AN: Well here we are again. Sorry I was late with the update but I had to work tonight which prevented me from making it perfectly on time. At any rate, here you go!
Read, Enjoy, Review!!
Kakashi's Gambit
"Naruto, I shouldn't let you be the one to pay for all of this," said Sakura, grinning and blushing just a little bit as she set the empty wineglass down on the table. "Will you at least let me pay for dinner?"
"Absolutely not," said the blonde with a convincing smile, noting that Sakura had indeed picked up some of Tsunade's less slightly habits, including not being able to tell when she'd had a bit too much. That had been her second glass. "I said I'd take you out to lunch as congratulations so I'm not going to let you spoil my treat by paying for anything."
"Fine, fine," Sakura said, looking between Naruto and the barren dinner plate in front of her. She grimaced as she realized there was nothing on it, but then remembered through the slight fog hovering around her mind that it had been an incredible steak.
"It's about time someone finally picked up on your talents," said Naruto, as much to himself as to Sakura, pushing the untouched little cup of sake away from himself.
"What was that?" asked Sakura.
Naruto grinned. "Just nice to see talent rewarded," he said.
Sakura smiled widely, taking what he said as a major compliment. "I just hope I can live up to everyone's expectations."
"I'm sure you will," said Naruto, setting one hand about half way out on the relatively narrow table. "I don't see how you couldn't, given how well you're doing now."
Sakura smiled again and leaned back in the comfortable booth. She glanced around the dimly lit restaurant at all the other customers and smiled. The waitress had been ready to give the two Jounin a table in the center of the busiest section of the place, until Naruto had slipped her a tip and bought them a secluded booth in the corner.
"Well, thank you," said Sakura. "You're the one who should feel proud though, being chosen to be the next Hokage after Tsunade and Jiraiya. Next to that being steward is nothing really."
Naruto suppressed a smile. It's good that she underestimates just how much power the she could wield. I shouldn't mention just how often the Steward is likely to be in control in the next several months.
"I don't know about that," said the blonde, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. "But oh well. Congrats again."
Before Sakura could respond, a tall man in a nice white shirt and black slacks approached the table carrying a small black binder and a tray of chocolates. "Your check," he said, handing Naruto the binder.
"Thank you," said Naruto, taking the binder, paying the bill, and handing it back to the waiter.
The waiter went over the figures in his head for just a moment before looking at Naruto. He looked back down at the money in the binder and beamed. Setting down the tray of candies and picking up the finished plates the waiter glanced between the two Ninja with a smile. "Compliments of the kitchen and staff" he said merrily, before turning and walking away.
Sakura looked down at the chocolates with a look of mixed pleasure, knowing full well that the serving staff at this particular restaurant were only supposed to leave one candy with each patron. "How much did you tip him?" she asked.
"Enough," said the blonde, reaching out and picking up one of the seven chocolates. Popping it into his mouth he looked quizzically at Sakura as if to wonder why she was abstaining. "Indulge," he said. "You might as well."
"Not like I have a girlish figure to preserve," said Sakura, picking one up and taking a bite.
Naruto waited to finish his piece before responding with a grin. "Maybe I was implying that your figure is so girlish that a few candies couldn't possibly do any harm at all."
Sakura smiled. The slight buzz in her head it seemed would make everything he said into a compliment. Her cheeks burned a bit. "If I hadn't had that bit of wine I'd tell you that sounded just like what I found in a greeting card once."
"Strange," said Naruto, "that's just where I found it. I'm afraid I sometimes have to supplement my wit."
"You seem just fine to me," said Sakura, leaning forward and propping her hands up on her knuckles.
It took Naruto a moment to smile when he recognized the look in her eyes as the same she'd had when they were on her couch and she was making subtle attempts to be romantic with him. When he did though, Sakura saw it in his eyes and couldn't help but feel a little heart-struck and it showed in the blush that crept over her cheeks.
"Thanks very much for lunch," said Sakura, looking up at Naruto. It's still hard to make myself believe he's really back, she thought to herself, and that he's taking me out to lunch... on a date.
Naruto's gaze shifted away from Sakura for only a split second to catch a glimpse of the large clock on the wall. The mahogany-plated time piece read, strangely enough, all twenty-four hours of the day, and around the outer edges, had a ring of days and dates. The whole piece was essentially a mechanical calendar, displaying not only time of day, but also day of the week, day of the month, and month of the year.
Buying this seat from the waitress was well worth it, thought Naruto, looking out over the crowded floor of the restaurant. If I were anywhere else, especially in the center of the crowd I might not have been able to tell the time and we'd leave either too soon or not soon enough. Hmm, twenty minutes exactly now until the action begins. Kakashi should still be somewhere around the Hokage's office, meaning that all I need to do now is lead events that way since Sakura will still be slightly inebriated…
"Sakura" said Naruto abruptly.
The girl looked up almost anxiously, a quizzical look on her face.
"I was planning on going from here to have a walk along the Northern wall, and enjoy the view. I thought it might be a little lonely, or I …odd, to go alone and… well I'd like very much if you'd come with me."
For a moment Sakura mentally stammered, and she couldn't stop her hands from slowly clasping in front of her, though the dazed made every effort unconsciously to try and be subtle about it. Her cheeks almost burned for a brief moment as she realized that for a normally calm and collected Naruto to sound almost apprehensive, he must have something, some kind of surprise in store.
"I'd love to Naruto," said Sakura, barely managing to contain her alcohol stimulated excitement. "What did you have in mind?"
"Well," said the blonde, putting a hand behind his head, "just a walk mostly."
"Anything else?" asked the pink-haired Kunoichi, leaning forward with her best attempt to look like she was subtly flirting.
"Well," said Naruto, a bead of sweat breaking out on his forehead, "we'd just have to see what happened."
"Of course," Sakura began, "I'm ready, for anything, whenever you are."
