Part 2: Chapter 6

(Narrator POV)

"YAHIKO!"

Naru gasped in shock and wanted to do something to help, but there was no way she could get to them in time. All of a sudden, everything went quiet. The remaining people in the crowd stilled their frantic escapes to stare at the platform. Naru couldn't believe her eyes; two cloaked figures were standing behind the Ame shinobi with their own weapons against the shinobi's necks. Naru's smile was bright as she instantly recognized the two as Jiraiya and Sakumo.

(Naru POV)

I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. I might not have been able to get over there, but both Sensei and Jiraiya had no problem saving the day. Both of their hoods were still up so no one knew who they were, but both of their chakras were flaring dangerously. They gave off a very intimidating aura with their weapons held against the other ninja's throats. I know I would have been scared if I hadn't known who they were.

Sensei growled lowly from inside his hood. "These are children. You should be ashamed for tricking them like this."

Hanzo sneered as he looked at the scene before him, seeing there wasn't any way he could win at that point in time. "Let them go. We'll deal with this another day." Then he disappeared just as mysteriously as he appeared. His shinobi dropped their weapons and followed suit.

Konan immediately grabbed her neck in disbelief before checking on Yahiko and Nagato. Once she was sure they were okay, she turned to Sensei and Jiraiya. I could see the disbelief in her eyes as she stared at the broad form of Jiraiya. Slowly, she reached her hand out and touched his shoulder. Jiraiya chuckled lowly before turning to Sensei. "We've got to get out of here before they decide to come back."

Sensei nodded and motioned for me and the other three to follow him. We quickly left the little town and traveled deep into the surrounding wetlands. Our scents would be washed away and hard to follow thanks to the wet ground and rain. Our hoods were still up, but the three seemed to trust us, or at least Sensei and Jiraiya, enough to follow closely behind. Jiraiya turned to the three and yelled over the pouring rain and booming thunder, "Where's the safe house?"

Yahiko wiped a hand over his eyes to block the incoming rain and pointed to the east. "That way about half-a-mile."

We ran for that entire half-mile. After Jiraiya was sure we weren't being followed; we entered their safe house and locked everything up behind us. Sensei grabbed my arm and pointed back out into the dreary rain. "Let's go set some traps just in case."

I nodded and followed him outside.

(Narrator POV)

Jiraiya slowly lowered his hood and stared at his onetime students. "I didn't think I would ever see you three again. When I heard about the rebel forces, I couldn't help but wonder if it was you guys."

Yahiko pulled off his wet outer clothes and placed them in the small sink in the adjoining room. He came back out with a medical kit for Konan's neck. Jiraiya was amazed at how quiet and mature the young man seemed to be. Gone was the loudness and recklessness, instead there was calmness and thoughtfulness. The orange haired shinobi turned to look at Jiraiya with burning eyes before handing the kit to Nagato. "Why does that surprise you Sensei? Didn't I say I wanted to rule the world? I've got to protect Amegakure's citizens and stop all the wars in this world. I promised that and I refuse to go back on my word."

Jiraiya was happy, he was glad that the passion and fierce loyalty still burned alive in his onetime student. "I never doubted it, just didn't think you would get your chance so soon."

Nagato carefully helped Konan out of her own cloak and left the material in a pile on the floor beside his. Goosebumps raced up and down his arms, but he ignored them as he began bandaging the wound on Konan's neck. She smiled at him after he was finished and was rewarded with the slightest pink blush racing across his cheeks. Nagato quickly excused himself and ran into the other room. Yahiko looked back at Jiraiya before following after Nagato.

Jiraiya was left with Konan. He walked over towards her and circled around her. "My, my, look at you. What happened to the little girl I remembered? You're all grown up now and beautiful to boot." Jiraiya reached over and fingered the flower in Konan's blue hair. "This flower doesn't do you justice, my dear, it's waterlogged and old." Seeing a vase of flowers on the table, Jiraiya walked over and picked one up. He removed the stem and replaced the flower in Konan's hair. "Now that's better."

Konan smiled brightly before wrapping Jiraiya into a hug. "Sensei, we've missed you. So much has happened since you left us, some good and a lot bad. If you hadn't have been there today then we all might have died."

Jiraiya released Konan and took a step back. "Don't talk like that. All that matters is that you're fine now. How is everything?"

Konan's smiling eyes darkened with sadness. "Not good Sensei. Planning this rebellion isn't going so well for us. Yahiko is charismatic enough, but Hanzo is so much stronger. He knows to use our loyalty and love for each other against us. How do we battle against that? We can't."

Jiraiya shushed Konan gently, "You just have to outsmart him. Don't worry, when those other two get back, we'll sit down and discuss a few plans."

"So you're going to stay Sensei?"

Jiraiya turned to look at Yahiko and nodded, "For a little while at least."

Nagato walked in slowly with his head bowed. "A little while? Then you're leaving again."

Jiraiya nodded as Nagato continued to hold his head down. Yahiko sighed before nudging his friend with his elbow. "Don't worry Nagato! We've done fine without him and we'll continue to do fine after he leaves."

Konan shot Yahiko a look before softening her eyes and turning to stare out the lone window in the room. "Who are those two?"

Jiraiya turned and watched as Naru and Sakumo placed several well-hidden traps along the perimeter of the cabin. The grass and debris coupled with the heavy rains would make travel difficult and make the traps even more dangerous. "The girl is Namikaze Naru and the man is Hatake Sakumo, Naru's sensei."

Yahiko's eyes widened at the mention of Sakumo's name. "The White Fang of Konoha? What is he doing in Ame? Isn't he supposed to be tearing through Iwa's forces in Kusa?"

Jiraiya studied Yahiko for a minute before sighing, "Sakumo has a job here, just as I do. Classified stuff, but we'll need your help."

Yahiko opened his mouth, but Nagato interrupted him. "We'll gladly help, if you help us in return."

Yahiko continued to glare at the other boy as Jiraiya smirked at the scene, "We'll just have to see about that."

(Naru POV)

After Sensei and I set a few traps, we had to practically swim our way back to the safe house. The house was located in an area slightly lower than the ground around it, creating a basin effect. It was a miracle the entire house wasn't flooded, but considering the fact that they were Jiraiya's students, I bet there are seals preventing the water from entering the house.

We finally entered the house and were met with three pairs of curious eyes and the stubborn eyes of Jiraiya. "Took you long enough."

Sensei rolled his eyes and started shedding his thick cloak. "You try setting up traps in the middle of a downpour while standing in a practical lake."

I pulled my own cloak off and set it beside Sensei's. Jiraiya waved his hand towards the three teens. "These are the leaders of the rebel forces here in Ame. My onetime students."

Sensei bowed slightly, "I'm Hatake Sakumo."

I followed his example and introduced myself. "I'm Namikaze Naru."

The blue haired girl raised an eyebrow before looking at Jiraiya. "Like your other student? Namikaze Minato?"

Jiraiya nodded before clearing his throat, "His daughter actually. Enough of that. Introduce yourselves!"

The girl smiled softly before bowing, "I'm Konan."

"Yahiko."

"Nagato."

Jiraiya clapped his hands together. "Now that we're all familiar with each other, we can get down to business."

Yahiko wasn't so anxious to get started though. He looked over at Nagato and Konan before turning his eyes back to scrutinize us. "Why should we just automatically trust you? You may have been our sensei, but things have changed since then. How do we know you're not just waiting for your own chance to kill us?"

Sensei crossed his arms across his chest. "If we would have wanted you dead then we wouldn't have gone through the trouble of saving you and potentially blowing our covers. We're here to help."

Yahiko opened his mouth again, but Konan's hand on his arm stopped him. She smiled again and nodded to the other shinobi. "I believe them, Yahiko."

Yahiko looked like he was going to protest, but Nagato came to stand beside him and nodded his head in agreement. "I believe them too. They wouldn't have gone through the trouble of saving us. I think we can trust them."

Yahiko took a deep breath before rolling his eyes and abruptly turning to walk into the kitchen. "Fine. I'm going to fix something to eat then. I hope grilled fish and stew is fine with everybody. It's the only thing we've got already made."

Nagato smiled softly as he turned towards us. "He always gets like that whenever he knows he's wrong. He doesn't like being wrong."

Konan giggled. "Not at all." She looked over at our wet clothes and pointed to a closed door leading into another room. "If you want, you can take your wet clothes into the bathroom so they'll drip into the sink instead of on the floor."

I reached down and pulled the soaking clothes into my arms to take them into the bathroom. They were cold and dripping wet, but I guess that was Ame weather for ya. I plopped them down in the sink, which wasn't the best idea because water splashed back at me, and walked back outside to see Jiraiya talking animatedly with Nagato and Konan, telling them some tale from his travels. Sensei was quietly listening and giving his own opinion as Jiraiya's story became more and more exaggerated.

I walked past the group and into the kitchen where Yahiko was warming up the stew. He turned and smirked at me. "So, you are Jiraiya's newest student?"

I shook my head quickly before rolling my eyes at the thought. Jiraiya was too lazy to be called an actual teacher. "No, Sakumo is my sensei. Jiraiya is just going to teach me a few things. And knowing the man as I do, I bet that means he'll give me an exercise and leave me to my own devices."

The orange haired shinobi laughed before slowly stirring the stew. "You know him all too well, Naru. Hey, do me a favor and go tell them it's time to eat."

I agreed and soon found myself sitting at a small table with the rest of the house. It was a tight fit, but there was a warmth around the table that I didn't understand. Something was different in the air and something told me it meant a world of difference to the future.

For the next few days, all we did was wait out the rain. Jiraiya and Sensei didn't really want to leave until they were sure Hanzo wasn't looking for them. They didn't know what the man would do if he found out we were from Konoha, our village didn't need any more trouble. Iwa was more than enough for us to handle at this point.

