~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, um, do I have to go with you?" Naruto asked with pleading eyes.

"Yes idiot. You have to." Sasuke replied with a slight irritated tone.

"But why? I am only the cabin boy. I don't do anything important, so why would you need me now?" Naruto whined. Sasuke shot Naruto a harsh glare.

"Come on Naru-chan. It will be fun. I'll treat you to ramen." Kiba said pulling on the blond's hand.

'Damn it. He exploited my weakness.' Naruto was currently terrified at the moment. They had reached the port in Konoha a few minutes ago, and they were to transport Gaara and his siblings to the leader of the village, the Hokage. Now the problem was that Naruto didn't have fond memories of the village. He shivered at the thought of his last visit there. He really didn't want to relive the memories. He shook off these thoughts when Temari gave him a reassuring smile.

"Come on Naru-chan. It will be fun!"

Naruto sighed and followed the rest of the crew. They reached the gates of Konoha and there were two guards waiting for them.

"Name and business." Said one of the guards.

"Sasuke Uchiha, captain of the Katon. I am here to escort the noble Gaara and his siblings to the Hokage." Sasuke replied coolly.

"Fine." The other one muttered and let them pass. But just as soon as Naruto made it past the gate, a knife was at his throat.

"You look familiar." One of the guards said.

Naruto just shook his head and tried to struggle away.

"Yea. Blond hair, blue eyes."

"Like Namikaze!"

"You're his son!" The guard pressed the knife closer to his throat.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be dead?" The first guard spat at him.

"What the hell do you think your doing?" Kiba yelled at the guard…who was paying him no mind.

"Did you actually think that we would let something like you back into our village demon? You were lucky to get away once with your life. I will not have that repeated." The guard spoke with a nasty tone, occasionally making swipes with his knife against Naruto's throat, drawing thin slivers of blood.

"Let him go." Sasuke said in a low voice. Again, the guards weren't paying attention.

"So are you now their whore, demon? I will never forgive you for what you did to our village. Now, it's time for your death!" the guard lifted his arm to stab Naruto deep, but that was a mistake. As his hand was coming down, something embraced it, squeezed, and crushed his hand.

"I told you to let him go." Sasuke sneered, releasing the hand and pushing the guard off Naruto.

"I will report you to Hokage-sama for this insolence!" The guard was nursing his hand while his partner ran off into the direction of the Hokage tower.

"I hardly think threatening an innocent is insolence." Neji stated helping Naruto up.

"How could you protect that demon?! Do you know what he did to this village?" the man cried.

"No. And I do not care." Sasuke sniffed and turned away.

Neji, who was holding Naruto, noticed the lack of response from the smaller boy.

"Naruto?" He asked with worried eyes.

Naruto was just staring blankly. Neji waved his hand in front of the blue eyes, and started back when he noticed a single tear slide down the tan cheek.

"He's right." Naruto whispered.

Shino, Iruka and Temari gathered around Naruto, who was steadily crying.

"I don't deserve it." Naruto whimpered and collapsed onto the ground sobbing.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled starting towards the boy; but it was no use. He was already gone.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

~Kit!~

-What?-

~Wake up. Everyone is worried about you?~

Naruto wasn't listening to the demon. He was currently reliving the memories he had when he first visited Konoha. He was a monster. A demon.

~Kit. STOP! You're hurting yourself!"~ Try as he might, Kyuubi wasn't able to get Naruto to listen as he huddled up in a ball, head between his knees, torturing himself.

~Kit. If you don't do something, I will.~

Naruto still didn't respond.

~Fine. It will be good to have a little freedom.~

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I think he's coming to!" Lee squealed.

"Stop being so loud Lee." Another voice scolded.

Blue eyes opened to find themselves looking at a circle of people, two who were vaguely familiar. But there was a problem. The blue eyes had slits for pupils.

"Naruto, what's with your eyes?" Chouji asked.

"Back off tubby!" Naruto answered in a gruff voice.

"WHAT??" Chouji immediately launched to attack Naruto, when a voice stopped him.

