Here's the next chapter! Like I said, you already know the plot of the training. Didn't change too much with two of them. No point in retelling it. But here's another divergence in the story. Thanks for reading :D

The day had finally arrived when the Akatsuki made their move to attack the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Creatures were Summoned and were causing chaos throughout the village. Shinobi were frantically trying to evacuate the civilians while the mayhem was going on.

Those not protecting civilians were trying to fight back. No one would allow the village to be invaded by the Akatsuki or anyone else for the matter. Everyone was doing their part to protect the village, in one form or another.

Shizune landed on the roof of the Hokage Mansion and explained quickly what she had found out to Tsunade. She explained how they thought that the Pains used black rods in the bodies to transmit chakra and the fact that at least one of them was at one point a corpse. Shizune was going to head to the Cipher Division but instead thought to report to Tsunade directly.

Tsunade took the information in and rubbed her chin in thought. Choji leaped onto the roof, exhausted from his battle moments before. Tsunade and Shizune looked at him surprised from his appearance.

With a determined look he declared, "We cracked the ability of one of our enemies! He is male. Between 25-30 years of age. Distinguishing marks are piercings, six in his nose and seven in his ears. His ability is a jutsu that stimulates magnetic attraction and repulsion. He can attract targeted objects to himself. And he can repel every ninjutsu attack."

Taking another breath he continued, "Once he uses either jutsu, there is a five-second interval."

With a serious tone, Tsunade replied, "You did well to report this. Our sacrifices will lessen considerably."

With a nod, Choji barely made out, "Team Choza provided back-up for Kakashi Sensei against two of the enemies."

Shizune became worried as she saw tears gather in Choji's eyes. Kakashi was strong, but the thought of him fighting against Pain alone was worrisome to her. "What happened?"

Choji looked at Shizune as tears began to pour faster down his face.

In a more frantic tone, Shizune repeated, "Choji! What happened?!"

Reaching up, Choji wiped his eyes and replied, "I've never seen anything like it… Kakashi released some Gravity Seal Jutsu and moved faster than I could see. He was moving faster than Pain could defend against. He kept slashing him with his Lightning Cutter. Pain was on the brink of losing." Shizune was barely containing herself as he continued.

"Another Pain showed up and tried to turn the tide of the fight. Kakashi Sensei used his Sharingan to somehow destroy the arm of the new mechanical-like Pain as he tried to fire missiles at us. He then diced him to pieces without a scratch. It was incredible. But… then it got bad… It's my fault."

On the brink of collapsing, Shizune's world was spinning. She knew where the conversation was going but she had to know; she had to hear him say it. "What happened to Kakashi?"

Choji couldn't look at Shizune. He didn't know that they were important to one another but the fear in her voice told him enough. With a long reluctant breath he continued. "He told me to get out of there. When I tried to run… the mechanical Pain fired a missile at me right as Kakashi was about to kill the other Pain with his eye warping ability. I watched as he turned towards me and sacrificed his shot to warp the missile. While he made it disappear, the other Pain used his jutsu to pull Kakashi towards him and pierced his heart…"

Shizune fell to her hands and knees as she wept for Kakashi. Tsunade felt remorse for his sacrifice and for Shizune. She knew actually what it was to lose her loved one and knew that Shizune would probably never get over it. Tsunade hadn't gotten over losing her loved ones and felt Shizune was no different.

Looking down at Choji, Tsunade stepped over to him and told him to go get his father and take him to the hospital. Relief filled Choji hearing that his father had survived and he ran off to save him leaving them on the roof.

Tsunade walked over to Shizune and leaned down to wrap her in a hug to comfort her. "Shizune… I'm sorry."

She punched the roof before reaching up to try to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Why did he have to die? Why him?!" Sobbing Shizune squeaked out, "Why does it hurt this much?"

Seeing her like that broke Tsunade's heart. She raised the girl as if she was her own. She never wanted Shizune to feel that pain that she herself knew all too well. "You love him. That's why it hurts. He sacrificed himself to save a comrade and provide us intel. We need to use this to avenge him and all of our fallen comrades."