The Ame trio were kind of quiet, at least Nagato was. Konan and Yahiko were the ones that did most of the talking. Nagato just kind of chilled in the background. He was cool though. Yahiko kind of reminded me of myself, not that I'm bragging, but he's got that awesome mixture of smarts and strength that make really good leaders. Okay, maybe I am bragging just a little bit, but I don't mean anything by it. I'm just confident in my abilities, another trait Yahiko and I share. We got along fairly well, but Konan took a liking to me early on in our stay with them. Since we were the only girls, we were given a bedroom together. We spent a lot of time together and she even surprised me by showing me how to fold origami. It's not really my cup of tea, because it takes too much time to sit down and meticulously fold all of these pieces of paper, but it might one day come in handy. I just don't have the attention span or patience to do origami.

It wasn't until we were almost an entire week living with them did Jiraiya wake me up early one morning with training instructions for the day. Sensei was going to spend the day shadowing Yahiko and the other two while Jiraiya was staying behind to show me something he promised Dad he would show me. A part of me felt like this was going to be the Rasengan and if it was then I was going to be one very happy girl.

Luckily for me it wasn't raining the day the pervert decided he was going to train me. Of course, I don't think it would have mattered either way. He took me out to the wettest place he could find. Right behind the safe house was a small stream that ran into the larger river of Ame. The ground was still wet enough from rainfall to make sloppy, sloshing sounds with every single step we took. So regardless, I was getting wet even if I was wearing one of those handy rain cloaks that Konan gave us.

Now as excited as I was to learn whatever he was going to show me, I seriously couldn't help but want to kick him in the shin. Once we got over to the stream, he pushed me into a sitting position on the wet ground and paced in front of me. His pacing sent up little clumps of mud and grass into the air and onto me. Oh, this better be worth it or Konoha would just have to do without their Toad Sage because I was going to do my best to kill him.

"Ero-sennin, if you don't stop pacing, I'm going to break your leg."

He rolled his eyes at me and pulled out a bag of water balloons. "Brat, as if you could even touch me. Now, I promised your father that I would teach you the Rasengan. It's an A-rank ninjutsu and took him three years to master, so I don't know why he insisted you learn it now."

Yep, I was one happy little girl at those words. No longer did I care about the mud or water. All I cared about was getting this jutsu training done. It was time to surprise Jiraiya with my amazing talent and quick wit. I reached for his outstretched hand and took the balloons.

He pulled his hand back and smirked. "Not so fast, blondie. In order to master the Rasengan there are several steps that you must complete. First involves this water balloon. After I fill it up, you're going to try and burst the balloon."

I waited patiently as he began filling the water balloon up with a tiny water jutsu. Once it was round and firm, he held it out in front of him and popped it using his chakra. He quickly made another one and handed it to me. "Now get to it."

I rolled my eyes and smirked innocently. "But Jiraiya, how do I do it?"

I watched as Jiraiya shrugged. "Figure it out yourself, but you can only use your chakra and you can't hit the balloon."

I nodded once and watched as he walked away. I loved remembering how to do this part; apparently the gods wanted me to have a good day. I lifted the balloon up and used my chakra to spin the water inside of the balloon around in opposite directions. A few seconds later I was rewarded with a loud 'pop' as my hand was covered in water with most of it falling to the already soaked ground. Jiraiya stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me with wide eyes.

I grinned. "That was easy. What next?"

He shook his head in disbelief and walked back over. He handed me another water filled balloon and thrust it into my hand. "Do it again."

I did and yet again the balloon burst. Jiraiya looked annoyed. Innocently I looked up at him with a wide, watery expression. "Did I do something wrong?"

He shook his head and grumbled lowly before pulling out a round rubber ball. Mentally I was jumping around and celebrating as I took the ball from his hands. He held up his own rubber ball and exploded it in a similar fashion as he did the water balloon. Then he went off into this spew about how this was supposed to bring force and power into the jutsu coupled with the rotation from the first lesson.

He had this look in his eyes like he was positive I wasn't going to get this one within the first few minutes. I wanted so badly to prove him wrong and pop it right in front of his eyes, but that little voice in the back of my head that sounded like Kakashi whenever he was lecturing me told me to pretend to have trouble with this jutsu. I couldn't automatically get it without causing Jiraiya to suspect I was cheating or some type of super genius. And god forbid the man try to examine me because he would easily be able to figure out my big 'Kyuubi secret'. So I begrudgingly decided to slow down and have 'trouble' with the jutsu.

The Rasengan was one of those jutsus that I used so much it was practically engraved into my mind. Just like Kakashi remembered how to summon his ninken, but unless his dad gave him the contract, he couldn't summon them. Similarly, I couldn't use the Rasengan until someone showed me how to do it. It was very annoying, but at least I was finally getting it taught to me.

"Okay, give it a try."

I halfheartedly rotated my chakra inside of the rubber ball and did my best to look discouraged. Jiraiya was eating my act up completely. He had this annoying grin on his face as he went on to give me tips and then, just as I remembered from the other timeline, he left me alone. At least this time it didn't sting. I had a sensei now and a family. I wasn't trying to use Jiraiya as some strange surrogate grandfather. Now he was simply my dad's sensei.

I played around with it for only a few more minutes before making a clone and instructing the clone to pretend to be me for the day. I wanted to explore some of the area while I was alone. My clone agreed and took on this look of complete desolation as she tried to make the ball pop. I took one last look at the house and took off towards the backwoods, hoping I could go around the clearing and get to the other side.

(Narrator POV)

Once Naru made it away from the safe house, she immediately headed into a small town close to the one Yahiko was nearly murdered in by Hanzo. For the first time she really saw how rundown and poor a town could be. The people looked to be starving and those that were starving looked like they were in immense pain. Naru could feel the depression in the air and tried to make it go away by smiling, but even that didn't seem to help. The people were just too beaten and broken down. It made her think of Konoha after Sasuke started attacking.

She continued walking down the road and peered shyly into broken windows and opened doors. Every house had the same depressing feel. There wasn't a single child playing in the streets or young lovers flirting with each other. There weren't many young men in the town either; most of the residents were older women and men. It was a strange occurrence, one that didn't sit well with Naru because all she could focus on was the lack of children. Where had they all gone?

It didn't take Naru long to reach the end of the street where she heard soft crying. Thinking it was an animal, Naru slowly walked into a seemingly abandoned house. Once she was inside the front room, one of the boards propping the front door open fell and caused the door to slam shut. Naru jumped at the sound before laughing at her own stupidity.

Shaking her nerves off, Naru walked into the adjacent room and followed the sounds of the crying. The crying continued to get louder and louder as she walked further into the house only to stop at a large door. Even though the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up, Naru reached for the doorknob and opened it. The scene she walked in on would haunt her dreams for years to come.

A woman, whom Naru assumed was the mother, was gently rocking the bloody body of her child. Tears were cascading down the woman's face as she buried her head into the child's unmoving chest. Naru couldn't tell from her position if it was a boy or a girl, but the gender didn't matter at that point. The woman continued to cry and rock as Naru began to notice two other little bodies laid side-by-side on the bed. One was an infant and the other was a toddler. The woman didn't even notice the blonde haired girl standing there transfixed by the sight of the corpse family and their mortal mother.

Naru couldn't tell how long the children had been dead, but she knew from the smell that they weren't freshly dead. Suddenly, she found herself choking down vomit and tears as the mother started softly singing lullabies to her children. It appeared that the woman wasn't even aware that her children were dead. Blinded by her tears Naru frantically began backing up, tripping over the edge of a table and falling right back into a pair of warm arms.

Naru instinctively started fighting the arms off before she looked up to see Sakumo's face transfixed on the scene before them. She stilled in his arms and leaned into them.

Yahiko appeared by their side and shook his head at the woman. "I don't know whether to praise her for ending her children's lives or condemn her for it." Naru looked up in shock at the orange haired shinobi, who calmly met her glance and pointed to the scene in front of them. "Children from this village were found to be excellent manipulators of chakra, so Hanzo started taking them as young a two-years-old away from their parents for training. She obviously did what she thought was best to protect her children."

Sakumo shook his head and sighed. "It's a damn shame. Mothers should never be forced to choose death for their children, even if death is the better outcome." Sakumo looked over to Yahiko. "What are you going to do with her? She can't stay here like this and someone needs to bury those babies."

Yahiko looked down at the floor. "She'll just end up killing herself if we take them away. I'll take care of it."

Sakumo pulled Naru to her feet and slowly began dragging her out of the room. They both could hear the conversation between Yahiko and the mother as they left the room. "I did what I thought was best! I protected my children! I loved them enough to kill them than see them fighting for Hanzo. You don't understand they were starving and I couldn't feed them! I'm not a bad person or a bad mother! I'm a good mother, right? I loved them!"

"Yes ma'am you did. You did a great job and I'm sure you'll be with your children in the afterlife."

Sakumo covered Naru's ears as a resounding 'crack' resonated through the paper thin walls of the house.

"You okay Naru?"

Naru didn't react to his question and silently stared at the dirt on the ground. "How did you know I was in there?"

"Yahiko was checking out an abandoned factory a few houses down the road when I felt your chakra, which, by the way, you've got to start concealing at all times." The corners of Naru's mouth twitched slightly as she promised she would start concealing her chakra better. "Anyway, after that we heard this loud slam and I had a bad feeling you were into something. I never would have imagined what we'd find." Sakumo reached over and pulled Naru's chin up so she was looking him straight in the eyes. "Naru, are you sure you're okay?"

"Am I supposed to be okay? After what I saw? A mother killed her children because she believed they were better off dead instead of fighting for Hanzo and starving. Are these the horrors of war, Sensei? Are these the things that will haunt my dreams? Is this supposed to be affecting me as much as it is?"