"Stop Chouji. That's not Naruto." A woman with a very ample bosom and honey brown eyes ordered.

"Huh?" Everyone (except the stoics of course) questioned.

Blue eyes squinted. "A pleasure to see you again Tsunade."

"Like hell it is. Where's Naruto?" Tsunade roared.

"Where is he?" Sai asked.

"Who is that?" Iruka said.

"That's Kyuubi. Naruto's currently deep in his conscious." Shikamaru answered. They blinked at him, wondering when he had woken up and why he knew that. Did he like…have super natural powers?

Everyone blinked for a minute until realization dawned on them. They immediately backed away, save Tsunade, the Sand siblings, Sasuke, Kakashi, Iruka and another person who had yet to be introduced. But for the record, she had very pink hair.

"Ah, don't worry. I won't hurt you." Kyuubi said sitting up on the bed he was lying on.

"Or more like you can't." Tsunade smirked.

"Damn brat. He softened me up. And it's not because I can't. I choose not to. Don't mock me human!" He snapped at Tsunade when he saw her mimicking his words. "Do you know who I am? I am Kyuubi, lord of all demons, now forced to live amongst you filth."

"Right. So how is he?" The pink haired girl asked.

"Right now, he is reliving some bad memories. You should have let him stay on the ship Uchiha."

Sasuke glared at the demon, and pointed his nose in the air in defiance. Kyuubi growled.

"So do you know when he will wake up?" the pink haired girl asked.

Kyuubi squinted at her until recognition dawned on him. "Sakura. Yes, he will wake up soon. But he will be a little shaky and vulnerable. Don't do anything stupid to shut him down. If you do, I will make sure that you wished you valued your lives a little bit more."

"What does that mean?" Kankuro asked, hand reaching for his sword, though he knew he wouldn't hurt Naruto's body.

"Don't hurt him or try and pry answers from him and you won't have to worry about what it means." Kyuubi smiled menacing then closed his eyes and flopped back onto the bed. Sakura reached for him and jerked back when the eyes opened, except this time the pupils were round and full.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded, and didn't even stumble when he threw his full wait onto her. He sobbed into her shoulder and she petted him on the back in a loving motherly/sisterly fashion.

"Shh, it's okay now."

Everyone watched as the ever energetic boy broke down in front of Sakura.

"Shh. Now I will give you something to help you sleep, and then later I will wake you up to feed you." Tsunade said relieving Sakura from him and giving him her own hug. He sniffled, but laid down as she put her hand to his head and focused chakra over it. Within a few moments, he was out into a dreamless sleep.

"Come with me to my other room, and we will discuss things there." Tsunade whispered and led the way back to her official office while Naruto rested in her bedroom. She watched at the youngsters made themselves comfortable in the room as she sat down at her desk with Sakura beside her.

"Now, as you should all know by now I am the hokage of this village Tsunade. This is my subordinate Sakura, whom you all grew up with."

"Hi!" Sakura beamed smiling at the people she grew up with. They smiled back, with of course the exception of the stoics.

"SAKURA. Such a lovely name for such a delicate flower!" Lee pranced over to Sakura and giving her a gracious but strong bow. She blushed and gave a little curtsey as Iruka pulled Lee back to their side by his ear. They went through this every time they visited.

"Lee, you say that every time we see each other."

"Okay." Tsunade said slowly casting a strange glance to Lee. 'They just get weirder by the minute. I wonder if this kid will visit Gai. Kami that would be a sight to see.'

"Now, I want to know all the details. Since you found Naruto, until now. Begin."

Everyone relayed the story adding in parts that another might forget until Tsunade had enough information to write a volume of books entitled 'Life With Naruto on the Katon: Part 1'.

"Okay. So this is the first time he has blacked out on his own will?" She asked.

"Technically yes. He blacked out before, but that was because his powers were drained." Shino answered.

Tsunade nodded her head at this.

"Hokage-sama, if you don't mind me asking, what happened? Why was Naruto attacked I mean?" Iruka asked.

