Review Responses:

Mundane Beast: I am about to throw a curve, but it may no be the curve you guys are wanting as the batter. I am a right handed pitcher. Let us see which is which and how much Naruoknows shal we?

Keeper of Worlds: Indeed some bad stuff, Sakura is the glue that holds Naruto d the rest of the characters toether, and for that, she is sadly paying the price.

PoetucFire: No problem on the help. And thanks, I am all moved back home for the summer, though now to find a summer job? cary and very tricky.

Skysartflammingavion: Sorry about the cliffhanger, but when I was writing it, I felt like I just had to do it! Tim for your prediction to be prven right or wrong.

7th Demon of Razgriz: Sakura is definitely through the ringer alright, but trust me. The very end is worth it.

Spartan 000-B The Unknown Warrior: Here is the update! And wow! long username!


AN: Hey guys. I am am all settled in and can post another chapter to you guys and see what youall think and like about my next chapter. Glad to have you guys here to here the next chapter by the way. Here yo go.


Sorakage Arc 4

Chapter 51: Alive again

(Previously)

The world disappeared from view and all that was seen was darkness…

Black…no light…nothing to do or see…just stuck in limbo while the world kept going round…

A light appears…white light…showing the way forward…flashes of slow moving hands across their vision…

The darkness returns…all is gone once again…but the light comes screeching back into view… the hands are moving faster and faster and-


(And Now)(Set a week before the attack on Konoha)

Eyes opened, and look around…a hospital of some sort…not Konoha…somewhere else…the bed was comfy…and the tiredness of the body was enough to fall asleep once more…

But finally, eyes opened with energy and the ninja slowly tried to sit up in bed. The bed caught up with him and slowly pushed him up into that position of sitting up and the ninja relaxed back into it.

"Hello…Kakashi."

Kakashi whipped his head to the left and felt immensely dizzy, but nothing that he couldn't handle at the moment.

"Naruto."

Naruto looked over at Kakashi with a smile that Kakashi knew was meant for old friends.

"Where am I, Naruto?"

"In SkySora, my friend, though as a non-combatant of course. You would have died on that battlefield had my men not found you in time. Although, I have to say that it took quite a while to save you and for you to wake up after that kinjutsu. You've been unconscious for almost six months."

"What?"

"We had to put you in a coma until your injuries fully healed. Your heart was almost split in half as well as many other organs. But you've made a full recovery, it seems. Spectacular kinjutsu by the way; very destructive in an enclosed space. Though there seems to be too much backlash on it. I think you placed too much chakra into that jutsu."

"Had to- (Cough)(Cough)- make sure that I got them all."

"Well, good job doing that! Now, you seem to be healthy enough! Why don't I show you around the village myself?" Naruto smiled happily, though Kakashi saw the strain in his voice to stay happy.

"I am allowed to leave?" Kakashi asked as he stood up but felt something else on him besides his ninja wear. He looked down and latched around his wrists and ankles were leather straps with seal signs around them in a repeating pattern. "Restraints?"

"Oh no! Just tracking bonds, but they do restrict you from using your chakra correctly."

Kakashi moved to take one off but stopped a few inches from it by a force field of chakra.

"Keeps you as well as anyone else who wears them from un-securing yourselves."

"So I'd need a spy."

"Precisely, and a traitor at that. Even the Sky has prisoners, and this ensures that prisoners can't help others escape through chakra."

"Very strategic of you." Kakashi responded as he was helped out of bed, put his mended clothes on and followed Naruto out of the hospital, which surprisingly had him, a war prisoner, next door to an ordinary citizen. Then again, he knew the Sorakage, so maybe it wasn't a problem, since a ninja would rarely hurt civilians, at least…Kakashi would never do something such as that.


Kakashi followed Naruto around the village from the hospital. He led him around the village as he had offered, showing him the very walls of SkySora as well as the marketplace in the direct center of the village.

Naruto stopped in the marketplace and waited for Kakashi to join him. "So Kakashi, tell me. What do you see?"

Kakashi looked around for a minute or two before looking around. "I see women bargaining with the merchants for their food and merchandise. There are some children going down that alley to play ninja with fake swords. Your ninja aren't hiding from view of the civilians as they move through the marketplace and on the rooftops."

"Correct. A source inside Konoha tells me that your village operates differently in wartime. They described it best as martial law. The women are rarely out and the merchants sell for fewer hours. There are no children in the streets and the ninja are not slacking in their duty or having some time to goof off."

