Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto: Shippuuden, it is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

I'm back bitches!

It was a bright, and cheery mid morning in the woods of the fire country. It had been three days since the group had left Konoha.

The smell of salt water slowly began to fill the air, as they were now closing in on where they needed to get to. A seaport, with a boat waiting for them.

Sakura looked over at Kakashi in confusion "So, why are we crossing the ocean, exactly?"

Kakashi then glanced at the pinkette "Because, the place where Naruto needs to train is a secluded island. It's a two-day boat ride, so long as nothing goes wrong."

The blonde smirks as they go forward "Apparently the one who will be training me is a jinchuuriki as well.. The holder of the Hachibi.. Killer B."

Anko raised a brow to this in surprise "Seriously?" She looked up, putting a finger on her chin. "He's supposed to be almost as strong as the Raikage, himself."

Naruto chuckled at this "This should be interesting, then..." The blonde's eyes sharpen "The Raikage was the only man who could keep up with Otou-san in a fight..."

Kakashi's eye widened at this "H-How did you find out about that?"

The whisker baring boy looks at his teacher with a grin "Did some research on them while I was sick. Apparently the Raikage and Otou-san were rivals during the third ninja war."

He then folded his arms "Turns out the Raikage almost beat him once, too."

'If B is supposedly almost on par with his brother, then that means if I can surpass B.. I have a good chance at surpassing Otou-san, as well..'

Sakura couldn't help but smile at Naruto, thinking back to when he had looked all this up.

Sakura was silently humming to herself as she was preparing her boyfriend's tea, and grabbing his medicine.

While it hasn't been long since Naruto got sick, he was already showing signs of recovering. Which was good, the sooner he got better, the sooner she'd be able to stop constantly worrying.

She then grabbed the mug, and medicine, and walked out to the blonde. "Okay, here you g.. What're you doing?"

She was surprised to see Naruto flipping through old books, staring intently at them. "Looking up a few things.."

The pinkette sat down next to him, curiosity filling her up. "What, exactly?"

The blonde looked over at her with a smile. "The Yondaime's past."

Sakura's eyes fully opened at this "Eh? Your Father?"

He nods slowly as he looks back down at the book "Yep.. I want to know as much as I can, about how amazing of a ninja he was.."

The blonde then shrugged "I mean, true we learned SOME stuff about him in the academy.. But not everything."

His pink haired love looked at him in slight confusion. "Well.. I don't think that books from the library will tell you much, either."

Naruto didn't look up, as he kept reading "These aren't from the Konoha library.. I mean, that place is completely destroyed, anyways."

He then turned to the pinkette with a smirk on his features "Got them from the historical records in the Hokage tower."

Sakura's eyes widen at this, as her eyebrows crease upwards "Eh! You stole them?"

Naruto shrugged at this, as he took in a breath. "Stole is such a strong word.. I would say.. Borrowed.. Yeah that sounds better."

This caused Sakura to rub the bridge of her nose in annoyance "Honestly, baka.. You could get in serious trouble if the elders find out about this!"

The blonde raised a brow to this "Why? It's obvious that I'm going to be the next hokage, Baa-chan even acknowledges that." He then looks back to the book "Also, I only took the records of the Yondaime.. Because he is my Otou-san, I have the right to see this information."

Sakura was about to rebuttle, but she unfortunately couldn't find any counter to Naruto's point, causing her to groan slightly "Alright, alright.."

She then scoffs slightly "Honestly, since when were you able to win arguments?"

The blonde pulls her on to the couch next to her, putting an arm around her. "Well, when I was a kid, I was impatient, and I didn't think before I spoke, most of the time."

Naruto then kisses her cheek, a toothy smirk on his features. "Is it really so odd that I changed since then?"

The pinkette shook her head in response "Iie, I'm just not used to you winning in one of our rare scuffles."

The blonde chuckles at this, as he looks down at the book, and continued to read through it, an absent smile appearing on his face as he looked through his Father's history.

Kakashi smiled slightly at the blonde "Well, I'm glad you're trying to find out more about Minato-sensei."

The gray-haired man looked up, a shadow covering his eye. "He was an honorable ninja, to say the least.. an-"

Naruto's eyebrows raise as he points forward "Sensei, that the town over there?"

This knocked the masked jounin out of his thought process, as he looks to where the blonde was pointing. He then nods "Hai. That's it."

The blonde stretched his arms as they jumped out of the forest, and touched down infront of the entrance to the small town. "Should we stop for lunch, first? I mean we ARE going to be on a ship for the remainer of the day.."