The woman smiled fondly at him. Iruka had grown up in Konoha along with Kakashi, but they have been traveling for the past few years, so they weren't exactly up to date with the current news. Same with the rest of the crew, excluding the Sand siblings who were born in Suna. Everyone else was natives to Konoha, and had grown up around each other until they parted separate ways.

"Well, I am not sure if we should tell you that." Sakura said uneasily.

"Please. Naruto is part of our family now, and we would really like to know what is troubling him. We would like to help." Kakashi pleaded. Okay he didn't plea, but he sort of ordered/asked.

"Well…" Sakura cast a glance at Tsunade who merely nodded. "It happened 5 years ago, when Naruto had come to the village for a second time. The first time being when he was born."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sakura smiled looking out of her window. It was a beautiful day in Konoha. The birds were singing, the sky was cloudless, and a soft breeze blew, gentle enough to cool the skin under the hot sun. Sakura looked into her mirror, making sure her image was perfect, said good bye to her mom, and left to the Hokage Tower. She would be working with her mentor today on how to heal crushed bones. She knew how to mend broken or snapped bones, but crushed bones were another subject all together. She would have to mold her chakra to small thin slivers so it could reach all the pieces of bones and start to mend them.

She waved to her close friends Hinata and Ino as she passed them in the flower shop. 'I wonder if Hinata is getting flowers for Kiba. Even though he isn't here, she always buys flowers and gives them to his family on his birthday. Sooooo sweet.' She blushed as she thought about her own infatuation with a certain energetic green beast of Konoha. NO! Not GAI!! The cuter one Lee! She came out of her thoughts when she noticed she was in front of the Hokage Tower. But there was a commotion surrounding it. Pirates were crowding around it demanding entrance. She pushed through the crowd, nodding at Izumo who allowed her to pass, enraging the rest of the men. She ran to her teacher's office and flung open the door, demanding what was going on, but what she saw made her stop.

Tsunade was standing in front of her desk glaring at a man she knew to be Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. He was surrounded with who she took to be his crew. However the thing that caught her eye the most was the chain Itachi was holding it. Attached to it was a boy, about her age. His neck, hands, and legs were shackled. He was small and petite, definitely feminine. He had blonde hair that was full of dirt so it was dulled to a dirty blond. His clothes (if you could call half a shirt and ripped pants clothes) were tattered and torn. His eyes were downcast so she didn't know the color.

"Sakura." Tsunade looked at her.

"Yes?"

"Take Naruto to my room and clean him up." She pointed towards the chained boy.

"I'd rather keep my pet on a leash where I can control him." Itachi answered glaring at Sakura when she moved to take him.

"PET? Is that what you call him?!" Tsunade was about to punch Itachi, when the boy, Naruto, spoke up.

"Please do not fight on my behalf. If Itachi wishes it, I will stay."

Tsunade could hardly believe what she had just heard. Neither could Sakura. Her eyes watered with tears. 'How could he allow himself to be treated like that?' Itachi smirked.

"It seems he likes his position."

Tsunade snarled. "If you wish to discuss anything with me, I advise you to let Sakura tend to him properly."

Itachi looked at her blankly for a moment. 'Who the hell does she think she is? I mean, does she know who I am? I am Uchiha Itachi, captain of the Akatsuki, leader of all, controller of demons, master of chakra, king of…okay, now I am rambling.'

"Fine." He thrust the chain at Sakura who immediately dropped it and put her arm around Naruto's shoulder and waist, guiding him out the room. The last thing she heard from her teacher was 'Bastard'. Sakura led the blond down a few doors until they came to her work room. She opened it and gestured for him to sit on the medical bed. 'It seems all those people wanted to know what was going on.' Sakura thought.

"I will go and prepare a bath for you, and see about some food. I'll draw the bath, and when I come back, I'll try and get those chains off, okay?" Sakura smiled. When he looked up, she drew in a breath. 'Those have got to be the prettiest eyes I have ever seen. And the bluest too. But they look so sad.'