Naruto smiled and stood up, Sakura instantly mirroring his actions, and lead the kunoichi to the front of the restaurant, through the crowds of people, and out into the warmth of the mid-afternoon sunshine. He smiled at one of the waitresses who raised a hand to delicately wave at him.
This is almost too easy, thought the blonde once they were outside and he saw just how innocently Sakura was smiling at him.
"So where did you say we were going?" asked Sakura playfully.
"I was thinking for a walk on the wall where we could see the city," said Naruto, stepping closer, reaching out and taking Sakura's hand carefully in his. "Just the two of us where the city couldn't see us."
For a brief… seemingly brief to Naruto (it was an eternity to Sakura) moment, the kunoichi found that she had stopped breathing and forgotten how her lungs worked. Her cheeks flushed yet again, but she shook her head and looked back at Naruto.
This is almost too easy, Sakura thought to herself. It's like he's not even real… Maybe he finally thinks I'm worth- her mind refused to continue, and she had to fight herself to restrain a squeal of girlish delight.
Naruto began to lead Sakura down the street towards Konoha's North wall. Neither said anything as they wove between the crowds of people in the streets. Sakura was too busy memorizing the feel of Naruto's hand around hers, and Naruto was preoccupied taking note of the girl's every action. It didn't escape his notice how enthralled she was that he was simply holding her hand: a boringly mild gesture of affection.
She must have completely abandoned any kind of romantic interests when I left, Naruto mused, focusing instead all her attention on me and hoping that when I returned I'd seek her out as a love interest… how fortunate. I'd anticipated on having to work around Kakashi or Tsunade to get what I wanted… but this will make things so much easier. And with Sasuke playing right into my hands the last pieces are falling into place. A small grin crossed his face, a grin not unseen by Sakura, who instantly interpreted it as a sign of his happiness to be with her.
She smiled in return.
SC
"Naruto this is wonderful," said Sakura, almost dreamily as she looked out over the city that sprawled beneath her. "It was a brilliant idea."
The view really was fantastic. The wall's walkway was more than one hundred feet above the ground, higher than most of the buildings on the North side of city, and provided an uninterrupted view out over the village's residential districts. The battlements lining the walkway had been largely unused since the sound invasion three years ago, and were now overgrown with vines, lichen and moss that provided a leafy bed for wildflowers. Even the heavy tan stones that made up the walkway itself were covered in a very thin layer of lichen that crunched under Sakura's feet and released subtle scents of flora into the air.
"It's like a little garden path," said the kunoichi, reaching out and plucking a pink flower from the waist-high battlements.
Naruto smiled subtly. Perhaps some poetry…
"Ever tall and over-grown, behold the seeds that war hath sewn. Let us now build up the walls, not for shields but garden stalls," chanted Naruto rhythmically. "Drought and famine come and go, but ever do the seeds we sow, grow again and bring the glee, of springtime joy and reverie."
Sakura looked over at Naruto, a spark of wonder in her eyes.
"Battles ever plague the land, but let us all together stand. For we shall seeds of peacetime sow, and as the sands of time do flow," Naruto continued his voice deep and rich and full, but also quiet and level, "Pains brought on by dark of night, shall vanish as we spread the light. Come now my love and stand with me, for if you come you'll surely see, that I am yours and you are mine, and together we'll make the world shine. We'll clean the smears refresh the soil and through all our sun-baked toil, we'll bring about a golden age, a perfect shining crystal age."
They walked on in silence for a moment, Naruto holding out one hand to brush with his fingertips, the moss and flowers growing on the wall, and with his other hand, holding Sakura's fingers between his own. The kunoichi didn't take her eyes off him for a second, though he looked straight ahead as though he were trying to stare into the future.
"Naruto," she whispered, "that was gorgeous."
The blonde smiled, and turned to look at her. "I'm glad you liked it," he responded.
"I didn't know you wrote poetry."
"It was something to do when I wasn't busy working for the Crane or reading," said Naruto. "That was actually a piece of one of my longer ones."
"I'd like to hear the rest of it," said Sakura, stopping and holding firm to Naruto's hand.
The two Jounin stopped walking and merely stood there for a moment. Naruto's face was unreadable, but Sakura thought she saw a hint of happiness in his eyes, though she wondered if it was merely her own reflection she glimpsed.
"Did you write it for anyone in particular?" Sakura probed.
Naruto shrugged. "I wrote everything for someone or another."
"And…" she pushed.
"And," Naruto said, not unkindly, "If you want to know who that one was for you're just going to have to figure it out for yourself."
"I don't mean to leave this alone," said Sakura, taking a step closer to him.
Naruto smiled and didn't move away. Any minute now. "I'd expect nothing less from someone as… arresting as yourself."
Naruto took another step, but Sakura didn't move, and as she hadn't let go of his hand, the blonde again stopped and turned to look at her in silence. Sakura was smiling again and easily within a single step of him.
"It's so good to have you back," said Sakura, closing the distance even more.
Naruto grinned and put his free hand on her shoulder. When Sakura made no move to stop him he leaned in a little closer until he was looking directly into her eyes and there was almost no distance between them.
"How do you do that?" Sakura asked quietly, like she was out of breath.
"Do what?"
A tremor ran down her back as Sakura felt Naruto's breath on her cheek. "That," she said, clenching his hand just a little tighter.
"I don't know," Naruto whispered, "Maybe we should see just what else can happen."
Sakura's already tenuous breath caught in her throat as Naruto leaned in even closer.
Crashing thunder filled the air. The wall seemed to roll beneath them with a loud roaring crack, as the ground shook with a missive shockwave. Naruto and Sakura were pitched to their hands and knees as everything around them trembled violently. Bricks and stones from the battlements broke off with loud bangs and crunches and rolled over the edge of the wall, falling to the streets below.
