Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. the GazettE owns the song Gentle Lie but I own the plot for this story.

In my story, there's only three Pain[s], including Nagato instead of the usual seven like in the manga.

Chapter 11 - Gentle Lie

"Tsunade-sama! The barrier's been broken through! Konoha's under attack by the Akatsuki!" A shinobi reported as he ran through the door to her office.

Tsunade stood abruptly from her chair, knocking it over. She slammed her hands down onto the table and the cracks on the table deepened more. "IMMEDIATELY GATHER ALL THE CIVILIANS AND TAKE THEM THROUGH THE EVACUATION ROUTES! THIS IS A LEVEL 2 WARNING!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

The next moment, all of Konoha was shaking, cracks opened in the streets of the village and buildings were crashing down. Screams of agony could be heard from the streets and children could already be heard crying for their parents. Tsunade righted herself before she turned around and looked out the window. Half the civilians' part of the village was gone; small fires started from the debris of the leftover foundations of the structures and power lines were down everywhere. The air was thick with dust and the many that died within those first seconds brought on an atmosphere of panic to those that were still living.

She fisted her hands and turned to look at Shizune, who was standing right beside her. "Shizune! Call the ANBU and tell them to meet me at the top of this tower now!" Tsunade ordered.

"Y-Yes!" Shizune turned around and immediately left to do what she was told.

Tsunade only turned around to face the window, to see a figure loom before her. There wasn't enough time to protect herself, there wasn't even enough time to attack.

"Obaa-chan, get down!" A voice called out.

Naruto threw himself past Tsunade and through the window and onto the figure that was about to assault her. A shattering crash of glass could be heard and Naruto soon found himself airborne with a member of Akatsuki underneath him.

"Naruto!" Tsunade yelled after him as she looked over the window at him.

He turned around and flashed her a smile. "I got it covered, 'baa-chan! Go do what you gotta do!" Naruto quickly turned around to face his opponent again, just to dodge a blade headed his way. "Whoa! You fight dirty, dattebayo!"

Then the two disappeared into the clouds of smoke, obscuring Tsunade's view of them.

~-.-~

Shikamaru groaned as he sat up. The buildings that surrounded him had almost fallen on him, if not for Chouji who had blasted them out of the way with his hand using his partial enlargement jutsu.

"Shikamaru, you okay?" Chouji asked.

"I'll live." he crossly replied. He tried to stand up only to receive a pain up his leg. "Well, it seems like I have a broken leg here."

"Shikamaru!" Kakashi shouted.

"Kakashi-sensei, you look so old." Shikamaru joked. "There's all this white dust in your hair."

"Very funny. We're under attack by the Akatsuki from the South Gate. Formation A and B are out."

"Chouji. Are you part of the evacuation crew or are you part of the fighting crew?"

"They said they have enough for the evacuation groups, so I'm helping out with the fighting."

"Okay. I gotta go see Hokage-sama and tell her that Formation A and B are goners. Kakashi-sensei, please go alert the evacuation groups that we'll go with Formation C for now. Chouji, mind accompanying me to Hokage-sama's office? Sorry to be so dependent on you right now, a broken leg isn't what I had in mind." Shikamaru sighed. "This is so troublesome."

"It's okay, Shikamaru." Chouji said.

~-.-~

Black flames surrounded the boundary of the plateaus like the borders of an arena. They were quickly consuming the ground that they rested on, threatening to swallow up Sakura any moment. Above the multiple feet of black flames, two figures could be seen fighting each other head on. The resounding ring of metal against metal could be clearly heard by Sakura down below.

Sasuke looked tired but determined, and multiple cuts scarred his once flawless skin. He was shirtless, and with each blow, the muscles could be seen contracting, working hard to defend the heavy hits from landing on his body. Kusanagi was flashing as Sasuke relentlessly tried to land death blows on Itachi. Even with such a long sword, Sasuke couldn't even cause a nick on Itachi, even though he looked pretty beaten up and tired as well.

Itachi had shed his Akatsuki cloak, but Sakura thought that it might've been burnt off. It was amazing how he was able to block against Sasuke's forceful attacks with such a normal kunai. Then again, he was Uchiha Itachi, the one who had murdered the whole Uchiha clan. Sakura saw that Itachi's eyes were bleeding, and remembering what Kakashi has said before: extreme usage of the Mangekyou Sharingan can cause the user to become blind. Along with the bleeding, Itachi's eye was bloodshot; it seemed as if the multiple jutsu performed while using the Mangekyou were strenuous on the eyes.