Naruto stared at her in awe. 'I haven't had anyone be so polite since…." He nodded and she left through a door on the other side of the room. He heard water hitting metal. 'Must be filling up the tub.' He took a look around the room. He remembered going to a medic's office when he was smaller, around 4, but this room wasn't like the one he went to. It wasn't that horrible blinding white, but a soft pink. The bed wasn't stiff, but soft, and even though the room was clean, it didn't hold that sickening clean feeling with the smell of antiseptic. It was nice. He turned his attention back to Sakura when she returned into the room.

"Okay. Your bath is getting ready. Now for the shackles." She rummaged through a drawer until she gave a triumphant yell and turned around. Naruto shied away from her for a moment until she gave a reassuring smile. In her hand was a large bone saw.

"Isn't it cool? My friend Tenten made it for me. It's coat is stainless steel, and the metal is solid gold. She made it when I became a full medic. And the best part is, it never needs to be sharpened. I have used this thing a hundred times and is still as sharp as when I got it." She patted the tool/weapon lovingly. Naruto nodded along with her story not wanting to anger her and be at the end of a scorned woman and a killer bone saw.

Sakura came out of her reverie and blushed, realizing she went a little crazy for a moment. She went closer to Naruto, smiling when he didn't flinch. She held his arms up and carefully with skilled practice, sawed through the shackles on his wrist. They came off without problem and Naruto wasn't even hurt.

"Wow. Those were solid iron." Naruto exclaimed rubbing his wrists to get feeling back into them. Sakura grinned and repeated the procedure with his ankles and did the same to the collar but with a little more precision. She didn't want to kill Naruto by chopping into his neck.

"Phew. Done. And now to your bath." She helped Naruto off the bed. He felt elated with the shackles gone. He felt lighter and his neck felt free. There was some redness from where the metal chaffed his skin, but Sakura assured him she would fix it. He just nodded, feeling Kyuubi start to heel the wounds already.

"Now, get in. I will get some clothes for you, and I will wash you as well. I can tell you are weak, under weight, and overall sickly. No offense." She added the last part when Naruto glared up at her. "You would probably drown yourself by falling asleep. I added bubbles with lavender petals to get you to relax. So get in." She shoved him towards the tub and went out the room closing the door. He stood blinking in the room for a minute and then there was a flurry of action. He ripped the clothes off his body and climbed into the tub, hissing at the heat but welcoming it.

"Mmmmm. Smells nice." Naruto mumbled as he slowly drifted to sleep.

~Kit.~

-What the hell Kyuubi? I am trying to relax for once!-

~And?~

-Never mind- Naruto pouted and sunk deeper into the bubbles.

~Be careful.~

This caught Naruto's attention. –About what?-

~I have a bad feeling about this place.~

-Don't worry Kyuu. I'll protect you from the big bad bubbles- Naruto cooed as he lightly tossed some bubbles around.

~Ha. You wish. But seriously. Be on alert.~

-Haaaaaa. Fine.-

~Good. I'm going to sleep now~

Naruto grinned. Trust his fox to go to sleep right after saying that they were basically in danger. He smiled, and closed his eyes once more, drifting off into his own world. That was how Sakura found him. She went into fan girl mode as she saw him sleeping in the bath, blanketed by bubbles, and beautiful hair (the dirt was coming out) around his head, random wet strands sticking to his face, framing it.

"So. CUTE." Sakura whispered not so quietly. That woke Naruto up.

He blinked a few times in confusion. "WHAT THE HELL?" He screamed making sure certain parts of him were covered up. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a rather huge pile of bubbles surrounding his pride and joy.

Sakura giggled. "Come on. It isn't as if I haven't seen any before. And I am a professional. So just relax."

"But you're so young!!"

"Age does not determine experience."

"I would expect a 30 year old to have more experience than someone your age."

"That 30 year old may have only had one day of experience. I have 7 years!" Sakura grinned.

Naruto eyed her skeptically, but allowed her to near him, putting down the clothes and reaching for the soap and sponge. She started washing his arms and upper body.

"So, what's your full name?" She asked scrubbing his skin.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Yours?"

"I am Sakura Haruno."