Shizune couldn't look at Tsunade. She knew she was right, but accepting it was more difficult than she could possibly imagine. Clutching her chest she stood up shakily and nodded at Tsunade. "As you say… Lady Tsunade. Just answer me one question, please. Will this pain in my chest go away?"

With a gulp, Tsunade shook her head. "No… Eventually you learn to live with it. You'll notice it less and less but it will always be there. I'm sorry."

Again Shizune placed her face in her hand as more tears streamed down her cheeks. "Damn him. If he wasn't gone already, I would kill him for doing this to me. I didn't even say goodbye. I didn't tell him I love him."

Tsunade gave her a reassuring hug. "I'm sure he knows. He did it to protect the village. To protect you. He loved the village and everyone in it, even if he didn't show it. But he only showed it to one person, and that was you, Shizune. You're the only one he let get close. He might not have said it but his actions speak louder than anything he could say. He gave up himself to give us and most importantly, you a chance to win."

Shizune nodded in defeat. Taking a moment to regain her composure, she bottled up all of her feeling until after the village was safe. She couldn't let his sacrifice be in vain. They had to win against Pain. Kakashi, you jerk. Now I'm going to be at the Memorial Stone every day.

Kakashi watched as his life passed him by. Each memory seemed to last a lifetime. Each one was full of pain and loss; the death of his friends, his teammates, his sensei. Obito… Rin… I wasn't able to protect Rin… I keep breaking my promises to you. Forgive me.

More memories passed reminding Kakashi of everything he had lost, of all of his failures. Obito… Rin… Sensei. The three ghosts of his past waved at him as they faded away. I'll… be joining you now. Is this my life? Failure after failure?

Then he saw his students. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke... Even you, in the end I failed. I hope you can save Sasuke, Naruto. Redeem my own shortcomings. Save your friend unlike me. Protect them like you always do. They too faded away into the endless void that Kakashi found himself in. Another apparition appeared before him, freezing him in his tracks, being unable to take his eyes off of.

The dark haired woman with the cheerful smile whenever he saw her stood before him. Yet she didn't have the smile that secretly warmed his heart whenever he saw her. She looked sad, like she was watching him leave forever.

Even when you're sad, you're beautiful, Shizune… You're the first one I let get close to me after I lost Rin and Sensei. It took death to make me acknowledge my feelings… I love you. But it's too late. I should have cherished you more before I died. I don't deserve you. Perhaps this is penance for my failures. Kakashi reached up to stroke her cheek and she too faded away. As it should be…

Wiping his face he sulked down and placed both of his hands on his hips. With a regretful sigh a tear ran down his eye before he began to walk towards a light in the distance. I'm sorry Shizune… Maybe in the next life... As Kakashi neared the light, he realized it was a campfire. A man was sitting by it with his back turned towards him.

"Is that you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise as the realization of who it was dawned on him. He never thought he would get the opportunity to see or speak to the man again after what happened. "So this is where you were…"

Kakashi walked forward and sat beside the man, not really sure of what to say. He had been gone for so long, what was there to say? Father…

His father turned towards him and asked, "Will you tell me your story?"

With a slight nod, Kakashi replied, "Sure… It's a really long story so I want to take my time." There was no bitterness in his voice. He didn't resent the man for leaving him and taking his own life while he was a child. Maybe at one point he did, but he had grown past that.

His father turned and looked at him with a slight smile. "Yeah… that's fine."

Pain stood before Tsunade and her Anbu. He wasn't impressed with her verbal defense of the village or Naruto's supposed strength. However, he realized that she wouldn't tell him where Naruto was and there was no further point to the conversation.

Then one of the other Pains extracted the information out of one of the higher-ups in the village. "Mount Myoboku… That is the hidden village of the toads. Well then, lingering here is useless."

Shizune gasped in surprise. How did he find out? It took all of her self-control to not immediately attack the man; that and a touch of fear. If Kakashi and Jiraiya couldn't beat him, what chance would I have? He looks bored staring down Tsunade and the Anbu!

Gritting her teeth she barked out, "Naruto will beat you. He's probably stronger than Kakashi was and we were told he almost took you down."