Sakura could taste the tension in the air between the two. It was so thick that she almost choked on it as she watched. The atmosphere was hot and dry as well; Amaterasu was sucking out the humidity from the air, leaving Sakura parched for water and her bangs sticking to her forehead. The flames started eating away the rocks beneath her feet and Sakura didn't notice. Worried about Sasuke's safety and the outcome of the battle, she didn't realize that the fire was about to lick her skin until someone yanked her away.

"Are you stupid? Do you want to get burnt to a crisp and your bones charred to ashes?" Karin harshly said to her as she yanked her away from the black flames.

"Sorry, I guess I was too into the battle to really notice what was going on…" Sakura absentmindedly said as she continued to watch the battle, her eyes analyzing each of Itachi and Sasuke's movements.

"Hey, girl. Listen to me. Get yourself away from here now. Even though you're a bystander, I don't doubt that you might get killed somehow." Karin grabbed Sakura's shoulders and shook them, earning Karin some attention.

"Oh, hi, what?" Sakura finally tore her eyes away from the battle and gave Karin her full attention.

"Oh my God. Did you not hear a single fucking word that I just said? Amaterasu can kill you, especially when you're too busy to even realize that the flames almost fucking swallowed you!"

She gave Karin a kind look. "I heard. I knew that when I first joined you guys that something like this would happen, Karin." Sakura said as she gently pried her hands off of her shoulders.

"And you still decided to follow him?"

"Yes. If only you knew him back then, Karin, you'd see the changes that have taken place. He was so different back then compared to now. And I have a promise to uphold, I promised my best friend I wouldn't let him die." Sakura softly said as she started looking around for a tall tree.

"You'd die for him in order to save him, wouldn't you, Sakura." Karin stated, she didn't question it.

Sakura didn't answer and turned away from Karin. Finding a tree she was satisfied with, Sakura readied to jump until she was stopped by another tug on her arm.

"You know, I'd love to have a girl chat with you, but now isn't the time. Mind letting me go?" Sakura exasperatedly sighed.

"Both of you better live to tell the tale, Pinky." Karin said as she took a step back, prepared to head back into the forest to meet up with Suigetsu and Juugo. "I'll be tracking your chakra, and if I find out that you're dead, I won't let you rest in peace. Got it?"

Sakura looked at her for a moment as if she was crazy. "Okay, slutface. I'll be alive and kicking next time I see you. Happy? Now get outta here before I punch you back to them myself."

"If I could live without any broken bones, I'd gladly let you punch me." Then she was gone.

Sakura nimbly jumped up the tallest tree she could find that overlooked the fight between Sasuke and Itachi. While she was busy chatting with Karin, the two had returned to fighting on the grounds, surrounded by a ring of black fire. Sakura started to get worried; Sasuke's movements weren't as quick as they ought to be, perhaps carrying her was a bad idea after all. What was odd was that Itachi wasn't fighting how he usually fought either. He was fighting sluggishly, and from the looks of it, Itachi hadn't been severely injured, so the reason for his slowness was unknown.

With Itachi's back facing her way, Sakura took the advantage and jumped over the dancing black flames. One, she was an idiot for trying that. Two, she was an idiot for attempting that. Three, she was an idiot because she almost got herself killed. Sakura thought she was a goner when the flames seemed like they rose higher just to swallow her. It was as if luck helped her, because just at that moment, a gust of wind blew Amaterasu away from Sakura's feet, allowing Sakura to land without burns. However, just as she was about to contact the ground, several chunks of rock hit her back and knocked the wind out of her, causing her to fall forward and flat on her face.

'I feel so smart. Just so smart. Oh, Kami-sama, why can't you provide me with luck two times in a row?' She thought as she violently coughed up blood. Not only did the chunks of rock knock the wind out of her, but they cut a bit of her back open. 'This is great, just great.'

"I won't kill you just yet, foolish little brother, I still need your eyes, I'll burn your body all except for your head, so I can take your eyes for myself." Itachi maniacally said.

