I've returned from the dead. It's been about a month, right? Sorry bout that. Last semester of school = busyness. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites in my absence. In a few chapters, Sasuke will return, and he will pretty much be in every one after that.

No matter what, I got your back

I'll take a bullet for you if it comes to that

I swear to God that in the bitter end

We're gonna be the last ones standing.

"Keep the hell away from him!" Kaiya shouted, scowling. "Fun Kiu." With her feet planted firmly on the ground, she moved into a 'Dividing Bridge' stance; doing so caused the ground to quiver, and when she immediately switched to a 'Direct Bridge' stance, the earth completely shifted beneath her feet. A large, jagged rock burst from the ground, directed towards Pain. He dodged it, though not easily. He stared at her pointedly.

Hmm…she made no hand signs, yet the earth obeyed her. The stances she used just now were Hung Gar, a form of martial arts… But how was she able to move the earth with taijutsu?

"Tell me…how did you gain this power of yours?" Pain inquired, a steady frown on his face. Kaiya smirked, her now-silver eyes lowering. Pain could see her canine-like appearance, and he knew that there were several canines that she could have signed a summoning contract with.

"It's an ancient art, one that I don't have to explain to you," she spat back. She took a breath before taking a step forward cautiously. "But I'll be glad to show it to you firsthand." Closing her eyes, she let out a slow breath through her nose. "Jai Kiu." She held out both of her arms in the 'Subduing Bridge' pose, then the 'Crowding Bridge', raising her arms as her palms faced upwards. "Bik Kiu." She raised her arms up, as if she were lifting a heavy object above her head. Suddenly, a large crack in the ground appeared, separating Naruto from Pain. The higher Kaiya's arms went, the wider the crack became. Soon, it was a large fissure. Before Pain could make another move, Kaiya made quick hand signs.

"Fire Style: Fortress Inferno!" Kaiya sucked in a great breath, quickly releasing it in the form of flames. When they made their way to Pain, they didn't simply overwhelm him. Instead, they surrounded him, completing encasing him inside a blazing sphere. It began to compact. Naruto blinked, his mouth agape.

"What…?" Kaiya said nothing, her eyes lowering as her eyebrows creased. She could see through the ground that Pain was just standing there. Even as the walls of flames inched closer and closer, he didn't flinch or panic. What kind of monster is this? she wondered.

"Almighty Push." Kaiya's eyes widened as the flames were pushed away from Pain. The condensed blaze shot back towards her, and she covered her face as it engulfed her. Because of her Kodo protecting her, she remained unharmed when the flames dissipated. Pain glared at her silently. She growled.Grr…this cocky bastard…he's harder to kill than Orochimaru.

"Damn it." She made more hand signs. "Lava Style: Volcanic Ash!" Pain, alerted, jumped into the air, attempting to cross over the fissure to escape the attack, as well as once again be near Naruto. He anticipated the lava to come from the ground, but he didn't know the implications of Kaiya's jutsu. She combined Asuma's attack with lava-style, which meant that the attack didn't come from the ground after all.

Before Pain landed, Kaiya jumped into the air, following him, blowing the chakra-infused gunpowder all over the Akatsuki leader; he couldn't escape in midair. She clenched her teeth, and it ignited in an explosion, releasing lava instead of fire. Pain, covered in magma, skidded to the ground. It quickly hardened to a black, earthen shell—one that could not be easily escaped if he was still alive.

For a moment, all was silent.

Kaiya breathed heavily as the markings of Sage Mode retracted slowly. The sweat on her brow dripped down the sides of her face steadily. Though there was no limit to Kodo, the more she used it, the more it wore her down. Because Legends took in so much nature energy to begin with, when she entered Sage Mode she had to use an extensive amount of internal energy in order to match it. Otherwise, her life force would drain.

"Kaiya…are you alright?" Naruto asked, gritting his teeth, trying to ignore his pain. Kaiya's eyes softened, and she stumbled to him slowly. Lowering herself to the ground, she cupped his cheek.

"Don't worry about me," she answered breathlessly. "You're the one he's after." Naruto's eyes lowered.

"All of that power…how did you—"

"We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to—" Before Kaiya could finish her sentence, the shell in which Pain was encased began to crack. Kaiya's eyes widened, then narrowed. Sighing, she forced herself back up to her feet wearily. Though she was weakened, she wasn't going to back down. Her best friend's life was at stake. She would do whatever it took to protect him.