"That sounds like a village in war time."

"It sounds like a village that puts bars on their window and is afraid of the dark. I encourage my ninja to strive to be themselves and comforted by the fact that they are safe."

"This village's location has not yet been found out, Naruto. When it does become village knowledge, your citizens will know some amount of fear."

"My people are ready for that possibility, they have been on the run from their previous villages for a long time, but there is the possibility to strive in the light and keep the information safe for a long time to come."

"Naruto, that sounds like an excellent dream, but dreams do not last."

"You are correct, Kakashi, but dreams are replaced by new dreams are they not?"

"Yes, and also by nightmares."

"So Kakashi, I guess I'll show you the armory now."

"I shouldn't bother, but that is an essential area during the first areas to attack. Why would you show me that?"

"You have no need to worry about that question. Ah! Here we are."

Kakashi was expecting a store front with a big warehouse behind it as it was in most major villages. Instead, there was literally a small shop that looked like a ramen stand. Something was off around here.

"Good Morning Takimi-San."

A man in his early fifties looked up from his work and smiled upon seeing his kage. Kakashi saw the respect and surprise in the man's eyes.

"Sorakage-Sama! It is an honor to have you in front of my humble shop."

"Please, Takimi-San. You are one of my best blacksmiths. What are you working on right now?"

Takimi looked skeptically at Kakashi for a second before he shrugged his shoulders. The people of SkySora trusted their kage to a fault by the looks of things, and he was a young adult too, though he had gone through things much worse than all his own age and quite more than most adults in their very lives.

Takimi took out a white glinted sword with a hilt that extended out two inches in each direction before the line ran parallel with the sword. Kakashi watched as the blacksmith added chakra to the sword and chakra flowed around the metal blade and between the parallel hilts creating an edge to it that looked extremely sharp to Kakashi's eye.

Naruto took the blade from Takimi and Kakashi expected the blade to shimmer in chakra flow, but the blade stayed the same while it exchanged hands. Kakashi wondered also, why it sparked with electricity and why the wind picked up but dismissed it when the chakra in the blade disappeared and Takimi placed the blade in a sheath for the sword.

Kakashi also expected the blacksmith to place the sword on a rack for sale or in a pile to take to a warehouse. Instead, Takimi took the sword to a box next to the front of the store with a slit on the top. Takimi placed the sword in the slot and let go of the sword, letting gravity take its course.


As Kakashi and Naruto ended their tour and arrived at Naruto's office in the SkySora government building, Kakashi spoke up. "The armories are not the storage places for your weapons, are they?"

"No, they simply make and sell a small portion of our reserves."

"Your storage area is underground."

"Precisely. The only way to get in is by a sealed entrance and exit points, which are only one way tunnels. We have no need to guard an exit, so that's how I know that you won't be able to attack our weapons depots."

"So…Naruto…why did you keep me alive? It wasn't just to talk to me, was it? I know that I can call you a friend, but there must be more to it than that."

"No, Kakashi, you are right." Naruto paused as they finally sat down and leaned back in his chair. "You are one of the living legacies, just as myself and others. You are a priceless shinobi to anyone, especially to Konoha. It has even been said that you could potentially be the next Hokage if Danzo does not name a successor. But Konoha has something that I want. And I believe that they will trade it for you."

"So I am a pawn in your victory of this war?"

"Oh no, a bishop to be sure. But this has nothing to do with my village's victory in this war, I assure you. No, this is for the future game of chess. For that, I need my Queen."

"So…" Kakashi began, thinking he knew the answer. It was for the one person he could not get during the battle.

"Yes…I am trading Kakashi of the Sharingan for Sakura Haruno, my girlfriend and past ambassador between the hidden leaf and hidden sky. I shouldn't have left her, and it has caused me great pain to my heart. I know now that I should have taken her with me and be damned with the consequences."

"I have only one thing to say about this." Kakashi said as he stood up.

"And that is?"

"That I am glad to be traded for a pure cause."

Kakashi and Naruto shared a smile as the scene faded from view and the world continued to spin.


Danzo reread the contents of the letter as he sat down in his chair in his office. The trade that was suggested was obvious; A shinobi of such high caliber for one of less significance. But then again, this girl matched and possibly surpassed Tsunade's talent in the medical field. They could not lose that, even if it was kept in a dark place for years to come.

So it came down to a single plan, and Danzo smirked evilly at that. He would love to see the Sorakage's face when he found out.


Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. Howl!