Sakumo smiled softly at his student and gently rubbed soothing circles into her wrists as she tried to keep everything inside. "Yes Naru, this is war. I hate to say it, but yes, you'll see horrors like this a lot more often as the war drags on. I wish I could shield you from it, but I can't. There are times in this world when we have to make bad decisions over horrible ones. This woman couldn't see a better life for her children and couldn't save them herself, so the only way she was able to gain that control back was by ending their lives. I can't commend what she did because it tears my heart apart, but she made a decision that gave her an outcome. Her children aren't starving or with Hanzo, yet they're not living either. It's war, a lose-lose situation for both sides"

Naru's bottom lip trembled as she kicked a clump of dirt with the toe of her sandal. "I hate war."

"Me too, Naru, me too."

The two were silent as Yahiko finished up and quickly buried the bodies. He returned to sit outside with the two Konoha ninjas. Anger was plainly written across his face as he slammed his fist into the thin wall, punching a hole through it. "This is all Hanzo's fault! One day I will be the ruler of Ame and I will save the people. This will never happen again."

I spent the entire next month having a clone practice popping the rubber ball with Jiraiya while I snuck out and explored more of the towns. You'd think that I learned my lesson the first time around, but I couldn't stop exploring. I knew these people were in horrible debt and practically starving, so I couldn't help but feel the need to help them. I made improving their lives my secret mission while my clone was practicing with the rubber ball.

Only problem was that Sakumo-sensei made me tell him where I was going each day. He promised not to mention to Jiraiya that I wasn't training in the field if I would keep him informed. I considered it a great trade and didn't hesitate to give him detailed information on my daily activities.

One of the little missions I assigned myself was taking care of a small farmer's crop. He was an older man and wasn't able to get out as well as he used to. During the day I and a couple of clones would go into his rice fields and check to see if the water levels were okay and if the plants were growing well. Whenever the crop matured then I was going to harvest the back part for him while he was taking his afternoon nap. He could get the closer part of the crop fine, but the further away from his house; the harder it got for the old man to walk.

I also used my clones to dig a well for one of the little towns around the safe house. Their original well was contaminated by some of Hanzo's shinobi and they didn't have the manpower to dig another one, so they were using the lengthy process of distilling rain water to get drinking water. I couldn't sleep knowing they weren't getting good drinking water because they didn't have enough people to dig a well, so I dug it for them. Of course, all of these tasks I did under some sort of guise. I couldn't draw attention to myself or our mission would be in jeopardy.

Finally, once the month was over I felt comfortable enough to go back and rock Jiraiya's mind by completing the second step of the Rasengan. Well, that and I didn't really have anything else to occupy my time. The crops were harvested and the houses were patched up, so I was left with either aimlessly wandering or going back to the Rasengan. I really shouldn't have waited a month to do it, but there were other pressing matters that I needed to tend do. It's not like it matters how soon I finish it; he's going to be blown away anyway because it took Dad three years to master it. I was planning on mastering it within the next month.

I dispelled my clone as I returned to the house and called Jiraiya over to watch me. He watched with hidden interest as I gathered my chakra into my hands at a much more controlled and denser level than before. I could tell he noticed the change in my chakra density because his left eyebrow rose slightly. I smirked as the ball popped in between my hands.

Jiraiya clapped. "The second step is complete, at an alarming rate I might add."

I smiled at him and wiped my hands off on my pants. "Now what?"

The Toad Sage took out a deflated balloon and quickly blew it up. Then he held it in his hand as he began explaining. This was the final step, the step that brought together everything to make the Rasengan. I couldn't wait to feel the comfortable pressure of my chakra spinning tightly together against the surface of my palm. Oh how I had missed that feeling!

"Do you understand?" I looked up at him and noticed he had a Rasengan spinning in his left hand while the right held the balloon.

"Yeah, spin the chakra without moving the balloon. Got it."

"It's not that easy Naru. You've skated through this entire process, but even this will take time."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. Was Jiraiya in the other timeline this annoying too? "I've got it. I'll have it down in no time at all."

As Jiraiya walked away, I took a long look at the balloon in my hand and sat it down on the ground. Last time around I stupidly took on Tsunade and bet her I would master the complete Rasengan in three days. She on the other hand gave me a week and bet the First Hokage's, her grandfather's, priceless necklace against all of my money. I brought my hands up to my neck and felt the empty spot where the necklace used to reside. I had lost it somewhere between there and here. I guess it was just one of those things I had to give up in order to make the future a better place.

I took a deep breath and walked toward the tree line as I gathered my chakra and called upon a clone. I was pretty sure I could complete the Rasengan without my clone's help, because my chakra control was so much better this time around, but for old time's sake I was going to use a clone. Quickly my chakra gathered and spun rapidly and tightly around in my hand as my clone quickly began forming it into the perfect sphere shape I needed to have a completed Rasengan. Once the tightly spinning ball of chakra was in my hand, I let loose a grin and plowed it into the nearest tree. Hearing the oh-so familiar cracking of bark as my chakra hit it was music to my ears. Feeling the pressure of the chakra against my hand was as comforting as a favorite blanket.

I loved this technique.

Showing Jiraiya the completed technique just days after he showed her the final step was the best thing Naru could have ever done. The older man now looked at her with something akin to wonder and amazement in his eyes. He talked to her differently now; obviously realizing she had some kind of talent.

Sakumo walked around Jiraiya with an 'I told you so' look on his face and grinned every time Jiraiya mentioned Naru's progress. He knew his student was a quick learner when it came to jutsu. The girl picked up jutsu faster than his ninken could find a scent.

Seeing how well she did with the Rasengan, Jiraiya slowly began teaching her simple seals. The ones she would use for exploding tags and for carrying her explosives. He could tell the girl had little to no interest in learning seals, but he figured he could enhance her knowledge by relating it to demolition.

Only problem with teaching Naru seals was that she didn't like repetitive actions, like practicing her seal drawing technique. It annoyed her to no end and she just couldn't concentrate on what she was doing. It was even worse for her because she was forced to sit inside and practice the seals. Inside and Naru didn't mix well.

Sakumo tried his hardest to get her to concentrate on the exercises, but after the first few sheets of paper, Naru just zoned out from what she was doing. This was really the first time he had ever seen her actually sit down and work on something. Usually she was bouncing around the training field and showing off her amazing skill. That talent was nowhere to be seen as she struggled to pay attention to the sheet. Sakumo knew it wasn't because she was unintelligent, but because she was bored as Hell. Jiraiya was the kind of teacher that would show you something once and then leave. Sakumo, on the other hand, usually stuck around and coached.

Since Jiraiya was following the Ame trio, Sakumo had decided to stick around and see what he could do to help Naru concentrate. He sighed before picking up a few of the blank pieces of paper and looking at the front door.

"Okay, get up. We're going to try something different because obviously this isn't working."

Naru's face lit up with hope as she pushed herself away from the table and followed Sakumo outside. The silver haired man looked deep in thought as he took a good look around the yard before summoning his wolves. The entire pack stood at attention before him as they waited for Sakumo's orders. Naru watched the entire process curiously as Sakumo whispered into their ears what he wanted them to do.

"Naru, can you step inside for a minute? And remember, no peeking."

Naru nodded and did as she was asked. For the life of her she couldn't figure out what her sensei was doing. A few minutes later, Sakumo called her back outside. The wolves were all still standing at attention, but now each one had a piece of paper hanging around their necks. Each piece of paper displayed one of the symbol components that Naru was supposed to be learning.

"We're going to play a game. Since learning seals is more memorization than anything else, all you have to do is recognize the symbols and know how they fit where. You pretty much already know what they do and how they do it, but you just don't have an attention span long enough to learn this on paper. So we're going to help you."

"How?"

"The ninken are going to randomly run around the yard and rearrange themselves in a random order. Then you are going to write down every seal symbol you can see in their arrangement. After we've done this a few times it will start getting harder because I'll start telling you which symbols you can write down and which ones you can't."

Naru smiled and ran back into the house to get one of the tablets of paper and an ink brush. He nodded towards Sakumo, who whistled and stepped back from the ninken. Each wolf gave a small howl before taking off across the yard and falling back into place. Naru studied each symbol before quickly writing down some of the ones she saw. Sakumo watched happily as Naru finished and turned to show him her work.

"Good job, let's try for something harder."

I would work on seals until our mission was over, or so Jiraiya said. Talk about boring. If it weren't for Sensei I would have died of boredom. Luckily he knows me well enough to catch my interest easily. We were almost five months into our mission now and Jiraiya kept mentioning he was going to take me to his friend, the ex-demo expert, but he hadn't actually taken me to him yet. We've been spending most of our time working on the seals so of course I was excited to get away from the seal work. I was also excited on another level because after living with Tsutomu I realized how uneducated I was about demolition and mines. Demolition wasn't simply placing a bunch of explosives around a wall and hoping it fell. There was so much more to it and I was ready to learn it.

The Ame trio were rarely at the safe house. They had other pressing matters to attend to out and about in the countryside. According to Sensei, they were getting followers and planning a huge revolt. Most days it was just me and Jiraiya and considering he rarely stayed around to watch my training, I was alone most days. Just me and whatever complicated seal Jiraiya had me memorizing.

It was the days I spent alone that I missed Kakashi more than I wanted to admit. He had been my constant companion for so long it was only natural for me to miss him. Kyuubi found it funny and never stopped talking about how cute a couple we would be. I've just learned to ignore everything the furball says. Me and Kakashi a couple? Yeah, right, when pigs fly.

Another little thing I had taken to doing was playing pranks on Jiraiya, nothing huge because I didn't have the resources or time to plan them, but he was the one that would wake me up in the morning. So whenever he would walk in and try to rouse me from sleep, I would mess with him. Some mornings I would simply turn over and away from him until he got so frustrated he walked away. While others I would burrow deep into the covers where he would have to untangle them to get to me. Yeah it wasn't anything as good as what me and Kakashi pulled off, but it was something to do.