Pain finally pushed through the rock, freeing himself. His entire body should've been burnt to a crisp, but he was hardly in a state different from before. His hair was ruffled, he had a few third-degree burns, his cloak had several holes burned into them, but that was it. Kaiya cursed under her breath. She had plenty more tricks in her arsenal to use against him, but she was reluctant to show them all to the enemy. Besides, it didn't look like most—if any—would work. Before either one of them made a move, Pain frowned, just as another person appeared in the air, slamming her fist into the ground where Pain was. Kaiya blinked in surprise as the dust cleared, and she could see the familiar face standing right beside her. Kaiya didn't have to guess who it was, because she'd sensed her approaching while she was in Sage Mode.

Hinata.

"Reinforcements?" Pain didn't sound too intimidated as he flashed back in front of the girls. Kaiya scowled. This guy…

"Kaiya, Hinata…get out of here!" Naruto shouted. "You're no match—"

"I know." Kaiya hadn't heard so much assurance in Hinata's voice since…well, ever. Naruto's eyes widened in question. Kaiya stood quietly in awe as Hinata admitted her love for Naruto. The latter looked surprised, and Hinata charged Pain without another word. Kaiya knew Hinata wouldn't last long, but she felt that she needed to do this. Not just for Naruto, but for herself as well.

"I don't need to tell you why I'm here, do I, Naruto?" Kaiya asked, a small grin on her face. Naruto's eyes lowered, but he kept his gaze fixed on Hinata. "You're my best friend. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'll be your shield, just like I always have been. No matter what, I've got your back." Hinata was immediately pushed back by Pain's jutsu, and Kaiya appeared behind her and caught her. Naruto shouted for her to stop, but Hinata wouldn't. The second time she got knocked down, Kaiya went straight to Pain.

"No, Kaiya!"

"Ugh! Get that thing out of here! I don't even know why the Third Hokage allows him to step foot in the village!" Naruto's eight-year-old face fell as he shielded it from a passerby, who started throwing rocks at him. But the villager's fit didn't last long, because a small girl of the same age kicked him in the shin, sending him crashing to the ground. "Ack! What the—" When he saw Kaiya and the dangerous look in her eyes—with the ferocity of a thousand burning suns—he stumbled to his feet and ran off. "All of you monsters, just disappear!" he shouted behind him, as Kaiya stuck out her tongue.

She approached Naruto and held out her hand. When he took it and stood to his feet, he gave Kaiya a quizzical look, which quickly turned into a smile.

"Thanks, Kaiya," he said sheepishly, slightly disappointed that he couldn't fend off the jerk himself. But at the same time he was happy she had come to his rescue. No one had ever done that for him before she came along. She smiled. It was almost impossible to believe that behind such an innocent face was a dark, ancient secret. Her face had a few scratches, her arms and legs bruised. Naruto knew where she'd gotten the injuries. She'd protected him when a few older kids tried to beat on him earlier that week. She acquired several wounds, but they were minor compared to what the others all received in return. According to her, she learned taijutsu early—and she was good at it. Naruto had to constantly remind himself to stay on Kaiya's good side, unless he wanted to be beaten to a pulp.

"That's what friends are for, right?" Naruto shrugged, averting his gaze.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I've never had one before." Kaiya frowned briefly before giggling and grabbing the blonde's hand as she led him through the village.

"Well, you're gonna learn!" Kaiya led him to the Hokage Mountain, where they watched the sunset. Naruto's eyes gleamed. They'd spent hours talking and laughing and eating. It was the first time Naruto was able to experience friendship, and it was also the first time that Kaiya was able to relate to someone her age. The only people she considered 'friends' had been much older than her, and they were all assigned by the Hokage to take care of her. It was nice to have someone who liked her for being her, and not because they had to. It made her feel accepted, something she hadn't felt in a while. Especially since Itachi had left her in the way that he did.

When the sun's peak had finally sunk below the horizon, Naruto lowered his eyes. He felt like crying, because he was so happy. Kaiya was like a gift sent from heaven, but he wondered how long it would last. He was sure that she would come to her senses sooner or later. This was the first day that they'd spent more than a couple of hours together, outside of the Academy. She had a lot of restrictions because of what happened to her family a couple of years ago, and she wasn't allowed to stay out too late on most nights without an adult. But this was one of the few nights where her guardians let her roam free, with ANBU supervision watching nearby, of course.

"Why are they so mean to me?" Naruto wondered suddenly, hugging his knees to his chest. Kaiya was watching the colors fade from the sky in a trancelike state, like she hadn't seen it thousands of times before. She tore her eyes away hesitantly, giving the blonde a quizzical look. "I just don't get it…what's wrong with me?" Kaiya was used to people giving her looks by now; she had learned in the past two years to just ignore them and move on. It wasn't easy, but everyone close to her—Ringo, Tzu, Kakashi, the Third, Asuma, and even Itachi—told her to focus on who she knew she was rather than what others thought of her. But as she saw her new friend suffering, she knew she couldn't truly relate to how he felt. But that didn't mean that she couldn't try to help him. Her eyebrows creased as she studied Naruto with great concentration.

