a/n: Chapter six... this should be interesting!! XP

Disclaimer: It is official; Sasuke and I are married with his first child on the way; Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto-sensei, and it can stay that way; Naruto is god-honestly not my type! XP

Chapter 6

Ain't war grand? The cloaked man's true identity

CLANG, SPARK, SLASH! The sound of shinobi weapons clashing it out echoed off of the canyons walls, disturbing what peace that had been left; though there couldn't have been much in the first place, seeing as all hell had broken loose within the past few seconds.

Flashback

Sakura had just been assigned her position as lead of attack squad one, which consisted of herself, Naruto, Sasuke and his Team, Kakashi-sensei and many sound and leaf shinobi of all rank. They had been flanked by the Kazekage himself, who was to use his ultimate sand jutsu as a powerful defensive mechanism, a means to protect the ones leading the gathered ninja to war; what was the point of starting up another war, no sooner had the previous one been dealt with?

That was the mystery that had no solution, just the problem itself that needed to be handled immediately, if the chances of success were to be ensured. So here they were, standing in formal rows of ten, awaiting the signal from Tsunade-sama herself; she had summoned Jiraiya immediately, but he was seemingly showing signs of tardiness from Sakura's perspective.

But her shishou had doubted this, and said that in situations of dire consequence, Jiraiya was always the first on the scene, and would push himself well over his limits to arrive before anything catastrophic occurred; Sakura had a hard time not believing her master's words, so she herself placed her faith and hope in the perverted toad sage, one of the three Legendary Sannin.

Orochimaru had been no where to be seen; rumours said that the last member of the Uchiha Clan had obliterated him, but other's say that the snake Sannin was Sasuke himself; that he had already won control and successfully obtained his vessel. Sakura turned her head to see Sasuke staring indifferently into the distance, the red head slut with the glasses whining in his ear. No, that was definitely Sasuke, hands down.

Smirking to herself, Sakura turned and looked ahead to where the figures of many shinobi were appearing, from over the humungous crater that had been formed after Sakura's leg had collided with the earth about an hour before. With one last anxious glance at her shishou, who was also looking at her intensely, the order was given, and squad one took off to meet their foes head on.

End of flashback

Sakura let her chakra fuelled fist collide with one of the shinobi's faces, sending him flying into the oncoming three behind him; she had to admit, the ninja of the Land of Howling Confusion were quite skilled, and extremely troublesome. No matter how many times you put them down, they always came back for more; the only solace you could take in this was the fact that once your opponent was dead, you didn't have to worry about them anymore.

Moving agilely so that she was now positioned alongside Team Taka, Sakura finally revealed her true colours; moving with such speed it had the enemies eyes rolling, she appeared in front of a ninja that had been a particular nuisance to take down (half of squad one were working in him alone), raising her knee as she did so.

A loud 'CRACK!' signalled the breaking of the majority of his ribs, and whilst he coughed up a mouthful of blood, Sakura finished him off; the power she had focused into her right knee was strong enough to send the man flying upwards in the air, so all Sakura had to do was simply jump in the air, and deliver a devastating spin-kick to his gut.

The minute her left leg made contact with the Wolfsbane ninja, it was already over for him; Sakura's kick sent him flying into the cliff face opposite, the man tearing through it, leaving the mountainside split in two halves; the top half remained in the air for a single nanosecond before both the top and bottom section exploded into pieces of heavy rubble and boulders.

Sakura acted as quickly as she could from there on; moving from opponent to opponent, aiding all those who needed it. Just seconds after had taken care of a large group of enemy shinobi, a thunderous roar was heard, and Sakura needn't turn to know what it was; well, more accurately, who it was. Naruto...

Spinning on her heel, Sakura took off in the opposite direction, towards the anguished cry of the nine-tailed bijūu, whom was gaining control over Naruto's body; the explosion of bubbly red chakra killed many ninja, luckily the enemy, completely obliterating the barren landscape they fought amongst.

"Raaarrrrgggghhhhgggkk!" A strangled cry escaped Naruto's throat, just as his skin began to peel away, revealing the muscle tendons underneath it, his fangs extending lethally, his once prominent, thick whiskers long gone with the skin that Naruto no longer had on his face.

Where three tails of concentrated red chakra had sprouted, a fourth formed, the chakra itself so powerful that it ripped whatever trees there had been left out of the ground from the very roots, the tree disintegrating into nothing but ashes that spread themselves over the wind.

Shit! Sakura cussed mentally as she sprinted towards the area Naruto was currently inhabiting with his very presence, hoping she would make it in time; she didn't.

One last scream of agony was heard from Naruto before the bijūu took complete control of his body; the explosion that shook the area for thousands of miles was disastrous; the chakra that surrounded Naruto had condensed into a large ball of scarlet, and when it broke apart, the chakra exploded upwards, a black and crimson red twister touching the clouds and beyond, turning the sky an ominous vermillion.

What was revealed to everyone was a miniature nine-tailed fox, with pit-less, glowing white orbs, crimson-black in colouration; when it opened it's mouth to roar, all you saw was shiny white in it's depths, it's fangs sharp and deadly.

The four-tailed fox crouched low, ready for attack, reminding Sakura of her earlier encounter with this particular creature; the day Naruto lost all control on Tenchi Bridge and fought with Orochimaru in this exact form; the form that almost unintentionally killed her. The memory made Sakura shudder, a familiar ache running through her left arm; the place where this monster had wounded her those years before.