For once, Sakura was glad that Itachi's voice was close enough for her to hear. It meant that she wasn't very safe, but who gave a damn? Since he wasn't talking loudly, that meant Sasuke was nearby too. Even if her life was sacrificed, she had to get Sasuke out alive. There was no way Sasuke could win in his current situation. Itachi still looks like he has a bit of fight in him, but Sasuke just looks bedraggled. Kneeling, Sakura used a bit of her chakra to heal some of the internal injuries done by the flying rocks. A bit of her right lung had gotten a little scrape and her kidney just got a little nick in it. Nothing she couldn't handle. She healed herself just enough to live and to conserve her chakra for if Sasuke got direly injured.

Methodically looking in front of her, she saw that Sasuke was panting excessively. Itachi had his Mangekyou Sharingan fixated on Sasuke and Sakura could just make out from where she was that Itachi's eye started to bleed again.

'Shit. Amaterasu. I have to get somewhere sa—' her thoughts were interrupted as Sasuke tripped over a rock, either from exhaustion or what, she didn't know.

The next thing she knew, black flames erupted out of nowhere and headed for Sasuke. Time seemed to slow down as Sakura pushed herself onto her feet and ran like she'd never ran before. She cursed herself for not having seen it earlier, for not yelling out a warning. Her voice seemed to have betrayed her, not issuing out a cry to the man who was about to be consumed by hell's fire. With each step, her brain was telling her to move faster. Pushing herself to the maximum limit, Sakura threw herself at Sasuke who was still in the process of falling and the momentum she brought with her narrowly brought Sasuke to safety.

Just when she thought they were safe, Sakura felt an intense burning on her right side. Looking at it, she saw black flames licking her arm and leg, threatening to devour her. Quickly grabbing Sasuke's arm, she flung him away from her as fast and far as she could, an echoing crash resulted from it, letting Sakura know that at least he was still alive. Finally landing on the ground herself, Sakura crawled into a fetal position as the flames ate her up. She couldn't do anything; the flames were so strong and severe that she couldn't even scream for help. Satisfied that at least she saved Sasuke one last time, she allowed herself to drift off in the scorching flames.

Just before she drifted off, Sakura thought she was hearing things, because Sasuke was screaming her name. 'He wouldn't waste his breath…I'm sorry Naruto, I guess I can't return to you like I promised…'

~-.-~

Formation C was working perfectly. Since about half the population of Konoha already died, they didn't need to split into five groups as planned, but only three. This meant it would make escape much easier for the still living. When Shikamaru arrived at the Hokage's office, he saw that she was on top of the roof, in the middle of a huge formation trying to channel her chakra to still save the ones who might still be alive. Telling one of the ANBU that Formation C is taking place and is going perfectly fine, Shikamaru left with Chouji to find Naruto to make a battle plan.

Kakashi was in a precarious position; after he told the evacuation crew that Formation C was to be taken place, an Akatsuki landed not so far from them. Just like Naruto, Kakashi threw himself at the Akatsuki to knock it off balance and down onto the ground. Springing up right after the impact, Kakashi looked at his assaulter. Weird black tube-like canisters were sticking out from all over his body, and with his Sharingan, Kakashi could see that it somewhat vibrated, as if it was receiving a signal. His eyes had a weird pattern imprinted into them; there were swirls surrounding his pupils, and to be honest, all this made him look like one of those secret ANBU people who've underwent torture before. This must be the enemy that Jiraiya was talking about before he died.

"Kakashi!"

Said man slightly turned around as he kept an eye on the attacker while the other went to look at the person who had called out to him.

"Chouza, Chouji. Good timing, I was just about to try to ask for backup."

"What's the situation right now?"

"This guy here doesn't talk at all, and from the looks of it, his eyes are probably a sign of a kekkei genkai. I don't remember having seen anything like this before though. And the tubes within him are vibrating at a very high frequency, as if they are receiving signals from elsewhere or the sort. And from Jiraiya-sama's description of the enemy that he fought before he died, this guy fits perfectly. I'm assuming this is Pain." As if Pain decided that was the end to the introduction, he attacked the three head on.

~-.-~

"You're the one who killed Jiraiya-sensei, aren't you?" Naruto yelled at the Akatsuki standing before him.

He received no response; Pain only looked at him as if he was a speck on the planet. Within a moment's time, Naruto was hit with such a force that he went through three buildings, finally coming to a rest by hitting a boulder. Crawling to his knees, Naruto vomited blood; the impact of the hits included with the boulder really packed a punch. Standing up, he ran towards Pain, and attempted to punch him. They landed, but for some reason, Pain didn't bleed at all, not even when Naruto slashed a kunai over his skin. It was as if he was just a robot, not talking, just functioning and whatever else.