This morning was no different. I knew how Jiraiya's walk sounded because of those geta sandals he loves to wear. So I waited quietly with my eyes firmly shut. Today I was going to jump up at him while he was leaning over. What I didn't expect was that he already knew I was just playing with him. As I jumped up I was met with a splash of cold water.

The feel of the water instantly took me back to a place I tried not to think about. It brought me straight back to Fort Kei, right back to Tero and his freezing water, squeezing hands and growling voice. Pain shot through my brain like lightning as the memories assaulted my mind, causing my body to spasm sharply and breath to come out in uneven puffs. I was hyperventilating and if I didn't get my breathing under control, then I was going to pass out. Vaguely I could hear Jiraiya saying something before the blackness took over.

(Narrator POV)

Jiraiya stared wide-eyed at the girl before him. He didn't know what caused her to start hyperventilating until he remembered this was the same girl who was captured by Iwa. Immediately he reached down and pulled her into his arms, ignoring the fact her body was clammy and cold he raced into his room and started pulling dry blankets off of the bed. Quickly he wrapped her up and rubbed his hands against her arms to try and warm her up.

The Toad Sage knew anything could set off a torture victim and wondered if Naru was suffering from a slight case of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD could show up at any time and be set off by any little thing.

Jiraiya slowly tried waking Naru up by gently stroking her hair and shaking her slightly warmer shoulders. Groggily the girl's eyes opened and she struggled slightly before settling down when she realized who was holding her. In her haze, she smiled and called him 'Jiraiya-sensei' before passing out again.

He stared transfixed at the girl in his arms before laying her on his bed and walking back into her room. With his mind in a fog, he gathered a bag full of her stuff and went back into his room to pick her up. Today she was supposed to start training with the ex-demo expert and they were already late. The man wasn't going to wait any longer.

Jiraiya made a quick decision and decided to take Naru as she was, her color was looking better and her breathing had evened out, so he was sure she was going to be just fine. What didn't make sense to him was the fact that she just called him 'Jiraiya-sensei.' Naru never called him anything other than Jiraiya, pervert or Ero-sennin. Jiraiya pushed it out of his mind and filed it onto his list of things that didn't seem quite right with the girl before exiting the house and heading towards the outskirts of the woods. There he would meet Naru's newest teacher and pass her over.

(Naru POV)

When I finally came to, I was lying in a bed I didn't recognize in a dark room I didn't recognize. A woman was sitting beside my bed in a rocking chair and smiled softly at me as I tried to sit up. Gently she pushed me back down and stroked my hair in a comforting fashion. She was an older looking lady, probably about fifty-years-old, with light blonde hair and a maternally plump figure. She had the whole 'mothering' feel about her as she smoothed the covers around me and turned on a lamp beside the bed. In the light I could see the small laugh lines and crow's feet that dotted the corners of her mouth and eyes. Her eyes, though, was what my attention focused on the most; they were solid white.

"Lie back down dear. Jiraiya said you had a bad attack so there is no need for you to stress your body anymore than it already is. You stay right here while I go get my husband."

I watched her leave and tried to get comfortable on the bed as I waited. I couldn't believe I freaked out again! What kind of a kunoichi was I if I couldn't get over this little memory?

It didn't take long before the woman was back with a tall man. He was older than the woman, at least sixty-five and had salt n' pepper hair. His hair kind of reminded me of Aki's fur. He had a broad chest and figure, but he wasn't as big as Jiraiya. His face had the weathered look from being out in the sun too long and several scratches ran down the length of his neck, but overall he gave off a warm aura. His clothes, though, were a little questionable. He was wearing brown overalls over his regular clothes. Perhaps it was a way to keep his clothes clean?

"Well, looks like my newest student is up and ready. I could kick Jiraiya's ass…," his wife interrupted him with a soft command to watch his language, "I mean, behind, for bringing you to me like you were. Tell me girl, what set you off? You had obvious signs of shock."

I looked away and sighed. The woman moved from her husband's side and sat down on the bed beside me. "Leave her alone for now. She needs something in her system before she starts talking about that. We haven't even introduced ourselves yet." She took my hand and gently touched my cheek and closed her eyes. I could feel a strong pulse of chakra form around my face before disappearing. She smiled widely. "My, my, you're such a pretty little girl. I bet you've got your own little following of boys back home. I'm Amori Naomi and this bear of a man is my husband Amori Yuuto."

Yuuto rolled his eyes playfully at his wife's back. "I can introduce myself; I'm not that old yet."

Naomi laughed and turned to glare at the man behind her. "Well, you should have introduced yourself before I did; we both know I have to get the last word in."

I found their loving banter really cute and sweet. "Of course, I should have remembered." He winked at me before sighing and waving. "As my wife said, I'm Yuuto, your teacher. We're just ready to eat lunch if you want to come into the dining room and eat."

Naomi looked like she was going to protest, but sighed instead. "Only if she feels up to it."

I stretched my muscles and nodded. "Yes ma'am, I feel better. Oh! I'm Namikaze Naru."

She nodded and held out a hand for me to take. I took her hand and let her lead me out of the bedroom and down the hall into a large dining room. She stopped and blushed slightly before turning my way. "You see dear, I would show you where to sit, but my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Normally I have everything set up in a way I remember, but we have extra guests this week so everything is a little different. You'll just have to seat yourself."

I smiled at her, even though I knew she couldn't see it, and patted her hand. "That's fine. You didn't have to escort me here anyway, but it was very kind of you."

"Ahh, it's just my upbringing. Now there is a nice young man staying here with us for a few days, so whenever he gets down here please introduce yourself to him and tell him that there is extra paper in his bedroom and beautiful scenery behind the house. He's an artist and according to Yuuto he's very good at what he does. Okay, I'm going to bring out lunch while you sit down."

She then left me with a pinch on the cheek. I liked her, but I think I could do without the cheek pinches. I now understand exactly how Kakashi feels. Just as I sat down at the table the door opened to reveal a tall man with light brown hair and light blue eyes. I could swear I had seen him somewhere before, but I couldn't exactly put my finger on it. He was clutching a bound portfolio in one of his hands and a pencil in the other. He noticed me fairly quickly and grinned my way.

"Yo! I'm Raiden."

"Hi! I'm Naru. Naomi-san wanted me to tell you that there is extra paper in your room and beautiful scenery outback."

Raiden laughed, causing little wrinkles to show around his eyes. "She's too good to me. I've gotten some amazing pictures since coming here and couldn't ask for a better place to stay."

I looked at his portfolio before smiling. "Can I see?"

He nodded. "I don't mind showing off! I've got a lot of my original works in here, so be careful and I know my first few pictures are horrible, but those were done when I was a child."

I opened the portfolio and was surprised to see the very first black and white drawing to be of the Hokage Mountain with the first three Hokages proudly watching over the village. The next one was of a small girl kicking her feet happily in the water. They continued on until finally other known places caught my attention. He had drawn the sand dunes of Suna and even included a few drawings of the round buildings of Sunagakure.

The final pages were a little depressing, but still kind of beautiful. He began drawing scenes from aftermaths of battles. Kunai and shuriken littered the ground in one of his pictures, surrounded by the wilting stalks of a crop of corn. There were even several drawings of families as they tried to gather together and get their lives back together after the armies of shinobi left their lives. He definitely caught the bitter and harsh side of war in his drawings. The last few pages were of some of the scenery around Ame and I could tell the difference from his skill in the first picture and in the last. He was good at what he did.

I looked up at him as I handed back over his portfolio. "They're beautiful, but I can't help but ask, did you live in Konoha?"

He laughed and nodded. "Born and raised. I've got a sister back there too. She was a shinobi, but I don't think she is anymore. The last time I heard from her she was injured and working at the hospital. I miss her, but I can't go back until I've completed my collection."

"Your collection?"

He nodded once more, the brightness in his eyes making him look like a young boy. "I made a promise to myself that I would see the world and I'm almost done. All I have left to see is a couple of the island nations and a few of the northern nations."

"You saw Iwa already?"

He laughed. "I got lucky and got in before the war started. Surprisingly enough, those pictures of Iwa are my best sellers."

"Oh, so you sell them too?"

"Yeah, I have to or I wouldn't be able to get very far. I had one of the aftermath of the Hachi Ravine that sold to a wealthy Fire Country Daimyo for a very large price. It was dangerous to get the drawing, but I did it without dying."

Naomi took that exact moment to walk in with a platter of food. Raiden tried to get up and help her, but she insisted on doing it herself. I think this is going to be an interesting next few weeks.

After supper Yuuto brought me downstairs into his 'lair.' He jokingly claimed that his wife wouldn't allow him to keep his explosives upstairs because it clashed with the décor. Not that I blamed her. A couple hundred pounds of explosives was not only dangerous, but would have clashed with the décor.

"Jiraiya wants me to teach you demolition. I can do that; it's something near and dear to my heart. If it weren't for my background in demo, then I wouldn't have met my wife."

I smiled at him as he went on to explain how he met Naomi before the Second Shinobi War because he was trying to blow up an enemy's house and ended up blowing up hers. Luckily she wasn't home, but after he realized his mistake he felt obligated to correct it and eventually fell in love with her. Of course, Naomi was a kunoichi back then and beat him hard after he destroyed her house, but he claimed that was a story for another time.

"This leads us to our first and most important lesson. Always triple check to make sure you have got the right target because once something is wrecked, it's not getting un-wrecked without serious work." I laughed with him as he remembered that day so many years ago. "Now, let's get down to the serious part."