Fuck! What do I do now?! Sakura cursed silently, a headache setting in from all of the ruckus around her. Almost instantly her rhetorical question was answered as if she had spoken it aloud; and indeed she had.

"Simple; we fight until we win." Sakura turned her head to be faced with none other than Sasuke, whom looked entirely serious with what he had just said. Looking at herself, before back at him, Sakura realised with sudden clarity that while she was dirty, sweaty, and ordained with cuts and bruises, Sasuke remained untouched, looking as healthy and fit as he had before all of this had happened.

Damn him and his perfection! Suddenly feeling a hot surge of anger, Sakura barked angrily, "Why the hell should I work with you?! He's your responsibility now, right?! Why the fuck are you asking me to assist you in something that you can do in your sleep?! Besides, in the end, your pride and ego wouldn't hold out; you would never accept anyone's help, let alone mine, the annoying little bitch of your past! So just back the fuck off; I'll handle this myself, Uchiha!"

And with that, Sakura stormed off towards the four-tailed mini beast, not noticing the smirk that graced the Uchiha's smooth, bloodied lips.

Gaara fought diligently, crushing every and all enemies that dared approach him; what distracted the Kazekage was the thunderous roar of none other than Naruto; Gaara didn't even have to see it happening to just know it was him. After all, he was a Jinchūriki himself, and what informed him of this was his instinct, his bijūu.

'Heheheh! It seems our friend the nine-tails has lost control...' Shukaku, the one-tailed beast sealed inside of Gaara commented dryly, his excitement plain as day. 'Hm, maybe we should join him eh, Gaara? Why not play 'possum' for a while? I can handle this myself.'

'That will not happen, Shukaku, and you know it. I will not knowingly put my friends and allies at risk because you want to 'play' for a while. So stay back there, be quiet, and helpfully lend me your chakra so that at some other day and time, you can come out for a bit of a stretch.' Gaara remarked sarcastically, earning a disgruntled grunt from Shukaku. 'Aww, Gaara, you are so cruel to me; you should learn to be more gracious and appreciative of what I give you; my chakra.'

'Yes, but you should also learn more manners, be more courteous; after all, my body is your vessel, and I keep you restrained. Pay better mind of that next time.'

And with that, Gaara blocked out the sound of Shukaku's incessant whining, and focused on the battle ahead, raising his arms above his head, whilst watching the many enemy ninja that were ensnared in his inescapable sand trap squirm and scream in anger and surprise.

'Sabakukyû; The coffin of crushing sand!' The sand had instantly tightened its' grip on the one's that were caught up in it, and as Gaara looked at them one last time, he said the next words out loud, venom dripping from his voice.

"Sabakusôsô; IMPLODING SAND FUNERAL!" The splatters of blood never came within a metre of Gaara, never touched his gaunt white skin; his ultimate defence shielded him, now and always.

"Oomph!" Sai grunted in pain as he was thrown backwards by an extremely formidable foe; it was hard to believe that someone that fat could actually deter him. But he would persevere; there were matters far more important that he had to attend to, like the transformation of Naruto. It was hard to believe that he would so easily, so willingly succumb to the power that the bijūu imposed upon him, thrust into him, his entire system drowning from the power surge.

Ducking another well aimed blow, Sai decided to play for real now; pulling out his small katana blade from the sheath behind his right shoulder, Sai professionally flicked his wrist upwards, spinning down so that he was resting in a half-splits motion, piercing the flesh of the man whom was towering over him thanks to Sai's digression.

Blood flowed from the vital spot that Sai had hit in the man's stomach, splattering droplets onto Sai's face and clothing, dripping slowly down his wrist and forearm; from there, Sai sprung upwards, slicing the man's stomach open, ripping the flesh apart, causing all of the man's insides to come spilling out onto the ground, intestines, liver, you name it.

"Gaaaaackk!" The overweight man coughed up what remained of his blood, before stumbling backwards, his pupils dilated, eyes glazed over to a sombre grey; Sai yanked out his blade stealthily, using his feet and pushing off of the blimp of a shinobi, performing a backflip midair and landing on all fours, his sandals dragging against the craggy surface of the broken earth.

Sheathing his blade, Sai took one last look at his very dead opponent, before turning on his heel and sauntering casually in the direction of the immense chakra coming straight from the four-tailed mini beast ahead.

Kakashi had taken care of more than half of the enemy shinobi by himself, seeing as so many of the comrades he had been assigned with were either critically injured, or worse off, dead.

Guy fought alongside Kakashi, whom had long forgotten about the bet he had made with Kakashi; whoever got the higher amount of kills was to be dubbed the official winner of all of their silly challenges (all on Guy's part; Kakashi had no idea why he even went along with them in the first place), and would be carried around on the back of the loser five thousand times around the village.

Neither of them were focusing on anything but slaughtering the enemy in cold blood, and moving on; they couldn't and wouldn't allow the Wolfsbane ninja of the Land of Howling Confusion to break through their defences and overtake both this battle and their village.

It was something they refused to accept, and would uptake any challenge proposed to them; they would indeed fight to kill, or be killed themselves'.

One thing was for sure; neither would give up for the sake of their village, their loved ones, and most of all, for the future generations to come.