Producing five shadow clones, Naruto quickly told three of them to stay hidden behind the smoke. He held his hand out and the two remaining kage bunshin started on working and moulding out chakra into the palm of his hand to create Wind Shuriken Rasengan. Whilst the real Naruto was keeping Pain's attention on him, the three crept up behind Pain and started working on Wind Shuriken Rasengan as well. The high frequency of the chakra coming from Naruto's Wind Rasen Shuriken was loud enough so that he wouldn't realize that another Shuriken was being formed behind him.

Just as both groups of Naruto almost finished their Shuriken, Pain rushed up and punched real Naruto in the gut, causing him to lose his concentration on creating the star of destruction.

"Do you think, I'll let you destroy me? A weak and lowly ninjas such as you?" Pain whispered emotionlessly.

"Don't you be so cocky there." Naruto smirked as he swiped the blood away from his mouth.

The kage bunshin group of Naruto finished the Shuriken and slammed Pain with it. He literally exploded into bits and pieces of metal gears, screws, nails and hidden weaponry. Heaving a sigh of relief, Naruto just couldn't help but wonder if Pain was actually dead. And just how the hell can a robot talk just like a real person? Didn't make sense. Also, this was just too easy; Naruto wasn't hurt as he usually was but then again, when he finished his Sage training at Myobokuzan, Fukasaku was saying it was a pretty damn powerful attack that could easily take care of the enemy. Getting up, Naruto made to leave to search for the other Akatsuki that made up the pair before something stopped him.

The metal remnants of Pain pieced back together, much to Naruto's dismay and it was if nothing's happened to him, aside from the ripped Akatsuki cape.

"What…are you?" Naruto whispered in shock.

"I only wish to talk to you, Uzumaki Naruto."

~-.-~

Kakashi almost felt as if he got pounded repeatedly with chunks of ice. Big chunks of ice at that. The explosion looked like as if it's come right out of Pain's mouth, if possible. Pieces of debris flew up all around Kakashi as if they were little ants being tossed around by an anteater's tongue. Landing heavily on the ground, he took a heavy blow to the head as Pain didn't waste any time on trying to kill him by kicking him in the head with what seemed like iron-tipped shoes. Jumping out of the way as a second kick headed his way, Kakashi felt faint and nauseous. A hand supported him as he faltered.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you all right?" Chouji asked, it looked as if he was trying hard to hold back his tears.

"Yeah…what happened to Chouza?"

Chouji looked away as his father's name was mentioned. "When the explosion occurred, dad was trying to protect me and…he took a few severe blows to the head. He's lost so much blood…"

"Chouji, I want you to go tell Tsunade-sama what's going on. Remember what I told you guys earlier? Tell her the exact same things I've said. Also, tell them that Pain's not physically alive, they're basically robots. I believe that they are all controlled by one main person elsewhere. I detected that the black tubes inserted into their bodies are receiving chakra. You guys must find a way to defeat them. Go, Chouji!"

"But Kakashi-sensei, what about you?" Chouji took a few steps back and looked at him.

"Don't worry about me, Chouji. I'm going to try to take this one down until we find a way to defeat him." Kakashi felt lightheaded now as he prepared his Chidori.

"O-Okay!" Then he took off towards the Hokage office, away from the fight.

"Hurry, Chouji! Or else the village will be really done for good."

Turning around, Kakashi saw that Pain was running right at him. He quickly slammed his Chidori into his head and right down the middle, splitting the body in two. Mechanical parts flew everywhere, bouncing off the debris and scattering into many different places. Quickly making hand signs for a water jutsu, Kakashi splashed the area around him with water, drenching every last thing. Then preparing his Chidori once again, he thrust his hand with it into the ground, electrocuting everything wet, aside from him, making the mechanical parts too burnt out and malformed to be able to reform back into its original shape. Panting, he fell onto his back, tuckered out from the battle and the feeling of guilt for allowing so many villagers to die.

'I'll…just sleep for now.' Kakashi thought as he succumbed to darkness.

'The fingers, laying on top of one another, seems like they're gonna be taken away. I long for the answer, even though I know how foolish it is'~

Please review! I love you guys all, readers, reviewers, everyone who likes/loves my story. I really do. That's why I want your feedback on how you feel about this chapter and my writing (:

- Kanryu out