Unfazed, Pain looked at her like she was a mere insect. In his usually neutral tone he replied, "That Kakashi was something else. But he let his emotions get in the way. If he would have let the other me kill that child, he probably would have killed me. But… It's a moot point. I would have come back and killed him. He was strong but I'm a god."

Shizune clinched her fists as she tried to rush him. Thankfully, Tsunade pulled her back and stopped her from throwing her life away. She knew she couldn't win, but she didn't care. This man had taken Kakashi from her. If she had to die to see him again, she was going to.

Pain turned away from them and began to speak as if he was preaching to them, ignoring Shizune completely. "In battle, both sides suffer death, injury, and pain… Feel pain. Contemplate pain." He began to float up, rising through the air and continuing his speech. "Accept Pain. Know Pain!"

Tayuya took a deep breath as she sat down to rest from their sparring. The two had been training night and day to master Sage Jutsu and were progressing rapidly. The idea to use Shadow Clones sped up the process and helped them achieve in mere days what would take a normal person weeks or even years to complete.

It had been frustrating at first to just sit still and become one with nature. Eventually both her and Naruto had figured it out and were experts at staying completely still. However, she almost snapped when Fukasaku said they had to do that in battle. Being a sitting duck wasn't going to work but Naruto came up with the idea to leave Shadow Clones behind to gather the natural energy to enter Sage Mode.

The other part of her training she kept secret from Fukasaku and Naruto. Every night, Tayuya would sneak out to practice her Rasen Bomb Jutsu. Tayuya knew she couldn't use it for fear of self-injury. Then she was struck with the idea that if she could somehow throw it, then she would be fine.

Every night she made progress. She would leave a clone behind so they wouldn't notice her absence, and she would go out and practice it. The first time Tayuya actually figured it out, she wanted to scream in celebration. Instead she kept it in, wanting to surprise Naruto in the heat of battle.

She figured the trick wasn't exactly throwing the sphere of fire. The trick was to almost "shoot" it out of her palm. It also helped that their clones that while they were training they made extra clones to practice making a Rasengan with only one hand.

When both figured it out they both hugged each other jumping up and down in joy. Both had worked tirelessly and pushed each other to work harder and reach new heights. Fukasaku had his hands full with the two but in the end all of them thought it was worth it.

Unfortunately, their joy wouldn't last long when a pink frog came running towards them panicking about something. "Bad news! Lord Fukasaku!"

Fukasaku signaled to Naruto to hold off while he figured out what was happening. "What is wrong?"

The pink frog took a moment to catch her breath before replying sadly. "Big brother Kosuke, our messenger, has been killed. His name vanished from the register."

Naruto and Tayuya looked at each other worried and Fukasaku voiced their thoughts. "Does that mean something has happened to the Leaf Village?" He looked at Naruto and Tayuya with a serious expression. "Naruto-boy. Tayuya-girl… I have a bad feeling.'

With a gulp Tayuya replied, "Do you think the Akatsuki made their move and attacked the village?"

Fukasaku rubbed his beard worried about what might have happened. If Pain attacked the village, then everyone is in danger… "Ma went to gather provisions and is near the Leaf Village. She will be capable of summoning strong warriors, including us. Get ready now!"

Both Naruto and Tayuya ran off to prepare themselves for whatever might happen. Tayuya had grown fond of the village and was worried that it might be under attack. One look at Naruto made her heart sink. She could see that he was terrified of what might be happening. Yet, he didn't let it get the best of him. His face was stern and full of determination. It actually comforted her to see that even though he was worried, he was determined to get back to the village and protect everyone.

Tayuya wrapped her scarred hand a few times in nervous anticipation. Naruto walked over and placed his hand on her should to comfort her.

"Hey."

She brushed her hand in through her hair before replying. "What's up?"

The two locked eyes and just stared for a while. They both knew what was at stake if Pain was attacking the village and were cherishing the moments before whatever was about to happen.

"Just checking on you. You okay?"

Tayuya nodded with a slight smile. "Yeah, just getting antsy waiting, you know? Want to get back already. The wait is killing me…" Again the two stood in silence before she asked slightly nervously, "If it's him and we can't beat him…" Tayuya bit her lip nervous to finish the question.

Thankfully Naruto placated her fears and responded, "When we beat him. We can do this. We must, for Pervy Sage."