"Age?"

"12. You?"

"Same! Favorite color?"

"Orange. Yours is pink right?"

"Nope! Everyone automatically assumes that. But nope, it isn't pink." Sakura beamed.

"What is it then?" Naruto laughed.

"Coral."

There was a silence.

"That is a shade of pink." Naruto deadpanned looking up at her, eyes sparkling.

'Well, with eyes like that, I might just change my favorite color to blue.' "So what? It isn't the pink everyone expects it to be." She huffed and motioned for him to turn so she could get to his back. She ran the sponge over his back and felt tight muscles.

"Relax. You're safe." She said in a soft motherly tone.

Naruto nodded and felt his eyes water. Soon, his bathwater was extremely salty.

"What's wrong?" Sakura was worried. She didn't want him to cry. It would turn his beautiful eyes all puffy and red.

"No one, for a long time, has treated me so…treated me like I am human." Naruto rasped.

Sakura felt her eyes water and she thrust herself at him, enveloping him in a hug. "You are human. No matter what. And you deserve to be treated like one." She stated. She felt Naruto shake his head.

"No. I am not. No matter how much I tell myself I am human, I'm not." He saw Sakura frown. "But I do deserve to be treated with respect." She nodded slowly at that, creasing her brow and continued to wash him. When they were done, she handed him a big, fluffy, coral colored towel and told him to get dress and sleep on the medical bed until he was rested. He nodded, grateful for the chance to sleep for real, and slept as soon as his head hit the bed. Sakura pulled the cover up to his chin and resisted the urge to kiss him on the cheek or forehead like a sister or mother. She closed the door behind her and went to see her teacher. She found the woman at her desk, staring with pure hatred at a piece of paper in her hand.

"What is that?" Sakura asked standing in front of the desk.

"That bastard." Her teacher uttered through clenched teeth.

"Pardon?"

"He's using us!" her teacher banged a head on the desk, which resulted in the whole floor shaking. Her teacher was one strong woman.

"What are you saying?" Sakura had never seen her teacher so shaken up. Something must have been terribly wrong.

"Itachi. We pay him or he will release the demon within Naruto."

"What?" Sakura stepped away from her teacher, who glared at her.

"Naruto isn't a demon. He merely contains one." Sakura nodded at this. 'So that was why he said he wasn't human.'

"Do you know the story of when Kyuubi attacked us?" Sakura nodded. "Well, Minato sealed the demon within his son. No one heard of him, until now. And I will do everything in my power to keep Naruto here." Tsunade's eyes softened as she remembered when Naruto was born. She actually was mid-wife.

Sakura nodded vigorously. She wanted Naruto to stay too, away from that monster Itachi. "So what will happen?"

Tsunade sighed. "Honestly? I have no idea."

Sakura nodded. "So where are they?" Sakura added extra venom on 'they'.

"I put them in rooms in my private bath house near here. They will collect Naruto by dinner. And if I don't answer to their demands, they said they will attack the village whenever they felt like it until I concede."

"What was the price?" Sakura asked. Tsunade held up the piece of paper to her face and Sakura's eyes bulged. She had never seen so many zero's in her life, never mind she had never thought that that many zero's attacked to a 1 could even be a number.

"Is that possible? We will go bankrupt!" Sakura screeched.

"Exactly. Making the city weak, allowing Itachi to attack and taking over the city. We have no choice but to fight. And right now, we aren't the best of friends with Suna. We have no choice." Tsunade repeated to herself.

"And Naruto?"

"I have no idea about the process in which he can be controlled. Certainly not on his own, that's for sure. But I can't do anything."

"Can't we hide him?" Sakura asked earnestly.

"No. The Akatsuki crew is strong enough without the demon. They are formidable enough on their own and would hold us under siege until Naruto comes out. And I am sure with a heart like Naruto's he wouldn't want anyone to be hurt on his behalf." Tsunade sighed again and pulled out a bottle of Sake.

Sakura nodded and stood in the silence for a while. She left the room, leaving her brooding teacher to drown herself in her sake. 'Poor Naruto.' She wandered over to her room, opened her door, and screamed.