Kakashi laughed slightly at the blonde's excuse. "I don't see why not."

With that, they walk forward, and step into the first place they find. Obviously, because it was a seaport town, it was going to primarily be seafood that was served.

After they all ordered, Naruto took a sip of his water, then looked at Kakashi. "Anything I should know about B?"

The masked man rubbed his chin, as he thought out his answer. "Well.. I don't know too much about him, myself. Although, I've heard that he's a bit of an odd one."

They all thanked the waitress who brought their food, then continued their conversation. Naruto looked at his sensei, as he took a bite of his sushi "How so?"

Kakashi rubbed his chin, his plate already empty thanks to his fast eating skills. "Well, for one..."

"He raps almost every sentence."

They all blink, then look over to see a man with brown hair, wearing a Kumogakure jounin outfit, walking over.

He gives them all a smile, as he folds his arms "Hello. I'm Motoi, your guide for this trip."

Kakashi moves slightly, allowing Motoi to sit next to him, as Sakura raises a brow in confusion. "It's nice to meet you, Motoi-san, but.. What do you mean by 'raps almost every sentence'?"

The brown-haired man sighs slightly "Well, B-sama has always been.. Odd. In his teens he grew fascinated with the rap genre from music. Ever since, he uses rap as a way to express his emotion, and now he even goes as far as using it in every sentence he can to improve his rapping ability."

Naruto chuckled at this "Oh yeah? Sounds interesting." While the blonde never really listened to music, he still knew what rap was, so hearing that someone was so fascinated by it was definitely.. Humorous.

'Looks like I'm gonna have some fun on this trip..'

They all walk towards the docks, looking at the white ship infront of them. Motoi glances over at the four "There's only a few rooms.."

The gray-haired jounin nods "Alright. We'll discuss the sleeping arrangements later."

Naruto had a look of total confidence and slight excitement. Causing Sakura to glance at him "You're really looking forward to training with B-san, aren't you?"

The blonde looks at his pink haired love with a smile "Of course. I'm gonna get a lot stronger..."

Sakura returned his smile with one of her own. "I'd hope so." She then smirks "You wouldn't want to lose to me, right?"

Naruto chuckles at this "Yeah yeah." they then get on the boat, and Motoi walks up to the front "We'll be leaving now!"

As the boat begins to move, Naruto's eyes widen slightly as he stumbles a little. "What the..?"

He grabs his stomach in pain as he leans against the side of the boat. "Urggh.."

Kakashi goes over to the blonde in concern "You alright?"

Naruto shakes his head, his face slightly paled "I dunno.. I just feel.. nngh.." He slides down so he's sitting on the deck, putting his face into his hands.

Anko sighs slightly "Honestly, you're seriously getting sea-sick?"

Sakura raises a brow to this "Sea-sick?"

Kakashi helps the blonde up, and swings one of his arms over his shoulder. "Come on.." with that, Kakashi takes Naruto into one of the rooms, and lays him down. "Rest it off."

The masked jounin walks out of the room, to see Sakura with a concerned look on her face. This causes Kakashi to sigh "You're concerned too, huh?"

The pinkette nods, then looks to the side "Hai.. The last time we were on a boat with him, he didn't get sick."

Kakashi raises a brow to this "You mean back during the land of waves mission? I'm surprised you remember that."

Sakura folds her arms "Anyways.. This might have to do with Naruto getting poisoned, an-"

Kakashi's eye widens at this "Poisoned?"

The pink haired girl blinks at her sensei's reaction, before nodding. "Oh, right.. You never heard." Sakura takes in a breath of salty air, then looks to the ocean. "When we woke up the second day back.. Naruto was in pretty rough shape from being sick.. It turns out Madara snuck into the village, and got him with a poison that suppressed Naruto's connection with the Kyuubi."

The gray-haired jounin took all of this in complete shock, before stuffing his hands in his pockets. "So that's why he got sick..."

Sakura didn't answer, her eyes lingering to the now sleeping blonde.

It was a long silence, before she began to speak again. "I think it goes a bit further than that."

Kakashi raises a brow in confusion "How so?"

The pinkette folds her arms, as she leans against the wall. "Haven't you noticed he's been acting a bit differently, lately?" When all she heard was silence, she decided to continue. "I tried to wave it off, that I was just worrying over nothing.. But I can see it.. He can't travel as long as he used to be able to.. He's almost always pale, and his eyes scream 'pushing his limits'."

Kakashi blinks at this "Now that you mention it.."