"What the hell!?" shouted Naruto, leaping to his feet and running to the precipice of the battlements. Sakura was beside him in an instant. As another shockwave ripped through the wall, the Jounin saw hundreds of dark shapes sprinting out of the forest and running towards the village. With a thunderous crash a section of ground at the foot of the wall and about a hundred meters away from Sakura and Naruto caved in, and massive stones began to fall as the wall crumbled downwards like an avalanche.
"Run," Naruto shouted as the collapsing sections of Konoha's defense began to rush at them like a tidal wave.
Both Jounin sprinted as fast as their legs would move, barely keeping ahead of the destruction pursuing them. They were too high up to jump to the ground below without risking injury, and the stairs they'd used to scale up were now lying underneath thousands of tons of rock a hundred feet below.
"There!" yelled Sakura, pointing towards a nearby tower that served as a patrol post along the length of the wall. "If we can make it to the-" she was cut off as Naruto scooped her up in his arms and ran even faster towards the tower, fueling his muscles with chakra. Naruto jumped and kicked fiercely at the heavy wooden door. It fractured with a loud crack and Naruto, carrying Sakura, leapt through the open entry in a shower of splinters.
The two Ninja crumpled inside in a heap as the roar of the collapsing wall rushed up to the threshold of the tower door, then abruptly stopped.
"These towers are built separately from the wall," Naruto puffed, "and their foundations run much deeper underground."
"We're under attack," growled Sakura. "We've got to do something."
"Agreed," said Naruto, pointing towards the stairs, "stick close to me and both of us should be able to handle anything."
"Right," said Sakura as both Jounin got to their feet and rushed down the winding, windowless stairwell. They reached the ground floor in seconds, bursting out the door and finding a section of the wall no less than a hundred and fifty meters long lying in utter ruins. Shinobi dressed in dark cloaks and camouflaged fatigues were rushing over the rubble into the city. Smoke was already filling the air as fires broke out in nearby buildings and the sounds of battle had erupted in a chorus of frenzied chaos.
Not wasting a second, Naruto's hands flew together in an unrecognizable series of seals. He drew in a deep breath and blew out a wide, conical stream of searing hot flames that engulfed some of the enemy nin so unfortunate as to be close enough to Naruto. Instantly the air filled with the putrid smell of burning flesh as no less than ten Ninja were incinerated in the wave of fire.
"Now that I've got your attention," said Naruto, whipping the amber sword from its sheath and twirling it around his head like a dervish, "the real work begins! Sakura, fall in behind me and keep as many of the as you can from getting past us until help arrives."
Sakura nodded and followed about twenty feet behind Naruto. Despite her years of training under Tsunade, she was finding it hard to concentrate on the fight. Most of her opponents were simply fodder, poorly trained Ninja sent into the fray just for the sake of added numbers, and Sakura's fists were dashing their skulls to pieces and sending them hurdling into the air, but her movements were more sluggish than what she thought they should have been.
Naruto pulled ahead just a little bit, dodging and weaving in the ranks of the invading Shinobi. It seemed that wherever he went, death and flashes of blood followed immediately. The blonde was a whirlwind in the street. No sooner would he dispatch one enemy, then would he have begun to whirl on the next. Fire and bursts of red chakra danced wherever he pleased and all around him the screams of the dying erupted. He'd leapt into the fray already prepared for it.
Puffs of smoke signaled the arrival of a dozen shadow-clones, and suddenly twelve more Narutos joined in on the fight, hurling themselves at the enemy with no heed for their own survival.
"Don't let any into the city!" shouted the real Naruto. "Hold them all here!"
The clones responded happily, hacking and slashing and dodging and twirling. The rubble covered road that ran parallel to where the wall had once been became a veritable hell. Fire's exploded from the clones, and the invading Shinobi responded in kind. The jutsus used by both sides became increasingly violent, prompting Naruto to summon two dozen more copies of himself.
The original Naruto charged up the side of the small hill of rubble, determined to hold the enemies at bay, plaiting about and ramming his sword into anyone who came close. He ducked down to the ground, and slammed his heel up into an attacker's jaw, snapping his head back with a disgusting crunch. The Nin fell back dead.
Damn why did I drink so much? Sakura berated herself as she caught a Ninja's punch, and flicked her wrist, breaking his arm at the elbow with a loud snap. I shouldn't have had any at all. Now I'm just going to be holding Naruto back. Sakura reared around and slammed a Nin in green in the stomach. The mask across his face caught most of the blood he spat up, but some still spattered Sakura's dress.
The Kunoichi took advantage of a slight lull in the battle to look around. She grinned; relieved to see that Naruto's army of clones was cutting back the invading Shinobi. Here and there white puffs of smoke would signal the demise of one of Naruto's outnumbered warriors, but for the most part, the tide of enemies flowing into the city had been stemmed.
"Sakura!" Naruto shouted.
The pink haired Kunoichi turned towards the source of the voice. A hate filled mug snarled at her, the enemy Nin was literately right in her face and Sakura didn't have time to react. The Nin reared back and swung a sword at her just as Sakura gasped in shock.
The sound of slicing flesh filled Sakura's ears just before a gurgled cry erupted from her attacker. Naruto stood directly in front of her, his own amber sword burning like a brand in the sunlight from where Naruto had slammed it, point first, into the enemy's throat. The blonde wrenched the handle of the blade, cutting through his opponent's spine like cardboard and jerking the sword back.
"Are you all right?" Naruto asked, turning quickly to Sakura as the enemy Nin's corpse fell backwards, the head toppling to the ground before the trunk, and without the sword.
"Fine, thank you" said Sakura. A flicker of red caught her eye and she looked down at Naruto's hand. "You're hurt!" she gasped, seeing that his badly bleeding fingers were still clutched around the blade that had very nearly killed her.
"Don't worry about me," said Naruto, turning when he heard a battle cry from within the city. "Looks like the cavalry is here!"
Sakura turned and saw no less than forty Konoha Ninja, the Leaf proudly emblazoned on their chests, charging out from between the buildings. Akimichi Chouji was at the head of the onrushing Ninja, and didn't hesitate when he saw how outnumbered his men were, but rather threw himself at the nearest invader and crushed him to the ground with a monstrous hammer-fist.