"What are you doing in here?" Sakura spat at Itachi.

Itachi turned around from Naruto's bed to look at the girl. 'Ew. Pink.'

"Getting what belongs to me. Until I have my answer, I would like him near me at all times. Don't mess with us." Itachi held up a knife to Naruto's throat as Sakura stepped near them. Sakura growled.

"No. I'll be fine." Naruto pleaded to Sakura.

"Good boy." Kisame sneered.

Itachi strolled out of the room, the rest of his crew in tow. Sakura was enraged to see new shackles on Naruto. They seemed to be even stronger that the last ones. When she was sure they had left the floor, she ran to the Hokage's room.

"They took him!" Sakura yelled.

Tsunade was about to throw the empty sake bottle at Sakura for interrupting her Hokage duties (they include drinking, napping, gambling) when she heard what the girl had said.

"What?"

"They took him!"

Tsuande thought for a moment. 'There's no way I could pay that ransom. I wonder how many warriors we have in the village.'

"Shizune!" Tsunade barked. A black haired woman rushed into the room.

"Yes Hokage-sama?"

"How many warriors are still in the village?"

Shizune looked down at the pad of paper she carried with her at all times. "It seems that 97% are here."

"That will do. Might as well get this over with. Round them up and tell them to be in front of my tower at the hour."

"Um, Hokage-sama. It is 5:59." Shizune said glancing at the sun out of the window.

"Fine. Within 10 minutes." Tsunade said that with a bit of sarcasm.

Shizune bowed and ran out the door to finish her duty.

"Ready Sakura?" The busty woman turned to the pink head.

"As I'll ever be."

Sakura followed her teacher out the tower to be faced with hundreds of men. She glanced around, spotting some of her friends. She, like her friends, were chakra users. Only about 15% of the Konoha population was able to use chakra. But they had the largest amount of chakra users out of all the villages. That was why they were the head village. She heard her mentor clear her throat.

"We were threatened by the ship members of Akatsuki!"

A roar was heard throughout the sea of people.

"They want us to pay a ransom that would devastate the village, and all others that chose to help us."

The roar grew.

"So what should we do?"

The sounds of 'kill' and 'fight' echoed in the breeze. Tsunade smirked, happy with their reaction.

"Let's go!"

The crowd cheered as Tsunade led the way to her private bathhouse the intruders were lodged in. She reached the door, made a motion to knock on it, but instead kicked it down. Inside you could see a Red haired Akatsuki arguing with the blonde shemale thingy, but they immediately directed their attention towards Tsunade.

"So, you have come up with an answer quick, yeah?" the blond Deidara grunted.

The red head rolled his eyes. "I think her answer is pretty obvious when she brought the whole village with her."

"No matter. Who should get Itachi?" Deidara asked reaching for his clay concealed within a pouch on his hip.

"You."

"What, un? I want to try my new art style on them!"

"What you do is hardly called art."

"What, un?"

"Art lasts forever and is beautiful. All you do is blow things up, and sigh at the blood being splattered around."

"Art lasts for a delicate moment, then ends. It's memory is what makes it beautiful. The fact that it blossomed and then ceased is what makes it art, yeah!"

"No."

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP?!" Another member of Akatsuki burst into the room, swinging his giant scythe. Meanwhile, the residents of Konoha were standing there in a daze. Did these people not know they were being attacked?

"Oh for fucks sake. Look, argue about it later. Here come the rest." Hidan said as he the rest of the members came into the room. One was decidedly…hyper.

"Ooooh guests! Are we having a party? Oooooh. Is it a surprise party? Let's all hide. I call carpet!" The one with the orange mask clapped his hands and dove for the carpet on the floor. By this time, Tsunade's eye was twitching. They weren't taking her seriously.

"Not now Tobi. It seems that you have come up with an answer?" A man with piercings all over his face turned to them.

"Yes." Tsunade replied happy to be acknowledged.

"Fine."

Itachi came forth with Naruto in tow, yanking his chain. The people of the crowd yelled in disgust at the treatment.