He led me further into the large basement, stacked high with a number of devices and barrels of explosives. He walked all the way to the end of the room where two chairs were in front of a table and offered me a seat. He remained standing and paced around the room. "Demolition is a unique art. It's not simply tearing down or blowing up a building. It's knowing the exact science behind how to bring down the structure in front of you. Every structure is unique and has a unique way to come down without destroying other buildings or people."

He walked over to one of the shelves in the room and pulled out several blueprints. He laid them out in front of me on the low table. "Each structure has a support and if you damage or remove the support, the section above will fall down, causing a domino effect. This causes the next level to crumble and eventually fall all the way to the ground. Now watch this."

He walked over into the middle of the room and took off right boot. As he stood on one foot, he held the boot above his head and dropped it to the ground. It landed with a muted 'bang' as dust and dirt flew into the air.

"It's gravity, my dear. A force that works on us all and helps our job tremendously."

He walked back over to the table and began tugging open blueprints at a rapid rate.

"Ideally, if you're demolishing a building you'd want the blueprints, but I know how hard those are to come by. So most of the time you'll just have to wing it as far as the structure goes. The type of demo you'll mostly work with is implosion. That's where the building is collapsed into its base. Any questions?"

I shook my head. There was no need because he was explaining everything very clearly, a little fast, but clearly.

"Good! Now, most demolitions can be done with a few strategically placed blasts, starting from the bottom and working your way up. The base needs to be weakened so the supports are weakened and easier to come down." He reached over behind him and pulled out a pencil from one of the shelves before drawing a circle around the base of one of the buildings on the blueprint. "The bottom needs to be your main concern because a strong base will make or break a building. The base also needs to be divided into two separate blasts. All together and it will cause the entire building to fall and mistakenly injure everybody in the vicinity."

I nodded to show I understood as he went on explaining. "From there you work your way up and place explosives on a floor in the middle and at the top. There is really no need to place explosives on every floor because it's a waste of resources and, really, it is overkill. You would be using too much power and cause more harm than damage. Your job as a demolitionist is to bring down your target without bringing down everything else in a five-mile range."

"Now, let's talk about bridges and later I'll show you how to make dud explosives to scare people with."

I think I'm really going to like this man.

(Narrator POV)

Sakumo scratched his head as he stood in the middle of the kitchen and tried to figure out where Naru could have gone. He had just returned from working with the Ame trio when he noticed Naru was nowhere on the premises. It wasn't like her to not tell him where she was going, so obviously she had to leave in a hurry. Even then, it wasn't like her to not leave a note or something so he wouldn't spend the next few hours worrying over her.

Naru not being there caused Sakumo's protective streak to act up because his mind was going through a million different scenarios over what could have happened to her. Jiraiya's absence was also suspicious and just caused his mind to go through another million different scenarios, each ending with Minato killing him for letting something happen to Naru. Sakumo massaged his temples as his growing headache throbbed beneath his fingertips. He hoped Minato would take mercy on him and let him say his goodbyes to Kakashi before he killed him.

"Sakumo! You're back!"

Sakumo let out a sigh of relief as he turned and saw Jiraiya standing in the doorway. Only problem was that Naru wasn't with him.

"Jiraiya, where is Naru?"

"Oh, she started training with the retired demo expert. She'll be gone about a month or so."

"Okay, because I was kind of worried."

"Me too. She freaked out on me this morning and I didn't know what to do. So I just kind of winged it and she looked better by the time I dropped her off. It's about what four o'clock now? She should be fine by now."

For a minute Sakumo tried his hardest to convince himself that he hadn't heard Jiraiya right. Then as the man continued to ramble about the morning's events, Sakumo knew his ears weren't playing a trick on him. Jiraiya was a dead man.

Jiraiya didn't notice the stifling killing intent until the blunt end of Sakumo's tanto was wedged firmly between his shoulder blades and pointing directly at his heart. The Toad Sage hadn't even felt the White Fang's movement until it was too late. It truly showed how skilled the younger man was.

Sakumo's voice growling in his ear reminded Jiraiya too much of the growling anger of the man's wolves. "Now, let me get this straight. Naru had a panic attack this morning and you sent her off anyway? You idiot! Didn't you remember what she went through? What did you do to set her off?"

Jiraiya slowly lifted his hands up in surrender and took a step forward. Sakumo's tanto was still held firmly in his hands. His eyes screamed murder if Jiraiya didn't give him the answer he wanted and fast. "She's been playing with me every morning for the past week and this morning I decided I was going to get even. I splashed her with cold water and she freaked out. She started hyperventilating so I tried calming her down. We were late and she needed to go, so I wrapped her up and took her. Yuuto's wife, Naomi, is taking great care of her. She'll be fine."

Sakumo snarled and backed away from Jiraiya. He immediately headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

Sakumo didn't answer and slammed the door behind him.

Jiraiya scoffed after the man. "Don't know why he's so damn touchy. He just needs to get laid." And at that exact moment, pushing everything that just happened out of his mind, Jiraiya got a brilliant idea. "Sakumo could use a girlfriend!"

As Jiraiya was planning out Sakumo's dating life, Sakumo was following behind Kane as they followed Naru's scent to a field where a young man was sitting against a tree trunk drawing. Sakumo stopped Kane and turned towards the man that looked vaguely familiar. "Hey, have you seen a little blonde haired girl?"

The young artist smiled and put down his art supplies. "Answers to the name Naru?" When Sakumo nodded the artist's smile widened. "Yeah, go down this road and turn left. You'll see a huge house with a pond out back. That's the Amori house, she's in there."

"Thanks!"

"No problem."

Sakumo and Kane continued until they found the house. Kane pointedly told Sakumo he could have found it without the artist's help, to which he laughed and told the wolf the man reminded him of someone. The silver haired man walked up to the house and was greeted by an older woman sitting on the front porch wearing a plain blue dress.

"Good afternoon, I'm looking for a girl named Naru. I'm her Sensei and wanted to make sure she was alright."

"Naru is currently downstairs training with my husband, but I can go get her if you want to speak her. Did you get Jiraiya for bringing her to us in her condition?"

Sakumo softly growled underneath his breath. "Not yet, but I'm working on it."

"I'll be right back." The woman replied before disappearing inside.

Minutes later Naru came running out of the house and latched herself to Sakumo. It stuck him for a moment as he realized that Naru was no longer hugging his leg, but was tall enough to latch herself to his waist. She was growing up right before his eyes. It made him wonder how Kakashi was doing and if he was growing just as fast as Naru. "Kick his ass for me!"

Sakumo snorted and breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid her episode would have set her back in her recovery. The next time they were in Konoha, Naru was going to need to see Inoichi for a check-up. He knelt down to her level and sighed. "Naru, what happened?"

Naru shrugged her shoulders and looked away from Sakumo. "Sorry Sensei, I'm trying to get over it, but these little things keep popping up and they take me by surprise."

Sakumo shook his head and grabbed Naru's chin to turn her head towards him. Her eyes avoided his, but Sakumo spoke anyway. "Naru, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Most people wouldn't have gotten over this as fast as you did. You're doing great, better than we could have ever imagined. So, what happened?"

Naru took a deep breath before talking in a quiet voice. "Tero used to wake me up by splashing me with cold water and when Jiraiya did it, it took me right back to that place. I'm stronger than it, though, and I shouldn't have let it get to me."

"Silly girl, haven't you realized by now no one condemns you for those little shortcomings that are so far and few between? No one can tell you that you aren't strong because you had a flashback. It would be like telling the Hokage he can't mourn for the shinobi lost during the war." Sakumo sighed before looking past her to the front door where her newest teacher was standing. "Well, looks like you're needed back inside the house. I'll see you in a few weeks. Do you want me to leave one of the ninken?"

Naru giggled and shook her head. "You always offer that."

He shrugged and winked at her. "They're my extra set of eyes. If one of them is with you then I know you're safe. I did promise your father I would watch out for you."

"Yeah, but one day you're both going to have to back off."

Sakumo thought about that for a minute before standing up and shrugging. "Maybe, but not anytime soon. Good luck Naru, and be safe."

(Naru POV)

Over the next few days Yuuto and I got into even more detail about building structures. It was a lengthy process, but easy to remember. I was already excited about the lessons, but I got even more excited whenever Yuuto brought out the explosives. He had every size, shape and type I could ever dream of looking at. Judging from the look on his face, I knew I was going to learn each one intimately.

"Let's start off with a standard exploding tag. I'm sure you've worked with these on numerous occasions because it's one of those basic shinobi weapons. I'm sure I don't have to go over this, but I do want to show you something about the seal." He pointed to the center of the tag where the word 'explode' was written in kanji. "If you tweak the seal just a little bit then you can tweak the explosion, it all depends on the angle of the final brush stroke. If you move it up just fifteen degrees then the explosion will be bigger, but if you move it down fifteen degrees it will be smaller than the standard explosion."

"Now, remember I said I would teach you how to make dud explosives?"

I nodded and he grinned as he turned the exploding tag around and drew a single short line between the two kanji symbols. "This will neutralize the explosion and not allow the explosives to release, but it will still release smoke and sound, just not the part that combusts."

"But how does it still release sound? Aren't the explosives going off what causes the sound?"

"You're right, but your chakra is embedded into the seal and is released at the same time the explosives are. If the chakra is the only thing released then it will make a similar sound to the explosives just not as loud. If there's an exploding tag being thrown at your head you're not going to stick around to see if it's alive."

He laughed and I quickly joined in. He was an easy person to get along with and I didn't feel like I needed to be constantly on guard with him. Perhaps I shouldn't get too comfortable just yet. He reached over and pulled out a bag of regular grain. I raised an eyebrow at it before flicking my eyes back over to him.

"What is that supposed to do?"

"This is regular grain and doesn't look very dangerous does it?"

I shook my head. "Not at all."