"Hey Naruto!" yelled Chouji. "Thanks for holding things down until we got our act together! We can handle it from here but you're welcome to stay for some of the action if you want. I'd be happy to who's got more kills at the end of the day!"
Naruto grinned, pulled out a kunai, and flung it at a Ninja just coming over the wall of collapsed rubble. The supersonic missile rocketed between his eyes, ripping through the front of his skull and bursting out the back in a shower of blood and brains. With a dull look in his dead eyes the Nin fell backwards and tumbled down the rocky hill.
"I'm at ninety-six!" yelled the blonde.
Chouji didn't answer, grabbing an invader by his neck with one hand, breaking his larynx with a single squeeze, and tossing the body aside.
"Let me take a look at that," said Naruto, reaching out for Sakura's cheek.
"What?" asked the kunoichi, but as she felt his fingers brush her skin, a hot stinging twanged across her cheek and she suddenly became aware of warm blood trickling down onto her neck.
"Nasty cut," said Naruto.
"I hadn't even noticed," said Sakura, pulling a little gauze out of a fold in her dress and dabbing away the blood. "But it's nothing. I can still fight."
"I wasn't going to tell you not to," said Naruto. "Frankly I need your help. C'mon."
He actually needs me to help him? Sakura mused almost happily as she and Naruto returned to the forefront.
By now Chouji's guards had drawn up a line of defense along the rubble, and were holding it securely. The waves of lower class Shinobi, none of which wore forehead protectors or any distinguishing marks, threw themselves futilely against the line. Once Naruto arrived and laid into the oncoming army, the tide, which till now had looked bleakly against Konoha, quickly turned.
Naruto charged forward ahead of the line, abandoning any façade of staying on the defensive, and cut a bloody swath out of the forward ranks of the enemy. Every move he made seemed to be followed immediately by the choking cries of his victims as they were cast aside into bloody piles of bodies. The blonde Shinobi didn't seem to use chakra at all. The violently powerful jutsus he had been using were no longer present. Naruto would simply disappear in a blur of speed, reappear behind or beside an unlucky ninja, hack them and all around them to pieces in a deathly spiraled spin, and disappear back into the chaos he was sewing in the ranks.
For a moment, it seemed that the whole invading army was focused on simply surviving Naruto, and the assault on Chouji's guard lulled. There were still dozens of Ninja making it past Naruto and throwing themselves against the line, but those that did fought with little resolve. Most broke on the line and tried to flee, turning back towards the forest outside Konoha, from which the army was still pouring, and retreated. Most of those that did were easy prey for the flickering Naruto.
C'mon you bastard, Naruto growled as he disemboweled a nameless assailant with a twist of his amber blade. How many of your pawns do I have to destroy before you show yourself… patience Naruto, patience. It's all happening just the way it should. Soon they'll
attack on another front, they have to in order to draw me away from here and then the real prize will show up.
SC
"Oi, Haruka-kun," barked Kimimaro.
Kimimaro stood atop one of the massive trees outside Konoha, perfectly balanced on the tip of the tallest branch. All around him he could see down into the forest, and before him was the Hidden Leaf Village. He saw his armies had successfully destroyed a large section of the wall via sappers, and the untrained novices attacking the line of guardsmen holding the ruins. Beneath he could see the cannon-fodder troops he'd ordered knowingly to their deaths rushing towards the village. They're expendable, he thought, and it's unlikely I'll ever run out.
"Yes sir," said the tall, dark haired Ninja appearing on a branch beneath and next to the Kaguya.
"You see that?" Kimimaro pointed off towards the battle as the screams and cries floated in on the wind.
"Sir?" asked Haruka, "what aspect of it sir?"
"Look at the head of the columns we've sent in."
Haruka took a closer look, immediately spotting the source of the trouble in Kimimaro's voice. "They've sent in a taskforce. They're butchering the men."
"That's one ninja," said Kimimaro, his pale skin gleaming in the sun.
"One?" gasped Haruka, looking again. "But there must be at least ten Ninja marauding through our troops. I can't even tell how many there are they're moving so fast."
"There's only one," the Kaguya repeated. "And he's moving at one hundred and ninety-seven percent of the speed of sound… almost three times faster than the human eye can detect by normal means."
"Is it one of the Sanin?" asked the captain, glancing nervously at his general. "I thought Tsunade and Jiraiya were at Suna fighting Orochimaru and the Mizukage."
"No," said Kimimaro, glaring down into the battlefield, "Uzumaki Naruto. Orochimaru-Sama warned me about you…"
The Kaguya took several minutes, watching Naruto massacre the unmarked and nameless sound troops. Such grace, thought Kimimaro. I've never seen anyone fight with such finesse, let alone with such strength and determination as well. Uzumaki Naruto… I think it may be time to move against you.
"Haruka," the Kaguya general said calmly. "Move the Kumo division in from the West and have them sapper the wall the way we did here. Take a third of the Oto brigade North East and hit Konoha again at the same time as the Kumo division moves in. Make the hits fast and hard. We need to end this before the Leaf can recover enough to go on the offensive."
"Sir," acknowledged Haruka. "What do you plan to do sir? We do after all have them outnumbered more than fourteen to one."
"No," said Kimimaro. "They have Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi. We have Orochimaru's progeniated troops and me. The odds are almost even. This push on our part will either win or lose this battle. I will engage and kill Naruto with a sneak attack as soon as the opportunity presents itself."
"Yes Sir!" shouted Haruka, dropping down beneath the canopy of the trees.
SC
"Nooooo!" shrieked a masked Shinobi as he turned tail and fled from Naruto. "I don't want to die! I don't- Gaah!"
The Ninja fell to the ground and Naruto jerked his sword out of the Nin's back, making sure to sever his spine as he did. "Too bad," mumbled the blonde, wiping some of the caked blood from his face and disappearing into another whirl of chaotic speed.