"Maybe they don't like you because of your whiskers," she suggested, pulling on one of them playfully. Naruto grimaced, but then laughed, Kaiya joining him. "Who cares what they think anyway? They're just scared because you're different. But different isn't always bad." Naruto blinked, his eyes lowering.

"They don't seem to like you either, Kaiya." Naruto scratched his cheek. The more he thought about it, the more he noticed that she received a lot of looks from the villagers, just like him. Maybe not as much, but enough to be noticed. At first, he figured it was because she was his friend, but now he wasn't so sure. She nodded, a solemn expression appearing on her face.

"They blame me for what happened to my family," she admitted. "They think I'm some kind of danger to them. Ringo says they'll eventually be nicer to me, but it doesn't seem that way." After a pause, she stood to her feet, knowing she'd have to be home soon. A sudden confident smile appeared on her face. "But…I hope they realize next time that they're staring at the future Hokage! No matter if it's me or you—we're both gonna be telling them all what to do someday, and they'll be sorry!" She gleamed. "We'll see who's stepping all over who whenever we become the leaders of this village!" Naruto nodded, a grin appearing on his face as he jumped to his feet.

"Yeah! The two of us together…we'll be the best shinobi Konoha has ever seen!"

…

"Kaiya, please wait outside," Iruka instructed, turning to Naruto next. When she was gone, he continued: "And as for you—I don't know how many times I've told you, Naruto, to stop acting like a reckless child. You're ten years old now. Even without parents, you're old enough to know that what you did was out of line. With your immaturity and lack of work ethic, you'll never catch up to the other students. You might not graduate at this rate…if you even make it out of this year."

Kaiya, who was hiding behind the door (as she always did), growled. She waited until Naruto was dismissed from his weekly scolding, then she walked into Iruka's classroom.

"Kaiya, what are you still doing here?" the Academy teacher wondered, looking up from the papers on his desk. "I dismissed you fifteen minutes ago." She nodded, a stern expression on her face.

"I know, Iruka-sensei," she said. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't being too hard on Naruto." Iruka studied Kaiya for several moments, sighing.

"Even if you are Naruto's best friend, you can't deny that he's not getting anywhere here at the Academy—not in his current condition. He constantly skips class, fails his assignments, tries to gain everyone's attention by being a delinquent, and he has a big mouth and nothing to deliver for it. Sometimes, I think he's just not worth teaching." Kaiya frowned, her dark, green eyes full of anger.

"I bet you weren't perfect when you were his age," she muttered, crossing her arms. Iruka's eyes widened in surprise, and he gaped at his usually well-mannered student.

"Excuse me?"

"Naruto is a person, just like everyone else. He never hurt anyone, and he wants to be a great ninja. He has his faults, but no one's perfect, so stop treating him like he's some kind of bad guy. He just wants people to notice him, because he's all alone." Iruka rubbed his temples, letting out another sigh.

"I appreciate you sticking up for him, Kaiya, but some people are just hard to contr—"

"You're always trying to fix him, but he's not broken!" she shouted, cutting him off and startling the both of them. Iruka blinked in surprise. "He's just…a little cracked on the inside. But who isn't? Some people just don't have anyone to piece them back together." Iruka's eyes lowered as he thought about what his student had just said. No doubt those were her father's words speaking through her.

She was right—everyone had a story, but there were some people whose stories were more tragic than most. And Naruto's was one of the most tragic of all. And to add on to that, no one seemed to be willing to read Naruto the right way; all they did was look at the cover and pass him by. But Kaiya seemed to think he was a pretty good read…but she couldn't have known Naruto's real story, could she? Naruto didn't even know himself. Then again, there was Kaiya's story as well, which paved a road for her to understand Naruto's painful past, at least a little.

Sighing in defeat, Iruka nodded. "Alright, Kaiya, I get it. I'll go easier on Naruto from now on, and I won't give up on him. But he also has to show some improvement between now and graduation. Got it?" Kaiya's eyes lit up, and a smile slowly graced her lips as her anger quickly faded. She nodded.

"I'll make sure of it, Iruka-sensei. You can count on me." She ran out of the room to catch up to the blonde, leaving Iruka sitting alone at his desk in utter disbelief.

"That girl…is definitely her father's daughter." He smiled.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" A massive ball of flames hurled towards Pain. He seemed to stare right through it, as if fire was thrown at him all the time and he was bored of it.