"Actually, this can be as dangerous as most explosives. With the right amount of air suspension and spark this entire bag of grain can cause a huge explosion, big enough to destroy this house." My eyes widened in shock as he sat the bag back on the floor. "Flour can also do the same thing. It's just one of those things you need to know if you find yourself without other supplies, you can always use household items like that."

He clapped his hands together. "Now, let's move on to chemical explosives. Have any idea what trinitrotoluene is?" I shook my head. "You might recognize it better as TNT, not to be confused with dynamite because those two are completely different things. TNT is a chemical compound and highly dangerous. Anything can set TNT off, the slightest temperature change or even friction. What's great about it, though, is that it can't be dissolved in water. So it's perfect for underwater demo if you ever find yourself needing to do that. Plus it also has to be wired if you're using it for building demolition."

"Now dynamite is different from TNT. It's made from an explosive component of nitroglycerin. Highly combustible and sold in stick form, it's the easiest to use whenever you're in something like a mine because the explosion is unique enough to cause a blast from both sides of the stick. Am I going too fast?"

I shook my head and continued to hang onto his every word. He was telling it in a way that was not only interesting, but very informative. I couldn't wait to put my knowledge to use.

(Narrator POV)

Two weeks before their month was up, Yuuto took Naru to an abandoned village just a few short miles away from his house. He walked forward and turned back to look at Naru.

"Welcome to your playground, Naru. For the next two weeks you will try and take down each of these buildings using the techniques and knowledge I have given you over the past month. We had to speed train you, but you've taken to everything like a fish to water and I'm sure you'll do fine."

Naru grinned as Yuuto gave her a pack filled with everything she would need before walking over to sit away from the blast site so he could watch.

The blonde haired kunoichi started with the smallest building, a shack that looked like it had seen better days. Taking into consideration the height and width of the building and the fact it wasn't supported by anything except the supports in the walls, Naru placed one exploding tag on each of the four walls. Once she was confident they were placed properly on the supports, she backed away and denoted the tags, one at a time. She watched with glee as each blast went off and caused the walls to groan before finally collapsing in on itself. Yuuto clapped from his seat and urged her on to the next one.

The next building turned out to be a four story warehouse, a little more difficult than the last one, but doable all the same. Naru entered the warehouse and this time placed TNT around the main supports on the first floor. She then made her way up to the third floor to strategically place more explosives and finally a few more on the final floor. After the explosives were set, Naru had to wire them together so they would all go off at the same time. She quickly ran back downstairs as soon as the last explosive was wired and ran out of the blast range. Naru hit the detonator button and watched with mild disappointment as the building leaned slightly to the back as it went down, missing completely toppling the base.

"That's fine Naru, it still went down. Next time try evening out the amount of explosives you put on the floors. You're doing a great job."

They continued just like that for the next two weeks. Naru would scout out the building and place the explosives in places that would give her the outcome she desired. By the end of the two weeks, Naru was toppling buildings with the ease of a skilled and experienced veteran.

Yuuto was impressed, but also a little wary. A part of him didn't agree with teaching a child how to bring down buildings with such ease. He was just glad she was on his side.

Naomi smiled as she heard her husband practically race Naru into the house. She couldn't remember a time when the older man was this excited about training a student. Even whenever he was training their son, he didn't show as much enthusiasm as he did with Naru.

The blonde haired woman sighed and walked back into the house; since she had lost her eyesight it was harder on Yuuto and he rarely smiled anymore. Perhaps this little girl was exactly what he needed to get some of his youth back.

"Naomi? Where are my socks?"

The woman sighed and shook her head. If only Naru could improve his memory. "In the third drawer dear."

The day Naru left the Amori house was a bittersweet day for her. Though, she hadn't spent a lot of time inside, Naomi had taken a liking to her and was sad to see her leave. Raiden laughed whenever she asked if he wanted to send a letter back to his sister in Konoha.

"No, there's no need to have her worry about me. I'll return one day, but I do have something for you." He reached into his portfolio and pulled out a charcoal drawing of a cluster of daffodils growing straight and proud despite the rain pouring around them. Naru couldn't believe how beautiful the drawing was; it really showcased his talents. "The daffodil symbolizes rebirth and new beginnings and the rain symbolizes cleansing and new life. I thought it was a perfect picture to give hope and encouragement while you head back into battle."

Naru really didn't know what she would do with the picture because it was too beautiful to fold. She thanked the brown haired man anyway and promised to take good care of it.

Yuuto smiled and then handed her a book of reference material and a pack full of exploding tags and other things she would need. "I just wanted to make sure you were well prepared."

Naru grinned as she pulled the pack over her shoulder and gently clutched the drawing in her other hand. "I'm sure I have everything I need now. Thank you!"

With that Naru's goodbyes were said to the inhabitants of the Amori house and she stepped outside to wait for Sakumo or Jiraiya to come get her. She was in for a surprise, though, instead of one of those two, Nagato and Konan came for her.

(Naru POV)

Well this was unexpected. "Where's everyone else?"

Nagato sighed deeply. "Yahiko and Sakumo are having trouble in the village. Hanzo's troops are there and trying to detain Yahiko, but Sakumo isn't letting them. He's got his ninken chasing them out of the village right now."

Konan giggled and softly held onto Nagato's arm. "It's kind of funny seeing those men so terrified of the wolves. They're really nothing more than a bunch of big softies."

Yeah, she hadn't seen them in action. Of course, I hadn't either, but Kakashi talked about them with this completely captivated and awed look on his face that I assumed they were amazing in battle. I remembered Kakashi's ninken well enough to know they had to be amazing.

Nagato kicked a clump of dirt before pointing back towards the road. "Let's go. Jiraiya-sensei wanted us to get back as soon as we could."

I wanted to tell him not to worry, but there was an underlying sense of urgency in his voice. Almost like he knew something he didn't want us to know. I sighed and took one last look back at the Amori house before heading out after Konan and Nagato.

Once we got there, Sensei and Yahiko were already sitting around the table, talking in low voices that stopped when I walked into the room. I hated when adults did that. Yahiko looked over and waved before giving Sensei a pointed look and turning back to his soup. I quickly went to put my stuff into my room before coming back out and hearing the newest orders.

"Naru, for the next few months, you're going with me to follow Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan."

"Sure, fine by me. It's not going to be boring or anything is it?"

I could tell by the looks on Yahiko and Sensei's face that I was in for a huge surprise. Turns out the next three months of my life were just about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Before I knew it, it was November and we were officially nine months into our mission. My birthday had come and gone and the days were getting colder, so cold that it started snowing. Apparently freezing rain and below freezing temperatures make snow. Seeing snow was an interesting sight and slightly fun, but it was annoying because the snow was so easy to leave tracks in. We had to work extra hard on not leaving tracks and using our charka to walk on top of the snow, kind of like water walking.

Okay to be honest I did like the snow, but mostly because Sensei was so excited about it. Rarely did Sensei ever do things that made me question his maturity level. Most of the time he was a cool, calm and collected shinobi, but after watching him try to coax Jiraiya into the snow, I knew he was sent specifically to be my role model. I would be the thirty-year-old playing around in the snow and starting snowball fights with the children of the communities around Ame. Sensei was special. Him and dad both had to have been made from a similar mold because they were too different from other shinobi and too alike to not be related in some way. Perhaps they were at one time brothers in a past life? Anything is possible I presumed.

So I spent my mornings following Yahiko, Konan and Nagato as they tried rallying supporters across the Land of Rain with little success. They had a whole lot more now than they did before, but they didn't have enough supporters to go against Hanzo. The man was just too big and powerful for their group right now even if we helped. My afternoons were divided three different ways. Jiraiya always made sure to take me for a seals lesson or two. Sensei took me and trained with me on the days Jiraiya was busy. The same regular training regimen as before, but he decided to up the difficulty of it because I was older. Also, he started going full on while we were sparring. Keeping up with him wasn't an easy thing. He was faster than me and knew it. Given time I was able to catch him off guard with a few of my traps and little tricks learned from Yuuto, but whenever we were sparring one-on-one I wasn't given the luxury of setting traps.

On the days I wasn't with Sensei or Jiraiya, I was with the Ame trio. Nagato was surprisingly quiet, but insanely good at ninjutsu. Konan's paper techniques were unique and I was dying to spar with her to see if I could counter them. Water didn't seem to have a huge affect on them, but I had a feeling fire would. Yahiko had this tough personality, but was surprisingly very adept in water-based jutsus. It didn't match his personality, but I guess it was one of those things that I chalked up to looking underneath the underneath.

The Ame trio weren't my new 'teachers' in any way, shape or form, but once you live with someone for nearly a year you pick up stuff from them. Because of Nagato I developed a strange taste for fish, something that before I hadn't really cared for that much. Though, if someone put a bowl of ramen and a plate of fish in front of me, I'd go for the ramen every time. Yahiko troubled me. On top of the fact that I kept getting these really strange flashbacks about him with ripples around his eyes, he also had this goal to become 'god of the world.' That didn't set well with me because 'of the world' included Konoha and that was my turf. Konan was slowly changing from the bright girl she was when we first arrived here; she was becoming more and more serious.

All of them were changing. The past year had been hard on them. Too much activity, not enough sleep, too much anger and not enough laughter was making them old before their time. Perhaps this was the fate of all leaders, work until the job runs you down and then step back and hope someone benefited. I promised myself I wouldn't be like that. I was going to become Hokage, but I wasn't going to let the position kill me.

November changed into December and December slowly changed into January and nothing about their cause changed. Nagato lost hope somewhere between November and January and almost threw in the towel, but Yahiko was right behind him urging him on towards their dream. I admired their friendship and it reminded me of the slightly less friendly relationship I had with Sasuke. Well, before he went crazy. Konan tried her hardest to bring joy back into the house, but the winter chill just wouldn't go away. Even Sensei tried, but reality was too busy striking the group in the face for them to notice him.