Yamato ran through the treetops, towards the direction of the battle, alongside two of the Legendary Sannin; one of them was expected, the other was not.

In fact, he was considered the enemy, a wanted S-rank criminal, but none cared for that fact as of the moment; all that mattered was that he was willing to help out; under the condition/pretence that something that once belonged to him would be returned without question, to which they had reluctantly agreed.

They could always kill him and keep him from causing anymore harm in the near future, but that would have to come later.

For now, all they had to focus on was the victory of the 5th Great Ninja War, which was sure to go down in the history of all battles for future generations to read and learn from the set examples, the hidden, deeper meaning remaining intact; 'Love breeds hate, and hate breeds war. That is why we shinobi do not have the luxury of emotion; that is the true way of the ninja.'

"Grrrwwwwl!" The four-tails snarled viciously, all the while blocking out the screams of protest coming from Naruto, whom was locked away inside himself. 'Let me outta here, you fucking monster! Don't you dare hurt my friends! Kyūubi!'

'Heheh! Shut it, blondy! I'm in control now!' Kyūubi remarked victoriously, before throwing Naruto against the steel bars of his cage inside of Naruto's self-conscious, rendering him unconscious. As everything went black, and all potential control was destroyed, Naruto muttered silently, barely above a whisper, "He...lp... me... Sasuke.... Saku...ra...-chan..."

The darkness consumed Naruto into an ephemeral dream, where everything was right and well in the world, and by his side stood Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura, all smiling as they used to; this dream was the desired embodiment of his imagination. This was the dream where nothing had changed, when they were all still just 'Team Kakashi.'

Where they were still inseparable, their bonds secure and insuperable; where they were still important to one another.

Sakura slammed her fist into the ground, causing another devastating earthquake to erupt, sending many enemy shinobi to meet their maker, in hell.

So far her attempts to reach Naruto were proving useless, futile; no matter just how many ninja she took down, they seemed to replenish just as quickly as they had been disposed of. And quite frankly, Sakura was sick and tired of this never-ending game of cat and mouse; they reminded Sakura of Naruto's 'Kage bunshin no jutsu; multi shadow clone jutsu.'

No matter how large the numbers' and how easily they were taken down, more would soon come and take place amongst the ranks. It was slightly irritating, but the memory itself made Sakura feel at ease, like she was capable of anything in the world.

But her attitude remained the same; she was not assisting Naruto because she cared for his well-being, but was doing it for everyone else's sakes, as well as for her own benefit; she couldn't have a renegade mini destructive machine moving around and annihilating everything within plain sight.

No, that just wouldn't do. And so gathering her wits, Sakura summoned up a massive amount of chakra, making several unrecognisable handsigns; her very special jutsu, that no one had ever witnessed. Although she had many various signature ninjutsu that she could use to attack with, Sakura felt that this one was fitting; after all, it tested her limits as a medic-nin.

Combining her medical ninjutsu with her lightning elemental chakra nature (a/n: Sakura has water element and lightning chakra natures in this story), she formed a thin, glowing, hot pink cloak of chakra that stuck to her skin, before slowly stepping forward, resting her full weight on her right foot; and with that, she spun around, kicking her left leg skywards, her spinning increasing in speed, as well as the thickness of the pink wall of condensed chakra.

Soon there was a tornado of swirling chakra that sent off sparks and bolts of the unique lightning flying in every direction. As the chakra tornado picked up speed, so did the surrounding winds, lifting those incapable of standing their ground away into the far-off distance, surely killing them on impact.

Finally prepared to let her jutsu do it's damage, Sakura changed her stance to completely still, so that only the tornado of chakra was spinning, and made one last hand seal, before calling out,

"Shoshuryuū; Sakura no Mai!"

(a/n: "Rising twin dragons; Dance of the Cherry Blossom!")

That's when it happened; the thick chakra tornado split in two, forming two distinctive dragons that were rocketing upwards, weaving in and out of each other like a DNA sample.

Whilst this was happening, bolts of hot pink lightning came from the sky, smiting many of the transfixed ninja where they stood; Sakura had become calm, relaxed, as she focused on her second attack whilst she waited for the first part of the jutsu to complete itself; the genjutsu.

She needed the enemy to remain immobile in order for this to work, so she made the signs of the boar, rabbit, snake, horse, tiger and finally bird, before initiating phase two.

Sakura petals sprouted suddenly from many trees that had not been there before, and that surprised the Wolfsbane ninja considerably; cherry blossoms weren't supposed to bloom for many months yet; it was the middle of autumn in the Land of Howling Confusion. So then why...?

A wind picked up, slowly at first, plucking each flower from the tree and separating the petals so that they were singular, before the air became suffocatingly dry, the winds picking up to dangerous speeds, spinning the petals in tornado form around the ninja, the scent overpowering, unfamiliar to a normal cherry blossom; it smelt so much better, the perfume of it was tantalising.

Again, the winds slowed, the scent becoming more prominent, keeping the men stuck in their places, the vines that had pushed through the dry earth left unnoticed, even as they climbed up the men's bodies; they finally caught on when it was too little too late. They were now ensnared in an inescapable embrace, that same delicious smell smothering the shinobi, keeping them still, calm; all the more advantageous for Sakura and her jutsu, which was almost upon them.