"Naruto!" shouted Chouji from the defensive line the Town Guard, now fifty men strong, still held. "Naruto!"
Naruto turned at the call of his name, and saw the Lieutenant Guard waving him down. In an instant he was back at the line. He smiled convincingly when he saw Sakura standing, safely, behind the guards.
"Naruto," growled Chouji. "Shit's really going down all over the village. Cloud troops broke through the Western Wall and Sound Troops are assaulting from the North East as we speak. I've ordered reinforcements of guards and Chuunin to support the positions, but with as thin as we're being spread I don't know if we'll be able to totally hold them out. Cloud Nin are already leaking into the city and I don't have the men to hunt them all down."
"The citizens have been moved to the shelters by now," said Naruto, assuming protocol had been folowed. "So we don't need to worry about them. Where do you need me the most?"
"I can handle things here," said Chouji, looking out over the carnage. As soon as Naruto left the fray the unmarked warriors had renewed their assault on the guard, but the line still didn't waiver. "Kumo is the biggest threat right now so I'd ask you to head West."
Good, Kakashi should be somewhere in that direction, thought Naruto.
"I can do that," he said turning to Sakura. "Care to join me?"
"Absolutely," said the Kunoichi.
"Then let's not waste any more time," said Naruto.
Turning to the village and with Sakura right behind him, Naruto ran down one of the streets he knew would lead him straight to the hot zone. Numerous buildings were damaged or on fire, and the streets were littered with dead bodies. Most of the cadavers the Jounin passed were either unmarked or Kumo Nin, but a few were either Town Guard, or Konoha Nin.
"It's just like three years ago," muttered Sakura, "hey, what are you doing?" she asked as Naruto stopped by a pair of bodies and turned them face up. "Don't we need to hurry?"
"Chouji's guards can hold out a minute longer," said Naruto. "I need to confirm something…"
Sakura stepped up next to him and saw that the two Nin were the unmarked ones, and just like all the rest, they wore nondescript dark cloaks and masks that covered most of their faces. Naruto set them shoulder to shoulder and pulled the cloth away from their faces.
The Nin on the left was nothing extraordinary. He was pale, but nothing about his mid-set cheeks or dull brown eyes was out of the normal. His jaw was not particularly square, nor were his lips either too large or too small. On the whole he was perfectly average aside from a tiny tattoo just below his brown hairline which read, in tiny font, '012987.'
"Now that's just sick," said Naruto, an edge of disgust in his voice, "very clever, but sick nonetheless. Orochimaru's outdone himself this time."
"What do you mean?" asked Sakura. "I don't see anything strange."
"Look here," said Naruto, pointing to the face of the second man… which was identical in every respect to the face of the first, aside from the tattoo beneath his hairline which read '012875.'
"Twins?" asked Sakura.
"No," said Naruto, "copies."
"Copies?" Sakura said, unsure what Naruto meant. "You mean like clones?"
The blonde nodded subtly. "After I killed about three hundred of these copies out on the field it occurred to me that they were all starting to look alike. Then I realized that it was because they all did look alike, and they were all identical for that matter."
"Sound is a very small village," Sakura said, realization dawning on her. "There's no way it could support an army of more than a few hundred."
"And there are thousands of Ninja attacking us," said Naruto. "I don't know how he's done it, but somehow Orochimaru has found a way to … clone soldiers."
"And he's probably been growing them for years."
"Luckily," said Naruto, "he couldn't have had this kind of technology for more than three years or he would have used it against us in the first Sound invasion, which he didn't. And from the looks of it he either hasn't taken the time, or doesn't know how, to train the clones. They're all pathetically weak, designed to take up space between and shield the Ninja who actually know what they're doing."
"So what do we do now?" asked Sakura.
"Do?" muttered Naruto. "The same thing we were doing before. We keep right on tearing them apart until Konoha is safe. Then we take the fight to Orochimaru and make sure he never gets the chance to figure out how to effectively train them."
"Lead on," said Sakura, "I'm beside you all the way."
"I wouldn't want you anywhere else," said Naruto as they resumed running through the village.
As they neared the Western Wall and the sounds of battle began to grow louder and louder, Naruto glanced up at the top of the wall a few blocks away and saw a solitary figure standing there. Even from the distance he could clearly make out the figure's tall frame, and strange purple skin. The long tail flicking about made it perfectly clear to Naruto that things were going exactly the way he wanted them.
So you've finally come out of hiding, Naruto mused. Bout time. I was beginning to get bored. Unfortunately I'll have to play dumb until you make your move, but oh well. Once you do it will all be over very quickly.
"Look out!" shouted Sakura, charging ahead of Naruto as a Kumo Nin leapt out of an alley and hurled a lightning Jutsu at them. "Kai!" she hissed, and the lightning dissipated directly in front of her face, leaving Sakura with a clear shot. She rushed in and slammed the palm of her hand into the stunned enemy's chest. Cracks filled the air as the massive pressure of the hit broke every rib away from his sternum and probably collapsed both his lungs.
Sakura looked to Naruto proudly as the Nin fell to the ground, convulsed once in a retching gasp at breath, then died.
"Uh… thanks," Naruto stammered.
"We can settle that later," said Sakura with a wry smile as the two of them moved on.
From his spot on the wall, Kimimaro, with his activated cursed seal at level two, glared down at the battle. The Copy Nin Kakashi had appeared on the scene a minute before and was giving the Kumo Nin hell. Kakashi wasted no chakra and turned his intimate knowledge of the terrain to his advantage, using stealth and quick attacks to dispatch Kumo genin with ease and either severely wound or cripple Chuunin or careless Jounin.