"How the hell could you do that?"

"You monster!"

"Let him go!"

Itachi smirked. "Please. In a minute, you will all wish I had kept him on this chain." He took a medallion out of his pocket and muttered something over it. Suddenly Naruto made a cry of anguish and fell to the floor. A red aura surrounded him.

"Is that his chakra?" Sakura asked. She had never seen such a dangerous looking chakra before. Tsuande nodded.

"Get ready."

Naruto hunched over, his eyes screwed shut and mouth open in a silent cry. The chakra took on the shape of a fox with nine tails. Slowly, the chakra became more concentrated as it seemed to mold onto Naruto like a second skin. Soon, Naruto was no longer standing there. It was now a smaller version of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

"Demon!" The crowd yelled.

Sakura listened in horror as the crowd who just yelled for the poor boy's salvation now screamed for his death. Tears formed in her eyes. Could they not see he was in pain and had no control over what was happening? She shuddered at the thought of all that evil, highly concentrated chakra becoming a second skin on her. Surely her skin would be burnt all over. Itachi said something else over the medallion, and for a minute it seemed as if the kitsune was unsure of what to do. Itachi merely said something over the medallion, infused his chakra into it, and Naruto…no not Naruto, he would never do something such as that…Kyuubi attacked.

Daggers and swords flashed as people tried to hinder the demon. Sakura wanted to do something, but she didn't know what. She saw as anyone who got near the form was instantly consumed by the chakra, burning in the process. She hopped from one foot to the next, trying to figure out what to do.

"Sakura? What are you doing?" Her friend Tenten yelled at her.

"Do something!" Ino screamed.

She wanted to tell them to stop and make them understand Naruto wasn't meaning to hurt them. But it would look pretty unconvincing giving the circumstances. She glanced around and saw someone else besides her unmoving. 'Hinata!' She ran towards her friend.

"Please, we need to do something." Sakura rushed out.

Hinata nodded.

"Do you know anything? Tsunade is kind of busy." She asked pointing in the direction of her teacher. Tsunade was currently wrestling with Hidan and Deidara, dodging the scythe and bombs with grace.

Hinata thought for a moment. "The thing he has. It made him do something." Hinata pointed to Itachi and Naruto respectively. Sakura had a flashback to five minutes ago when Itachi muttered something over the medallion and Naruto transformed.

"We need to get him away from it!" Sakura said and made her way towards Itachi. She saw that he was on the outskirts of the battle, blank face showing no emotion as she saw blood, sinew and bone fly through the air. He still was clutching the medallion. Sakura charged into him from his right, but he swiftly dodged stepping forward. What he failed to realize was Hinata in front of him. She jabbed her fingers into a few points on his arm and he promptly let go of the medallion. Hinata smirked at the expression he wore on his face. 'Never underestimate Hinata baby!'

Sakura turned toward the crowD that had stopped moving. She struggled her way into the center of the crowd until she came in front of Naruto's form. She gasped. He was covered in charred skin, and his clothes seemed to have melted itself onto him. She quickly moved to try and heal him when she was stopped.

"No. Let him die!" A random man said. She brushed off his hand and continued to walk.

"Leave the demon!" The crowd chanted. They started throwing daggers at his body while Sakura and Hinata did their best to protect him from the onslaught. Sakura ignored them. She dropped down to her knees, desperate to hold in her tears. She didn't want the salt to sting the wounds, nor show her weakness. The people were enraged that she was trying to help Naruto and grabbed onto her, pulling her away from the body. She screamed, kicked and spat but to no avail. She turned to look for Tsunade, but saw her teacher fly back from a powerful explosion caused by Deidara's C2. She then looked at the rest of the members and did a double take at Itachi. He was holding Naruto. She looked at where the body had been, and sure enough, Naruto was gone. The crowd realized this and moved towards him, wanting to make sure the demon died. Itachi flickered, then Akatsuki, and vanished.

"DAMN!!!" Tsunade yelled and pounded her hands into the dirt. "I lost him, again."