Not that they knew; they were still trapped in her powerful genjutsu, drooling like the true idiots they were. The scent that they were currently inhaling was a creation of Sakura's; a mix of special pollen found in a particular flower at a certain time of year, and a toxin that was able to desensitise the majority of the senses, the one's that were necessary to avoid getting caught in the genjutsu; taste, touch, sound, and sight.

Smell was vital for the genjutsu to be a success, and since all of the ninja gathered had a dazed look to them, Sakura could tell her trap was an immediate accomplishment. Now for the medical ninjutsu; the twin dragons came down, spinning in and out of one another extremely quickly, and the minute they collided with the earth, Sakura knew she had prevailed.

The dragons exploded into millions of thick streams of hot pink chakra, which then pivoted in all directions, hitting the defenceless Wolfsbane ninja without mercy; the lightning itself did not do the damage. It was the medical ninjutsu that had been combined with the lightning that finished the men off; this particular jutsu was used to take down many opponents at once, by completely tearing apart their inner keirakukei, as well as their vital organs; no exterior damage can be seen by anyone who either wasn't a medic-nin, or didn't have a doujutsu.

And when the jutsu 'tears apart' their inner functions, it literally 'tears apart' their inner functions; unlike the byakugan and gentle fist style, which can pinpoint and close off chakra points, Sakura's jutsu completely severs the keirakukei, the very thin threads themselves, ultimately killing the ninja faster than it would through close combat medical ninjutsu where you hit all the vital organs; you would die a much more painful, slow death that way.

This way was quicker, and prevented suffering; and since they were trapped within the confines of her genjutsu, they would not realise that they were dead, nor would they feel any pain; that was Sakura's only form of mercy for them, and as she let the genjutsu slip away, and watched as their bodies crumpled to the ground, all tears she would have previously shed for killing someone, let alone a whole group, froze forever in her heart; Sakura had finally grasped the true meaning of war, and was now propelling herself through the air, over the masses of dead shinobi, allies and the like, towards her next destination; Naruto.

The determination that filled Sakura's eyes was all that the enemy saw coming before they were slain on the spot.

Everything by Lifehouse

(a/n: the words that are in bold italic are parts of the lyrics from this song. Disclaimer: All rights to this song are credited to the writers/performers Lifehouse. I am just using it!)

(*NOTE: There were many variations for the lyrics of this song, and I am using the incorrect version, only because it relates to the meaning I am trying to get across; The words in the brackets are the REAL lyrics to the start of the song!)

'W-where... where am I...? W-who... who am I...?'

Find me here

Speak to me

(*Finally here, won't stay too late)
I want to feel you
I need to hear you

The blackness that shrouded the number one hyperactive knuckleheaded ninja was thick, too thick for him to even cut if he had the strength to lift his arm, but alas he did not. No light could ever possibly penetrate this darkness; the only light at the end of the tunnel was the path to heaven.

You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again

Or so Naruto thought. His true light, the one he wished to see at the end of this dismal pool of obsidian, was that of his loved ones; the whole village yes, but three in particular. Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei and... Sakura-chan...

You are the strength that keeps me walking
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting
You are the light to my soul
You are my purpose...you're everything

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, and you give me rest
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall
You steal my heart, and you take my breath away
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now?

Their faces instantly sprung to mind, but they were soon dismissed, as Naruto slowly began to forget everything; even his own name, his purpose in life, everything.

Cause you're all I want, You're all I need
You're everything, everything
You're all I want your all I need
You're everything, everything
You're all I want you're all I need
You're everything, everything
You're all I want you're all I need, you're everything, everything

As the darkness consumed him, so did the never-ending fight to keep his memories, even as he passed out, curled up once again in foetal position, did he fight for everything that he held dear to him, everything that he kept close to his heart. Everything.

Cause you're all I want, You're all I need
You're everything, everything

You're all I want your all I need
You're everything, everything

It seems you've grown up... it's about time... Sakura... Sasuke thought with a smirk as the wind lifted his hair so that it flowed steadily with the currents, blowing it so that it swayed softly around him; as he slaughtered yet another group of the mercenary shinobi, he couldn't help but feel a sudden surge of pride.

A surge of pride for the fact that Sakura was at one stage his teammate, a surge of pride for the fact that she only had eyes for him, now and forever, even if she herself didn't realise it; her brandished attitude said enough as it was. He couldn't help the smile that graced his lips as he watched her take down the group of shinobi she was fighting without shedding a single tear as she normally would have.

Yes... you really have grown up since then... Sakura...

Tsunade had just shattered another pesky shinobi's bones when a sudden flash of movement caught her eye; turning so that she was now facing the trio that stood before her, she couldn't help but feel slightly taken aback. What is he doing here?!

"Tsunade. I came as quickly as I could; as you can see, to make up for my tardiness, I have brought the means to the end of this battle." Jiraiya gestured to the man standing alongside him, who simply smiled maliciously, a glint of something unrecognisable in his eyes.

Tsunade shuddered, before snapping down to the ground, resting all of her weight on her left leg as she brought her right up into the air, making direct contact with a Wolfsbane ninja's chin; the loud shattering noise informed her that she had just broken the shinobi's jaw and neck, killing him instantly.

Springing upright again, Tsunade held her hand out to the powerful ninja in question, looking at him with solid determination, akin to the light that had shone previously in her student's eyes. "Welcome to the 5th Great Shinobi War; let's work hard together so that we may prevail."