I don't think I can take them both, thought Kimimaro. That girl with the Uzumaki is no threat, but Naruto and Kakashi might be too much for me to handle on my own. I should probably make the attack as quickly as possible, killing one and leaving the other as a less
dangerous target… maybe I should go for the girl; try and separate them all so I can't get a close shot at Naruto…
The Kaguya grinned and ducked behind a bit or ruined battlement as he saw Naruto arrive on the scene and quickly make his way with Sakura to Kakashi's side. The three Jounin gathered close together without clustering, and began coordinating strikes to hold the Kumo Nin at bay.
These enemies are far less numerous, thought Sakura, but more dangerous that those copies.
"Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto, reeling around from slashing a Kumo genin in two. "Orochimaru's attacking the Northern front with cloned warriors."
"Clones?" barked Kakashi, glaring at Naruto with his sharingan. "I didn't see that coming. Can Chouji hold them off?"
"Absolutely," said Naruto. "They're cannon-fodder at best."
"Good," said the copy-nin, "Things here aren't so great." He paused to dodge a burst of lightning hurled at him by a Kumo Nin and retaliate with a flurry of kunai. The enemy disappeared in a puff of smoke and the knives fell harmlessly to the ground. "These bastards aren't experts, but they've been decently trained."
"We've got the home field advantage," said Naruto, flinging a shuriken out and slashing open an enemy genin's throat. "And the dreaded Copy Nin Kakashi is on our side."
"Indeed," said Kakashi, his voice exasperated.
Naruto, acting on instinct, dodged to the side. "Damn it!" he yelped as some small projectile ripped into his left arm, piercing his skin and shattering his brachia like rotten wood. Blood spat from the wound and landed on the ground in copious little puddles as Naruto clutched at his wounded arm.
"Fuck, Naruto are you all right?" yelled Sakura.
But Naruto was gone.
"Naruto!" shouted the Kunoichi almost in a panic. "Naruto where are you!?"
"He's the least of our worries," growled Kakashi, knocking Sakura to the ground as red-hot little missiles shrieked through the air and missed her by mere fractions of a millimeter. The projectiles thudded into the dirt with little poofs. Kakashi whirled around, drawing out a scroll as Kimimaro charged forward blindingly fast and seemingly out of thin air.
Naruto pressed his back against the cold brick wall and dared to glance out of the alley's shelter. He could see that the Kumo Ninja had all but stopped invading from the breach, their flow reduced to a mere trickle that he could easily clean up later. The main action was Kakashi dueling with who Naruto assumed was the Sound general.
Perfect, thought Naruto smiling. With Sakura still slightly hazy from drinking Kakashi will be off guard trying to protect her from the Sound general. Once that battle's over I can sweep in and kill the general. I'll have won it all.
Naruto couldn't stop a grin from creeping over his face. All according to plan, he thought, letting go of his wounded arm. Already the gash was closed and the bone regenerated.
"I don't know who you think you are," said Kakashi resolutely, tossing the blood smeared scroll to the ground. "But you don't stand a chance against us!"
The scroll exploded in a massive cloud of smoke, hiding Kakashi, Kimimaro, and Sakura from view. There was a flicker of movement and Kimimaro leapt from within the cloud to the top of a large nearby roof. He put his hands together in a quick series of seals and then drew in a deep breath. The Sound Nin flung out his arms and belched out a wave of bones. Hissing filled
the air as razor sharp spines exploded from all over his body and the densely clustered swarm of bones from his mouth raced down into the cloud. The spines thudded into the ground and the sound of yelping and screaming dogs ripped through the village.
Too easy, fretted Kimimaro.
A strong wind blew through the street and twisted the cloud into strange and exotic ribbons, revealing the street below. Kimimaro frowned when he saw a half dozen or so large dogs, most dead, but a few still whining, pinned to the ground by his bones.
A loud shrieking chirp ripped through the afternoon and Kimimaro turned around just in time to see Kakashi falling out of the sky, an intense ball of lightning crackling in his left hand. The Sound Nin rolled to the side agily as Kakashi slammed into the rooftop, driving the Chidori down through the shingles and plywood with a loud bang.
Kimimaro swiped his tail, unleashing a volley of bones that ripped through the Jounin's vest and peppered the Copy Nin. Kakashi cried out in pain, the air still filled with the screaming of the Chidori, but then disappeared in a poof of smoke.
"Gaah!" grunted Kimimaro as another Kakashi charged out of the shadows, a Chidori in his hand, and drove the lightning attack into the Sound general's leg. If Kimimaro hadn't tried to jump away the Chidori would have buried itself in his heart for sure. Kakashi didn't hesitate, but threw his hands together in a frenzied sequence of seals. Lightning shot from his fingertips and impacted Kimimaro in midair, charring his right shoulder and tossing him twenty yards through the air and slamming him forcefully into the side of a brick building.
"Nice," commented Naruto from the alley. "He's using up a lot of chakra though."
Kakashi charged forward, hoping to catch Kimimaro before he had a chance to recover. Leaping into the air the Copy Nin flung a wave of shuriken to counter the skeletal missiles his enemy shot out, and performed another series of seals.
The air hissed and roared as a massive jet of flame rocketed from between Kakashi's hands towards Kimimaro. The General put up his arms to shield himself but the column of fire plowed into him like a freight train, sending Kimimaro tumbling along like a fish caught up in a strong current. The pillar of flame slammed into the same building and punched through the wall like a wrecking ball, carrying Kimimaro with it. Fiery tongues exploded out the windows and sent shrapnelized glass everywhere.
"Now to finish this," grunted Kakashi as his sharingan eye spun wildly. His hands were a blinding blur as they performed the set of necessary seals. "Augmented Mass!"
Kakashi pointed his hands toward the burning building and peered through his fingers at the weakened structure. A ripple of energy rolled through the air, impacting the building like a hurricane hits a palm tree, causing the edifice to shift backwards and buckle under some incredible weight.
Four soldier pills and the Akimichi pepper pill, thought Kakashi as the large building moaned and began to collapse. I am going to feel this tomorrow, but it was worth it. Increasing the building's weight four-hundred fold will completely crush that bastard.
