and clashed their swords again. The two sent slash for slash to each other and parried every attack, trying to find a weak point in their opponent's technique. Hashi then tried to block a slash going to his head, only for Tamashi to go through it like it was a ghost sword.

'What?' Naruto thought, but then suddenly he felt the wind being cut towards his leg so he jumped back, but as he did he felt a cut to his torso. 'The hell?' Naruto thought, until he suddenly understood what was happening. 'Kurama, a little help?'

"Wondered when you'd notice." Kurama said as he dealt with the genjutsu problem with his sheer power. As the genjutsu from Sasuke's sharigan was cancelled, Hashi saw Sasuke's send a downward slash down towards him and blocked the attack with Shokan; the Uchiha's eyes with shock from how this was possible as he and Hashi clashed swords once more.

'How did he break my genjutsu?' Sasuke thought with shock. Hashi then kicked Sasuke away and threw Shokan straight at the Uchiha, making Sasuke dodge the broadsword, but Hashi smirked behind his mask as he unnoticeably moved his hand to gesture 'wait' and with that command, Shokan stopped in midair. Hashi then made the hand gesture of 'turn around' making Shokan flip with the tip of it's blade pointing at Sasuke, before Naruto made the hand gesture of 'come here' making the sword go straight towards Sasuke at high speed. Sasuke's eyes widened as he sensed trouble from behind. Sasuke turned around and saw Shokan heading straight towards him, ready to stab him, but the Uchiha jumped to the side, dodging the powerful blade. 'What the hell?! How Is That Possible?!' Sasuke thought, but then he was kicked in the face, sending him flying. Sasuke managed to land on his feet and glare at Hashi as Shokan came back to his hand like magic. 'I don't know how he does that, but now I know that I should always be wary of when that sword isn't in his hands.' Sasuke thought as he then disappeared from sight. Hashi quickly listened in to the change of winds to determine where Sasuke would be; and he found him.

'Found You!' Naruto thought as he sent his sword to the side making it clash with Sasuke's sword.

'He's good.' Sasuke thought with rising excitement.

'He's gotten better.' Naruto thought with a smile behind his mask. The two they jumped back a bit ready to clash again as the started sending strikes at each other only to his steel. Naruto then went for Sasuke's midsection, but the Uchiha jumped away in time.

"Hanketsu Katto" Sasuke said as he quickly sent slashes towards Hashi, faster than the eye could see. Suddenly Hashi felt his body got hit by numeral attacks.

'What? ' was all Naruto could think as suddenly visible slashes of wind surrounded his body, cutting Naruto in several places making him bleed, but Naruto refused to become stunted by this surprise. Hashi dashed at Sasuke and was about to thrust his sword straight at the Uchiha who moved to the side and was now sending his blade straight down on him, but Hashi smirked at this. Hashi grabbed Tamashi with his bare hand, and feeling the painful sensation as the blade's edge cut through his glove and the surface of his skin, as he then sent Shokan to cut him in half, but Sasuke sent lightning chakra coursing through Tamashi, shocking and frying Hashi's palm before kicking the blonde away, but Sasuke felt the wind cut his torso before he landed. "Doraibu!" Hashi yelled as he swung his sword lightning quick sending a shockwave towards Sasuke as he landed. Sasuke dodged the attack, but then he was cut up by Shokan. Sasuke quickly parried Shokan with Tamashi and jumped back; the two glared at each other, staying silent and then they charged at each other and clashed blades.

With Sakura

Once Lee, Neji and Karashi found their fellow konoha-nin, Sakura had enough of waiting for Sasuke, so she left the villagers in her comrades' care so she could find him. Sakura sensed Sasuke's chakra as she headed towards the cliff, but she also sensed Hashi's and… someone else… someone not friendly.

'It's like trouble always finds Sasuke ever since… Naruto… please watch over us.' Sakura thought as she increased her speed.

With Naruto/Hashi and Sasuke

Hashi and Sasuke kept hitting their swords together as they tried to get the upper hand on the other, but the two were completely evenly matched; the two then swung once more finally earning a cut onto the other creating a new bleeding wound. The two then clashed swords together and glared at each other intensely, like two savage animals fighting over a dead animal to claim it as their own meal.

The two then jumped back and swung their blades creating a shockwave that clashed and destroyed one another. After the two techniques cancelled each other out, Hashi ran at Sasuke and sent a barrage of stabs at Sasuke with blinding speed. Sasuke was dodging all of the stabs, but with how much wind power behind the attacks, Sasuke was getting cuts, here and there. Sasuke then sent a diagonal slash from Tamashi, parrying Shokan and making Hashi move back a bit, and then Sasuke jumped and spun in the air and sent Tamashi to parry Shokan once more, before landing behind Hashi and sending Tamashi straight at Hashi and cutting his midsection, leaving a horizontal sword wound, but Hashi managed to stab the muscle between Sasuke's shoulder and neck. The two jumped back and glared at each other, ignoring their injuries. Sasuke then went through a series of hands signs with one hand, inhaled a vast amount of air and blew fire around him, surrounding him in flame and as quickly as the flames came, they disappeared, and so did Sasuke. Hashi tried to pay attention to the winds, but all he heard was the air cutting, making his eyes widen with shock before he started running to avoid the invisible slashes that were coming his way.

'Damn, this'd be easier if I had both my eyes.' Naruto thought as his lone eye narrowed. Suddenly Naruto's leg was cut making him trip, but he caught himself with his hands and then used the momentum to bounce off his hands, intending to land on his feet, but Sasuke took advantage of the situation and sent his Hanketsu Katto to send multiple slashes to Hashi that surrounded and cut up Hashi in a field of slashes. Hashi was bleeding as he gained many wounds, but now he was getting pissed, but then he heard the cutting of the air again; which wasn't a good thing. Hashi's lone eye became crimson red and slit and as he roared golden flames surrounded him and burst around him; destroying the attacks sent by Sasuke and making the Uchiha lose his footing. Suddenly Hashi, using great speed, dashed at Sasuke and was right in front of him, ready to use Shokan. Sasuke quickly parried the attack with Tamashi and attempted to jump back, but Hashi quickly sent a slash from Shokan, cutting the side of Sasuke's torso.

As the two were in distance of each other, Sasuke held his side as he glared at Hashi. It is said that when you clash with your opponent, you will understand him, as long as you're not some arrogant, ignorant ass and actually decided to listen to every clash; for some reason, Sasuke felt that he knew Hashi before even meeting him, hell he actually felt that they have met before, a long while ago, but how come he feels this way?

'Why do I feel I know you? Why do I feel I understand you and you understand myself as well? Just what are you? Who are you? Hashi Kyukaze…' Sasuke thought. 'Kyukaze… Kyu… nine…' Sasuke felt that he was onto something, but something in his mind tried to stop him from understanding what he felt he knew deep inside.

"You're not so bad kid… in fact you really improved." Hashi said getting a surprised look from Sasuke.

"How do you know me?" Sasuke demanded answers.

"Let's just say I'm friends with someone who knows you very well, and from the stories I heard, I must say I'm amazed with how far you went from there to now." Hashi said picking invisible dirt from his gloved finger.

'Itachi?! Hashi Knows Itachi?! Wait… Now I Remember Those Cloaks! He Works For The Same People Who Sent Itachi And That Kisame Guy To Attack Naruto!' Sasuke then glared at Hashi with fury in his now glowing red sharingan. 'They must have been the ones who killed Naruto! I'll make them pay! ALL OF THEM WILL BE DEAD AT MY FEET!' Sasuke then roared as purple chakra was surrounding him.

'Purple chakra? This ought to be good.' Naruto thought with a smirk as golden chakra was dancing around him. The two then dashed at each other and started slamming their swords together. The two kept at it that they didn't notice a looming figure with them. The mysterious stranger put up a clenching fist as lava surround the front of him and then he threw his hand pointing straight at them making the lava go straight at the two. As Sasuke and Hashi continued to clash, they suddenly sensed a third party with them and danger along with it; the two jumped far away and just in time to avoid getting hit with lava.

"And here I thought I could kill two birds with one stone so easily; how shameful of me." A voice spoke. Hashi/Naruto and Sasuke turned to see a masked oto-nin who was tall and muscular and also wearing bulky armor.

"And who might you be?" Sasuke said demanding answers.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself; I am Dai Kuragasa, general of the armies of otogakure." Dai said introducing himself.

'So this is the guy who made me almost take a dirt nap; well, looks like it's time for a little payback.' Naruto thought as he put Shokan on his back and cracked his knuckles. "Hey, Uchiha." Hashi/Naruto said earning Sasuke's attention. "How about we postpone our fight until after we kick this guy's ass."

"Sounds good to me." Sasuke said as he resheathed Tamashi. Dai just stared at the two with no worry in his eyes.

'They have no idea what they are getting into.' Dai thought as he continued to stare at the two swordsman shinobis.

Hashi and Sasuke dashed at Dai ready to cut him down, but suddenly lava erupted in from of Dai as the two got in close range of him, but lucky for them, they jumped away in time.

'I hate lava. It reminds me of that day.' Sasuke thought as he glared at the rising wall of lava.

'Lava… I fucking hate lava.' Naruto thought with widen eyes of nervousness and fear.