Finally, I decided to step in and at least try something. Perhaps a well-placed prank would give them back some cheer? I needed to get Jiraiya back anyway for leaving me with strangers during a panic attack, so he was fair game right now. I just needed to figure out what I was going to do to the pervert. I guess I could just go with a classic and prop a bucket of something nasty above the door and lure him in. Heck, I bet I could even use my sexy jutsu to lure him in. He'd definitely follow her. Now all I have to do is figure out something to put in the bucket. Yahiko might have an idea.

I waited until Jiraiya left the room before walking over and smiling widely at Yahiko. "I need a favor."

"What kid?"

"I need some nasty, smelly things."

"Like fish guts and rotten eggs?"

I nodded once and gave him another sly smile. "Yep, got any?"

He rubbed his chin in thought before pointing towards the kitchen. "Whenever Nagato cooks he puts all the used grease in a pan back there underneath the sink. Something his mom used to do to keep the trash from catching on fire. And there's also the fish guts from the other day outside the door and I'm about fifty percent sure the milk went bad a week ago."

I thanked him and raced into the kitchen to get whatever I could find. The grease wasn't hot, but it smelled horrible and was thick so it would be hard to get out of his hair. The fish guts were rancid and would work perfectly for what I had planned. I dumped them into the bucket with the grease. Now personally I didn't think the milk had gone bad. Yeah, it was past the expiration date, but those are really just suggestions anyway. I sighed at the waste before putting it in the bucket with the other slop and carefully carrying the mixture over to the door. By now I had an audience of not only Yahiko, but also Nagato and Konan. I think they all thought I was crazy. Maybe I am, but being crazy was a whole lot more fun than being sane.

Jiraiya spent most of his day checking in with his spies he had around the area, that and 'researching' as he likes to call it. There aren't very many hot springs around Ame, but there is one and that's the one he haunts on a regular basis. He would leave early in the morning and return around three in the afternoon and since he pretty much stuck to the same schedule, I knew he was coming back soon.

I opened the door slightly before walking up the wall and precariously perching the bucket between the doorframe and the top of the door. After admiring my handiwork, I jumped down and waited for Jiraiya to come back. It didn't take long for him to come sauntering up to the door. I grinned and made ready to run for it because Jiraiya wasn't going to be a happy camper in a few minutes.

What I didn't expect was for Sensei to be with him. Hearing Sensei's laughter instantly sent my stomach in knots. The man was downright evil and vicious if his hair was messed with. I was dead if he walked through the door first. I turned and quickly looked back at Yahiko, who was peering out the window, and he nodded once. Damn, Sensei was coming in the door first. I had a decision to make; either let the prank happen and have Sensei kill me, or take the fall. The first one was so tempting.

I could hear Sensei's feet as they got closer to the door and made the split decision. I raced forward and flung the door open just in time to push Sensei out of the way and get splattered with the slop. Never before in my life had I ever wanted to vomit more.

Jiraiya was beside himself in laughter and Sensei looked like he was trying his hardest to not laugh at me, but there was a definite look of gratitude on his face. "Come on sweetheart; let's go get you hosed off."

I dutifully followed after him, not before kicking Jiraiya hard enough in the shin to bruise the bone.

(Narrator POV)

Yahiko waited until he was sure Naru wasn't within hearing range to burst into laughter. His laughter sparked the laughter of his friends. Together all three of them truly laughed for the first time in months. Yahiko couldn't believe that a girl Naru's age could be so selfless and loving. She really cared for their happiness, enough to go out of her way to make them happy. Granted, the prank didn't go exactly as planned, but it wasn't a complete failure. Seeing Jiraiya clutch his shin in pain was a sight Yahiko wouldn't get tired of seeing any time soon.

(Naru POV)

Three baths and five showers later, I was clean and the house was happy again. Even if it meant that I was the one on the receiving end of the prank, at least they were smiling and laughing again. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day. Jiraiya's informants were nervous about Hanzo. The man was mobilizing troops and that made Jiraiya and Sensei nervous for the Ame trio. I was going tomorrow, as were both Sensei and Jiraiya, because something didn't set right with what the spies were saying and with what Sensei had scouted out.

Tomorrow Yahiko was supposed to lead a secret meeting in the same town Hanzo attacked them at. I thought it was a stupid idea and just asking for trouble, but apparently most of their followers could easily reach the town. It was right in the middle and had a large concentration of people that couldn't stand Hanzo. Something told me tomorrow wasn't going to be good. Today felt too much like the calm before the storm.

Turns out my feelings were completely wrong. The meeting was a success and Yahiko's cause gained a lot of followers and began laying down plans to storm Hanzo's mansion. Their numbers were strong, but their skill was weak. Not that it mattered, teamwork almost always won over brawn.

(Narrator POV)

A few weeks later Naru found herself right back in the same town everything started in. The podium was gone and the olive tree looked like someone had burned it down, but the people were the same. They still had the beaten look of oppression, but there was a hint of defiance there. The 'freedom' fever was raging here, even more so now that Yahiko had successfully gotten a plan together.

As Yahiko glided through the crowd people immediately recognized him, some turned their faces and whispered while others actually looked hopeful. Nagato and Konan were right behind him, watching his back and looking as intimidating as a pair of attack dogs. The Konoha group stuck to the crowd, weaving between people and blending in perfectly with the brown and muted grays of the other residents. They had all opted to wear their cloaks to give an element of surprise if they needed it.

Once the group got to the warehouse basement where the meeting was going to take place, the Ame trio went to the front while the Konoha trio spread out into the crowd of people gathered. Yahiko started speaking and suddenly all Hell broke loose.

Hanzo's men infiltrated the meeting. How they knew about the location no one ever figured out, but most suspected there was a rat in the ones gathered. The Ame trio had gone to extreme lengths to make sure Hanzo didn't find out about their meeting, even going as far as to use seals to detect lies and such, but all of their efforts were in vain. Like a cockroach, Hanzo's men were still able to crawl underneath the door and wreck the meeting.

Sakumo and Jiraiya instantly got into action as Naru began getting people out of the building; the fewer casualties the better. Since they were in a basement with only two exists, Naru had to improvise. Quickly, she made a bunch of clones and had them try to break a hole in the ceiling so the people could get to the second floor. It was moments like this when she wished she still had the right to summon frogs because they would have been really handy at that point. So as her clones made a human chain to get some of the civilians out, she took the remaining out the back way.

Sakumo was cutting through the shinobi that were pouring into the basement room. Hanzo wasn't looking to capture anymore; he wanted them dead. The white chakra of his tanto sliced across skin and cut through bone as he tried to protect the civilians caught in the fray. A few recognized his face and tanto in their final moments, but Sakumo didn't worry about that, they wouldn't be able to speak later anyway.

Jiraiya stood with Yahiko as the young man looked over the makeshift battlefield with despair in his eyes. He knew they were after him. The shinobi hadn't made it to them yet, but they were getting close. Yahiko's eyes flicked over to where Nagato and Konan were standing with their own weapons drawn.

"One day, I will bring peace to this world and stop the pain of my people." Outside thunder rolled and lightning flashed at Yahiko's words. "But, I'm not going to do it just standing here."

Yahiko jumped into the fray and fought beside Sakumo, blocking a strike to the older man's back and began a ruthless barrage of combos. He jumped away long enough to pull out a storage scroll and release the water stored inside for one of his water jutsus.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!"

The violent water wave splashed into the crowd of oncoming shinobi and swept many off of their feet. Jiraiya was instantly behind Yahiko already running his fingers through the seals for his Toad Oil Bullet. The thick sludge spewed from Jiraiya's mouth and covered the floor in front of them. The oil created a film over the top of the water, never mixing, but lying on top. Most of the shinobi coming in were instantly caught in the gooey mess and tirelessly struggled to get out. Sakumo looked at the oil before tugging both Jiraiya and Yahiko out of the water. Quickly, he brought his hands together to form the seals for a fire jutsu.

"Katon: Gōkakyu no jutsu!"

The fireball connected with the oil in a fiery blaze that knocked Sakumo backwards slightly. Ignoring the screams of pain and the nauseating smell of burning flesh, Sakumo ducked to block a kick towards his head. He quickly swept the other shinobi's feet out from under him and rammed his tanto through the shinobi's throat. The fire on the oil was burning greatly now and getting closer to the stage where the others were at.

Jiraiya tried to see through the smoke as he looked for a way out. "Over there! That's where Naru went to get the civilians to safety."

Yahiko grabbed Konan and Nagato's arms and raced towards the exit with Sakumo and Jiraiya right behind him. Naru's voice called out to them from the top of the stairs.

"Hurry up! They whole place is going to go down!"

The remaining five shinobi raced up the stairs and threw themselves into the pouring rain as the building behind them erupted into flames and smoke. Yahiko and Konan landed a little further out than everybody else. Naru breathed out a sigh of relief as she started helping Nagato to his feet, only to discover that he had injured himself in his landing. He couldn't stand without immense pain shooting through his entire body. They needed to get him medical attention fast because the situation was getting dire. In his condition he would be useless in a fight.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. The Toad Sage and the White Fang of Konoha. What an honor, you've gotten older since the last time I saw you, Jiraiya." Everyone turned as the blond haired man laughed before taking a step forward and grabbing Konan and Yahiko by the hair on their heads. "Last time I made a horrible mistake. I let my guard down, that isn't happening this time."

Hanzo flung Yahiko over to one of his guards and held onto Konan. He grinned before burying his nose into her blue hair and hissing into her ear. "I think I might keep you alive. You'll be very entertaining later."