The ninja chuckled darkly, the obscured, snaky tone to it unmistakable, extending his cold hand to clasp Tsunade's in a brief handshake, before replying sinisterly, "Yesss, indeed I ssshall. Heheheh... Tsunade. Thisss should be extremely entertaining. Heheheheheheheh! Let usss go to war."

Eurrgh! I'll never get used to Orochimaru's twisted persona... Tsunade thought in disgust, before the three Legendary Sannin stood up together, reunited and ready to fight as one once more.

"Aaaaaiiie!" Ino screamed as she was thrown head on with Shikamaru, who was quick on the uptake; skidding heavily on the barren, cragged earth, Shikamaru managed to stop Ino from colliding with the mountainside that was intended for her, pulling her upright, supporting most of her weight until she calmed down. "Ino! Are you alright?! Are you hurt anywhere?!"

But before an answer could be issued, Ino pointed behind Shikamaru and squealed, "Shika! Behind you!" Acting fast, Shikamaru pulled out a kunai that had a paper bomb tagged in the finger-hole and threw it towards the raging ninja, stabbing him in the abdomen; before anyone realised it, the tag had exploded, taking with it the mercenary.

With a sigh of relief, Shikamaru and Ino headed off to find Choji, whom was at this very minute fighting off a horde of hungry ninja hounds.

The cloaked man watched as the proceedings unfurled; so far things were not going to plan.

He had not expected an alliance with the Sand ninja, so there were that many more to contend with; then there were the three Legendary Sannin, whom were at this minute taking down hundreds of his forces without breaking a single sweat.

He noted that the Godaime of Sunagakure, the 5th Kazekage, was also making an appearance, completely obliterating his army with his sand, something that fascinated the cloaked figure; never had he seen a jutsu along the lines of this.

What really made the cloaked master extremely edgy, uncomfortable, even slightly worried, was the fact that the nine-tailed fox had just transformed into four tails mode; if it managed to make nine, then everything would fall apart; he would ultimately lose this battle.

And that was unacceptable; it looked like he himself would have to get involved with the fight personally.

So with that, the cloaked figure removed himself from hiding, and took off towards where his obedient soldiers fought for his sake, for his one true 'love'; Sakura Haruno.

Sakura had made it to the clearing where the four-tailed beast now resided; after all of the slaughter she had had to perform in order to get to this stage, she had finally made it. She noticed that Sai was also in the clearing, and when he noticed her presence, he simply smiled and moved so that he was standing by her side, prepared to fight with her to help his friend break free from the fox's confines, from his control.

Sakura smiled back at him, albeit rather uncomfortably, as if the situation they were in wasn't the appropriate time to be smiling (it truly wasn't) at one another, before diverting her attention back to the demon in front of them.

It had indeed noted their presence, and was not happy.

'Damn those pesky runts!' Naruto hearing this turned to the side, only to see through the Kyūubi's eyes the forms of Sai and Sakura, who looked back at the beast with profound determination; they were here to save Naruto form his prison inside the monster itself.

Sakura-chan... Sai... you came... where's... teme...? Onegai... get me outta... here... Naruto passed out for the last time, this time with a soft smile plastered to his lips, a single tear streaking from the corner of his eye, landing in the pool of obsidian that surrounded him, shattering the surface in which it fell upon, and in that very spot, a glimmer of white light could be seen beaming its' way into Naruto's heart.

Kakashi and Guy hurtled towards the clearing where Sakura and Sai had gathered in alone, concerned that they would get seriously injured if they fought just the two of them against that beast.

Along the way, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Hinata, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kurenai and Asuma caught up with them, and together they moved towards the pair of fearless shinobi who had singled out the guts to face the four-tailed Kyūubi, which was now roaring and bounding towards them.

Just as the mini beast was about to make contact with Sai and Sakura, a figure appeared in front of the beast, eyes closed, body relaxed.

With one last roar, the beast sprung upwards, intending to fall upon the figure that had blocked his attack, but before the creature even hit the ground, the man opened his eyes, and there began the true battle.

Sakura let out a gasp as the figure turned out to be none other than Sasuke himself; not only had he come, but he had defended them both from the impending attack from the four-tails. But why—?

"You. Your name's Sai, right? Get Sakura out of here and to somewhere safe; this is way out of her capabilities to handle. Now go!" Sasuke muttered dangerously as the four-tails writhed in agony on the ground at his feet.

Sakura took it as an insult to all of her training, and so without her consent, she snapped viciously at the glowering Uchiha in front of her, "How fucking dare you?! Are you saying I'm not capable of this fight?! Is that what you are oh so high and mighty about?! 'Cause if it is, then you are so fucking—"

"Shut the fuck up! You really are an annoying little bitch; just like always!" Sasuke hollered angrily, just as Kakashi's feet hit the ground across from them, hearing every word. "Sasuke, you fucking—"

"Enough. Alright, Sasuke-kun; I'll do as you say." Sai replied in the friendliest manner he could muster, before grabbing the outraged Sakura around the waist and hauling her upwards; not that it did any good. Sakura just ended up hitting him in frustration.

"Sai, you can be such a dick sometimes!" Turning on her heel, she stormed angrily towards the Uchiha, whose back was turned from her; it wouldn't be for long. "Sasuke, you spineless—"

"You just don't get it do you?!" Sasuke growled through clenched teeth, confusing Sakura ever so slightly. "What do you mean—?"