Dai walked straight through the wall of lava like it was a regular waterfall making Sasuke's eyes widen as big as Hashi's. "I bet you're wondering how it is possible for me to walk through lava without worry of melting." Dai said. "I am what a few call me a God of element, my own is as you can see lava. I am a man who has mastered the abilities of Yoton (Lava release) so incredibly that I had earned the right to be known as the Yogan-shin (Lava God)." Suddenly Lava rose and covered Dai's arm, covering it in magma as he extended one of his arms straight at the two, specifically Hashi. "You two are outclassed." Dai said as magma from his arm shot towards Hashi. Naruto's mind was clouded with memories of his near death experience that he didn't see the magma coming straight at him, but luckily Sasuke tackled him down before he could be hit.

"What's the matter with you?" Sasuke said.

"Sorry, I just hate lava and rocks falling on me, and now I've been reintroduced to those two goddamn things again." Hashi/Naruto said as he shook his head to get rid of the last bit of fear he had left.

'… him too huh?' Sasuke thought.

"But now I'm back to normal, and I'm going to cut his fucking head off." Hashi/Naruto said as he stood up and grabbed the handle of Shokan. Dai just stood there looking at them, and then he sensed another hostile presence behind him.

'Troublemaking brats.' Dai thought as he slightly turned his head to see Sakura in the air with her fist cocked back and covered in green flames and have a rage filled look on her face as she glared at Dai's eyes. Sakura let out a war cry as she thrust her fist towards Dai, but the general of oto grabbed Sakura's wrist and was about to send a chakra enhanced punch of his own straight to her chest cavity to effectively kill her.

"Sakura-chan!" Hashi/Naruto shouted making Sasuke look at him with shock.

'That's sounds like…' Sasuke thought with shock as he thought about his deceased best friend and brother. Naruto quickly grabbed one of his kunai and threw it straight towards the two. Once the kunai arrived to the two, Naruto quickly went through a series of hand signs faster than the eye could see, except for Sasuke's who still looked surprised at how fast Hashi moved his hands. Hashi then suddenly disappeared and was in front of Dai and kicked the fist with his leg being chakra enhanced and he grabbed Sakura's body and then he kicked themselves away from Dai and disappeared again with a kunai falling onto the floor in front of him.

"Kawarimi no jutsu. You switched yourself with a kunai you threw in my direction and then switched back when you grabbed the young girl; a very wise and creative move." Dai said grabbing the kunai from the floor. Hashi placed Sakura next to Sasuke before he glared straight at Dai.

"You guys stay here." Hashi said as he grabbed the handle of Shokan and took it off his back and got ready for a fight with the oto general. "He's mine." Hashi said. Sakura was about to protest, but she then noticed as Hashi started dashing towards Dai that there was an, oh too familiar necklace around his neck. Sakura's eyes widened with shock and disbelief as she started remembering the things that Hashi had said before.

'I remember this girl I saw…'

'I fell in love with her.'

'It's a cry for help… And It's Akiko-chan's!'

'I absolutely despise boulders falling atop of me.'

'Sorry, I just hate lava and rocks falling on me, and now I've been reintroduced to those two goddamn things again.'

'Sakura-chan!'

Sakura continued to look at Hashi with her eyes watering up. 'It can't be… it just can't…' Sakura thought as she shed a tear and continued to look at Hashi. Hashi charged at Dai with great speed and was ready to cut him in two, but suddenly another person jumped in and took the hit for Dai. The person that sacrificed his life melted into white goo, but this white goo made Naruto's eyes widen with shock and disbelief as he crouched down and took a handful of it into his palm as he put Shokan back onto his back.

"This goo… this substance… this power I feel inside of it…" Hashi/Naruto said with shock.

"It's a special material to make artificial humans, that's all you need to know." Dai said as he lifted his leg up and sent an axe kick down on Hashi, but the masked swordsman grabbed Dai's leg and sent a fist to his torso sending the masked oto general skidding back.

"Where did you get this?" Hashi/Naruto demanded answers.

"Shouldn't have underestimated you." Dai said.

"Where The Fuck Did You Get This?!" Hashi/Naruto yelled with a serious glare.

"It's a project Orochimaru has created through using this material. Not many know where he gets it from." Dai said. Hashi/Naruto… no… only Naruto stared at the substance in his hand as his lone eye started to water.

'Akane… so this is what happened to you… my dear sister… being used as a test tube for that bastard snake!' Naruto thought as he clenched his hand that still carried the goo making it ooze out of his hand. Minato and Kushina had widened eyes with shock at now knowing what had happened to their daughter and now they were seething with anger at the knowledge of the pale face bastard using their daughter as a source for his own twisted experiments.

'Orochimaru, you monster; you tried to kill me when I was an infant, causing my parents to split and lead my mother into a deep depression, you brought harm to my son and almost got him killed, and now apparently you kidnapped my daughter and using her for your sick twisted experiment!' Minato thought with so much anger as he started seeing red. 'You brought so much pain to my family… when my son confronts you again I will be there and I will kill you.' Minato swore as his anger continued to rise.

"I'll kill him… I'll Kill Him!" Naruto shouted as his chakra and Killer Intent started to rise making Sasuke look at him with surprise, Dai glare at him; all the while, Sakura was still in a shocked daze of the sight of her long lost love's necklace around Hashi's neck. "I'LL KILL HIM FOR HURTING YOU AKANE!" Naruto shouted as the chakra around his body burst making a shockwave that made Dai jump back.

'This power… it's incredible for such a young boy to have.' Dai thought as Hashi continued to exert power from his body.

'Akane? Where have I heard that name before?' Sasuke thought, but then he got it. 'Wait… Now I Remember!'

Konoha, a year ago

"A sister?!" Sasuke and Sakura shouted with shock.

"Yes… that's correct… Kushina, Naruto's mother, was not only pregnant with him, but a girl as well… her name was Akane." Kakashi said.

"Why are you telling us this?" Sasuke asked.

"I've always wanted to tell Naruto about the truth of him not being born an only child, but then that probably would have brought problems considering how Naruto's personality works, he probably would have tried to search for her since there was no record of a deceased body that belonged to her the day the two were born. I've wanted to tell him for so long, but since he's gone… I felt that it would be best that you two would know in his place since there's a little piece of Naruto still in the two of you." Kakashi explained.

"So what you're saying is, is that we're the closest for Naruto to hear the truth from you." Sakura deduced earning a nod from Kakashi.

'Naruto… if only you were still alive.' Sasuke thought.

Back to now

'So she is still alive then? Does this mean that Orochimaru kidnapped her on that day?! The Bastard! But why is Hashi so angry about this? Does he share a relationship with Akane in any way?' Sasuke thought as he continued to look at Hashi, who continued to pour vast amounts of chakra out of his system. As the power rise it then decreased until the chakra danced around Hashi/Naruto's skin as the young masked shinobi glared at Dai. Dai just stood there as lava rose from the ground and then rose from the ground and covered both his arms in magma. Dai then swung his arm making the magma extend and go for Hashi, but the masked shinobi jumped back, however Dai smirked as he summoned lava to shoot out from the ground and consume Hashi.

"NO!" Sakura screamed to the heavens as she saw the masked scarred boy consumed by lava.

"Whoa…" Sasuke and Sakura turned to see Hashi was alright. "Didn't expect to be so loved." Hashi/Naruto said with a smirk. Suddenly Sakura dashed at Hashi and tackled him into a hug as she cried into his chest shocking both the masked swordsman and Sasuke.

"I'm so happy… I'm so happy…" Sakura kept repeating as she held the masked shinobi. Naruto smiled at her as he hugged her back. "I'm so happy… that I didn't lose you again…" Sakura said making Naruto's eyes widen with shock.

How did she know? How could she know? There was no way for her to know, right?

Naruto just patted the pinkette on the back with comfort before he separated from her and walked beside Sasuke as he grabbed the handle of Shokan and took it off his back and started twirling it in his hand. "Uchiha… as much as I want to take this bastard down myself, I think it would help if I got some assistance." Hashi/Naruto said.

"Agreed." Sasuke said getting in his stance with Tamashi ready. "Just stay out of my way… loser." Sasuke said as his sharingan flared.

"Only if you can keep up… teme." Hashi/Naruto said with a smirk as he dashed straight at Dai. Sasuke's eyes widened for a moment before he dashed straight towards Dai and running besides Hashi. Sakura smiled with tears shedding from her eyes as she stared at Hashi's back, now knowing from calling her raven haired teammate a bastard, that this masked shinobi that was now about to fight with Sasuke by his side was her thought to be deceased love, Naruto.

'I'm so happy… that you're still alive… my love… my Naruto-kun.' Sakura thought as she began wiping away her tears and continuing to smile at the masked blonde's direction.

Dai just snapped his fingers making a whole battalion of artificial being jump out of their hiding spots with some attacking Hashi/Naruto and Sasuke. The two swordsmen managed to push them away but they had to jump back to Sakura as more just came their way. Sakura sensed one coming straight at her, so she summoned chakra to her fist as it was surrounded by green fire and then she turned with a war cry and sent a fist straight at the enemy, but it didn't stop there; the power behind her fist was so great that it sent a shockwave of power and as the victim was flying, a trail and tunnel of green fire followed it and destroyed and melted other artificial beings it came across. Sasuke smirked at Sakura's ability while Naruto's eyes widened with shock, amazement and some fear.

'You've really gotten powerful ever since it happened, Sakura; I'm proud of you.' Sasuke thought.