She nodded in agreement, elevated from her fears of fighting Pain. "For Pervy Sage."

Naruto reached his hand to her cheek and pulled it up so she was looking at him. Leaning down he pulled her into a deep kiss. Light and gentle before pulling back with a slight smile. Tayuya felt like her legs were going to give from under from the passionate kiss he gave her.

However, she wasn't going to leave it like that. She wasn't an overt mushy person so she recovered quickly and casually walked by him and slapped him on his butt. "Thanks for the kiss. And nice ass. Let's put off the mushy stuff till after the fight."

Reaching her hands into the closet of the room they were in, Tayuya began to loot around to pass the agonizing minutes of waiting. Meanwhile Naruto's eyes were bulging out of his head from her action and remark. She ignored it and continued looking. Her eyes lit up when she found two coats that she thought would look great for their entrance.

One was red with black flames rising from the bottom. She thought Naruto would look badass wearing it and threw it towards him. The other one was a light purple with darker purple flames like Naruto's. Tayuya threw it on and checked herself out in the mirror.

Turning her attention back to Naruto, she couldn't help but admire him in it. She whistled a catcall at him and said, "Damn, Shithead. I might call you stud for now on. You look badass."

Naruto gave her a soft chuckle before walking over to her. In a soft voice he replied, "Thanks. You look good too. Seriously though... If something happens…"

She tried to push him away but he wouldn't budge. Tayuya looked down before looking up into his big blue eyes. Her eyes began to water up as she replied, "Don't you dare. Don't fucking say what I think you're going to say. Don't make it sound like a goodbye."

With both of his hands, Naruto reached up and straightened her beanie on her head. He cupped her chin and stared back into her eyes. "I'm not saying goodbye. But I'm not stupid. If I don't get the chance later I need to say it now… I love you, Tayuya."

Tayuya reached up and weakly pounded him in the chest as she began to actually cry. "Damn it, Naruto. Why'd you have to do that? Now I'm a mess. I can't fight like this." When he didn't reply, she looked back up into his caring eyes feeling a lump building in her throat.

Swallowing her pride, Tayuya finally replied. "I love you too. If you die, I swear I'm going to find you in the afterlife and fuck you up."

Naruto laughed as he pulled her into an embrace. "There's my foul mouth Tayuya. Glad you're back."

The two held each other until they were both got their nervous emotions in check. Tayuya pulled back and stood on her tip toes to give him another kiss. "Let's go make some clones for later. When we finish you can kiss me again, deal?"

Naruto nodded as she grabbed his hand and pulled him outside. She led him back over to Fukasaku and the two formed a few clones to gather the natural energy for them. With that out of the way they walked over to get help from the other frogs.

Gamabunta was sitting with a scowl on his face accompanied by Gamahiro and Gamaken. Naruto could tell they were already informed of what happened and looked ready to go to battle. Gamakichi was atop of his father's head with a rather serious expression to match.

"Naruto, Tayuya… Hop on."

The two looked at each other and gave an affirmative nod. Both leaped up and landed atop of Gamakichi's head followed by Fukasaku.

"Naruto, we should release our Gravity Seal Jutsu for the battle. Whatever happens, we need to go in swinging. Not something we should save."

Naruto nodded in agreement. The two released their seals and felt the enormous weight off of their shoulders. With a crack of his neck, Naruto laughed. "I feel so light. Like I can move so much faster and hit so much harder." Tayuya smirked for she felt the same thing. It really had been a good idea to use the seals to train.

The two began to concentrate as they built up the natural energy from around them. Fukasaku could only smile in admiration. The two had progressed further and faster than he could have imagined. An orange ring formed around Naruto's eyes signaling that he was in Sage Mode. A ring of a light shade of purple formed around Tayuya's eyes just like Naruto's. If only you could see them now, Jiraiya-boy. They're ready. They can avenge you.

Everyone sat in silence waiting to be summoned. After what seemed like hours, all of them vanished in a cloud a smoke only to reappear a second later in a large crater. Naruto looked around and asked, "Where are we anyway?"

Shima appeared before them and land next to them. Fukasaku looked at his wife curiously and asked, "What's going on, Ma?! Why didn't you Summon us to the Leaf Village?"