"Argh! For the love of—I refuse to see you get hurt over this; I know you are stronger, and I can safely acknowledge and praise that. But this fight is too much for you alone to handle; I was born with the ability to restrain the Kyūubi inside of Naruto, and that is what I shall do; restrain this monster and bring Naruto back. You will only remain a hindrance if you stay here; I can't protect both you and everyone else gathered here." Sasuke shouted, stress seeping into his bones.

"You don't have to..." Sakura replied quietly, startling the Uchiha into a blissful silence, which in itself was the only quiet that any of the fighting shinobi would hear for a long while yet.

"Yes, I do; that is why I choose to do this alone. I refuse to take any chances, take a risk, in order to take down the monster in front of us; I refuse to let anyone get hurt over my decision, and I shall leave it at that. Now leave; I'll handle this."

As Sakura was about to reply, a hand clamped down on her shoulder, and turning her head, Sakura saw none other than Kakashi-sensei, who was smiling warmly down at her, his yes crinkled up in what appeared to be reassurance.

"Let's leave this to Sasuke to contend with Sakura; he can handle this without our aid. Besides, it's as he says; we'll only get in his way in the end. It's not because you aren't capable; it's just that because it is Naruto, we need to take every precaution in order to ensure his safety; one of those punches of yours, and not only would you be damning the Kyuubi, but also Naruto himself. You wouldn't want that resting on your shoulders, now would you, Sakura?"

With a reluctant shake of the head, Kakashi nodded towards Sasuke just as he was about to leave with Sakura, his right arm encircled around her shoulders, and said loudly enough for all to hear,

"You better keep your end of the bargain, Sasuke; we're watching you. Stop the Kyūubi and bring Naruto back safely to us, okay?"

"Hn."

Kakashi smirked at Sasuke's reply, reminiscing on all of the times that Sasuke had used that and 'Aa' as a way of expressing his confidence (in his abilities); yes, his way was a lot more subtle than that of Naruto's, which was usually screeched aloud over and over again; 'I'll kick your ass, and then become the Hokage, dattebayo!'

With one last chuckle, and a glance at Sasuke, Kakashi took off, with Sakura pressed to his side lovingly. "They'll be fine Sakura; there's no need to panic."

"Oh, I believe that she has all the reason in the world to panic; after all, the nine-tails Jinchūriki is not what I am after." A loud, sultry voice quipped, and Sakura immediately stiffened in Kakashi's half-armed embrace, Kakashi looking to her quizzically; what he saw made his blood run cold.

Sakura's eyes were bulging, and her grip on Kakashi almost had him doubling over in pain. Her skin was a gaunt, sickly white, and she was perspiring more than she ever had before; what really made Kakashi feel sick was the look of fearful fervour in her eyes, the way that her eyes struggled to push back the tears that had flooded to them.

From the looks of things, Sakura was terrified beyond belief of this man, whom had just stepped out of the shadows of the trees on the outskirts of the Land of Howling Confusion; the one place that Sakura's chakra fuelled kick seemed to have missed.

Kakashi took in his appearance, even though the man was still wearing his cloak, and found that he was indeed strikingly familiar, like he was someone Kakashi had once known; this was only proven when the man in question politely addressed him.

"My, my, you have grown into quite the young man, haven't you Kakashi? I haven't seen you since your late father introduced us; I believe it was at your mother's funeral...? No, it was at her memorial service, that's right! You never met your mother; after all, she died during childbirth! That's right; I remember now!"

Kakashi flinched at the mention of his late parents', but didn't have much time for thought; the rest of the Leaf shinobi that had been accompanying Kakashi had just arrived in the neck of the woods.

"Kakashi. Who is that man?" Guy asked, clearly affronted; he hated to be left out of introductions, be that with the enemy or not; particularly when it involved Kakashi.

When there was no reply, Guy moved forward and placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, which was tense, almost as fixated as the glare that was being aimed at the man across from them.

Sakura had long since been lost in thought, letting the forbidden memories finally awaken from their slumber.

Flashback

Sakura unknowingly ran towards her home, smiling and laughing; Itachi and Sasuke were hot on her heels, seeing as they were playing gang-up tip, which didn't work out so well, seeing as they only had three players to begin with. But it was still fun never the less.

Sakura had been spending more and more time at the Uchiha's estate of late, and her mother had been coming home less and less; not that Sakura could care. She was having way too much fun to want to even go back there, where that man could easily come and attack her again, possibly prevailing this time around.

So now she had a permanent bed in their home, and was accepted as the daughter that Mikoto and Fugaku had never had; a little sister for Itachi to baby around, and a sibling for Sasuke to play with when his oni-san wasn't around.

Yes, life couldn't get any better than it was right now for the young rosette. Then again, it could just get a hell of a lot worse; Sakura noticed a pink haired woman standing outside the door of her home, on the porch, looking anxious. Sakura was about to find out why.

"SAKURA! Where have you been, I've been worried sick!" The woman, Amai, came running towards her, tears streaming down her flushed pink cheeks; sweat poured down her face, leading Sakura to believe that her ka-san had been looking for her for quite some time now. Pulling her into a tight embrace, the woman fondled with her daughter's hair, stroked her back and shook her by the shoulders.