'Damn… she's so powerful! Never again, never again will I get on Sakura-chan's bad side!' Naruto thought with fear. 'And yet… that's so hot.'

"Definitely your father's son alright." Kurama said.

'S-Shut Up!' Naruto yelled through his mind link, making Kurama, Kushina, and Mamoru, who was connected to the mind link which helped him listen onto the conversation even though he wasn't with Naruto, started laughing their asses off while Naruto and Minato were blushing red with embarrassment. The three genin got into their fighting stances as they had their backs together, ready to take them on.

"Three against, well, a lot… I like it." Hashi/Naruto said with a sadistic smile on his face.

"Baka, this isn't a source for pleasure… well, at least not just for you." Sasuke said with a stoic look, but was grinning on the inside, feeling extreme excitement.

"Jeez, would the two of you calm down; this is no time to see whose better, so stop acting like a bunch of macho men." Sakura said sounding annoyed, but was still smiling. Sasuke was clueless of why the two covering his back were really smiling, but Naruto and Sakura knew why.

The genin of Team 7 were fighting together again.

Suddenly all the artificial warriors ran straight at the three.

"Let's Go!" the genin shouted as they all went and started fighting. Sakura started pounding all enemies that came her way with powerful kicks and her fists aflame. Over the time Team 7 was disbanded Sakura had pushed herself to the limit that even Tsunade was impressed. Sakura always possessed two elements, which were water and earth, the latter she used in a way that shocked both Tsunade and Shizune; Sakura had pushed herself to control the earth around her, and trained hard with it and she had attained a move set that not even Tsunade could use.

"Say Good Night!" Sakura yelled as she jumped high into the air above a vast amount of enemies. Once Sakura came down, she slammed her fist down to the ground and sent a shockwave of her chakra deep into the earth; the pinkette gave a grinning smirk as the earth crumbled around her and sharp pieces of the earth shot out and killed the surrounding enemies. Sakura then surrounded her body with chakra and then started spinning in place with great speed that she became a tornado that consumed the pieces of earth and surrounding enemies and killed them. After a few seconds more, Sakura stopped spinning, releasing her jutsu and letting all the pieces of earth, goo and artificial body parts fall to the floor. Naruto stared at Sakura, who was smirking and holding her bicep as she pumped her fist in the air, with eyes of admiration, affection and love as it felt like hearts danced around him.

"Whoa… now that's a woman, dattebayo." Naruto said as he blocked an attack and cut an enemy that was behind him and cut the one in front of him in half, all the while he was still staring at the pinkette.

"Oh! My sochi's in love! I'm so happy!" Kushina cheered inside Naruto's mind as she cried tears of joy with Minato chuckling and scratching the back of his head with a sweat drop.

Sasuke sent wave for wave of blinding cuts towards his opponents, skewering them all and leaving them all into heaping messes of goo. Sasuke then started dashing with blinding speed and with great agility as well, as he started to mow down every one in his path. Sasuke then concentrated his power into Tamashi until it burst into royal blue flame and then Sasuke sent a sideways slash towards a big group of enemies, sending a giant slash of blue fire towards them, eradicating and melting them all. Sasuke took down a great amount of the artificial shinobis and he was only getting warmed up.

Naruto was amazed at how powerful the two have gotten that it made him smirk, but he was still focused on the fight. Naruto just mowed down all enemies that got in his way. He cut them up and down to size with Shokan and chops from his hands that had wind manipulation behind them, blow their artificial brains out with explosive kunai that hit right on their mark, and smash right through their bodies with his fists which had wind manipulation behind them. Naruto was one hell of a fighter, and he'd be killing these guys quicker if he was able to use his jutsu, but that'd just give away his status as being alive.

Dai eyed them all with interest; they all are displaying impressive power and they were all still in their early teen years, which made Dai think one thing. 'These three will become a real nuisance in the future.'

Hashi/Naruto sent his own chakra mixed with Kurama's into Shokan and used Doraibu, sending a powerful and lightning quick shockwave of golden flame straight at Dai. Everything that was in it's path was consumed by the destructive flame; enemies, the trees and the earth itself, but Dai somehow managed to escape the attack, but he was very impressed at the magnitude of the jutsu and yet the one eyed masked shinobi was not showing any signs of fatigue.

'This one's interesting; he would be a very worthy addition to oto, but it's obvious by the look in his eye that he would never do such thing. However, he will still make for a worthy opponent.' Dai thought as he stared at the masked boy with his hands turning into magma. Hashi managed to squeeze pass the row of enemies and dash at Dai, but the general was prepared as a stream of lava, shaped like an eel, shot out of the ground and through Hashi's body only for the masked shinobi to disappear. 'Kage bushin.' Dai thought as he turned and used his magma arm to block a slash from Hashi/Naruto. The two glared into each other's eyes before Hashi had to jump back to save himself from getting hit by Dai's free magma fist. Dai noticed that Shokan was completely fine, like it never made contact with magma at all. 'An impressive sword.' Dai thought.

Dai thrust his magma fist forward, sending a flying magma fists that separated from his arm flying straight at Hashi/Naruto. Hashi managed to jump out of the way, but had to start dodging, rolling and running away from the rest of the flying magma fists Dai was sending his way.

'This bastard.' Naruto thought with anger. "Knock It Off!" Hashi/Naruto yelled as he readied Shokan like a bat and swung at one of the magma fists and hit it dead on making it explode on contact and eradicating it. Dai did show it, but he was surprised to see Hashi's sword smash through his magma like it was nothing. Dai had enough, so he decided to end this battle by jumping high into the air and then rocket down with his magma fist facing down to the ground and getting bigger. "Oh shit…" Naruto said as he ran back to regroup with the others. "Not good! We've got to move!" Hashi/Naruto exclaimed earning Sasuke's attention. The Uchiha looked up to see Dai rocketing down to the ground.

'That can't be good.' Sasuke thought. Naruto managed to reach Sakura, but as he turned around, Dai smashed his giant magma fist into the ground creating giant waves of lava around the place. Naruto sent a vast amount of his chakra along with Kurama's into Shokan and then sent slashes towards the ground, creating ruts that would be used to keep the lava away from them. Sasuke appeared on the other side and did what Hashi did, by making a rut into the ground just in case. Dai then summoned a grand amount of lava and magma into his arms and outstretched them into the sky making it shoot out of his magma covered hands. As the lava was being sent into the sky it shaped and took form of a dragon made of pure lava. The lava dragon eyed the three with it's boiling eyes, making them feel unease; and who can blame them?

"Yogan Ryu." (Lava Dragon) Dai said the name of his technique at his hand was raised into the air. "Korosu." (Kill) Dai ordered as his hand went down making the lava dragon rush it's way towards the three young shinobi. Naruto looked up at the dragon with fear for his friends' lives; he had no choice, he had to summon the full power of his Mokuton and Kurama. As the blonde was prepared to give his all to save his friends, Sasuke ran in front of him and Sakura and then held Tamashi and closed his eyes as he started concentrating.

'Will all my strength, I beg towards the heavens to grant me the strength to summon the most powerful warrior of all time to protect myself and my comrades, and to banish all opposing elements into the rotting ground and hell itself; I call upon the great warrior who defeated the god Orochi.' Sasuke chanted in his head before he quickly opened his eyes to reveal his sharingan spinning rapidly in a clockwise motion. "Susanoo!" Sasuke yelled as his body was starting to produce purple flames that consumed him, Naruto and Sakura. Sasuke yelled with pain as he felt the awesome overwhelming power that was granted to him by the legendary sword of his clan. Suddenly, surrounding the three teens was a gigantic, humanoid skeletal being made of purple chakra and had a pair of horns on it's head. The purple skeletal being then grew a shield on it's arm and then put it in front of itself to protect itself and the people inside it. Suddenly the dragon made contact and started hitting the being with it's entire molten body. What felt like hours, was really seconds as the jutsu started dying down as the shield started to crack and blood to leak out of one of Sasuke's eyes. Once the dragon disappeared, Sasuke's eyes stopped spinning and in turn, the skeletal being made of pure purple chakra started to disappear. Sasuke fell to his knees and started patting from exhaustion.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted her raven haired friend/teammate's name as she rushed to his side and provide aid. Sakura sensed Sasuke's heart racing rapidly, but she managed to slow it down back to an average rate. Dai took the chance and surrounded his body in lava creating a giant bubbling amount of lava.

"Now Die!" Dai shouted as the mountain of lava started rocketing towards the three. Naruto gritted his teeth as golden flames danced around his body and then went into Shokan. Sasuke also gritted his teeth with anger as royal blue flames danced around him and into Tamashi.

"Doraibu!"

"Ao jigoku hibana!" (Blue hell spark)

The two yelled as they sent waves of fire from their swords and straight at the giant mountain of lava. As the jutsu's connected, they cancelled each other out; alone, Naruto and Sasuke's attacks would have probably down nothing, but together, they produced enough energy to destroy Dai's technique. Dai jumped back onto his hands and feet as Hashi/Naruto and Sasuke were panting while Sakura glared at him.

"Impressive… you stunned me for a bit… it's not easy to do such a thing." Dai said. "However, if that's all you've got." Dai stood up with lava surrounding him with the light produced by them dancing off his body. "Then I'm afraid your hopes for winning this battle were all for not." Dai said.