Looking around for only a second, Tayuya understood the implication of what she was saying. She pointed and spoke aloud, "This is the village, the Hokage Monument is right there."

All of them looked over and knew it to be true. Shima continued, "And it's obvious who did this. I sense the same energies as when we rode atop Jiraiya-boy's shoulders."

All of the anger he had towards the man that killed his sensei began to build up as Naruto's face contorted with rage. Sensing it Tayuya grabbed his hand. "Naruto…"

Just her saying his name soothed him enough to let the rage that was starting to blind him settle away. Naruto was still angry, and rightfully so, but he wasn't on the edge of snapping because of her. Their attention was caught as Pain walked out of the dust and stared up at them.

"You saved us the trouble of looking for you." Within moments another Pain appeared and summoned the other four to join the fight. Tsunade then leaped into the center of the crater and stared down the six Pains, even though she was teetering on collapse.

"I am the Fifth Hokage! You trampled on the jewel, the dreams of my predecessors. I will not forgive you! I will settle this now as the Hokage!"

The mechanical Pain plunged forward and tried to kill Tsunade where she stood. In the blink of an eye, Naruto intercepted him, demolishing him with a Rasengan. "Just sit back and sip some tea, Granny." A few moments passed as the remaining Pains and Naruto glared at one another.

"Gamakichi!"

The mention of his name propelled Gamakichi forward as he landed behind Naruto and Tsunade. Tayuya jumped off of his back and stood beside Naruto glaring at Pain ferociously.

"Take Granny Tsunade to someplace safe!" Without turning to face her, Naruto addressed Tsunade. "Granny, we'll take over from here! Tell everyone in the village to stay out of the way! It'll be difficult to fight while trying to cover for them."

Tsunade pulled out Katsuyu to give to Naruto to give him intel on Pain. Fukasaku leaped with his wife and grabbed the small slug as he landed on the massive scroll hanging on Naruto's back. The slug crawled into his clothes to remain safe for the fight.

A few moments of silence passed before Naruto asked one last question before Tsunade got to safety. "Now that I've mastered Nature Energy, I'm able to sense everyone's chakra. Is Kakashi Sensei on a mission away from the village?"

When she didn't reply Naruto nodded accepting her wordless answer. "I see…"

Tayuya tried to comfort him, "Naruto…"

"Go, Gamakichi!" With a nod he followed Naruto's orders and leaped away. Whatever Naruto was feeling, she could she he was setting it aside for after the fight. Right then, his focus couldn't waver. Before the battle could begin, Konan appeared and floated down next to Pain.

"I'll take the girl."

Surprising Tayuya, Naruto agreed. "I'll handle Pain, you take her."

If the situation wasn't as dangerous as she knew it was, Tayuya would have slugged him. "I'm not leaving you alone to fight him. We're a team."

Fukasaku agreed. "She's right, Naruto-boy. You'll do better if you stick together."

Shaking his head, Naruto countered, "I won't be alone. The toads will help me. I don't want to worry about you while I fight him and I'm sure you'll worry about me too. Take her out and then come help me if I need it."

Tayuya's face scrunched up in agitation. "I'm not fucking leaving you."

Naruto looked at her in a way she had never seen before. Tayuya had never seen him look so serious since she had met him. "Tayuya, please! Just this once, listen to me!"

She reached up and pinched her nose frustrated with his stubbornness. "Fine… Don't fucking die on me until I get back. I'm going to kill you later."

Konan just stared at Tayuya before she began to fly away to the outskirts of the village. Tayuya looked at Naruto who simply nodded to her. Damn him. Without any more hesitation she started to chase after the woman, leaving Naruto and Pain to fight themselves.

Konan only flew just far enough where she could barely see the giant toads before coming to a stop. Tayuya landed nearby, clearly frustrated that she had to leave Naruto to fight Pain alone.

"So you have me to yourself… Why are you so interested in me?"

Konan barely paid her any attention. Instead she focused her gaze towards the battle that Naruto and Pain were beginning.

Irritated, Tayuya yelled, "I'm talking to you!"