Kakashi grunted and another wave of energy rolled through the air just like the last one. This time however, when it struck the building, whereas before the structure shifted back almost sluggishly, the change was nearly instantaneous. In less than a split the whole building came completely apart. Every last brick separated from those around it as the mortar simply pulverized. The structure collapsed to the ground with a thunderous boom, and an earth-shaking rumble.
Sakura looked up from where she stood, over a duo of very dead Cloud Nin, and saw Kakashi standing victoriously on the rooftop as a column of dust and debris floated into the air.
"Kimimaro-Sama," one of the Kumo Nin muttered as all the rest stopped and followed Sakura's gaze. "Kimimaro-Sama is dead! Fall back! We need to regroup and retreat!"
A near panicked cry went up from the remainder of the Cloud Nin as they all began to turn around and run out of the city. Most had witnessed Kakashi's battle with their general, and all of them had seen the climax, but none were willing to face what they were quickly beginning to perceive as some kind of demon after seeing it all.
Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief, and nearly collapsed as he sat down on the roof to take a brief respite. Sakura appeared at his side quickly, asking if he was ok. Kakashi waved his hand dismissively, muttering that he was only a little fatigued from using so much chakra and that he wasn't injured.
"Where's Naruto?" asked Sakura. "He just disappeared after that Ninja shot him in the arm. Do you think he's all right?"
"Naruto's probably fine," said Kakashi. "He knows how to handle himself and I'm sure he took off to help elsewhere once he gathered that I had things under control here."
"But he just up and left me," said Sakura, her voice carrying a tone of despair.
Kakashi grimaced beneath his mask but didn't let it show. "Naruto wouldn't have left if he didn't think you were capable of taking care of the situation," said the Copy Nin. "You should take it as a compliment actually, if nothing else. Besides, there are people who need his help elsewhere in the village."
"Right," said Sakura, renewed just a bit. "Now there's only one front left to fight on and we need to go there to finish this. We may even run into him on the way."
"True," said Kakashi. "Let's go help Naruto."
"Actually," said a cold voice, "Neither of you will ever see him again."
Both Jounin turned and saw the rocks of the collapsed building shifting and tumbling down the mound of ruins. A single hand, white as a ghost, burst up from the stones, followed by a second arm. Kimimaro, covered in what looked to be plates of white metal, dragged himself up from the rubble and stood up straight, his armor clad tail shifting around in annoyance.
"I can secrete a liquid calcification from my skin, which hardens into a substance more durable than any material on earth," said Kimimaro through the wicked mask that covered his face. "If not for that, you would have had me Kakashi-san. I was impressed, but it looks like your time… and your chakra, just ran out."
From his hiding place, Naruto watched as Kimimaro leapt from his place among the rocks, a twisted white sword in his hand, and landed on the rooftop. He observed for just another moment to make sure things didn't go awry, then charged forward and raced through the streets at blinding speeds.
Here's where I come in, thought the blonde, leaping up to the rooftop, finding Kakashi lying in a pool of blood about five yards from Kimimaro. Sakura was standing between the two Ninja, tears streaming down her hard face. As he was sailing through the air, Naruto held out his right hand and tapped the familiar red chakra. The fiery energy swirled in his hand like a maelstrom, drawing Kimimaro's gaze, and coalesced into a perfect sphere of pure and chaotic energy. "Rasangen!"
Kimimaro tried to dodge to the right, but Naruto read the simple maneuver and let a burst of chakra out of his feet, and intercepted the Sound general. He shoved the Rasangen into Kimimaro's chest. A sickening screech shredded the afternoon calm as the bone armor tried
desperately to stave off the attack. Splinters of white began to rip away from the strange metal and Kimimaro, paralyzed by the energy rocketing through his body, was tossed around inside the shell like a rag doll, unable to do anything.
With a deafening shattering, the armor gave and Naruto's hand drove the Rasangen home. It dug into Kimimaro's chest, ripping apart his sternum, and drove his body into the roof of the building. The general's limbs shook convulsively but he refused to cry out. The swirling energy mass roared and pounded into Kimimaro's chest like a jack-hammer, vibrating the whole roof and tearing up shingles as far away as every corner of the building.
Then it was over.
Kimimaro stopped moving and the Rasangen faded along with all the noise it had brought. Naruto stepped back and surveyed the damages. He couldn't see the general's face, but it seemed obvious that Kimimaro was exceedingly dead.
"Naruto!" Sakura shrieked.
The blonde turned and saw the Kunoichi kneeling next to Kakashi, holding her hands over his torso and pumping wave after wave of chakra into the gash torn through his chest and left lung, trying to heal him with no results. The Copy-Nin was still gasping for air as Naruto rushed to his side and fell to his knees, forcing the tears to flow down his face in sorrow.
"Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto mumbled.
The Jounin opened his eye and looked up at Naruto and Sakura. He smiled beneath his mask, and took Sakura's hands in one of his, stopping her futile attempts to preserve his life. With his other hand, he reached out and firmly grasped Naruto's fist.
"I see I did the right thing when I made you Steward," said the Copy Nin to Sakura.
"Don't talk like that," said the Kunoichi through a veil of tears. "I can save you. I just need a little time to build up enough chakra and-"
"Don't be so cliché," said Kakashi. "You're above that. You know what's happening and that nothing anyone can do would buy me more than a minute or two… Sakura, you've grown up so much in the time I've known you. I'm proud to say that I was your teacher, and I hope I've made you proud to be my student. But now… I need a word alone with Naruto."
"Of course," said Sakura, the tears now flowing more freely and unchecked down her cheeks with every sobbing breath she took. "I've never been so proud of anyone in my whole life."
She got up and walked, trying and failing to hold her tears in, to the edge of the roof where she couldn't hear anything Kakashi or Naruto would say even if she had wanted to.
"Naruto," said Kakashi.
"Yes Sensei?" responded Naruto, now completely calm.