"Good God… he looks like nothing happened to him." Sakura said to herself. Hashi/Naruto and Sasuke got into the kenjutsu stance ready to fight again. Sakura looked at the two with surprised eyes, but then she had a determined look upon her face. 'Right, if they can stand up when the odds are against them…' Sakura thought as she stood up and got into her fighting stance. 'Then I will too.' Sakura thought with a serious look upon her face. Dai just stared at the three for a moment before walking towards them, but then something interrupted him.

"Dai ippan-sama!" an oto-nin shouted as he and a few others showed up. "Forgive my, I mean, o-our intrusion, but headquarters called and they said they needed you back ASAP." The oto-nin said with fear of what Dai might do next. Dai closed his eyes before reopening them and nodded.

"You three young ones are lucky I am needed elsewhere, but I'm sure we'll meet again to finish what we started, but until then." Dai put up his hand in a ram sign and the shouted. "Kai!" and then suddenly the whole village started to explode. Hashi/Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura quickly turned around and saw that all the buildings and homes, hell the entire village was exploding. "A life lesson: If you cannot win a fight, make sure your opponent doesn't either." Dai said as he started walking away.

"You monster… YOU MONSTER! HOW COULD YOU!" Sakura screamed at Dai's retreating form. "GET BACK HERE YOU COWARD! GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!" Sakura screamed as she was about to chase after him, but Hashi/Naruto held her back. "DON'T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM ME! GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT! GET BACK HERE!" Sakura continued to scream as Dai continued to walk away. "Let Me Go! Right Now N-"

"Sakura Enough!" Naruto shouted at her, shocking the pinkette. "I know how you feel… I've seen horrible things for what felt like ages… things no one our age should see, but we must endure horrible actions… it is why we were given this…" Naruto put his finger atop of Sakura's hitai-ate. "Once we where it we endure everything that comes our way, not for ourselves, but for others that we want to keep protected from these horrors… as much as you, along with Sasuke and I, wish to end this monster for what he did to these innocent people, we must endure and think like the shinobi we are… don't let such horrors change you Sakura… don't allow these things to harm your heart and effect your mind; never let them in all at once or else you will be doomed to doubt yourself… don't end up like me." Naruto said as he stared at Sakura with a lone teary cerulean eye. Sakura stared into Naruto's lone eye with tears pouring out of her own.

'Naruto-kun…you've grown up… and you've change… arigatou… for looking out for me.' Sakura thought as she closed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. She then quickly opened them and turned to glare at Dai's retreating four. "Don't Think I'll Forget This You Bastard!" Sakura yelled at Dai. "I Swear That When The Day Comes, I'm Going To Kill You For Every Horrible Thing You've Ever Done!" Sakura yelled as green aura danced around her body.

'Incredible… she's generating her chakra subconsciously…' Naruto thought with shock and amazement along with his parents.

"I'm really liking this girl the more I see her in action!" Kushina exclaimed in Naruto's mind with a grin and her hand on her bicep and her fist pumped in the air.

"I'll see it when I believe it." Dai said as he continued to walk away.

"You really should take her seriously; I mean it's not every day that you meet a girl who can generate a great amount of chakra subconsciously." Naruto/Hashi said with a smirk under his mask. Dai stopped in his tracks as he heard the masked shinobi's words.

"I-ippan-sama… is e-everything alright?" one of the oto-nin asked with fear of what Dai might do. Dai turned his head a bit and saw Sakura's body being surrounded by her chakra as she glared at him; he was intrigued by this.

"Hm." Dai said, sort of, as he turned his head forward again. "Then I hope to see you again someday… all of you." Dai said. "Konoha's Team 7 is just full of surprises." Dai said with a smirk underneath his mask. Naruto and Sakura's eyes widened while Sasuke looked confused. "Sorry about what happened all that long ago, but admit it, it was blessing in disguise. You've become powerful now child all thanks to the consequences of the events. You're stronger than you ever were before, you are equal, possibly even greater than your longtime rival, and you've achieve a level of greater self-confidence than before; you're no longer the useless child who called yourself shinobi, but instead a true warrior."

'I don't understand… just a moment ago he acted like Sakura wasn't even worth his time and now he's saying he's impressed with her?' Sasuke thought with great confusion, but Naruto and Sakura knew who he was really talking about. He was talking about Naruto… somehow Dai knows that he's still alive. Dai then started to walk away with his subordinates following.

"We will meet again child. The clock of time itself is always ticking, meaning that it is inevitable. Kami always has a plan for us chess pieces, and his plan for us will come sooner than we expect." And with those final words, Dai had vanished into the darkness with his subordinates. Naruto continued to glare at where he last saw Dai's body before it was consumed by the darkness.

'Yeah… we will meet again… I guarantee it, dattebayo.' Naruto thought as he continued to glare. Suddenly he felt a hand grab his necklace that was given to him by his grandmother over a year ago. Naruto looked to see it was Sakura smiling at him with a loving smile and loving eyes.

"Still kept it, huh, Naruto-kun?" Sakura whispered to him as she gave him a warm smile. Naruto blinked his one eye with surprise as he had a dumbfounded look underneath his mask; he then closed his single eye and scratched the back of his head as he chuckled with embarrassment.

'Okay, now I see how she figured it out.' Naruto thought feeling like an idiot.

"Great job kit, just when I thought you were actually a very capable assassin." Kurama said with some disappointment in his host.

"Shut Up Kurama! My sochi's having a moment with his future wife." Kushina said feeling so proud in her son for winning this young girl's heart.

"Actually I have to agree with Kurama." Minato said. "Even though I understand the importance of the necklace to Naruto, hell even I would keep it with me all the time, but Naruto could have just put a seal on his collar bone or his chest to keep the necklace inside so-" but one horrifying anime style glare from Kushina caused Minato to turn completely white from fear, and it didn't help that her hair was doing that standing up nine tailed thing. "On second thought, I absolutely agree with you Kushina-chan; a moment for our young boy with the girl of his dreams is much more important than pointing out a mistake he made as a shinobi." Minato quickly said with his hands up and waving in defense.

"Whipped." Kurama said with a smirk.

"I died once; I am not going through that again." Minato whispered to the all mighty fox spirit. On the outside of the blonde boy's mind, Naruto just smiled at Sakura.

"It's a family heirloom that was given to me by my grandma as a present, I can't go anywhere without it." Naruto whispered while still smiling at the smiling Sakura. Just as Sakura was about to open her mouth, Naruto put his finger to her lips. "I know what you're going to say, but I can't come back, and before you flip your lid, just hear me out." Naruto whispered to the pinkette. Sakura just stared at him with a serious look that said 'you better explain quick, cause I haven't seen you in over a year and I am not liking what you said to me in the slightest bit.' "There is a force inside the walls of Konoha that will tear us apart forever if I come back before I am ready." Naruto whispered. Sakura looked at him with shock at hearing this. "I can't go back because I'm afraid of never seeing you again if I return too soon. I'm sorry, but please keep my status as living a secret." Naruto whispered to her. Sakura looked down at Naruto's chest with a saddened look upon her face as she started to shed tears. He was alive and she thought that she finally had him back, but in truth he was still far from her grasp and it was only this moment that they were allowed to be with each other. Naruto then picked up her chin with his finger and made her look him in his sole compassionate eye. "But I promise that I will return and then…" Naruto grabbed her hand and locked his fingers with her own. "We can finally be together… I promise." Naruto said smiling. "And you know me and promises." Sakura smiled at him with a sad yet happy smile with compassion and love in her eyes as they continued to shed tears. "Sakura… I lo-"

Suddenly the tip of Tamashi was next to Naruto's head. "Let her go." Sasuke said with his tone sounding menacing as he glared at Hashi. Naruto just looked at Sasuke with his lone eye before he did as he commanded and released Sakura. Sakura walked by Sasuke's side and looked at him as if he lost his mind.

"Sasuke, what are you doing? He helped us." Sakura said thinking Sasuke lost his marbles… again. Sasuke then threw a konoha hitai-ate her way, which she grabbed.

"This was found at one of the burning oto bases. Hashi and his friends framed us and the rest of Konoha for what they did to oto." Sasuke said still holding Hashi at blade point with his glare still directed at him. Sakura looked at the headband with shock as she then looked at Naruto.

"It was the most logical thing to do. My group is supposed to be unknown to the world and your village is already at war with oto; their leader tried to assassinate the Yondaime Hokage when he was a newborn, they invade your home leading to the death of your Sandaime Hokage, and they were the reason that your teammate died." Hashi/Naruto explained. Sasuke's eyes widened at hearing this, before he glared at Hashi with his sharingan blazing red.

"YOU BETTER NOT BE FUCKING LYING!" Sasuke said aiming the tip of Tamashi to Hashi's neck making the masked shinobi back up a bit.

"He not!" Sakura quickly said placing her hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke, General Dai led to the volcano erupting, he placed explosive tags everywhere inside… it's all his fault."

Sasuke once again had a shocked look upon his face before he closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth with anger. "He's dead!" Sasuke shouted as he reopened his eyes with his sharingan a blazing red. "Once I'm done with you, he's next!" Sasuke shouted as he was about to slash at Hashi.