Sakura's eyes then glow red, as her whisker marks thicken "I believe I can explain.." Kakashi's eye widens, but the Kyuubi continues. "His body was used to relying on my chakra for many things.. Enhancing his stamina, making his body more durable, keeping him from getting sick, etc." The Kyuubi then looks to the side. "However.. This poison is keeping almost all of my chakra from running through his system."

The Kyuubi then points to Naruto's resting form. "I'm sure you noticed it, Hatake. That faint glow coming from his stomach."

Kakashi nods in confirmation "Yeah, I did."

The Kyuubi folds Sakura's arms, as he continues. "The seal is becoming rapidly unstable.."

The mask wearing jounin raises a brow "Un..stable?"

The fox possessed Kunoichi nods "It makes sense.. I am a living embodiment of chakra. However, Naruto's body, because I'm being held in him, instinctively pulls chakra from me.. That chakra has nowhere to go, as it's being blocked by the poison. Now, it's all being built up in the seal!"

The kyuubi growls a little "If the problem isn't fixed... Naruto will die. By either being burnt alive by the chakra, or it blows him up, which ever comes first.."

Kakashi stared in total shock, and disbelief. He then sighed "H..How much time does he have?"

The fox glances over at his jailer "Given the state of the seal.. I would say.. A week and a half, at most."

The masked man cringed, as his fists shook. His student was dieing, and there was nothing he could do.

The Kyuubi then looks Kakashi dead in the eye. "However.. I do have an idea." The fox leans against the wall. "This is only a theory.. But it's all we got to work off of. When Naruto learns to master my abilities.. He will try to take my power by force.. Utterly destroying our connection.. He would stop the seal from killing him, but then he wouldn't be able to use any of my chakra."

The fox's red eyes stare up at the blue sky. "My theory is.. If we restore our connection.. Or, if possible, become closer than before, I would be able to fuel more chakra than I currently can. It's risky.. But if we both work together, we might be able to eradicate the poison from the amount of chakra we would be giving off."

Kakashi looks down, stuffing his hands in his pockets "You're right.. That is risky.. Because if it goes wrong.. He'll die."

The demon possessed kunoichi nods "Hai.. There's also one other issue.." A shadow hovers over the fox's eyes, as he growls slightly "The brat hates my guts."

The masked jounin sighs slightly "So I heard." The fox turned to him, it was a bit unnerving to see Sakura's face, with the Kyuubi's sharpened eyes, and voice, but he looked past it.

"He has talked to me recently, but it was only because he was sick, and he was personally in danger. Otherwise the kid won't utter a word to me.." The Kyuubi folds his arms "I deserve it, though.. I betrayed his trust." The fox laughed bitterly to himself "Granted... I was doing it, so he wouldn't rely on me anymore.."

The fox then put Sakura's hand to her face, a sad smile on her features. "But in the end, all I did was bring him closer to death than ever before."

Kakashi was definitely surprised, to say the least, to hear such guilt, coming from a fox that was said to be nothing but pure malice, and hate.

Sakura then stumbled slightly, as her whisker marks went back to their original look, and her eyes went back to their emerald color. She then sighed, as she put a hand to her head. "I'm.. Gonna go to bed.."

Kakashi didn't say anything, as Sakura stumbled into the blonde's room, and instinctively snuggled up to him, and passed out.

He then closed their door, and walked slowly to the back of the ship, leaning against the railing.

'It seems like for Naruto.. Whenever something good happens.. 4 bad things proceed to happen..'

The masked jounin then sighs.

'I wish you were here, Rin, Sensei, Obito.. You would be able to give me some guidance.. Especially you, Sensei. He is your kid, after all.'

"That Naruto kid has been through a lot of shit, hasn't he?"

Kakashi blinked, as he glanced over to see Anko standing next to him. He then looked back down at the water. "..Yeah."

The purple haired woman folded her arms on the railing, as she leaned her chest against it. "I know he was considered dead for a long time.. But damn, I was not expecting to see him how he is now."

The masked jounin shook his head. "Believe me, he was a lot worse when he first came back."

Anko looked at him in confusion "How so?"

Kakashi's eye closed slightly, as he lingered to his past. "He was cold, distant, and untrusting to everyone, except for Jiraiya-sama, Iruka, and the Kyuubi." The masked man bit his lip in the process. "That was mainly because, those few years he was gone, gave him a lot of time to think, about who he could really consider 'friends' or just people he could call trustworthy."

He then looked up at the sky "He nearly hated Sakura, too."

Anko's eyes opened fully at this "Seriously?" She glances towards the cabin in surprise "You wouldn't think so, looking at them now."