Nagato hissed in pain as he tried to stand and brandished a kunai as Yahiko struggled against the man holding him. Jiraiya looked back and forth, trying to find some way out of this situation. The scene before him was eerily similar to the one a few months before, but this time around they didn't have the element of surprise on their side. He quickly looked over to Sakumo and saw the look in the man's eyes. It was the same look he got whenever he thought up some half schemed plan that usually always worked. Sakumo's eyes turned to look over at Jiraiya's and the man smiled beneath his mask. He had a plan.

There weren't very many shinobi outside the burning building so they weren't much of a threat. Those that were sneering their way wouldn't be much of a threat either. Sakumo managed to catch Naru's attention and uttered one soft word. A word he knew he would regret later, but Naru was a genius at creating very unique distractions.

"Centerfold."

She grinned and brought her hands together into a sign Sakumo was getting very familiar with. As much as he hated the technique, he had to admit that Naru was a genius for using one of man's most common and widely known weaknesses against them. Not very many men could ignore a naked, well-endowed blonde. He just hoped his plan didn't backfire with Jiraiya.

Naru grinned and clapped her hands together. "Oiroke no jutsu!"

The henge immediately caught the attention of every one of Hanzo's men. Most could do nothing but stare at the voluptuous blonde woman standing in front of them. A few embarrassingly noticed their noses dripping ever so slightly. The one shinobi holding Yahiko actually loosened his grip on the teenager, completely enthralled by the sight before him.

As soon as Naru started gathering her energy, Sakumo used his body to shield Jiraiya from seeing Naru's technique. The best part about Jiraiya and Sakumo working together was that they knew how to work off of each other. When Sakumo moved, Jiraiya moved towards the shinobi holding Yahiko and snapped his neck. Yahiko bolted from his kneeling position and plowed into Hanzo's side. Toppling the three to the ground instantly. Unfortunately when Hanzo hit the ground, he turned into water.

Yahiko cursed at the water clone and helped Konan to her feet. At first Hanzo was nowhere to be seen, until they realize he was staring Sakumo down as the sliver haired man stood protectively in front of Naru's henged form. Konan summoned up her paper and sneakily twisted it around Hanzo's back leg. Sakumo slashed towards Hanzo with his tanto while Konan tugged on the chakra in her paper, causing Hanzo to fall backwards. Sakumo instantly tackled Hanzo fully to the ground and looked up to ask Yahiko if he wanted the honor of finishing the man off, but Yahiko wasn't in any condition to do anything.

An arm was sticking out of Yahiko's chest. Blood poured out of the wound and fell down the orange haired boy's body to mix in with the muddy rainwater. Sakumo growled low in his throat as the man beneath him melted into water and slipped from his hands. The real Hanzo was standing behind Yahiko laughing.

Something changed in that moment. Chakra burst from Nagato as he shot forward towards Yahiko's dying body and the man holding him up. Jiraiya was the only one to recognize the Rinnegan blazing menacingly in the younger boy's eyes. He could see the pain and despair as Nagato blindly raced forward and missed his target by inches. Hanzo threw Yahiko's body to the ground and turned to grab Konan when Sakumo's tanto suddenly severed his arm at the elbow.

Hanzo hadn't even seen the White Fang move. He bit back a scream of agony and clutched his bleeding stump to his chest as he took several steps away from his dismembered limb. If he hadn't been in so much pain, he would have admired the prowess of both Jiraiya and Sakumo as they sprinted towards him, both with kunais drawn. The last thing Hanzo saw was Nagato's eyes as the young shinobi appeared in front of him, in front of Sakumo and Jiraiya, and slammed a two bloody kunai deep into his eye sockets.

Nagato backed away quickly from the dead body of Hanzo and hurriedly wiped the blood off of his hands. Tears streamed down his eyes, eyes that no long held the ripples of the Rinnegan. Jiraiya reached him first and touched his shoulder, but the red haired boy shook it off. He sniffled and stumbled over to Yahiko's rapidly dying body. Konan had Yahiko's head in her lap and was trying her hardest to keep the rain from falling into his eyes. Once Yahiko realized Nagato was over there, he reached for his friend's hand and roughly laughed.

"Stop…being..a..baby." Konan wiped away the blood that was quickly bubbling up from Yahiko's mouth. Nagato nodded his head and squeezed Yahiko's hand tightly. "You and Konan… You've got to live… Bring about real peace…"

There, right in the middle of the pouring down rain, with three Konoha shinobi looking on, Yahiko, leader of the rebel forces, died passing on his legacy. The wail that went into the air after Yahiko's last breath was rumored to have been heard all around Ame. The final two mourned loudly for their fallen friend.

(Naru POV)

I don't know exactly how to put this. Our mission kind of failed, but at the same time, didn't. The rebel force is now in power, but they're not in the right mindset to be in control. Hanzo's dead and now Konan or Nagato can finish what Yahiko started. Only problem is that Nagato hasn't come out of his room in over three days and when I say hasn't come out of his room, I mean it. He hasn't eaten or bathed or went to the bathroom that I know of. I'm about five hundred percent sure that isn't healthy.

Konan is holding up better than I thought she would. There's an almost scary calm around her now, but she's taking care of herself. Right now she's taking Yahiko's place as rebel leader and reorganizing most of Amegakure's system. She says she's only doing it until Nagato snaps out of it. Yahiko wanted Nagato to carry on his legacy and she intended for him to do it.

I was beside myself because I didn't know what to do. Nagato wouldn't hear me out and I couldn't get in there, so I took to trying to sneak letters underneath his door. It didn't work out as well as I hoped it would because all my letters were thrust right back to me.

"Naru, step away from the door."

I turned and scowled at Sensei. "Sakumo-sensei, he's not taking care of himself."

"I know. That's why I'm going to go talk to him."

I blinked in surprise as Sensei walked over to the door, broke the doorknob, and walked right into the room. Of course, he had to close the door behind him too. Damn it. I wonder how much trouble I would get in if he caught me eavesdropping. Wouldn't hurt to try.

(Narrator POV)

"Go away." Sakumo didn't leave. He walked over to where the younger man was lying on the bed and sat down on the edge. "Why won't you all just leave me alone?"

"Because we care Nagato. You're slowly killing yourself."

"I don't need your care! All my life I have dealt with pain and I want to be alone with my pain right now." Nagato looked down at his hands. "Pain, the entire world feels pain; it's the only equalizer besides death. I killed Hanzo because he killed Yahiko, so does that make it right? An eye for an eye? Maybe killing myself will stop the pain."

Sakumo didn't speak to him; instead he reached into the pocket of his chunin vest and pulled out a tattered photograph. The White Fang smiled down at the faces on it before laying it on the bed in front of Nagato. The younger man slowly took the picture and looked at the two faces on the photo. "Is this your family?"

Sakumo nodded and smiled gently. "It is."

"Sakumo, this is a nice picture, but what does it have to do with me?"

Sakumo reached over and took the picture from the other Nin's hands. "You're looking at the same picture I looked at everyday while I was deciding when I should kill myself."

Nagato's face showed the perfect look of horror as he gaped at the older man. "When, not if?"

Sakumo nodded sadly. "I endangered Konoha by not completing a mission and was ostracized because of it. Being the village pariah wasn't good for my mental state and coupled with drinking, I made a very stupid decision. You can ask Naru, since she's listening in on the conversation anyway."

The two heard a soft curse before the door opened to reveal the blonde haired girl. She quickly walked into the room and nodded. "Kakashi and I tried everything we could think of to get him out of his depression, but it almost didn't work."

Sakumo nodded. "They did everything and still it almost wasn't enough. I was determined to end my life."

"What stopped you?"

Sakumo turned to look at Naru and instantly pictured his young son, yelling at him with angry eyes and harsh words. "I suddenly remembered my duty. I remembered I wasn't just a shinobi, but also a father and I couldn't and wasn't going to leave my child behind without a parent." Sakumo turned and stared straight into Nagato's eyes. "You can't let yourself die Nagato. You have a duty too, a duty to complete Yahiko's dream. He trusted you with his final wishes and giving up would be like spitting in his face. If you were from Konoha I would say you have to nurture Yahiko's will of fire."

Nagato looked down and gripped the sheets in his hands. "But what if I can't do it the way he wanted it done? I'm not Yahiko. I'm crybaby Nagato."

Naru grinned in his direction. "You'll never know unless you try."

"Naru's right. You've got to at least try before writing it off as something you can't do. I believe you can do it."

Nagato sighed and pushed the covers away from his body before standing up. Naru smiled again and raced towards the door. "I'm going to get you something to eat!"

Sakumo followed after her, but was stopped by Nagato's soft voice. "Sakumo." He turned and looked at the younger man standing beside the bed. "Do you ever regret the decision you made?"

Sakumo smiled and shook his head. "I've got too much going for me to regret my decision to live. Give it time and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about."

(Naru POV)

Nagato began slowly taking up Yahiko's role and found that people were just as drawn to him as they were to Yahiko. With a new government to establish and borders to protect, the remaining Ame Orphans suddenly became very busy. The last day we were in Ame we found Nagato and Konan both sorting through Hanzo's records. Surprisingly enough there wasn't a lot of resistance from Hanzo's loyal shinobi; they just kind of went with the flow and claimed loyalty to the new leader.

Sensei said we could leave knowing we'd not only made a friend, but a potential ally. We both knew they were in no condition to help with the current war, but given a few years they could easily be a strong force.

Jiraiya sent the Hokage our mission report a week ago and now we've just received word that a huge battle is converging in the middle of Kusa. Hokage-jiiji is sending as many shinobi as he can spare and if we survive he promised we'd get a few months leave. I hadn't seen in Konoha in almost two years and was dying to get back.

Oh and did I mention Nagato and Konan's office? They have a beautiful view of the village and right behind Nagato's desk is a charcoal drawing of a cluster of daffodils with rain falling around it. Talk about a rebirth. I thought the drawing would be much safer and symbolic in that office than in my pack.

"Come on Naru, let's head to Kusa!"

"Coming Sensei!"