"Sasuke No!" Sakura shouted as she quickly held back Sasuke with her enhanced strength. "Haven't we all been through enough today?!" Sakura cried. Sasuke just looked at her with surprise. "Everyone is safe, oto is gone, and all are comrades are waiting for us outside the vill… I mean, what used to be the village; please, no more violence… it wouldn't even matter in the end." Sakura tried to reason with her raven haired teammate. Sasuke just looked at her before he looked at Hashi. After a moment or two Sasuke resheathed Tamashi back into it's scabbard.

"I will listen to her, but the day our paths cross again Hashi, you won't be so lucky." Sasuke said. Hashi/Naruto let out a some air he didn't even know he was holding in relief, before he looked at the two with a smile and happy cerulean eyes.

"Will be looking forward to that day; then we could finish what we started." Hashi/Naruto said with a smile underneath his mask as he started walking backwards toward the cliff's edge. "This was fun; we got to do it again sometime, but until then..." Hashi/Naruto said with a smile as he stopped at the edge of the cliff. Hashi/Naruto bumped the left side of his chest, where his heart resides, with his fist and then changed the fist into a peace sign. "Ja ne." The masked assassin said as he leaped off the cliff and fell straight down towards the ground. Sakura quickly ran to the edge and saw Naruto continued to fall.

'Please don't die, please don't die' Sakura kept thinking over in her head with worry and fear.

'You know Sakura-chan… I'm happy you know that I'm alive… because now I know you'll sleep at night without shedding a single tear of sadness over me.' Naruto thought as he closed his lone eye and shed a tear with it. Naruto then did some flips to build up wind and used his wind manipulation to make him stop a foot off of the ground before landing on it gently. Naruto then built up wind to his feet and then started running as fast as the wind towards the exit of what once was the Tsukiakari village.

'Yes!' Sakura cheered in her head as she saw the love of her life run towards his new comrades. 'Until the next time… my shugo tenshi.' Sakrua thought as she held a hand to her heart and looked at Naruto's retreating form with loving eyes. Naruto looked back and smiled as he sent chakra to his lone eye to enhance his vision to see Sakura's smiling face.

"You know, now that I look at her through your eyes, well eye right now, she not only is like your mother in personality, but she also kinda looks like her, only she has pink hair." Minato said to his son within his mind.

'Mom is beautiful just like Sakura-chan, hell their beauty is actually equal to me, but please never mention them looking alike to me, ever again.' Naruto said to his father through his mental link.

"S-sorry, all I'm saying is you chose a looker; I'm proud of you my boy!" Minato said with a grin and thumbs up.

"Okay, now I see that you're that perverted sage's son." Kurama said.

'It's funny, I was about to say the same thing.' Naruto said through his thoughts.

"Ditto." Kushina agreed.

"Yep." Mamoru said through his mind link with them.

Minato just had a sweat drop expression at this, but still retained a smile, albeit and embarrassed one. "Well what can I say? I'm my father's son." Minato said shrugging his shoulders.

As Sakura watched her love run into the distance, she felt Sasuke place a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's go." The Uchiha said earning a nod from his pinkette teammate. The two then suddenly vanish out of thin air.

With Team Gai, Karashi and the villagers

Everyone stared at the destruction with horror at what had happened.

"Dear Kami." Tenten said.

"Sasuke-san and Sakura-san are still within the village." Lee said with worry.

"I'm sure they're fine." Neji said surprising his two teammates. "The two have become more than capable of handle something like this."

"But Neji they could-"

"I believe in them." Neji said shocking the two. "You should believe in our friends as well Tenten."

"Neji is right! We must believe in our friends!" Lee exclaimed with new vigor. Suddenly Sasuke and Sakura appeared out of nowhere making Lee and Tenten jump a bit.

"See, they're alright." Neji said.

"Was there any doubt?" Sasuke said.

"Not from me Uchiha, if you can believe that." Neji said smirking at Sasuke.

"You know what… I actually do." Sasuke said smirking back.

"Never thought those two would ever be chummy." Tenten whispered to Sakura earning a nod from said pinkette.

"The statue." Akiko said earning the Konoha shinobis' attention. Sakura walked beside Akiko and placed her hand on Akiko's shoulder trying to show comfort to the orange haired girl.

"Akiko I am so sorry." Sakura said honestly sorry for Akiko's and her fellow villagers.

"The statue." Akiko repeated once more.

"Why is she so worried about the statue?" Lee asked.

"You'll see." Sasuke said as the thunder hit, making Karashi jump with some fear, and rain came down from the sky. After a while of the pouring rain, the fires had been extinguished, only leaving black smoke everywhere. Akiko's eyes had produced tears that mixed with the rain as she started at the destroyed village that she once called her home, but then as the smoke lessened Akiko's eyes widened as she smiled with joy as she and the villagers saw that the Naruto statue was completely fine. Suddenly the villagers cheered with joy as their symbol of hope and their future was still standing, still intact. Akiko jumped for joy as she saw the statue of her love and future husband still standing. "That's why; it's their hope." Sasuke said smiling.

"Fitting; you must be very happy that they're praising your brother with joy and admiration." Neji said smiling at Sasuke.

"Very happy." Sasuke said as he started shedding tears that mixed with the rain. Neji smiled at the sight of those tears, he was the only one who noticed them tears… tears are a sign that shows people the truth of others. For a long time, Neji always despised Sasuke, most probably because he reminded him of himself, but after seeing him help Hinata to become stronger and now these tears, he knew that Sasuke had changed and escaped that horrid path he was walking on and is now a man who could be trusted; after all, he was willing to cry in front of those he called his friends, even if it was in the rain, Neji knew Sasuke had become a better person from the sight of those tears.

'Now there is no dout in my mind… I am glad you decided to become a part of Hinata-sama's life, Sasuke.' Neji thought with a smile. Sakura smiled at the fact that everyone was happy to see the statue of her love was still standing, and so was she.

'I hope you can see this Naruto-kun; everyone here loves you.' Sakura thought as she held her hand over her heart again with loving eyes as well. 'As do I, my shugo tenshi.' Unknown to all of them, Naruto was watching them in a tree with a big smile on his unmasked face.

'This was all worth losing my left eye.' Naruto thought with a smile as he closed his lone eye and vanished.

With the rest of the Akatsuki members, Ranmaru and Idate

The group seven stayed at good distance away from the village just in time to see the fireworks. After watching the flames of what used to be Tsukiakari, the rain had hit and fell onto the ground, extinguishing the fires leaving a burned down village, but the Naruto statue was still there.

"Heh, not only does the thing look like the gaki, but it's even hard to get rid of like the little blonde baka." Zabuza said with a smirk on his face.

"Are you alright in there Ranmaru?" Haku asked the young lavender haired boy who was underneath her cloak. Once she and Ranmaru got far away from the village, Haku created an Aisu Bushin (Ice clone), a jutsu she had work tirelessly to create and succeeded; Haku gave Ranmaru to her clone and then took off her cloak and had the clone put Ranmaru on her back and then wrap the cloak around him where Haku fit it around her body as well before releasing the clone.

"Yes, I'm quite alright." Ranmaru answered, his head poking out of the neck hole of her cloak. Zabuza looked at the two and couldn't help, but smile.

'Looks like you got somebody who now depends on you and needs you Haku, I'm glad. The kid's lucky too, he doesn't have to rely and look up to a complete nutcase, but a good hearted young woman.' Zabuza thought. 'I'm really proud of you Haku.'

"He's coming." Ranmaru said as his eyes glowed red. Suddenly Naruto appeared out of nowhere.

"Kid spotted you before you even got here." Zabuza said with a smirk.

"Thanks you for the update Zabuza, but I have ears remember." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Smartass." Zabuza said.

"Where were you anyway?" Karin asked.

"Just had to see something to believe it." Naruto said as he gave a smile and a single eye smile. Naruto was then covered in golden flames and as it disappeared, his cloak was wrapped around his body. Naruto then picked up Mamoru and turned to everyone and said. "Let's go home."

The Next Day

Sakura and Sasuke were talking to Akiko while Team Gai and Karashi waited next to the Naruto statue.

"You sure you'll be alright without any help?" Sakura asked her friend.

"Yes, we will be fine; it may have been our home that was destroyed, but it can be rebuilt." Akiko said. "That on the other hand." Akiko looked up towards the golden statue with Sasuke and Sakura. "Is irreplaceable."

"Yeah." Sakura said looking at the statue with a happy smile.

"Well of course it is… it is him after all." Sasuke said with a smile. "Well that and it's made of gold." Sasuke said smirking at his little joke. Akiko and Sakura laughed at Sasuke's little joke, finding it funny.

"Baka." Sakura said with a smile as she playfully slugged Sasuke's arm.

"Ow! Damn, let up a little would ya." Sasuke said with a smile rubbing his arm from the pain. Tenten and Lee looked at Sasuke with shock while Neji had an eyebrow raised.

"Did… did Sasuke make a joke?!" Tenten exclaimed with shock.

"I didn't even think it was possible." Lee admitted.

Neji just closed his eyes and smirked going 'hm'. 'Yep, definitely a new person… it's kind of creepy though, I'll admit.'

"So since… well… you know…" Sakura didn't know if she should mention about who will take over as village chief since it would probably lead to Akiko crying over the tragedy of her father's death.

"I've discussed it with my sibling and we've agreed that my elder sister Aiko will take over as chief, since Akihiko is, well, a bit of a coward." Akiko said still smiling.