"What were you thinking, wandering off like that?! There are all sorts of bad men out there and—"

"I would like to formerly apologise on behalf of Sakura-chan; she was with my family, playing with my ototo and I. Sumimasen deshita; I am deeply ashamed for the worry we have caused you Haruno-san." Itachi interrupted hastily, not wanting to see any family feuding over their trivial activity.

Dropping down onto his hands and knees, Itachi bowed down into the ground, deep enough to make it look as if he were pressed into it; and indeed he was. Sasuke looked at his oni-san anxiously, the sudden drop making him think that his aniki had fainted from stress (until he saw him stretch out his arms in front of him, pointing his hands inwards as a sign of the deepest of apologies), whilst Amai looked completely flummoxed by Itachi's actions; Sakura just stared, wide eyed at her surrogate aniki.

"Uh... that's alright I suppose... Hold on a moment... you're Mikoto and Fugaku's eldest son, correct? And he is their youngest?" Amai gestured towards both Itachi and Sasuke questioningly, obviously a bit slow on the uptake; any normal person would have recognised them as member's of the Uchiha Clan (their looks say it all), simply because of the symbol emboldened on their back.

"Hai. Oka-san and oto-san have graced many a conversation of your beautiful, loving nature, and it is beyond a doubt a pleasure to meet your acquaintance in person, Haruno-san." Itachi stated calmly, a small smile gracing his soft lips; Amai found herself blushing profusely, her hand tightening on Sakura's shoulder, the rosette flinching from the strength poured into it.

It was easy to see that Amai was warming up to Itachi more than she should be; he is, after all, still a young adolescent, whereas she is a mild-mannered thirty-six year old, a year older than his mother. "Oh really? Well, I don't think that meeting me is that big a deal as you make it out, but arigatou, Itachi-san."

'Huh? How does mommy know Itachi-kun's name? I thought she didn't know him...' Sakura thought in bewilderment, stunned in her silence, trying to find the missing piece of the puzzle as they continued their one-sided conversation of sorts.

"Dou itashi mashite, Haruno-san."

"And your manners! You really know how to speak to a lady! I assume Fu-chan is behind all that; strict rules and 'always has to be painfully polite to seniors' was always his thing anyways! I couldn't imagine Miko-chan being so painfully cruel as to enslave you to your vocabulary, could you?" Amai exclaimed in excitement, the closest thing she had been to normal and happy since her father had died; Sakura wished she could share her mother's enthusiasm, but unfortunately she was too busy trying to follow what was being said.

The two of them spoke as if they were well acquainted with one another already, and were reminiscing about some event that happened in a time period where Sakura didn't exist.

"No, I couldn't see oka-san being anything but kind and loving; the perfect doting mother figure of the household, who always has enough love to spread around." Itachi replied politely, all the while sharing a look with his ototo; both were thinking exactly the same thing. '"Fu-chan?" Oto-san? Definitely not a fitting nickname.'

"Hai, Miko-chan has always been so caring and kind to others'! Even as children she looked after the older and younger generation; as I recall, that was how she met your father, the first time around. He was hanging around with Mino-chan (Minato) and Mo-chan (Miyano)," Amai flinched at the mention of her deceased husband, "as well as Kū-chan (Kushina) and several other members of the Uchiha-and surprisingly enough Hyuga-, when out of no where popped Miko-chan, escorting an old man across the street. It was then that she was hassled by a bunch of bakas that thought that they could play around with her, and Fu-chan came to the rescue! Though albeit rather reluctantly; Mino-chan and Mo-chan and had to literally shove him in the way before he did anything. And all she could do was stand there and blush; I don't blame her though. Fu-chan was quite the looker when he was younger..."

She drifted off into a quick reverie, the Uchiha siblings looking to one another to see if they were actually witnessing this; Sakura's mother had a thing, whether past or presently still, for their oto-san. Eeeuuuurrrgggh! Sakura could not believe what her ka-san was saying; she had at one point... fancied Itachi and Sasuke-kun's oto-sama?! Eeeuuuurrrgggh!

Exchanging a glance with the Uchiha siblings, Sakura found herself turning tomato red; they had been watching her reaction at the same time she was thinking how disgusting it was that her mother had a thing for Fugaku-sama! Amai had suddenly jumped out of her reverie, quickly fishing out a pocket watch from her handbag (it's a pocket watch... why would someone put it somewhere that wasn't their pocket?!), before gasping and hauling Sakura up into her arms.

"Sumimasen deshita, Itachi-san, Sasuke-san; but I have somewhere I need to be. Arigatou for looking after my baby while I was away at a conference. It was too kind of you."

With a hasty bow, she turned on her heel, Sakura struggling insistently until her mother dropped her to the ground, an annoyed 'Sakura?!' escaping her lips; the rosette bolted towards the receding backs of the two Uchiha brothers', screaming "Itachi-kun! Sasuke-kun! Matte!"Itachi and Sasuke both turned just in time to see a flash of pink tint their vision, moving at volatile speeds until she hurtled into Itachi's stomach, a loud 'Oomph!' emitted from the eldest Uchiha's mouth; the impact had left him breathless, like he had been winded.

"Ahahahahahahahaha! Sakura-chan, careful there! You could have broken my ribs with the force of your collision." Itachi chuckled heartily, whilst Sasuke stood there, completely dazed; where had Sakura come from?