"Almighty Push." The flames dispersed just in time for Pain to see that Kaiya had used the attack as a cover.

"Burn, Kurokaji." Flames flickered to life along the black blade, turning a bright gold color. This was the proper use of Blackfire—the power that turned all to ash. She swung Kurokaji over her head, hoping to cut right through his shoulder. However, that's not what happened.

Pain caught Kurokaji by the blade and ripped it from her hands.

Kaiya's eyes widened. What the hell?! He should've burst into ashes after coming in contact with the flames on the blade. Before she could follow through with the failed swing, she was thrown backwards, before her feet ever touched the ground. "Almighty Push!" It felt like a tornado had taken her and thrown her across the crater. She skidded across the dirt painfully, creating a small ditch.

"Kaiya!" Naruto was getting restless now. Hinata was down, and if she wasn't careful, she would be too, soon enough.

Kaiya forced herself to her feet, though it was painful—even with Jin's chakra protecting her now. Blood dripped steadily down her temple and over her eyelid; the ligaments in her left shoulder were torn. She had several other cuts and bruises, but they were minor; Jin was healing them as fast as possible. Breathing heavily, Kaiya stumbled over to Pain. A furious snarl was on her face as she extended her arm. The ground beneath her feet crumbled as the phoenix's chakra loomed around her. Naruto's eyes were wide with fear now. Jin's chakra condensed into a small ball in front of Kaiya's outstretched palm. Pain's eyes lowered in question.

"What are you planning to do wi—" She didn't give him time to finish his sentence. The ball exploded, similar to a tailed beast ball, knocking the Akatsuki leader backwards; he skidded to a stop across the dirt. In the dust caused by the explosion, he was barely able to see what Kaiya was doing: breaking the metal rods that held Naruto in place. Pain frowned. So she was distracting me? Hn. Such a pitiful attempt. It appears she's out of tricks.

Kaiya had broken three before Pain appeared next to her in a flash. "I expected more from the host of the phoenix Legend," he remarked. He glared at her through his godawful eyes, but she didn't waver. Right now, her own life didn't matter. She was going to protect Naruto, no matter what it took—even if that meant her life.

"If you want Naruto, you'll have to go through me," she warned, clenching her fists. If she had Kurokaji, she could've easily broken Pain's rods. But for now, she'd have to make do with her own limbs. Pain's only remaining Path straightened slowly as he lifted his arm.

"If that's what you want. Know pain." He tried to use Almighty Push again, but this time Kaiya was ready. Jin's chakra acted as a protective shield, similar to the time it protected her and Sasuke against her siblings in the Final Valley. Pain was knocked back again, but since he wasn't expecting it this time, he lost his balance and rolled. Kaiya used the opportunity to continue breaking the rods. But she didn't expect him to get back up so quickly.

"Kaiya, look out!" Naruto shouted. But it was too late.

"Ugh!" The tip of Kurokaji's blade swiped across her back. Even though she had let go of the sword, the flames were still intact—mostly because the flames came from inside of the blade, not from the outside. The burning sensation was indescribable, like a volcano had erupted from inside her spinal cord. Everything burned, felt like it was slowly melting away. Her vision blurred. Kaiya's eyes widened as she dropped to her knees, adjacent from Naruto. "Naru…to," she whispered, in shock. He watched in horror as blood poured from her mouth like water from a canteen. The life faded from her eyes slowly as she went limp. Naruto trembled, tears rimming his cerulean pupils.

Kaiya…Hinata…Granny…Kakashi-sensei…Pervy Sage…the village…

Pain loomed over the two teenagers ominously. "You and I share similar pain, Kaiya Umachi." He kicked her in the ribs to make sure she was unconscious. She didn't budge. "However, even when sharing the same pain, people will never understand each other. There is no such thing as true peace. There is only a never-ending cycle of hatred. You sacrificed yourself for your friend, but it was meaningless." He dropped her sword and glanced over at Naruto, who looked like he could barely contain himself. "Love breeds sacrifice…which breeds hatred—"

Naruto couldn't hold it back anymore. An explosion of red and orange chakra illuminated the village—what was left of it—and from the flames appeared Naruto in fox form, already with six tails, and the added feature of bone armor. Pain's eyebrows creased.

"—and then you may know pain." He paused. "So…do you hate me, Jinchuriki?"

When your tears are spent on your last pretense

And your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defense

When it's in your spine like you've walked for miles

And the only thing you want is just to be still for a while

If your heart wears thin, I will hold you up

And I will hide you when it gets too much

I'll be right beside you.