"So you gave your sister the documents, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, and she accepts providing assistance for your trade routes in exchange with protection and sending shinobi to teach our villagers the way of shinobi; after we rebuild the village of course." Akiko said earning a nod from the two.

"And what about you? How come you didn't try to take the title?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed the Uchiha's name as she smacked his arm.

"Ow! What? I was just curious; I didn't mean to make her sound power hungry or anything." Sasuke retorted.

"I have a little plan for the future and being chief might complicate it." Akiko said still smiling.

"Well, if that's all then we better head out." Sasuke said. "It was good seeing you again Akiko."

"And to you Sasuke-kun." Akiko said with a small bow that Sasuke returned. Sasuke then headed towards Team Gai while Sakura stayed behind with Akiko.

"Akiko, I'm happy that you're alright, but are you sure you don't need any help?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura, I am grateful that you are my friend and you wish to assist in the reconstruction of the village, but you have helped us enough as it is; and for that I thank you." Akiko said bowing to her friend.

"Oh would you stop that!" Sakura exclaimed with an annoyed face. Akiko quickly stood up and was worried if she did anything wrong. "We're friends, and friends don't bow to each other when they're saying goodbye." Sakura said. The pinkette then suddenly hugged Akiko, surprising her. "It doesn't mean as much as a hug." Sakura said with a smile. Akiko smiled as well as she returned the hug. Once the two separated, they smiled at each other once again. "Oh and one more thing." Sakura whispered. "I'm okay with you have deep feeling for Naruto, but he will be mine." Sakura said with a determined look on her face. Akiko was shocked to hear that Sakura knew Naruto was alive, but she smiled, happy that her friend knew the truth.

"Well then, as they say." Akiko said as she then had a determined look on her face as well as she pumped her fist up to her face. "Game on." Akiko said with a determined smile. Sakura grinned as she pumped her fist up as well. The two then smiled happily to each other and gave each other one last hug before the separated.

"Good luck Akiko, we'll come visit." Sakura said as she walked away while waving Akiko goodbye.

"Same to you Sakura, I hope to visit your village someday." Akiko said as she also waved goodbye to her friend. As Akiko watched as Sasuke, Sakura, Team Gai and Karashi leave the village, Akiko couldn't help, but smirk at one simple little thing she kept to herself from Sakura. 'You may hold Naruto-kun's heart Sakura-san, but Naruto-kun promised me that he would marry me someday, and you know him and promises.' Akiko thought as she started giggling with a blush adorning her cheeks.

At the Akatsuki base the following day

Naruto and company finally made it back to the base where Obito, Yahiko, Rin and Itachi.

"Itachi? Didn't expect to see you here. What's up?" Naruto said to the elder Uchiha. Naruto was wearing his demon mask so he wouldn't freak Rin out with the whole now becoming a Cyclops thing; and boy did he make a good call since she was here.

"I heard that you had met with my brother and clashed swords with him." Itachi said.

"Oh, I get it; you wanna hear how good your brother is, huh?" Naruto said earning a nod from Itachi. Naruto just smiled and chuckled a bit.

"He's really grown powerful. He now wields the legendary Tamashi and can use Amaterasu and Susanoo with it; he's really grown up to be one hell of a shinobi and swordsman." Naruto said with a smirk. The four were shocked to hear this, but none more than Obito and Itachi.

'So Sasuke has become the second wielder of the legendary blade Tamashi… and here I thought that sword was a fairytale for little kids in our clan.' Obito thought.

"Oh and good news; he's off that damn vengeful path he was on for a long time. I mean he still wants to kill you, but he's a dedicated shinobi through and through; I know you'd be proud of him Itachi." Naruto said with a smile.

Itachi looked down to the floor with a faint smile. 'Sasuke… you have become so powerful and you are becoming what I'd hope you'd become; an heir to the Uchiha with a true hero's heart. I'm proud of you, my otouto.' Itachi thought as he concentrated on not teary up in public; he had a reputation to keep.

"Either way, everything went according to plan and we got some bonuses through it all as well." Naruto said as he grabbed to scrolls and opened them onto the ground before undoing the seal on them. Atop of the scrolls were the twin blades Kiba and the legendary Raijin no Ken.

"Well I'll be damned." Yahiko said. "So you encountered Aoi and Raiga."

"That is correct, and I wish to ask permission…"

"You got new members?" Yahiko said with a smirk. Naruto nodded in response. "Well they're welcomed here."

"Great, this is Idate, I wish to help him get stronger and become a great shinobi." Naruto introduced the brunette boy.

"I-it's nice to meet you." Idate said quickly taking a bow.

"You don't need to act so frightened." Rin said placing her hand on Idate's shoulder making the young boy look up at her smiling face. "We are all friends here, and we will treat you with as much kindness as I'm sure you'll treat us with." Rin said smiling motherly making Idate blush.

'She acts so heavenly.' Idate thought as he stood up.

"Oh and the other is a doujutsu user; I don't know what it's really called but I like to call his unique doujutsu, Mokugan." (Beyond eye) Naruto said with a proud grin on his face. Haku then walked up to the two and moved her cloak a bit and let down Ranmaru, who was bit shy to meet the Akatsuki members in front of him.

"This is Ranmaru." Haku introduced the boy.

"Ranmaru, eh? I think I've heard of you before from a friend of ours. Your doujutsu and timing with your sight could help us out a great deal in the Akatsuki." Yahiko said smiling at the boy.

"You don't have to be afraid, they are our friends." Haku said smiling down at the boy. Ranmaru nodded to her, trusting Haku completely, as he then turned to the four and bowed politely to them.

"Thank you; and it's nice to meet the people who have helped Haku." Ranmaru said.

"If it is alright with you, I wish to look after him." Haku said, hoping they'd say yes.

"Well seeing as he trusts you the most, then sure." Yahiko said. Haku smiled and lifted the boy up in her arms where he wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Arigatou." Haku said as she smiled at Ranmaru with the young lavender haired boy smiling back.

"Naruto-kun, why are you still wearing your mask?" Rin asked.

"Huh? Oh, because I like how it feels." Naruto said, hoping she'd buy it, but she didn't. Rin looked at him with a serious look on her face.

"Because it looks cool." Naruto said.

"I'm this close to getting the frying pan." Rin said closing her eyes and still having a serious look.

"Okay! Okay! No need to get violent." Naruto said. "Obito, you might want to get on the other side of Yahiko." Naruto said. Obito raised an eyebrow at this, but did as he was told; Naruto had to have a reason for wanting him to go on the other side of their leader's side. Naruto gulped as he undid his ribbons and then took of his mask earning a gasp from Rin along with shocked looks from her and the other four as they saw that Naruto's left eye was stabbed and rendered useless. "Yeah, so, I'm a Cyclops." Naruto said with a nervous smile and scratching the back of his head. Rin shook in place for a moment before she turned and glared at her fiancé.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT OBITO!" Rin screamed as she was ready to tear apart her fiancé.

"M-me?! What Did I Do?!" Obito exclaimed with fear as he hid behind Yahiko.

"Hey don't get me involved in your domestic affairs!" Yahiko exclaimed, afraid of getting an ass whooping from Rin.

"And how are you involved?" Obito said.

"You're Using Me As A Human Shield! Of Course I'm Involved Because Of The Position You Put Me In!" Yahiko shouted with a pissed anime style look on his face. Rin tried to get pass Yahiko to get to Obito, but he was being used as a pretty good human shield, so Rin grabbed the leader by the collar and smacked his face before tossing him to the side and revving up for a punch that was aimed at Obito.

"Wait! I Can Fix This!" Obito shouted as he cowering in fear of his future wife. Rin stopped her attack and looked at Obito with suspicion.

"And how are you going to fix this?" Rin asked with a menacing glare that said 'you better have a good solution or else.'

"Well, I have a pair of sharingan that I keep in the lab for safe keeping and I think this is the perfect opportunity to bring them out." Obito said. Rin eyed her frightened future husband for a moment before she crossed her arms

"Alright then." Rin said.

"Wait, you mean, I'm going to get sharingan?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Well we can't have our best assassin go on missions as a Cyclops, now can we?" Obito said smirking at Naruto. Naruto blinked a few times in surprise before he grin with excitement.

"Yatta!" Naruto cheered as he couldn't wait to get a pair of sharingan.

The next day, in Konoha

Sasuke, Sakura, and Team Gai had finally made it back home after dropping off Karashi back home with Lee giving him a few pointers and training regimes so he could get stronger.

"Finally, we're home!" Tenten cheered.

"We still need to give in our mission report." Neji said.

"Whatever, as long as we get to rest afterwards; that mission was a pain." Tenten whined.

The group of five walked all the way towards the Hokage tower and started climbing up the stairs. Sakura was a bit nervous of seeing her mentor; she had just learned that not only was Naruto alive, but also his twin sister Akane, and in the clutches of her old bastard of an ex-teammate Orochimaru no less. Kami give her strength.

Once the five genin made it to the top floor, they made their way towards Tsunade's office and on their way they Shizune carrying stack of papers.

"Oh, hey you five, you finally came back?" Shizune said with a smile.

"Yeah, but it was so exhausting." Tenten whined.

"I Thought It Was A Great Youthful Experience!" Lee shouted with much 'youth'.

"You think that with every mission Lee." Tenten said.