"That was a wonderful show you put on for Sakura," said the Copy Nin with a cheeky smile. "I've made arrangements. When Tsunade returns, you'll be given your choice of seventy of our best Ninja to form your personal strike force. I still don't approve of you manipulating Sakura like this, but I can see now that it's what you have to do. Especially now that I'm dead, you'll need someone to support your decisions, no matter how dark they may seem, and she's the girl to do it."
"You've done well Kakashi-Sensei," said Naruto, his voice low and barely audible. "Sakura is just the woman for the job. Honestly, her feelings for me make her more fit to help me in my campaign than even you."
"What are you talking about?" Kakashi gasped, pain searing through his chest.
"I'm sorry I bailed on you and Sakura earlier, but I warned you that I was going to fight dirty, and you happened to be the one standing in Sakura's way to stewardship. Oh Kakashi-Sense, I'm sorry but saying that you'd stop me if I stepped out of line just made you too much of a threat. Don't worry though, I'll make sure to use your death to rally everyone to my cause. They'll all beg to help me destroy Orochimaru and his servants once they hear how they murdered you in cold blood."
Kakashi's eye went wide with realization and horror. "You… you somehow knew the invasion was coming? You warned no one, and then lead Sakura and the general straight to me so Sakura could take over once I was…"
"Shh," whispered Naruto, "Sleep now Kakashi-Sensei. You're part is done and you played your role heroically. I'll make sure your death seals my plans to forge a stainless world, a world without crime or pain. It's only a pity that you won't get to see it."
Kakashi was silent. His chest stopped heaving but the look of dread remained frozen on his face and his mask hid no details.
He was dead.
"I thought you should know," said Naruto as he reached out and closed his Sensei's eyes and then removed his forehead protector. He set the etched bit of metal and cloth over the Jounin's heart and stood up, pausing for a moment to force the tears to start dripping from his eyes, then walked over to stand behind Sakura.
"He's dead," said the Kunoichi. Her voice was spiritless.
"He is."
Sakura wrapped her arms tightly around herself as the tears stopped flowing and a fell wind blew in from the village, carrying with it the sound of battle from the East.
Naruto turned briefly back to look at Kakashi's body, only then noticing that indeed all he saw was Kakashi's corpse. The Sound general was gone.
Damn it, Naruto mentally kicked himself. Damn he was quiet… I knew I should have made good and sure he was dead… but it doesn't matter much now. Other than that everything is flowing perfectly. Kakashi's death may have been a recent addition to the plan but it should prove highly beneficial.
"I'm so sorry," said Naruto, reaching around Sakura and pulling her into a firm, but gentle embrace from behind. "I don't know what to do now… Kakashi was always a mentor… a guide and a wise man who I could always turn to. Without him I don't know where to go."
Sakura turned slowly in his arms. She looked up into his eyes, her own burning with passion. "Fight with me," she said, her voice like iron.
Naruto looked down into her sparkling green eyes and saw the fire there. "But…" he began until Sakura pressed a finger to his lips to silence him.
"We're going to take this fight to Orochimaru," said Sakura with an icy edge in her voice. "And you're going to be the one to lead the war. Tsunade will listen to me and give me the power to let you do whatever you need to, even if I have to drive a sword through her heart to make her. You're going to kill Orochimaru. I don't care how you do it, but you're going to kill that fucking snake."
"Sakura," said Naruto, his voice stronger now, but still unsure. "I don't know what to say."
A long pause passed around, but not between them. Naruto watched her mystique dissolve before his eyes, as her body loosened but began to shiver. Her eyes nearly closed once or twice as she teared up once again, but she forced herself not to look away from Naruto.
"Say I'll be yours," Sakura whispered, her own voice quieter now, but no less full of steel as an emotional wall she'd been building for three years suddenly collapsed. "Say that you'll have me by your side forever and I'll do whatever it takes to ensure that you'll have more power than a Hokage could ever dream of. That is what all great men want right, power?"
"Only to destroy the evil that plagues this world," said Naruto. "Our world is infested by Orochimaru and his brood. I want to cleanse it, but I can't do it alone…"
"Then say that I can be yours for the rest of eternity. Say that you'll let me follow you to hell or heaven or wherever you go, and I'll help you purge this world of whatever you think needs to be wiped out."
Naruto slid his hand up the back of Sakura's neck, running his fingers through her hair, and turned her head up so she couldn't look away from him. "Do you really want to do all this for me?" he asked quietly, leaning in just a bit. "Help me change the world into a shining place without evil no matter what the cost?"
"I've wanted to ever since you came back," she groaned, feeling herself melting away as she closed her eyes. "I've been dying to do whatever it takes since you left. Let me stop pretending now. If you want to cleanse the world, I'll put everything through a trial by fire for you. If you want to destroy the world, I'll tear it all down with my bare hands for you…"
She really has been lonely, Naruto noted. I'd bet my life that the affection she was fostering for me before I left turned into a full obsession. She must have fooled herself into thinking that I'd come back, accept her on a whim, and we'd live together for the rest of our life…
"It will be a long, slow process," said Naruto, "a lot of people are going to die and even more are going to be hurt. No one will get out of this unscathed… not you, not me, no one. Are you really willing to go to whatever lengths it takes?"
"Anything," said Sakura. She could feel her heart thumping faster and faster, pushing the hot blood through her. "Whatever it takes, I'm beside you the whole way."
"Sakura," he whispered, his breath caressing her parted lips as he stepped closer and ever so gently brushed her lips with his, "Help me build a shining world."
She didn't answer, but found the strength to hold her head up and close the gap in the kiss.
Sakura, Naruto thought, you may be getting ahead of yourself, letting yourself believe you can become that particular part of my life, but nonetheless, you will become the vanguard of a new world. You're the one who's going to be the conduit for everything I'm going to do…
"Naruto…" she groaned, feeling his hand sliding down her back.
AN: Oh boy. Please don't kill me!