Kakashi laughed slightly at this "Well.. Sakura strived to restore the fractured relationship between them." That slight amusement went away, as negative feelings came back. "It caused so much pain along the way, though..."

He keeps staring at the sky. "Remember when Pein attacked Konoha?" He just assumed that she answered, as he continued "I didn't find out until I talked to Shikamaru afterwords.. But.. Naruto fought Pein single-handedly. However.. He almost lost.. And.. At one point in the fight.. Sakura died in his arms."

Anko's eyes widened greatly at this, before looking down "Holy fuck.. How that didn't break him..."

The masked man sighed "Oh, it did. He apparently went up to eight tails, before the seal stopped him."

The purple haired woman shook her head. "Not gonna lie.. Your team's got a lot of angst."

The silence was long, after that. Neither of them said anything, they just acknowledged each other's presence, by giving the occasional glance.

Anko took in a deep breath of the Ocean air, she particularly liked the ocean, so it was relaxing to her.

A smirk then built on her face, as a plan began to build in her head.

'Oh, I know a way to get the ball rolling.'

She then sighed loudly "Remember when everything was simple?"

Kakashi chuckled slightly "Barely..."

Anko then leaned against him "Well, I do. Before we had to worry about Orochimaru.. Akatsuki.. All that shit." She then looked up at him "When we had a lot of fun together."

Kakashi's eye fully opened at this, but he stayed silent.

Anko took his face in her hands, forcing him to face her. "Can you seriously say, that you've forgotten about all of that?"

Kakashi stared down at her, completely silent. Anko's bottom lip quivered "Because.. Even though it was short, it meant a lot to me.. an-"

The masked man grabbed her hand, and moved it away from his face. "Anko.. Our 'relationship' was purely platonic. You know it, I know it."

Despite her acting, she actually began to get pretty angry from his response "So, you're saying you don't care about what happened? That it meant nothing to you?"

Kakashi sighs slightly "That's not what I-"

Anko then growls in frustration "Look, Kakashi, I know the first girl you really cared for was Rin.. But that doesn't mean you should shut out any girl who tries to get close!"

His eye widens greatly at this. Anko then looks down, her fists shaking, as her teeth gritted. "You have to get over her, dammit!"

He just stared at her in shock, before his eye sharpened "..That is none of your concern, Anko.."

The purple haired girl's eyes widen at this, before looking up at him. The bitter tone in his voice was something she had never heard from him, before. "Kakashi-kun.." The sun began to set, as darkness engulfed the two of them. The only source of light was the glow of the moon.

She then gets up fully. "Fine then.." She began to walk away, as she turned her head toward him. "You can wallow in your misery... You and I both know Rin wouldn't stand seeing you like this.."

Kakashi puts a hand out, but he just cant get any words out, as Anko walks to the free cabin, and slams the door behind her.

The masked jounin slumps against the railing, staring up at the sky.

'..I know she wouldn't..'

Kakashi stood there for a long while, enjoying the quiet, besides the sound of the water all around him. He didn't know why he got upset when she said that.. Maybe it's because it would mean letting Rin go.

He then looks toward the cabin, sighing lowly. "I'm a real jerk..." The gray-haired jounin then gets up, slowly walking towards the cabin he and Anko are now apparently sharing.

'I'm pretty sure the first part was an act.. The whole flirting thing. After that.. She wasn't acting.. I could tell she was being serious..'

Kakashi slowly moved his hand on the door knob.

'She's looking out for me... I shouldn't be cold to her for that..'

He turned the knob, and opened the door, and was surprised at the sight before him.

Anko was sleeping peacefully in the bed, with her hair down, and the blanket wrapped around her person.

Kakashi sighed lowly, as he closed the door behind him. He took off his forehead protector, and put it down on the table. He then took off his shoes, weapon pouch, shuriken holster, and finally, his jounin vest.

He sighed as he laid in the bed next to her, staring up at the ceiling. As he began drifting off, one thought came to him.

'Wait.. Why DOES she care..?'

Whoa whoa, I wrote chapter 34? What's going on!

Well, considering how long it's taking me to remake chapters, I realized that I can't just focus on remaking old chapters, I gotta get back to writing the story. Hell it's been over a month since I put up chapters 1 and 2 for SoN (Strength of Nakama)

But man.. I forgot how much I love writing this story. I mean, I got kinda stuck, as I forgot all my ideas after focusing nearly a month of my time on remaking chapter 1 and most of chapter 2.

But now that I'm back into it, it'll be stronger than ever!

So.. Here ya go! A lot of reminiscing, and plot developments!

Oh and, sorry if it's rushed in some bits (especially the beginning)

Laters!