Turning her head, Konan focused solely on Tayuya. "I gave you another chance to live until this day. Did you heed my warning and live like I said?"

Tayuya became even more frustrated with the woman. She never seemed like she wanted conflict with her the past few times they had met. It didn't really make sense to her. "Yeah we lived, okay? What the hell is your problem anyway?"

The barest hint of a smile crossed Konan's face for a split second before the usual sad look she had took over her face again. "We? So that's what it means to live to you. You and that boy…"

"What the fuck does it matter to you? That's my guy and he's going to mop the floor with those orange haired freaks you hang with!"

A look of reminisce crossed Konan's face as she pondered what Tayuya had said. "I see a lot of myself in you. I was like you. I was in love with a boy. But like you it was destined to end in tragedy."

Tayuya raised her fist now angry and slightly confused about what Konan was saying to her. "We're nothing alike. And if it's supposed to end in tragedy, then why didn't you just finish it sooner?"

Again, the barest hint of a smile crossed Konan's face before she answered. "I wanted you to have more time with him than I did with Yahiko. And we're more alike than you would think."

Tayuya waved her off, not really buying what she was saying to her. In a sarcastic tone she replied, "Oh, what a romantic." Her voice switched to a more serious tone. "Save it for someone that cares. So now you think Naruto and me have had enough time? Is that why you split us up? And how exactly are we alike?"

Konan turned her head back towards the battle between Naruto and Pain. She stared into the distance for a few moments before responding to Tayuya. "Pain decided to come for you. It was time. Why I split you up? I'm not a fool. Jiraiya Sensei would have defeated Pain if he had figured it out sooner."

A combination of confusion, shock, and anger welled up in Tayuya at those words. Before she could respond, Konan continued.

"I don't actually believe that Pain is a god. I've known him since before Jiraiya Sensei saved us and trained us. But he has a vision for the world that I will help make a reality. You two would figure it out quickly, that much I'm sure. Your village worked hard to get intel on him."

Tayuya tried to respond, "Why do you keep calling him Sensei? You have no right!"

Ignoring the comment, Konan continued. "Even that Kakashi almost killed Pain. He told me as the other Pain healed his body right before he confronted your Hokage. But I digress. It appears you and that Naruto have mastered Sage Mode? And no toad features… Even Jiraiya Sensei couldn't do that."

Through gritted teeth, Tayuya replied angrily. "You don't get to call him that. Not after what you guys did to him."

Yet again, Konan continued without acknowledging Tayuya's words. "I can see just one of you will put up a valiant fight with Pain. I have no doubt that he will win, but two of you who perfected Sage Mode; with the intel about him at the start of the fight. You two would win. I can't allow that to happen."

Finally, Konan turned her attention back to Tayuya. She could see the anguish on the girl's face from everything that she had said. "Yes, Jiraiya was our sensei. He taught us how to survive. Then he left us… Me, Yahiko, and Nagato… Now there is only Pain."

Tayuya wanted to scream in rage at her. "If you were his students, why did you kill him? That's how you repay his kindness?!"

She didn't reply right away, she just gave Tayuya a solemn stare before asking, "He was just as important to me as he was to you. But he tried to stop Pain. We couldn't allow that."

"Shut up."

Both of Konan's brow rose in surprise from the outburst. It was full of such malice and spite. She was actually surprised that the tone came from Tayuya.

"You don't get to say that about Pervy Sage. He was our sensei. Our master. He was the closest thing Naruto and me ever had to a dad… And you killed him… I can't forgive that. Talk is over. I'm going to kill you and then go back and help Naruto kill Pain."

Konan nodded and took up a defensive stance. "So be it… I am sorry that you have to die before you see his vision."

Tayuya grunted as she took up a defensive stance as well. She wasn't too worried with Konan as her opponent. However, she also wasn't overconfident. She knew her strength and if Pain did have the power of a god and Konan was worried that they would beat him, she wasn't too worried about taking Konan alone. Within an instant Tayuya began to run at her at full speed.

Konan prepared as she came closer. Her demeanor completely changed from one of sadness to one of determination. She wasn't going to lose to the red headed girl. Not when they were so close to their dream. Show me your pain, Tayuya. Maybe if it's strong enough, you have a chance.