"Yes! Every Mission I Partake In Are So Wondrous And Youthful That It Makes Me Feel Stronger With Every Mission I Take!" Lee shouted with great vigor making Tenten sigh at his antics and Neji to just write it off as Lee being Lee. Shizune laughed at Lee's usually ready and energy filled personality; this kid was definitely a mini Gai.

"Is Tsunade-shishou in?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, she's just talking to Jiraiya and Kakashi." Shizune said. "I'm so happy for Tsunade-sama; she's finally finding happiness with the man she loves." Shizune said as she sighed dreamily.

"She's not the only one around her who's finding happiness." Sakura whispered to Sasuke.

"What was that?" Shizune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing Shizune-nee-chan; we better go." Sakura said as she started pushing Sasuke further down the hall. "Oh and Shizune, you might want to do a better job at hiding Kaka-sensei's hickey marks." Sakura said with an innocent smile making Shizune's entire face blush red as she quickly turned around and lowered her head to her shoulders to hide the hickey marks made by a certain copycat ninja.

"S-see ya later." Shizune quickly said as she quickly made her way down the hall. Tenten and Lee had comical anime style shocked looks on their faces while Neji's eyes just widened with shock.

"S-Shizune And Kakashi?!" Tenten exclaimed not believing what she had just heard.

"I still think Sasuke making a joke was freakier." Neji said as he continued to walk ahead.

"Same here." Sakura said.

"Well that sure helped my self-esteem." Sasuke said sarcastically with an annoyed dull look.

The group then made it to the Hokage's door. Sakura took a deep breath before attempting to knock on the door, but Sasuke beat her to the punch.

"I wanted to do that!" Sakura whispered harshly with an annoyed tone in her voice as she glared at the smirking Sasuke.

"Enter." Tsunade said from the other side of the door. The five entered the office to see Tsunade at her desk with Jiraiya leaning on the window sill and Kakashi and Gai on the other side of the room.

"Team 7 and Team Gai giving our report on our mission, Hokage-sama." Sasuke said sounding like a soldier.

"Go ahead." Tsunade said with a nod.

"Before we arrived at Tsukiakari village we-"

"Kakashi-sensei, Is It True That You Are Dating Shizune?!" Lee asked with much vigor.

"Lee!" Tenten shouted the bowl cut haired name as she punched him upside the head.

Kakashi blinked with surprise, while Gai looked at him with major shock. Kakashi and Shizune had kept a secret relationship that started right after Naruto's funeral after Kakashi offered to walk her home. After walking her home, she invited him in and he accepted just in case she need comfort, and thanks to Kakashi, he provide a lot of needed comfort for Shizune. So let's just say that night for Kakashi was… nice~

"Yeah it's true." Jiraiya said.

"How do you know that?" Kakashi asked with a menacing glare.

"I have my ways." Jiraiya said with a grin as he giggled perversely, but that sadly ended up making Tsunade punch her lover straight into the wall.

"And how did you know Lee?" Kakashi asked calmly but was sending a bit of KI that freaked the young green clad shinobi out.

"Sakura-san said something about you giving Shizune hickeys when we crossed paths with her to get to here." Lee admitted.

"And where did you hear this from Sakura?" Kakashi asked still giving off a terrifying aura. Sakura just pointed to Tsunade which made Kakashi go wide eye as he stared at Tsunade who just smirked at him.

"She's like a daughter to me; I got to always look after her." Tsunade said with an innocent smile, but then she gave a serious and menacing look to the masked jounin. "But you better not get her pregnant." Tsunade said. "At least not yet anyway." Tsunade said with a smile and a pair of eye smiles.

'Note to self: Be even more wary of Tsunade-sama.' Kakashi thought with some sweat down his brow.

"Congradulations My Rival!" Gai shouted with a huge grin as he slammed his hand roughly on Kakashi's back and then wrapped his arm around his shoulder like he was his brother. "I wish you and Shizune much luck! I can see your future now; you both live happily and spawn a bright beautiful child and when he or she grows up and joins the academy, they will meet my own future child and they shall become eternal rivals like ourselves! And it won't stop there! After they have their own, those two shall become eternal rivals, and then so and so on; for every generation! It's so beautiful I could cry." And cry Gai did with joy and pride as he had stars in his teary eyes. Kakashi on the other hand had a frightened and worried look in his sole eye as he imagined the torture his child as so would have with the spawn of Gai's genes.

'Oh God, my poor descendants.' Kakashi thought with worry and fear. The Hatake curse has now begun.

"You may continue your report Sasuke." Tsunade said.

"Before you were rudely interrupted." Tenten said giving Lee an annoyed look making the bowl cut hair boy hang his head in shame.

"Before we arrived at our destination, we had encountered a group of cloaked shinobi who were headed to Tsukiakari as well. Once we arrived, we learned that the place was conquered and under the control of oto. With the assistance of the cloaked shinobi, we managed to rid the village of oto, but sadly the village was completely destroyed by explosives planted by a dangerous shinobi of oto who had reached the status as general named Dai." Sasuke explained.

"Dai? Dai Sukotto?" Jiraiya said with shock and worry.

(Dai Sukotto meaning Great Blood. He, he, pretty F $#ing awesome if I do say so myself. Althought admittingly it does sound like the name comes from royalty. Aw fuck it, I'm thinking too hard.)

"You know of him?" Kakashi asked.

"We both do." Tsunade said with a serious look on her face and worry in her eyes. "Dai is an incredibly dangerous shinobi with an unbelievably breathtaking talent for controlling Yoton. He was, or my like is, considered the most powerful shinobi to ever exist next to Madara Uchiha and my grandfather, he even earned himself the name the Yogan-shin"

"Is he really that dangerous?" Tenten asked with new fear of Dai.

"Completely." Sasuke said earning the others attention. "He had the ability to summon lava straight out of the ground without using any hand signs at all, he can walk through lava without being harmed by it at all, he's able to cover his body in magma like a second skin, and he can create a dragon complelty made of giant boiling magma with his own hands once they were covered in magma itself; it took me summoning so much energy from Tamashi to create an imperfect susanoo to protect myself and Sakura from it. I swore I felt like I was going to fall unconscious after protecting us from that one attack; it almost destroyed the susanoo's shield." Sasuke said earning shocked faces from Team Gai's, of course that includes Gai himself, and Kakashi's faces.

"So he's improved." Jiraiya said now with some worry.

"You've met him in person before?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah." Jiraiya said with a nod. "We faced off with him long before Orochimaru became a missing-nin… he almost killed the three of us. Tsunade saved us all by creating a rock slide that fell on the man right after she made a trap with stun gas pellets. We thought that was time we ever saw him, but apparently he survived, no doubt with the help from Orochimaru somehow." Jiraiya said with angry and worried eyes. Sakura's hands tightened into balled fists as she thought of only one thing.

'I have to get stronger. Dai, I swear, I will defeat you.' Sakura swore to herself with much determination.

"So what happened to the villagers?" Gai asked.

"Sakura, Tenten and I rounded them all together and brought them to the outskirts of the village, far away from the village. The chief of the village was dead, but his three children, Akihiko, Aiko and Akiko had survived; the new chief of the soon to be restored is the second born and eldest daughter of the previous chief, Aiko." Sasuke answered.

"And what of these cloak shinobi? Do you know anything about who they were?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes." Sasuke nodded. "Their names were Tetsuo, Hana, Kaya, Aika and Hashi, but I think those were all codenames. Even though thay had helped us with the mission, they had planted Konoha hitai-ate at the destroyed oto bases to put the blame on us." Team Gai was shocked to hear this.

"Why?" Gai asked.

"Hashi, one of the cloaked shinobi said that it was because it was the most logical thing to do to keep their group a secret since both our villages are already in a fued." Sakura said.

"Still doesn't make it right." Sasuke said.

"Do you know anything else about these mysterious characters?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes. Whoever they are, they wore the same cloaks that my brother and that fish faced swordsman Kisame had on when they went after Naruto." Sasuke answered. Jiraiya and Tsunade narrowed their eyes a bit, which didn't go unnoticed to Sasuke.

"Anything else to report?" Tsunade asked. Sasuke didn't know how to tell Tsunade about two important things that they had learned on the mission that would no doubt send her in a fit of extreme rage. Sasuke then felt a hand on his shoulder as he turned to see it was Sakura.

"I'll tell her." Sakura said earning a nod from Sasuke. "Shishou." Sakura addressed her mentor as she looked at her with fear of telling her, but had much courage and determination to tell her what she deserved to know. "We learned two important things regarding the Senju family." Sakura said making everyone, but Sasuke's eyes widen with surprise.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked eagered to know. Sakura took a deep breath before she finally answered.

"Dai is the one who led to the tragedy of what had happened on Team 7's mission to the mountain volcano. He planted explosive inside causing the volcano to erupt leading to… well… you know." Sakura said as she looked to the ground, not having the strength to look her sensei in the eyes anymore. Team Gai, Kakashi and Jiraiya had shocked looks on their faces. All eyes were on Tsunade, wondering what she would do now, most likely go on a rampage. Tsunade's eyes were surrounded by shadows as she tightened her hands once hearing the news of the monster that almost killed her and her old team was the reason her only grandson was gone.

"What's the other information?" Tsunade asked trying her best to hold in her anger.

"It's about those mysterious shinobi that infiltrated the village and attack Sasuke, Hinata and I; apparently they are created from Senju DNA." Sakura said shocking everyone again.