His young mind was trying to work its' way around that, but nothing was coming into suggestion; all he could even process was that she was hugging his aniki. Not him.

Sakura squeezed Itachi until he finally pried her fingers from around his waist, bowing apologetically to Amai, who looked as perplexed as he felt; smiling, Amai simply said, "She must really adore you and your little brother."

Speaking of... Sakura turned to the slightly pouty Uchiha across from her, whom looked like he had just had his most prized possession taken off of him; with a grin, the rosette trotted over and threw her arms around his neck, a surprised gasp exiting Sasuke's lips.

Pulling back after several minutes, she then placed a chaste kiss to his cheek, a scarlet flush burning its' way to the surface of his creamy white cheeks; nothing compared to the one that made its' way to Sakura's.

She had turned away abruptly, so as to make sure they didn't see, before running over to her ka-san and tugging at her hand.

"Urm... I'm ready to go now, mommy." Amai's eyes widened, whilst she looked between Sasuke and her daughter, and then to Itachi; a knowing look flashed across his face as he hauled Sasuke up onto his shoulders, turning in the opposite direction as they proceeded in walking.

"It was the utmost pleasure meeting you, Haruno-san; I hope to be seeing you soon, Sakura-chan." And with that, they disappeared over the horizon, the sun's rays haloing them like they were angels with wings; at least, Sakura believed they were angels, sent to earth to protect her from harm.

Her very own personal guardian angels. A small smile found its' rightful place on the rosette's lips as she walked hand-in-hand with her ka-san, not realising the impending danger she was in.

"Ah! There he is! Takeshi-kun! Over here!" Amai let go of her daughter's hand, only to throw herself in the arms of a man too drenched in sunlight for Sakura to make him out; but when she did, she realised to her horror that it was the same man that had attacked her that night in her house, the same man whom let Shaora beat her within an inch of her life, and then proposed kidnapping her.

Stumbling backwards, Sakura choked on a scream and turned to run, only to run into... that man?! But how did he—?!

"Hello there, little one; don't be frightened, I won't hurt you."

'The hell he won't!' Sakura thought defiantly, her anger at being hurt to such an extent bubbling to the surface; Amai watched the scene in an obliviously cheery state, grinning from ear to ear as the man known as 'Takeshi' gently lifted Sakura up into his arms and kissed her on the forehead.

"Hmm. You are as beautiful as your mother said; if not more so. My name is Takeshi Akio, and I will be seeing your mother on a regular basis from now on. Your name is Sakura, correct? It matches your bubblegum locks; absolutely breathtaking. Although I think you are more beautiful than a cherry blossom, wouldn't you agree, Amai-chan?"

Amai nodded vehemently, a love-blind fool to what was really going on; with his startling good looks, dark green unkempt hair, to his deep indigo eyes and pale skin, he was able to easily fool her mother into believing in the illusion he was casting.

But Sakura always had the knack for seeing through acts of ill-will and dishonest motives; shoving her hands against his chest, Sakura tumbled to the ground, scrambling to her feet and hiding behind her oka-san's leg.

"Sakura, what on earth has gotten into you?! Be more polite; Takeshi-kun is a sweet man, and you aren't giving him the benefit of the doubt. Apologise to him this instant!"

"NO! He's evil! I HATE HIM!" Sakura screamed, before turning and running, hard and fast, until she found herself in the Uchiha compound; bolting toward the house she only knew too well as Sasuke and Itachi-kun's, she threw open the slide doors, not bothering to knock as she usually would, startling the family that sat, about to eat their lunch.

"Sakura-chan?! What are you doing here?!" Mikoto exclaimed in fright, the loud 'thud!' the door had caused when slamming against the wooden panelling the cause behind that fright. "I-Itachi...-kun..."

"Nande, Sakura-chan?"

"That man... the one you told me to avoid... he's... he's... momma's new boyfriend..."

Sakura choked out, before collapsing in a heap on one of the tatami mats lat lay astray at the door's entrance.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled in shock, moving to her side and pulling her onto his lap; her recent beating, coupled with the hours went without sleep and the shock of her discovery had pushed Sakura over the edge, end result being her inevitable fainting spell.

Takeshi Akio.... that was a name that the rosette would never forget and it died on her lips, the image of his lust-filled gaze drowning out any doubts that he was indeed a 'good man.'

His name even suggested that that wasn't the case (a/n: 'Takeshi' means 'violent, fierce warrior', whereas 'Akio' means 'glorious hero/man.' Basically his character is that of someone who thinks highly of his abilities, making him out as a 'glorious hero', and whenever he engages in battle, he is always a violent, fiercely renowned warrior).

It was too bad her mother hadn't seen it until it was too late.

End of Flashback

"Takeshi... Akio..." Sakura muttered lethally, glaring at the man whom had not only destroyed her childhood, but killed both of her parents' as well.

a/n: Heya! I know it's been a while (almost a month), but I was telling the truth about my computer being crashed! This chapter was done and ready (aside from a bit of 'nipping and tucking,' as one in the plastic surgery business would say) to go, but then the fucking stupid contraption of a thing HAD to go and die on me! Sumimasen deshita! This chapter is shorter, but I just don't have the time anymore; expect even later updates in future!

Please R&R!

Arigato gozaimasu! XD

~Sasukeluva 4eva~