"Which explains how they are able to use wood style." Sasuke added.

"But how?" Gai asked. Jiraiya and Tsunade wanted to know the answer more than anyone. Sakura took another deep breath as she was gathering up all the strength she could muster to tell them the truth.

"Akane… she's still alive and being used by Orochimaru to create these 'things'." Sakura admitted. Team Gai had confused looks on their faces wondering who Akane was, but Kakashi, Tsunade and Jiraiya were frozen with shock and to Team Gai that had to mean something big.

"W-wait... so there's another Senju? Who is this Akane?" Neji asked.

"Minato and Kushina's daughter and Naruto's twin sister." Kakashi answered as he started feeling immense hatred for Orochimaru and all of oto. Team Gai's eyes widened with shock at this new piece of news.

'Naruto had a twin sister?!' Tenten thought with shock.

'Orochimaru, how low can you go.' Gai thought.

'That monster will pay for bringing great harm to Konoha and Naruto's family.' Neji thought with new anger towards the pail snake sage.

'Naruto has a sister? She must be beautiful! Naruto I swear to you that I will find Akane and will take care of her and treat her like a princess' Lee thought.

(Oh Lee… what are we gonna do with you…)

"You may go now." Tsunade ordered. The five genin nodded understandingly as they all turned and left out the door. "That goes for you two as well." Tsunade said to Gai and Kakashi. The two nodded understandingly as they shushined away. Tsunade stood up from her seat and grabbed her desk and with great strength, threw it right out the window as she screamed with anger. Jiraiya just looked at her with an understanding serious look on his face with concerned and saddened eyes. Tsunade stood there in place in front of the hole, trembling with anger as tears started forming in her eyes. Tsunade almost fell to her knees with woe, but Jiraiya was there to grab her before she fell and he proceeded to hold her in a warm and comforting embrace as she started crying on his shoulder. Jiraiya held her close, letting her release all the sadness in her heart.

"We'll get her back." Jiraiya said as he continued to embrace her. "I promise."

With Sasuke, Sakura and Team Gai

The five genin exited out the building, they heard the desk thrown out of the building, and felt remorse for the Hokage; Orochimaru had officially became like a disease to the Senju clan, and they swore that one day, he was going to get what's coming to him.

"Guys, I know it hasn't been easy lately, but we have to stay strong for not just ourselves, but the Hokage, Konoha and Naruto." Sakura said.

"Sakura-san is right! We must hold our heads up high for our comrades, alive or deceased!" Lee exclaimed pumping his fist.

"Agreed." Sasuke and Neji said at the same time.

"That right now was just creepy." Tenten said with a comical anime style creeped out look on her face.

"Hey, you guys came back." The five looked to see it was Shikamaru and the rest of team 10 and team 8.

"See, I told you." Ino said.

"Right, right, you were right… troublesome."

"What Was That?!" Ino yelled at her lazy teammate.

"It's good to s-see you five agai-ain." Hinata said.

"Hinata!" Sakura exclaimed her friends name as she ran up to her and gave her a big hug which Hinata gladly returned.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Ino said with a pout at the fact that Sakura gave Hinata a hug and not her.

"It's good to see you too Ino." Sakura said hugging the platinum blonde next. "When you're not insulting me pig." Sakura said with a smirk as the two sperated.

"Don't start billboard brow." Ino said returning the smirk.

"Damn, I was hoping for a cat fight." Kiba said with a cocky smirk, but he was suddenly hit in the head with Tamashi's scabbard with the katana still inside making the blunt attack that more painful. "Ow! Goddammit that hurt asshole!" Kiba cursed at the Uchiha.

"Thank you Sasuke-san." Shino thanked the Uchiha while Kiba glared at him.

"My pleasure." Sasuke said as Kiba now directed his glare at him. Ignoring the Inuzuka, Sasuke turned and smile towards Hinata. "It's good to see you again, Hinata." Sasuke said still smiling at her.

"Same to you, Sasuke-kun." Hinata said with a small smile and bow.

"You don't have to bow to me; we're friends, so there is no need." Sasuke said still smiling as Hinata receded from her bowing position. The two smiled at each other looking into the other's eyes and having tints of pink on their cheeks.

"Aw~ They look so cute together." Tenten whispered to Neji with a smile on her face.

"Please don't ever say that to me again." Neji said with a dull look on his face. "Well… at least not yet."

"So since you guys are back, how about we all go to the Korean BBQ." Ino suggested.

"Best Idea I Heard All Day!" Choji shouted with joy. "Especially since I just finished my chips."

"Let's go then!" Ino shouted as they all started heading out. Sakura then looked looked up at the sky with a smile on her face as she started remembering Naruto and the fact that he was alive. 'Naruto, I'm so happy that you're still alive and when you finally come back, we are finally going on that first date.' Sakura thought as she started seeing an image of Naruto's face in the sky.

"S-Sakura-san, i-is something wr-rong?" Hinata asked as she noticed the pinkette stopped moving.

"Huh? Oh sorry Hinata, I didn't realize that I stopped moving." Sakura said as she jogged right next to Hinata and started walking by her side as the two shared a smile. The two had become really close friends over time, and their bod was just getting stronger.

With Naruto and Obito

"I said no." Obito said with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. Naruto had just had surgery and now had the sharingan, but they weren't just any sharingan, they were the long lost sharingan of the infamous Madara Uchiha. (Idea created by OregonDucks, thanks for the idea dude; you F #$ing rule!) The young blonde now had bandages wrapped around his new eyes to protect them from the harm of the light while his new eyes were trying to adjust to the new change.

"But Why?! We Know Where She Is And-"

"I Said No!" Obito yelled silencing Naruto. "We tried infiltrating Orochimaru's lair before, but our operatives had lost their lives. We don't know how this is possible, but we know that it's considered suicide to go in."

"Then send me in; I'll take care of everything." Naruto said.

"No Naruto." Obito said.

"But she's my sister, so this is my family business!" Naruto argued.

"And I am your superior and as long as you are apart of Akatsuki, then what I say, you follow!" Obito retorted making Naruto seeth with anger. "Don't think that just because I am your mentor that I will not send your ass straight out of the organization for disobeying orders." Obito said. Naruto just stood silent, but he was looking down with a mad look on his face making Obito sigh. "I promise you that one day we will save Akane, but rushing into a situation such as this isn't going to help, trust me." Obito said. Naruto still sat in his bed with silence. "I swore upon the Akatsuki, your parents, Rin and myself that I would look after you and I am not going to go back on the promises I made." Obito said as he headed for the door. "Get some rest." Obito said as he then left the room and closed the door leaving Naruto by himself on his bed with Mamoru there on the bedside. Mamoru just looked up at his bed friend with concerned eyes before jumping onto the bed and walking towards the blonde's side. Mamoru then started rubing himself up against Naruto, giving him comfort, making the blonde smile as he then started petting his partner.

"I'm sorry about all this Naruto." Mamoru said.

"Don't be, it's not over." Naruto said with a serious look on his face.

"What do you mean?" Mamoru asked looking at his friend with confusion.

"I finally know where my sister is and I am not going to rest until I get her away from that monster and no one, not even Obito and the entire Akatsuki is going to stop me." Naruto said shocking Mamoru.

"Naruto, are you even listening to yourself?" Mamoru said with shock.

"Well I've got ears, don't I?" Naruto said with a smirk.

"Stop being a smartass!" Mamoru yelled at a now frowning Naruto. "Naruto, you dedicated your life to the Akatsuki, they raised you to be who you are!"

"Exactly." Naruto said surprising Mamoru. "Akatsuki stands for peace and equality for all living beings. My sister is a slave to a monster in a pail man's skin. Everyone in this world deserves to see the new dawn… and I can't think of anyone right now who deserves to see it more than my sister." Naruto said with much seriousness in his voice. Mamoru looked at Naruto with nothing else to say. Minato and Kushina knew that Obito was right, but they couldn't help but support their son, after all, Akane is their daughter and they feel the same way as Naruto. "I'm going to save her." Naruto said tightening his fist. Mamoru then had a serious look on his face.

"Okay, I'm in." Mamoru said.

"No." Naruto said. "Mamoru, I need you to stay here and keep them busy while I'm gone and keep me updated through our mental link; I'll be counting on you buddy." Naruto said as he rubbed Mamoru's head.

"Okay, but you're not going now are you?" Mamoru asked hoping he'd say no.

"Of course not." Naruto said making Mamoru sigh with relief. "I'm going to wait until these bandages come off and then, I'm going to save my sister; Lone Wolf Style." Naruto said as his eyes glowed red behind the bandages.

End of chapter 4

Took a long time for the update, my apologies, just busy with the other stories I'm writing, plus life can be a time consuming bitch.

Anyway, I really liked this chapter, because of Haku and Ranmaru; they completely understood each other and writing the new relationship I planned for them was so sweet that it brought a tear to my eye. I also liked giving Dai more of a bigger role in the story, and truth be told he kinda freaks me out even thought I created him. So anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and that it filled that desire of NaruSaku moments you guys have been wanting. Anyway, next chapter we're going to meet Akane, and I bet a lot of you have been dying to see her… well sort of since you're actually reading it, but you got your imagination, so it doesn't matter. Well time to go, so without further ado I leave you with this; thanks for reading and all that #$*.

Takeshi1225 out.